Adventures in Food

Lovely new food blog by Christine – who even found free quinces on the side of the road in Remuera. And even better, info on upcoming cheesemaking classes. Great reading.www.foodnz.blogspot.com

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li’l magoolie

Beautifully curated style blog for yummy mummies and baby lovehttp://lilmagoolie.wordpress.com/

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keepin it Kiwi

www.keepinitkiwi.co.nz

How did you find out about blogland and what motivated you to join in?
I’ve known about blogland for quite a long time, just through magazine articles and stumbling across them on the net. I’d never really been inspired to write my own, until I created keepin it Kiwi.

How long have you been blogging?
Bout 6 months.

Please tell us a little of what your blog is about
Things that are happening around New Zealand and stuff Kiwi’s love. Don’t expect hard-nosed political journalism though; I’m more interested in quirky stories, peppered with my own twisted thoughts.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?
I love to write. For many years I’ve written radio ads, however writing a blog gives me a lot more freedom. There’s no client to approve my work, not every post has to have the phone number in at least twice and I don’t even need to mention “ample free parking” (unless it’s for comical effect).

Where in NZ are you based?
Sunny Dunedin

Anything else you would like to say…
“keep it Kiwi”

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Blooming in Nihon-Japan

bloomingnihon.blogspot.com

How did you find out about blogland and what motivated you to join in?
My brother introduced me to blogs a few years ago after I asked him to help me set up a website. He thought a blog would be the ideal way for me to maintain a website since you don’t need any programming knowledge. I ran a parenting website for some years in the form of a blog.

How long have you been blogging?
I guess I have been blogging for about five years in one way or another. I have a blog dedicated to photos of my children, mainly so my family can keep up to date with their progress since we live overseas.

Please tell us a little of what your blog is about
My main blog is called Blooming in Nihon (Japan). I’m an expat from Auckland who lives in Japan. As much as Japan is a wonderful fascinating place to visit it can be incredibly difficult and frustrating to live here. The isolation and hardship faced by so many mothers is amplified by living in a foreign culture. My blog was born of a desire to feel satisfied and fulfilled in my life. I needed to be at peace with my decision to live permanently here in Osaka. It worked! I love my life these days.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?
Blogging is so wonderful. It’s like a therapeutic sympathetic ear, a diary to offload all your thoughts, a place to clarify feelings. Once people start to read it and comment you feel euphoric that people are interested in your boring life, you are not alone and can empathise with your situation. It’s very motivating. As a result of blogging daily I truly feel happy and blessed. My life really couldn’t be better.

I love ‘meeting’ other bloggers, I love making people laugh, I love reading the comments people leave. I love ‘composing’ my posts throughout the day, taking pictures to accompany the topics and posting links to cool things on the Internet. One theme I try to post often about is women who are successful and inspiring.

Where in NZ are you based?
I am not in New Zealand right now. I blog from Osaka, Japan. I am from Auckland and am very much a kiwi girl.

Anything else you would like to say…
It’s hard for me to categorise my blog. First and foremost it’s a mum-blog since I am a mother (of two boys, aged one and six). Apart from that it’s also a craft blog since I recently started a sewing business. Basically I blog about my life, day to day, how I survive parenting with being an expat thrown into the mix.

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herstrionics

herstrionics.net

How did you find out about blogland and what motivated you to join in?
I’ve been blogging since the turn of the century. This is only one of several blogs that I keep. I love the idea that I can keep a diary online and receive feedback on what I write.

How long have you been blogging?
I started my first blog back in about 1999 wth pitas.com, moved to blogger, then decided to roll my own using Wordpress. Now I have a basketball team of blogs in various states of (dis)repair.

Please tell us a little of what your blog is about
I spent nearly half of my life as a Jehovah’s Witness. I fell into the vicious cycle of abuse, depression and addiction. This blog is my personal way of finally tying all of the loose ends of the experience together. I’ve kept the blog anonymous because there is potential for people that I care about to be hurt.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?
Writing my stuff and reading other people’s stuff. I love minutea and miscellanea.

Where in NZ are you based?
I used to be a small town girl but I enjoy life on the outskirts of the big city Auckland now.

Anything else you would like to say…
Come and have a look. I know my story isn’t for everyone, but at least come and have a look.

Thanks Lovely Blogs, for this opportunity to share my blog

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GiGi Designs

www.gigidesigns.blogspot.com

How did you find out about blogland and what motivated you to join in?
Hmmm… not exactly sure…. I think a very long time ago I heard something about Blogging.. way back when it first “came out” … it was touted as the new way to randomly express yourself … and I just thought.. “uh.. how very self indulgent !” … It wasn’t until more recently that I had come across some really amazing and insightful blogs, which reflected genuine ideas and had a great deal of substance and relevance to where I was at as a designer and business woman, that I started to take notice. I saw many blogs which were fluid extensions of web sites… they seemed to serve as a vehicle for the site owners to take charge of their own ideas and not be restricted by the often slow moving mechanics of web site maintenance. Especially for us, where we have all of our web site changes going through our web developer.

How long have you been blogging?
Ummmmmmmmm … I think since June 2007 ?

Please tell us a little of what your blog is about
We aim to chronicle the life of a fashion designer… me!… and to offer up to the minute information to our clients and any other interested readers. We also use it for fun, to share a funny story, or a favourite product …

What do you enjoy most about blogging?
Its real time- its instant and its interactive. Our readers can leave comments or email us directly about what they have just read…

Where in NZ are you based?
We are based in Auckland…

Anything else you would like to say…
Of course! .. I blog - so, it should always be assumed that I will always have something else that I would like to say! .. just not now… but check back with us tomorrow on our blog and I am sure we will have found a useful tidbit for you to enjoy… J

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Tiny Happy

tinyhappy.typepad.com

How did you find out about blogland and what motivated you to join in?
I found out about craft blogs around 2002-3 when my search for knitting patterns and information online led me to the site knitty.com. I was completely amazed by the knitting designs and writing on craft that I found there, and followed the contributors’ links back to their blogs, and instantly fell in love with them, and began to follow a few in particular. I had my son that year, and I found reading the journals of these clever crafty women gave me lots of inspiration for my own craft work of that time- as well as the validation that it was okay to obsess over knitting and spend every last dollar after buying the groceries on skeins of merino yarn! I was motivated to join in a couple of years later, when I found other craft blogs - particularly sewing, photography and design sites.

How long have you been blogging?
I began my first blog in 2005, but started my current blog, Tiny Happy, in April 2006.

Please tell us a little of what your blog is about
My blog is mainly about the things that I make, mostly children’s clothing, but sometimes knitted things, soft toys, and adult’s clothing. It’s also about my life as a mother of two little ones, but I do try and keep a focus on craft/textiles/design. Quite often I write about things that I like, such as baking, vintage fabric, children’s books and illustration, art/craft websites, writing and music I find interesting.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?
Sometimes I enjoy blogging so much that I think of it as a medium made just for me- I can do it from the (relative) quiet of my room, it’s an easy way to instantly publish ideas and to get nearly immeadiate feedback on my work from a community of like-minded people. I really like having somewhere to write about what I’ve been working on, or a certain piece of fabric I found, because in my day-to-day life I don’t have such an outlet.

I also love the sharing nature of craft-blogging- ideas are posted freely and frequently, and it’s so great to just spend an hour flicking through the blogs I love to read, soaking up the lovely writing, pictures, craft work. I’m also really grateful for the lovely friends I’ve made through blogging- both here in NZ and overseas.

Where in NZ are you based?
I’m based in my home-town, Nelson.

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Anemone

anemonecrafts.blogspot.com

How did you find out about blogland and what motivated you to join in?
Lies and I wanted to be involved in the Auckland branch of Craftwerk and when submitting our application, Craftwerk suggested a blog link. We thought, oh, okay! Lets make one.

Lies had been reading a few craftblogs before we started ours. So we were inspired by the likes of tiny happy, toast and cupcakes, and some blogs from the Australia and the USA.

How long have you been blogging?
We have been blogging for 8 months so relatively new on the scene.

Please tell us a little of what your blog is about
We started off thinking that it would just be a craft blog but we soon realized that “craft” is really a lifestyle, so it got more personal as we went along. We post about our latest projects, things that inspire us, I often post illustrations I am working on, and we like share photos from our knitting circle.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?
I enjoying the way it links you to the greater NZ craft community and gives you the opportunity to meet like minded people. I also like having an ‘audience’ and an opportunity to let what we are doing be known.

Where in NZ are you based?
We both live in Auckland. Central city crafters represent.

Anything else you would like to say…
Thanks for thinking of us, we really appreciate what Lovely Blogs is doing.

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Anknel and Burblets

anknelandburblets.com

How did you find out about blogland and what motivated you to join in?
I first discovered blogland via hicksdesign when I was learning css. There was a link to Wee Wonderfuls which I just loved and from there I discovered Juju loves Polkadots. I completely forgot about it until 2005 when Ade at dare recommended I join flickr. There I discovered Yvestown and 6.5st who are both still great inspirations to me, and now also friends.

When we came back to Auckland and I was pregnant I found I had some time to set myself up with a blog. It was while I was studying for my aromatherapy exams and needed a good diversion actually!

How long have you been blogging?
I’d lived in photoblog-land since 2003 and made one attempt to set up a proper blog in 2004, but it wasn’t until late 2006 that the Anknel and Burblets you now know began.

Please tell us a little of what your blog is about?
Shopping! Hahah. Well, rather embarassingly it is quite a lot about shopping. Really, it’s about my everyday life. I like the idea of keeping the blog to catalogue what goes on from day to day, especially now my life has changed so much being at home with Astrid. It certainly provides a good focus for me, making sure I’m being productive and not just working all the time.

I do quite a lot of things from graphic design to aromatherapy, with sewing and photography in between. I try and keep the focus mainly on the sewing / crafty part but I also love food, books and design so there’ll be a bit of everything - it’s all related really. I do try and mix it up as well so as not to have too many photos of piles of fabric that I’ve just bought!

What do you enjoy most about blogging?
I love the inspiration I get from other bloggers. Really I would not be doing what I’m doing today if it weren’t for all the talented women out there who so generously share what they are doing. I really do think that Ade at dare pointing me in the direction of flickr completely changed my life. And I am eternally grateful for that.

Where in NZ are you based?
We’re on the western slopes of Mt Albert in Auckland. A lovely, old, leafy suburb with lots of nice big trees and beautiful old homes. I really like it here.

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So Tread Softly

sotreadsoftly.typepad.com

How did you find out about blogland and what motivated you to join in?
I remember searching for something on Google one day and up popped someone’s blog on the results page. I can’t remember who’s it was, I imagine it had something to do with vintage fashion, but I was intrigued. I’d discovered a wonderful world that seemed to be filled with like-minded people, people who were as passionate about vintage clothing as I was.

I’m from the UK and I ran an internet business called Vintage Wardrobe that sold clothes, accessories, textiles and a little bit of decor worldwide. I had a mailing list but was really bad at sending out regular updates so I thought that a blog would be a great way to let people know what was happening in my vintage world.

How long have you been blogging?
I uploaded my first post on 10th September 2005. Postings were pretty sporadic (a bit like the mailing list updates!) but I soon got into the habit of writing a piece for the blog once a week. It wasn’t until October that I received my first comment from a reader. At that stage I didn’t realize that comments could be left. I was sooo excited and promptly visited all my favourite blogs to leave comments.

Please tell us a little of what your blog is about
I relocated from the UK to NZ in September of last year and when we’d made the decision to move that’s when my blogging focus began to change. I closed down my business in preparation for the move and I then began to use the blog to share what I was making under the design label Agnes Coy Handmades. I’ve almost always made ’stuff’ and this was a great way to get feedback about my designs and to test the water so to speak.

Upon leaving the UK my blog became a bit of a lifeline for family and friends. They could check in at So Tread Softly and see what we were up to and that we were safe. People who are dear to us in the UK continue to check in regularly which is just lovely.

What do you enjoy most about blogging?
What I love most about blogging is being able to share our lives with loved ones in the UK. Photos play a big part in my posts. It’s important for us to share the HUGE experience of moving to a country on the other side of the world, with others. I’m married to a kiwi but he’s been in the UK with me for 12 years so it has been a big deal for him as well.

I have to admit to loving the comments that people leave especially if it’s someone who has never left one on my blog before. Whoever leaves comment I always whizz over to their blog and try to reciprocate.

Where in NZ are you based?
I’m in Carterton, Wairarapa. I’m used to living in a happening busy city so this really is the complete opposite. I love the simplicity of our life here, the slower pace, smiling at a stranger in the street and getting a smile back instead of a suspicious look, having fruit and vegetables only when they’re in season and waking up and marvelling at how the mountains look totally different every single day. I know that I’m lucky to live here.

Anything else you would like to say…
I was chuffed to bits to be asked to be part of Lovely Blogs. You’ve made me feel like an honorary Kiwi - thank you. [ Yay! thanks Alison :) ]

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