Five Ways to Make Your Blog More Stylish

Recently, a new friend, The Clip Cafe, awarded me the Stylish Blogger award. Wow!Thanks so much! That's quite a compliment for someone like me who has a hard time with the concept of 'style'. And it's from a blogger who received this award X 5!!!

by Donna

Me? Well...I tend towards  the gawdy, ornate, and fluffy. And I'm a little chatty..just a wee bit!

Why be Stylish? Well, the problem is that even when you have great content, if it’s not well presented, fewer people are going to read it. That was my biggest problem the first six months of blogging at Comin’ Home. Good friends gave me some of these hints and it helped a bunch! 

Being stylish, gets peoples' attention..making them want to STAY and READ--which is what we want...right?

by Donna

Five ways to make your blog more stylish..

1. Find, Make or Buy an Attractive Header – Is your header eye-catching? Professional looking? Well drawn or photographed?  Does it convey your blog content in a glance? Never underestimate the impact of your header. When I finally got it right over the holidays, I started getting followers left and right. I was so shocked! I didn’t DO anything different, except change the header.  

Later, I shortened my header photo so that more of my blog info would show ‘above the envelope’ as Maria of Colour Me Happy talked about this week.  Either get a great photo banner off the web for free..or pay someone to design one. It will take your blog to the next level!  Debby at The Cozy Blanket found that out when she won a free blog makeover! Her blog  header is really cute!

by Rebekah

2. Use ONLY great photos – Brent Riggs says NEVER put a poor photo on your blog. Never ever. Better to borrow one and give proper credit than to post an ugly photo.  People love to see great photos on blogs and unless they are your friends, they will not hang around to read your post if the photos aren’t good. (Thanks Shona for cluing me in on this months ago.) 

Photos that are blurry, dark, or so small they can’t be seen are the most common problem on the average blog.  I’ve been working on this all year but I still mess up sometimes and put up a less than WOW photo thinking it’s necessary.   Practice taking photos, read and try lots of tips and before you know it yours will be great! Natasha of 5 Minutes Just for Me takes the most gorgeous photos! She exudes style!

by Rebekah

3. Less is More…Cut out the fluff – It’s SOOO hard not to add gadgets and blog buttons, blinkies, dark backgrounds, fancy or hard to read fonts and ornate, cutesy backgrounds. These things are fun or beautiful, but if you want a stylish blog, then keep things simple. Clean lines, more space,  white or light backgrounds, simple fonts and only two-three font styles at most on a page are what you need.  (...think stylish magazine) Rayanne of A Lovely Thought has this down perfectly. The fluff detracts  from the best part of your blog—the post. It slows your blog loading speed too. 

4. Use good spelling and grammar. It pains me to read old posts and see how careless I was when I first started blogging. I read, re-read, edit, and edit again and still manage to have typos and grammar errors—even now!  I need to slow down and take the TIME to let the post SIT a bit and then re-read it a half an hour later or so with fresh eyes.  Readers don’t enjoy careless writing.

by Rebekah

5. Edit what you write. Keep your paragraphs short and your words simple. Hard writing makes for easy reading.  This is my BIG problem~I’m a chatterbox. My posts are just too long and wordy.  My daughter of Life of Light,  is a great writer. She says so much with so  few words ! Her English teacher told her to cut her essay in half the first day, cut in half again the next day, and then again and again.  By the end of the week, she was saying what she wanted to in just a few great sentences!  Now, she writes clearly with little effort.

Ellen of The Essentials of Fabulous has a fabulous writing style too and would be worth a visit. I could read her blog all day..and just bought her E-book!  Try Copyblogger for the best blog writing tips.  I re-wrote my last two posts just to practice their advice. Editing helped a lot!

by Rebekah

Passing on The Stylish Blogger Award

I’d like to thank the Clip Cafe for this special award. I’m not sure if I’ve quite earned it yet, but I’m certainly working on it! She really DOES have a stylish blog! 

I’d like to pass this award on to other stylish bloggers I know. Some probably already have this award. And some may be 'award free', so I know they won’t be blogging about it, but I’d like you to get to see some of these ideas ‘at work’.  Get more blogging tips and links HERE.

 

My Favorite Stylish Bloggers

Andrea of The Freckled Bug

Maria of Colour Me Happy

Rayanne of A Lovely Thought

MaryAnn of Classic-Casual-Home

Ellen of The Essentials of Fabulous

Tracie of Fishtail Cottage

Shona of The Artistic Life

Debby of The Cozy Blanket

Natasha of 5 Minutes Just for Me
Kim of Home is Where the Heart Is
Laura of Decor to Adore (A New Reader!)

Wow..there were lots more but I've run out of time. Do enjoy your tour of stylish blogs! 

Hey..if I can be stylish..then ANYONE can! :o)

Versatility…Makes for an Entertaining Blog

 

 
  

Recently, my friend, Maria, of Colour Me Happy started a fascinating discussion on what makes a blog ‘interesting’. She was speaking of design blogs in particular..but the comments—which you will find very informative, talked about blogging in general. The topic reminded me that I was overdue to accept and pass on a blog award that goes along with the idea of what makes a blog interesting.

A good blogging friend, Dee of “Make Mine Silk” and Dee-Cluttering My Life gave me an award that really pleased me more than I can say. It’s the Versatile Blogger award. Dee is an incredible fabric artist but I didn’t realize how much so, until I visited her fabric art blog.  I had only known her as Dee of Dee-cluttering.  But wow—what an artist with a needle and thread!! How did I miss this? I’m stumped—I love doing stuff like this but I’ve never tried to do the kind of needlework she does. She is definitely VERSATILE!

I hope my blogging is at LEAST versatile if it’s nothing else-Tee-hee!  I don’t think I ever post about the same thing twice (except maybe when I’m on a roll). There are just so many fun things to do and to share with you.

Award Rules:

1. Thank the person who gave you this award
2. Share 7 things about yourself.
3. Pass the award along to bloggers who you have recently discovered and who you think are fantastic for whatever reason! (in no particular order…)
4. Contact the bloggers you’ve picked and let them know about the award.

Ok—so I’ve thanked Dee (CHECK)…and now I’m supposed to share seven things about myself. (That’s the part I’d just as soon skip). :o) and I’ve spent the morning on passing the award on to some favorite new bloggers (plus a couple of old-time friends)…(CHECK)

Seven things about me…can I just give my stats??!!

Hair, weight, height, eye color, age?!(skip the weight part—Yipes! Still working on that one.) Oh phooey.. Well—to make this LESS boring—how about if I make seven ‘real life’ confessions? Ok here we go..

1. I once almost burned down the shed (and my sisters..possibly??) next to our house when I was eight. ( I was playing house and wanted a REAL stove!) That mischievous face (Upper left) was me…

2. I love mince-meat pie..Sigh..didn’t get any this Christmas because I would have eaten the whole thing by myself…eventually. (I know—it happens every year—I eat the whole thing!!) Kudos to me for NOT doing this THIS year.:o)

3. I live in a mobile home…  Trying to make it look less so. It was either seven acres in a forest—plus the mobile home…or a nice home in town in suburbia. We chose the seven acres and the mobile home got thrown in to boot! (OK—so it’s pretty nice…but still it is what it is!!)

4. I’m a recovering clutterbug. I keep too much stuff…of course I eventually get rid of it too—hence my great posts on de-cluttering! Ha!

5. I sleep with a dog—no NOT my husband..I mean YES I SLEEP with my husband..but also with the dog..oh my..this is not going to work..  (How embarrassing!!) TMI!! I sure hope you understand this..because I’m not sure I do.  (I ADORE our dog, Percy!..yes—I adore Hubby too!)

6. I took my school picture in a wig in fourth grade. Boy was Mom ever mad! I can’t say that I blame her, but I wanted long hair and she gave me the wig to placate me. (It was beautimous!!) She didn’t know that I’d secretly stick it in my purse and take it to school to wear. Ha!

7. I was a nerd in school. You know—the type who does nothing but live with their nose in a book. I was so afraid to be me—but books were safe—so I studied and studied. I loved school!! I’ve considered going back to college to finish my accounting degree, but I don’t think I like school as much as I used to. Now I’m having too much fun to spend that much time studying.  (Gotta love those glasses!!)

Ok—enough of that!  Now for the passing on of this award. I was trying to decided who the most versatile bloggers are that I know, that maybe I haven’t quite mentioned much to you about yet.  First, here is the dictionary definition for versatile.. (I told you I was a nerd!)

Well, I must say that several blogs came to mind like Until Wednesday Calls, Colour Me Happy,  5 Minutes Just for Me, Shona of The Artistic Life, Rayanne of A Lovely Thought and especially Gloria’s blog Viva La Vida..all of whom I have featured in the past. But I thought this would be a good chance to introduce you to some blogs you may not have heard of or visited recently.

So here are the friends I’d like to pass on the Versatile Blogger Award to…

Ela of Life in My PJ’s

Ela has the CUTEST blog!! OMGoodness!! I love her theme, title and the great projects she shares. I’ve only just gotten to know her…and she definitely fits the definition of Versatile. So drop by for a lot of great ideas including home re-do projects, family stories, crafts, and more.

   

Ky of The Miss Ky Way

Ky is from Australia and as you already know, she takes lovely photographs of a place we’d all like to visit—Melborne, Australia. Her photos are like an online ‘virtual’ vacation as I showed you here.  But what you may not know is that she is the OP queen. Don’t know what Op-ping is? (Don’t know if that’s the right way to spell that or not.) It’s thrift store bargain and antique shopping but Australian style. I always look forward to seeing the truly unusual and rare finds that she comes up with to show on her blog. She doesn’t know it, but for an ‘anglophile’ like me, her finds feel English.   Her blog almost has a ‘magazine’ feel to it. Very classy! Why she doesn’t have a million followers—I don’t know. She’s one of the best kept secrets in BloggyLand. I’d love to have about 20 of my readers join her..or maybe 30..or..OK..you get what I mean. :o)

Jill of Blessings of A Stay At Home Mom

Jill is a homemaker with two sweet little children. She posts about their daily adventures which are amazingly creative, her latest recipes, and any interesting sights about town that she thinks her readers would enjoy. She is also going back to college…so she gets my vote for a versatile blogger for sure. If you would enjoy warm cozy afternoons in the kitchen doing fun school projects or cooking, then just hop over to Jill’s house. You will feel like you are sitting right there. And her little girl’s grins will make you grin right back. :o)

Needled Mom

This blogger is just amazing. She sews all kinds of things..clothes, crafts, and especially quilts. I just drool over her quilts every week and she takes awesome photos of her vacations and home! I try not to be too jealous..but it’s hard. Wish I was retired—almost. :o)  She has great posts and I enjoy reading about her latest family news too, since she is a Grandma like myself. You know, I think we have been friends for several YEARS. Considering this blog, is only a little over a year old—that’s saying something. I got to looking at old posts from my sewing blog, DC’s Creations, which I retired, and I think she was one of the first followers I ever had. (We’re talking 2008!) Thanks Needled Mom for hanging out with me so faithfully.  I admire your quilts and your sweet quiet spirit more than you know. :o)

            

Mickey of The Works of Our Hands 

Mickey recently had a giveaway and guess who won it? Me!! Yippee!! She is a very accomplished seamstress, stage costume designer, ACTRESS in a Community Theatre, home school mother etc. And she makes the cutest crafts many of which are for sale in her ETSY shop! You too, will be amazed at all the unique things she comes up with to post about.  I can just FEEL that we are in the same boat. Lots of teenagers and a very busy life. We ‘squeeeeze’ out the posts between a myriad of events—which makes her a pretty versatile blogger in my book. When life slows down for her, she’s going to blow bloggy-land away—because she is so talented!

  

      

Kerrie’s Krafts 3

Kerrie is high on the list—being very versatile indeed! She is one of my newest followers too and we have gotten to be good friends in a hurry. She has three blogs—one for her crafts, one for her daily life, and she has an ETSY shop—I think that qualifies in the VERSATILE category-Lol! She is like me in that she’s always thinking of new things to make, though hers are more ‘crafty’ oriented whereas mine are more practical. It’s a lot of fun seeing Kerrie’s newest creations. She has so many hobbies that I think she may have out done me! She AND her husband do woodworking and are crafty together..and she is such a good wife—caring for her hubby while he fights off cancer. They are a very brave couple!

 

Deb of Jeremiah 29:11

Deb’s blog is mostly daily posts on the word of God. Her readers join her on her bible reading schedule and then she re-caps on the weekends. But she also loves to do craft projects and paints very well.  She comes up with a myriad of interesting things to blog about including songs, recipes, weight loss, craft projects, and devotionals… Very versatile—I think!

  

Nana of Nana’s Knoll

Nana is one of my newest followers and blew my socks off with her gorgeous RedWork tutorial. If you know what that is, then you will love her tutorial. It’s pictures traced on white fabric, like dishcloths, and then embroidered all in red embroidery thread. She’s a fairly new blogger but has some great material! She has many interests and talents…which is why I gave her the award.

Whew!! It was so hard to pick, when you all are so amazing!  But while I had a minute, I thought I’d share this award with a few of you and hopefully, you will find some new fun blogs to follow. :o)Have a great weekend. I do hope you enjoy visiting some of these blogs this weekend. You certainly won’t be bored!

Five Truly Creative Blogs

The Colorado Rockies..(hand stitched and drawn by me!--I know--You're surprised--me too!)
A Work in Progress

 Stuffed but no texturing yet...it's in my head but not stitched...at present!

My dear friend Trudy of Sewing with Trudy, who is a very creative blogger, gave me this award and I am so looking forward to passing it on to five of the most unique blogs I have ever visited. (Ok...so I picked seven--can't help it!!)   I do hope you enjoy checking them out.

Shannon Mucha of  Blu Bambu..Art in the Every Day  Shannon takes stunning photos..truly amazing photos. She is also a graphic artist who drew all the images on the twelve worship banners that I sewed for our church. Shannon and Shona spent a whole evening many months ago (it seems a life-time ago!) giving me advice on everything from my pictures, to my color scheme, to my header to help me improve my blog. They have also single-handedly (or is that double-handedly?)  inspired me to pursue my fabric art. Shannon was chatting with me one day, at a party, and when I told her of my dream to make custom fabric art for people's homes some day--she said, "Why  not now?". I couldn't really think of a good reply to that one! 

The piece of art at the top of this post is a smaller version, (my entry for Shona's art show in The Woodlands), of a custom 5' x 8' wall hanging I'm doing on commission for a friend's new home. She's my first customer. Thanks Shannon for giving me that extra bit of encouragement! I'm dedicating The Colorado Rockies to you. :o)

 

Maria of Color Me Happy   She is my interior designer friend. She is incredible talented and creative. She knows color and fashion and how colors work with other colors and how they work with fabrics and furniture styles. She takes fantastic photos. One of the most interesting things she does is arrange objects-d'art for photos. So creative! I LOVE reading her old posts. If I'm going to sit and read something..the first stop is always Color Me Happy. I have so much to learn from her. Anyone who owns a home and ever wants to do something different with it..needs to visit her blog. And for sure, don't paint until you've seen her..or better yet--get a color consultation from her. No need for painting mistakes!

 

Melissa of Until Wednesday Calls... I know, I just gave her an award..but she really is truly the most creative blogger I know. She does things with fabric that I've never seen anyone do..clothes, alterations, crafts for children and takes the most fabulous photos I've ever seen. Her tutorials are just lovely and her cooking looks so pretty too. You will LOVE this blog--I promise! If you don't spend an hour on her blog, I will be truly shocked! :o)

Carolyn of Handmade by Carolyn-- I have to tell you  that I don't know how I missed this blog! It's just amazing!  She does the most creative photos of herself in clothes she made and or knitted herself. Wow--It's hard not to be jealous! I would like to sit all day and look at her pictures. How in the world does she EVER thing of poses like she does? You won't forget her blog once you have visited!

Shona of The Artistic Life  Shona, has been a personal friend of mine for many years. She is the one I told you about who posts the most gorgeous photos, poems, and altered art...with mothering as a central theme.

I've been enjoying a great weekend reading her book and trying very hard not to get off the couch and start a new project. I'm already so far behind in my current ones. If you've ever wanted to try a hand at art, she can help you get started. If you want to just be amazed at beautiful art..then stop by..today.

Five Minutes for Me by Natasha... I ADORE this blog, though I don't visit as often as I'd like. It's just gorgeous and she also takes fabulous photos. She started her blog to share something positive and beautiful for five minutes every day. I love to link up my latest or most favorite song on her Sunday Song linky party.  Her blog is like a beautiful vacation.

I have one more blog to tell you about but that will be later this weekend....

Well, I'm off to help my friend Laurie unpack in her beautiful new house tomorrow (Thursday), so stop by on Friday and I'll show you just how truly stunning it is! She is creative too, but doesn't have a blog.

So many of you are so amazingly creative and it made it very hard to pick..but these were really unusually so, so I wanted to give you some stunning places to visit till I can get back.

Happy Homemaking!

Thanks Jill for the One Lovely Blog Award! Now..I’m passing it on to…15 friends of Comin’ Home

A sweet new blogging friend, Jill of Blessings of a Stay At Home Mom gave me this award on Monday (on the same day that another good friend gave me an award) and I’ve waited until today to blog about it and say THANKS!  I wanted to take a moment to tell you all about her. She is a Stay at Home Mom (like myself) who posts the most darling photos of home life with her two little girls. 

I so enjoy reading about their adventures because I only had ONE little girl and the dolly phase passed so quickly! It’s so fun to read about their dressing up, doll playing, and also Jill’s homemaking adventures.  You can read all about her at this post where she tells ‘Ten things you may not know about me.”  Thanks so much Jill for giving me this award. I feel so honored!

 

The rules of the "one Lovely Blog Award" are as follows:

Accept your award and post it on your blog along with a link to the person who has sent it to you.  Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you have newly  discovered.  You must contact the person to let them know that you have chosen them to receive the award.

Now, this is an award I am more comfortable with—one that lets me brag on my friends! I love doing this. :o)  By the way, if I award you a blog award, I don’t expect you to put anything on your sidebar—I’m just saying, “I love you!” bloggy style.   These are not in any particular order..just as I came across their comments in some of my most recent posts. 

I want to pass this on to new friends and old who have blessed me a lot recently. (However, if I just gave you an award last week—I won’t be giving you this one, just because I want to spread the love out a little further—so to speak.) :o) 

Meet Rayanne of One Lovely Thought  Rayanne is amazing…deep..still.. thoughtful…and turns our thoughts to the Lord. She is an artist, photographer, and happy homemaker. I love to visit her and enjoy the soothing atmosphere of her blog. It is truly lovely!  Everyone who gets to know her wants to come back again and again.  Thanks Rayanne, for encouraging me not to quit blogging when I almost gave up on it. You helped me to remember the deeper purpose for being here. The Lord’s love and graciousness show through every post you write and every comment.  You are an inspiration to us all and an example we can all follow.

Shannon of Room for More  Shannon is a personal friend of mine who used to attend the same church that I do. We have known each other for a very long time (several years). She is such a brave and resourceful mom! She has a blog about her long journey to adopt a baby through whatever means possible. And she is also the queen of ebay re-selling. She and her family are trying to raise funds for adopting their baby. Having exhausted every other means, she is now adopting an embryo. This is just an amazing story! You have to drop by and read about it. Please be very kind…this is an unusual process and journey and I want her to be encouraged by any one who leaves a comment. You are so brave and inspiring, Shannon!

Cindy of Rick-Rack and Gingham is such a special blogging friend! She is super friendly and chatty—always keeping up with a whole community of friends and passing on the news to us. And she loves scrapbook type art and craft projects. I love seeing her latest project. Thanks Cindy for leaving such lovely comments all the time. I always feel ‘hugged’ by you. :o) BTW, some friends of hers are struggling through flooding right now and she’s asked us to pray. Drop by for the details and please do pray!

Debby, of The Cozy Blanket, is one of the most encouraging and friendly bloggers I’ve met in the last couple of months. She and Cindy are good friends I think and I’m always getting them mixed up. I wonder if they’ve noticed? Tee-hee!  She has the darlingest dog and even gave him a birthday party the other day. I love reading about her grandkids, her swaps (trying not to be jealous), and her art projects. You’ll be glad you made friends with Debby if you drop by!

Thea of The Romance of the British Isles and Life. She is brand new blogging friend who, like me, is fascinated by all things English. Now that is my secret obsession so I adore reading her posts. An unusual thing about her though is that she is Jewish and Finnish. So all her posts are in Hebrew. Thank goodness, she has a handy button for translating her page into English and she is also able to read my comments because she speaks English just fine.   Now, I would LOVE for you all to drop by and say Hello and maybe even sign up as a follower to welcome her to bloggy land. She is BRAND NEW. Do you remember what that was like? I’m one of her two followers. But for someone who is that new, she sure has an very fascinating blog! I wish my blog  had started out looking as nice as hers does! Let’s welcome Thea to Bloggy Land with a few new friends—How about it?

Needled Mom  I really think Needled Mom has been leaving comments on my blog for a very long time now too. She leaves such sweet comments and really encouraged me when we were going through the sick grandbaby scare.  She is an amazing quilter and seamstress! If you like to see pretty things made with a sewing machine, you should stop by her blog.  I LOVE the beautiful things she makes!

Trudy of Sewing With Trudy  Dear Trudy has been my cheerleader since day one.  She taught me how to ‘get out there’ as blogger. I know of no one who is so consistently thoughtful and kind as Trudy. She has a great sewing blog and sews beautiful retro style clothes. I love her work and I love her girls’ blogs too. She is the ‘queen’ of bloggy land as far as I’m concerned. She’s the absolutely most unselfish blogger I have ever met.  If you visit her, she will be your cheerleader too! She’s also a great model. I ADORE seeing her photo shoots of the clothes she makes.

Julia’s Sweet and Special Occasion Clothing  Julia is another of my favorite seamstresses (EXTREMELY accomplished) and a fellow grandmother who loves her grandkids. She sews for everyone—just like I do. Sometimes I think that’s one of the funnest ways we grandma’s get to show our love to our grandbabies is by sewing. She sews beautiful clothes and I believe sells them. She’s pretty amazing. I never know when she’s going to drop by and leave a comment but she is a faithful visitor and I always appreciate it. I really am blessed by the comments she leaves around bloggy land. What a nice person!

Nannykim  I love Nannykim’s blog about being a grandma. She reminds me of MY grandma and that is really what her blog is all about.  She takes the most adorable photos of her grandkids. She also talks about the Lord, and shares private moments with…her CAT… of all things. I LOVE that. :o) I adore our cats too except when they lay on my sewing. Sigh.. I have to cover everything to keep them from doing that. I just love her chats about life…she is so calm and reflective. You will enjoy visiting her for sure! She’s my Grandma ‘role model’.

 

  Shona of An Artful Life is another personal friend, and one who has given me so much help in making my own blog ‘lovely’. She is an incredible artist and mother who has published the most gorgeous book ever—The Artistic Mother.

I own a copy and am just so sad that I haven’t had time to start working through the wonderful step-by-step ‘how to’s’ for making art projects. It is her art show that I have entered every year for the last four years (I think that’s how long it’s been?) My photos used to be UGGG-ly! I’m not joking. They were just plain awful and the blog looked kind of …well..weird. But she brought me out of the dark ages of blogging just to make sure my ‘wonderful’ content (as she put it) got read. Between her and Trudy, they managed to get me out into bloggy land. I’m so grateful to them both!

Mickey of The Works of Our Hands  She just recently dropped by because she has been away for the summer. I’m so glad she hadn’t forgotten me. I love to read about all the costumes she sews for plays and productions. She’s a very special friend and fellow seamstress.

Melissa of Until Wednesday Calls  Melissa and I have been blogging friends almost as long as Trudy and Shona. I admire not only the beauty of her blog, but her creativity and her talent. She really does have one of the very best sewing blogs I have ever seen but is also very crafty! My favorite part of her blog though is checking out her photos of her daughter Wednesday on …Wednesday of course!

Deb of Jeremiah 29:11  Deb shares a weekly bible study that you might enjoy and also does really cute crafts every now and then. She is very talented. And can you guess what her favorite animal is to paint and sew? That’s right—owls.

Teri of Simple Blessings  Teri is a regular visitor who has a very homey blog where she talks about her thoughts on life, home, and the seasons. I really enjoy reading her posts! I love her musings and thoughts about Christian living. They are so encouraging and she inspires me in my homemaking. Thanks Teri!

Well, I wish I could give EVERYONE who leaves a comment or follows me an award…but there just isn’t time. But I do appreciate ALL of you! You make blogging worthwhile!

I hope you enjoy this weekend tour around bloggy land. Thanks, so much, Jill, for giving me this award! You are a sweety and I really am honored to have received it.  Have a great weekend, dear readers. You are truly, ALL, lovely bloggers with lovely blogs.

Happy Homemaking!

Donna @ Comin' Home