It's been a while but I have not forgotten to write..

It's been a while but I have not forgotten about my blog. If you have been following my blog, I just started on my brand new job in Dec09. I had a bit of time to rest before I started .. and that was a mighty good decision. A good rest before a new job helped a lot - to rejuvenate and to refresh. At least it was good for me, good for the new job. Since on board, I have been 'flying' .. haha! If my boss is reading this, he'll probably say not flying high and fast enough :). But it certainly was at high speed. I just launched a big campaign and I'm so lucky to have a good supportive team. But sleep was little, stress was high. I just had no time for my blog. I'm back again. And I thank my readers for your patience. I'm still writing but will pretty much be a weekend writer. Please bear with me :) I'm going to cover a few posts today. Lots to say ... mostly about kids, my family.

To My Readers & Followers..

To my readers and followers,

I'm really sorry that I have silent for a while before this weekend. My new job has been pretty exciting. After rejuvenating during the break between jobs, I've gone full steam at work now. To all those who needed a break, I really recommend a short break to refresh and rejuvenate. A change of scenery. It will do wonders to your spirit for the next challenge. Anyway, I have been busy at work and quite tired when I got back. I don't have much energy to blog. Very tired. It is also just as well that I arranged home tuition for Ryan. I'm just too tired to teach after a day's work.

So, to my friends and readers, I'm not gonna abandon my passion for blogging. But I will be pretty much a weekend blogger. However, I love to CHAT! Chat me up at the Chat column. And I also love to see COMMENTS too :)

hApPY nEW YeAr!!

Cheers

Chain Posts

I haven't been around blogging for a while. Just started my new job not too long ago and it has been quite tiring after work. Moreover, last week was THE week for school going children and there were lots to prepare and prepare and prepare. I've lots to say. So much to express particularly along Ryan's studies. Not to mention that I promised my sis in law, the new mummy, some advises on post natal... which I never get to do. Figured that I'll do chain posting over the next few days instead one mighty long post to cover all. More so because I want to highlight some frus on Ryan's kindy. So here goes...

Changed My Blog Header

Just changed my blog header. Hope you like it. My kids are growing fast..but wouldn't all kids be :) The photos are pretty outdated by now - so, I am updating them once again.

This is the old one -

Did some little designing for the header but around the same theme as I'm too lazy to change the background. My eyes are gritty now. Going to rest. Blog another time :) See ya!

Cheers

Blue Layout??

Hmmm ...I'm itching to design a blue header and background for my blog. Also to update my kids photos. Downloaded a bit of scrap stuff already but not altogether too happy about it. Why blue? No blue mood at all. Just felt like having it blue for a while :) See what I can come out with. Also noticed some new features/widgets for bloggers. May try out some. Lets..see.....

Just For Cynthia :) - How I Did a Facelift for my Blog

I just simply googled up for resources :)

Actually, I'm no expert at all in blogging. What I usually do is to visit blogs every now and then and see what nice things I can add to my blog. Then, I would google up on the 'How to-s'. There are lots of helpful tips, even from Youtube. I'd just try them out and see if it works for me.

Most important ... before you do anything, save a copy of your blog's html (expanded version) first. If you happen to make a boo-boo, you can still get back your old settings.

About designing the blog. Quite simple really. And it's really fun if you like designing.

Cynthia - I'll be happy to help you if you need :)

There is a short cut - simply google for ready made headers and backgrounds. Then follow the instructions to upload to your blog. In my case, I prefer to design my own where I can include my kids photos and so forth. And I just love to design :). So, I take the longer route.

First thing first, get an image editor software - mine is the Adobe Photoshop - the portable version ie. Adobe Photoshop CS3 Portable. If you don't have, just ask around. I got mine from a friend :). I didn't know how to use it at first. Then I went to Youtube and search for instructions. All you need to know initially is how to apply 'layers' and put photos into frames using the 'magic wand' tool. Then, later you can explore for more.

Now, that takes care of the software part. Next, you may want some decoratives for your design. On my header, you can see flowers, diamonds, ribbons, frames, so on. Where to get? Very easy. Search the web for scrapbook materials - lots of freebies. One very good site is http://www.digiscrapdepot.com/. This site hosts alot of scrap book materials - papers (for background), embellishments, templates, theme kits, etc - for people who would like to do scrap books on their family and children. I use them for my blogs. Just download what you like. So far, so good - no virus. There are many such sites - just take your time to google them up.

Get Nice Fonts! If you want to write something nice on your header and you don't want the normal boring fonts! I chose my favourite fonts from http://www.1001freefonts.com/. Google up for more varieties. Then save it to your PC. Next, call up 'Control Panel' from Settings on your PC. Then save the font in the 'Font' folder. As simple as that :)

Now you can start having fun. Design what you like. Just make sure that the size of the Header and Background suits your blog. My blog uses the Minima Stretch template as base. Through trial and error, I settled on the following sizes for my Header and Background.

Header: 1100 pixels (width) x ~300 pixels (height)

Background: 1500 pixels (width) x 1500 pixels (height)

How then to load the new designs.

FOR HEADER:

Go to 'Customize' ... 'Page Elements'... click 'Edit' on the 'Header' (the 1st box right on top of the layout)... then do this:

1. Browse for the Header image that you just designed (remember to save your design in jpeg format)
2. Under 'Placement' - choose 'Instead of title and description'
3. Save -- done!!

FOR BACKGROUND:

Check out this site for instruction.

http://tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com/2007/03/background-image-for-blogger-template.html

You will need to upload your design to obtain a url for your photo. I use Photobucket at http://photobucket.com/.

Remember I was talking about rotating headers and background? Here is the site for instruction in case you want to try out. I need to design a few more headers for this.

http://www.blogspottutorial.com/2008/10/make-random-header-banners.html

Hope this helps :)

New Look for My Blog

Getting kinda bored with the look and feel of my blog. At the same time, I'm itching to design some backgrounds and headers with my kids latest photos. Initially, I wanted to do the rotating header and rotating background thing but I have to change some html scripting. But no-lah - don't want to mess around with the html too much in case I make a boo boo that I can't correct :). I'm still feeling around the html stuff.

This was my old blog header.

So keeping it simple, I just changed my header and background image. Updated with my kids latest photos. Deleted the original template's header wrapper border - I don't like it anyway.

In case you are wondering where you are, you have landed on Joanne's blog with a recent face lift. Happy reading :) and love to chat with you too.

Rotating Header and Background Image

Procrastinating! I have been dragging feet in getting some new designs up for my header and background image. I love the designing part. It is just that time just flies when I spend quality time with my children, playing and teaching them. Then there is my eldest son (my husband!) who needs attention too :).

What I really want to do is to create a rotating header for my blog. To make things a bit more interesting ... or maybe confusing ;p.. I'm also thinking of a rotating background image too. By rotating, you are not seeing a physically 'rotating' header/background image.. Urgh! It is just that every time you refresh the page or click on a link, my header will randomly pick and show a different header from a list of headers that I have selected. The same goes for the background image. I'll set it up later and see if it works... after I design a few more headers and backgrounds...

If you are interested to know, check out this site:

http://tips-for-new-bloggers.blogspot.com/search?q=rotating+header&x=0&y=0

Adding Label Cloud and Recent Comment Widget to my Blog

My Label Cloud had 'disappeared' a while ago. Don't have a clue what I had done with it. Finally got down to checking the html scripts and fixed it. Now my side bar doesn't look too long and cluttered. Also cleaned up some unnecessary items too.

I have been thinking also that it was difficult to track new comments on my posts. I googled up to see if I could find any Recent Comments widget which I know some smart fellas out there would have thought about this one way or other. Found it and done it. Now I don't have to scroll my posts one by one and second guess if the last comment was made by me. Ya, ya... I'm still new at this blogging business. But it is really fun to find out :) If you are interested, check out this blog.

http://beautifulbeta.blogspot.com/2006/11/widget-installation-and-downloads-page.html#dlrecentcomments

I'm still contemplating whether to put in 'Read More' into my blog. Somehow, I still like my long winded style :) :)

About My Blog

When I first created my blog, I couldn't decide whether I should share information on the little that I know and what I could find out about parenting, pregnancy and family. Of course, these aren't professional advices but just sharing my experiences and learnings as I go through each and evey phase. Then, I was kind of worried that it gets too dry, lots of words and so forth. Perhaps my friends and readers like lots of pictures as well as light and easy reads. I don't know and I couldn't decide. I did both :) :). But still sometimes and most times :), I got too carried away and got quite lengthy instead. Well, I'm new to blogging but it is getting more addictive each day. I just love to write! And, it is also fun to carry my camera around and talk about what I do and see everyday too.

Lately some of friends who have been to my blog like my posts especially the informative and lengthy ones. Haha, Thanks! My cousin Vivien asked me to blog about my experiences as a preggy mum 3 times over. Love to. So, I'll attempt that route too and hope that you enjoy it :)

Cheers

Getting a New Look for my Blog

Finally! Figured out some basics about how to design my blog header and background. It's quite fun really. I downloaded some scrap materials and started to play around with. In fact, I spent so much time in designing that I sorta neglected the writing part. I have got so much to blog about - one of which - HOW THE H*** CAN THE AMERICANS VOTE KRIS ALLEN FOR THE IDOL CROWN!!! Grrr...

It's gonna be a blogging marathon for me this weekend. Looking forward to it :)

Adding Widgets and Cute Stuff for my Blog

I was kinda bored with my blog. So plain, so serious. I started google-ing. Wow! Am I hooked. I found so many interesting things .. widgets, blinkies, signature and stuff. I fixed up my blog quite a bit over the weekend but still I'm not satisfied. I'm thinking of changing my blogger background again.

These are some of the sites that I had visited to get my resources:
http://www.digiscrapdepot.com/
http://www.glitter-graphics.com/
http://www.mylivesignature.com/

I have also signed up for PhotoBucket at http://photobucket.com/ so that I can load images and photos to be posted to my blog later.

Hopefully my blog will look better soon.

Just added some fancy stuff to my blog

Found some interesting widgets. Decided to add them to my blog. I'm in danger of overcrowding the blog - haha! But why not, 'syiok sendiri' a bit la. I was looking up Wikipedia to explain 'syiok sendiri' and guess what, I found this interesting part where Wikipedia explains the Manglish - listing different words and phrases from 'lah', 'barsket', 'le' +++. Take a look - really interesting - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manglish. Anyway, I still like to explain it my way without sounding too crude - 'syiok sendiri' in my terms means 'I'm having some fun' :) :)

Annyyywayyy... as I was saying I have some new add-ons to my blog:

Cbox
Added a chatbox recently. Hopefully someone will chat with me :). I'd love to make new friends

TWITTER
I'm hooked on Twitter. Better than Facebook really once I got the hang of it. So, I linked up my updates to my blog too

POLL
Wanna find out if moms out there do online shopping for their cuties. I do! Perhaps we can share :)

LINK WITHIN
A useful tool to help my readers find what they may want to read


Some fancy photo/slide show ... coming right up.

Picking my blog header .. from my garden ??

Been at it for a few days searching for the nice header graphic for my blog. With whatsolittle that I know about blogging, I was going for the short cut - a ready made header.

Somehow, it didn't work out.

So I picked one of those photos that I took of my garden and ..tada! here's my new blog header!

Hope you like it!

Finding the right Blog header

If you have been checking out my blog, you'd probably noticed that the look and feel.. and the header.. kept changing. So sorry :). I've been trying to find the right header for my new blog. Still not satisfied! So, please bear with me for a little while ya. C u again!

Whats coming...
Next I will be talking about my favourite past time - amateur gardening :)
Also, I'd be checking out a some kindergartens for my 2 sons. I will share with you my views and thoughts too.
And if anyone out there is interested on sending your children for more enrichment classes - eg English phonics, etc....that will be my up and coming topic too.

Do share what you'd like to discuss with me :)

Cheers .. for now!

Blogging the block

FINALLY!!! I'M BACK!

Time has passed - now I'm a mother 3 times over. I have finally sat down once again to get to my once-upon-a-time favourite pastime - blogging :)

Why not write about what I sooo love to talk about ... bring up children, struggling working mum, just anything and everything -- HMMM.. yes! Why not indeed!