#AusBlogCon2011 Hangover

A week ago today Sydney was invaded by over 170 women (and a few men) for the inaugural Aussie Bloggers Conference. Now, I had originally planned on writing up about my take on the conference immediately after the dinner/dance but as they say “it’s the quiet ones you’ve got to watch out for” and I partied on until 3am with Colin, Glen, Liz and a nasty bottle of champagne or 2. And there was NO WAY you were going to get anything out of me the next day either! So instead I have had a week to ponder over the event and what I have taken away from it.

Before I get into that though, I’d like to say firstly a BIG THANK YOU to the organizers : Brenda, Veronica, Nicole, Tina and Karen for putting on a fabulous event which seemed to run so smoothly without any hitches. Dreams can come true! Thanks also to all the moderators, panelists, speakers, volunteers and bloggers who made the event what it was.

getting ready for the conference to begin

I was so excited to be going to the conference you have no idea….or maybe you do if you saw this.

I was also scared shitless. You see…

• I hate crowds.
• I’m a quiet, introverted person who went off the chart on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator thingy.
• I’m hopeless with names and putting them to faces.
• There were so many bloggers there that I admire that I didn’t feel worthy to be there.
• I was petrified I would blabber on (as I have a tendency to do when nervous) and say something really stupid or that someone would take me the wrong way.
• I was petrified that I would clam up and not say anything at all.
• I’m not a “Mummy-Blogger” unlike most of those attending the conference.

As predicted when I walked into the room I could see groups had already formed… Dang! I knew I should have gone to the drinks the night before! I set up my laptop, downed 2 coffees, and waited quietly for things to start. One thing I do love about these conferences is that it is not considered rude to be typing away on your laptop/notebook or tweeting on your phone. Most of the things discussed by the panels were things I already knew, however it did help me decide on the direction I want to take.

Tina, Kelley and Me

• Paid reviews and sponsored posts are not my thing. I don’t (currently) have any advertising on my blog either. If I review something it’s because I like it and want to talk about it….and it’s just my opinion. Of course this is my blog, my space, and I reserve the right to change my mind as many times as I want.

• I would have loved for the panels to talk about copy-write, or have an expert on the subject there. It was mentioned briefly with regards to recipes and patterns. This is something I need to look into more as I never want to be pulled up on it. Of course I always give credit, but for some things you need to actually seek permission.

• I know I need to be a lot more social on Twitter and Facebook. It can get a bit overwhelming for me (see point 5 and 6 above). For most people the majority of their traffic comes from Facebook… not so in my case but now I can see why and I’ll try to resolve this so I can be more engaging with you guys. Hey I’m still learning, always learning.

• I’m not the only person who struggles with time management. I need to manage my time better so that I can allocate it properly across family/home, crafts, blogging and full time work. I am working on a schedule that I’ll implement in April where I plan to have a craft post on Monday’s, Wordless Wednesday on Wednesday’s (obviously), a written post of sorts on Friday’s, oh and I’m joining in on another photography meme called Sunday Selections with Kim at Frog Ponds Rock. I’ll also still have my daily project 365 posts. And there will also be a monthly blog hop I participate in for OLW.

• Follow people in the industry you want to work in. This is a big one for me as I am trying to fine tune my niche, working out where I fit in (I seem to have always struggled with fitting in!). A lot of blogs that I read, I read because I like the way that they write or what they write. Unfortunately not many of them are crafty bloggers. I’m not going to stop reading my favorites, however I do need to start following more bloggers in my niche. So somewhere in this time management plan I need to start adding “read more blogs”, and comment on them too.

Me and Kim

My favorite moments…

• Catching up again with Tina at morning tea …. sorry I blabbered on

• The whole My Blog, My Story segment. This is why we blog people. You must check out My Three Ring Circus, Magnetoboldtoo, Miscellaneous Mum, Frog Ponds Rock, Tune into Radio Carly, Random Ramblings of a SAHM.

• Catching up with so many wonderful people throughout the day and at the dinner. (The hallway was the place to be)  I’m not going to mention all the names because it’s highly likely I’ll forget someone and offend them and I don’t want to do that. Love you all!

• Having in depth discussions with new friends

• Walking away knowing that I am worthy to attend these and other conferences, even the pro ones. Everyone has to start somewhere.

And finally I have signed up to the Little Bloggy Blood Drive being hosted by Liz. The first group donation will take place on Saturday, 30th April 2011 at the new Town Hall Donor Centre in Sydney. Come and join us if you’re in the area, or maybe pop into your local donor centre.

Can’t wait for the next conference!

PS if anyone has seen that dress before, I spent all my dress money at the craft expo

Learn : 50 things about me

I have seen this meme float around for a while where you list 50 random things about yourself. Then I saw Glowless post her 50 things in preparation for the awesome Aussie Bloggers Conference and I thought “what a great idea!”…. so I’m pinching it.

A random list…

1. I was born in England but I’ve been in Australia since I was 2.5 so I consider myself an Aussie
2. I’m the eldest of 3 – being the eldest sucks
3. As a result of being the eldest I hate cleaning bathrooms
4. I’d probably hate cleaning bathrooms anyway
5. My first album was Abba Arrival
6. My first CD was The Clash
7. My first concert was David Bowie Glass Spider Tour
8. I was always told I was fat when I was a kid. Now that I look at the photos I realize I wasn’t really
9. Now I am VERY curvaceous
10. I’ve been on approximately 16 diets in my adult life
11. I love ice cream
12. I was told I wouldn’t be able to have an kids
13. I have 1 daughter, Graviee (my miracle baby), who is turning 13 in a couple of weeks
14. The first thing I bought with a paycheck was a portable CD player
15. I like almost all types of music from classical to metal
16. I don’t like yodeling
17. My Dad was a brilliant musician
18. My Husband is a brilliant musician
19. I didn’t know my husband played when we started dating
20. I asked him out
21. It was love at first sight (he was really good at cleaning ashtrays)
22. I was a very heavy smoker – over a pack a day – until I found out I was pregnant
23. I went back to work when Graviee was 5 months old
24. Then I started smoking again – work sucks
25. I finally gave up again a year later, using patches
26. I still crave them
27. I wish I was a SAHM
28. Or had my own business
29. We once had a business at the markets selling gags and masks. It did really well but our “real jobs” got in the way
30. We were once going to move to Tasmania and start a business down there but it wasn’t feasible – sorry Tassie
31. We went to Tasmania for our honeymoon and fell in love with the place
32. We had a medieval wedding and everyone got dressed up (even the staff at the reception)
33. We’ll be celebrating our 15th anniversary this year
34. I’m exactly 5′ short – but Mum is only 4’9.5″ …. and Graviee is way taller than both of us
35. I love coffee… even instant
36. My life has turned out very differently to how I imagined it when I was a teenager
37. I was once photographed for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award report
38. Mum put me in a local fashion show when I was a kid. I had to model sleepwear
39. She also made me do my debut, and picked my partner for me!
40. I’m loving being 40! It’s sooooo much better than 39
41. I am a very shy person
42. I am a bit of a geek
43. I love my MacBook Pro and iPhone – I think I need an iPad2
44. I never really took photos before, until I started blogging. Now I want to do a course
45. I think I may have OCPD – it would explain a lot about me
46. I love lists. I have lists of lists.
47. We have 2 cats – Puss and Emo. They’re both weird and I love them
48. I am the only person from my family to go to uni…. I dropped out after spending too much time at the pub
49. I love blogging and wish I could do it full time
50. Did I mention I’m going to the Aussie Bloggers Conference? Be sure to say Hello! SQUEEEE!

Now it’s your turn. Tell me something about yourself or add a link to your own 50 things post in the comments.

 

#84 Finish Scrapbook of my Dad – Coping with Grief

the Mini Book

I think it would be difficult to find anyone who disagrees with the fact that grief is the hardest emotion to deal with. You never now how you are going to respond to the loss of someone, whether it’s expected or not.

When my Dad died 6 years ago I didn’t cope very well at all. I was not expecting it. I thought Mum was exaggerating again (the boy who cried wolf). I didn’t get to see him before he died. I wasn’t there. I felt a lot of guilt.

Title Page

Years before Dad had told me that when he died he wanted to be buried at sea. In fact he even said that if I didn’t do it he would come back and haunt me. Instead the family decided that he would be cremated, with a service performed by a Catholic Priest. Dad was an atheist. The service was not for him. This made me angry.

I felt so alone. The person I would turn to in these situations, my Dad, was gone. Our family was divided. Death can do funny things to people.

Dad & Me 1971

A few months later, in an effort to try to “get over it” I tried several techniques to say my goodbyes. I wrote a letter to Dad. I lit candles and spoke to him, told him how I felt, how I was sorry I wasn’t there, I was sorry that the funeral was not what he wanted. I said goodbye but the pain didn’t go away.

Clowning Around 1977

 

Graviee was also having a hard time understanding what was going on. I decided that we would make a mini book of the photos that I have of Dad so that we had something we could flick through and remember the good times. She helped me select and cut papers and glue them. We found some stickers and embellishments. I sorted through photos and put them in chronological order. This process was difficult and it took a long time. It was so hard that everything then went back into the shoe box and remained there….. until last Friday.

My Wedding Day 1996

It has been over 6 years but I am finally able to open up that shoe box and finish the mini book. Now when I look at the photos I smile at those happier memories. I still miss him terribly and it hurts but I can cope with it now. I finished attaching all the stickers, embellishments and added some journal details on some pages.

Dad’s Wedding Speech 1996

 

I’ve included just a sample of the pages from the mini book here. My favorite photo is “Clowning Around“. I can still clearly remember that night.

And here are some of my favorite sticker quotes that I used : “As soon as I saw you, I knew an adventure was going to happen” and “To the world you may be one person, but to one person you may be the world” (Papercraft – sticker swatch book)

I am no expert with coping with grief. This is just one method I used to help me…..and it took me a long time. I have found helpguide.org has useful information and links to help with coping with grief and loss.