Five Questions /// A Merry Mishap

Hurray, my very first 'Five Questions' post! I will be posting one of these each week for the next little while, and I'm so excited to share them with you. The idea behind this is to get a little glimpse into the lives of my (and probably your) favourite bloggers, what they do each day, how they find time for themselves, that sort of thing. And if some of these bloggers are new to you, then you'll hopefully get some new favourites.


First up, the lovely Jennifer of A Merry Mishap! I've mentioned Jennifer on the blog before, and you may already be familiar with her. I've been a big fan of her blog for years now. If you're not already an avid reader of her blog, you should be. Check her out.



And you MUST visit her shop. Her  jewelry designs are amazinggg.





I was so excited when Jennifer agreed to participate in my new series. She's pretty busy after all with the blog, shop, and her family....but she was gracious enough to help me out!


Ok, let's get to the questions!

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What do you like most about writing A Merry Mishap? 


One of the things I enjoy most about writing AMM is the opportunity to share and do creative things that I might not otherwise do. It's great motivation to finish a project or to find something new to share when I know it's not just for me. There's something about writing a blog that is much like building, you are constantly curating and gathering a collection of things and experiences that are unique to you, I like that.


Where do you see you/your blog/your shop in the next few years?


There are many visions I have for the blog and for my shop as well. Some of them may never come to fruition but I would like to teach more with the blog. I've always enjoyed hosting dinner and parties but I haven't used my blog to share that love, and part of me would like to see more how-to's as far as planning a meal or party. I also try to remind myself to share as many of my own images as possible. Our life is sometimes mundane, but at least it's ours and I feel like it's the most unique thing I can offer my readers. I want to share something that is real and genuine because that is something I appreciate from other bloggers.


How do you find time just for YOU?


Finding time for myself is a real challenge but I'm learning that it won't look the way it did when I was single or before becoming a mom. It is little things like sitting on the couch with a magazine. It sounds so simple but I'm usually in my studio or picking up the house, I rarely just sit on the sofa. It's a real mental thing, I have to tell myself I'm going to walk away from my emails and shop and business responsibilities and just do something I like doing, for no other reason than that. Some days it is going to bed early or getting to the store by myself. My husband is a huge help and if I ever need time alone he always helps give me that time.


What’s a typical day in your busy life like?


My typical day means getting up by 7 am, answering as many emails as possible, checking invoices to see what I need to make that day, making breakfast for my son and getting him dressed. I try to eat something quick too or I'll go without until about 5:30. My husband works very early so he gets home around noon at which point I head back to my work desk and make jewelry for a few hours. At about 3:30 I start packaging and printing shipping labels, marking invoices to get orders to the post office by 4:30. I clean up my work area a bit and this is when I will head out to the grocery store, the bank, things like that. After that, I make dinner for my son and my husband puts him to bed while I get caught up on more emails and write to-do lists for the next day. The evening is when I get blogging projects done and often I go to bed well after my husband does, about 1 or 2 am.  It's just about like that, more or less, every day of the week.


Do you have any advice for someone who wants to start a blog/business?


I would tell anyone who wants to start blogging to dive in! It's good to experiment plenty until you find your style and what works best for you. Please try to offer something unique, something that people can connect with and want to come back to, think about the kinds of blogs you like to read and why you continue to go back to them. Also, network. This is an area I am weak in but I do try to work with other people, bloggers, designers or store owners. Mostly I would encourage people to be honest with themselves about their strengths, if you're not a great photographer or graphic designer, don't feel bad, you might be a great curator or an eloquent writer, work with what you've got!

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A HUGE thank you to Jennifer for sharing so much with us, and for being so sweet! Now I don't feel so bad knowing that I'm not the only Mom/blogger/shop owner getting 5ish hours of sleep, ha ha!


Next week I'll share another Five Questions from another favourite blogger! Hope you all like this series!