Running With Scissors: March 2011

Upholstered Footstool {Ballard Design Knock Off}

1:27 PM

Where's This Blog Going Anyway

1:02 PM

**I wrote this post way last week, but the baby came early so it's context is before the baby is born, and she's here now, so just to indugle myself--here's another picture of chubba cheeks and her brother (who is adjusting to the new baby amazingly well and exceeding all my expectations I had for him).***

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As I get closer to having my baby, and thinking of the many ways my life will change, I've also been thinking about this blog and how it might change.

I've been posting my projects on here for 4 years now. It started with just showing my mom what I've been working on, and in many ways is still has the same purpose.

This last year it has grown a lot, and it's been so rewarding interacting with other crafty people who share my interests and hobbies, and hopefully giving others an idea they'd like to try themselves. Having the blog has also improved my skills a lot. I've been sewing since I was a kid, but these last few years I feel like I've not only improved, but gained a lot of confidence in myself. I am so impressed with people that start sewing on their own, just figuring it out all by themselves.

I definitely needed my sewing mentors of my mom and little sister before I've tried to branch out. Just having access to their suggestions/ help/ encouragement really pushed me try new things. For example, I would never have dreamt of making myself a swimming suit, but my little sister let me use her pattern and told me I could totally do it. So I gave it a try, it wasn't perfect, but I really liked it.

Then to have motivation to share the stuff I make has helped, and overall, I think sewing is like anything else, it takes a lot of practice to get comfortable and confident. So if you look back, you'll probably notice how crappy my sewing and projects were, and many still are. There's always new things to learn and you get better the more you sew/ create.

It's been interesting to see the craft blog world completely explode in the last 18 months or so. It's great to have so much creativity, ideas, and sharing going on, the vast majority all for free with one another.

It's also interesting to see how many crafty bloggers make it financially profitable.

I don't think my blog is big enough to warrant any sponsorship or financial reimbursement, but I've thought a lot about the direction I'd like to go with it, or what this blog is really about, especially as I approach a pretty major life change with having a baby.

I've been reading and thought about how people make blogs profitable.

But in the end, I think this would end up feeling like a job for me. I hate required work. It seems like I'd feel pressure to post every day, to have projects done just to have something to blog about. Or a lot of financially successful bloggers don't necessarily create, but just run the blog showcasing lots of awesome ideas. But my passion is the creating, not blogging. This is probably why my actual blogging isn't that great. I love to drool over bloggers who have incredible photoshoots at cool locations, and the total presentation is just amazing. But I have too many things I want to make and not enough time, so I just plop the dress on my back fence, snap some photos and move on to the next project.

Plus, I see myself as someone who could try really hard, but in the end doesn't have the talent and entrepreneur skills to really make a blog profitable.

So far, everything I've made is because I want/ need it. I've felt like whether I had a blog or not, I'd still be making all this crap, and it's just fun to be able to share it with people and in return, get tons of ideas from other bloggers out there.

So in the end, I think it will stay as it began. Just my little corner of the blogosphere to share what projects I'm making for my own personal documentation, my mom, and anyone else who would like to look at it.

I have really enjoyed it, and I don't want it to become an advertisement or a job. For me, that would defeat the purpose for having it and smother my creativity.

If I have a busy week or go out of town, I don't worry about having posts ready for my break, I just live my life so there are some weeks where there's nothing new. I guess that's my whole point that's taken me forever here to explain.

My life is what's important, and this blog is just an aspect of my hobby I get to share with other people. I don't think I could really ever make much money from my little ideas to make it worth living my life around a blog I guess, or that I would want to do that...even though I am cheap and money can be a big motivator for me. I'd hate to look back and regret missing moments in my kids life (because I'm a stay at home mom and should be blessed to be there for a large portion) and realize I spent too much time blogging. So the personal fulfillment I now enjoy from the blog gives me balance. I think I could easily allow a drive to be a better, bigger blog take away the freedom I now enjoy with it, and I see mainly my family being the ones to suffer the consequences.

Anyway, you'll probably see a lapse in projects as this baby is going to require a lot of time I used to spend creating projects. Hopefully if you follow this blog you'll feel that's where I should be too and hopefully you'll keep checking in as I'm sure I'll still still feel the need to make something here and there to have some sanity and balance. Some women jog, shop, get a massage, I make things for "me time". So I'll still be here, just wanted to explain where I stood on this blog and what I see its purpose to be...and maybe no one really cares and this was all unnecessary, so at the very least, just so you know mom.

Thanks for all the comments, encouragement, and motivation all you readers have given me to create. I don't thank the people who take the time to look at my projects often enough. I appreciate it.