See the Woods and the Trees

Each week Craft Blog UK will be featuring one of our members and asking them a few questions so that we can all get to know a little bit more about their craft and why they enjoy blogging.

This week we will be looking at www.seethewoodsandthetrees.blogspot.com



"I am a mother and I have a blog. Does that make me a mommy blogger? Probably."

See the Woods and the Trees is written by Leanne from Northern Ireland -  Her posts are wonderful wordy streams of conciousness about life, being a mother and of course her crafting and succesful Folksy shop. Leanne blogs from the heart and it shows in every post, her posts are as humerous, eclectic and unique as her crafts, which range from soft handknits and intricate felt brooches to beaded jewellery and unique fabric Christmas ornaments. 

 See the Woods  -  Shop

I asked Leanne a few questions about her blog...
Can you tell us about your first ever blog post and share the link?

My first ever blog post was entitled "Intro" and it pretty much does exactly what it says on the tin. I'll admit that now it makes for something of an embarassing read. I was completely new to blogging, I'd read a quite a few and had a handful of firm favourites. You know the blogs you just completely fall in love with, you sit yourself down one evening with cup followed by cup of tea until you've read the entire thing like a book, from cover to cover, so to speak. From then I fell in love with blogging and the community that it can bring together so I decided to start me own. You can read my rather poorly written and rambly beginnings here.


Where do you promote your blog posts?

Occasionally I will post a link to a blog post on twitter or facebook if I feel like it will hold any appeal to a wider audience, or if I'm blogging about someone other than myself for a change but I have to admit that I do often forget to promote my blog posts, though it doesn't seem to stop people reading.

In what ways has blogging affected your crafting or business?

Blogging definitely opened my eyes to a whole world of crafting and to the fact that the things I make were possibly business worthy. I've always loved to create and make things for friends and family and my home. I suppose through blogging I realised that there was this whole community of crafters selling their gorgeous (and frankly all too tempting) wares online. I also soon realised that for the most part, these crafters/designers/makers/artisans (delete as appropriate) were an extremely lovely bunch and they've welcomed me with open arms.

Have you made any blogging mistakes?

Oh, tons and tons I'm sure. Though I like to think about blogging as being very much like life. Very rarely is a mistake made that can't be dealt with and fixed with a little bit of thought and time. I suppose if I had to admit to one of my mistakes it would be feeling that I really have to blog regularly and churning out posts because I feel that they are expected or that if I don't produce regularly then my readers will all run off and find something better to do. Those posts will never make anybody's top ten list. They're forced and not enjoyable to read. Now I think that I'm at my best when I really feel like blogging and when I have the time to make it good. My readers take the time out of their day to stop by my blog and I like to do my best now to make sure it's worth their time to stop by.

Do you have a favourite blog by another crafter - what makes their posts stand out for you?

It's difficult to choose just one blog. My reader overfloweth and all that, but I really love Vegbee at Indie Tutes style of writing. I feel like she's talking to me, rather than just at me or just at some faceless person in general, if that makes sense. It seems more personal. She posts some fantastic tutorials and because she's kind of working these things out for herself as she goes along, they're brilliantly written. She doesn't just assume that everyone is a genius with a sewing machine and she takes the time to explain things properly. Plus she's brilliant at coming up with shortcuts and making things that would normally seem complicated, actually very easy to accomplish. For that alone, I love her. She also posts a lot about life in general too which is something that's guaranteed to keep me coming back again and again.

Of all your blog posts which one are you most proud of and why?

This probably should be a difficult choice but it isn't, not for me. I suppose it probably should be something craft related like Paper Doll House Tutorial  which went a bit viral for a while and was linked to by dozens of blogs across the globe. It still crops up even now.

'paper doll house'

Though I have to say that my favourite post has to be Love of Winter I'm not entirely sure what it is about the post that I love so much. It was written on the fly, with almost no thought at all, but it's the one I'm happiest with and I'll even dig it out of the archives every now and again and have a wee read. I suppose it's my yard stick for everything else I've written. It's just a post that makes me happy.

Please add any links you would like me to share and also any upcoming news about your blog or shops.

I've neglected my little corner of the blogosphere lately, but I can feel a fresh surge coming on. I have a media card chock full of crafts I've been working on myself and with Chloe. I want to try and make more of tutorials this year, possibly a weekly or bi-weekly Saturday post. Something to do on a quite Sunday at home.

I ditched my See the Woods Designs blog at the start of the year. I was spreading myself a little too thin and felt I was churning out lots of mediocre posts instead of one or two great ones, so I'm planning to shift my Friday Folksy feature to my main blog to tie in with all the other friday features though I'm still running through a couple of different angles in my mind to make them more "readable" for a wider audience. Possibly an interview, or maybe written as a 'story', I don't know yet I'm still working on it, I just want to try and make it appealing to more people instead of just those featured. I also want to show my works in progress more often and I'll be trying to do that this year. You never know, maybe it'll encourage me to finish more things if I have to see them piled high in a photo. Visit See the Woods blog