Well I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that I’ve had a facelift. A blog facelift that is. Mom, dad, grandma, and the handful of you that stop by regularly have surely noticed the change over the past few days. I’m sorry if I made you dizzy.
Those of you stopping by for the first time, well, hello, and welcome. It’s a new year so the site’s got a new look. But then you’ve never been here before so just assume it’s always looked like this. iWeb? Don’t be silly, I never used that.
What’s brought about all this change? Well, I guess it’s all about why I put the time into this thing in the first place and how those reasons have evolved over time.
When I moved to the UK several years ago, I just thought having a “blog” would be a good way to keep in touch with family. I didn’t even know what having a blog really meant. At the time, I just thought it was posting photos online with little writeups saying “Look! We did this!” But in the early days, well, I never really embraced the blogging thing. I did the best I could but I was working a demanding job and getting around to writing up a post felt like a chore, something I had to do for someone else, not for me. And posting 4 or 5 times a year really isn’t going to do a great job of keeping your family in the loop never mind get you much of a following.
But having my little man and the opportunity to take some time away from the corporate treadmill I’d been on for about 20 years, well, it’s opened my eyes. It’s allowed me to visualize a more creative life and it’s opened my eyes to world of interesting and inspirational people who share their stories and life experiences online, writers and photographers. Until just a short time ago I had no idea these people existed. Seriously, no idea.
And it’s because of all these amazing people who I’ve come across that I’ve been inspired to make this space something more than just photos of our latest family outing. It’s inspired me to create something that’s my own little piece of the Internet where I can nurture the creative side of me that’s been dormant for a long, long time.
One of the people who has inspired me on this journey is Susannah Conway and I’m taking her Blogging from the Heart course. And last week she inspired me to revisit some of the design elements of my blog. It needed a bit of a tidy-up, a little more whitespace, and a cleaner, fresher look.
I also cannot say enough good things about Katrina at Pugly Pixel. Her creativity and sense of design are just brilliant and without her graphics and tutorials I couldn’t have come this far.
So welcome to the new space. Take your coat off and stay for a while. I’ll put the kettle on.
I’m always interested in constructive feedback, so if you’d like to share any thoughts on the new design, please feel free to post a comment.
