A New Look at my Blog

I thought as it was a new year (well nearly a month into the new year!) I would give the blog a bit of a shake up and possibly a bit more structure - nothing too strict though as life has a tendency to get in the way a bit sometimes, so I cant keep up with anything too much. I know most people do the reshuffle at the start of January, but I have simply been too busy so I didn't really have the time to sit down and think about it all properly. But now I have had some time (thanks to my week holiday in Scotland!) and have worked out a few things.  I have a few features that I will be running monthly (some more frequently) from February.

I moved the blog away from being entirely focused on fashion a few months ago now, now I want to broaden it up even more. I am no longer as obsessed with fashion as I was when I started this blog, way back in 2009, don't get me wrong I still love it, but at the moment I feel my fashion taste is starting to change and evolve again as I am getting older and settling into my life a bit better. Plus I want my blog to grow and evolve too. I'm so proud of how I have done so far, but I want it to become something even better. And with that I want to involve more bloggers on here and work with more companies too - that's why you will now see that I am accepting official sponsors. This isn't just about money though so don't worry, I never ever got into blogging for the money. Writing is a passion for me and I started the blog, just out of uni, when I was struggling to find any writing work at all and needed a creative outlet, and it really did save my sanity back then. I love my little space of the internet and wouldn't change it for anything. Plus in the next year I am expecting a few big changes in my work environment and my living arrangements. Jon is moving up the Pub Management ladder so it may mean us moving somewhere different and me having to leave my current day job. That is why I am now putting lots of effort into my writing, not just my blog, I freelance a fair bit as well these days, and am now writing a lot of online content and articles for revenue share sites and private clients. I need to find a second online income to help for if I have to go without a regular job for a while, or make the big leap and go freelance and self employed full time - that's a scary concept when I think I have been working in shops, cafes, pubs etc since I was 15!

Image Credit: mrpuen via Free Digital Photos.net

Anyway enough soppy ramblings, here are some of the new features I hope to start running from February, obviously I will still be doing my outfit posts, and my fashion finds like I always do.

Sponsor Spotlights: Due to the new sponsorship I have opened up on Daisy Dayz I will be running Sponsor Spotlight posts at the start and end of the month. To highlight my lovely sponsors companies, businesses, shops and blogs.

Mani of the Week: I won't manage one every week, but I do paint my nails quite often and usually remember to snap off a quick picture. I don't do much nail art, so mostly it will be trying new polishes or polish combinations.

Beauty Product Reviews: I am a complete novice when it comes to beauty products, it's just never been me, but I am going to start reviewing make-up items and beauty items when I try/find new ones I like (or don't like!) I need to work out this whole beauty thing, before I get too old, lol!

Story Time: Not many of you know (unless you follow my instagram, which you should!) I am a massive reader, when I have the time! So I usually manage at least 2-4 books a month, I will be posting a book/books of the month type post, reviewing books I have already finished that month or read the month before. If you want to know what I have read or am reading you can also check out my Goodreads Account. I read a huge variety of stuff, so you may be surprised by some of my picks!

Filmaholics Anonymous: Apart from my love of books I also have a slight (read huge) film addiction. Me and Jon have well over 700 DVD's! From all manner of genre and era's (as far back as 1920's I think) This means I often watch a lot of films in a month, old and new ones. I will be posting brief reviews of the films I watch each month for you all to see my weird taste! I use I Check Movies to keep track of all the films I watch, I'm sitting at just over 1,600 at the moment and that is just the ones I remember

Shop Local: Now this is my favourite and proudest addition! I will be doing weekly spotlight features on Welsh Businesses, crafts people and designers. I already have 15 weeks worth lined up and hope to be able to find enough people to keep this running all year. If you happen to run an etsy craft shop, be a clothing/fabric or other type of designer or run a local (Wales in general) shop/business please feel free to get in touch.

British Blogger Love: I will be interviewing other bloggers, british bloggers! - I know this one has been over done to death but I hope I will be able to find a few more unusual question to ask bloggers to find out about the real blogger behind the blog.

Guest Posting: I am hoping to have monthly guest post swaps with a few of my favourite british bloggers. So you never know where I might be posting next, and who will be popping up here instead of me!

Monthly Recipes: I am a big cook, and I work mostly with my crockpot developing new recipes which are suitable for the Freezer to Crockpot cooking method (I'll explain that at a later date!) SO I will be posting more of these here for you to see.

The Monthly Giveaway: I am planning to now host just 1 monthly giveaway, the item/items will either come from one of my sponsors or I will be buying it myself. I hope to be able to bring you a variety of fun items, not all fashion based!

Lastly I have been working on a new group project idea with Miki of MikiScrapbook - it isn't all sorted out yet, but I will be on the hunt for some other bloggers who want to get involved with a monthly version of 'Show and Tell'. If you think you might be interested and want to know more leave me a message or email/tweet me!

I'm also hoping to get over my aversion to the camera and actually record a few Vlogs, but we will see about that one!

So there you have it the Daisy Dayz evolution in a post. What do you think? DO you like some of my new additions or are there other things you might like me to include. Please let me know.