... and our First Six Months!

Well, we've been going for 6 whole months! The time has flown by and we can't believe how quickly its gone! Before starting, we brainstormed what we wanted to achieve from our blog and this is what we came up with...

• to share things that have inspired us... 
• to share what we have made and how we've done it...
• to introduce new ideas that we have discovered... 
• to present talented people we know ... 
• to motivate us to carry on making things... 
• to link in with the wider crafting community...

To mark our 6 month blogiversary we thought we would share some of the things we have discovered about blogging along the way! There are LOTS of great posts out there with brilliant blogging tips - we are not trying to recreate these, more just share how we've done things and off you the chance to comment or make suggestions!

For us its all about setting ourselves goals and challenges to keep us motivated - whether its a new stats goal, booking classes, or trying to imitate something we've seen off of Pinterest. In the past 6 months we've learnt how to make Stained Glass, Needle Felting, Patchwork Postcards and Handmade Books
New things we're going to try.... We are booked onto a weekend long Mixed Media Embroidery Course in July!

We have been so lucky to have "met" some amazing friends in the crafting world (although not many of them face-to-face!!) Things we have found that have helped us are Linky Parties, commenting on others' posts, the new ATC swap we are doing, product reviews.
We had both used Facebook before, but since starting blogging our eyes have also been opened to world of Twitter! We also have Flickr, Bloglovin and Pinterest accounts, all which help too - Pinterest is a great way to show your friends what you have done and keep them updated!
New things we're going to try.... Looking into hosting our own Linky Party, as we have lots of crafty friends without blogs, so this could be somewhere for them to share! 

We have had many lovely comments on the clean look of our blog, our use of nice but not "too crazy" fonts and our colour scheme. One of the things that we feel is very important is to truncate the previous posts by adding a jump break before we publish the latest one. That way people can scroll through your older posts more quickly.
Our logo has evolved a teensy bit from our first attempt (we are ashamed to say we published our first post with this!!!):

New things we're going to try.... Design a 'grab my button' logo. We have been a bit lazy about this - do we need one? What are they for?!!

Our biggest challenge at the beginning was how to take good photos when we both work full time, and are compiling our posts in the evenings (we started in Winter!!). Tricks we have learnt are finding the light spots in your house no matter what room, and taking photos in the "wrong" order e.g. the prep ones last by redoing another piece! We've also come to realise the importance of not only taking clear and well lit photos, but also how they are 'staged'. Its amazing how quickly you start to accumulate "props" that  you know will be useful for photos!

New things we're going to try.... Improving our process shots when we're writing a tutorial. AND GET A PHOTO ACCEPTED BY CRAFTGAWKER (we still haven't managed this!)

It's been great having two of us working together on our blog. We have different styles and tastes, which hopefully gives some range and variety to our posts. It also means that there's always someone to talk through ideas, be a constructive critic and offer moral support!! Sometimes 3 or 4 heads are even better, and our guest posts have been really popular! We have however learnt (the hard way) not to edit the post at the same time from different locations... it can lead to confusion!!

New things we're going to try... Take it in turns to post about what each of our 'Obsessions & Distractions' are to showcase more of our individual styles

This can include keeping an eye for new sources of inspiration (i.e. going to craft fairs and spending hours on Pinterest!!). We like to come up with at least a months worth of posts in advance (well, the titles at least!) and plan these, our trips, our making sessions and our classes on our joint Google calendar. We also schedule our themed Twitter hours on this - it helps to remind us of our duties and can always be amended!

New things we're going to try... Planning further ahead to avoid last minute rushes! We're planning on making things to sell at Christmas (for the first time) so should probably start planning now!!

This is what we are both the most proud of! We are incredibly thrifty to the point of ridiculousness and get our supplies from charity shops, car boot sales and eBay. It is amazing how cheap you can get fabric when its old bedsheets, curtains, woolly jumpers or jeans!We have taught ourselves many of the new skills we have learnt and we have embraced "upcycling" which although we have always done, was a new term to us a year ago!!!
New things we're going to try.... Taking this resourcefulness a step further and try making our own paper!

So that's it for our first 6 months, can't wait to carry on! Does anyone have any comments or suggestions for us? We value your honest feedback!