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{Tour Through Blogland} Stripes and Polka Dots

{Tour Through Blogland} The Twins Behind the Blog

posted in blogging, lifestyle, shop by Hanna on

We’ve been invited by the lovely and talented Amber Tsyl from the Restless Arrow to participant in the Tour Through Blogland series.. It’s been so fun reading some of our favorite blogger’s stories and meeting new bloggers through the process. Amber is one of those bloggers that we’ve loved getting to know more! Her and her little family are simply the cutest, and her home is gorgeous! Seriously go check it out!

Just look at her beautiful kitchen… built from scratch and on a budget!

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As for us, we are thrill to be part of this series as it gives you (our readers) a glance at who we are, what we’re all about, why we blog, and what big ideas we’re working on next!

Why do we write and create what we do?

This blog was originally started when we moved over 800 miles away from each other and we wanted to have something to keep us close. Blogging was a way to share our projects and experiences with each other as well as with others. We came to realize that we want to let other mothers, women, wives and whoever else know that we’re just another couple of women out there going through the same struggles and experiences. We also decided that while we’re going through the ups and downs of life, there were things we could do to make it beautiful and inspiring!

How does our writing/creative process work?
Writing doesn’t seem to come easy for either one of us. In fact, we often call each other asking for help gathering our thoughts/feelings to make a post into something that others would want to read and could relate to. I guess you could say a lot of our creative process comes from each other, and the countless hours we talk on the phone each week. We push each other to step outside of our comfort zones, take some risks and try new things! The other part comes from our own life experiences, and also from things that have inspired us. We both live life with our eyes open to find inspiring and beautiful things that we then try to recreate and make it our own.
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How does our work differ from others in its genre?

Honestly, we’re not really even sure what our genre is quite yet! Since we started our blog less than a year ago we’ve blogged about a number of things (mostly pertaining to diy projects and sewing) and now we have a shop selling skirts! What really sets our blog apart is our unique partnership. If you can’t tell from our picture in the top right hand corner of our blog, we’re twins. When we’re together the sky is the limit. We push and inspire each other to try our best and give each other courage to try things we’ve never done before. I guess that is why we’ve tried our hand at so many different things.

Sewing Room | Stripes and Polka Dots

What are we working on?

As many of you know, we just opened our shop selling our first line of Colorblock Party skirts… eek! Since opening our shop just 3 weeks ago, that is where much of our attention and energy has been spent when it comes to our blog. Besides our Colorblock Party skirts, we have many  more plans for growing and expanding our shop, some of which are in the works right now! While our shop is still quite new, it has helped us realize where our true passion lies. We love designing, creating, and sharing fun and useful ideas, and pushing ourselves and our talents by trying new things– our shop really allows us to do that. Because of this, we’ve decided to switch gears with our blog and focus more on our shop at the present time. There is no doubt that we love blogging and plan on continuing it, but it is now taking a “behind-the-scenes” role.

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On the blog we will share our personal journeys as mother, wives, homemakers, and now shop owners. But don’t worry, you can still expect to see awesome diy projects and easy sewing tutorials as these are very much apart of our daily lives. Also be sure to keep an eye on our shop as there will be some new additions very soon!

Weekend Getaway

posted in blogging, family by Sara on
Hi everyone! I hope you all had a fabulous weekend! As you may recall from some of our previous posts, Hanna and I were to go on our weekend getaway to California last week. I know, I know… it doesn’t quite look like southern California does it? Unfortunately our California trip didn’t work out, but that did not stop us from getting together and having fun. With a phone call and some last minute rearranging, Hanna was able to fly up to Oregon for the weekend instead.  It was a fun-filled weekend full of shopping, eating, laughing, relaxing, picture taking and blog planning! 

“Girls weekend” is a rather loose term, so even Addie enjoyed tagging along a time or two. 
All-in-all, it was a much needed weekend with a much loved person. She continues to be an inspiration to me and is always there when I need her…including when I need a photo i.d. (the benefit of having a twin when you don’t have photo i.d. on you). 
As far as the blog goes, we have so many fun and exciting things coming up in the next few months, and we can’t wait to share them with you! Some of it seems rather daunting to me at times, but we couldn’t be more excited about the challenge. I think that is what I love most about our partnership in doing this blog together is that we help push each other to pursue our interests, build upon our talents, and rise to meet new challenges. It has helped shape our relationship, the type of women and mothers we are and the type of women and mothers we aspire to be. 
As always, we hope you’ll continue to join with us on this exciting journey! There is much much more to come!
~ SARA

Link’n Blogs Linky Party {#20}

posted in baby, blogging, crafts, diy, family, food, health, holidays, inspiration, kids, lifestyle, marriage, motherhood, organization, parenting, party, recipe, sewing, thrifted, tutorial by Sara on
Today we’re honored to be guest hosting the Link’n Blogs linky party brought to you by Put a Bird On It. This is our first time ever “hosting” a linky party and we couldn’t be more excited to share with you the inspiration and talent of so many wonderful bloggers! It is actually through linky parties that we have come across some of our favorite blogs and have connected with some amazing people. With that being said, we invite you all to share, connect, inspire, and be inspired yourself!

Welcome to Link’n Blogs {#20} !
A place to link up your projects and make new friends. We are all about visiting links and following new bloggers here at Link’n Blogs. Remember to leave comments and PIN PIN PIN!
Cause sharing is caring. 


**Your links will show up on ALL blogs hosting the link party!**

Interested in guest hosting Link’n Blogs?!
I’ve created a spreadsheet where you can sign up to host a link party! It’s a great way to get to know other bloggers, share a recent post with other party goers and pick the features. Sign up using the link below!

Grab my party button! 
 



*Feel free to post my party button on your blog and say you linked up here!*



I am sharing a feature I did on Warby Parker collaborating with Architecture for Humanity. It’s a good company working towards a good cause!

Warby Parker + Architecture for Humanity






Katelyn is sharing a DELISH recipe for a spin on cheesy pasta. This looks so good! I love that it has bacon in it. Everything is better with bacon!



Be sure to give some love to our guest hosts – you will love their creative blogs!



These two girls have one of the cutest blogs! You’ve got to check out the Pinterest challenge they’re doing. Today, Hanna and Sara are sharing some divine cinnamon rolls – with a twist!






Chastity has a fun lifestyle blog and is momma to an adorable little cowboy! Today, she is sharing a heart filled printable perfect for the upcoming Easter holiday. I love it!





Carolyn’s blog is all about her life as a stay at home mom to her two daughters {which she never thought she’d be!}. And her post this week is about just that.




Here are this week’s features:

My Pick

DIY Felt Flower Headbands by Maddie Moe’s




Katelyn’s Pick

DIY Stenciled Tray by Life in Velvet



Hanna and Sara’s Pick

DIY Geometric Photo Display by The Caldwell Project



Chastity’s Pick

Picnic Basket Tutorial by Over the Apple Tree



Carolyn’s Pick

Bacon, Egg and Avocado Sandwich by Belle of the Kitchen


Fan Favorites


Reversible Easter/Spring Wood Blocks by Something Splendid



Pantry Makeover by View from the Fridge




I know the bloggers featured would love if you would visit their posts and say hello!

All features will be pinned to my Link’n Blogs board. Follow it here!



Follow my blog! If you want to receive an email reminding you about the link party, leave your email when adding your link.
Link to your blog post — not just your blog.
Share the love! Visit the other links and say who sent you.
If you enjoy a link, you can LIKE it {new feature!}
Adding your link gives me permission to feature you on my blog. 
Grab my party button! – See more at: http://iputabirdonit.blogspot.com/2013/12/diy-christmas-scriptures-advent.html#sthash.mPINNYsH.dpuf
Ok, here are the guidelines for the link party:  


Follow your HOSTS and GUEST HOSTS

If you want to receive an email reminding you about the link party, leave your email when adding your link

Link to your blog post — not just your blog.

Share the love! Visit the other links and say who sent you

Adding your link gives me permission to feature you on my blog
Share this link party on social media to help Link’n Blogs grow!

*Don’t be a LINK & RUN partier. Visit a couple links before you and a couple after!*


Happy Linking!

Leave a permalink on your blog back to the party to help our party grow!
*here is the link*
http://iputabirdonit.blogspot.com/2014/04/linkn-blogs-20.html


 

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I monitor each link and may delete a link if it is not something I want to promote on my blog. If you see your link was deleted, please email me. I’d be happy to chat about why! Thanks! 

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Our Blogging Goals for 2014

posted in blogging, family, motherhood, organization by Sara on
Hi everyone! I’ve just returned from a week-long vacation with Hanna and am already looking forward to our next one! We always have so much fun together and it is as though we’ve never been apart. With a whole week together we had so much that we wanted to do, but it only took us a day to realize that not all of it was going to get done. With having three little girls under the age of 3 there was just no way that we were going to be able to care for them, complete all the projects we had planned, and go everywhere we wanted to go while still keeping our sanity at the same time. When it came right down to it we decided to set aside our blog and all of our projects for the week and enjoy the time we had together. Instead, we had a blast chatting away the days, eating way too much food, and watching our girls play together—while having to play referee on occasion. We even found the courage to pack the three girls in the back seat and travel out to our parent’s house for a few days. With it being about a four hour drive each way, Hanna and I utilized the time to talk about our future progress and goals for the blog. Since many of our blogging goals are geared around our readers, we thought we’d share them with you.

BLOGGING GOALS

1.   Get more personal in our posts. We want our readers to come to know the real us. While some of our pictures may suggest otherwise, we have bad days too where our hair and makeup doesn’t get done, our house is a disaster, we lose our patience with our children and the laundry is pilled high. We make mistakes and we are always striving to be better than we are. We’re not blogging to imply that we are above anyone else, but rather to share our ideas, experiences, and inspirations to help and inspire others.
2.   Stay true to ourselves. We have both found a lot of joy in blogging and the opportunity it gives us to stay more connected with one another. In continuing to blog, our overall goal is to remain true to what is important to us, what we believe in, and who we are. We will never post anything on the blog for the mere sake of posting something or to get gain.
3.   Comment more on other blogs and connect more with other bloggers. We are constantly overwhelmed by the support of other bloggers and our readers. We are delightfully gitty with each new follower and with every comment. Our goal is to continue to pay-it-forward by supporting other bloggers and to make new friends by reaching out. After making this goal we have rounded up a great group of other bloggers for a surprise blog series we will be starting in March– stay tuned! 
4.   Start an editorial calendar to organize our tasks and improve our time management. I know I am not alone when I say that time management can often be a struggle, but it is something we are constantly trying to master (without success). We started using an editorial calendar (both a hard copy and an online version) so that we can more easily keep track of the tasks that need to get done and hopeful become more organized with our time. If anyone has more ideas or suggestions on the matter please feel free to share!
5.   Post more regularly on our social media sites. This is really something that we have both struggled with since starting our blog. Neither one of us are the type that updates our Facebook status everyday (barely every month) or posts a new picture on Instagram on a daily basis but we are beginning to realized the importance of social media use in growing our blog. And, since we only post three times a week we hope to stay more in touch with you and fill you in on daily happenings through the use of social media. Wish us luck!
6.   Make our blog more easy to navigate and more easy to connect with. It has been less than two months since we started up Stripes and Polka Dots and we are already finding many new ways to make it better. Unfortunately, we feel rather limited at the moment as to where we’d eventually like the design of our blog to be, but it is our goal to save our pennies and do our research so by this summer we can make our blog more user friendly. With some of the changes we hope to incorporated in the coming months we hope it will enable our readers to become more engaged as we wish to get to know you better.