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GOOD morning and HAPPY fall my friends!

"I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well." Psalm 139:14 

What are you most looking forward to this season?

 Speaking of boutonnieres, I stumbled upon these wedding photos from a wonderful Canadian bride I worked with a few months ago. She contacted me to create her boutonnieres, corsage pins as well as a couple hair clips (including the bride's) for her big day (see the past post about it here).

She was so sweet and the greatest part was, I was her very first Etsy order! It always makes me happy to know that I am someone's "first order". Being a part of a great handmade site, there are so many other talented shops to choose from but to place your trust in my shop as your first experience, means a lot. I still remember my first Etsy order too!

As a gift, I sent her a bracelet I created just for her. I used pearls on a silver chain and a locket to match the key boutonnieres. I was so happy to find out that she even wore the bracelet on her big day! This makes my heart happy.

Thank you so much Jennifer for your kindness and support of my shop. I truly appreciate you!
 The locket bracelet among the GORGEOUS wedding rings.

A few thoughts from today:

*How in the world do you dress for sum-fall? It's still way too hot out but I want so badly to dress for fall already and break out the richer colors, comfy cardis and ankle boots! Instead, I will go "simple style" today with a statement necklace (which I LOVE) from Lindis Delicate Edge. Love Sparkle Pretty readers get 20% off your order with the code LSPLOVES20!! Go see her pretty shop here!

*So excited for Disneyland in a couple weeks with other mommy friends. I'm totally not a part of the Disney obsessed but I love a reason to get dressed up and since we are dressing as Disney characters, I might as well have fun with it. Turning myself into Pocahontas for the night. It's time for a Pow Wow!

*It's back to square one with house hunting. A few nights ago, we backed out of escrow from the house we put an offer in. Honestly, I'm relieved after finding so many repairs that need to be done during the home inspection. I just don't want to sign a billion more papers!

*I need to take more power naps. Enough said.

*After breaking down at women's bible study today, I thought about the fruits of my labor being put into my sweet, ever growing son. I broke down because while there were several other women with kids playing in the house, my son seemed to be the only one getting on top of tables, banging on tin toys (loudly), eating other peoples food, hitting others with paint rollers and sticking toys in the toilet. After trying to discipline him over and over and still not getting anywhere with soothing his actions, I took him into the other room, closed the door and sobbed as he looked at me with his compassionate eyes. His strong will is overbearing most days and it certainly doesn't make motherhood easy.
As I think about these past (almost) 2 years of being a mom, it's been a struggle but I know that the fruits of my bearing, the results of my call to motherhood won't be all for nothing. I'm learning everyday and will appreciate every moment-even the hard ones. If you are a mother, remember this and cling to this. Raise your child(ren) in the way they should go and let God handle the rest.

What has been on your mind today?

Here are the babes about a year ago. This makes my heart happy. :) Levi looks like a little yoda...LOL

I am so excited to know that I now have a solution to taking photos of my items for the shop at night time!

I work the majority of the time on orders and new pieces for the shop while my son and husband are sleeping but I always have to wait until the morning to take photos of them because of natural lighting. Although natural lighting is best, sometimes, I want photos sooner rather than later without the awful fluorescent lightening.

I was so happy to see a large box on my doorstep a couple days ago from YesCom USA because I knew it was my brand new soft light studio tent kit! This little set up would solve some of my lighting problems for sure! I opened it up and was pleasantly surprised how easy everything was to set up and the kit included everything I needed-including light bulbs for the 2 lamps. It also included 3 different colored back drops for the 24" portable pop up tent and a small camera tripod to take still photos.

In order to test out the kit, I decided to take some photos at 10pm to see what kind of lighting I could get for my new hand painted feather necklaces!

This is a sponsored post in which I did get reimbursed with product. The photos and content-including opinions are my own.

A while back, I created a 7 things I have learned from the Handmade Biz post to shed some light to those who might have started a handmade shop or are thinking about it. Sharing my experiences may help those in the same boat as well as give me something to gauge my learning process.

Today, I am sharing another learning experience list. This one pertaining to blogging.

After starting this blog back in 2011, I didn't have a clear goal for this space, I didn't know too much about branding and I didn't know ANYTHING about the blogging world. A couple years later, I have learned the value of having a blog including the friendships that can be gained, the content that can inspire others, the growth it can bring to a business and a way to make a little extra cash. There is still so much more experience to gain and lots to learn but this is what I have come to understand from my perspective of blogging.

I will start by saying, bloggers are human beings. Even the most "glamorous" of bloggers, doesn't matter how put together their style posts are, how professional their designs appear and how "perfect" their life seems to be, they are not so different than you and I. Remember this.
As for me, this is how I blog 90% of the time-in the middle of the night while the baby and hubby are sleeping and the house is silent. Keep this in mind when reading anyone's posts because I'm pretty positive, I'm not the only one...

Let's talk photography. Now, I'm not saying you NEED a DSLR camera, but I will certainly encourage saving up for one (or at least a good point and shoot). When I purchased mine off of Craigslist (yup, that's right) and started capturing shots to include in my posts, I noticed a HUGE change in the way I blogged and my brand. My site looked so much more enticing to look at and I also started receiving a lot of compliments on the photography. I honestly enjoy looking at pictures online more than I do reading a lot of content on a computer screen (hello Pinterest age).
Pretty photos certainly increased the "inspiration" factor of my posts. Want to see a difference? This is a DIY post I did with a camera phone. This is a DIY post I did with my Canon DSLR.

No-reply bloggers are not the bees-knees. Most who are no-reply bloggers don't even know it and wonder why their comments aren't responded to. Please link your email to your blog using this tutorial so I (and everyone else) can respond back to your sweet words directly to you! Enough said.

Page views are more important than the amount of followers you have. Or at least when it comes to making some money while blogging. I get several emails asking if I'd like to review product, include links to company sites and/or be a part of different affiliate programs. This is because of my page view count (which at the moment is 71,000+) not because I have thousands of followers-because I don't. Leaving links on Pinterest, Facebook, Instagram,  my shop etc. all leading to my blog, increase that page view count which in turn, increases your analytics. (You can use the site Alexa to view your web sites data).
Totally not saying that followers aren't important to stats because they definitely are if you are serious about making a profit with your blog. Your interaction stats are really important as well but if you want to get started with making a few extra bucks, get people to look at your site. Your followers will trickle in.

If you have a blog, having other social media sites such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook should come with your "blogging package." These sites help with broadening exposure and outreach. Also, create your accounts with consistency in your usernames! It's hard to find someone if their Instagram name is different from their Twitter is different from their blog, etc. I admit that I am guilty of this with some of my accounts such as Twitter because the username LoveSparklePretty is considered too long so I went with KaylafromLSP. Thinking about changing it though because it still doesn't really correlate easily. Do you see how the same usernames are completely helpful though?
Staying on the topic of consistency, let's talk domain names. Not only can you get your own custom domain name for only $10/year (learn how here) but your blog domain name should match the name of your blog title! This is what I mean-my blog title is Love Sparkle Pretty. That means, my blog URL is lovesparklepretty.blogspot.com and my landing page is lovesparklepretty.com. It is NOT kaylasblog.blogspot.com or even ilovecupcakes.blogspot.com. Make sense? When searching for a blog, you tend to remember it by blog title, not the URL so matching both really makes a difference.

As much as blogging can become a way to earn some extra cash, for me, I have gained so much more than what money can buy. I have created friendships and have met some amazing people through blogging. You put your thoughts out there for everyone to see which in turn, is read by people who can relate or find your story humbling, interesting, exciting, hilarious and/or captivating and a friendly relationship is sparked by an email or a comment.
I have also found that stepping outside of your comfort zone and attending blogging/business/craft conferences are not only knowledgeable and super fun but they expand your networking skills as well as your friendship circle. You can meet others with similar interests and let others get to know the girl (or guy) behind the blog which is crucial because YOU are your brand!
Read about my experience at the Elevate Conference and see the next one one I'm attending at the end of the month!

I am so grateful for the blogging community and even more thankful for those who have impacted this little space by reading, following along, leaving a sweet note or even supporting my handmade shop. This allows me to stay at home with my toddling son to capture his growing and creative years as well as keep our family as close as possible just as the Lord intended. THANK YOU!
What have you learned from blogging?