Being Creative - Walking in High Cotton

Blogging Conference Debriefing {Titus 2:1}

Posted on April 19, 2013 by Jamie

I was off at the Titus 2:1 Conference this past weekend (you may have seen some of my tweets!) while the munchkins were home with Mr. Fix-It.

I stocked the pantry with cereal, cookies, and about 10 lbs of bananas–which were all gone when I got home!–and headed back to my once home-sweet-home town of Northern Virginia (if northern Virginia can ever be called a town again!) for a little girl talk and blogging shop talk.

Me and my 2013 roomies! (Lto R) Me, Kim {Kimberly Brooke Photography}, Lisa {CreativLEI}, and Jules {Mommy Ramblings}.

Last year, 2:1 was my first ever blogging conference. This year, it was my second ever blogging conference. {smile}

Last year, I was new. I was nervous. I wasn’t sure what it meant to be a “blogger” or how in the world I seemed to connect so strongly with a community of women who homeschool when we don’t homeschool. I came away on fire with great ideas for changing and improving my blog, a new mission statement, a stack of business cards, and a commitment to chatting on Twitter more to grow these friendships.

This year?

This year I was just me. I was tired and worn down from our emotional winter. I had a better idea what I don’t like when it comes to blogging partnerships and affiliate relationships, and I was more willing to accept my personal limitations–and listened better when anyone mentioned words like balance, priorities, and focus.

2to1conf 5

Titus 2:1 is an interesting combination of formal sessions and informal networking and I love it. I love that you can feel comfortable sitting with sponsors or speakers at lunch and “talking shop” or kids or your latest chicken escapade. And I absolutely love that the conference hosts (Cheryl and Stef!!) work so hard to build a social media community before the conference and continue it after the conference. You’re already friends with the other ladies when you get there!

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Here’s some of what I came home with from 2:1 this year…

My blog has value just the way it is. I can grow if I want too. I have the tools to do it and over the last year I’ve seen some of the tips I learned from 2:1 last year grow my little community, so I know they work. But I can not grow if I want to, too, and I still have value.
Focus on my “voice.” I get the best responses on posts were I don’t let the grammar and spell-check have their way with my words. When I say it the way I say it, it comes out best. {grin}
Review and How-Tos and DIYs are great, but sometimes you just want a story. So pull up a chair! I was asked about 100 times this weekend, “what do you blog about?” I blog about our crazy-busy-muddy everyday life with temper-tantrums and escapee chickens and failed Pinterest projects (oh, the banana chip fiasco!) and sheep that try to eat me…there’s no 5 step process for getting a calf’s head out of a water bucket, folks. Over here, it’s just life. And that’s ok!

2to1Conf 1

I really want to build relationships. I find myself gravitating more and more toward long-term opportunities with bloggers and brands that share my heart, rather than being interested in specific products or projects. This is something Titus 2:1 is really good at–bringing in sponsors that have a heart for Christ and families. Sponsors that I connect with. I’m very excited about a few new opportunities I’ll be working on this year.
Build Community. Not just blog community! Local community! This one has also been on my mind a lot lately and I meet several bloggers that focus locally at the conference this year to chat with. Our farm does a lot of education and outreach, but we haven’t really used the blog itself in that capacity–and we should! Our Easter event was a perfect example! {Community outreach has also been on our Pastor’s heart a lot lately and I think I’m catching his fire!}
I am my target audience! My best efforts will be reaching out to women who are where I am, need what I need, want to hear the encouragement I want to hear. Because that is an audience I know best!

2to1conf 4

I think it’s funny that I go to a blogging and social media conference and then am MIA on the blog and Twitter and Facebook for a week! {smile}

We got some more challenging news when I was heading home on Sunday–one of Mr. Fix-It’s loved ones passed away. We’ve been dealing with that, and the kiddos being on spring break, and getting back to work after being away for a few days, all this explosion news, and just loving each other strong and tight in these hard times.

But I’ve already got posts lined up for next week. The brand new baby apple trees have leafed out and the chickens have moved out of the brooder house and the potatoes have finally sprouted…and life ever so insistently moves on with or without us. So have a great weekend and come back by on Monday! (Duckling pictures, I promise!)

Happy Valentine’s Day to “Ewe!”

Posted on February 14, 2013 by Jamie

As usual, I didn’t get a Valentine’s Day post up until the day itself–which is probably a little ahead for me since I’m usually posting after the fact!

The Ladybug and I whipped up a few Valentine’s Day tags for the crew’s teachers yesterday while she was home sick with an earache. (Which is hopefully on the mend!)

I had come across a couple different versions of using “ewe” on cards over on Pinterest and am a big fan of using sheep since they are so easy to draw. I’m no artist, but a cloud with legs? I can handle that.

And they wouldn’t be complete without some real wool roving, now would they?

The Ladybug thought we should use real cotton at first, which would have been a cool idea too.

I thought we would just use wool (of course). At first I pulled some out of our wool bags from this past spring–big mistake! I forgot how dirty and smelly it was!

So we put that back in the barn and dug out some clean roving instead–which was actually right upstairs and could have saved me a lot of hauling and dragging and climbing outside!

It only took a tiny wisp for each tag. The kids were pretty happy with it. They get excited about sharing stuff like this from the farm. It makes a simple Valentine very personal for them.

I’ve also mentioned before that I’ve been on a bit of a papercrafting supply diet. Ok, ok, I decided not to buy anything until I used up a good portion of my existing stash…and I have definitely stuck with that for paper, ribbon, and stamps for almost 12 months now! And apparently it’s working, because it turns out I’m just about out of pink ribbons. Any pink ribbons. Valentine’s Day has pretty much decimated my pink and red ribbon supply.

I still have a lot of paper though…

What supplies do you find yourself using the most?

Smashbook Journaling

Posted on February 13, 2013 by Jamie

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had tried out some Smashbook supplies for scrapbook journaling and was really enjoying them.

Actually, I’m kinda crazy about it. Since New Years I’ve already almost filled one journal.

I think it’s a case were I’m not completely sure if it’s the medium or just that I was in the right mindset. But I’ve been able to really throw off my normal expectations about scrapbook page design and that dreaded need for chronology and just do it.

It’s been a very personal form of crafting for me. I’ve been layering elements using washi tape and there’s a lot of journaling on the pages–usually buried under several elements. There’s also ways to stash little treasures from our nature walks or keepsakes from trips and outings.

I’ve used a couple of the Ladybug’s little snap barretts as page tabs. I’ve saved menus and receipts and notes from the school. Birthday invitations and clothing tags and leftover stickers from other projects. It’s been a great way to use up some of those beautiful supplies I just never found a use for!

And I’ve used a lot of pictures. A lot. My book is in a vaguely chronological order starting with our Christmas holiday this year and moving forward, but depending on what I feel like writing about, I’ll use any picture. Or if I suddenly come across a wonderful old picture, I’ll stick it in and write about it anyway. Just like you would pick it up and start talking about it.

I also find myself writing about things that I wouldn’t normally consider scrapbook-worthy because, again, it’s just as much a journal for me. I’ve written about work. I’ve written about family drama. I’ve written about temper-tantrums and discipline and tears–as well as documenting all our family time together.

I’ve also spent a lot of time looking at other journals and scrapbooks online (yes, Pinterest-addict here!) and realized that we don’t seem to have the same amount of…ephemera?…that I see in other smashbooks. Less ticket stubs. Less programs and playbills. Less receipts and brochures. And a lot more pictures.

I’m not sure if that’s because I haven’t always kept the little scraps (since I didn’t have any idea what to do with them) or because we don’t get out as much. But I find my smashbook just as filled with memories as if it was full of ticket stubs and travel brochures.

And there’s still plenty of space to add more journaling to the backs of the photos! (I think it might be a great place to get some input from other folks, like Mimi on pictures from Mimi’s house. Or Mr. Fix-it.)

What creative adventures have you been up to lately?

Actually USING Pinterest

Posted on February 6, 2013 by Jamie

Have you caught the Pinterest-craz yet?

I’ve been a slow-starter when it comes to Facebook and Twitter, but I jumped right in and adore Pinterest! I think it’s probably partly because I consider the other two more interactive so they take more of my time–which I seem to have little of. I use Pinterest mostly for myself, not as a social platform, so I don’t feel obligated to follow back, or chat, or respond to comments or anything. So I can spend 2 minutes or 2 hours on there–whatever I have.

Don’t get me wrong–you can use Pinterest as a social platform. I just don’t. I simply use it for organizing great information and ideas from the web for myself. There is so much good stuff out there! Printables and projects for the kids. Frugal household ideas. Cool DIY projects. And the recipes, oh the recipes!

And then, much like any other information, the question comes up…are you using it or just hoarding it.

Well I am using it!

We’ve done these super fun (super easy!) hot chocolate stir sticks.

(We also tried these bite-sized banana splits…big fail. Not a great kids recipe. Probably fine if you don’t have five impatient bakers dancing in your kitchen.)

And we’ve filled our house with delicious apple cinnamon “air freshener” from leftover apple peels. (The original pin calls for oranges.)

We’ve made one of the 2,000 “skinny chicken and broccoli Alfredo” recipes that are floating around–which I immediately unpinned so that I never, ever, ever accidentally try to make that recipe again! (Mr. Fix-It said he didn’t think it was that bad, but I thought it was terrible.)

And we made this super easy, super tasty Beef Tips recipe–which we will DEFINITELY make again!

We’ve made homemade apple sauce and canned Vanilla Peach Butter and froze a dozen jars of apple butter this year, thanks in part to Pinterest, and to my right-hand-man…I mean lady…the Ladybug.

We spent most of the weekend all together at home, just doing home-stuff.

We are now in the process of painting an oil drip pan (bigger and less expensive than a cookie sheet!) for the Ladybug’s bedroom wall, sort of like this…

Source: etsy.com via Jamie on Pinterest

…but in white and pink, of course.

And our new favorite thing is this delicious Banana Nutella Granola, courtesy of Sally’s Baking Addiction blog.

Source: sallysbakingaddiction.com via Jamie on Pinterest

I mentioned this recipe on Facebook the other day. It’s easy, it’s fun for the kiddos to help with, and I could barely get it cooled because everyone kept taking a pinch any time they walked by the counter!

I think it has great potential to provide motivation when things around the house start getting in a rut and it’s already been a great help for me in organizing blogging tips and articles and gardening helps (are your planning your garden yet?!). I’ve sort of made a promise to myself to use at least one pin a week at home as a help to keep me committed to my homemaking–so you’ll probably see more and more Pinterest-driven posts cropping up around here.

Especially since I sat down a few minutes at a time and re-organized my Boards so that I can actually find stuff! {grin}

How have you been using Pinterest?

10 Craft Supplies That Weren’t On My List!

Posted on January 29, 2013 by Jamie

I’m a crafty sort of person. When my kiddos need something for school, I’ve got twine, paper, glue, scissors, thread, fabric scraps, buttons, construction paper, markers, chalk, pipe cleaners, dried macaroni, googly-eyes, yarn, miscellaneous sheets of transparency from report covers and craft supply packages…all the usual crafty suspects. But when the Ladybug went to build her model of Jupiter (and 4 of the 63 moons!) we ran into a couple things I just wasn’t quite prepared for and we had to do quite a bit of scavenging to make it work out.

With one last-minute trip to Michael’s–which was very painful to my pocketbook! (Not so much in total dollars spent–as in the psychological pain of knowing I could have gotten it for less than half that price if I had time to shop around!)

So moving forward, here’s some unexpected craft supplies that we’ll be rounding out our craft closet with in the coming years to make sure I don’t find myself paying double again.

1. Styrofoam balls. Also referred to as floral craft foam balls. We’ll be hitting Amazon for a few packs of these in various sizes, and preserving them only for the most desperate of circular projects. That Jupiter cost more than all the other supplies we used put together! (I’ve also got my eye on our local thrift stores, because I’ve seen these but never thought about snagging them before.)

2. Acrylic Paint. We had a bit of Crayola paint, but washable paint just wasn’t up to the demands of 3rd grade science–especially when you figure in that $14 worth of styrofoam planets and moons! Acrylic paint covers just about anything, mixes well, and is reasonably priced online or in the craft store. And it’s still fairly washable–as I discovered this weekend!

3. Multi-size Paint Brushes. Apparently we’ve moved past the one-size-fits-all paint brush style of the last few years. We need details. We need layers. We need stripes and clouds and “the eye of Jupiter.” We got these simple art brushes for the Ladybug to go along with our chubby brushes and they seemed to fit the need right now.

4. Mixing Cups. Wondering how I know acrylic paint is semi-washable? Yeah, they used my saucers for mixing bowls. Now we have a 4-set of awesome no-spill-and-store paint cups (similar to these, but we got ours at a craft store and the lids are hinged so you can’t lose them!), but from here on out, I’ll also be washing and saving individual yogurt cups for future mixing cups.

5. Chopsticks. Who knew, right? Never again will we say “no thank you” to the complementary chopsticks in our to-go orders! They are like mounting-hardware extraordinaire! And keeping them around will save me a lot of pencils!

6. Toothpicks. Our new secondary mounting apparatus for all things solar-system. Also helpful for all things wiggly-jiggled into place and those teeny-tiny adjustments to things that were glued down crooked. I’ll be throwing a box or two into our craft closet next time I need to pick some up.

7. Spray Paint. Yes, paint seems to be in big demand for us this year! I guess we don’t usually have it around because, well, it’s messy. But I’ll be adding paint supplies to my watch-for-great-sales list from now on. I think I’ll just be sure we have the basic black, white, gray on hand moving forward–normally our garage is full of things like Ford blue, and Massey Ferguson red instead. 8. Vintage stickers and washi tape. Oh, wait, that’s for me!

9. Wood. We tend to have scrap chunks around, so we tend to use it. Storage is a problem though and sometimes Mr. Fix-It just gets tired of the clutter and starts throwing stuff out. We’ve got to figure out a reasonable way to keep some around long-term in case we need it.

10. Paper bags. I have these everywhere because we have a truck. Don’t see the connection? Try putting your groceries in plastic bags in the back of a truck and driving home. D-i-s-a-s-t-e-r. But much like Mr. Fix-It in the garage, sometimes I get totally overwhelmed by the clutter in our mudroom and just start pitching stuff. I’m going to start stuffing at least a few in our craft closet from now on because they work for, well, just about anything–and the day I find myself needing to buy a paper bag…

What are some craft supplies you didn’t expect to find yourself needing regularly? And where in the world do you store it all?

Walking in High Cotton

Redeeming the Everyday Grind…with Boots on!

Category Archives: Being Creative

Blogging Conference Debriefing {Titus 2:1}

Happy Valentine’s Day to “Ewe!”

Smashbook Journaling

Actually USING Pinterest

10 Craft Supplies That Weren’t On My List!

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