I Promise . . .

. . . that I'm not dead . . . or dying . . . or ignoring you.

Life has been so crazy! I'm working on like 6 projects at one time, plugging along on wedding stuff, trying to exercise regularly and working my full-time job. Oh. And did I mention I have family in from out of town. Can we say "busy"?

I promise to get back on the blog ball soon! Pinky promise!

Until then . . . imagine me on my sewing machine working furiously on another one of these.

Tips and Tricks from Bloggy Boot Camp (Part 2)

I'm sure you all have been waiting with baited breath for these next blogging tips from Bloggy Boot Camp. The wait is over! Read on to discover how to improve your blog and gain readers!

Start With the Finished Product First

This may not apply to everyone, but most definitely to craft bloggers. When showing a tutorial on how to complete a project, it's tempting to start the pictures from the beginning (usually the supplies). However, most readers will skim your post to see if it's something they're interested in reading (or making). If your finished picture is at the beginning, they'll know right away if they're interested or not and you won't lose them just because they didn't read all the way to the bottom.

Be Mindful of Post Length

Your readers don't have all day to read a long drawn out post. Try to keep in simple and to the point. Got a lot to say? Try breaking it up into multiple posts (like I'm doing now)! Also, any posts that are too long or too short might be discounted by the search engines (Don't ask me why. I don't have a clue!). About 250 words is the right length.

Get Your Own Domain

This is a big tip that was stressed repeatedly. If you don't own your domain name, then whatever free site your blog is through (i.e. Blogger) owns your blog and all of your information. They can do whatever they want with it, including shut it down if they feel like it.

Now, on Blogger you have the opportunity to purchase your domain for like $10 a year (I'm not postitive on the amount, so don't quote me). Otherwise, you can always buy something from a site like GoDaddy and have another platform (like Wordpress) host it. Whatever you decided to do, own your own blog!

I hope you all make use of these wonderfully wise tips from some very smart ladies. With help like this, I'm well on my way to being as awesomely popular like Cindy from Skip to my Lou! OK, maybe not really, but a girl can dream, can't she? ;o)

I Love Aprons!

I love aprons!! They're so frilly and pretty and, of course, functional! I inherited four of beautiful ones from my grandmother, but I still had an itch to make my own. I could not go into a fabric store without finding tons of pretty fabrics that would be perfect for aprons!

Until now, I'd collected fabrics with the idea of someday making some aprons, but never got around to it. But since I'm hosting a Pampered Chef party at my house this Friday, I decided now was the time to whip up some cute kitchen couture!! Who wants to get food on their nice clothes, especially at a party? Not me!

Here's the first apron I made. I had a pattern for the bottom half and kinda winged it for the top (Sorry for the crappy pictures. My house was dirty so I made FH take the pictures outside)

My second one I free-styled . . . no pattern. My fabric selections was inspired by this picture:

I loved the combination of the navy/white stripes and the red/white polka dots! So I created my own!

Isn't it cute? Complete with ruched sweetheart neckline and one of new favorite things . . . zipper rosettes!

And the last one was inspired by one of my grandmother's smock-type aprons. I used the apron itself as a sort of template to make my new cupcake-loving version!

I'm really happy with how they all turned out! Hopefully my guests will agree! :o)

Tips and Tricks from Bloggy Boot Camp (Part 1)

Last Saturday (May 1) I had the opportunity to spend the day networking with other very talented bloggers and listening to some great educational speakers at the Phoenix leg of Bloggy Boot Camp. I most definitely learned a lot.

I'm going to share with you some of the tips and tricks I learned that can benefit every blogger! From the newbie to the vet or anyone trying to gain more readers. I hope you find them as useful as I did!

Have a Clean and Simple Site Design

This means don't overcrowd your blog with adds, links, and buttons. It's distracting and makes it harder for your reader to find what they're looking for. Also, white (or light colored) backgrounds are the easiest to read as well as dark fonts.

Cut the Clever Titles

I admit I've been guilty of this. Lots of us want to be a little witty with a title like "I'm a Mad Hatter!" instead of "How to Make a Tea Party Hat". While it's tempting to try and be clever or funny, it makes it harder for your readers to find the posts they're looking for if they have to guess by the title.

Also, if you're looking to be found more easily by search engines, the "mad hatter" title won't show up as readily if someone searches "how to make a tea party hat?" Guess which title will?

Rename Your Pictures

Another way to be more search engine friendly is to rename your photos before you upload them. The title of your photos is just another way for the search engines to find your blog and pull it up as a result for a search. So if someone searches "how to make a peach pie" and your title and all 5 of your pictures are titled "how to make a peach pie", then you have 6 chances of a search engine picking up your post!

That's all the tips I have for you for now. Keep checking back for more bloggy tricks!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today is the day we take a moment to recognize and thank our mother's for all that they've done, all that they do, and all that they will do for us. I know each one of us probably thinks that his/her mother is the best mother on the planet. I'm no different.

My mother is beautiful, kind, intelligent, hard-working, compassionate, funny and any other great adjective you can think of!

One day we were listening to callers on a radio show where the topic was "Things You Never Say to a Woman". One caller said you never tell a woman she's just like her mother. But I do wish I was like my mother. She's such a wonderful person that I only hope that someday I can be half the woman she is!

My mother is gentle, loving, my biggest fan, and my hero!

"A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie."  - Tenneva Jordan

"My mom is a neverending song in my heart of comfort, happiness, and being.  I may sometimes forget the words but I always remember the tune."  - Graycie Harmon

"Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever." - Unknown

Happy Mother's Day to the world's greatest mom!! (p.s. Mom, that means you!) ♥♥♥

Please Take My Card!

As some of you know, Bloggy Bootcamp was this past Saturday. I know you all are probably expecting a post all about it, but that's gonna have to wait a bit longer. So while I gather all my info and put together that post, I'm taking this opportunity to brag about my beautiful business cards! :o)

I knew that spending the day with about 100 other fabulous bloggers was a great opportunity to meet new people and get my blog out there. What better way to do that than business cards? Plus we were even told at certain points during the conference, "OK ladies! Swap cards!" So if you're ever planning on going to a blog conference, you'll definitely need business cards.

Lucky for me, I happen to know a graphic designer! I asked my friend Tia to whip me up some blog business cards and I love how they look! So simple, elegant, and pretty. Just how I like things!

She specifically took a look at my blog to try and get a sense of cohesion going (i.e. using the colors pink and black). LOVE IT!!

She's even designing her own invitations and such for her wedding!

The figures even look like her and her fiance! I wish I was that talented!! . . . Or that I could afford to have her design mine! Ah the struggles of a bride on a budget . . .

Anywho! She works full-time, but is starting her own design business on the side. In need of business/blog cards? Custom invitations? Sign/poster for your next event? Be sure to check her out! She's awesome!

You can e-mail her at thattiagirl@gmail.com or give her a call at 480.205.5876. You won't be sorry!

Tea Party Hat Debut!

My mom and I had a wonderful time at the tea party yesterday! There were lots of beautifully dressed women, great food, awesome prizes, and big hats!  And despite the cool, gray weather, we had fun looking springy and bright!

Yes, my dress has pockets! I love it! It's awesome!! (p.s. Who says you can never wear a bridesmaid dress again? That was my M.O.H. dress for my sister's wedding!)

The only downside to my tea party experience is that my hat did not win for "Most Creative". I'm not bitter. Why would I be bitter? OK . . I'm a little bitter. My beautiful, fabulous, funky tea party hat was not properly recognized for it's fabulousness! I thought my hat was way more creative than the winner's (especially since I made my rosettes), but apparently the judges didn't think so :o(

Anywho! I still think my hat is fabulous, but I'll let you all judge for yourselves!

Here's the view from the front. You can catch a little glimpse of flowers, sparkle, and butterfly. A little bit of everything in one shot.

Full rosette shot on the side. Love it!

Other side:

Can you guess what that rectangular item is? A buckle! Cost my $3 from Hancock fabrics. I saw it and had to have it for the hat!

I even added rosettes (and a small bird) to the back of the hat, so you had something to look at both coming and going!

I think we look fabulous in our tea party hats!

What do you think?

My First Rosette Making Experience

Every May, the company that I work for spends the whole month raising funds to donate to the Children's Miracle Network. One of the fundraisers this year is a tea party. Guess who bought tickets to go?? :o)

Since the party is today, just one week before Mother's Day (hope you all are ready and got your moms something fabulous!) I thought it would be fun to take my mom, as sort of an early Mother's Day event. We get to dress up and wear big hats! There's even going to be a prize for the most creative hat!

Because I'm considered the "Martha Stewart" of my work place, it's expected of me that I will decorate a hat and it will be fabulous (I have such a tough life, I know!). I wanted something cute and funky and fun, but that wasn't completely ridiculous and overpowered my dress (which I love!).

Then I came up with a thought. What's more "spring time" than flowers? And what better way to have cute, fun, and funky flowers than to make some rosettes?

Now I've never done this before, but I really loved how they turned out!

I made the gray and yellow ones first. Can you tell what they're made out of? Zippers!! That's right ladies and gentlemen . . . I jumped on the zipper rosette bandwagon . . . and I love it!

I didn't really have any instructions on how to do this, so I kind of made it up as I went along. I rolled the end of the zipper 2 or 3 times and sewed it in place. Then I just started going to town on twisting and turning the zipper to create the look I wanted (all the while, stitching things in place).

Super funky! I need to find more things to add zipper rosettes to! Pillows maybe? Bags? Hmmm . . . .

For the fabric rosettes, I wanted a little help. So I searched the internet and stumbled upon Portabellopixie, home of designer Sandi Henderson. She's super talented with fabric and had an awesome and easy to follow tutorial on how to make rosettes. She even included step-by-step pictures, which is fabulous if you're a visual learner like I am.

Just look at her flowers!

Thanks to her help, here's one of mine:

I'm super excited to show off my hat today! No one's been allowed to see it yet (except for FH, but he saw me make the whole thing). The rosettes make it so pretty!

Want to see the finished product? You're just gonna have to check back (I'm such a tease!). Can't spoil the big debut!

Wish me luck (and have a Happy Sunday)!