5 on Friday: Delia Creates

I have had a family blog since 2006, but it wasn’t until my good friend Mary starting posting about projects she saw on her favorite craft blogs that I was introduced to the amazing network of the craft blog-o-sphere. I instantly felt at home with the ladies authoring these craft blogs. I related to their insatiable urge to create, to learn new things, and to share it with other people. Still…I didn’t create my own craft blog until months later. And when I did, I honestly didn’t feel quite comfortable enough in my own skin to keep it up. Then in March of 2010 I felt the itch to try again. I still felt awkward and unsure if it was what I wanted to do, but wonderfully kind bloggers found me and my little ole blog, and believed in me. Jessica Fediw from Happy Together. Then later. Dana from Made. They helped me see what I was too self conscious to see. That maybe I could do this whole craft blogging thing. That it’s really too much fun to give up.

I am not really sure but probably… Nannygoat. And favorite blog at the moment. That’s tough. I think I have always loved Be Different Act Normal. Lorie shares projects from all the blogs I love, plus ones I have never heard of. I follow a LOOOOOT of blogs and can’t check all of them all the time or read every post in my google reader. I like that I can just check her site when I only have a minute and quickly see new, fresh ideas, or what some of my other favorite blogs are doing.

My camera. Hands down. I am still beginning at sewing, paper is fun, I sure do like my hot glue gun as well, but nothing holds a candle to my camera. It allows me to relish in all my other creations. It is what really motivates me to create more and to learn more. I can do photography sick, happy, sad, healthy, whenever.

4: What is your biggest DIY disaster?

That is tough. I have them all the time! There are quite a few projects I have started, taken pictures of, and then completely scrapped because I wasn’t happy with it. I will say that my worst disaster is when I tried a tissue paper pattern for a dress. I got most of it sewn and everything was going well, but when I tried to sew in the zipper it started getting stuck, and more stuck, and now it isn’t even salvageable. Like if I picked it out, the fabric would be ruined and I would have to buy more fabric and start the back all over again…which I am too lazy to do. So I abandoned it. I am determined to conquer the zipper {and tissue paper patterns} soon though! Hopefully…

The second was trying to perfect my own boy’s loafer slipper pattern. I made, I think 4 or 5 right slippers before I gave up. I am a beginner/intermediate {maybe} sewer. Sometimes I forget this and I bite off more than I should chew. I actually posted about it here.

5. What if your #1 tip for new bloggers? 

Hmmm…number one tip…that’s tough but I will go with:

Really think through your photography beforehand. A great way to catch people’s eye and get them to keep looking around your blog is to have clean, pleasant pictures. You can have amazing projects but if your pictures are cluttered or they are hard to look at because your flash created weird glare all over it, it will be more difficult for people to see past that and stick around.

You don’t have to have a dSLR either! Invest in some white poster board. That helps your pictures look more professional and clean, especially for tutorial steps. It also has the added bonus of reflecting pretty flattering light onto your subject thus better showcasing what you want to show off!

Try to use natural indirect sunlight – like a sunny window. I know this can be a challenge because you can’t always craft in the middle of the day when the light is best. So sometimes I will do the tutorial steps with flash because I am crafting at night. Then I wait to take the final pictures until the next day when I can take just a few minutes to take it in natural light.

Hope that helps!

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