I’m in the Bloglight!

So, what the heck is the bloglight? Good question! It’s a fun thing that happens on the hometalk blogtalk (say that 5x fast!) facebook page. It’s fun! Hometalk is a site for everyone blogger and non blogger alike to share DIY projects, questions about DIY, and get loads of decorating inspiration! You can like, share, and comment on posts, and follow people.  You can quickly search for things like kitchen ideas or even how to build a desk. Clearly, I like Hometalk… I’ve done 29 posts on hometalk since I signed up back in August of 2012.

Miriam, the awesome director of community at Hometalk, sent over a few questions for me to answer while I’m in the Bloglight!

1. How did you first get into blogging?

I discovered blog world while reading family blogs, and came across one with links to craft blogs. I was hooked. Seriously, I started C.RA.F.T. the day after I saw my first craft blog, Ucreate. I’m a maniac like that. I was doing projects anyway,  why not share ’em! At the time, I didin’t realize how much extra work that meant. I just figured I’d slap up some pics of what I’m already doing. I think if I would have known how much work it really is, I might have never started. High five (and thank goodness) to being naive!  I started this sucker in February 2010. 3 years ago this month. Ho. ly. Cow.

2. How did you decide on the name of your blog?

Naming things is fun for me. Thus my love for super cheesy valentines, ha! I wanted the blog to be about crafts, why not just call it C.R.A.F.T.! I starting thinking about words to go with C.R.A.F.T. and bam, Crafting Really Awesome Free Things popped into my head. It was Crafting Really Awesome Free Things for about 6 months, but I didn’t want to limit myself to only crafts, I like to create lots of goodies. Trips, recipes, parties, clothes, furniture… I like that Creating Really Awesome Free Things is less restricting.

3. Is blogging something you do on the side, or is it a full-time job for you? What did/do you do for a living?

That’s a tricky question. For the first 2 years of C.R.A.F.T.’s life, I was a full time high school special education teacher. Then we moved to Florida, and I got a part time job as a social media marketer, and did the blog part time. A year later (December 2012) we moved back to Texas, and I’m still blogging, picked up a side job doing social media, and am looking for another part time social media/ blogger relations type position in Austin. Know of any? ; ) Time wise= full time. Money wise= part time.

4. What was the first project you ever posted?

This is an embarrassing question. Well, not the actual project, but just looking back at old posts. I took pics on my camera phone (usually only one picture per post) and used a bazillion smileys (I’ve since deleted a few, ha!). The first post, was this canvas wall art. That same canvas has since been changed at 3 times (see more of the canvas drama). I like to think I’ve gotten a ton better at explaining myself (verbally and visually) in the past 2 years. Tackling the dslr camera and the big mean M (manual) setting is what I’m working on now. One day, I’ll get really brave and open up photoshop. Eeek.

5. Which project has brought you the most traffic to-date?

I wish I could say it was one of my projects, but the my most viewed post on C.R.A.F.T. is a round up of DIY adult Halloween costumes. The second most viewed post on C.R.A.F.T. is kind of one of my projects. It’s actually Andy’s genius. It’s how to fix a broken/ cracked iPhone screen. Just for fun, here are the top 10 posts on C.R.A.F.T. in 2011 and here are the top 10 posts on C.R.A.F.T. in 2012.

6. What do your friends and family think about your blog? Do they read all of your updates? 

Blog? What’s a blog? That’s what a lot of my friends say! It’s really hard explaining to people why I spend so much time on my computer and why I take pictures of everything, ha! My mom kind of reads C.R.A.F.T. and one of my little brothers really likes when I do Creating Really Awesome Free Trips posts. So, he’ll read those. I think some of my friends read every now and then or get updates on C.R.A.F.T. facebook. I don’t want you to read C.R.A.F.T. if you don’t want to. If you’re not into DIY, this blog is probably pretty boring for you, and I understand. We can still be friends even if you don’t read C.R.A.F.T.!

7. Do you stick to a strict posting schedule? How do you keep track of when and how often to post?

Like I said above, I’m a maniac! Andy doesn’t call me Luna (short for lunatic) for nothing! I use good ol’ pen and paper to keep up with all things blog (I did a whole post about blog organization). I don’t have a strict schedule, but I usually post a minimum of 4 times a week. Monday is Monday Funday link party (used to Making Monday Marvelous), Tues.-Frt. is crafty stuff, typically with one sponsored post thrown in somewhere.

Start a blog today. Now.  Don’t think about it so much! I tell everyone to start a blog, why not? It’s fun, and you can blog about anything (and eventually even make some extra bacon)! And while you’re at it buy your blog url, get a fb page, twitter, pinterest, instgram, and google + account. Oh, and then please install google analytics on your blog from day 1! Now assuming you started your blog because you truly love the subject and have the social media in place, my one piece of advice is to get out there and meet other bloggers in your niche. I wish I would have done this sooner. Go to blog conferences, look for local blogger facebook groups, join hometalk, attend meetups about blog related topics, and build real relationships! It makes blogging that much more fun.

*In other fun news, there is a Home Depot Do-It-Herself Workshop twitter chat happening tonight (February 7th) at 8p EST. Use #DIHWorkshop