Blog Hop

I’ve been nominated for a Blog Hop.  😀  Isn’t that great?  ….  apart from:-  I didn’t know what a Blog Hop was.   I’d seen folks talk about them, but never paid much attention to what they were, so being nominated meant that I had to sit up, pay attention and … ask the questions I needed to ask in order to make sure that I was agreeing to the right thing, and was going to actually do things in the right way so that the spirit of the Blog Hop was kept alive.

Firstly I wanted to say a big THANK YOU to:  Allie Cat,  Zumba,  and  Tiggers Mom (they’re all cats) AKA WhatImUpToToday, not just for nominating me, but also for the really lovely things she said about me.  I have to admit that she said such nice things that I thought she’d got me mixed up with someone else.

What I’m Up To’s blog post can be seen here: http://whatimuptotoday.wordpress.com/2014/10/30/blog-hop/

I checked to make sure that a Blog Hop is as easy as it seems and it appears it is, so … I’m going to be answering a few questions, and then I shall be nominating two blogs that I myself love, and passing the baton to each of those.   (Only TWO???  I love a gazillion blogs!  How on earth am I going to choose just TWO?!!).  But anyway … here goes!

What are you working on?

Right now ... I have two scrapbooks on the ‘go’, and I’m also working on some Christmas Cards for  family members, and a special Christmas Card for a friend who I met over the internet and have never met – and probably never will.  She’s 74 years old (just had her birthday) and lives in Australia.  She’s one of the nicest people and I love her to pieces.  I kind of feel like she’s my adopted Nanna.  So I’m making something lovely for her – but I can’t blog about any of these things as I don’t want the recipients to see the things I’m making otherwise it will ruin the surprise!

I want to also make some bookmark type cards, which I’ve had on my list of ‘want to make’ for about six weeks!  I’ve also just recently come across a Papier-mâché book box which I remember buying about four years ago but didn’t get chance to decorate up as I had to pack up all my crafting stuff because we moved house – (about 170 miles away from where I used to live), and I’ve just a couple of weeks ago found the box book in a box of stuff which I’d labelled  ‘Craft Room – unbreakable bits and bobs’.  So that’s sitting on one of my desks calling to me.  I’m not yet sure what I’m going to do with it yet.

How does your writing process work?

I pick up a pen … and I write.   Ah .. you didn’t mean that did you!

If I’m writing a post for my blog here, I plan before I actually do the project.  I find it better if I have a plan and an idea of what I’m going to make and how to go about making it.  I try to remember to take photo’s as I’m going along – it doesn’t always happen though.  I seem to get that wrapped up with my project that every other thought goes out of my head.

I then load any photo’s onto my lap top ‘puter, so that I can crop and re-size them.  Once that’s done, I can then begin to write the post.  I find it easier if I try to walk the reader through the process of making what-ever it is I’ve made, step by step, and add the photo’s as I go along.  After that … I try to tighten things up a bit and remove any unnecessary ‘waffling’,  as I’m far too wordy.  My motto seems to be:  Why use just three words when you can use 300!

How does your blog differ from others of its genre?

I’m not sure that it does, other than it’s written by me.  I try to be as open about my projects as possible, because if someone wanted to use a product which I’ve used to get an effect that they want to copy, then I do my very best to make sure that I give the details.

I also LOVE people to leave comments – but not for the reasons of getting folks to compliment my ‘stuff’ – but to encourage a dialogue between the lovely folks who visit here and me.

I tend to look on the blog as my  ‘home’  on the internet, which I throw open the doors to and send out a general invitation to all and encourage them to come and visit me.  Now I don’t know about you, but if I was invited into someone’s home and encouraged to look around at their decorations and rooms, then I wouldn’t remain silent.  I’d chat to the home owner; ask questions; talk about the things of interest.  And I feel the same way about blogs.  If I visit someones blog then I try to leave a comment behind as a sort of ‘thank you’ for inviting me in and entertaining me.

The internet is a soul-less place.  It can have a gazillion people on it, and only a small percentage of those people are talking with each other.  It concerns me that we are going to evolve into uncaring shells.  People who have no manners and don’t know how to chat with each other.  How to make those small talk comments which kind of help the whole world to go round in a positive way.  But if we’re all just looking into windows on the internet and not talking to anyone – even in a comment which has been worded nicely and with correct spelling so that we can all understand it,  rather than —  ‘txt spek’  — (text speak) – which can make things very difficult to understand, then we are losing something magical which I don’t want us to lose.  So maybe that’s where my blog differs from some of the others.  I actively try to get people chatting.

Nominate 2 blogs I follow

http://thelemondaisy.com/    —  Kim, from The Lemon Daisy,  is just one of the loveliest people.  She has a chatty, friendly way of writing and I’ve learnt tons about magnets which I never knew before.  She’s turned a passion for crafting into a business and I think she deserves more attention than I think she gets right now.  I want to tell everyone about her, so here’s a great way to do that.  Go and have a read of her blog.  Tell her Cobs sent you.

http://prettycolorful.wordpress.com/  —  Catherine from Pretty Colorful is  a lovely lady,  who specialises in handmade quilts and cards.  She’s recently been making some striking Christmas cards which really are just gorgeous!  Pop over there and have a look.

It was so amazingly difficult to choose just two, there are so many creative people out there who can really write, and create the most wonderful art.  But the rules said two so these are the two I chose.

And that, as they say, is it!  How easy it was,  once I’d started!

Thank you so much for coming and joining me in having a read.   We really must do this more often.  Just getting together and having a chat.  Chatting is so fabulous when it’s with friends, as you get to learn so much about the person you’ve made friends with!

Have a truly wonderful Wednesday. 

Sending love your way ~

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