A Blogger Award

• Thank whoever nominated you and provide a link to their blog.
• Attach the award to the post.
• Write a post to show off your award.
• Give a brief story of how your blog started.
• Give a piece of advice or two to new bloggers.
• Select 15 other bloggers you want to give the award to.  You cannot nominate yourself or the person who has nominated you.  This number seems to be debatable some bloggers do not nominate 15.
• Comment on each blog and let them know you have nominated them.​

I have been doing projects around the house for many years for two reasons. Firstly, I got tired of constantly going to the store to buy things that I didn’t think were worth the money and didn’t fit in with what I had in mind. Secondly, because I didn’t want to throw things away, I wanted to be environmentally friendly.

I was visiting my sons last year in New York, and in the US there are so many yard/garage sales.  I saw a world of possibilities. So much stuff to remake/ upcycle/repurpose.  By this point, I had also discovered blogs on the internet, and in particular Bless’er House, which was the first blog I followed.
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I returned from NY full of inspiration and figured what have I got to lose?  And I just took the plunge, thinking it was just a few posts a week and that’s that!  Hehehe… I was totally in the dark.  But so far, it has been one of  the best  experiences of my life.

If you are serious about blogging as a way to make an income, then you will have to work long and hard.  You cannot look at this as a hobby. You will get back whatever you put into it. Or as a friend says “Blog Karma”.  

My first few months of blogging were spent in oblivion.  I stupidly thought if I put the blog out there everyone would flock to see my projects, because they are so fantastic (wink, wink).  I wrote the blog for everyone –  and me, myself and I and a few family members read it.  It doesn’t matter how great your posts are, you cannot live in a vacuum.  

​That was when I discovered link parties. I  go to many of them and I make a real effort to connect with other bloggers.  So link parties and meaningful comments are very important. I always remember there is another person working hard to create something on the other end of that comment. So I had better show consideration.  Now If I’m lucky, I’ll get a reply. That is how you weed out the bloggers that are meant for you, those will become your friends,  your support system.  And believe me you will need them.  

​I have been blessed to have met a large variety of really fantastic bloggers who have taught me so much and even held my hand on occasion.  I hope I can do the same for others. So if you are thinking of doing Blogging-lite, and expect to get somewhere, forget it. 

My second piece of advice is to find your voice.  Find out who you want to be in your blog and just go for it.  If you have a great sense of humor, put that in.  Some of my favorite bloggers have wicked humor that they use to hilarious effect in their posts.   If you are good at technical things, let it shine through.  I know it sounds cliche, but you have to be authentic when you write in your blog, otherwise you risk getting lost.  Your readers want to identify with one person, not with a brand or a text.  They need to see the person behind the blog. 

Lauren      Bless’er House
​Katerina    Culinary Flavors
​Debbie      Debbie in Shape  
Wendi       H2O Bungalow​
Katrin        Kreative K
Pili            My Sweet Things​
Larissa      My Prodigal Pieces
Sharon      Pretty Practical Home
Keri          Repurposing Junkie
Karen       Run Wright
Debra       Shoppe No. 5
​Suzan      Simply Vintageous
Nicki        T-Shirt & Jeans
Marie       The Interior Frugalista
Nikki        View from In Here

The bloggers I have nominated range far and wide, in topics and in my reasons for  nominating them.  Some are newbies and some have been around for a while.  I even have one or two rock stars in the bunch (you know who you are, don’t try to deny it).  The thing that they have in common is the impact they have had on me and my respect and appreciation for every single one of them.

I’ve nominated them in the hope that you will go and check out their amazing blogs and hopefully introduce them to others.  I’ve also expressed to them that they are not obligated to  participate in this if they are not able to. 

I love it when I get your comments and I will reply to each and every one of them. ​
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