Thursday, March 27, 2014

Shabby Blogs YOUniversity {& team call}

I am sooooo excited to announce something truly lovely...



Shabby Blogs has always been about helping people beautify and personalize their online homes.  Providing you with the most smashing blog couture around is something I will absolutely continue to do- because for whatever reason, you seem to like it.  And I like it too.  It makes me happy to design for you and to share with you whatever talent I have in that arena.  But there is so much more to blogging than just pretty backgrounds and elements!  While your blog design speaks volumes and is definitely important, the most important thing is the actual story YOU are telling.

Everyone has a different story to share.  Some people want to share their latest craft project while others would rather share pictures of their toddler covered in spaghetti sauce.  A lot of people are somewhere in the middle- telling a story that covers more than just one aspect of their lives.  However you choose to tell your story and whatever that story is about, there is one thing every blogger has in common.  It is the need to know who you are.  You can't share a talent you haven't developed.  You can't share a story if there is no story to tell.  Simply put: If you know who you are and what you are, your story will always be one worth telling.  Shabby Blogs would like to help you with that.

After my second daughter was born, I had a bit of an identity crisis.  I remember going to a store with really pretty home furnishings and seeing something that just screamed MEGAN!  (That's my name, you know.  This story would be weird if you didn't know that.)  So I bought it.  And I brought it home.  And I hung it on my wall.  And I cried.  Ha!  It's true though.  I cried because doing that one simple thing made me so happy!  If you're thinking I'm super shallow, that's not it at all.  (Also, geez!  Be nice!)  It didn't have anything to do with owning this particular item or spending money- though husband only knows how much I rather like both.  It was the experience that made me happy.  It was the discovery.  It was the investment, not in "things," but in knowing myself.  I had no idea what I liked in my home or didn't like before that because I never took the time to ask myself.  Isn't that crazy?  That one little choice about myself and my opinion on something I hadn't really thought about before, started me on the most awesome journey.

Once it became apparent that asking myself real questions led to learning new things about who I am and the world around me, things just snowballed right on into excitement and all sorts of empowerment.  Seriously!  The more questions I asked myself, the more homework I had.  And the more homework I had, the more answers I found.  And the more answers I found, the more ME I found.  And you know what?  The more ME I found, the more me I liked.  (I know!!!  It surprised me too!)  And the more me I liked, the more happy I was.  And the best part of aaaaaaall of this is that the more happy I was, the more happy I am, the more happiness I am able to give to the people I love...and even the people I don't love...although I pretty much rather adore just about pretty much everyone.  Kind of rad, right?

So that's what I'm passionate about.  Finding new things I love, everywhere, and in everything, and in everyone.  That is MY story.

I'd like to help you further your own story and also give more people a place to share their loveliness.  That's what I'm going to be doing with Shabby Blogs.  I'm going to keep dishing out free blog designs and awesomeness, but I'm also going to open it up to others to share here.  So many people are so incredibly talented!  Not only will giving them a place to share that help them in the telling of their stories, but it will help us all in the telling of our own too.  Because maybe someone can do a MacGyver thing with pipe cleaner and staples and turn them into a baby sweater.  Or maybe someone else can scrapbook digitally like there's no tomorrow.  They share that and then BAMMM!  You can do it too.  And then you're like, "Whaaat?!!  Why didn't anyone tell me I was so awesome?!!"  And before you know it...POOF.  You've got a brand spankin' new chapter in the story of YOU.  That's how it works, friends.  And I am so so so sooooo excited about it.

So...

 

Whatever your skill is, we want to know!  Share your talents with the rest of us!  Share your story.  Inspire us.  Teach us about what the heck shoes to wear with what outfit because seriously, for the life of me, I can never figure it out.  Teach us how to mess with the code on our blogs.  (I know I'm supposed to do that, but it isn't any fun for me guys...being totally candid.  If it is fun for YOU, for Pete's sake, get over here!)  Teach us how to make a digital scrapbooking page.  Teach us what to look for in thrift stores and how to make the old and shabby new and...shabby.  Teach us how to take rad pictures so we can brag about our children properly, and yes, even share a selfie now and then.  Be a part of our team.  Teach us how to do what YOU do best so that we can be who we are best.


I can't wait to hear from you!

Mucho love-
Meg

shabby blogs at g mail dot com