I was really surprised about the number of people who were brave enough to take a break from blogging over Christmas and devote some time away from their laptops to the festive times.

A little break has left me swimming with ideas and I hope this post can help a few others, who may feel stuck in a rut or lacking the motivation to pick up their blog again after the holidays.

I love reading blogs and stay up until the early hours most nights catching up on my favourites. The reason I love them is their variety. It's easy to get pigeoned holed into a bloggy corner and whilst this blog features the boys A LOT, I want it to fully encapsulate me rather than just being a "Mummy blog". Not that there is anything wrong with that (it is big business), but being a Mummy is one part of me and I want to share all the different aspects of our life, all in one space (I am in awe of those who can keep up several blogs at one time - I bow to you!).

I keep a notebook with ideas in for blog posts, which helps when I want to look for inspiration.

I have created 12 inspiration envelopes for each month of 2013 each with a good few ideas to help kickstart the weeks in that month. One idea always leads to another.

I love the thought of opening them at the beginning of each month and seeing what I had planned back in January. For example there were loads of things I didn't quite get round to photographing before Christmas or making at all, so those will be saved for Christmas 2013!

Those are a selection of a few of the things I have planned for this year, I don't want to give them all away! It was a great excuse to use my new vintage looking number ink stamps that my husband bought me for Christmas!

How do you collate your ideas? I hope to post a new article every day but that takes some planning and organisation. I usually have the next 4 days or so ready to go but sometimes they shift around if I get distracted!

Share your blog inspiration tips too and we can all help each other. Happy blogging!

Inspired by a blog I adore reading here are my 4 Simple Goals for 2013.

ONE - Read my camera manual. The simplest of all right?! I know the only way I will become a better photographer is to fully understand my camera! It's too easy to think I can learn just by practising alone. You can of course, but nothing beats understanding how your camera can help you along the way!

simple goals

TWO - Document memories for Ollie. When Sammy was born I lovingly and religiously filled in not one, not two but three baby journals and a Mother and Toddler Journal my husband bought me when I went back to work! Ridiculous as it sounds I adored them all and they all looked at his little milestones in a different way. Poor Ollie, the second son, has the same three journals stacked in the top of his wardrobe with almost nothing written inside! My Mum kept three padded baby record books when we were born and a little less was filled in each time! But I love looking through them. We do so much, I just need to write it down!

simple goals

THREE - Print more! I love instant camera photos because you get to display them straight away! My husband scans them in his Doxie so we have them forever but I need to take advantage of all the 50 prints for so much emails I get from the likes of Photobox. I have a confession I still l have over 1000 photos I printed from when Ollie was a baby that are in a tin rather than an album!

simple goals

FOUR - Less screen time. Have you thought about your eye to screen time? I use my iPhone as my alarm clock (although the boys are always awake before any alarm) and then it is so tempting to have a quick check on Twitter or Facebook. Over Christmas I had a little break from blogging which gave me some precious time away from the laptop. I feel refreshed and bursting with ideas. Sometimes a break is what you need to re focus. Plus you have to be brave to take a break. People won't stop reading just because you need a time out for a few days!

simple goals

Last January we went for a drink in our local pub and wrote this list. Some won't roll onto this years list like adding to our kitchen but others like updating the big frames up the stairs, I am determined to tick off in January! We also have lots of breaks with our friends and family but I would love a little holiday just the four of us before Sammy starts school in September! Yikes!

simple goals

And when it comes to a reward to reaching my goals - well they are rewards in themselves. I'll have beautiful journals to pass down to Ollie, albums of photos to pour over on wet Sundays and more quality time with my darlings which I will be better able to capture on the camera!

Have you set any goals for next year? If you have good luck!

ps. I was too embarrassed by one of my goals to blog it so boldly but I have never baked a cake. Not even a fairy cake. Shocking!  I will bake and ice a beauty in 2013!

I am finally getting the hang of making my photos more blog savvy. A primary photo for a tutorial or ideas post that can be easily seen, eye catching and pin worthy to Pinterest. If you are not on Pinterest I beg you to read this. You will adore it and won't know what you did without it!

I have collected a group of fonts that match the style of my blog and pretty up my pictures!

Best of all they are all free!

When it comes to fonts my husband and I are definitely snobs! With so many engaging fonts available why use something boring when you can use something beautiful! (I love all the anti Comic Sans web designers out there. Google it - hilarious)

Favourite Fonts

The top ten blog fonts typeface is Rochester which I've used for my logo. Do you use labels on your photos? What are your favourite blog fonts?

You can download my favourites here:

Rochester, Sail, Rockwell, Pacifico, Weston, Dusty Matchbox, Lobster Two, Champagne and Limousines, Murray Hill, Bready, Contribute. If you like the title image font it's Ostrich Sans.

ut without doubt the most breathtaking typographical artwork is by Jessica Hische. You will adore it! Daily drop caps to use for your blog! My favourite is this M, this more simple P and this blurred P! They are free to use for personal use. Simply copy and paste the html code into your post. There are twelve alphabets to choose from and one special guest alphabet! What a woman!