Share Your Blog 2!

I haven't made a post about any of the blog swaps I have been in lately. Yep, I'm still doing those fabulous blog swaps on Swap-bot. So far, I have done three in the past month or two. After completing my last blog swap on April 18th, I decided to create a blog group - Blogaholics. My hopes for this group is for members to gain exposure for their blogs as well as find topics to post about. Maybe this group will help me blog more consistently. No more going two years without a post! 

The swap I'm about to do reviews for is titled: Share Your Blog 2! This post is so overdue, sorry guys! The deal is we are required to write a review about our five partners blogs using 100 words or more. Ugh.....yeah I can do that, I always have a lot to say :)

First up: Swap-bot user: Mag                Blog: Maggiemark

I was drawn in by her post Beautiful Surprises. There are gorgeous pictures of samples she has received from this company called Vanity Trove Beautiful Surprises. Unfortunately, I can't receive these boxes in the United States they are only available in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia. The boxes are sure worth the $25 a month to a someone like me that loves the pampering type items. However, I probably could just put together my own box an be just as happy. The next item that grabbed my attention on her blog was a post titled Normal No More. Listed within this post are 10 ways to expand your perspective on life. Mag is challenging herself to broaden her horizons and look at life differently. Mag feels if these are done she will make a life worth living, a life she will love, and not a life she will regret. She is using her blog as a platform to document her thoughts, words and feelings. This is a blog that I will keep my eye on being that I too am trying to create a life I can be proud of. Interested In Mag's blog? Visit her, leave a comment, and maybe follow her at: Maggiemark

Second: Swap-bot user: Bandeau              Blog: FireLight Gleam's Blog

This blog talks about and reveals some of Bandeau's work of art. I must say I was very impressed with her work and how detailed it is. I would love to have her draw a piece for me to hang inside of my dream house one day. Maybe a Shera / Wonderwoman type character ;) My I mean, her name would be MiMi because that's what my son calls me. She would be a homemaker by day with a Catwoman type personae by night! Hey - a girl can dream can't she... I'm would love to see Bandeau's art work displayed in a comic book fashion. I bet it would be so popular. She also talks about crosplaying, which I had to look up. She shares another talent she has by displaying pictures of stuffies she make to go along with the characters she is portraying. There are a few recipes posted and that is a definite plus for me! This picture was also displayed in a post. For some reason it reminds me of the movie "Indian in the cupboard."
 Do I need to repeat again that Bandeau is talented. If you would like to check out her work for yourself click on the link that follows, don't forget to leave a comment, and maybe follow her too: FireLight Gleam's Blog!

My third review is for Swap-bot user: Lefroggy         Blog: Lefroggy
The first thing that grabs your attention on this blog is the gorgeous colors!!! I love colors and flowers so I was instantly drawn in to read something. Next would be the beautiful pictures. She doesn't just post pictures but words and stories about them. I hate it when I'm looking at only pictures, it always leave me wondering where was the picture taken, why was it taken, and/or if there is a meaning behind it.

This picture is from a post titled Comic. Lefroggy drew this picture for a friend that is working on a comic book or strip. Hopefully, there will be a link to view the comic or even purchase when the two are done. Lefroggy states she will be drawing the pictures for the comic. I love the detail in this picture it's so life like. Kind of like a 3d cartoon. There is a post - Brave within this blog that really touched me. In this post Lefroggy talks about her hopes and expectations for her daughter. I really loved it because I feel the same way about my son. Every mother wants the best for their child but the most important thing we can do is allow them to be themselves without judgement. As that child's mother we should be proud of them no matter what, offer advice, accept their mistakes and hope they learn from them, and be there for that child no matter what. If you would like to read a few posts from Lefroggy you may view her blog here: Lefroggy .

The fourth blog I visited was by Swap-bot user: Diem  Blog: Incoherent ramblings of a distracted artist

Diem is another artist and her blog is full of beautiful artwork!!! Man, you would think that these three I have viewed so far would have a display in an art museum or something. I'm so jealous ;) Diem takes her sketchbook with her the majority of the times and the pictures she create are awesome. This was a sketch of a street performer and look she even captured the crowd. This is from Some images from my "out and about" sketchbook if you wanted to take a look at more. There are lots of other sketches just as good! I must admit what really took my breathe was the video of her first animation. I would like to congratulate Diem on her success!! I have seen the process it takes to create a clay animation and you did a great job. If anyone is interested in viewing the video check out the post A Hard Rains gonna Fall which is also the title of the video. To check out more fantastic work from this artist visit: Incoherent ramblings of a distracted artist remember to leave comments and possibly follow :)

My last Swap-bot partner was: Basykes             Blog: Airy Periflage

Basykes uses this blog as a journal and blogs about her daily life, which is very exciting. I lead a very busy life but exciting.....no! This blog is updated almost everyday. Some of the pictures included are so breath taking like this one for instance 

 I soo want this!!! You all know PURPLE is my favorite color in any shade and on any object. I could see this in my dream house w/o the little blue objects hanging from it of course. The next beautiful picture was a chair from Linde Lane where they attended a party. I have to find a place like this near I love the nice setting, the atmosphere seems calm, and the food looks delicious. If your interested in viewing more pictures and reading more about Linde Lane view Basykes post Five Stars out of Five . Another post I liked was Somai . It is a very heartfelt story about sponsoring kids less fortunate. Baskyes talks about the child that she's a correspondence sponsor for. But what's so touching is the story that was told in the newspaper that she has written about at the beginning of the post. This makes me sad because when I was 18 I began sponsoring two kids through the WorldVision. I listened to my friends as they told me my money was not going to the children. So I stopped because I really didn't know for sure what the deal was. I really enjoyed receiving the letters and the gifts they sent during holidays. The gifts wasn't much but it was the thought that counted. To see the wonderful miracle that was the outcome of a sponsorship head over to Airy Persiflage and read the post Somai .

Well, I really enjoyed reading all of my partners blogs. I will definitely be revisiting all of them again :)

Good Night!

~Bella~

BE MY BLOG FOLLOWER ON BLOGGER

I participated in a swap on Swap-bot called Be my blog follower on Blogger.  To sum it up it was a blog swap only for those of us with blogs on Blogger. It was a chance for us to get more blog followers.  There was a total of 29 people to sign-up :) We each got 10 partners that we had to checkout their blogs and follow. Yay, that means 10 more followers for me and 10 more awesome blogs I get to read!! I loved all of the partners I was paired up with.

The first blog I checked out was Kelly's Place. She has lots of crafts on her blog. I'm not sure if I liked the shrink dolls the most or the altered barbies. I mean who would have thought to use drinking straws as hair rollers for dolls? She did! Kudos for that :) Second, I strolled over to Kiwifruit83 page. She had two blogs and I decided to follow both because they were two of my favorite things, food and crafts!! In Search of Exceedingly Good Baked Goods was the first one I looked at. This blog tells about places she has visited and eaten at, things she has cooked, pictures and recipes included (that's always a plus!) and even includes some pictures of some very delicious looking Marzipan Fruits. Her second was a craft blog titled Crafty Carrie. Everyone I would like to say THANK YOU TO CARRIE! I have seen many swaps for stuffies and never knew what they were, because the swaps did not have pictures. There was a blog post on this site entitled Stuffie Swap with cute pictures that you all should see. I make stuffies all of the time I started when my son was a baby. I can now join these swaps thanks to you! Careless in the Care of God was the next blog I visited. She has a great two part list of 101 Things in 1001 Days, reminds me a lot of my post My Bucket List. The list is based on a link that led me to a site called Day Zero. I will have to check it out and write about it in another post :) Next was Emmanem Handmade this site has lots of  handmade goodies. I loved her mail organizer :) She has tutorials and pictures of places she has traveled to. Remember When...Remember Then was the next blog. I love this because it's one of those flash back type blogs. It talks about everything that happened back in the good ole days :) Have Stamps.....Will Craft... was up next! I have to say she's a very crafty lady. She takes the old and makes it into something new, by refurnishing items or turning it into something new with a new purpose altogether! Great creative work June :) Next, was Run Away Maggie May this blog shows all of her fun adventures. All Be To Galore came next I have to say she is a very talented knitter. I hope to become as good as she is one day. However, at this present moment I can somewhat knit. My rows are very neat, they look great, not bunched up at all. The only bad part is if you pull the string everything comes apart and it's NOT suppose to do that. Moving on.....Longanisa Feet. This is a great blog!! More of a journal type in my opinion she talks about her daily adventures, lots of pictures and thoughts. The last blog on my list was *She Scraps* Yep you got it SHE SCRAPS, LOL! Was that cheesy? This blog has lots of pictures and great ideas! My favorite was the altered ribbon tutorial. She has lots of examples of her crop work and scrapbook pages.

I am really looking forward to reading all the new blogs I am now following and I am truly THANKFUL for my new blog followers as well. THANK YOU ALL FOR READING :)

~Bella~

WELCOME TO ALL OF MY NEW FOLLOWERS :)

First of all, I would like to say THANK YOU FOR BEING A FOLLOWER! I am so happy to finally have someone to read my work. Now I have to think about the words I say and not just type the first thing that comes to mind, lol! Although I will not let my writing take me out of character. I want you all to get an idea of the type of person I am and the things I like to do. I know that without joining the blog swaps and the blog groups I would still be struggling to find followers. I appreciate all of you and love you dearly for taking the time to read the craziness, vents, look at my art, crafts, my family trips and whatever else I decide to include in this blog of mine. I vow to try to keep you entertained as much as possible, refrain from using ungodly words as much as I can and not talk about people, lol! Well, sometimes those facebook statuses are ridiculous and those pathetic females that have half naked pictures of themselves on their page, but can't figure out why they can't find a man needs to be talked about! For my swapping followers I will always keep you updated on all the new swaps I have doing :) and those that I think are interesting. Don't seem like I am going to be stopping no time soon. I need feed back haha let's see if you guys are really reading the posts. What do you all think of me starting a blog group on Swap- bot? Leave me comment with your thoughts. I will do another post with all of the details comments and links to those that comment as well :)

Thanks again for being a follower!!

~Bella~