social commentary Sunday . . . 'knowing when to take a break from blogging'

Greetings all, 

My blogging journey has come to a stop-start-halt lately, i've just lost the passion, enjoyment & time for it.  While i started my blog 6 years ago & blogged regularly during 2010 to 2012 while my husband lived interstate, sharing 'our life' with him . . . i'm finding less & less time to post about craft, lifestyle, animals, baking, children, my husband & our happiness.  

My studio is only working on large commissions, not pretty blog-worthy-craft; i'm spending many more hours in the garden, tending to animals, exercising & preparing healthy meals, less blog-worthy-cakes; the children are growing fast, i am not missing a minute & considering next year we'll have three teenagers - it's incredibly busy with sports, academics & their social engagements, i'm not comfortable posting lots of images of teenagers, especially as they are not allowed their own social media; my husband is here & being a wife takes up a lot of time, i'd prefer his company than reading blogs . . . as for our happiness, we've never been happier, with exciting dreams.  Spending less time on the computer is a good example to our children too.  

I've been using my non-blogging-time making more calls to my elderly parents, catching up with people who bring me joy & soaking in the lucky life i have as a housewife.  I refuse to be 'busy' as it implies i don't have time for the things i love.  I still adore the idea of a blog & the blogging community is lovely; trolls - their loss, i click delete & refuse to engage with them, absolutely not worth a second thought; stalkers - go get a life, especially the ones who know me personally, it's creepy you read my posts (& pretend you don't) yet don't communicate with me directly!!

So it's for positive reasons that i am taking a break from blogging.  I want to offer the world quality or nothing, i won't blog for the sake of blogging.  I'll be hanging around on Instagram, which is so much fun, friendly, engaging & fast . . . i find it like mini-speed-blogging.  While blogging has been a wonderful adventure with 700 posts, 15000 comments & 2000 hits per day, if i was paid to blog - i'd reconsider taking a break, i just can't maintain 'free' work - yes, 'work' . . . i put great consideration/ thought/ ideas/ effort into my posts: an extension of my business & the personality behind it . . . i'm closing down the on line store & no longer attend markets, as i'm starting a new chapter in my creative life.  Stay tuned. 

 I'd love to be invited to blog conferences . . . i have great ideas & lots of inspiration to offer; i'd love to be given freebies & opportunities . . . i do fantastic & thoughtful reviews; i'd love to sit in a particular niche . . . but i don't . . . no babies (our youngest is 9) or live in the cities where the events take place, so i'll hum along doing my own thing.  While i've always been popular & social, i really enjoy my own company & avoid cliques at all costs.  Blogging has changed a lot over the years with awards, sponsorship & obvious circles, a lot is self-congratulatory & below average quality.  It wasn't my end-game to make money from blogging - i started as i had my own home-design-studio business to promote & make money from - i was never 'discovered' (even with 10000 social media followers) & that's Ok.  Maybe, one day??

Just to wrap up a few things, like my last giveaway & ensuring i organise all pervious giveaway winners receive their prizes (apologies for the delay) the lucky people who won the LEGO Hero Factory packs are:

Claire Hewitt of Clairey Hewitt blog,

Sash of Indigo Elephant blog &

Beck from Baby Laila blog.

Congratulations.  Please email me your delivery (street address for courier) for delivery. 

 Thanks everyone - it has truly been a wonderful experience, i appreciate all your comments & connections.  This isn't good bye or farewell, just a see you later for now.  I feel it's really important if you know your blogging journey is stalling, that you take a break.  It might be Christmas time before i blog again, but i will be back, renewed & thoroughly reinspired, love Posie

PS all images are recent snap shots from my Instagram account Posie Shoots with lots of stories & gorgeous engagement, you'll see why i completely adore this social media platform!!

social commentary Sunday . . . 'cyber stalking'

Greetings all,
Social media & getting your 'cyber fix' is just part of life these days . . . having an on line profile is de rigueur whether you are a business, hoping to find old friends, creating a life diary for your child or simply have interesting things to say.  I've kept my children's names, dates of birth & other 'points of identification' off line, to maintain their privacy . . . why make it any easier for anyone to steal your identity, now or in your children's future??
Lately i've been wondering . . . what if all this online profile business was around when i was a child??  Hopefully i'd have more than 3 photos of myself before i started school!!  After listening to my nieces & nephews confirm relationships, friendly gossip & up-to-the-minute holiday news via FaceBook, it kind of freaks me out, how much personal information is out there.  Do they realise they are declaring their movements - where to find them (clubs, schools, jobs) & who they'll be with??  When social media attaches the location you are at - to status updates, how can anyone cheat - lovers, employers, teachers??  I don't like to post 'that i'm away' when i'm away (burglars) but when i'm tagged in a photo at an interstate event . . . it automatically tells the world & i don't have control over that, unless i delete my on line profile.  

I can honestly say i have never gone through my husband's phone messages/ call list/ email/ pockets . . . i'm just not snoopy.  My mother used to tell us where she hid our Christmas gifts so we wouldn't accidentally find them while searching for dress ups or board games in her wardrobe.  I'm not a saint & i don't like surprises, but i respect people's privacy. 

But . . . as a teenager, OMG, in my room, alone, with the internet & cute boys' names written on my arm, i really wonder if i could resist doing some research on them??  Would i check out where my future boyfriend is spending Summer & bump into him at that beach??  I really wouldn't trust an immature me.  Would i be possessive, dream up a fantasy life with a boy i saw on my bus, cross check his school on line & hope to find a picture of him on, work out his name, cyber stalk him??  Can't say i wouldn't.  In high school i wanted to be a police detective as i was really good at solving puzzles & i started on the forensics path at University.  A year later i met my handsome soldier, no cyber stalking (it was 1994) but i just remembered, he said if i hadn't given him my number he would have looked it up in my Army Reserve records & made some excuse to call me anyway.  Now who is the stalker??  Oh this generation just isn't terrified like we were with movies like Fatal Attraction & Basic Instinct.  Bunny boiler anyone??  Ok, i've never seen these movies but i know the premise, just never ends well for Michael Douglas, the quintessential pants man. 

I think i would be a terrible cyber girlfriend, i really do think i would google a boy before a date!!  While i have never been a jealous person, would i feel differently if i checked his history with girls, where they went, how pretty she was??  It could be so insane!!

Would you trust a yourself to not check someone out on line??  Are you dating now, or what about a pre-internet you??  Do you cyber stalk??  Have you been cyber stalked??  This doesn't include bloggers finding you at a bloggie event, or many of you would be saying "yeah, that Posie girl came right up to me at a market/ craft event/ meeting & said you must be such & such, totally freaking me out!!"  I find it so fascinating, love Posie