New year, new look: my bloggy makeover

Hello, lovely Planetarians, all 225 of you (and a warm welcome to the newbies). I hadn’t planned on that little break in transmission – life on Planet Baby just got in the way! Anyway, while I’ve been *otherwise detained*, Planet Baby’s Honorary Magician, the talented Katrina Chambers, has been waving her magic wand over this little spot in Blogland. I felt like the new year deserved to be rung in with style!

Katrina’s still completing the final touches of her spruce-up but I’m already a happy camper. She’s been a delight to deal with, so responsive to requests and brimful with smart ideas. If you’d like her to wave her magic wand over your blog, go here to find her and say hello from me!

Some of the major changes are:

The new domain name

• I’ve moved from http://lifeonplanetbaby.blogspot.com/ to http://www.lifeonplanetbaby.com/, finally getting around to purchasing my domain name (thanks for the gentle nudge, sweet Felicity!). Katrina was so helpful, explaining how to do it – I had no idea it could be so quick, cheap ($US10 a year) and painless. You can set it up so that it is automatically renewed each year. Magic!

• Now I don’t have to worry about someone, somewhere in the world beating me to the name and then having to buy it off them for an exorbitant price ☺.

• Blogger automatically redirects you from the old address to the new one – just brilliant.

The new banner photo

• There are now three pairs of gumboots, instead of four. I took the original photo of Joshie’s and India’s pairs of old and new gumboots outside our front door. Recently one observant Planetarian asked me why there were four sets of gumboots on my header when we only have the three pixies. Good point! Now there should be no such confusion ☺.

• I love the whimsy of the butterfly, chosen as India loves them and Joshie was given a butterfly net for Christmas. You should see them darting all over Planet Baby, trying to catch one! It also feels a bit *up* and optimistic, just what I need as inspiration to start this new year. Oh, and of course the butterfly had to be pink, thanks to Miss India. I like having it next to my signature so I can end on a *positive* note.

The new fonts

• The Blogger fonts I was using were so limited. I found them so *blunt* and rigid. I was delighted when Katrina found me this graceful cursive style I’m using in the blue (I’m a sucker for typography!). It’s a little similar to my handwriting and harks back to an older, gentler time.

• I love the green and blue combination which is consistent with the colours in the gumboots. They’re also my favourite colours. When paired with the simplicity of the white background, it all feels fresher and crisper to me.

The new pages

• Up the top, you’ll notice two new tabs for pages entitled ‘Blogging tips’ and ‘Planet Baby 101’.

• ‘Blogging tips’ lists my posts about tips I’ve picked up. I’m still a newbie, only 5 ½ months in, but will continue to update this page as I make new discoveries.

• ‘Planet Baby 101’ is your ‘go-to’ page when you first become a Planetarian, just to help you get the lie of the land on this madcap, busy planet!

The finishing touches should hopefully be completed this week. I hope you enjoy Planet Baby’s fresh new look for the new year!