Celebrating My 100th Blog Post! FAQ About My Website

To celebrate my 100th blog post today, I thought I’d share some of the frequently asked questions I get about my website and the things I make. My first post was on January 18, 2021 about Door Quilts. Since then, I’ve described many of the projects I’ve done over the years…mostly since I retired in 2008. Most of my career in education involved creating instructional materials for all age groups. I can see I haven’t stopped creating instructional materials, I’ve just changed the focus of the materials. My greatest joy comes in being able to explain what I’m making so someone else could try it too. Learning to share these projects in a website has been an adventure in itself.

Here are four Frequently Asked Questions about my website:

  1. What inspired you to start the website? My inspiration for starting the website came from other “lifestyle” blogs that I read online and the isolation from the Covid Virus. The blogs are often written by women as a way to share their activities. You might enjoy their sites too, including Rural-Revolution (https://rural-revolution.com/) authored by Patrice Lewis; and Strategic Living Blog (https://strategiclivingblog.com/) authored by Gaye Levy. They have found a way to share their day-to-day activities in a way that appeals to many women across the country, even if our situations are not exactly the same. Of course, my go-to website when I’m researching how to make something is Pinterest (https://www.pinterest.com/). Writing is a way to keep my brain active and at the same time, share fun projects with others.

2. Why don’t you just use Facebook? Before January 2021 I did try to share things on Facebook. It is tempting to get excited about how many “likes” a posting generates. However, the Facebook platform does not lend itself to longer explanations of how to make something. Since I don’t have the skills to make YouTube videos, I’m focusing on written instructions with photos. Even now, when I post a paragraph with a few photos, I can’t count on Facebook to show the whole paragraph…sometimes just the photos pop up! Very frustrating. I’ll use Facebook to share that I posted, but I’d love to have you go to my site to see, “the rest of the story!”

3. Why don’t you sell the stuff you make? HaHa!! Have you seen the rules and regulations for home crafted items? The government bureaucracy has incredible reach into all areas of our lives…of course, mostly to protect us from harmful ingredients or untrue claims. I have no problem with the principle…we all care about what we put on or in our bodies…but considering the variety of things I dabble in, I couldn’t possibly keep up and stay within the requirements for each item. If I want to sell a stuffed toy, I must document that the fabric and stuffing is safe for children and be approved by a government agency. A tag must be attached to the toy showing I have filed, and paid for, the proper approvals.

If I want to sell a skin care product or a food product, my kitchen and ingredients must be inspected and approved by a government agency…and documented on the label someplace. All food products are required to have this list of ingredients with the final statement showing if it has any of the 8 most common allergens: Egg, Milk, Wheat, Soy, Tree Nuts, Peanuts, Shellfish or Fish. Obviously, Milk could mean cheese, butter, cream or yogurt!

The rules are pretty loose for items sold at craft shows, but the risk is always there…and the fines are huge! I do try to include a card with every item I give away that has a list of all the ingredients in my soap or skin care product. Instructions about how to use a product, like the lotion bars or salve, are included too.

Anyway, besides the fact that I don’t want to get into retail sales or the shipping business, I’d rather offer a way for you to learn how to do it yourself. So, please feel free to use my posts as tutorials and share with other like-minded folks.

I suppose I could package the “Fabric Projects” into a book or offer workshops to groups, but at the moment I’m having fun just doing, and documenting what I’m doing. It’s keeping me sane!

If you have received something I’ve made, it’s because when I’m learning how to do something, I’ll make more than one, or the batch will make 10+ of something. I do not have room to store all this stuff, so if you are passing by you may receive something from me. If you don’t want it, no problem. Feel free to pass it on to someone else. Thanks!

If you wonder why I’m giving stuff away instead of selling it, please read #3 again!

4. Why don’t you focus on one kind of craft? I would feel limited by having to choose. I guess they are all crafts of one kind or another. I really am NOT ADHD, believe it or not. I just get bored easily. I enjoy the challenge of learning something new and when I’ve tried it and get comfortable, I’m ready to switch to some other project. I am now surrounded with enough raw materials…from fabric and sewing supplies, to melt and pour soaps, to essential oils…that I can easily do something different every day! Joy!

I know I have a variety of readers…from beloved family members…to friends…to friends of friends. You are all interested in something different. Some folks specifically ask me to, “…please mention how you set up your rain barrels;” or, “…how do you make your oatmeal bread?” and even, “Have you tried making perfume yet?” I know each post might be of interest to some folks and not others and that’s fine. The Welcome page lists the last 10 most recent posts, so hopefully something will be of interest to you!

As always, please comment or email me directly at marykisner@comcast.net.

Update on Blog features

Creating a website and blog like this one has been a fun, challenging experience. WordPress was simple enough to get me started without too much difficulty. Now that I have written 14 blog posts and attempted to revise my initial choices of how to name and organize them I could see a few things needed to be tweaked.

First, I am grateful to all of my readers who have offered support and suggestions. Now, I’m also very thankful that expert manual writers were able to provide detailed instructions so I could clean up those pages!

These are just two of many manuals for WordPress on the market.

You’ll now find a list on the right side of the Welcome page and the first page of the most recent blog entry that should make it easier to find things.

Here you’ll find a list of the 10 most RECENT POSTS. Next comes a CALENDAR OF POSTS to show the days when I posted. Under that is a drop-down list of CATEGORIES for the entries. And finally, there is a place to SUBSCRIBE TO BLOG. This becomes an automatic thing…when I post, WordPress sends an email to you that I have posted. I assume it works…we’ll see!

Of course, your email address will not be used or shared with anyone else!

A few things I can’t seem to change…I had hoped when you went to the current blog entry, you would see a “summary” paragraph from each of the previous entries. That can’t be done in the Template I chose at the beginning. As soon as I change the Template, something else doesn’t work right! Very frustrating!

Another thing I don’t seem to have control over is how the website looks and works on a smart phone. Some of the features I mentioned above show up at the bottom of the Welcome Page, and not at all on the Blog page. That’s my next challenge! Bear with me! If you can find the Calendar on the Welcome Page, you’ll be able to see what days I published. The Blog page will always have the most recent entry at the top.

I had never really studied how other websites/blogs were set up. Now I notice things I’d like to try; but for now, I don’t want to mess with something I finally got to work.

I love reading your comments on Facebook, on this website and through my email. I appreciate your support. Most postings soon!

You can add a comment on this webpage or send me an email directly at marykisner@comcast.net.