Ok, so Random.org says the winner is
And #8 is Chic Too who said I have to agree with Kris I love the bunk beds with all the drawers and storage!!! I would love a sleigh bed too.Congratulations Chic, I'll be forwarding your email to the lovely Caitlin at CSN and she'll be in touch about the prize. And remember, if you don't tell me what you chose I shall be forced to come to your house and demand to see it in person! And you don't want that. Oh no. I loved those bunk beds too, especially the way the top one was perpendicular to the bottom one. How perfect for sleepovers!
This weekend I'm going to do some sewing and creating so hopefully I'll have something to report back on. Though having said that I read Anna's post over at Noodlehead this morning (do you read her blog? If you don't you should!) and it really made me think about why I blog. Initially it started out as being a way of just documenting what I was doing in the craft realm and I had a blog over at Live Journal for my personal stuff. And then it got to be all about the craft and my LJ blog hasn't been touched for over a year which is so sad. When you have an audience who aren't people you already know that you made come and read your new blog, the whole blogging thing subtly shifts, or not so subtly. Suddenly there are 'followers' and subscribers, stats, comments, giveaways, advertising to consider etc. etc. It's incredibly cool when people find your blog and start reading it off their own bat, I mean what a rush! But then you have to decide if you're going to chase that and promote your blog (I don't), have stats (I do but sometimes I wish I didn't), have ads (I won't), give things away (which is an unexpectedly fun part of blogging), mention your family's personal names (I do), show photos of your child(ren) (I do but sometimes I worry about it). Add to that the feeling that you should be creating so you have something to show off, or feel worried because you've only posted once that week. Phew! So why am I promising to do things on the weekend to show you guys, it seems kind of silly considering my train of thought this morning :) I guess it's hard to break out of your self-imposed feelings on blogging huh? But having said that don't we all like to show off a little, and having a friendly and like-minded audience for it is rather irresistible! I sort of think of it as a replacement for a real-life sewing circle or a ladies' group of yore. What do you guys think? Does blogging sometimes get away from you? Do you find yourself places you didn't mean to go? Or is it all good?
Ooohhh very exciting. I can't wait to browse around to find something really fun and you will be the first to know. I will probably end up getting something for my kids, but sadly not the bunk bed unless there's a typo on the certificate with a few more zero's :)
ReplyDeleteI wish I could start a cool blog but I know I would never have enough time to be consistent, as it is I wonder how you can do it, but please don't stop.
I always enjoy reading your blog and seeing your lovely creations. I agree, there are many things to consider when you begin to blog. And yes, it does feel like a craft circle of remote friends and such a lovely way to connect with what people are doing all over the world. I can get so caught up with reading all the lovely blogs out there! I am just setting out on my own blog adventure and I find it fun, but wish I had more time (cliche I know!) - as well as more time to do the craft that I could then blog about. BTW, I love your banner pic, v.cute!
ReplyDeleteI read Anna's blog too and left a rather lengthy comment :-D I get a bit overwhelmed... like a runaway snowball... but I love to blog and the people I meet and places it takes me so it's all good!
ReplyDeleteI'm finding that I craft to blog now - I feel like I need to try and do more so that I can keep up with my self imposed schedule of 2 posts a week. Sometimes this gets me down but most of the time I find it helps to keep me motivated. Being in touch with the crafting community means a lot to me and being able to give a little back by doing my own blog is great.
ReplyDeleteI totally dig it. I love getting to "know" people and sharing. I love all of the ideas out there and all of the amazing (seriously AMAZING) creativity out there. I struggle with my own insecurities, and I agree about sometimes kicking myself for looking at stats. But (and not to sound too corny here, but you know me), I guess that's just "my journey". I wouldn't be who I am without that competativeness inside of me, so this helps me iron out those wrinkles of vanity while also allowing me to get my craft on. I don't see the problem showing pics of my family, but again, my blog is relatively small compared to some of the others out there -- I can see why one would worry. Maybe it's being from Southern California, where there are so many people that everyone is anonymous, that gives me such a feeling of freedom. No one will recognize me, right? Folks generally don't because that's just the culture here. We're all in our own bubble.
ReplyDeletei had a livejournal too and it was for personal stuff - and especially was a good thing for my lord of the rings sharing with likeminded people - and when i went through my cancer treatments - if not for connecting to people online at that time i would have not made it through in one piece i think. however.. i'm generally a private person and so when i got well again i found it harder to share things. as well, live journal didnt have teh things a techie info junkie like me craves - stats. and a good way to share media like videos and it wasnt intuitive and the extras i paid for the first year were okay etc.. but then i found wordpress and it was ...wow!
ReplyDeleteand so instead of blogging personal stuff (which i do occasionally on my nightmair blog) i began to write - journalist stuff, music stuff.. and i love it. i always wanted to be a journalist or reporter or whatever the term is. i do sometimes find myself places i shouldnt be in terms of blogging - i would love to rip a strip off a record company, or a band, or their mgmt for specifics - but the more you get into the industry and the more you need them to say yes to photo passes and such - the more you have to not 'bite the hand that feeds'.. but it is nice to blog and be able to say things you feel strongly about - and strangers read it and dont get all choked that you dont think like they do.. makes for some interesting comments!
You will be so disappointed with my pick I am sure because at this point I am leaning towards a new non-stick frypan :)
ReplyDeleteglad my post gottcha thinking, I'm glad I thought about it enough and I think I'm just trying to figure out what really makes me happy.
ReplyDeleteumm.. nope :) i dont have work to bitch about anymore.. and i dont bitch about family regardless, so no i dont miss the personal stuff really. and yeah i hate negative blogs too which i think is another reason i dont miss the personal blogging. i can get personal when i choose without having to do it all the time.
ReplyDeleteI thought your comment was spot on (at least I'm assuming you were the
ReplyDeleteJennifer that left it!). It's a really fine line to walk between the
enjoyment of blogs and the time it takes you away from family and your own
stuff.
Oh! Share your blog with me? You should always stick the URL in with your
ReplyDeletename on comments so blog owners can go and have a nosy :) I think it's best
not to have enough time to do the amount of blogging you want to do rather
than the other way around, that you spend more time blogging than you
should. It's a bit of a time suck if you aren't careful :P Says me sitting
in front of my computer at 10pm on a Friday night! But I've just been
sewing and obviously hunching over my work so my back is sore. I have to say
that the sewing machine and computer between them have been very bad for my
posture!
Hmmm...I don't know if you're allowed to spend it on your kids and not you!
ReplyDeleteHave you looked around All Modern or that shoe shop? That might change your
mind :) I think everyone has a cool blog in them, but only some people want
to spend a lot of time in front of their computer. And don't worry, I'm one
of those people and I'm not stopping! I just like to get introspective
sometimes, it helps me keep the blog how I want it to be and not get
sidetracked into something I'm not happy with.
A blog IS a good way to keep motivated, I'm sure I wouldn't have done half
ReplyDeleteas much as I have in the last 18 months if I didn't have a blog to show it
off in and if I weren't reading other people's and getting lots of
inspiration. But like you I have to really fight the urge to make things
just to post about, rather than doing what I want to do and being urged on
by the blog to get my butt in gear and actually do it.
Even though I might bitch about the things I dislike about blogging, they
ReplyDeleteactually force me to take a long hard look at myself and work through issues
so in that way it's good. The stats have made me question myself as to why
I care at all how many people visit, or if my numbers are down and why I get
so excited if they go way up. Like what does it matter? It's not a high
school popularity contest! I'm still working on that one though :P
The whole showing photos of Hazel, using her name instead of just H like
some do, I don't know. On one level it doesn't worry me much but it worries
other people so much that I start to wonder if I'm being too blasé or
something. NZ is a very small country and the whole 6 degrees of separation
thing is down to 2 degrees here. Seriously. A friend of a friend recognised
me in a shop one day as a result of this blog which was funny but it does
make you think. So there are potentially more privacy issues here than there
would be in the States. On the other hand there are probably less weirdoes
in total to deal with. I think if I got up to like a couple thousand
followers or something I'd have to think very hard about these issues and
perhaps go back and change a few posts around if you know what I mean. Thank
goodness it's unlikely to happen! Can't even imagine what the pressures must
be like with a readership like that.
But don't you miss the ability to post about really personal stuff that you
ReplyDeleteknow will only be read by your friends? I can't bitch about work or family
stuff or anything like that because this is a public space. I'm considering
trying to get back to LJ so I can do that, but then it runs the risk of just
turning into a really negative blog and boy do I hate other blogs like that.
Having this one and LJ I could have the best of both worlds.
Actually I wouldn't sneer at that because I really want one too, for crepes
ReplyDeleteand omelettes etc. I keep meaning to go looking for one but never get
around to it!
That's the thing isn't it, just making sure _you're_ happy with your blog
ReplyDeleteand why you're doing it, and to do that you need to work through various
issues that might be getting in your way. I'm sure there are common ones we
all have but there will always be more personal demons to sort out - big or
small. I'm always happy to have a push to make me consider things again in
a new light, or just check that I'm not slipping back into bad habits! So
thanks for the post :)