Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Why I Blog for Bliss

Welcome to old & new friends! Thank you to Kari for hosting & Tara for writing an incredible book Blogging For Bliss. I already bought my copy & have it, but can you believe I'm waiting to read it? I'm saving it for the upcoming 12 hour plane ride. I'm like a kid at Christmas when I new books & magazines :) Make sure you visit Kari's blog & look at all the participants on her sidebar.
Blogging opened a new world for me. I started blogging July 2006. Wanna see my first post? (Scroll to the bottom of the page on the link) I don't even know if I want to show it. I've come a looong way!
I began blogging that summer because of my husband's deployment. I was transitioning not having him around, moving to FL, selling 2 homes, becoming a SAHMomma, & suffering from postpartum depression. I was pretty much a mess. I turned to art to find something. What I found was this world of blogs. It was this creative soul, Gina Armfield, that introduced me to blogging. I was hooked. There was a whole world of creative people that had stories to share, friendships to give, shopping trips to take & loads of inspiration to look at. While I am no longer in that difficult stage of my life, thank goodness, I still read blogs to escape. I find such joy reading about what finds someone scored at an estate sale or what they made with their new supplies.

I blog personally for a few reasons. Being in a military family & living all over the place it gives me a place to share my artwork & a few family stories with family & friends. When I was younger I kept journals & as I've grown older I stopped. My blog has been a visual & written diary of my creative journey.

Blogging has taught me new things:
I take much better pictures now! I also have my camera with me at all times. Right now I'm enjoying pictures of the outdoors. (I'll have another post this week of my friend's beautiful garden.) I've even taken pictures of my food.
Before
Now








I'm learning Photoshop & doing some fun digital work!













I'm obsessed with old chippy rusty things & musty old paper. Who knew? It's funny, as I really started getting into estate sales & flea markets I found myself interested in the same things my mom is into. Ten years ago I would have been bored out of my mind :)













I've had the privilege to participate in many swaps & make tons of friends along the way!













I was excited when I finally met a blog friend live in person earlier this year. Also another first, I went to my first art retreat! Cindy Dean that was you!! We both met through a blog event, One World One Heart, & were both published for the first time together in an article about the event!


Thanks for visiting & getting to know me a bit better if you didn't already. I'm really looking forward to this party. If you haven't already, get the book. Not only is it total eye candy, but there is technical information in there. Yes, I'm really going to read the info on HTML codes. You'd think I would have figured it out by now. And make sure to visit Kari to see a list of all the partiers.

16 comments:

Claudia said...

Hi Nerissa! Loved reading your post about why you blog - thanks for sharing it with us!

V I N T A G E O L O G I E said...

I too find it fascinating what I have learned in blogland ... exploring photography, computer software, different artforms, etc.

Thanks so much for sharing .. it's been a pleasure!

xo
Jill

Anonymous said...

Good morning!!! Love your blog! I am with you on learning more of who you are!! Big hugs

toodles-
sarah

Junque Couture said...

Thank your husband for serving our country, and thank you for being a military wife- it can't be easy. Photoshop has only served to frusterate me. Looks like your doing great! Any tips?

FrenchGardenHouse said...

What a great post!This is the first party post I've been to, and it was such a fun one. thanks for inviting us.
xo Lidy

Nice and Easy Antiques said...

We are glad we visited...we have so many things in common: our love for vintage, our passion for paper and digital work....this is the best part of blogging! Stop by some time, we'd love to have you over!
Clara & Marcela

Unknown said...

You have said it all, blogging is such a wonderful world. Your blog looks wonderful, and I can't wait to browse.

Karen

LiLi M. said...

Hello nice to meet you! I loved reading why you blog. I think I might take your advice and buy that book. :-D

Kari said...

What a great post! Thanks so much for playing and for all your kind words.
Cheers to blogging!
Kari

Rosy Lady said...

Hi Nerissa, thanks for sharing! You have a beautiful blog. Happy blog party!

Kathleen said...

Dear Nerissa,
your blog is lovely, I am so glad to find another fun place to visit from the Blogging for Bliss party...thanks for sharing - you are talented and creative!
Kind regards,
Kathleen

Kari said...

Hello again!
I haven’t heard back from you. You won the Katie Runnel’s giveaway on a Year of Color, her fun striped jars. Please email me with your address.
Thanks!
Kari

Anonymous said...

Your blog is so pretty. I can relate to your reasons for blogging as mine are similar. Being a SAHM can be isolating and blogging gives us a way to stay connected with the outside world.

Anonymous said...

Blogging too has been wonderful for me. Isn't it nice to surround one's self with wonderful people? Who new? :-) I enjoy sharing something and at the same time very much enjoy what people are posting. Very enjoyable and inspiring at the same time. It is like a whole new world. I think events have made me do just that. Well, I did met you in one of them :-)

Li

Karen The Graphics Fairy said...

Hi Nerissa,
Your blog is beautiful! It was so much fun meeting you at Lucketts the other day too. I'm bummed that I just got to meet you and now your moving so far away!! It sounds like we have much in common, as far as our love for "old stuff" goes anyway. I really like the button rings and crocheted necklaces that you made below, they're so pretty!!
Karen

Erika Kotite & Lizzy Hayes said...

Hi Nerissa,
Latecomer to the party but happy to be here. You have a beautiful blog and outlook on life and I'm honored that you visited my blog, too. My daughter and I have a great time with our bi-generational search for fashion that works; sometimes we find ourselves sending twitter messages to each other from across the house. How weird is that? Anyway glad to meet you and wish you lots of joy and success with Creative Rants.