More Tips from Etsy Bloggers - Why and When!

I thought I would share a few more tips from some Etsy sellers and bloggers, gathered from a thread I posted recently.

Why do you write a blog?

Of all the posts I think it became easy to see what these bloggers felt was most important, and that was allowing your personality to shine through your posts.

The seller behind Etsy's BlackRose, creator of this gorgeous ring above, really summed it up for me

“I'd say blog because you love writing and have a strong interest or passion for what you are blogging about”

I totally agree! When I’m reading a blog, a stream of ‘I made this’ with the exact same photos as in the shop is terribly dull, regardless of how talented you are and you could really just ask someone else to do that for you!

If every page of a glossy magazine was advertising without a single article you’d be unlikely to buy it again the following month. I would add however that this doesn't mean I'm not interested in the process of making crafts, and any insight into how a piece is made or the inspiration behind it is a fascinating read, especially if there are great new images to boot and we get a flash of the workspace!  Just look at how popular My Creative Space by Kootoyo has become,  I'm yet to take part (my messy space doesn't have the same ring to it!) but it's so interesting to take a look into peoples works spaces.

If I wasn’t interested in the whole process of advertising and marketing then it would be difficult for me to justify the time I spend researching blogging tips and learning html, but I really do enjoy it nearly as much as I enjoy pottering in my garden, which I also blog about rather alot! I think up blog posts when I’m doing mundane work in the house or in the garden, it’s a great form of escapism. I really should keep a notebook handy to jot down all my ideas...

When to Blog?

Another thing that bloggers who contributed to the thread felt was important was the frequency of your posts, but does it really matter if you only blog once a month, or once a week?

The seller behind EclecticaByJan, who made that beautiful Notebook above, thinks it does matter. she said,

 "Just keep on blogging! Add a new post 3-4 times a week (that's my goal :) to keep your blog fresh and readers coming back” She then adds a point to which I whole heartedly agree, “remember, more is not always better - eleventy hundred posts a day becomes annoying, not attractive. Strive for a happy balance!"

One of my own favourite blogs (non crafty I have to add) has posts once or twice a month but I read every one avidly and sometimes more than once because they are each such well crafted pieces.   Perhaps as important as how often you blog is how much you market each post.  I have my own routine of mentioning my posts in the forums and sending out a tweet (not too many but enough to let people know!) which really helps to increase my readership and gain me a few new followers.  Just search for blogs within forum posts and you'll find plenty of places to add your link. 

She's Batty, who also contributed to the Etsy thread I posted, has some great tips for organising your marketing and 'online' time, she is one of the writers behind http://www.handmadenews.org/ which is a very useful corner of the internet to go for tips on all sorts of crafting issues.  She also has some excellent halloween cards, like this one which seemed so apt as we're nearly in October!

Next week I’m planning to look at a few applications and widgets that can help improve your blog’s visibility in search engines, just to add to that marketing list! 

Please let me know your thoughts about blogging and feel free to leave a link to your own blog for me to take a look.  You can find my tutorial on leaving clickable comments in blogger here.

Blogs from A to Z

I have 4 blogs at the moment on my sidebar that sum up me best and that I call my favourites, Sew Scrumptious for her fantastic candid family posts, Artmind for the amazing tutorials, The Cottage Smallholder because I'd like to live that particular dream and Mrs Trefusis takes a taxi, because she's posh, urbane and hilarious.

But there are lots of other blogs I love reading too and so to be sure to leave no one out I have compiled this list of the blogs I follow, which I will endeavour to update as I follow new blogs.

Please let me know if you write or have found any great blogs you think I should be following!

So with no further ado and in alphabetical order... (blimey that's a long list, I can't lie and say I read every post but together these blogs make up a wonderful daily magazine to flip through)

[edit - FOLKSY!!!!  The folksy blog is  a great read and is now edited by me! - you can also check out 600 more craft blogs on Craft Blog UK my other blog!]

A Country Mouse Writes
Aedriel Originals and Other Fun Finds
After All The World is a Beautiful Place
allabouteden
andamento
artists who blog
ArtMind
Bethany Allen
Blueberry Park
bugs and fishes by lupin
cabin + cub
Chris Parry -Bespoke Jewellery
Claire Hurd Design
CraftySewAndSew
Cuteable
draw, glue, glitter, make
Eiriel's Eclectics
Etsy Technology Help
Etsy Treasury Team
For the Love of Cute
Found on Folksy
FREEBIES FOR CRAFTERS
Fresh Ribbon
gooseberrymoon
Heartfelt Handmade's Blog
Hello! It's Meet Me At Mikes!
Here Pretty Kitty
Hotdog and Me
Hyena In Petticoats
kerli: little animals, handicrafts and recycling
kitschnkarma
Kitschy Coo
Laura Cameron
Little Cottage Comforts
Midsummer Stitches
Missy Mao Mao
Mommy of 3
More Than a Mama
MRS TREFUSIS TAKES A TAXI
My little vegetable garden
My Thread of Thought
Nakisha is Blue Dog Rose
nelliD
Nest Blossoms - Samantha's Design Blog
Oh So Crafty
one little journey
Paper*Cakes Finds - Your Daily Dose of Handmade...
Penny Rugs and More
Red Red Completely Red
See the Woods Designs
SeetheWoodsandtheTrees
Sew Scrumptious
Shop Handmade UK
Silver Moss Jewellery
Sleepy Moon Design
slugs and snails
Snowbell Jewelry
sugarmouse
SwirlyThoughts
TARP GARDEN
Cottage Smallholder
THE EMPTY NEST
The Garden Bell
The Not So Tired Anymore Mummy ...
The Ordinary Housewife
The Pickled Weasel
The Scarlet Butterfly Company
The Sock Garden
The Uncommon Road
The Wonderful World of Skylar's Candy Clips
Totally Tutorials
Tranquility Spot
UK Handmade
Veg Plot
What Did I Learn Today?
Wilde Designs
Wood Jewellery
Zoë's Crafts

(I'm going to add little descriptions or group these when I have time!)

Pumpkins

I picked off this beauty yesterday- lovely isn't he! All of the others rotted which was a bit dissapointing but there is still a huge one that I'm hoping will last until halloween for E to cut up.  So I'm now online looking for pumkin recipes.  I love making soup with roasted vegetables it really adds to the flavour having roasted them first, so maybe this one is destined to be soup, I've never cooked or eaten pumpkin soup so it could be interesting!

After a bit of googling I found a recipe for pumpkin cake, yet another vegetable that we can turn into cake!  Chocolate beetroot cake has to be the most bizarre I've seen so far, I wonder what other vegetables people have used in cake?  Please share your veg cake oddities!

We have decided to buy a massive shed!  Just the word shed fills me with joy, but a huge one all ready for dozens of shelves and storage and a workshop - it's a very exciting prospect.  The main reason we're getting a new shed is to take the new biodiesel making machine.  My credit card is wearing thin!  It's going to be alot of work and I'm having to say goodbye to my huge salad bed in exchange for a smaller raised bed.    We'll have a large deck in front of the shed as that's where we get the very last rays of sun before it drops behind the house - a great spot for a beer after a hard days gardening, as you can see I have very expensive taste :)

 

Folksy Mini Treasury - Fuzzy therapy...

...not to be sniffed at!

Are you feeling an ickle bit poorly? This time of year sees us all reaching for the cold remedies amidst a chorus of woeful sniffs and splutters. My advice is to get yourself a blanket, a tv guide and one of these fuzzy little friends to keep you company on the couch. They are all handmade by UK artists and available now from Folksy, the UK's number one online craft market. Click the images and links below for more details and even more cuddly friends to choose from.

Spaniel Day-Lewis Sock Dog £6.00 Hotdogandme
Daffodil Owlet £5.00 Aleximo Croissant
Choose the costume Meerkat £36.00 NiftyKnits
Charlie - Knitted Bunny £25.00 Hany Little me
Pinky The Sock Bunny £8.00 Widget and friends
Edie Plush Lambswool Toy £24.00 Sara Carr

Any suggestions for upcoming theme's would be most welcome and rewarded, please leave a comment or send me a tweet - and if you are on twitter why not let all your friends know about this cute treasury :o)- just click here - treasury tweet!

Photo tips - Using Natural Window Light

If you can't get outside to take your pictures or you just don't fancy having strangers look at you in the park while you set up (I know not all of us have gardens!), the good advice given by alot of crafters is to steer clear of using your flash and head towards a window.  In reality things are a litttle more complex as the sun has this annoying habit of moving around!

I live in a mid- terrace house, my front windows face west and my rear windows face east, so when its sunny I have light streaming into my kitchen and my daughters room in the morning and into the living room and my bedroom in the afternoon.  This has an enormous influence on where I set up to take shots of my wristlets and bead kits.  If only I could pick my house up and move it 90 degrees!

Which Window?

Take a look at this lighting map and try to visualise how your own space fits in, you might find that it's your downstairs bathroom that is getting the best light!  I have a degree in architecture and the path of sunlight and how it impacts a space was always really important to consider when designing a building, the light models could get very complex when you took into consideration the time of year and time of day, solar azimuths etc... (yawn)   In your own house it should be a little easier (and without the need of a scientific calculator) to see how far away from the window is still light enough to take bright pictures.  You can then decide if you need to drag your dining room table across the room or not, it may only be necessary in the depths of winter but as a rule I would say get as close as you can to the light, this will also help to minimise long shadows.

Another thing to consider when choosing which window is the decor of that room, a bright white kitchen window will be brighter than a brown velvet clad parlour with ebony floors!

What is the best light?

Artists love north light, they rave about it - it is soft and even, because there is no direct sun all the light from the sun is bouncing off the sky itself which is acting as a huge diffuser.  If you are taking photographs and you can't avoid a strong direct light then you could try to make your own diffuser.  Anything that the light can get through easily but that will spread and soften it, such as tracing paper will work, you can buy this in very large sheets and could tape or pin it up to a very sunny window. 

If you are trying to achieve dramatic images then strong directional sunlight will certainly achieve this but for shots which you are using to sell craft it is far better to go for soft natural lighting which avoids these harsh shadows, which can alter the colours and textures of the piece.

I haven't got one myself to test the theory but a north facing velux window can apparently give you the best light, so if any of you have attic conversions it may be worth heading upstairs.

Reflectors

I always use a reflector or two, a simple piece of equipment which can easily be made from tin foil wrapped around card,  they are invaluable.  The surface needs to be scrunchy not smooth to bounce the light all around.  Once you are set up to take a shot, preferably using a tripod - try moving the reflector around and see what a difference it makes to any nasty shadows that your object is creating.  (You can buy them in the shops too of course)

Take a look at these shots (which I took very hastily this morning), one with the reflector and one without, I haven't brightened these in the editing stage in order to show the true difference so the background looks a little grey unfortunately as it was very dull today.  The very dark shadow on the left image has been lifted out by the reflector used in the right image and the material which is a thick cotton/linen looks smoother and brighter as each individual weave is not casting it's own mini shadow.   

Where to stand?

Another factor to consider is not just which window but from what angle you take the shot.  Take care to position the object so that the light can get at it! Think carefully about the texture of the object and how the light will 'play' across it.  Some weaves or knits may benefit from darker shadows to show how chunky they are in reality.

I try to stand my tripod between the window and the object I am photographing, slightly to the left or right of the window so that it does not cast a shadow.  This means that the shadows will usually fall behind the object and be very short if there are any to the left or right.  I then use reflectors to eliminate these shadows and reflect light to the back of the object and over the top.  You may need to get some help with holding your reflectors (or a makeshift stand) if you don't have a tripod otherwise you could compromise the shot as two hands will be needed on the camera, especially when light levels are low, to stop camera shake.

See the rest of my tips by clicking here.

Please leave a comment if you have any queries or just want to tell me how you manage with window light

GIVEAWAY!!! Monthly Ad Box Giveaway!

Something has arrived on my blog?  Over in the left sidebar, blinking away...  See it? Looks alot like this -

Yes this is my very first ever giveaway. I'll be giving away that ad space every month starting on October 1st.  You will win this ad space with a link to your Etsy or Folksy or other crafty shop or your blog and also a special feature post about your shop and or blog.

The ad can be whatever you like (within reason, I don't want to have to add a warning!).  I get a fair few clicks a month and I promote my posts and shop all over the place so your add will be seen lots! Don't worry if you don't have an advert, I can make one for you if you win (for free of course). Your advert will then be up there in that prime position for 1 month.

HOW TO ENTER!

In order to qualify you need to become a follower (if you're not one already) and also leave a comment on this post telling me about your shop or blog or both.  I'll number the comments and pick a shop out of a hat.  I thought this would be good as each new person leaving a comment gets to see all the mini adverts for the other shops, so you get a little bit of free promotion just for entering!  Hopefully you'll all find some new blogs to follow and some new shops to look at too!  Feel free to tell me in your comment about what's new in your shop or blog, your own giveaways, or best blog posts.

I will publish the winner on the 1st of October 2009 in a feature style blog post which will then become the new entry form for November's competition - so you'll have everyone who enters the next month seeing your feature too - it's the giveaway that just keeps giving!!!

If you want to leave a clickable comment but don't know how see my post here, this will enable people to go zooming off to your blogs and shops directly from your comment, and no messing with cut and paste.

Good Luck :o) PS. If blogger followers box has dissapeared (it does seem to have for me for some reason) click on the Follow tab in the nav bar at the very very top, this usually works I find.

THIS COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED _ TO ENTER NEXT MONTHS PLEASE GO TO GIVEAWAY HQ!

Making a clickable comment on a blog

For some reason blogger doesn't make the links that people leave clickable, unless you use a little html.

This is a super simple tip so don't be scared off by the thought of html. I know alot of you will know how to do this already and there are probably lots of other sites on the internet that you can learn this from but for those who don't already know and who have never thought to look before, here's how it's done.  I did mention this in my previous post but I just thought that it deserved to be a post of it's own because it's such a useful little tip.

HOW TO MAKE A CLICKABLE BLOG COMMENT!


<a href="LINK">TEXT</a>

Copy and paste all of the above code and then edit it by relacing the word LINK with the url address, starting http:// and replace TEXT with what you want to appear, ie. the clickable writing.   Only amend the green text and don't change the red.

For example, I'm writing a post in a forum or on a bloggers comments and I want to achieve this -

I just learned how to make Clickable comments on forum posts and blog comments!

I would write this

I just learned how to make <a href="http://haptreeandme.blogspot.com/">Clickable comments</a> on forum posts and blog comments

I have left the html highlighted in red just so you can see how little extra you have to write.  I advise you use the preview comment tool to check that your link is working before you post the comment when commenting on a blog.  The first two comments below probably explain why this is a useful thing to do better than I can here, I think that a clickable comment may make the difference between someone taking a few seconds to visit the link or just not bothering.

Please feel free to practise below!

*EDIT* Some people seem to be having problems because of the colour so here it is in just black - same instructions as above apply, just replace LINK and TEXT, don't touch the speech marks!

<a href="LINK">TEXT</a>

I'm a winner - Now I want more to enter!

Look what I won!

This super sweet little cosmetic purse made by Marilyn from Etsy's Missy Mao Mao is winging it's way to me from Australia!  It was a giveaway on her blog http://www.missymaomao.blogspot.com/, I've enetered a few giveaways on blogs before, I can't believe I actually won though, I can't wait for it to arrive!

Marylin is a Brit abroad and has recently opened another shop on Etsy called MarylinCardinal which has some gorgeous leather bags and purses, like this appliqued pouch below.  I'd love to have a go at sewing leather but I've always assumed it to be really difficult and steered clear, perhaps I'll be brave and give it a go myself soon.  (where do you get leather from ? I've never noticed it in my local fabric shop - more googling needed me thinks)

Good luck with the new shop Marilyn! 

If any of you are having a giveaway or know of any good ones I should be entering please share them with me, I've got the giveaway bug now!  Leave your links in the comments below :o) 

If you use <a href="LINK">VISIBLE TEXT</a> then they should be clickable. 
Copy and paste all of the red text  and then edit it by relacing the word LINK with the url address, http:// and where I've written VISIBLE TEXT, can you guess?  Yes thats where you write what you want to appear.  (oooh a mini html lesson)

Or just write it how you want - as the links are always clickable on the emails I get.

Craft Blog Uk - Folksy Wikizine!

I've set up this new zine called Craft Blog Uk on the interactive online magazine site, Zimbio.   Please take a look, and add your own posts - it's a melting pot!

It will be a place for people to upload blog posts about Folksy and the Uk handmade market and it's there for everybody to join in adding their own relevant articles, links, comments and of course lots of photographs of our crafts, for everyone to ogle over and to help promote uk handmade sites.  The news feed comes direct from the Folksy blog so hopefully people who come across the zine through searches will be directed not only to our blogs via the articles but also to the Folksy site itself.  Apparently Zimbio has 18million readers a month from around the world, so maybe a few of them might take a look our way!

It's very easy to add your own blog posts, register with the site and follow the instructions.  There is an orange box top right of our page which allows you to add your posts, old or new.

Take a look around it and let me know what you think, either in the comments here or in the Folksy forum on this thread. Promoting Folksy in a new place.

Hosta Advice Needed.

Well, yesterday was a gardener's question time theme but today is the real thing, look!...   What happened to my beautiful Hostas!? When I bought this one from a plant sale, back in May when I first started this blog, the man said, "do you know, slugs eat hostas for breakfast, lunch and dinner". Well he was quite right and whilst my interests have been focussed more on the veg garden the slugs appear to have opened an all you can eat restaurant.

As a novice Hosta grower (blimey I sound 90!) I'm not 100% sure what to do with them next now we are approaching winter.  I'm tempted to cut back all their slug infested leaves or perhaps I should just leave them to die back naturally now? I must do some more googling, but I'm hoping some of you especially those from Blotanical might be able to help! 

Here's a more happy view from the garden today, a beautiful little bee on my michaelmas daisy which is adding some much needed colour at the building site end of the garden.

One more thing un garden related, take a look at this blog from Chantal at Hotdogandme featuring a treasury of my folksy shop :).  I'm thinking of writing a tutorial post of my mini treasury template as it seems quite a popular format.

Folksy Mini Treasury - Gardeners Question Time...

... the question is "Which one of these would you buy?"

 A selection of gifts for gardeners to let them know we appreciate their hard work, it doesn't stop just because the summers over you know!  All available from Folksy right now!The images are clickable for more info or go direct to the sellers shops on the links below.

Gardener's Natural Handmade Soap £3.25 Natural Good Soap
SEEDBOM £8.95 Kabloom
Large Ditty Bag £25.00 The Mariners Supply Co
Summer flowers watering can necklace £9.50 Ji Ji Kiki
The Gardeners Candle £6. Erin Rose Crafts
French'n'floral - vintage seed packet lavender sachet £5.00 Ragged Roses

Any suggestions for upcoming theme's would be most welcome and rewarded, please leave a comment or send me a tweet!

Choosing a Background for Craft Photography

Backgrounds can be as important as your subject matter.  Important because if you are not careful they can completely out stage your subject resulting in a confused and weak image.


Can you imagine a bride and groom being happy to have their photos taken round the back of the church by the wheely bins just because that's where the light was best?  I'm not suggesting that the photos you use on your blog or for your craft photography are quite so important as wedding pictures, but they do deserve a little time and effort to make sure they attract rather than detract from the subject.  (especially if they are advertising your hard work)

When taking any photograph, whether it is of your garden, your kids or a finished piece you are ready to sell giving some extra thought to the background can make a huge difference to the final image.  I touched on this in my piece about composition, sometimes just changing position (or lying on the floor in the case above!) is all you need to do but when you are photographing crafts for sale it may need a bit more thought as the background you choose can affect the exposure, colour intensity and the general feel of the piece you are selling.

I use a white background to photograph my work.  This is because my wristlets and bead kits are really colourful and brightly patterned and I think anything other than white would make the image too busy.  I also want my shop to have consistent, branded look, so I chose white and I have stuck with it, I also use white as the background for my blog, to try and continue the theme of bright colours on a white background.  As you can see I don't use a studio, just a tripod, natural diffused light, a white board and a reflector made of tin foil!  Below is one of the images from this mini session, showing you don't need expensive equipment to achieve good results.

Experiment!

I would actively encourage a new seller to try out as many backgrounds as possible to find one that suits their products best, but I would also add that you need to think about the extra time you might have to spend styling the background, if it's your gorgeous country kitchen - is it always immaculate, does it get great light in the winter aswell?  In my opinion consistency is key to making your online shop gallery look proffessional.

Even the most ecclectic items can look like part of a 'family' if they are photographed with consistency, equally you can add character to a set of similar items by adjusting the background.  Take a look at this very talented Folksy seller's work Owl on the Sill , she has not limited herself to one background, she uses 2 or 3 even for one piece but she has maintained a consistent composition and style alongside quality close up photographs. I think I'd recognise one of her pieces immediately in a photo line-up, which is what's important.

Complimentary Backgrounds

It may be that the background forms the 'story' of the piece or that it adds another complimentary dimension for the viewer to unconsiously take in.  For example using slate or rocks as a background can imbue us with the notion of natural strength and durability.  Or using the fragile pages from an antique book gives us the feeling of great value and age.  The choice of background maybe purely to contrast with your object, making it stand out, for exampl shiny metals seem to look great against driftwood.
  

These earrings from Jezebel Charms are detailed pieces but the choice of background which is also very detailed does not detract from the earrings but emphasises their steampunk style, giving them age and character.

Scale

If you chose to use a plain background, you may need to include something to give scale, it can be done surreptitiously without detracting from the image, a ruler shot isn't always necessary!   I use coins with my coin purses, they show it's function but they also add scale.  Likewise with something such as a knitting bag, it would be nice to see it with needles nearby.

Large Objects

The ideas are limitless for small objects but things get a lot trickier with larger objects or indeed oddly shaped objects.  Try and use the same principles as with small objects but  if the background itself can't be consistent then try to keep the style consistent.   For online selling you could always use cropped in pictures of important details thus eliminating the background for the first gallery image and then full frame pictures in the remaining slots.  Using a large aperture to blur backgrounds can also help, allowing your subject to really pop out, especially if you are forced to use a particularly busy backdrop, see my post about depth of field for advice on this. 

Colours

A few final points to consider when choosing your background.

• A plain white backgrounds is great in most situations, but can make dark objects recede from the viewer and can affect your exposure if you are not careful with metering. (in most cases any issues can be remedied when editing your images)
• Black backgrounds absorb light so you will get rid of unwanted reflections sometimes this can make very shiny objects appear to merge with the background.  However it can also add drama and make bright colours look very intense. 
• Intense and bright colours - these can really make a shot zing but beware that the subject is still visible and not drowned out by all that colour!
• Colours all have an effect on each other so experiment with different coloured backgrounds and coloured objects on a small scale before investing in anything large or expensive.
• I think that a graduated background can work really well, having the subject sitting in the lighter area in the forground with the background seeming to dissapear as it gets gradually darker.  I have managed to achieve this affect with natural light, but I would like to make this more consistent with my photography so  I am looking to buy a graduated background. I will be sure to make a post about my discoveries!

Thanks for reading this week, I look forward to your comments, my other photography tips can be found here

Blog Post Titles - SEO tips from Etsy Bloggers

I often have trouble deciding on a title.  It’s rare for me to think of the title first, I go to click publish and realise I haven’t titled the post, then head in hands I try to think up something quickly - but not any more!

In a recent thread I posted on the forums Creations by Juliann had this good advice about blog post titles.

“The title of your blog should grab your reader. I wrote a blog titled, "My Couch: The Monster" and I seemed to get more views that day. My guess is that an interesting title can greatly increase traffic.”

So how important is the title of your Blog Post?

I use google reader, and I have to admit the title really makes a difference to whether I click to read the post or just skip to the next on the list, the first photo and first paragraph are also important for this reason too.

But the title is important on a much larger scale than to appeal just to your existing followers. If your goal is to increase your readership then it is important that you include words in the title that are relevant to the content of your post as this is what will be returned in searches. It’s all about that abbreviation we see everywhere S.E.O. Search engine optimisation, for those new to this that's basically techno speak for 'how to get more people to my blog/shop who will actually be interested in reading my posts/buying my stuff'.

Gallery Juana who created the beautiful line drawing at the top of this post has lots of good SEO tips in her blog.

For example I could have called this post, ‘What’s in a name’ but it has no clues in the title that I’m giving tips about blogging and seo that you might find useful as an etsy or folksy seller. More likely I’d have people who were 8 months pregnant clicking and then immediately ‘bouncing’ away (hee hee no pun intended).   I’d like to believe they may like my bead kits and stay, but I know that when I'm searching if I don't get what I wanted when I click, I'll be back to the search results fairly rapidly.

Sleepy Moon Designs, who made this beautiful pendant below recommends having a weekly blog post people can "look forward to" - I post a weekly post on Thursdays called my 'Folksy Mini Treasury'. I always make the title, 'Folksy Mini Treasury' followed by a catchy subtitle of the weeks theme, that way my regular blog readers  know what they are getting and it still features in relevant searches because of the subtitle.

So take a little time deciding on a title for your next post, it could make a huge difference to how many people get to read it, but don’t forget the content is important too. You may be inviting people for a coffee but you’ll want them to stay for a three course meal, after dinner espresso and a quick game of charades.

If you treat your blog visitors like the bloggers behind etsy shop Quite Nice your visitors may even decide to move in!  Apart from wrapping her blog readers up in lovely Afghans, here's what Sandy from We are Quite Nice had to say about her style of blogging -

“We haven't featured any other shops in our blog, but it is upbeat and positive. It's about our life and life in general. Be yourself...not fake. I think people like to read about someone else's life sometimes. I think our funniest blog is titled 'Basketball and Toilet Paper'"

Now there's an interesting title I bet you'll just have to read!

I’ll be expanding upon lots of the great advice I was given in the thread I posted requesting blogging tips over the next few weeks, so please do leave your own ideas on there too and I may use them in the weeks to come.  You will also find a lot more great tips there.  All the pictures I have used today are clickable and from Etsy sellers that have posted on the thread, I'll include more next week (thankyou).

Here is the thread link - Blogging Tips - Please share and be featured!

What was your best blog post title - please share it in the comments!

I love my Delica Space Gear!

We had a very exciting weekend as I exchanged my peugot 206 SW for this monster - it is indeed a monster, it has a super long wheelbase and it's so tall - I'm only 5ft so I look quite ridiculous next to it but as it's Japanese everything in it can be adjusted so it's a lovely drive for me and my first ever automatic.    It has so much space inside, 7 seats all adjustable and with arm rests - 2 of them are captain seats so they swivel around so you can face the other way and have a little table in the middle!  Its so cool...   and so BIG!

We do an awful lot of travelling as our families are all spread across the UK so this is to make the ride just that little bit more comfortable and allow us to take all our stuff with ease.  It will be so useful for camping trips as we can attach an awning and use it as a wet weather retreat.

The one issue is the fact we have now got a pretty thirsty diesel engine (approx 29mpg, not too bad) so we are going to be installing this processor in a shed at the top of our garden - our very own diesel making machine!  It looks quite complicated!!!  This one comes from Golden Ray and it is estimated to save nearly £2000 a year per car!  Plus it's 80% greener to use biodiesel than it is to use regular diesel, it's made from vegetable oil.  

The idea is that you collect waste oil from a local restaurant and then with a few chemicals added and some filtration out comes super clean biodiesel. It's a win win situation!  We need to investigate all the ins and outs and we're going to attend a seminar to make sure we know what we're doing, but it sounds great doesn't it?

Once we have it up and running I'll let you all know how we're getting on with it, hopefully in the next few months...  I would love to know if any of my readers make their own biodiesel, please leave some comments if you have any advice, or if you just want to let me know how cool my new ride is!

I'm off to join the delica owners club now - more forums for me to natter on!

Folksy Mini Treasury - Steampunk...

...da Funk

HG Wells and Jules Verne would be hard pressed to conjure up a finer selection of jewellery!   The steampunk revival is here and being fully embraced by Folksy's finest, so dust off your frock coats and top hats and indulge in a bit of retro-victoriana.  Images are clickable for more details and shops are linked below. 

Time Travelling Cufflinks Silver/Black £14.90 - Enlyl's Realm

Captain Nemo Pocket Watch Steampunk Necklace £45.00 - Jezebel Charms

Steampunk Bracelet £20.00 - Skullduggery

Metal starflower hairstick £25.00 - Discardae

Timeless Earrings - Clock Hands £8.99 - Molly Magpie Jewellery

Van Vaas Phantasmagorical Device £30.00 - Steampunk Jewellery