taradara

Exciting news ~ I have a new blog!!

taradara — Mon, 04 Jul 2011 06:34:50 +0000

Hi everybody!!!

I’m so excited to announce the launch of my new blog:

TARADARAMADEIT.COM

It’s the same ol’ me, but with an updated look!!!

This has been a looooong time in the works and I’m so pleased to finally share it with the world!

Please go on over and take a look and see what you think….

psst … you might have to subscribe over there to receive the updated blog posts

Happy Independence Day!!!

xo Tara

Finished the spindles!!!

taradara — Sun, 03 Jul 2011 02:58:55 +0000

Just wanted to pop in share some pics of the spindles that I recently knocked out!

…And a bit of my Canadian roots…

before

AFTER

I.LOVE.IT

A fresh coat of paint sure does make a difference, doesn’t it!!

Oh, and how about a pic of me representin’

Canada style!!!

{I think I’m singing Oh Canada here}

Okay, my fellow Americans…

PEACE.

Your turn is in 2 days….

xo Tara

Fabric Feature Friday – and an Announcement or two

taradara — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 06:05:13 +0000

Hi ya!!!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!!!!!

IT’S FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here’s what’s new in the shop...

iPad Cover for you

Peace, love, and recycle, dude!!

{or dudette}

Fun fabrics here folks!!

Kindle Cover for you

Whether you have a Kindle or a Nook

this cover will keep it cozy!

Check out more pics here

Funky Passport Cover for you

Going somewhere?

You HAVE to go check this animal envy out!

If not for yourself, for someone you know!

Here is where you can see it!

I have TWO MAJOR announcements.

1 ~ I have tailored down my Big Cartel store and am primarily using ETSY for sales

{hard to keep 2 stores going}

This is the REALLY exciting news!!!!

2 ~ My blog is getting a facelift and will be revealed on the 4th!!!!

It’s been in the works for such a looooooong time.

I’m soooooo elated to finally show you next week!!!

Have a wonderful weekend!!!!

xo Tara

What I Wished I Knew When I Started Blogging ~ Advice from Meghan Tucker from The Tuckers Take Tennessee

taradara — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 13:14:40 +0000

How are you liking this series so far?

I’m learning so much from these great seasoned bloggers and hope you are too.

Meghan

This week I’m featuring my dear friend, Meghan. We met on Twitter {of course} and have become great ‘virtual friends’. She has a great blog called The Tuckers Take Tennessee in which she describes in her post below.

Blogging advice in Meghan’s words …

It was in 2006 that I really started to hear more about blogging. But what was it? Who knew. A place for people to journal online? For the world to see their dirtiest of secrets? Eh, not for me. In 2008, that I really started to look deeper and start reading blogs. Okay, people didn’t air their dirty laundry out for the whole world to read (and those who did, I didn’t go back to their blogs). I was wrong. I began to love reading. Reading blogs began quite the hobby (uh-hum addiction) for me.

Then my husband gave me the idea to keep a blog for all of our family in Florida. Ok, that sounded great. So, I posted a few pictures here and there and videos. But that didn’t last long. To me, it was boring. I wanted my blog to be more. And for the Florida family members, they all could see the pictures and updates on Facebook, so I ventured out of the “family blog” scene and entered into the “mommy blog” scene.

There are SO many mommy bloggers out there. But how do I distinguish myself and make my blog different from every other blog? That was the question I wrestled with for a while. In May of 2009, my blog took on a face-lift. We had decided to homeschool, so that was a passion of mine. I also loved blogging about my faith as well as what it takes to make a Home a “home” and being the Home Engineer of my household.

There were many things that I wish I had known when I started blogging.

*Start off with WordPress instead of Blogger. So much more user friendly and customizable. (And thats WordPress.org instead of WordPress.com)

*Have a set schedule. If you aren’t careful, blogging can take over your life. Set office hours for yourself. For me? I blog when my boys are taking their rests in the afternoons or at night once they have gone to bed. Don’t let your family suffer because you’re blogging all the time.

*Find your niche. Don’t blog about everything under the sun. Find what you love, what you’re passionate about, what you feel you’re good at and go for it. You’ll be surprised at your success!

*Don’t jump at every opportunity. Be someone who can say “No” and find balance. Know what you can handle. I have learned to become very picky about what I share on my blog as well as who I represent.

*Don’t spend a lot of money on your blog at first. Once it grows, you can venture into to more technical and pricey things for your site. Nothing worse than spending a lot of money on your blog and you get frustrated or don’t find the time to blog and all that money has gone down the drain.

*Set goals for yourself. There is nothing wrong with succeeding. Set smaller goals on traffic, subscriptions, and once you hit those goals, reward yourself w/ a new blog design, a new button, or a pedicure.

These are just a few things I wish I had known or learned early on. Maybe just one of these things will help you figure out which direction to take your blog.

Happy Blogging!

Meghan describes herself as: Christian, Homeschooling Mom of 2, Adoption Advocate, and Photographer Wanna-be. She enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, blogging, and social media. You can find her at The Tuckers Take Tennessee, Twitter, and Facebook. She is also the co-founder of Hip Homeschool Moms.

Meghan has some pertinent points here, doesn’t she! The one that I can completely identify with is which blogging platform to use first. Yes, it’s free to use some platforms, however, you are very limited to what you can do with them as far as the look of them, etc. You can easily run out of space if you post a lot of pictures {which I do and many of you do too, I’m sure}. So, now I’m in the process of transferring everything over to my new blog … I could’ve saved a LOT of time just starting with wordpress.org in the FIRST place. But, being a new blogger, I wanted something I could get right there and start up and I didn’t have the knowledge {and am still learning} to go with all the coding and getting a background I liked, etc, etc…. Okay, enough rambling from me….

What did you identify with in Meghan’s post? Please let us know in the comments!! We love to read your comments!!!

xo Tara

Please visit the past guest bloggers in this series….

Amy from The Idea Room

Stacy from Not Just a Housewife

Mark Montano {TV host}

Becca from Blue Cricket Design

Painting updates…

taradara — Thu, 30 Jun 2011 02:14:34 +0000

Remember last week when I just couldn’t finish the unfinished projects in our home … because I’d rather play with our precious little boys…

Well, I’m thrilled to share with you that they are now crossed off my to do list!!!!

And I am sooooooo happy about it!!!

Here are some pics of before and after….

BEFORE

AFTER

What a feeling!!!

BEFORE

AFTER

{yes, it’s the opposite side, but both sides are now COMPLETE}

YAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!!!!!

Now, my next project….

I can’t wait to finish this puppy.

I have started and it’s all primed and ready to go….

What are you working on?

xo Tara

Goodwill Finds

taradara — Tue, 28 Jun 2011 13:15:08 +0000

I’ve been wanting to do this post for so long!

There have been many many great finds that I’ve scored at Goodwill.

I’ve tried to take pictures of them all, but that gets a bit much.

{My husband always asks me, why are you taking a picture of a ‘sweatshirt’}

Yes, I’m becoming one of ‘them’…. hehe

I found this sweatshirt, you may recognize the name {if not, you may have been living under a rock;)}

That’s right, an Abercrombie and Fitch sweatshirt!!

Only $2.00!!!

This casual jacket is a definite find right here…

A Mystree casual jacket for ….

$2.00!!

I’m telling you people, I can’t enough of our Goodwill!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the stitching

{very True Religion-esq}

I love the detail on the hoodie!

Okay, what else…

A silk Banana Republic blouse for $3.00

How about an Eddie Bauer vest for $1.50?

I have a serious problem now.

Goodwill has really ruined me.

I can’t go in to a mall and bring myself to buy anything for MYSELF.

I get sticker shock.

When I know that one day I will find the same pair of (jeans) for .99 cents.

My name is Tara and I am a Goodwill Addict.

xo Tara

The work in progress ~ My studio

taradara — Mon, 27 Jun 2011 13:00:06 +0000

So my studio has been morphing slowly to where I’d really love it to be.

There’s nothing quite like having a place that’s inspiring and comfortable to work in! I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have the coolest artsy fartsy studio, you know, like the ones you see in the magazines like Where Women Create or Studios.

One day maybe, hey, a gal can dream, right!!!

I took some pictures of how it looked just a few short months ago and will share in a few posts as there is so much to look at …. LOL!

Here’s what inside the walk in closet USED to look like …

It’s a bit hard to take a good shot in such a small space.

Here’s a pulled back shot

Not cluttered at all!

And here’s a view from outside!

Aye Yie Yie….

So, I pulled EVERYTHING out of it because I wanted to put my Great Great Grandmother’s dresser in there for extra storage.

Wait for it….

No kidding!

Here’s another view because I can’t quite believe that ALL this STUFF was in this CLOSET!

Holy HANNAH!!!

There’s a lot of loot in there!

So here’s my Great Great Grandmother’s Dresser:

Isn’t it AH-MAZING!

I am in total love with this piece.

It’s been in our son’s room. Now he’s getting older and catching on to what’s for boys and what’s for girls.

So, I took it out and replaced it with this dresser that I redid with maps.

Both of us are now happy.

Okay, getting back to business….

LOVE the authentic-ness of this dresser!

So here it is in the closet…

Tucked way back in there.

But, it is certainly utilized…..

So, I realized I don’t have any pictures of everything BACK in the closet.

{I think because it doesn’t look much different}

BUT, I am proud to say that I got rid of 3 LARGE garbage bags full of crap!

Nothing like a good little purge now and then, hey!

xo Tara

What We Did This Weekend ~ Baseball, Golf and Goodwill Finds!!!!

taradara — Sun, 26 Jun 2011 20:29:45 +0000

Yes, of course it was another Little League baseball game …

The boy hit a line drive right up the middle {you should have seen the other team’s faces!} *surprise*

The coaches were talking/laughing about the hit after saying they had no idea where it came from LOL

That’s my boy!!!

Here’s the other boy, hamming it up as always…

All my boys went to play 9 holes …

Check out the ball to the right of the pic!

I love our camera!!!

I had a few hours to myself so I decided to go to Goodwill, you know, just to browse …. you gotta see what a I got …

I’ll just show you 2 things I got {I’ll post some of the others in another post}

Oh, how I love this place….

A GORGEOUS mirror for $6.50

I love the genuine age of this piece!

I think I might paint it … but I can’t bring myself to do it yet!

Okay, wait for this!!!

Okay, ready for this?

I love it!!!!!!!!!

And the price couldn’t be better, but …

It gets better cause it was 1/2 OFF!!!!!!!!

$9.50!

Incredible!!

It appears to have been painted and stripped.

Does anybody know what kind of wood this is?

Hope you all had a great weekend!!!

xo Tara

Fabric Feature Friday

taradara — Fri, 24 Jun 2011 06:01:25 +0000

I have 3 new items to share with you today!

So excited to get these lovelies listed and available to the public!

First up….

This BEAUTY!!!

An EXPLOSION of color on this passport cover!!!

Never lose this puppy in your purse!

Check it out here.

Second up…..

Dr Seuss makes ANOTHER appearance on this kindle cover!

I love reading One Fish, Two Fish to my boys

{which makes me partial to this cover}

Take a closer gander here.

Third up……

Keep your fingers safe with this cool bicycle inspired Cup Cozy.

Who says black and white is boring?

Not me.

Get it here.

As always, you can visit my stores

ETSY BIG CARTEL

and check out what else is up for grabs!

I hope you’ve had a GREAT week!!! Plans for the weekend?

Have a good one!

xo Tara

What I Wished I Knew When I Started Blogging ~ Amy from The Idea Room

taradara — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 06:01:23 +0000

As promised, another FABULOUS blogger here to share her insight to blogging in the beginning

Amy from The Idea Room has graciously taken time out from her FIVE children to write a little something for us {THANK YOU!!!!!!} You need to go over to her blog, The Idea Room, and read about her and see ALL of the AMAZING ideas she has!!!!

The beautiful AMY!!!!!

Amy and I met at the Creative Estates conference briefly. All be it brief, I could tell that she is a sweet gal who has so much to offer {you’ll see in just a moment}. I cannot wait till our paths cross again.

Here’s what Amy has to say…

I started blogging over at The Idea Room just over a couple of years ago. I had a family blog that I began adding some of my home and DIY projects too. Wanting to keep my family blog mainly about our family, I started The Idea Room. It was just a place to keep track of what I had been doing and making for myself and for my family. But a couple of months later one, of my projects was featured on Tip Junkie. My site stats jumped from around 100 page views a day to over 3.000. I was shocked and had no idea that there could be that many people out there interested in what I had to say or share. Thanks to being featured by others who have shared my ideas on their own blogs, my site has continued to grow.

I had no idea that there was this entire crafting/DIY blogging community out there. But I have loved getting to know so many great people through this amazing community. I began to teach myself the blogging and html basics and really enjoyed digging deeper into blogging. As I grew, I began to feel like I was becoming more disconnected with the readers who were commenting and interacting with me on my blog. I have worked hard at trying to balance this steady growth with trying to remain passionate and connected to my readers and my content. It has also been a big struggle to balance my blogging with motherhood. So I have made motherhood first and foremost and have given myself a set working schedule so blogging does not take me away from my family. If I am being 100% blogger, than I am not being 100% Mother and vice versa.

Balance is the key. I love my readers, but ultimately it comes down to being there for and WITH your family. I wish I had learned that lesson a bit earlier in my blogging career. I struggled with this issue for several months before realizing that having set hours and a schedule were mandatory for my family life. Now I don’t feel bad about not having a post. I also feel that it is important to have a passion for what you are doing. If you don’t have a passion for it and are willing to do it for free, your readers will be able to sense this. Opportunities will come to you if you are patient. And just because an opportunity comes along, doesn’t mean that it is a good fit for you and your blog. I have learned to become very picky about what I share on my blog as I feel responsible to my readers for being true and honest to myself and them.

And finally…Have fun! Love what you do and do what you love. Be yourself and try not to compare yourself to others. People identify with others when they recognize authenticity! Thanks for having me Tara!

I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the candid-ness of her post! Don’t you?

“Opportunities will come to you if you are patient” This is what I’ve been telling myself, too! Just being patient and not pushing things that aren’t supposed to happen right at this moment is hard concept to grasp and accept sometimes. However, having other life experiences where things have fallen in to place and having things happen when they’re SUPPOSED to is so wonderful. Pushing and not being patient will show through and then it’s not natural. I don’t usually throw God or religion in to my posts, but ultimately He does have a plan for you and will put you where you NEED to be and WHEN you need to be there. Can you attest to that? I can.

You can follow Amy on twitter if you wish: @theidearoom

And, you can LIKE her on Facebook here

I hope you got something from Amy’s post. Did something ‘click’ for you?

Please leave her some love in the comments below. What part did you identify with?

xo Tara

Don’t forget to visit the other posts in this series…

Stacy from Not JUST a Housewife

Mark from Mark Montano {TV celeb}

Becca from Blue Cricket Design