Blogtober 2nd

2nd Oct 201928th Mar 2023 | Suzi Stamp

Today I start my questions for Blogtober that I spoke about yesterday. I will be answering these questions based on the day before, so today’s answers will be based on my day yesterday (1st October).

What made me feel enthusiastic today?

There were two things that made me feel enthusiastic today…

I got a call from the Communications Manager asking if I would be able to take some photos at a corporate event that would be happening in November.
The start of October also being the start of Inktober. I am going to try and get some sketches done each day for the Inktober Challenge but try to put a logo spin on them.

What drained me of energy?

I’ve felt generally tired all day with a headache. The headache is caused by the weather as it is not what I class as a proper headache, its sort of a dull ache that painkillers don’t seem to be able to shift. The tiredness, I think, is a combination of not sleeping properly on Sunday night and not going to sleep early enough last night.

What did I learn about myself today?

I learned that if I put my mind to something I can get a lot of things done in a small amount of time. I managed to process 368 forms for payment within 2.5 hours today and have also managed to clear my desk of paperwork and all outstanding items ready for the pay run to go ahead.

Words on Wednesday

2nd Oct 201928th Mar 2023 | Suzi Stamp

If you have been reading my blog for a while you will know that at the beginning of 2019 I left Facebook however I have now returned (as I revealed in My Blog is 1!!!!). I have made the choice to return to Facebook after a lot of thought and deliberation, weighing up the pros and cons of what Facebook can do for me that other platforms can’t.

My reasons for returning…

I wanted to make a Facebook group for fellow bloggers to share their posts in, be able to network and interact with others and ask for advice or share ideas and opinions, the group is called Bloggers Brew, please come and join us!
Advertise Colourful Cactus Designs to the right audience. As I am mainly doing graphic and logo work for bloggers, their social media and websites it made sense to advertise on social media. I didn’t feel that Instagram, with its ever-changing algorithms, was the best fit for Colourful Cactus Designs (though I do share my design work there, you can check out the Instagram feed here) and Twitter seems to be a better fit for having conversations rather than any kind of advertising.
There are a few groups that I wanted to join that are most active on Facebook which offers help, advice and support on things I am interested in which are beneficial to me.
I want to see if having a Facebook page for my blog will increase my reach, this is more out of interest than anything else at the moment, however, the outcome may influence a few ideas I have for future blog items.

I am not really interested in adding many people to my Facebook, from previous experience I didn’t really gain anything from it. This time, my return is purely to use it as a tool to further ideas that I have and for helping fellow bloggers.

Have you ever left a social media platform and then returned? What were your reasons? I’d be really interested in your thoughts and experiences so let me know in the comments!

Recipe of the Month – October

2nd Oct 20191st Oct 2019 | Suzi Stamp

Recipe Of The Month - August(3).png

Rhubarb and Apple Crumble

Rhubarb
Cooking apples
Water/Apple Juice whichever you have to hand
Sugar

Crumble Topping

Flour
Sugar
Butter
Oats

This is a recipe that I never measure out, everything is done by eye.

Starting with the dish you will be making the crumble in, fill nearly to the top with rhubarb pieces (you can use either fresh or frozen) to measure the amount you will need, I find that this method is really good for measuring almost exact amount! Put the rhubarb into a saucepan. I tend to use 2 cooking apples if I am using a dish that gives around 4 servings, core and peel the apples and add to the saucepan with the rhubarb. Add around 150ml of water or apple juice and set the pan over low heat, check and stir occasionally adding more liquid if necessary, you want to end up with a mixture that is pourable. When nearly cooked add sugar to your taste.

In a separate bowl mix together equal amounts of oats, flour, sugar and butter, rubbing the mix together with your fingers to form a mixture that looks like fine breadcrumbs. If the mix does not form then add more dry ingredients if the mix becomes too dough-like or butter if the mix is to dry.

Set aside.

Once the rhubarb and apple have cooked down pour the mix into your dish before adding the crumble mix on top evenly. You are aiming for the crumble mix to be around the same depth as the fruit mix.

Place into a preheated oven (around 180 degrees) for 25 mins (check occasionally) and serve when the crumble crust is golden with warm vanilla custard or vanilla ice cream.

Blogtober 1st

1st Oct 20192nd Oct 2019 | Suzi Stamp

It’s the first day of Blogtober today and I can hear you all asking “What is Blogtober?” so today I will be sharing the answer with you, why I am taking part and what I am going to be doing for Blogtober.

Blogtober is a blog challenge that a lot of bloggers will be taking part in. It is essentially a challenge to write a blog post a day for the whole of October, some bloggers theme their posts while others just up their posting schedule to get a post in each day.

I wanted to take part last year but was still figuring out my schedule and the sort of posts I wanted to write for this blog and didn’t want to jump into anything too suddenly without giving it much thought.

The first blog challenge I took part in was the Blogging From A-Z April Challenge which I had prepared for, thought about and really enjoyed. Since that challenge, I have tried to post every day and have pretty much succeeded (I think I have missed 3 posts since April).

Despite blogging pretty much daily I have decided to take up the Blogtober Challenge alongside my usual posts as I want to push myself a little bit and see if I can complete this. I have also decided to incorporate a theme for this blog challenge and hopefully get a little bit more understanding of myself out of it along the way.

I had originally planned on a theme of “Things About Me” but couldn’t really think of 31 things to write about that could cover a blog post a day and in all honesty, I was a bit stuck for ideas. I happened to be listening to The Minimalists Podcast (episode 197 – Successful People) where Joshua Fields Millburn and Ryan Nicodemus were chatting to Alex Banayan and they were all chatting about finding the thing that you are passionate about and how to go about it. Alex bought up that passion was a pretty intimidating word and it should be re-framed as enthusiasm. The whole conversation was really interesting and I really would recommend that you have a listen to the podcast to understand the full concept. Alex spoke about how excitement can be mistaken for enthusiasm and then spoke about how to find what you are most enthusiastic about then introduced the 30-day Challenge.

The 30 Day Challenge is what I am going to be undertaking here on the blog for the next 30 days and is pretty simple in its concept. There are 3 questions

What made me feel enthusiastic today?
What drained me of energy?
What did I learn about myself today?

And these 3 questions need to be answered each day, which seems pretty simple in theory, but as Alex said in the podcast, by the 6th, 7th and 8th day you will start to struggle to answer them, then, by the end of the 30 days there should be a pattern emerging from which you can see what you are most enthusiastic about and where your passion lies.

Why have I chosen this for Blogtober? I chose this because I am interested in the outcomes and what I can learn about myself, what I should be moving toward and focusing on and what I should be spending less time on. I also chose this as my Blogtober theme as, should I undertake this on my own I don’t think I would last a few days let alone a full month so I need to be accountable somewhere, Blogtober seemed like the perfect time to set myself this challenge.

Are you taking part in Blogtober? If so, let me know in the comments, I’d love to support you through this crazy month of blog posts!!!

This Month On The Blog

30th Sep 201928th Mar 2023 | Suzi Stamp

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It feels like yesterday when I sat down to write about what was coming up on the blog for September, yet here we are, saying a fond farewell to that month and welcoming October with open arms.

This month, in the blogosphere, October is also known as Blogtober and I shall be partaking in this challenge. There will be a blog post a day through the whole of October focusing on the challenge I have set myself. I shall be sharing a post about what Blogtober is and what I will be doing on the blog to take part.

Aside from Blogtober, there will be the usual mix of posts from my Recipe of the Month, Monthly Goals, Words on Wednesday, Saturday Shout Out’s, Top 10 Thursdays and my Weekly Roundups. I will also be sharing some mental health posts as the 10th October is World Mental Health Day.

I will be looking for more bloggers to take part in my Saturday Shout Out series, if you would like to be featured please check out this blog post for details!

What is happening on your blog this month? I’d love to know so leave me a comment!

My Blog is 1!!!!

29th Sep 201928th Mar 2023 | Suzi Stamp

Today my blog turns 1! As a celebration, I have a giveaway for you to enter to win a bullet journal which will be designed by me (please see this post for the giveaway rules and how to enter).

I have also created a group over on Facebook (yeah, I’m back on there and will be talking about my return to Facebook in my Words on Wednesday post). I created the group Bloggers Brew as a way to help bloggers to network with others, share blog posts and ask any questions that they may need help with and to share any ideas. I want this group to be an extension of blogging, a way to meet other bloggers and to share any advice and help. Please feel free to pop over to Facebook and join the group, either use the search bar and look for Bloggers Brew or click the link here. There are a few questions to answer upon requesting to join, this is just to help the group as a whole, reduce any spam that may enter the group and make sure that anyone who joins is genuine. I hope that will not put you off from joining.

So, what are you waiting for? Come and join the group now!!!!