Two on Tuesday x

Welcome to edition 2 of Two on Tuesday, a post highlighting interesting blogposts, books, music, creativity. Generally, items I have found that need a good old share.

Firstly, some blogging help for blogging. I love reading posts which help me to redesign my blog. I feel it is a vital part of being a blogger. Updating your blog, or redesigning the blog, is an important part of breathing new life and energy into your blogging. Anything which aids me in my design is a positive.

Last week, Chaitra aka PinkPot and Holly aka Bloomin Rouge began a short collaborative series on Blogging Building blocks. This is a 4 week series and these lovely ladies will be sharing their top ideas and tips for building your blog.

This week Chaitra focused on resources for your blog and Holly has focused on blog design. I will be following their series over the next 3 weeks to see what helpful ideas I can use for my blogging.


My second is a new author and book series. As you know I love to read and each year for the past 3 I have set myself a challenge via Goodreads to read a certain number of books within that year. This year I am aiming for 60, and last week I read 3! I was pretty impressed myself. Anyway, onto my recommendation.

The author of these 3 books is M J Arlidge who has worked in the television medium for many years as a writer and producer, but has now published the first three novels in this series following the work of Detective Inspector Helen Grace.

As you imagine, this series is a crime/thriller. I love this genre of novel and have read alot of them over the years. The reason I chose the first novel was because I loved the book title which is Eeny Meeny and the blurb sounded interesting. A young couple wake up to find themselves trapped in a disused swimming pool unable to escape with a mobile phone. Unable to ring out, however their abductor rings them and gives them a chilling choice. One of them can go free but the other has to die. Choose!

The story behind the abduction of this and subsequent pairings is told at a fast pace with real detail into police procedure. There is a gripping back story for DI Grace and her team and the characters are clearly drawn, flaws and all. I could see this being adapted for television and making great drama.

One of the other reasons I chose this book is because the series is set in Southampton and the vicinities. Having lived there for 16 years, I loved reading about the city again and I felt drawn into the book because of that link. M J Arlidge writes a great story which keeps you on the edge of your seat the whole way through and I finished the first 3 books in 3 days. His newest novel in the series comes out in September and is now on my wishlist.


So what interesting blog series are you following or looking forward to and are you reading any great books? I'd love to now.

Help and advise.

Some of you may have noticed that I have made a few updates to the blog over the past few days. This has been partly in response to Shimelle's class and also to my personal plans for improving my blogging and blog design. I have started adding some new pages to the site and I would really value your help in how you think it is progressing.

I have added a more detailed description of my and wonder if you feel there is too much details. Having read other peoples I think I prefer saying a little more about myself than less maybe because I am that type of person. I have tried to focus on my interests though. I have also  begun adding in some classes I have done so my readers have a chance to see where my knowledge and interests have been expanded. I will be gradually adding to this. I have also added a page about my Bipolar. I have written about this before on the main blog but now feel that it should be seperate so that I can explore some of my experiences in a different way. I want to provide a link to others who have experienced or have friends/family who are experiencing these kinds of experiences too. This has been in response to the fact that I am currently again going through a depression period which is tough. I hate it and I find sometimes writing can help me get over it better. Sharing some of this with you is cathartic and I have always found you all so supportive.

I would really value your advise on whether the LO of the pages is ok and what I could add. Are there other pages you like to see on blogs and if so what makes them stand out? My personal favourite is Nancy's, she has a really classy way of setting things out. What do you think?

I would truly value your input dear readers in developing this place for you and future readers, so feel free to comment your views.

Jo Jo xxxx

MIA..........................again.

Hello and good morning blog readers everywhere. It is sooooooooooo good to be back in the land of the living and here on my lovely blog. I have been suffering from a horrid virus and took to my bed last Friday and have virtually slept the week away there. But hurrah, today I awoke with a renewed gusto and am here to tell you I AM BACK.

So what have I missed? Well, an awful lot of Shimelle's posts on ''Beyond Blogging for Scrapbookers'' for one and I have alot to catch up on from the look of things. I need to analyse my blog Statistics by getting a Google analytics account and I need to run a poll apparently. There have been a few I have spied when I was lying in my sickbed and reading my emails etc on my iphone. Looks like fun but what to ask I hear you say? I will have to put my thinking cap on and come up with a good plan.

One thing I have been doing today though is rejigging the old blog design. Something new for the old lady I felt after the other header was starting to look abit worn. So scarily I went with the picture of me looking not too shabby I feel. I like Shabby blogs designs and have used a number of their designs over the years. Is it really that long, yes it is! I found a lovely header I liked and there is an excellent, easy to follow tutorial on how to make it your own using a fab tool online called Fotoflexer which can be found here. It's very much simpler than using Photoshop and I managed to achieve what I wanted in a matter of minutes. I chose a font which was slightly curly to match my blog title and then loaded it up to the blog. No need for an html code or anything complicated like that and hey presto, a shiny new blog header. So what do you think? Does it match my blog style, is the writing clear enough which was my main worry, is the picture ok, do you like the design on the header, what background could I go for I wonder? All ideas gratefully received. Maybe that could be my poll, there you go answers please in my comments.

In other news, I have lots of crafty things to share, one involving butterflies, glitter and bling, Scrapamia is less than a month away now, I have found some more fabulous shopping sites and also I was given a shiny gold star yesterday by the inimitable Nancy Doren..............and this is why.............

i must be learning cos i do the same things. i am always fiddling with bling to cut it into pieces to use and cutting the backs o9ut of pretty paper to keep pieces for the LO or other projects. i am so excited to be on the same wavelength as u oh master, student is sooooo happy,
Jo xxx
ps can i get a gold star (paper punched, blinged and misted perhaps ;-)........?)

Which just goes to show you readers that we do make sure we read ur lovely comments and sometimes give you a lovely prize :-)).