Over the weekend, I was browsing in the bookstore and I picked up the summer issue of Artful Blogging – have you ever picked up a copy? I must admit it is a little pricey for me, more like making a book purchase, so I don’t buy every issue – but when I do I am always so glad I did! As I was flipping through the pages later that evening it got me thinking about the blogging community and how lucky I feel to be a part of this worldwide creative group. For those of you who are not familiar with the magazine, each issue features brief interviews with a number of bloggers along with images and partial posts – and many of those featured touch on why they began blogging and the unexpected paths they have followed because of their blogs. There are millions of blogs out there, but the ones Artful Blogging chooses to focus on are what they describe as “visually inspiring online journals” – in other words, the kind I tend to like ;)
Bloggers come to this new medium from so many different backgrounds and begin blogging for as many reasons as there are bloggers. Some are artists who speak about wanting a way to hold themselves accountable for making art – and putting your work out there on a blog can be a wonderful way to do this. Others are mamas wanting to record those small, fleeting moments of beauty that may otherwise be forgotten in the course of day-to-day life. There are travelers, students, homebodies, writers and poets, crafters and those of us just looking for a way to add a bit of creativity to our lives.
I thought it would be fun today to open up this topic for discussion, because I would really treasure hearing more about where each of you are coming from!
If you are a blogger, why did you begin blogging? Do you remember the first blog you read regularly that inspired you?
What role does blogging play in your life (either as a blog author or as a reader)? How does it feed you?
If you do not yet author a blog…what’s stopping you?
{images: Laura Gaskill}
Interested? 
{ 19 comments… read them below or add one }
I have three blogs and all of them respond to the things I like to do: take pictures, paint watercolours and write. My first blog was Etcétera, were I write about different things, sometimes poetry, sometimes little stories that come to me when I´m jogging, there are even some articles. My most recent one is the one about my artwork, because I wanted to separate the topics and I also wanted to create a bilingual blog.
I guess I blog because I like to share the things I create and the thoughts I have.
I also like to read other blogs that inspire me.
And I must confess that when little Larinka was born I had to stay home to take care of her and I visited other blogs that share similar experiences about maternity. It was difficult for me to understand that my life changed for ever and I needed to read other stories about that.
There are a lot of blogging moms out there and it is great for me to read them and share a lot of stuff with them.
Well, that´s my story.
Kira´s last [type] ..More Cats & Quilts
Kira – Thank you so much for sharing your story. As a soon-to-be-mama, I already feel so grateful knowing that there is a supportive community of moms out there who I will be able to turn to as I am facing new motherhood.
Ooooh I should check out that magazine, sounds inspiring.
I actually first started blogging in my last year of college, where a teacher created a blog for all of my classmates and I share the process of our work. It was fun, so I created my blog to share what I love and keep myself motivated and inspired. That led me to find other inspiring blogs, I of course first read those of my friends,through links to links I found other blogs and now my google reader is full of amazing blogs just like my book shelve is filled of amazing books :)
Romina – Sounds like that was a great class!
I have never heard of that magazine before. I am going to go out and get myself a copy! I am a fairly new blogger (2 months) and I absolutely love it! I began the blog because I had been reading other blogs for a while and I felt like I could contribute some good ideas and information – I am always a wealth of information for my friends and family on events, new products, artists, etc. Now that I’ve started my blog, I am obsessed! It consumes my mind 24-7!! I’m always thinking about what I’m going to post next! I wouldn’t change a thing about it though.
Shannon @ What’s Up Whimsy´s last [type] ..I Couldn’t Resist…
Shannon – You’ve got the blogging bug! heehee :)
Okay, it’s my turn! ;)
The first blogs I read regularly were decor8 and Creature Comforts, and those two opened up my eyes to a whole WORLD of amazing, creative blogs that I had no idea existed! I read blogs for several years before it even occurred to me that I might want to start my own. In fact, it wasn’t until I moved away from CA to the east coast and was so far from family and friends and unsure of my next steps that I began my first blog (I had a blog before Lolalina).
Over the past few years of blogging (and especially this past year on Lolalina) I have been finding my voice and discovering more about my passions…and an unexpected benefit for me has been connecting with so many wonderful people out there! The friendships I have made through blogging truly warm my heart.
Deare Laura , you have an amazing space here and i am loving it. Such an inspiring post and words! I am a huge fan of stampington publication of Somerset Life and artful blogging! I have yet to pick up their newest issue!
I started my little bubble space along side with my little shop when i drop the gun and made a commitment to give this creative soul inside me a push. My space is like a corner in my little studio, where i could connect and communicate my dream, joy, inspiration, finding my niche, my voice and a place for me to have coffee and tea with my lovely blog friends. A place for me to evolve and shape my creative discipline ~ being very clear, pure at heart and fully embracing and believing in me, myself and i. I’ve felt what it really means to have a blog. I found grace and i found security from a community of people i met on my little space. :)
Have a lovely merry happy day and love to you!
jacqueline´s last [type] ..Happy monday
That is beautiful, Jacqueline!
I love this topic! I started blogging over three years ago as a way of sharing our life in Morocco with our family and friends. I didn’t even think about anyone else visiting my blog! Then I started posting my crafty projects and started meeting all kinds of amazing people… and then I was hooked! My husband and I started our family blog, Traveling Tribe, to document our journey of creating a home overseas. I still love to read my two faves from the very beginning, which happen to be the same as you, Decor8 and Creature Comforts!
Traveling Mama´s last [type] ..history in {hand}
Traveling Mama – What did people who moved overseas DO before blogs? LOL. I dream of one day living in another country, even if only for 6 months or a year…what an amazing experience!
Wow! I had no idea this publication existed, thanks for sharing… I started blogging as my own little hobby to extend several of my magazine collage books i’d been making since I was young into the digital world… I was technically blogging on paper before I started! lol…
Daniella, so glad I could “introduce” you to Artful Blogging, it really is a beautiful publication! And ah yes, collage books…I’ve kept a few of those! And then there were the magazine pictures taped to my bedroom wall, stacks of notebooks and journals, etc. – the pre-blog blog!
Well I read about 10 blogs reularly, but I started blogging about 6-8 months ago as an outlet for the various things i make and create and wanting to be able to share them with friends and family who are now scattered to the 4 corners…
plus i think there might have been an element of “I could do that soooo much better” is that big headed? there are some very weird/wacky/bizarre blogs out there and whilst they are all beautiful in their own way, I wanted mine to be relevant to my community and style…hopefully thats what i am doing…I wanted to put myself out there, and see what happened.
my blog is defiantly in it’s infancy, but i try to take time with the photos and content, and keep it looking pretty!!!
anyway…thanks for your beautiful blog, I always like reading it and looking at all the pretty pictures!!!
Laura,
Thanks for sharing this magazine with us – I’ll have to look for it next time I’m at the bookstore because I had no idea it existed!
I first got into reading blogs back when I had just moved into my first apartment by myself (2007). I was looking for a great armchair for my living room and stumbled across Desire to Inspire. I never did buy an arm chair (haha, even 3 years later, now we just have Ryan’s) but a whole world of inspiration was open for me. Around the same time, I started a weight-loss blog (hahahaha) and used my silly hs nickname, Magchunk, as my online moniker. But I almost NEVER posted because all I could think about were the pretty interior blogs I was reading and saving photos from. So I made the shift to blogger, started Magchunk the blog, and started posting the pretty domino pictures, etc. At some point I realized that I’d rather contribute something new, and in the eight months or so I’ve really tried to move toward contributing my own budget decorating ideas, even launching a small business tied to that. I also made the switch to Maggie Rose, got a business license, and have more plans unfolding!
I think that blogging has really put inspiration and how-to into the hands of people who were tired of reading the Elle Decors of the world – beautiful but unattainable. I actually now prefer design that is more authentic, lived in, and affordable! And I love meeting people (like you!) though the online world.
Maggie Rose´s last [type] ..Oops
Maggie – Yes! I am sitting here nodding my head – you’ve nailed one of the things I find most inspiring about design blogs. Design bloggers in general can focus much more on REAL spaces and attainable, affordable style. When I first stumbled upon decor8 & Creature Comforts, I fell in LOVE with all of the affordable, independent art and design being featured there – it was such a huge and refreshing change from what had been put out there in the glossy world of shelter mags!
Oh, and I should say that all that happened over the course of about two years. But my interiors blog has been chugging along since December 2008!
Maggie Rose´s last [type] ..Oops
Ha! We lived in Spain a few years ago when the internet was still all about websites. It was SO boring! LOL! I’m am so grateful for the information, relationships, and contact that is available these days!
Traveling Mama´s last [type] ..history in {hand}
i have one. that i just started. makes me wonder sometimes if its worth it. sometimes i worry about being boring.
jesslope´s last [type] ..cant win them all