some bloggin advice.....

so now that A girl and a glue gun is a YEAR, I am an expert and want to share all that I have learned....

not to the expert part.  

I am in no WAY AN EXPERT ON BLOGGING don't think for one minute I actually know what I'm doing..cause I DON'T. but I have learned a few things along the way that has made my life easier...and blogging more fun! So I thought I would share for any newbie blog that is trying to get started


1. GOOD PICTURES.

Super important. you all know i'm obsessed with sytyc...when I would be picking my favorites to blog about...I had a few I loved...but the pictures weren't that great...so I wouldn't include them. Pictures are everything.  I TAKE ALL MY FINAL PICTURES OUTSIDE (or I open the door and put them right by it when there's snow on the ground...or I put them by the window. Natural light rocks. some people have fancy pancy cameras...and know how to use them. But I don't. I don't take every picture of me doing the tutorial outside..cause let's get real....mostly I craft at night while my kids are sleeping.

(see..you get a LOT of carpet shots!)

but i try to get as clear as possible and a really good shot of my finished product..

kitchen floor right by the back door!

I read this blog

(notice the button on my sidebar)

cause A. she has big hair

B. she is hilarious

and C. her pictures are toooo die for awesome! (please see the following 3 pictures as examples)

 I have to tell you... I hate tomatoes...but don't these just look awesome!

mm scrap shoppe shows you how to make a light box so you can take some awesome pictures during the freezing cold winter months...and this is great if you are a late night crafter!

go here

and I am momma gives some great tips HERE

2. PRETTIFIY YOUR BLOG:

I don't know alot...I actually hired a girl creative to make my blog over...(and didn't she do a great job!?)

but I do know this: make it look nice.

and I will share the tips and tricks I have learned tomorrow! (sorry..but this post is LONG enough!)

3. LINKY PARTIES ARE YOUR FRIEND.

I would join 10 LINKY parties a day starting out. It gets you out there...and people over to your blog.

all my SHOUT OUTS SUNDAYS I get from linky parties. I just scroll through to see what catches my eye.

( a girl creative has an ongoing list of linky parties....(go HERE)

I actually stopped joining the "friend" parties..cause I felt like people were only following my blog so I would follow back...I kinda just wanted to people to follow me cause they liked what the saw...so keep that in mind when joining (also...most linky parties have rules like linking back to them! so make sure you do or you will be deleted!)

You can also send in submissions to Ucreate, one pretty thing, someday crafts etc...   Ucreate posted about my animal scarf

and I got 500 views from that one little post

(one pretty thing is the winner with almost 3,000)

and I got a ton over from http://www.soyouthinkyourecrafty.com/

so entering a competion is always an idea! there are a lot of parties out there (csi project, crafting with the stars, diy club) and if you win you get prizes..that my friends is what we call a WIN WIN!

4. LEAVE COMMENTS

When I get comments... I usually stalk the people and go look at their blogs.  (i'm not just saying this so You will leave me more comments....

i'm not discouraging it though)

also..I love when people have their names  with their blog names like kimbo@ a girl and a glue gun...cause I know right off that i'm not snooping in someone's family blog.

and another word on comments...you can never leave too many. I feel like a special bond with the people who leave me lots of comments (libby, tiggerific, RTSM) I have never met these people but I feel like were friends. right? we are friends?.

(I have gotten some of the nicest emails that I have saved and printed out put in my journal!)

5. BEEEE YOURSELF

The most comments I get is usually when I tell a story or I spout off about real life things. People relate with that.

 I will always leave a comment when I read something and it is totally something I agree with! 

go read the indiana jones whip comments...(I posted a picture of harrison ford as a young man....and then I got comments about how he still is hot....so is sean connery like a fine wine.. and then other weird names that people have named their kids...lol!)

and go back and read my first few posts..they are kinda awkward....it took me awhile to find my groove!

6. STEP BY STEP

I am not the best at remembering to take step by step pictures...but I try very very hard! I think it's important to show as much as possible (unless you aren't doing a tutorial that is!) I hate when I see something I love at a linky party...and I click over there and that is all I get....just the picture!

Even if it's something you made previously...you can still try to give a general explanation

this advent calendar was made a year or two prior....but I took pictures of each thing so you could at least see what I was talking about (I'm a visual person...I usually can just see something and go from there!)

7.LOVE IT.

I love to craft.

I love to blog

these two have combined into pure love that can only be topped by the birth of my three babies. (oh, and one marriage)

(ps..i have no idea where i got this picture from..if it's yours...let me know so I can link up to you!)

I love it.

BUT it is time consuming. really time consuming

so make sure you love it.

If you treat it as a chore...it will come across on your blog!

love it and have FUN!

(I am so thankful that my husband completely supports me (i'm talking money wise...and just plain letting me blog ALL DAY) so I can spend all this time and effort doing it! I don't know what I did before blogging!

8.POSTING:

I am momma hear me roar posted about how she makes a post...(click HERE)

she does it a bit different than me...but the way I do it is a HOT mess!!!!! So I won't show you. I am usually working on 5 projects all at the same time...it's what i like to call a creative mess....but it works for me!

I try to have set times to get it done in..it can consume your WHOLE day if you let it!

I have to sit in my daughters room to make sure she naps

Proof:

so I blog

and I have to sit outside the doors at bedtime..

so I blog

 (thank goodness for laptops!)

I try to get all my necessary stuff done first and then at night or when I have spare time I edit pictures and start posts and check out linky parties.

I start posts as soon as I start the project....currently I have 56 drafts. some are done...some need final pictures..some are projects I don't LOVE but if I ever fall ill than I will at least have SOMETHING to post about and some are just a few sentences cause it's something funny that I didn't want to forget!  I like there to be a surplus...cause if you are planning on doing a craft and then  posting something the next day and you end up taking a trip to the doctor (just saying as an example....not speaking from personal experience) then you have nothing to post.  Everything I blog about has been done at least a week prior.  it's just a matter of picking what I want to post about each morning!

which brings me to my next paragraph.......

9. POST A LOT!

I have had bloggers in my sidebar that I have deleted cause they didn't post in over  two weeks.

(okay....and maybe I post too much...)

but if you have like 3 posts a week...I at least know you are still around!)

I like to have new things to read

it doesn't ALWAYS have to be a craft....like,

dear husband suck it.

four words...that's it!

just give me something!

being regular is a good thing!

eat some bran and get regular!

10. ORGANIZE!

Make sure people can find your stuff. I have a tutorial button (which took me FOREVER! I wish I would have started it when I started my blog) I also have a list down my side bar and I think google offers you a search box. My first time over to VINTAGE REVIVALS (I love mandi's guts) she had a picture of her favortiest projects down her side bar

(yes, she is homemade fireplace girl)

and I had featured like ALL of her crafts

(but they were through crafting with stars so I didn't even know!)

 

ALSO:

The widget at the bottom of your page that says

is freaking awesome! If I go to someone's blog from a linky party and then see something I like from this tool...I will just keep clicking and clicking and clicking

(and another note:  if you have this feature...it helps to put your final picture first in your post so that is what will show up on the widget!)

go here to get that widget:

and turn off your verification thing for comments. 

I hate it.

with a passion!

come back tomorrow to prettify with me!

Here are some other place I have found with some GREAT blogging tips:

http://sceneofthegrime.blogspot.com/2011/01/building-better-blog-bit-by-bit-tips.html

http://libby-bonjour.blogspot.com/p/tutorials_06.html

and http://www.733blog.blogspot.com/  click on blog help at the very bottom.