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.
A Creative Mint
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?
Simply Hue
What role does blogging play in your life (either as a blog author or as a reader)? How does it feed you?
A Creative Mint
If you do not yet author a blog…what’s stopping you?
{images: Laura Gaskill}
Hello there dear friends! I had a lot of fun putting together this post – in fact, it was hard to stop fiddling and get the post up, because there was so much I wanted to include! But I am finally ready. This is part of pin it forward, the blogging round-robin created by Victoria of sfgirlbybay in collaboration with Pinterest, around the theme of “what home means to me”…and today it is my turn to share! I hope at the end you will chime in and share what home means to you, I would really love to know!
I am most at home in clean, uncluttered spaces with plenty of white to rest my eyes on…but I could never let my home go completely without color and embellishment! Whether it is a stack of vintage dishes or a pretty apron, a colorful cushion, or even a favorite bag left hanging by the door, little spots of color really cheer me up!
Everyone should have a little nook tucked away somewhere to support your passions, whether it’s for sewing and crafting, writing, reading, or dreaming the afternoon away…
…but of course what really says home to me are the people and pets in it – my sweet husband, our cat, our soon-to-be-born little one, and all of the dear friends and family who spend time with us wherever we are making our home.
It’s the little things – the handmade treasures, the art, the photographs, and the projects that required a bit of my own sweat and hard work that really make a house feel like home to me.
Ever since I was a little girl I have loved spending time at home, especially in my own room. Just puttering around, arranging this or that, lounging in my pajamas, having little snacks and tea and reading books…heaven!
To find all of the links to sources for each of the images I used in this post, see my pinboard on Pinterest. Also posting today are: size too small, krystle rose blog, ladies who brunch, lindsey bee, diana mini love, sunshine on a cloudy day, everything little miss, one sydney road, and hey, lady grey.
Unfortunately, the next blogger listed in my group to post tomorrow doesn’t seem to be a working link (see?) – if you are out there, beautifulordinary, please let me know and I will link to you!! Others going tomorrow include: solstice, beaks, ink and creative inspiration, into blossom, dot girl blog, musings of a melancholic, victoria doramus, the budget bride’s handbook, mirrormirror, and c.city.
And now, if you would like to share…what does home mean to you?
{images: sources can all be found on my pinterest pinboard}
Are you ready for a big dose of glamour? Oh good, so am I :) I just came across Sarah Klassen’s très chic blog Haute Design for the first time (thank you Daniella!) and got lost there for hours – but maybe you already know Sarah and her lovely blog? (If not, you are in for a dreamy treat!) Drifting away into the archives of Haute Design, I begin to imagine I occupy a different life. One in a Parisian flat perhaps, with soaring ceilings and parquet floors and poetic touches like a quotation written in French on a gilt mirror…
A wonderfully romantic world filled with roses wrapped in newsprint and gauzy white summer dresses and exquisite heels…
Of charming inns with secret courtyard gardens, and dressing to the ninety-nines everyday…
…and of idyllic children’s rooms with iron bed frames and vintage curtains drifting in a summer breeze.
Go visit Haute Design to see lots more, and if you would like to read an inspiring interview with Sarah, I really enjoyed this one on Makeunder My Life. I hope you are having a lovely day out there, and I will see you back here tomorrow with a fresh Sweet Obsessions Friday!
{images: Haute Design}
Have you been visiting Greige? It is a lovely blog authored by Interior Designer and Stylist Christina Fluegge (who also runs a design biz and shop), and if you haven’t been over there to visit her you are missing out on lots of eye candy and inspiration! If you love elegant neutrals, lots of texture, and a bit of luxury mixed with flea market finds, I think you will really enjoy Greige. Christina has a wonderful eye, and the interiors she chooses to feature are tightly curated so you are always sure to find an inspiring image. Are you ready to explore? Just sit back, relax, and soak in the beauty…
Spaces like these get my creative juices flowing – aren’t you getting the urge to run down to the flea market to look for treasures? The tagline of Greige reads, “design as intended – unfinished” which is a design principle I can get behind! Ha ha! Designing your home should be an ongoing, enjoyable process as far as I’m concerned, without getting in a tizzy about making things “perfect” or all-new. A bit of roughness adds charm and character :)
Go to Greige to see more yummy interiors, as well as to reference the original sources for these gorgeous images! I will meet you back here tomorrow with a new Sweet Obsessions Friday…and to announce the winner of the Davina + Daniel giveaway – there is still time to enter tonight, so don’t forget!
{all images via Greige}
Hm, want to guess where I’ve been all day? No, not playing hooky although that sounds like a mighty fine idea ;) I have been hard at work revamping my about page – and I don’t know about you, but I found this to be quite challenging! It’s easy to gush about others, but when it comes to ourselves it can sometimes be hard to know what to say – do you feel this way too? Can we discuss this for a moment? If you also author a blog, perhaps you have some experience with this that you would like to share – and if you are not a blogger, the other experience that comes immediately to mind is preparing for a job interview or polishing your resumé – experiences where you need to put yourself out there or even try to “sell” yourself a bit can be scary, no?
I gave myself a “homework” assignment today to rework this page because I know it is so important – not only is it the first place most new readers look when visiting a blog for the first time, but it also is an opportunity for you as the blog author to sit down and think about your intentions for the blog, perhaps even reevaluating what you initially thought your blog would be about! I know that I personally found it helpful to stop thinking of my about page from the perspective of new readers for a moment, and just really think honestly about what I want to get out of my blog, and what I would like to share with others. And I think this can work much the same way if you are preparing for a job interview – instead of allowing your nerves to take over, worrying about what your new potential boss might think of you, I find it very calming to instead think about what you want to get out of the career, and why it would be a good fit for you at this moment.
Do you have any thoughts to add? If you are a blogger, are you satisfied with your “about” page or blurb…or have you been avoiding this section of your blog as well? In the blogging e-course that I just finished, one of the lovely ladies in my group, Jane, said that having a nice about blurb right on your front page is like rolling out a welcome mat – I love that! So I am rolling out my welcome mat, people…come on in!! Take a look at my new-and-improved about page if you like – especially if you are new to Lolalina. And if any of you are struggling with the same issue, feel free to link to your own “about” page in the comments section so we can all help each other :)
{images: Laura Gaskill}
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