Make, Do, Sew - It's my 1st Anniversary

It's official, I've been blogging for one whole year with this passing week seeing Make, Do, Sew's first anniversary.  What better time to reflect on what I have learnt so far.

I started blogging accidentally. I returned to my lecturing job from maternity leave and was in charge of teaching a group of fashion promotion students, not a problem usually. However I soon realised I was out of touch, they were discussing Tumblr, Blogger, Vimeo and Twitter, 'what are they talking about?' I thought and more importantly 'I need to learn about this stuff if I am to keep up with them'.

One of the students initially showed me Tumblr, this seemed straight forward enough, post images, share images, like images, follow, etc.  This then led to me opening up a blogger account and posting my first ever comment:

"This is my first attempt at blogging, I am not sure how this blog will evolve but I am going to enjoy learning the ropes".

This first tentative step led to my blog growing and evolving, I've have met so many lovely people and learnt so much.  So here are my 'lessons learnt' so far.

Frequency - only post as often as your lifestyle allows you. I aim for 2-4 posts a week.  Blogging for me is a hobby, I don't want it to become a chore, it should be fun!

Content - what is your blog about, craft, cooking, fashion?  Mine is an eclectic mix lending itself to the 'lifestyle' genre.  This enables me to blog about a variety of subjects that interest me.

Design - It took me a while to find my feet, I changed the layout, name, fonts, images and colour scheme numerous times before I settled on my current design. I'm sure it will continue to morph and evolve just as we all do in life.

Writing - my blogging 'voice' is still developing, initially I felt very self conscious when writing but as my confidence has grown so has my narrative.  I try to make sure that my posts are clear and concise and reflect me and not a pseudo persona.  I think it's vital for a blog to have integrity.

Links and credits - it's always important to give credit where it's due, if I use an image, recipe or idea from another website or book I always link or credit my source.  Not only is it professional but it's polite too. Most are happy to share freely but a quick email asking permission is sometimes requested.

Comments - in order to grow and improve it's always good to read and comment on other blogs.  I love it when people comment, it's such a compliment and really appreciated, it's nice to give those positive feelings to others by commenting back, even if your comment is just to say 'I really liked that'.  I try to put time aside each week for reading others work and always comment on what I've read.

Get involved and join in - being a member of Pip Lincolnes blog school, having guest bloggers, being a guest blogger and joining in Craft Blog UK's (CBUK) web chats have been an inspiration and a great source for learning new stuff whether it be technical info, up and coming events, link ups, post ideas or simply meeting other bloggers, getting involved is a must.

My blog is not a business it's a fun hobby that I utilise in many ways, it's a creative endeavour, it keeps me challenged, it is used as a teaching tool at work, it's a networking device and most of all it gives me satisfaction.  If this blog one day opens up a new career path or creative opportunity I would be over the moon, but for now I'm happy with what I have, a simple blog called Make, Do, Sew (Ahem! name drop!).

P.S. Yes, I really did make that cake, sad I know!

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