Freda's Hive: Happy Birthday Laura

Today is Laura's birthday! Happy Birthday Laura.

Laura is the best friend and neighbor anyone could have, a fabulous chef/baker, and also a "sometime" blogger (ahem, no post since Halloween!)

In honor of her blog - S'More Cupcakes, I gave her a cupcake pincushion and cupcake stand (from Etsy). Laura introduced me to the flavors of Ina Garten years ago. Laura does not believe in box cakes. And after you've been spoiled by her cupcakes, you wouldn't want them either. But for a rainy day when she doesn't want to make cupcakes I got her this Ina Garten cupcake mix from Stonewall Kitchen. So it's a gourmet cake mix! I got one for me too, so we'll have to see if it lives up to the Barefoot Contessa brand. I hope she had a good day today.

Remember when I got this magazine? I said I'd do a review, of sorts, on what is inside this beautiful publication, Artful Blogging.

Well, most of the magazine is filled descriptions of blogs that are creative, informative and popular. There are all sorts of blogs featured with art, jewelry, scrap booking, cooking, homemaking, photography, sewing, etc. Many of the blogs have Etsy sites or websites, which at this time of year can be helpful for gift giving. I really prefer to give handmade gifts where possible.

One thing I thought was odd was that the URL for the blog isn't upfront and center in the article. You kind of have to figure that out as you go because the paragraphs are titled in bold with words and things that could be thought of as blog names. Kind of confusing to me since I'd never been inside the magazine before. The pictures are beautiful and the articles about each blog are written sort of in a post type format. Many of the blogs are retro/vintage flavored.

I am going to name a few of the blogs in the book that appealed most to me. After all I mostly sew, quilt and dabble in cooking so these blogs are the ones that caught my eye. (I know at this time of year when everyone is so busy we don't need more blogs to look at but you might want to bookmark them for a future skim through.)

Janes Apron - Vintage aprons, sewing and crafting

Homespun Living - A bit of everything - sewing, knitting, children, gift making, cooking, hen keeping, gardening, embroidery. From what I can gather she has a balance of all these things on her blog.

Speckled Egg - Vintage treasures of all sorts but the vintage trim was most appealing to me. She has a website too where she sells her vintage goods.

The Little Pink Studio - A cute blog with pretty things to look at.

There were so many more blogs in the book. No quilts though. Not really any vintage fabric stuff. But maybe next issue? The book is a good idea, especially for someone planning a blog and not knowing where to start. There are tips on photography, blogging etiquette, tips on banners and a few ads. I guess that was one of the things I liked best - not many advertisements. The magazine is a little arty for me but after all it is called 'Artful Blogging'. My style is a little more straight forward. But . . . all in all I'm not sure at this price I'd buy the magazine again.

Happy Birthday again to Laura!

-nanette