Hello, Friend

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Hello, Friend

I've been thinking long and hard on how I want to write this post.  I'm back from another Alt Summit in frozen Salt Lake City. For those of you who don't write a blog, this is a conference like no other, designed specifically for creative/craft bloggers like myself. Topics range from "The Business Of Blogging", "Personal Branding", "Pinterest Strategies", and "Growing Your Community", and keynote speakers included Mr.Pinterest himself, Ben Silbermann. Last year I threw caution to the wind and I bought a ticket. I only knew one attendee, and I had no idea what it would be like other than that the dress code would be strictly awesome and I needed to have knock out business cards.  While I was there I spent a lot of time assessing how I fit into the big picture, feeling a little afraid that I would never really stand out, worrying a little that I might be medicore at the thing that I think I do best.  Have you ever felt like that before? I can have a lot of self-doubt. Those inspirational typography posters that say things like:

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A Little Something

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A Little Something

I will be headed on the first plane out of Oakland tomorrow morning to join in on the festivities at Alt Summit in Salt Lake City.  This will be my second time at the conference, and I get to go with Blurb, so I'm feeling pretty calm considering I don't know anyone really all that well.  I found the right dress to wear to the "Green" party, I've got my outfits packed, my seminars picked out (this will be the year of video!) and I finally seem to have kicked my wicked stomach bug.  After I hit the publish button on my last post, I stood up, got super sick, and went to bed for 20 hours.  I didn't know if I'd be able to get this one last thing done, but sitting and painting is actually really relaxing. Along with my business cards, I will also be handing out these little painted birch magnets as little takeaway to remember my blog by. I wanted to do something that would relate to my new book, which features projects that re-imagine simple materials into something useful and pretty.  To make your own follow the tutorial below. See you at Alt?  Come say hi! My name is Heather, and  I look like the silly girl up top without the paper crown and glasses.  

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Alt Bound

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Alt Bound

So I've been sitting on something kind of big for a few weeks... Blurb is taking me to Alt Summit as their brand ambassador! I had originally decided to sit the conference out, I couldn't get my hands on a ticket, and when more became available the expense and time away seemed overwhelming, so I didn't pull the trigger. Around the time that I was working with Blurb on my video interview and the cook book author's food fair, I made it be known that I wanted to collaborate with them in some way for the conference. As a veteran attendee and a featured Blurb author, I thought I might have something unique to offer. Alt is all about honing your skills as a blogger and learning how to work with brands, and since I'd connected with Blurb last year we've really clicked. They took me up on it, and now I am also happy to announce that I just finished up my second book, in time for the conference at the end of the month where I'll be their featured author during their brand sponsored mini-party.  In this new book I showcase the work I've done over the last year or so using ordinary materials, re-imagined into something more permanent and beautiful.  It's called "Making A Modern Homestead".  Here's a sneak peek. 

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The January Home

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The January Home

It's January. I know this because the frozen air and my somber post- holiday mood is leaving me with the overwhelming desire to strip my house naked like a tree without leaves.  I love empty space.  I love simple, natural elements. I love air plants, and succulents, and leafy stems, and barnacle covered stones. I made a winter terrarium with them this week. I rinsed the barnacles with cold water and shook the moisture off, then put them on a wooden cheese pedestal with air plants- the moisture from the rocks keeps them hydrated- and covered them with a glass dome.  The air plants look like sea plants to me, and the whole thing looks decayed, and frozen.

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How I'm Slowly Growing My Blog

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How I'm Slowly Growing My Blog

My strategy: Create and share unique, original content.

A little over two years ago I kind of stumbled.  I found myself living my days at home, with my very young children, and I began to feel the walls closing in on me. I couldn't really contribute much of my time to anything but childcare and house maintenance, something that I did because I really wanted to be home with my boys, but not because I felt all that satisfied by it; I think it's okay to admit that. I started writing this blog during nap time. Originally called "Make-Do", it was my creative outlet. I snapped warm, fuzzy pictures with Hipstamatic and wrote about my life, using projects and recipes as the take-away. It gave me something more to focus on, and a few of my friends read it, so I felt like I was connecting with the outside world a little more. I didn't have a plan for where it would go, because I didn't need one.

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