CELEBRATING THREE YEARS OF BLOGGING!

I am thrilled to be able to announce that I am celebrating

MY THIRD BLOGIVERSARY!

I published my very first blog post on September 5, 2012! I just re-read it, and found it to be quite interesting and fairly entertaining. 

Looking ahead to three years later, I have definitely adhered to my original intent. There have been a few changes along the way. But, for the most part, I am still diligently trying to plant those little CREATIVE PAPER SEEDLINGS. 

It was a slow start in the beginning. My MDS-created quote pieces, for the most part, fell flat with my readers. So, I eventually gave up on them.

Now, however, I have picked up on the quotes once again with my Focus Fridays. For each of my weekly Focus Fridays, I share one of my Instagram photos, as well as a few words <of  wisdom> about my feelings on the subject matter. I end the post with a quote that complements the week's theme. 

I have been receiving many wonderful comments on my Focus Friday posts. So many, and so wonderful, in fact, that I'm wondering if I should just give up on the papercrafting altogether. 

Nope. Can't do that. Photography is one of my passions. But, papercrafting and my love of sharing and planting Paper Seedlings is my favorite and most motivating passion. I truly love how just committing to publishing a papercrafting post every Sunday and Wednesday keeps me so active creatively. It is truly cathartic for me. 

Speaking of comments -- and feedback -- I didn't hear from anyone until I had been blogging for almost a month. Nor did I get many views. I wondered if I was reaching ANYONE!

Long about September 27, I posted a lovely card that got TONS of attention though. In fact, I smile every time I STILL see it re-pinned more than occasionally on Pinterest. This particular post, Autumn Splendor Emboss Resist, has received an astonishing -- to me, at least! -- 4,962 views. 

However, the post, White Wedding, is the one that has received the most pageviews for me. It boasts a total of 7,953 views! I hope the recipients of this card have saved it!

The post, . . . and She Said, "Be My Guest." was my second-most-viewed post, dating from May 3, 2013, with a whopping 5,464 pageviews. I was honored to have been asked to do a guest blog post on someone else's blog. A tutorial, complete with a plethora of step-by-step photos, is included in this guest post.

Even though I think my work and ideas have been improving all along, I feel like I am stagnating a bit.

I'm not sure what has happened since the beginning of 2015. These past months, I am lucky if I have a post that receives a paltry 300 pageviews. And those are usually photos from my Focus Friday posts. Hmmm. Any opinions to share on this unwelcome phenomenon?

When I first started blogging, one of my goals was to -- as I had noted in my very first blog post -- extend my reach beyond sharing with just those in the area who attend my monthly workshops. In saying this, I had hoped to not only reach more papercrafters with my ideas, but to maybe pick up some new Stampin' Up! customers. This hasn't happened. I haven't let this deter me (not overly much anyway) and have kept plugging away with my inspirational posts. 

It always pleases me when I receive a comment from one of my readers about how, with a particular post, I have inspired them to . . . 

I love to be your inspiration! If you think of any other ways I can change or improve my blog offerings, I would dearly love to hear from you. I want to continue to extend my creative outreach, and if I'm not hitting the nail exactly on the head, I need to hear ways I can do my job better. OK?

I abhor the fact that I am not more technically proficient to keep my blog looking and running its best. 

In fact, as I was writing this blog post, I'd wanted to access my Pinterest stats. I just wished to get some more detailed information about how many times my Autumn Splendor Emboss Resist post has been repinned on Pinterest. 

According to what I read regarding Pinterest Analytics, I needed to upgrade my account to a Business Account. Willing to do this, I proceeded as I was directed, only to become tangled up in the html coding. I wasted an inordinately exorbitant amount of time trying to work this out, only to give up in frustration. 

My daughter, Emily, has mentioned to me on occasion that my blog header in itself is woefully outdated (my words, not hers exactly). In taking a close, nonobjective look at my carefully-crafted-in-MDS Paper Seedlings header, I am forced to agree. 

Now, with the dawning of my fourth year of blogging, I am about to set out on a new adventure of reworking my header. Emily told me that my existing header does not adequately represent what my blog is all about. She continued to suggest that I actually "handcraft" my header, similar to how I create a card.

After giving the possibility some thought, I have decided that (once again) she is right! And what a fun project that could prove to be! 

I have become quite psyched about this project, and have been planning it all out in my brain. So far, I love the (imagined) results! And I can't wait to get to work on it. 

However, something has me mystified. Something that I will have to pursue further to get the answers I need. And I know I will be experiencing some technical frustration on that front. I am anxious to get going on the hands-on creating of the new header. But I do not know what size to work in so that it fits at the top of my blog like a header should. 

As I previously stated, my original header was created in My Digital Studio (which is now defunct). So it was easy to digitally get the finished piece to be the right size for Blogger.

So, while I am planning more and more cute components for my new and improved header, I am at a standstill until I can figure out that sizing problem.

I apologize that this post has become fairly lengthy. But I wanted to do something of an overview of my first three years as a blogger. I also wished to let you know that I hope to make some improvements in my blog in the coming months -- if I am able to figure it all out! If you are willing to help me out with some ideas, logistics or simple suggestions, as I've previously noted, I would love to hear from you!

So, with that all said, 

HAPPY THIRD BLOGIVERSARY TO ME!

Bloggy

Smiles.