Introducing: The Push-Up Bra Approach to Blogging

Hello you.

Do you have a blog?

Do you wish you had the time or inspiration to blog more often?

Do you keep promising yourself you'll blog more regularly?

Do you wish you could blog as confidently as some of the bloggers you admire?

Well ... allow me to introduce something which might just help you out ... The Push-Up Bra Approach to Blogging:

It's my brand new blog series aimed at giving a pushed-up and padded boost to those of you who like the idea of blogging ... but who, from time to time, feel a little, well ... flat.

 

Now, seeing as you've already seen it in its bra, I really ought to help you get better acquainted with the series by pre-empting some of your questions. Here goes:

Q: Is it free to access?

• Yes. 100% cash free.
• However ... if you read it and enjoy it then:
• I'd be so grateful if you would consider making a donation to Save the Children via my Just Giving page. There'll be a link  over in my sidebar >>> right throughout the series.
• And, the same goes for you if you've enjoyed any of my previous free blog series ... if you can, please consider a small donation to a worthwhile cause.
• I've set the target at £500 which, while it sounds like a lot, I'm pretty sure we can reach if we all just throw in a small amount each. Thank you in advance .. now back to the series ...

Q: Where did the idea come from?
Almost 2 years ago now I delivered a free 8 part series called Tips for the Design Team-curious which,  as you might well have guessed from the name, consisted of tips for anyone wanting to try-out for a role on a creative design team.

If you read the series at the time [or if you manage to catch up with it now here - it's all still available] you may have detected that, while the series undoubtedly does what it says on the tin - offer tips to how you get on a design team - it wasn't my one and only purpose for putting it together.

Much of the content [including ideas on improving your photography skills, raising your confidence and experimenting creatively] was really meant to be taken on board to help you boost your work first ...

... and if getting on a design team came as an added bonus afterwards, then good for you! But it wasn't my only focus.

No, the main thing I was encouraging you to promote with that series ... was you.

So much so in fact that I concluded with the idea of you becoming your own design team, of putting all the creative energy you would spend working for someone else's blog ... into your own.

And it's precisely that idea which led me to createThe Push-Up Bra Approach to Blogging which is aimed at anyone who wants to both put more into and get more out of their own blog.
 
Q: Will it cover setting up or tinkering with the look of a blog?

• No.
• It's not an exhaustive How To series [which doesn't mean I haven't been occasionally exhausted writing it!]
• It won't go into how to set up a blog or how to use coding or anything technical. [However, hundreds of tutorials covering all those things are only an internet search away if that's what you need.]

To continue with the bra-themed metaphor you should think of it this way ...

• I'm not going to be teaching you how to make a bra ... just how to wear one to your best advantage!

The majority of the content will be about ... content.

I will share tips on what kinds of things you could blog about and how to pad it out without having to radically change your offline lifestyle.

• In short ... it's about how to make the most of what you've already got!

Q: Will it only be useful for crafty-bloggers?

• No, I think it will have a wider appeal ... however ...
• as I blog a lot of crafting projects myself ... then some of my advice will inevitably be based around those experiences.
• But, wherever possible I will be offering alternatives for those who don't make a lot of things ... if anything.

Q: Who are you to tell me how to blog?
Firstly, wow, why so hostile? Weren't you ever taught about what to do if you can't say anything nice?

And secondly ...

• I'm a big believer that most advice is autobiographical ... and that's where this series finds its focus.
• I'm not going to claim any wider, higher or more scientific basis for my tips other than ... they're mine. From my point of view.
• While from time to time I’ll probably dabble in grand suggestions and highfalutin ideas ... in the main I’ll be talking about practical ways of working that have helped me blog regularly for the last 4+ years.
• Ultimately I’ll be relying on knowing what works for me … which certainly may not work for you. And that's OK. For both of us!

Q: Why should I aspire to blog more often? Some people have a life y'know?
Seriously ... have you thought about getting those hostility levels checked? I'm getting worried about you. Maybe it's an allergy?

But ...

• I really won't be evangelising about how you all MUST blog more often, but if that is what you want to do ...
• ... then there'll certainly be enough material there to assist you do just that.
• And 'more often' doesn't have to equal 'a lot' or 'every week day' or 'a serious blogging addiction'.
• If you usually blog once a month and then after following the series you end up blogging twice a month ... then that still counts as more often!!
• Much of the content will cover creating a pipeline, a work flow, a form of structure and organisation around your blogging life - which YOU decide how to put to use and how frequently.

Q: I couldn't care less about blogging and don't like the sound of any of this. Can we still be friends?

• Aw, go on then. I won't hold a grudge. [And if you go put the kettle on that'll sweeten the deal].
• It will stretch across the coming month or two.
• But, I'll be blogging some of my usual content in between these posts - it won't take over completely.

And, honestly ...

• If you don’t think that these posts are going to be useful to you or that it’s not something you’re interested in ... then you're probably right.
• You know you better than I do.
• I won't be trying to convert anyone who doesn't want to be converted.

It's all a 'pick n mix' thing: take what you need. Spit out the rest. [Like when you find the coffee-flavoured one in a pack of Revels. Or the liquorice Jelly Bean].

Q: Will there be nudity?

• No!
• In fact, other than the one in the logo there won't even be any bras.
• No ... hang on ... just because there won't be any bras ... it does not mean there'll be any flesh on show. [And if you can't find those sort of images elsewhere then you're using the internet wrong.]
• p.s: is that really all you wanted to ask?

Q: Will I need to crack open a brand new notebook in order to make notes and keep track of all my favourite tips?

• Absolutely!
• Do not hesitate to do so.
• In fact ... why are you still here? Go! find a fabulous notebook NOW! [You've probably got one on that shelf over there haven't you?]

And finally ...

Q: When does the pushing-up commence?

• Well, we've already begun haven't we? I'm continuing to write the posts and you're off looking for that notebook ...
• But later this week I'll post the first of our alternative, practical approaches to getting more from your blog ... and watch-out ... because it's starting very close to home ....

See you there my lovely push-up-bra bloggers!

Julie :-)

Simply A Moment [March]: What? None? As in 'none'?

Hello.

I really don't feel like I've been blogging as much as normal which is ironic ... because I'm currently writing a new blog series all about ... blogging more often ...

Ahhh ... the blogging gods are clearly having kicks at my expense right now!

However, I am determined to keep up with the 'Simply A Moment' meme created by my wonderful blogging friend Alexa in which she encourages us to, once a month, record in detail, a moment which could otherwise have passed by without comment.

To learn more you can read Alexa's tips on how to record your own moments and view her most recent Simply A Moment post here. If you do join in there's a link box there for you to add your post.

And now here's mine ...

What? None? As in 'none'?

Date: Friday 15th March 2013
Time: around 9:50am
Location: at home, at my work desk, eating porridge + blueberries with a cup of tea

None?

None? As in 'nothing'? At all?

How can I have had no - zero - emails overnight?

I press the send/receive button once again because, let's face it, there must be some mistake. Surely?

But the word 'complete' appears and no new messages emerge. So that's that cleared up then. No mistake.

I must admit though, it does make a welcome change from the dozens of SPAM blog comments which have been arriving, unrelentingly, overnight for the last few months ... all labelled 'Anonymous' and laying in wait for me with their mix of bizarre non-sequiturs, mangled English, random links and obscene phrases.

 

[If nothing else the latter kind have taught me that even when I can't identify the language the message is written in ... there are certain words which are recognisable just the same.]

 

I begin to wonder if moving my SPAM filter settings up to 'High' is beginning to work then ... which reminds me ...

 

... I'd better go check the SPAM folder to make sure there aren't any decent messages

trapped in there rubbing shoulders with the indecent.

 

No. No one's in there. Or, no one who shouldn't be. Just a lot of Anonymous-es and so I hit the wonderfully titled 'Delete Forever' button on them all.

 

'Delete Forever': a splendidly vehement sentiment. Pressing it feels like a small act of vengeance.

 

The laptop has been making a constant humming sound since I turned it on today. A sound like it's constantly, incessantly, processing something.

 

Outside the wind blows against the window in much the same way.

 

Behind me the radio is distracting more than entertaining.

 

It's time I started working. But first ...

 

... a glance to see if anything new has landed in my inbox ...

 

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Thanks for taking a moment to share in mine, and don't forget to swing by Alexa's for links to more.

 

See you soon.

 

Julie :-)

Scrapbooking ... an unlikely double

Hi, hi.

I did something I don't normally do.

No, I didn't run through the park with gay abandon surrounded by enthusiastic dogs nor did I utter the phrase 'You know what? I don't think I need to buy any more boots this year'.

No. I did neither of these unnatural things. But what I did do ... is this:

I made a double-page scrapbook layout ... and for me, that's almost as unlikely as either of those other things I mentioned.

I've been scrapbooking for around 6 or 7 years now and filled numerous albums with page after page of 12x12 layouts but ... off the top of my head, I can count on one hand the number of double-page spreads there are amongst my scrappy back-catalogue.

So, what led to this deviation then?

The thing is, I had quite a few photos from a fancy Afternoon Tea-time my friends and I indulged in last year.

Too few to make a mini-book ... but, equally, too many to fit on a single page ... and so the Goldilocks option turned out to be a double-pager. Who knew?

The eagle eyed amongst you will already have spotted that I didn't use the same background paper across the spread proving that, unsurprisingly, I've never originally intend this to turn out as a double.

To give me my due ... I did use the two closest matching single sheets I had, then I kept the continuity going by using the same patterned layers [American Crafts' 'Ready Set Go'] and adding a few mirror-image areas to balance the design across the two.

But I'll admit that it all felt a bit strange, especially when adding only half of my "What Say We Make This A Tradition" title to one side ...

 ... while finishing it up on the other:

 Yet ... you know what they say ... the more things change, the more they stay the same ...

... and so I managed to find room for some choice snippets cut from an old dictionary and an old school textbook [on the page above] and then here ... no prizes for guessing who wrote the book from which I snipped this perfect phrase:

So tell me ...do you do doubles?

If so:

•  do you make them for a specific reason eg: to fit in X amount of photos / to fit in large photos; to tell a longer story? etc etc
• or do you make them out of habit? Just the same as my habit is single pages.

And if not:

• Why not?
• Do you find them too big? Too 'traditional'? Too unruly? Too much work?

I'm already wondering if there's a recognisable 'double-page' type of scrapbooker or scrapbooking style out there!

I'll be waiting to see how you all reveal yourselves ...

Julie :-)

Overheard: Ssssshhhh [one for the mothers].

Hi you.

As it's Mother's Day [here in the UK] I thought a parenting themed overheard might just be the thing to share today.

And it's a recent one too [proving that, just because I don't share many overheards on here ... it doesn't mean I've stopped listening ...]

When: Saturday 16th February 2013
Where: WH Smiths [book shop]

Who: A mother with 3 small children [all under 7-ish] spent a good while browsing through the children's books. Then, when they'd made their selections they walked through through the shop, past me, towards the till, which is when I heard the oldest child asking her mmother ....

Child 1: Is this a library?

Mother: No.

 ... and then, and you could almost hear her brain working, she uttered this piece of perfectly expressed children's logic:

Child 1: So ... can we be noisy then?

I think she might grow up to be a lawyer.

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I'm the giggly one on the right.

And to my own mother, who's probably had to deal with me being noisy in a library at some point ... Happy Mother's Day!

Julie x

My Month in Numbers 2013: February

Hello, hello.

Well here we all are again, counting the moments that count.

It was fun to see some debuts and some grand commitments to a year of Month-in-Numbering being made last month. You're all very welcome ... and I'll always forgive you if you don't manage every month in 2013 like some of you have pledged to do.

And if you just feel like joining in as a one-off then feel free ... I don't take a register ... I just enjoy your company on the occasions you can make it!

And, fortunately ... I managed to write a post myself this month [I'd be setting a poor example otherwise!] ... and here it is:

 3 = hours spent applying make-up, experimenting with vintage style hair-dos and attempting to follow jive-style dance steps at a 'Rockabilly Rosie' workshop:

2 = the number of victory rolls I managed to pin into my hair [above] after much twiddling, spraying with hairspray and assistance from the 2 extra hands of a big sister who knows what she's doing.

 

It was such a fun day, held in an arts and community space which was once a church hall and what with the surroundings and the hair, make up and music I felt partly like I was an extra from the set of Foyle's War and partly like we'd wandered into a tea break from when Grandma worked in the munitions factory during WW2.

As for the dancing part of the day .. well, I think it's  safe to say that we both knew our way around an eyeliner better than we do our right and left feet. All of which led to conversations such as:

Big sis: Do you know what you're doing? Because I don't.
Me: No. Not a clue. Just keep bouncing and moving and no one will know!

2 = the number of recipe books referred to during the making of a Valentine's night meal. Clearly I wasn't in charge of proceedings. I don't really do recipe books [I'm more of a 'throw stuff in' or 'just assemble things on a plate' kind of cook].

I did however do a mighty good job of stirring the a risotto James began making. And he would actually have made it all himself if I hadn't decided that we should have a dessert too - so he turned his attentions to that instead.

As our menu consisted of risotto and Prosecco ... I felt like it would only be fitting if we had a dessert ending in 'o' too. So we got the recipe book out and made ... Nigella's Dense Chocolate Loaf Cake-o.

OK, so I might have added the 'O' there ... but still ... I definitely made an  'Oooooo' sound when I ate it!

Just the 1 book read this month = Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch which was wonderful.

I know some of you like to follow up on book recommendations, so it might be useful for you to know I've been adding mine to a 'Books Read in 2013' Pinterest board I've made for myself. If you're on Pinterest too you could just repin them on your own 'Books to Read' board!

And I really do recommend Jamrach's Menagerie, despite a large proportion of the book being set on the high seas .... and I'm not a fan of the deep at all!

I don't want to give anything away but just be warned ... one night, after reading it before sleep, I dreamt of trying desperately, desperately, desperately to find some fresh water to give to a bird I'd rescued ... which then turned into a big fat fly.

I can't say this will happen to you ... but don't say you weren't warned!

£0.16 = the fine I've acquired on an overdue library book. Not the book above, but another I'm only part of the way through.

I couldn't tell you when I last had- if ever - a library book fine! I was horrified to realise I had forgotten to renew it.

*Turns away thoroughly shame-faced* *Tries especially hard to avoid eye contact with Sian*

10 = the number of items made featuring cork for an upcoming issue of Papercraft Inspirations magazine [Issue 113].

I've designed for the '10 Ways with ... ' feature many times now, and on previous occasions I've come up with 10 different ways to use: decorative pins; paper straws, cupcake cases, ruffles and more ...

And it's still always a creative challenge. As it should be! But, let me tell you ...

... you don't realise how big a number 10 actually is ... until you're on project number 5 ... and there's still 5 projects left to think up!

It's like a crafting decathlon.

Perhaps I should think about getting sponsorship from an energy drinks company? Or better still ... a  shoe manufacturer ...

£13.50 = the price paid for silver boots in the sale. I have a thing for metallic footwear and I've had plenty of gold and silver shoes in the past, but these are my first silver boots:

Aren't they special?

Now if only I had a silver bag or two .. or three ... to coordinate with them. Oh wait ... I do!

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OK then, those were mine. How about yours?

• If you're happy just to read my vital statistics for February 2013 then that's absolutely fine .... but ...
• if you want to join in you can visit the Month in Numbers details and browse tips on how to join in here;
• And ...if you do want to join in ... and you'd like for me to pin your post to the Month in Numbers Pinterest board [currently followed by 557 people which, stats fans, is 22 more than last month!] then ...

Here are the usual notes to consider:

 

If you write a Month in Numbers post of your own and want to leave a link for myself and others to come and visit then please bear in mind it's more fun if it's a shared experience.

• When you swing by my blog to drop off your link then please leave a comment for me while you're here. Not because I'm needy ... but because it feels fair. Reciprocal. Please don't just paste and run!
• Please link to my blog in your post. As much as I'd like to think that everyone who reads your blog already knows what 'My Month in Numbers' means... the truth is, they don't. So unless you explain where the idea comes from and how your readers can join you in doing the same next month, they are none the wiser.
• Please take time at some point in the month to visit and comment on a few of the other posts too.

But most importantly ... remember to tell the story of your month ... in your words ... for you! 

And one final note [before you think I'm ignoring you!]:

• I will be away from my computer Friday - Monday so I won't be able to read any posts, leave any comments, or pin any posts during that time.
• But I will see to all that when I get back online after a long weekend away with friends. [Once I come down from the inevitable crafting-and-getting-all-my-meals-made-for-me induced high].

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See you all soon, my lovely monthly-moment-counters.

Julie :-)

for-4-days