Changes in Blogging from 2007 Till Today
Being an old girl on the blogging network, things kind of pass me by! technology moves so fast these days that I rarely can keep up with everything! we all have busy lives…some of us are computer savvi whereas others aren’t! I used to be very interested in blog and web design and although I still am…it all baffles me and I just can’t stand the pace anymore.
Blogging has changed in the 16 years that I have been writing mine (on and off), we used to share what we made, how we were feeling…money never really came into it…we just blogged because we loved it. These days there are so many blogs out there…all touting for business promoting themselves telling you how to promote yourself…there is just stacks and stacks of blogs all looking the same….oh i am not knocking them! but…
Blogs used to be enjoyable little magazines where you fell in love with the person behind them…you wanted to comment because you were generally interested in their day…what they had for breakfast, what crochet project they were doing, what they did with the kids on holiday etc…
The first blog that I started to read were the likes of Blueyonder Ranch, Stefani blogged about her family life in America and when I used to read all her stories, it really did take me to a place of escapism…her life seemed so complete…a perfect place to bring up children…you could almost smell the fresh pine air!
I don’t think people realise what a constant job it is to carry on with a blog…to make it interesting as time passes and styles change…a lot of the people that I was friends with when I started, have stopped blogging altogether now!…it’s such a shame!…Instagram has played a big part in that, many of my friends are on that platform now. It’s a lot easier to just add a couple of pictures and write a few sentances and yes, I do get inspired by the people on there, but most of the time I get over-powered by all their ideas that it just makes me feel overwhelmed and I end up creating nothing!
So I decided to go on a hunt to find some of the good ole peeps that are still out there blogging away in the old style..the style where blogging started!
Yep there are still some of them left! So come and have a look…
ALLSORTS
HAPPY ZOMBIE
POSIE GETS COZY
OLD FLOWERS FOR ME
SOULE MAMA
HEN HOUSE HOMEMADE
PRETTY SHABBY
TEA WAGON TALES
OUT ON A WHIM
SATURDAY FINDS
MRS BO BO BUN
TREE FALL DESIGN
SILLY OLD SUITCASE
HEART HANDMADE
EVERYDAY IS A HOLIDAY
YVESTOWN
DOTTIE ANGEL
Since creating this list…some of these blogs have fallen by the wayside even just this year…but it is still worth having a look at them…as they have left content which is to die4.
If you would like to swap links with me…please contact me HERE
In the meantime have a lovely blogging week!
Please feel free to share with us your favourite blogs in the comments section below – Thanks.
Mothers Day Card Making Fun
Mother’s Day in Blighty is always in March, usually around the 3rd week of the month, so I thought it would be nice to design and make some cards ready for the occassion. Paper crafting is my new hobby…for Christmas I was given a Sizzix Big Shot machine and I haven’t looked back since!…lately though I have gone one step further and with these Mother’s Day cards, I decided to design them in photoshop and print them out on my computer…
This way I was able to print the basic design off onto card and then print and cut layers to add with 3D foam pads…
Recently I have joined a digital scrapbooking site called Digital Scrapbook.com , Basically I pay a fee a month so that I can digitally download their graphics…and use them for personal use or commercial use depending on the fee I pay…This cuts out all the time it takes to create the graphics myself…and perfect for making cards for the family…go and check them out HERE…
I also created a Card for a friend’s Birthday (above)…(I used graphics from DigitalScrapbook.com)
…and Mother’s Day cards from Rosie to both Nan’s (below)…(these cards were made with papers cut with my sizzix big shot machine.)
…It’s so much fun making them for people and I hope a keepsake for the receivers…
I must admit, I did get a little sticky on the two above!
I also keep a box with all my ready cut pretty papers and embellishments ready to decorate a card that I am creating…The die’s that are used with the machine to cut these pretty shapes have arrived on my desk by the lorry load (I really do not know how lol!) so that I can have the most fun possible whiling away the hours in my craft room…and boy does time fly!
You know I have always loved to make things so I thought i would show you a picture of a card I made about 7 years ago!…funny thing about these cards though ( I made two similar ones), is that they went missing and I was never able to send them to our Mum’s…I had to buy some in the end! strange that! We always thought we had a ghost in the old house so perhaps the ghost took them lol! (really I reckon Freddy threw them away!)
…and here we have the finished card!…as you can see i couldn’t resist adding a bit of sparkle!
and a close up of the finished Birthday card!
I am having a break from getting the house all ship shape and having a bit of me time, by having fun in this way!…my craft room is in so much mess…there is so many bits of paper on the floor. Its so nice though to just shut the door when I am finished with no mess in the house…although I do find paper trails…you know the little bits of paper that stick to your feet and then get dislodged in another room lol!
What have you been creating this week?
Do you like paper crafting?
What cutting machine do you have?
Do share with me…I’d love to hear from you.
Speak soon.
Take a Peek into Happy’s New Bedroom.
I thought I would let you take a peek into our new home and show you how my bedroom is coming along…It’s is so bright and welcoming and such a joy to spend time in there! I have had so many good sleeps in this bright and pretty room, I feel like I have been on holiday…I feel recuperated, especially after all that moving house and all!
I have decorated it almost the same as in our old house, but have added a few extra bits and bobs…The dressing table is new…It was a bargain buy from Ebay at only £44.00! It needs a bit of work as there is a painted 1980’s pink bow border over it, but that is something that I am going to have to sort out over the next few months.
Also I now have proper drawing curtains! woohoo! Yes I managed to get a friend of ours to put up curtain poles in each of the bedrooms and it is Bliss! You know how many curtains I was saving and how much vintage material I have collected over the years! I have got to make the curtains for my craft room next door yet…but i know i will have plenty of choice in material to make them from!
I am not sure about the blue unit or the mirror above the chest of drawers either, but its staying for a couple more weeks until I decide where else to put them… The chest of drawers and mirror served as a good dressing table, but now I have the new dressing table…I now have two…so I am going to have to jig it all around again at some point!
One thing though, that really makes the room pop! Is the lovely sheet that I designed as a one-off from Matalandirect.com
Isn’t it beautiful!…I gave them my logo flower to print out onto a kingsize sheet to really ‘happyfy‘ my bedroom and it has turned out to be one stunning piece of kit!
As you can imagine I am thrilled with it…You all know how much I love my bedding! This is going to be a family heirloom I just know it!
At the moment I can’t add any pictures to the walls, because of the warranty on the house, which ends in October…I am currently looking into other alternatives to at least put something on the walls…perhaps vintage style wall stickers or using some kind of velcro sticker that doesn’t mark the wall…If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them…
What do you think of my new bedroom?
…and more importantly my new bespoke Bedspread?
Have a great weekend my lovelies.
Moroccan Style mixed with shabby chic! surely not!Those two styles are at opposite ends of the decorating spectrum, so how the hell are they going to fuse together!..well just look above! That moroccan rug mixed with eastern glassware and those roses! well it looks like this idea could definitely work with a few of the right touches!
WHY DO IT
You see a friend said that to me the other day and I assured her that it would work. Her hubby loves the exotic moroccan style and she loves my happy shabby look. He had always won her over, opting for orange and brown hues, making the rooms look very dark…and we all know how depressing dark can be don’t we!
Moroccan style does NOT have to be all dark and dismal…True! it can be that way and you often see that style more often than not, but if you like the shabby chic thing, you can easily incorporate the two.
HOW
You can make a start with decorating your room white…this is a favourite decorating choice in the mediteranean and rightly so as white reflects the heat (dark colours draw in the heat) Just look at the picture above! so bright and calming with a good mix of eclectic furnishings, just the right amount of bright colours mixed in with the white , goes to make it a dreamy Eastern interior…imagine you biting the bullet and decorating in this style!…Suely it would feel like you lived by the sea every day of your life!
WHERE
You can get this look with just a few key pieces. Use your imagination and scour charity and junk shops in your area…you never know what you will find and you can always upcycle something by giving it a lick of paint…perhaps in bright pink with gold squares for decoration…I am so loving bright Fuschia pink and gold at the moment!
You could always try making a pouffe like the one above, there is plenty of free patterns out there on the web…Or perhaps a few floor cushions could just be the change you need to get you in the mood for your own Moroccan shabby chic interior.
I hope these pictures have inspired you to want to decorate in this way.
As indeed I hope my friends hubby will be won over by these gorgeous pictures too!Do you like this style?Or do you prefer the dark oranges and browns?
Speak soon my lovelies x
Happy Loves Her New Floor – Check it Out.
I just have to let you know about my new flooring and how blooming brilliant it is! Ok so before you roll your eyes and fall asleep…Please read on if you are considering buying a new floor covering and if you’re not, read on anyway as you never know this post could change your life! HaHaHa. Well I can’t promise that it will change your life but it will help to educate you a little, for when you do need too!
Right lets get back with the programme!When we viewed this house we were over the moon, as you can imagine! but more so for the fact that it had a wooden floor (perfect for doing wheelies in the wheelchair lol!), walking over it with shoes on, well it just felt and looked like another hardwood floor…but once we moved in and started walking around with our shoes off…well it just felt different!
It felt cushiony and warm, it also has grooves in it, which we have since found out that it is non slip! Whilst moving furniture in and out of rooms, there was a few ocassions where I didn’t want to look at the floor for fear that it had marked…infact there was a few ocassions like that and each time there was no markings, dents or scratches at all…
I decided to investigate and had a look online to see what my floor was made of, because it looks so much like wood but feels springy and warm under the feet. I came across this website and had a good ole look around and realised that my floor was Luxury Vinyl Flooring! Na! surely not Vinyl! Vinyl can be cheap and nasty…my floor is just the bestest!
Well Yep! It has been confirmed by the builders that I then contacted to find out more!
This is 21st Century Luxury Vinyl Flooring and I can tell ya gals that it don’t come much better than this stuff! It’s non slip, warm underfoot, easy to keep clean, hardwearing, reasonable on price and looks so like wood…oh Gosh I feel like doing an advert lol!It has so many plus points for us…apart from all of the above…it’s perfect for Freddy to get around in his wheelchair…It’s non slip and therefore much safer for both Rosie and Freddy what with all of their EDS problems and its also good for little Max who is 98 in doggy years, who has little accidents now and again (Bless!)
So the conclusion of this Post is to PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE if you are thinking of buying wood flooring, that can be slippery when wet…and very expensive …Please go with Luxury Vinyl, there are so many patterns to choose from and especially if you live in a flat or maisonette!…it’s so much kinder to the neighbours lol!(PS – sorry about the quality of the pictures of late…lots have been taken on my mob phone or hudl and they both have rotten cameras – should be back to normal pictures taken on my camera soon ;))
What type of floor do you have?
Have you ever considered buying luxury vinyl flooring?