Tuesday 2 May 2017

8th Blogoversary (delayed)

I made my first blog post back on the 15th of April 2009! Looks like it was a mixture of scrapbooking layouts and ATCs back then. I'm sure I never imagined I'd still be updating it 8 years later!

For a number of years I used to do a blogoversary update post, reflecting on the challenges and achievements of the previous year. I forgot to do it entirely last year, though looking at the stats I'm not surprised. Annually between 2009 and 2014 I would average 82 blog posts a year, last year I posted 26 in total. It's pretty safe to say that looking after a toddler took up most of my time and energy! It looks like we're moving out of that stage though, so I'm able to spend some more time crafting this year.

I've missed the April 15th anniversary date but figured it's a case of better late than never, so here is the review for 2017. As per tradition, let's review the last set of scrapbooking goals I set myself in 2015:
1/ Scrap what I want to, without consideration of the visits or comments it may generate for the blog - still a very valid consideration, given the limited amount of time I have available to craft. I'm very lucky that my two design teams let me scrap whatever themes/project types I like as long as I feature their products. I'm also enjoying my crafting a lot more by being able to capture the memories of whatever I want, rather than confirming to a challenge criteria. 
2/ Finish Lynda's wedding album - can't leave this hanging around forever! I did actually finish this, but I don't think I ever got around to creating a blog post to show it off. I'll try to get on to that in the next few days. I certainly learnt from this experience to never again volunteer to create an album for anyone.
3/ Try to generate some extra interest in entering the Gold Coast Show by other crafty ladies - this certainly did not happen. I didn't enter the Show last year (had layouts ready but forgot to submit the entry form on time) and the standard was lousy. The criteria for this year is a joke, with only 4 categories instead of the usual 11.
4/ Try to actually keep a clean craft room - I know I will fail at this but I need to find a way of keeping it more tidy - failed, no further comment. :)
5/ Keep making time to create - I need to remember that it's alright to make time for me and to use my 'free time' on things I want to do, not boring things like cleaning the house - this remains a work in progress, but one that I am being a lot more successful at this year.

Hmm, so what can I set as my goals for 2017? I've already challenged myself by signing up for a second design team. How about we go with:
1/ Stay ahead of schedule for my design team commitments. I'm a horribly 'last minute' scrapbooker and I want to avoid that in future, especially as it leads to lower quality results.
2/ Remember to have fun when scrapbooking and try new things.
3/ Attend some more classes. They're a great way to make friends and learn new techniques.
4/ Think about attending a retreat later in the year. I've missed attending these since having Harry and think he's at a good age to be getting back into them.
5/ Finish all those half-finished layouts I have! On the rare occasion I clean my craft room I always find the box with all my half-done projects and think 'I should really finished those' but never get around to it.

Because I work a government job and am used to having to justify projects with numbers, I have previously tracked pageviews, posts and followers, so figure I may as well continue with that.

Date of review
Annual Pageviews Total Pageviews Annual Posts Total Posts Total Followers
20-Apr-12

5736

264
50
15-Apr-13
20660
26396
118
382
95
14-Apr-14
14844
41240
72
454
98 (20 via bloglovin)
15-Apr-15
20331
61571
87
541
108 (26 via bloglovin)
15-Apr-16
Did not record
1-May-17
21182
82753
76
617
105 (30 via bloglovin)

Blogger stats tell me my most popular posts since the opening of my blog are presently:
Entry
Pageviews
4 Jun 2013, 5 comments
860
14 Jun 2010, 2 comments
670
21 Jan 2015, 2 comments
568
20 Apr 2014, 2 comments
520
22 Jul 2012, 27 comments
372
Anyway, that's a wrap for this review. Hopefully I'll be back on track for next year's one.:)

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