As I've been thinking about my blogging history, I have to be honest and admit . . . . I don't really remember why I started blogging, or how I first became aware of the blogging community. But for whatever reason, or how I got connected in the first place, I'm sure glad I did! It seems that I've been blogging for a year or so now, and it has been amazing to me how many wonderful, gracious, and generous people I have "met" through the connections that are made out here in the blogosphere. One thing I do remember, is having been involved with several online communities of people with shared interests. Isn't that the way we all start out? Through my work as a designer and seamstress, I first connected with design groups for boutique children's clothing. That is something that I"ve been doing for a very long time :o) and suddenly discovered that there is a huge community of other women who love to design and create children's clothing. I was hooked!
I was truly amazed at the kindness, the comaraderie, the support, and encouragement that I encountered in those first online communities. But then, of course, just like in any other human relationships, you always encounter others who don't provide the positive input that most groups need to survive. Consequently, many of the early online groups that I participated in, no longer exist. But, the overall experience has been so positive and rewarding, that I continue to be involved in several groups of independent artists, book enthusiasts, designers, moms, and adoptive familes. And since I found JustBeConnected, I've participated in some of the swaps, I've been a hostess for various theme days, and now I get to be part of this weekly project.
When I first began blogging, I simply shared my daily experiences, family funnies, stories about our adoptions, pictures of my children, our yard, our neighborhood, and occasionally I included pictures of some of my art projects. Then I hit a period of time where I was really struggling with my health, and all of my creative activity came to a complete stop. For about 6 or 7 months. Consequently, I lost most of the initial connections I had made through my blog, because what fun is it to keep visiting a blog that isn't being updated! I was sad, but determined to get re-connected as soon as possible. So, when I started having more energy and actually felt like chatting, I jumped right back out here and started posting on my own blog, commenting on lots of other blogs, and I even got involved with the weekly art challenges on the Artella website. The positive responses I received really encouraged me to keep going!
I came back to JustBeConnected, and Melba graciously invited me to participate again, and that really helped me to find other independent artists. Through that connection, I discovered Leah at creativeeveryday, and what an inspiration that was for me! Recently, I've been so focused on my creative ventures that I have been limited on the time I spend chatting with my blogging buddies, but I have found such a gift in this community. If you are at a place in your life where you need some encouragement and support, please get involved by reaching out to some of us, and you'll find not only that encouragement that you need, but so much inspiration for your creativity.
I currently have two blogs, mamas*little*treasures and Waiting*for*Grace. mamas*little*treasures is a (almost!) daily documentation of my design work. I write eBook patterns for many of my designs, and I have an Etsy Shop where I sell my creations. I also have my own website. My other blog, Waiting*for*Grace is devoted to providing information and resources for current or potential adoptive families. I am also working on a website to accompany that blog. I am including adoption stories, book reviews, links to agencies and other resource websites, current news on international adoption, adoption funding information, and any other resource information that I can find.
Blogging has given me a great sense of accomplishment as I provide information and encouragement to other people for whatever their goals might be. And I have been honored to be included in this community of wonderful people, whom I would never have had the opportunity to meet if it wasn't for blogging! Happy blogging . . . . and if you don't have your own blog yet, give a shout out and I'll be happy to help you with that! Nina
