I'm In the Bloglight with Hometalk...!

Welcome to all of the  Hometalk readers stopping by! Hi to my regular readers as well. I am so honored to be featured this week in Hometalk's In the Bloglight!

I started blogging in 2007 just after my youngest was born. I had found blogs and when I realized I could do more than read, I was so excited to have  a place to share all of my creative ideas.

At first, I named my blog after my mural business, Sanctuary Arts (looking back I realize it was a terrible name), but as I closed shop and wanted to be recognized for what I do, (which his wholesaling handmade home decor items and art, and freelance writing for magazines.) I wanted to be found in google searches easily by my name, and made the jump to a dot.com.

Blogging is definitely I do something on the side, besides my handmade business and regular day job as a recruiter, I would love for it to be  a bigger part of my life and eventually have my creative work entirely pay the bills. :)

The first project I ever posted was how to update a handmade sweater with buttons. It's funny to see how far blogging has come and how professional from it's crafty beginnings, and how far my photography has come. 

One of my highest traffic posts ever was how to turn an old picture into a bulletin board.

I took that picture with my old point and shoot. I do not miss that camera!

One of my favorite projects of all time is the tablecloth I did for Country Living magazine.

 image from Country Living magazine

 It was my first  published project and I was over the moon.It holds a special place in my heart as the first time I realized I could be published and I could do this and be recognized for my creative skills. And when they published my kitchen two years ago it truly made me realize I need to trust my decorating instincts and just take more chances and get myself out there.

I have had my ups and down with blogging. In the last 5 years there have been times when I couldn't wait to get to the computer and other times I've just felt burnt out. I am glad I have hung in there with it. I've gotten so much out of it. It's lead to so many opportunities from being published in national magazines to now teaching in the October E-course The Creatively Made Home to wholesaling at various retail boutiques and growing a successful business, which are all things I couldn't have even dreamed about doing 5 years ago. On top of it, I've made new friends and met wonderfully amazing and creative people.

I try to post at least 3 days a week on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Occasionally I can get a few extra days in there, but I try to stay pretty consistent.  I host a weekly linky party, Fabulously Creative Friday, and a really popular Virtual Holiday Housewalk, which I am so excited to share again this year with even more amazing homes!

My biggest bits of advice are even in the low times, stick with it. So many new bloggers drop out after the first year, before they even know what they are capable of. Secondly, choose your name wisely. It's much harder to move your following later if you decide to change. I was so afraid of being public, it hurt me later on. If I could do it all over again, it would be with my own name from the get go.

Also, blogging won't make you a ton of extra money in itself, but the opportunities it can bring you far outweigh the cash.

Thanks for stopping by and reading about my little journey! With 5 years under my belt, I look forward to sharing many more with you!

Thank you Hometalk!!

Jen