Sunday, May 1, 2011

33 Days, Countless Projects and A Few Steps Down the Road of Life


Today marks my 33rd Blog Post.  I chose to highlight this because for as many years that I can remember, my sister deemed this number her most unlucky number.  At some point in the last decade, she has dropped this mantra.  Perhaps the wisdom of years has amended her viewpoint on the number 33.  Perhaps we will have a conversation today about this......

In the last 33 days, I have logged more words, posted more images and disclosed more details about my life, than I ever thought possible.  The value of this endeavor has far surpassed my initial expectations.  Committing to write publicly everyday is quite the undertaking.  There have been days when I have spent more time proof reading my post than grocery shopping!  Yet, typos, misspellings and incorrect apostrophe usage have slipped through.  At some point, I just throw up my hands, click the "publish" button and move on.  So if I have offended any of you grammar gurus, I appologize.

The biggest surprise has been how much procedure is required within "blog-land."   If you want to grow your blog, and I certainly would like to, you must promote yourself.  One principle way of doing this is to post projects on other blogs that host a "Linky Party."  Finding the appropriate blog is enough work, but once you find one who has readership who might be interested in viewing your work, you have to jump through hoops to post the information.  Then, you are required to add each Linky Party 'button' with a permalink at the bottom of the project post.  The concept here is that if someone clicks on the image of your project and is taken to your blog, that they can return to the Linky Party by clicking on the button that you have placed at the bottom of your post.  Did I just make any sense?  I wonder if this whole thing does make any sense.  Posting on Linky Parties is a super time consuming venture.  I am starting to wonder whether it is worth all the time investment.  I have even streamlined the way I do this, and it is still super time consuming.  Perhaps, after 33 days, I am starting the amend my ideas of what my goals are regarding my blog. 
Latest Project
for Miss Mustard Seed
 

Knack Studios
I have 'met' some pretty cool gals online, who share a lot of my interests.  They live all over the country, some in other countries.  They have inspired me in many ways.  Miss Mustard Seed inspired me to start blogging and was the initial source of inspiration toward the idea of setting up a retail space.  Barb at Knack has this super cool studio/retail space in her hometown in South Carolina.  I would like to have something like her place.  Maybe split the interior, making the front part more retail and the back half a working studio.  It might take me a while to get to the point of doing these things. But at least I am putting one foot in front of the other in that direction.

The past 33 days have been an adventure.  This blog has followed me, kept me accountable and pushed me to work everyday.  In my first blog post on March 1st, What Am I Getting Myself Into, I said, " I am not quite sure where this is going to take me, but I am hoping that it will be the catalyst that I have been looking for to push me on down the road toward that "life" that I know I need to develop."  I can say, unequivocally, that I have been catapulted down that road.  
In the last month I have re-finished 4 pieces of furniture...
 
Cherished Chest of Drawers

Secretary's Desk

Console Table

In process...

...shared with you a few heartfelt stories, some zany realizations 
and showed you some behind the scenes project images...



Giving People Something to Laugh about and....




...embarked on a redo of my master bedroom and bath...



"Before"
 

...documented my Saturday Yard Sale excursions...



Dodging Raindrops and Finding Bargains


...taken you on field trips...



...shown countless little projects...







...started looking for studio space outside my home. 

Phew!  I think I will catch my breath today and rest.  Well.....I probably won't do that either.....after all...I have a 34th blog post to write tomorrow and I gotta get going.........

-The End-

3 comments:

tofubeast said...

This is such a great outlet for you and I love reading this blog!

Lisa said...

ummmmm years yes....wisdom NO...it's still my unlucky number...but it's MY unlucky number and you can't have it...so ROCK ON! Lovin' this blog!

Screaming Meme said...

YOu are BUSY! lol I love it!