My life is to make everything around me beautiful.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

A Few Thoughts About My Blog and Blogging

Aren't these cards gorgeous? I have them in the short hallway into the laundry room and bedroom. I just love looking at them.


I was making things for the new princess to be born in just a couple of weeks. I had this idea for a bib for our soon-to-be-born Miss "A" and got busy on it today while hubs was away.


I made this little bib, booties and shoes for a lady in our ward who is expecting her first girl after having 2 boys. She probably doesn't have a thing froufrou-y with 2 very boyish boys so I had to do something, right? The reverse side is a beautiful pink paisley.





~*~

I travel around the blogs and some things I see just don't make sense. Bloggers who have multiple ads on their blog and don't blog so much as advertise. I guess it depends on what blogging means.

I don't have the energy or the dishes to do a table setting once a week! Where do they find the settings to do it every week? I just bought some plastic dishes from Target and Wal Mart and am loving them but I doubt seriously anyone would want to see them in a table setting.

I see vignettes and tablescapes but don't join in very much because, let's face it, once you've seen my home, you've seen it!

Then I came across a blogger who has some similar sentiments as I do.

My blog centers around home decorating, some crafting (a lot lately!), a few random thoughts about my funny, witty and humorous life and my outlook on life. As with her, my home is the center of my world. As with her, I relish getting my mail in the morning. I want to go out to the mailbox and retrieve it myself. Since being retired, Love Bunny is trying to usurp that from me and I'm rebelling! I told him the mail is my "responsibility." Also if he sees an ad, he'll fall for it and buy something we don't need. I'm the "keeper of the home" in this house. Don't try and take that away from me. I relish my job.

As with her, I have a modest following and have giveaways. I love having them. I also want the people that follow me to have the bigger possibility of receiving the prize. Believe it or not, I had a giveaway once, emailed the woman, announced it on here and she never responded. So I gave it to a friend who I knew would have loved to have it. I'm not going to beg you to take my giveaway.

As with her, promoting myself has always been hard to do but I've sucked it up a bit and asked for help. AND I've received it from some gracious bloggers. I'd promote your blog if you asked me to do it, and I'd do it for nothing! I do relatively few ads and I get a request from several but I don't want it to be about ads. I want it to be easy to read, delightful, helpful, funny, beautiful—because I DO live beautifully.

I love blogging. It's a creative outlet for me as much as crafting and making beautiful things for my home. I love doing the photography because it helps me expand my horizons. I love the writing of the blog itself. It helps me hone my skills, and it keeps my brain active. I also enjoy sharing beautiful things with the readers. I want it to make someone happy and be a visual feast for them.
~*~

30 comments:

  1. Connie - that was a wonderful Post!
    I'm still trying to absorb it all, I agree with so many issues you bought up!!

    Also loved your cards, as for the bib and booties - how absolutely gorgeous, what a lucky little Princess

    Thanks Connie, I enjoyed my visit over here
    Gail xxx

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm always happy when I read your posts Connie. Like you, I cant cope with all the advertising and other things that go on. I'm just a scribbler!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I completely agree with you... my blog is a place where I share whats going on with me... be it good or bad... I gave up my rose tinted spectacles after having my first baby 12 years ago and I try to live and blog honestly... OK I don't photograph my clutter and show off my poor housewife skills I do not have a perfectly maintained house and garden but its cosy and homely and my friend (who is a complete neat freak) loves my home because she feels so comfy in it... so I must be doing something right! lol

    I don't see many people to chat too during my normal day at home and when I do go out I end up being drawn into a committee for this and end up helping out with that within the comunity which gives you the exhileration of being a use to society but exhasted for your efforts... blogging for me is being able to chat to like minded people.. sharing a problem or a joy and there being no (or very little) expectations from said friends... over here in this part of the world we seem to have lost the ability to sit and have a cuppa and a chat without feeling guilty that we should be doing something productive... but I think maintaining my sanity is doing something and leaves me in a productive frame of mind to tackle the everyday stuff that no one ever notices or thanks you for...

    I love your blog just the way it is and you are a wonderful amazing person with so many diffent things to share... big hugs and just keep being you because we love you for it...

    x Alex

    ReplyDelete
  4. great post...and I love your blog--you're a true blogger

    ReplyDelete
  5. Connie,

    The little bibs and booties make me want to have another little girl! Ok, I'm too old but a girl can dream can't she (it's my little girls last week of Preschool and I'm a little sad). I like your blog, you are real to me and I can relate to you. I'm glad you write the way you do because it's like having a conversation with a friend! Thanks again,
    Kathy

    ReplyDelete
  6. I started out with outside ads, but quickly decided that wasn't the way I wanted to go. I wanted to be in full control of what appeared on my blog, so I snatched away the ads. I like having power! :)

    I hope you don't have a problem with awards because I have an award over on my blog that I would love to pass on to you...CC from Lace 'n' Ribbon Roses passed it on to me.

    Sherry @ A Happy Valentine

    ReplyDelete
  7. Connie the bibs and other baby gifts are gorgeous...she will love them! I would be afraid to use the bib it is so pretty because they get SO messy!

    I've discovered that like the rest of things in life people have different ideas and perspectives. A blank blog is shaped and molded an awful lot like a painter takes to a white canvas. To each her own, I say! There are so many out there to choose from. I do enjoy reading your thoughts...keep em comin'!

    Jillian

    ReplyDelete
  8. I am in LOVE with the little shoes/booties! The bibs are darling too!
    Good post!
    I back read as I'm sooooo behind, and I enjoyed those posts as well. I love the lables for love bunny's clothes. :-D
    And I could also live in that little red east coast cottage with the paver sidewalk! (maybe I should paint my nice grey siding red...)heheheheh. I love red! It's my "pink"! lol
    Enjoy your day.
    Mercy
    ooooooo! I do love your eyelashes! I want some too.....and I'm always undone at church, my slip shows, my "under" shirts are always bunched up, my hair stands up in the back, my eyebrows are forests most of the time, so what a lifted eye lash or two? (smiling)
    Thanks for making my day brighter!
    ..........oh ya, I can't show you my house or my tablesettings, cuz I have dust and cobwebs....and dirty windows! :-)

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't do ads, and the only giveaways I do are to support my readers. I only giveaway items that my readers make, such as in Etsy shops. And I usually only do it every 6 months.

    At the CBC, I'm on a panel about finding your blogger voice, and I have seen a lot of blogs take a nose dive because they have decided to forgo their usual blogging to blog about giveaways and sponsors.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh...all the goodies you made are just so sweet! I think the tiny shoes are my favorite and I especially love that each sole is different...when you think about it, the soles of the feet are seen and what a fun way to make baby shoes! You are so creative!

    I blog for fun....love to write, love to take pics and it seems natural to me, if it seemed like a chore, I wouldn't do it! I like other bloggers who make it seem fun, and if there's too much whining or it seems popularity is the only goal...it turns me off.

    I love genuine bloggers and you are one of them...keep it up!
    *Ü*
    Joni

    ReplyDelete
  11. Hi Connie, everytime I stop by I learn something. Today you said what I feel. I don't enjoy all the dishes and such but for those who do that is great. I don't want to fool around with ads. This blog is my journal for my kids. I am having it printed every six months. I love the creativity of learning how to use widgets, gadgets etc. Writing and art and I want it put on my blog for whomever comes by. I am not trying to get a big number of followers, comments or anything else. Tell it like it is.
    QMM

    ReplyDelete
  12. Chickee, this post hit home like a ton of bricks. I get very few followers and I think my giveaways are fair and a little over the top, but like you, I am a giver.. I sure hope it wasn't me that missed being the winner of your giveaway when I had no computer. Ouch, now I am going to cry incase it was me. Love the little bibs and shoes and your beautiful pictures. My sweet pea,Chris, said if she can't have a baby (39) then she will probably adopt, so I started collecting frilly clothes. It's fun, but if it turns out to be a boy,then I will make the things a giveaway and that will certainly be over the top. Visiting you always brings me smiles. Thanks. Love and hugs, Pat

    ReplyDelete
  13. There seem to be a few posts out there about this kind of thing. I just read one this morning. I think there are some of us who are rebelling against the increasing commercialization of blogs. I love yours, I love your outlook on life, your humor and I will keep coming back.

    Love the little baby things you have made, Connie!

    xo
    Claudia

    ReplyDelete
  14. So...why don't you tell us what you really think?? That's one of the things I love about you...you are plain-spoken. I enjoy the less commercialized blogs also. I like to see each individual's etsy shop or photos of collections and crafts. I enjoy sharing mine with those who see the beauty in these things. Unfortunately at this time those people are in blogland rather than in the town I live in.
    I know those little mothers' are going to be thrilled with the cute things you've made for their new ones!!

    ReplyDelete
  15. well said Chick!! alot of those ads host malware that is harmful to our computers anyway..love the bibs and booties you are making.;)

    ReplyDelete
  16. Hi Connie,
    I agree with you wholeheartedly! Ads on blogs are like going to the mall and seeing the same dumb stores- Starbucks, Victoria's secret, The Disney Store.... it's like living in clone world. I much prefer the small mom and pop shops and the "real people blogs" !
    Great job on your little baby stuff- sooo cute!
    Sparkly Hugs,
    Tobi and the Pixies!

    ReplyDelete
  17. Connie, you hit on here what I like about blogging! I blog because I enjoy meeting people with similar interests and even dissimilar ones from across the world. I blog to learn and to laugh and to enjoy people's talents and to visit their homes and more importantly, their hearts. I think giveaways are fun. I think ads are not for my blog. And I would throw you a birthday party like that one if you ever come to Florida, even if it's NOT your birthday! We can have an 'unbirthday' party!

    XO,

    Sheila :-)

    ReplyDelete
  18. Hi Connie, your adorable bibs and shoes are the sweetest things. I love the colors so much. Why does everything have to be pink or blue??? Although, I do love those colors too. Good job Connie.
    I was out of town for 4 days this past week. thus, my lack of visits. I love reading your blog and I gotta tell ya. I dislike the advertising too. I get offers all the time and I don't respond. I am so like you. I blog because I can express myself and share what I love. My family, friends, gardening, decorating and stories. I enjoy comments very much but my reason for blogging is not to have a gazillion comments. I truly try to visit as often as I can and that is not everyday. I wish I had more time to visit but life just happens and I love my life. So that' the facts of my blogging efforts. They are very much like yours. When I am gone I only hope my true blogging friends do not forget me. So far it is all good.

    Love your post today. I am going to your previous post now. Your photo caught my eye and I laughed about your eye lash.
    Hugs to you, Jeanne

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi Connie...Your bibs and booties are as sweet as you! I love visiting your blog and always leave with a smile on my face! Have a wonderful Wednesday~ Ann

    ReplyDelete
  20. Oh my sweetness I looooove these oh so darling bibs and booties...makes me miss having a little one! Simply beautiful!
    Hugs,
    Olivia

    ReplyDelete
  21. ......and I love your blog. don't ever stop!! Did you make your own pattern for the booties and little shoes? they are adorable!

    ReplyDelete
  22. Connie the cards are beautiful. No wonder you keep them up where you can see them! You have been sewing up the cutest little baby things for your new princess. It will be one cute bebe.
    While I don't have ads at this point, I never say never. I do know that for some it brings in more income to the family for those who need it.
    hugs

    ReplyDelete
  23. I think you should open up a business selling those darling baby items. They are so cute and much nicer then anything I've seen in the stores.

    I'm happy you blog about your life. I love reading all sorts of different blogs. If everyone blogged about the same things it would get dull and old really fast.

    Keep doing what you are doing and we will keep enjoying your blog.

    Hugs,
    Joanne

    ReplyDelete
  24. Beautiful pics on the way to your laundry room ~ where did you get them?

    Such sweet baby items ~ especially the new little bibs! Love the booties, too!

    I just can't wait to "meet" Miss A. Did they actually decide yet on a name?!?

    Big Hugs,
    Stephanie
    Angelic Accents

    ReplyDelete
  25. Connie what a great post.
    Love the cards you have there.
    How lucky those sweet new babies will be to get your gifts.
    Alison

    ReplyDelete
  26. no ads for me. that would make it work, wouldn't it?

    That is a great bib. Too freakin' cute! You'll have to follow up with a photo of the baby wearing it once she arrives. (:

    My blog has been sluggish lately -- and the last thing I would do is show my messy table and house ha ha!
    Not one of my interests. (:

    ReplyDelete
  27. Those are such adorable little booties you made!

    I love the photography aspect of blogging and I like sharing what I do around the house and garden since in real life most people I know really couldn't care!

    Well I don't do the tablescapes as that's not how we sit down to eat and I just don't have time to do it just for a post. But I enjoy seeing all the pretty dishes people use and their creative centerpieces.

    Now I am always moving things around and changing stuff up because it's an outlet for my creativity and I get tired of looking at the same stuff! Plus I like to try my hand at making things.

    Personally, I don't care for talking posts with no pictures. But that's the great thing about blogging, there's something for everyone out there!

    Manuela

    ReplyDelete
  28. Hmm, Connie, I think you've blogged about a few issues that I didn't realize I have the same feelings until you spoke it.
    Guess I'll do some culling of my Google Reader.
    I've enjoyed your posts and have wondered about your 'style' and why haven't I acted on my own more often.
    I've been having giveaways as a way for me to return the generosity and
    open-heartedness I've found with bloggers. I enjoy the giving.
    Thanks for giving me something to think about. Again.
    Hugs & ♥♥♥s,
    Gerry

    ReplyDelete
  29. Your so cute, I really enjoy reading your blog. I may not tell you all the time, but I do ENJOY it. Tablescapes? I wish I had the time,and all the pretties that go along with it, week after week. YOur baby items, are so sweet, Love the girlie things.
    Hope your day is beautiful
    Cynthia

    ReplyDelete
  30. Connie
    Keep up the good work. Your blog makes me happy!
    rosie :)

    ReplyDelete

Comments are so nice and I thank all of you that leave one for me.