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Live in Living Color!

July 31, 2012 in Get the D-Tails

Okay… Maybe I’m not quite Live in Living Color… but I am Live in Living YouTube!

I decided to make a lil’ video for y’all seein’ as we’ve gotten to be good friends and such. (Why do I tend to slip into a terrible country accent these days? Don’t worry… I don’t take myself seriously when I do that!)

It took me about 20 minutes to capture a buh-jillion takes. I set up my Canon Rebel, switched it to video mode, and hit record. The rest is… well… a hot mess. It’s not perfect… but it’s perfectly me?

Oddly enough… that was the first take I did. At the time, I thought I could improve upon it… so I did take after take after take after take…. after take…. after take….. and ended up with more bloopers, horse sounds and eye rolling than any one girl should have. I laughed out loud a couple times watching the clips and decided to share the mockery with you! Besides… if you can’t laugh at yourself, you probably have no business laughing at anyone else!

Ridiculous? Definitely. Totally Dana? Without. a. doubt.

Hope you guys enjoyed this little adventure into video blogging. These clips will hang out on my sidebar over yonder (points to the right) for a while. Feel free to come back and giggle at my outtakes if you ever need a laugh!

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Weekend Funnery – Bloggy Boot Camp

April 20, 2012 in Uncategorized

T.G.I.F. No really…. hallelujah, it’s Friday! This week felt like one of those weeks that just won’t quit. Did anyone else have a week like that, or is it just me?

I couldn’t be more excited about my weekend though. Why? Because I’m going to my first ever blogging conference tomorrow! Woop! (I’ll pause while my sister Karen groans….)

Blogging and Social Media Conference for Women

The awesome SITS Girls are hosting FOUR Bloggy Boot Camps around the country this year and (thankfully) St. Louis was selected as a host city. Booyah.

The line-up for tomorrow sounds great, but I’m most excited about meeting other local(ish) bloggers. Have you seen the Disney Commercial with the little kids? “I’m tooooo excited to sleep!” Yup – that’s me.

In case you’re sitting there thinking, “But what the heck is a bloggy boot camp”… well, here’s how the SITS Girls explain it:

Living up to our fundamental belief that The Secret To Success is Support, our conferences give you the opportunity to increase your understanding of blogging and social media, while sitting next to your favorite people from your online world. What’s more, Bloggy Boot Camps are hosted in a variety of major U.S. cities annually, boast one of the lowest ticket prices around, and cover everything from photo-editing to social networking to branding.

You absolutely MUST hop on over to the St. Louis Bloggy Boot Camp site and check out the line-up of speakers. They’ve gathered a great group o’ gals to edumacate us ladies. Yup, edumacate. That’s a real word. It’s in the dictionary. Sure… go look it up.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I’ll snap some pictures at the conference tomorrow to share with you next week. I’ll be checking in throughout the day via Facebook and Twitter so be sure to follow along!

…and if you’d like to attend a Bloggy Boot Camp, check their schedule - there just might be one in your area!

St. Louis | Philadelphia | Dallas | Las Vegas

If you don’t live near one of these cities, they also have several online options to get in on the fun!

One last note… for those that didn’t know, we lost a very dear, close friend this week. He had supported us and been there for so many memories. He laughed with us, he cried with us, he cheered us on. I’d like to take a moment of silence please for the passing of Picnik. You will be missed, my friend.

….silence….crickets….

Thank you for that.

Have a great weekend everyone!

what do you mean I’m too tall to be a jockey?

March 1, 2012 in Gettin' Crafty

Remember when you were younger and your teachers would ask what you wanted to be when you grew up?

…well when this horse-lovin’ girl was little, there was a period of time where she thought she’d like to be a jockey.

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Think about it…. They ride horses. I like horses. They like to win. I like to win. Perfect right?

…well fast forward a couple years and it wasn’t long before I was taller than the average jockey.

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…at 5’10” I’d say it’s safe to say I’m no longer in the jockey range. But that can’t stop me from being one for Halloween! Don’t be surprised if you catch me sporting racing goggles this October!

So obviously I didn’t end up being a jockey, but I did get my racehorse. Ex-racehorse that is. (Remember meeting Sylvester?)

…but I digress…

Today I’m joining in on a great link party about what we all want our blogs to be when they grow up. What a great idea! While a blogger will probably never win the Kentucky Derby, they can’t stop me from dreaming!

5 Things I want My Blog to Be
When it Grows Up (in 2012):

Consistent

I know… this isn’t my strongest point. Don’t get me wrong – I. LOVE. BLOGGING. It’s fun and I absolutely love all of you that support and encourage me. But sometimes I come home at night and I just want to slap on some comfy sweats and curl up on the couch with my snuggle bums.

What can I say… I love my crazy dogs. They make me laugh, even when they’re ambushing me with kisses.

I need to create a schedule, but more importantly, I need to STICK TO my schedule! I’ve come to the realization that I can’t post every day… and that’s okay! But I need to decide on a schedule and hold myself to it. The results are two-fold… you guys know what to expect…. And it forces me to not spend every night on the couch.

Twitterific

I love me some Facebook. It’s true. But there’s no reason I can’t play around with Twitter too! I’ve always favored Facebook for my blog, but this year I’d like to tinker with Twitter and have a little fun in that neck of the woods. I’m there already, but I’m making a promise to be more active. Hold me to it!

Cozy

Take your shoes off and stay a while…

I checked the stats, and on average, people stay at CraftedNiche for 2mins 31seconds. Just long enough to make their Hot Pocket. While I love a Hot Pocket just as much as the next girl, I’d love to have them stick around long enough to make something else like…. Hmmm… a pot pie maybe? I’ll track this using Google Analytics and see if we can’t improve these numbers:

Hospitable

Ya’ll Come Back Now Ya Hear…

So super excited for new people to stop by. I love it! I’m so very thankful for all of the amazing features and link parties. They never cease to amaze me with the awesome people that hop over here for a look around. I’m hoping to increase the number of returning readers this year. Right now I’m sitting at 21.57% Returning Visitors. Maybe by the end of the year I could shoot for 35%? Is that reasonable? I don’t know… you tell me!

Fun!

I started blogging because it was fun. It’s easy to feel pressured to post, post, post. And for everything to be PERFECT. But we all know things aren’t always perfect. I want to start sharing more of my craft FAILS. Is that strange? …because lets face it – that’s real. You can laugh right along with me at my mishaps. No judgment here! I laugh at myself all the time.

I’m sure I’ll still work MORE than my fair share of dog and horse pics in along the way, but I want to share other parts of my life too! You’re my friends and I want you to know ME… not just crafty me. Is that too personal? I hope not! I’m quirky, “ridiculous” (according to my sisters) and laughable. This year I hope to show you more of who I am and what makes me tick.

So that’s me… in a nutshell! (Man I wish I had a picture of me in a nutshell!) Hmmm maybe I should put “learn photoshop” on my 2012 Blog list!

I think now’s an appropriate time to also give each and every one of you a HUGE THANK YOU. You’re all so incredible and I’m thankful that you stopped by. If this is your first time here, please, make yourself comfortable and dig around a bit. If you’re an old friend, please know how much you mean to me. Your comments keep me smiling and laughing, even on a bad day!

If you want more Blog-Growin-Up-Ideas, stop by these lovely ladies’ places for some serious inspiration:

The Space Between, Thistlewood Farm, Eclectically Vintage and It All Started with Paint

P.S. Random thought of the day… my search for jockey photos came up with lots of pictures of racing silks. What little horse-crazy girl wouldn’t love an assortment of pillows made to look like different racing silks?!

…ok, ok… maybe I’m the only one that would like that.

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