Better Homes and Gardens, watch out!

Are you kidding me? For a big chunk of this year I was thinking I started blogging in Feb. of 2011. Which would mean of course that anniversary is rolling around and I should come up with something meaningful.

So, came up with a few ideas of what to write while taking a shower this morning. I do all my best thinking in the shower, seriously. My intent was to repost my first post and write up a few things I learned the hard way while playing in the big sandbox that is the international scrapbooking blogging community.

I looked up my first post on my blog just now and got all whoooah nelly on it when I realized I stared blogging Dec. 8th 2010.

I mean, seriously?

How did that happen. Who starts blogging in Dec. just before Christmas?

I am going to repost my first blogged about scrap page the way I would now. BIGGER for one thing. And I may just make fun of the fact that we went to a party at my old college where they have a Quidditch Team like in Harry Potter minus the flying of course. We never had any organized sports when I was there involving broomsticks or dressing up with make up. I can't for the LIFE of me decide whether that is a good thing or bad thing....

However, they did have excellent hot chocolate at this event they invited the public to AND a fireplace with comfy chairs AND taught the kids a few basics for playing Quidditch, so I may just not poke too much fun. I met Hagrid who not only is a ginormous college kid with a real beard majoring in Geology but also detests the same Anthro teacher I did when I was there.  In short, he rocks. Although, like I said, he's not short.

OK:  So a few important things I did wrong on my first post.

I didn't write a darn thing except write about how "we" are working on embossing. I have NO idea who I was referring to. Must have been me since I don't recall doing this page with anyone else.


Don't be afraid to write. It's your blog. If I don't want to read it and just want to skim the photos? That is my prerogative. But, if you don't have anything to read and I want to read, I will be disappointed. Some evenings when I am looking at blogs on my couch, I don't read, I just skim. If it's something I want to really get into, I subscribe via e-mail to those bloggers and enjoy the whole post at my leisure when I have more than one brain cell firing.

Good & large photos are a must. I don't necessarily think my photo above is all that. And, taking a photo of letters coated in silver embossing powder is difficult, but you can still get a close up or two to show off your embellishments....I just cropped this one in Picassa real quick to show you. I'd go deep diving to get this page and take a cool side shot but I am not sure where it's at. Some scrapbook somewhere.

Plan for 2012 is a better bookcase where my scrapbooks are sequential and easy to get my hands on....but I digress...

Rules stink, but you must read them. Color challenges are made for playing along with matching colors, sketches are meant to be followed, and when they say please use this for our challenge they mean it. I have done at least one page this past year where I went to link up to the contest or challenge and realized I failed miserably by not reading the rules. Once I skipped using the SKETCH at Once Upon a.....Sketch. So, it's in the title and I missed the point. Moving too fast, too caught up in creating. Now, me, I don't care. For me, it's all about the page. However, I will say if I linked up and my page was drastically different, I likely would get thrown out of the challenge, plus I'd feel like I was lying a bit. What I did do was fess up and say hey thanks for making this challenge, I did half of it and appreciate all the hard work the blog owner & design teams put into the challenge, their pages, and this blog. Please don't include mine in the challenge however as I know I didn't follow the rules.

Be Polite.  Did you see above where I said INTERNATIONAL? Polite is a nice translation for everything in any country. Yes, I am a native New Yorker writing that. For those of you reading this from parts elsewhere, I guess due to the fact we have this huge city in our State people tend to call us rude. Now, I have been to New York City and didn't think anyone was rude. I may be biased. However, my point was leaving awesome comments, linking back, and pinning people are all great compliments to give and polite.

And my second to last point is: all about community. How many times have you stood in the line at the store and a fresh magazine with a stunning cover jumped into your hand and suddenly you are $5 poorer and ready for a nice snuggle on the couch with your new paper friend?  Currently I get two Better Homes and Gardens publications coming to my mailbox. They usually collect dust while my tablet is used night after night to stalk fellow bloggers. For me, it's all about community. Better Homes and Garden articles are written to make you feel like you can do their easy peasy projects. And that is a good thing. 'Cause if people weren't buying stickers in mass quantities and pretty cardstock, well, we wouldn't have so much great variety.

I myself yearn for more. I like to relate to whomever I am following, the good and the bad. Not too much bad unless you can make it funny. I want to see complicated too! I mean, how am I going to try a new technique that might involve eighteen steps with embossing powers if I don't see it somewhere. Or at least be happy somewhere somebody is using embossing powder, even if it's not me.

And my last point:  Content. The nice part about today is that you are able to subscribe to your own content. Meaning pretty much whatever you are into, there is a blog for that. Or discussion group, etc. If you are blogging you are providing content, just like the $5 Better Homes and Garden magazine you may grab on your way out of the store. (with the minor difference that yours is free)

I like to think of my blog as my very own itty bitty publication. Now, it is possible SOME of the people who stalk me are related to me...hi Dad!  However, I like to think maybe a few of you aren't and might just come here for a quick read because somehow I might be interesting. Or amusing...or maybe you stop in 'cause I am writing about you again!!! :-)


And on that note, someone gave me an award the other day. PitterAndGlink such a fun blog and great for stalking. I started following her when she posted a lamp project that I linked back to. And here is what she says about this award:

From what I read on these ladies' blogs, liebster is a German word that means "dearest," "beloved," or "favorite."  This award is given to blogs that have less than two hundred followers.  The purpose of it is to show your appreciation for other bloggers and to encourage them.  If you are chosen to receive this award, you are supposed to link back to the person who gave it to you and then choose three to five other bloggers to receive the award.

The part that has me stumped is picking JUST 5 Blogs. Or Blobs as I just mistakenly wrote. I think I need to think on it. I may have used up very last brain cell for today writing all that stuff earlier. Anyhow, leave me a comment if you'd like to have this award....and......


Happy Belated Blog-o-versary to me!