Gallery | Reading My Tea Leaves

This week's featured blogger/blog is Erin from Reading My Tea Leaves.  Erin's blog is a constant source of beautiful visuals, snippets of stories, and reminders that it's the simple things that make life so sweet.  

I admire that she tells such wonderful and rich stories with simple, stunning photographs and very little text. Let's find out a bit about the thought behind her blog...

What is the idea/purpose behind your blog?
I use my blog as a place to share the little bits of beauty I encounter throughout the week. Sometimes the posts are about things I've made and sometimes they're about things I've merely stumbled upon.

Where do you get your ideas for posts from?

Ideas for my posts pop up all the time, in unexpected moments. A particularly lovely daffodil, the shape flour makes when it spills out of a bag and hits the counter top, the path a raindrop takes as it glides down my window. I never know what will inspire my posts from week to week. When my schedule gets too hectic and I don't have the quiet or peace of mind to wonder and document these little moments, it means my blog is quiet for awhile, which is okay with me. 

What's one tip or insight that you'd like to share with other bloggers?

Starting a blog can be a scary thing. When I first started my own it sometimes seemed as if there was a certain protocol or expectation that I was missing. In some ways, I was right. The blogging community does have certain expectations about appropriate blog etiquette, but I think that the rules that apply in the blog-world are the same ones that will get you far in real life: honesty, humility, and graciousness. I often get emails from brand-new bloggers asking me for my "secret." The answer is, there's no secret. The most important thing a new blogger can do is to engage thoughtfully with the existing blog community while also actively creating a thoughtful, original space of their own. If the comments a new blogger makes on someone else's blog are meaningful, that blogger is many times more likely to visit the commenter's site and see what else they have to say. If you generate interesting content on your own blog, people will be encouraged to share it with others, it's as simple as that.

Thanks for sharing, Erin!  

Check out Erin's beautiful blog here.

View past Gallery posts here. 

Quick Tip Thursday | Google Reader

My blog has matured and evolved due in HUGE part to the fact that I follow tons of other blogs.  I read them daily - observing and interacting with others' ideas, photos, and ways of blogging.  I'm always thinking about why I love certain blogs - what is it about their approach that makes me so excited to see their next post?

I used to have all of these sites bookmarked, and each time I turned on my computer I'd go through the routine of clicking through the long list one by one and waiting for each page to load in order to see if they'd posted something new.

Now, I have Google Reader to help me pull in all of this content to one central place - it saves me SO much time, and it keeps the inspiration constantly rolling in.

Here's how it works:



Check out this handy post from Handmadeology to learn more about how to set it up: Save Time With Google Reader.

One catch with Google Reader - it makes it easy to forget to comment on the posts you're reading.  Don't forget how important it is to not be a Blurker - to post a comment, just click on a post title to be taken to the original blog site.

Thus concludes my series of blogging Quick Tip Thursdays - I hope they were helpful!

This is Awesome: A new way of seeing it

I went to a training earlier this month on Deep Documentation: Interpretation and Dialogue, led by two amazing local artists/educators in Providence.  I attended for work, but was surprised to find some strong connections to my blogging life.

Here are my raw notes from what they presented as a framework for documentation:

1. Observe - what is key? (what is key?)
2. Document - the way you make meaning in the world: photos, notes, video, etc.
3. Interpret and make legible to others - reduce, refine, organize, group, put in to "form"
4. Exhibit, share - make meaning together with audience
5. Revise thinking - what's next? You are trying to understand what is possible


This routine is exactly how I go about blogging.  Here's my translation of those notes:


1. Observe - be open to and reflect on what's important to share from my creative life
2. Document - take photos of work, jot down notes, and capture links
3. Interpret and make legible to others - edit down photos, write a readable blog post
4. Exhibit, share - post on website, open for comments from viewers
5. Revise thinking - those comments inspire new ideas, excitement, inspiration

I love that these first three steps are so subjective, and so personal.  Every blog is so different because bloggers move through those steps in unique ways.


It's fun to see something in a new way.


How does this framework apply to your blog, or something else in your life?

Gallery | The Mycelial Network

This week's featured blog/blogger is my friend Paul.  Paul and I originally met as work colleagues, and have each moved on to new positions at new institutions.  He works as a science educator at an aquarium, and he extends his passion for science beyond the work day by writing about his thoughts and interests in a blog called The Mycelial Network.  

Though it's not a subject that I would usually engage in, Paul's thoughtful, creative, and unique approach along with his beautiful photographs of nature are a joy to follow.   I can really connect with his passion for his topic, and how he's always thinking things out about education and the natural world.  

Photo by Paul

Hey, Paul! What is the idea/purpose behind your blog?

When I started writing the Mycelial Network I had two goals in mind.  One was to engage readers, especially people who live in the New England area, with photos and natural history content of local animals and plants.  I've been really interested in the idea of place based education recently and I wanted to begin an archive, almost, of species that lived where I live.  There's a lot of fascinating natural history out there but sticking mainly with New England gave me a focus.  I have written about other things not found in New England but the majority of it will stick with local natural history.  

The second goal was to start a pretty broad conversation about the role of learning natural history.  I was really hoping for the Mycelial Network to be very interactive, that I would have readers talking and commenting.  Unfortunately that hasn't happened to the level I was hoping but I keep posting questions and hopefully readers are at least thinking about them on their own.  I still care a lot about these ideas: why do we learn natural history?  Does this make us better citizens?  Does it change who we are?  And I'll keep writing about them.  Hopefully someone will post a comment.  

What do you hope your readers will get out of reading your blog?

I hope they will be awed by the natural world.  That's my MO in everything I do and that always comes first.  Especially, as I said, about the natural world in New England, where I'm assuming any regular readers live.  Awe is, as far as I can tell, the best thing ever.  At least from a human perspective.  

I also hope they will go out and teach.  I don't just mean this for people who are professional educators or who consider themselves teachers.  I mean it for anyone.  If you learn something amazing about the natural world and you feel awed by it or you feel small or you feel excited I really hope you go out and teach people about it.  Teach your friends and family.  Teach strangers if you're brave enough (I'm lucky that I have a job where I get to teach strangers all the time).  I encourage my students to do this all the time: if you're at the beach and you see a horseshoe crab, tell your family how it has ten legs and nine eyes!  It might amaze them!

Where do you get your ideas for posts from?

The Mycelial Network has two major "genres" for its posts.  For the first one I photograph some plant or animal or fungus, then I research it and then I write about it.  I was doing the first part of this already and usually the second part as well so it wasn't difficult for me to translate that into writing.  

The second "genre" are the posts about natural history/environmental education.  Again, since I am an educator in the field of informal science/environmental education it wasn't hard for me to start writing about this.  Most of these posts come from something that happens to me in a program or a class I'm teaching or something a colleague says in a conversation or something I read that has to do with education.  So just like the first kind of post I was already doing most of this work already, having conversations with people, thinking about the role my work plays in the overall educational/life experience of my students.  All I had to do was start writing.

So both of the major post types you find on my blog came out of things I was doing already.  I would encourage anyone interested in starting a blog to consider what she/he already thinks about all the time or does all the time that one could write about.  I don't think it should really feel like work.  Of course the issues and ideas I put forth are things I care deeply about but writing the blog is something I want to do.  You'll see that if I don't have time or don't feel like posting or don't have ideas, I just won't post for a while and that seems fine.  

Thanks for sharing your thought process and some helpful advice, Paul!  Check out Paul's blog - The Mycelial Network.  And post a comment if you feel so inclined!

See previous Gallery posts here. 

Quick Tip Thursday | Planning Posts

When I first started blogging, I thought that people who blogged every day were just plain crazy.  Who the heck has that kind of time?

As I've been creating and blogging over the past few years, I've been posting more and more frequently, and now I'm up to a standard 4-6 posts/week.  I'm posting often because I love it.  I love writing, I love creating, and I want to keep up with all of the creative thoughts that I'm having every day.

But I'm also posting often because I've found ways to make it a less time/brain power-consuming process.

1) I plan ahead.

Whenever I get an idea for a post, I put it in my posting calendar.  I keep track of all of my past and upcoming posts on my Google Calendar.  I track them as "Tasks" so I can have the great satisfaction of checking them off once they're ready to go!

Adding a planned post as a Task

Here's my posting calendar for the month of April - still have to think of something to write about on the 27th!

I never have to sit down at my computer and think, "What am I going to write about"?  I am always thinking of things to post about, and I am always ahead of the game.


2) I write all of my posts for the week on Sundays.  

Did you know that you can schedule posts in advance?  Learning this helped me to channel my writing energy.  Sometimes it's hard to sit down at the end of a long day and be ready to post.  I find it's better for me to get in the zone and write them all in one relaxed sitting.

Every Sunday morning I sit down to blog while watching Sunday Morning on CBS.  I write all of my posts for the week! (I posted a picture of this ritual here!).

I schedule them to be posted daily sometime around 1:00pm - for some reason, that's the time I like to post them.  I've always wondered if my boss has noticed, and if she thinks maybe I'm blogging at work!

Here's how to schedule your posts (in Blogger):
Write your post
At the bottom of the page, click on "Post Options"
Under "Post date and time" check "Scheduled at"
Fill in the date and time you'd like your post to go up
Click on "Publish Post"
From there, you'll be brought to your "edit posts" page, and you'll see the date and time it's scheduled for.

Easy peasy!

How do you make blogging less time consuming?

This is Awesome: Blurkers

Source: Fine Tooth Comb

What is a blurker, you ask?  Well, you might just be a blurker yourself.

A blurker is a blog lurker.  As in, one who reads blogs but never posts a comment.  Blurkers often resist commenting because they are intimidated, and they worry their comment won't be read or they'll be judged for a short or dull comment.

I found an article about Blurking on Fine Tooth Comb a while ago, and realized to my horror that I, in fact, was one.  The article helped me realize that I was missing a big opportunity to make connections, ask questions, and offer encouragement to my favorite folks who offer me inspiration and ideas regularly!  I posted about it here.

Julie of Fine Tooth Comb points out that if you don't comment:
1. You won't be able to share your feedback or add value to the blog.  
Asking questions and offering feedback allow you to participate and learn more. 
2. You won't be able to encourage the blogger. 
Comments are so encouraging - they keep me inspired and motivated to create and blog everyday.
3. You won't be able to spread the word about your brand.  
By making connections with other bloggers, you'll create more of a following for your own blog.

Now, I don't necessarily think that blurkers are awesome, but I do think it's awesome that there's a name for them, and that it sounds like a dirty word to me.


Learn about why you should consider changing your blurking ways here.


What do you gain when someone posts a comment on your blog?
What do you gain by posting a comment?

Gallery | Inside My Bookshelf

Time for another featured blog/blogger!  

This week: the fabulous and very unique blog Inside My Bookshelf, written by my friend Sarah. As a professional in the youth arts non-profit community, Sarah has a lot of books on her reading list, and somehow she makes time to actually read them (you know, between the long work week and being a new mom)!  

Inside My Bookshelf is an archive of these books - Sarah posts a photo of the book and quotes/passages that she marked, all without commentary.  It's a continuing roll of inspiration for me.  I'm excited to learn more about the thinking behind her blog.

Sarah, what is the idea/purpose behind your blog?

I was an English major in college and met many people who worshipped books in a way where dog-earing the corner of a page was like swearing in church. I'm the opposite. I read books with markers, pens, pencils, highlighters and mark my way through them. These highlighted passages become like field notes. A few summers ago, I took a sabbatical from my job at New Urban Arts. I did a lot of reading that summer, and also a lot of rereading my markings in books I poured through as a graduate student studying Arts in Youth and Community Development at Columbia College, Chicago.

In revisiting these texts, and starting new ones, I realized that articulation of my values and philosophies in doing this work were lost inside the pages of a bookshelf. References were left unnamed, on the tip of my tongue, in many conversations and trainings. I started a blog as a way to archive what I am reading, and what I am highlighting inside these books, so I could revisit these ideas with more frequency and familiarity. Like friends you want to keep in better touch with.

My blog is a peek inside my bookshelf for others. It's a quotography for me, a way of remembering and keeping close the mirrors and reflections that keep me going. Not only does an archival blog like this serve as a resource for others, in the way that someone's photo albums, clothes or fridge magnets tell the story of a person, I find that our literary cannons provide an interesting glimpse into who we are and who we want to be. 

What do you hope your readers will get out of reading your blog?

For awhile, I followed Portland State University's online bibliography for one of their graduate programs on art and social practice. I would research their running list of titles for additions to my own. I hope that my blog serves as this kind of resource for others.

Where do you get your ideas for posts from?

I only post books I am reading. I include book covers and the passages I highlight or underline. Sometimes it takes me a few months to add a book I've read to my blog. I have started a blog for my son with a similar format. He can't read yet, but he already has a growing library. You can find it here: 

http://insidehisbookshelf.blogspot.com/

What's one tip or insight that you'd like to share with other bloggers?

Within the first year of blogging, a good friend commented that she was surprised to learn I had my own blog. I was embarrassed, like I had been caught doing something behind people's backs.

When I realized she had read my blog, I kept making apologies for why it wasn't finished, why it wasn't "ready yet." In relaying this to my husband later, he said, but isn't that the point of a blog? You're always adding to it? It's always "ready" but never finished? Readership was a major lightbulb for me. 

What do you envision your blog being someday down the road?

I imagine editing down this collection of quotes some day. I'm not sure how or why yet. Sometimes I wish I had a zine of these lines, something I could hold. Something I could find unexpectedly, misplaced in a pile of bills. With a blog, I need to go out of my way to be in its company. I prefer relationships that allow for serendipity.

Thanks so much for sharing, Sarah!  Check out Inside My Bookshelf to see some of the books Sarah's been reading. 

Quick Tip Thursday | Blogger Draft

If you use Blogger and you haven't already, try using Blogger in Draft.  


What is Blogger in Draft?

Blogger in draft is a special version of Blogger where we try out new features before releasing them to everyone. Think of it as our sandbox, or laboratory, or just “Blogger + new things.” By taking your feedback and looking at what works and what doesn’t, we’ll be able to make features that much better when releasing them to everyone. Your blogs and posts are the same regardless of whether you use Blogger in draft or regular Blogger. The only difference is what you see in the editing interface.

Some great things about Blogger in Draft:

• More font choices
• Inserting photos is so much easier - you can upload multiple photos at once, and then insert them one at a time so that they're placed exactly where you want them
• You can easily edit photo sizes and add captions
• Creating and editing links is much easier
• Previewing your posts shows you exactly how the post will look

Those five perks alone save me a lot of time in my blogging routine.


To use Blogger in Draft, go to http://draft.blogger.com/, and log in as usual.  You can check a box that says "Make Blogger in Draft my default platform" to automatically be brought to that platform each time you log in.  

Learn more about the features of Blogger in Draft here.

This is Awesome | Blogging E-course

My friend Moira recently sent me a link to this e-course by Elsie at Red Velvet Art.  She was one of the teachers when I took the Indie Biz 2.0 e-course last year and my experience with that course leads me to believe that the $32.00 to take the Blog Love E-course is well worth it.

Blog Love is my newest e-course. I love blogging, but never would have expected that it could become such a big part of my career! I spent the past month compiling tips, stories and ideas for young bloggers. This course was written with new bloggers in mind, but it goes way beyond simply 'getting started'.

It's a go-at-your-own pace course that covers finding your voice, increasing readership, stats, taking great photos, networking, branding, and much more.

Visit the Red Velvet Art e-course page to purchase the class.  And leave a comment here if you plan to take it - I'm thinking of diving in, too, so we can compare notes and ideas!

Thanks for sending this my way, Moira!

What I'm Reading: Julie & Julia

My book club recently decided that we would each choose a biography to read.  While not quite a biography, Julie & Julia: 365 days, 524 recipes, 1 tiny apartment kitchen by Julie Powell is a memoir, and it was my choice for the month.

I had fun reading this book - I liked relating to how she moved between her day job, her creative work & home life, and blogging.  It was a good read, but not nearly as good as the movie (which is very different), and also not as good as Julia Child's My Life in France.

I did, however, pull a wonderful nugget of wisdom out of one of the final pages:

Julia taught me what it takes to find your way in the world.  It's not what I thought it was.  I thought it was all about -- I don't know, confidence or will or luck.  Those are all some good things to have, no question.  But there's something else, something that these things grow out of.

It's joy.

I think about confidence a lot, and how often I find myself lacking it.  I think about it maybe a little too much.

But here on my blog, it requires a certain amount of confidence to post regularly, to write about myself and my work 5 times a week for the whole world to see.  I don't think about confidence much as it relates to my blog, because I'm so focused on the joy.

And I need to bring that same focus to the rest of my life.

Gallery: Big Girl Feats Blog

Since my theme this month is blogging, instead of my usual Friday gallery posts I'll be featuring some of my favorite blogs and a window into the thinking behind them.

Kicking us off is Erin from the blog Big Girl Feats.  Take it away, Erin!

{ Erin }

What is the idea/purpose behind your blog?

I originally started my blog in July 2009 as a food blog – Big Girl Eats - because I have a great interest in food, health and nutrition. This interest was definitely NOT life long, but developed during and after college when I lost 40+ pounds, started running and learning how to cook. The title of the blog refers to learning to embrace myself, my body and my height (I’m 5’9) as well as the fact that I was taking care of and providing for myself now. 

I successfully blogged for about 10 months and then had some life issues that came up. Blogging wasn’t a priority in my life at that point. I didn’t blog again until November 2010 when I was diagnosed with thyroid cancer.

The diagnosis was completely out of the blue. I felt a lump in my neck in late summer that eventually grew to 2.1 cm. I was extremely stressed out that spring and putting a lot of pressure on myself. I really believe that fueled the cancer. I remember waking up from surgery and having this immense sense of gratitude while also knowing that it was cancerous. Then I thought “Holy crap. I really need to blog about this.”

I changed the title of my blog from Big Girl Eats to Big Girl Feats, because I no longer want to focus solely on food. I’m still trying to figure out that transition, but my purpose going forward is to celebrate the small moments and the big challenges in working toward health and happiness.

{ Erin's kitchen, mid-project }

What do you hope readers will get out of reading your blog? 

One of the (many) things that I hope readers will take away from my blog is to think about what can we do to improve our health and happiness each and every day. I thought I was “healthy.” I ate things like kale, exercised on an almost regular basis, had already lost 40+ pounds over the past 4 years, I don’t smoke and I have a fantastic close group of friends and family. But after my diagnosis, I realized health is more than food and exercise. For me, it’s getting enough sleep, stopping perfectionism, eating foods that give me energy, spending time on things I love, getting some form of exercise every day, finding spirituality, connecting with friends, getting to a healthy weight, changing the negative talk in my head, and saying no to “obligations” or invitations that add to my stress level.

I’d like my readers to realize health is the most important thing – period. Without it, we have literally nothing. We don’t realize the miracle of the human body until something goes wrong. It might seem scary, but to me, it’s actually really motivating. We have the ability to change our habits and behaviors to bring about better health and happiness. Eventually, I’d like to help people realize what health means for them, too.

What one tip or insight would you like to share with other bloggers?

One thing that I struggle with and work on is that you shouldn’t compare yourself to anyone else or anyone else’s blog. I have a tendency to overlook the present because I’m trying to get somewhere else in the future. I think a lot of people, women particularly, can relate to comparing themselves to others. I remind myself that this is my creative outlet and I have a different message. That helps to keep the perfectionist overachiever at bay.

I think one of the best things about blogging is that you build friendships and connections with other bloggers. I draw inspiration and motivation from other healthy living or food or creative bloggers almost every day. Commenting on blogs is a great way to develop that relationship. I’m lucky enough to have friends like Carole Ann who I can to talk about blogging and the creative process in person too.

Thanks for sharing, Erin!  Check out Erin's blog for some witty rants, Mix A Lot Mondays, delicious eats, big feats, and all around inspiration: Big Girl Feats.

Quick Tip Thursday | Google It

I blogged yesterday about the evolution of my blog.

The beauty of this process is that you don't have to be some kind of html expert to make it all happen.  You just need to know two words: GOOGLE IT.

That's right, my friends.  If you want to beautify your blog, and you're not sure how to go about it, all you have to do is Google It.  This is what I do all the time.

For instance, I wanted to figure out how to add a cute little signature to the bottom of all of my posts, so I googled "how to add a signature to blog posts in blogger" and tons of wonderful step by step resources came up.  Make sure you specify in your search if you're using blogger or wordpress or some other type of format.

Other things I've learned by googling:
How to create pages under my header (about, flickr, shop, etc...)
How to create widgets/buttons (bottom of my right column)
...and pretty much everything else I've ever changed about the blog.

Don't be afraid to experiment and allow your blog to evolve little by little...and when in doubt, google it.

This is Awesome | Evolving

Part of having a blog that can be either really exciting or really daunting is the fact that you can tweak and customize how it looks until the cows come home.  

After two years of blogging here I've changed the look of the page quite a few times - varying columns, what's in the side bar, fonts, colors, background...and my content has also changed from "I made this" and "I made that" to reflections, features, series...

The thing about a blog is that it's always changing, never finished.  I hesitated for a long time before starting my blog because I wanted it to look a certain way and I wanted to really know what I was going to be writing about.  But I realized that you have to start somewhere, so I just started and allowed it to evolve over time.

My friend Julianne entered this mantra into the mini quilt giveaway:

"I am part of a process.  I am not failing.  I am evolving."  

She's using this mantra as she writes her masters thesis, but I think it really applies to how I've approached blogging.  I think it took about a year and a half before I felt like the content and look of my blog were really in a good place.  And even then, of course, the evolution wasn't over.  I've grown to really love the process, and how it has paralleled and documented my journey as an artist.

At this moment in time, I like how the blog looks, but I'm sure I'll see something someone else has on their blog sometime soon, and I'll want to figure out how to tweak my page to have the same feature. 

How has your blog evolved since you started it?

April's Theme: Blogging

Sunday Morning Blogging Ritual - bed head and all!

In February, I posted a list of blogs created by you all out there.

And - have you noticed? - I've been posting a lot lately.

I think it's because I'm totally in love with blogging.  I now think of it as an integral part of my creative practice, and even a piece of the art-making itself.  These days, I'd say that of all of the time I devote to Connect the Dots, the split between art-making and blogging is more even than ever: 50/50.

So this month, I'm making blogging my theme.  I'll share some tips, tricks, and routines I've learned over the past two years, and I'll feature some of my favorite blogs and the bloggers behind them.

What questions do you have about blogging?  I'll do my best to answer them here!