Blog Angel October

I participated again this month in Blog Angels hosted by Rosie over at Craftbotic.  I love the idea, I just struggle with what to do sometimes.  With Blog Angels, you are secretly paired with another blogger and are expected to encourage them in various ways.  This time around we revealed are secret identity early on which made it easier connect without the veil.

I was a paired up with Tabitha from Mommy, Daddy & Mason.  Tabitha seems like such a sweet gal!  I wish I could say I got to know her a little better.  I commented at times on her blog as well as sent some tweets helping promote her giveaways.  I even won one of her giveaways.  I tried reaching out over email but sadly wasn't able to go much further than that. The plan is to keep in touch over November and try and do some more for her.  Its sometimes hard to know how to support someone outside of the obvious.  I do adore Tabitha and her blog and hope to maybe get to know her more after the pressure of Blog Angels is over.

My angel was Aimee from Aimee's World. She is such a sweetheart. We had connected before so when she reached out to me early on, I actually had no idea it was as my blog angel.  She tried reaching out to me but I think I dropped the ball on that one.  I can be really bad a responding to emails and tweets in a timely manner.  You should see my inbox right now :/  I look forward to getting to know Aimee more this next month.

I thought in honor of Tabitha and Aimee, I would post some of their information and even some of my favorite posts from the two of them so you can get to know them better too!  They are great ladies and well worth the time!

Mommy, Daddy & Mason

FACEBOOK ~ @TABBLACK ~ PINTEREST

Pictures with My Son

Last Hike of the Summer

30 Things in 30 Days About Me

Aimee's World @aimeeguise ~ Pinterest ~ Instagram ~ BlogLovin ~ GoodReads  Sisters in Christ: How I Came to Know Jesus Christ as My Savior

Its Ok Thursday

Crushin' For Fall

October Blog Angel Reveal

Hi All!   As some of you know, I have been a part of the last few Blog Angel Series hosted by Craftbotic.  Its been a great way to meet new bloggers. I still struggle with the secret part but other than that I love it and I think the idea is amazing!

This month, we are revealing our stalking angel identity midway through so that we can better support our angels!

This month, I have the pleasure of being matched up with Tabitha over at Mommy, Daddy & Mason.

I've trully enjoyed getting to know Tabitha a little more. I haven't done much more than comment and read her blog, knowing that starting today I could be a little more open about my support. I did, although, add her to my sidebar.  That's always a risky move because you never know if they will pop over, see it and go ... hmmm... but if she noticed she hasn't said a word.

So a little about Tabitha.  She is mom to this little cutie!

They took these recently.  Aren't they adorable?

I look forward to getting to know her more and being less sneaky about my appreciation for her and her blog.

Check out Mommy, Daddy & Mason!  They'll make you smile!

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{Post Sponsored by This Lovely}

Blog Angels October 2012 Series

HAPPY FRIDAY MY FRIENDS

You might have heard the name 'Blog Angels' popping up all over your social media over the last few months and wondered, what ARE they talking about?

Blog Angels is run by Rosie at Craftbotic. Every two months 100 bloggers get the opportunity to help each other out, build friendships and community in the Blogosphere.

The principle is easy. By signing up to be a Blog Angel you are promising to help another blogger for a whole month.  The least you need to do is comment twice a week on their blog, but the possibilities to do more is endless.

In the first two rounds of Blog Angels we had people commenting, guest-posting, giving social media shout outs, new blog design features and warm words of encouragement. Some people swapped addresses and sent little packages. The choices are endless.

So what's the catch? Well, it's all done in secret. For this round, things are changing slightly. Here are all of the details:

1. Sign up is on 15th September. The form you fill in can be found at Rosie's, but also on these sites:

A Little Piece of Me

The Houtz House Party

Lipgloss and Crayons

White Lights on Wednesdays

 2. The form is slightly more detailed to help with the matching process. It still takes less than 5 minutes to complete though.

3. The project will start on 1st October and will be secret for the first two weeks. This will allow you to get to know your blogger, build up a relationship and start to act to help them. You would need to as a minimum comment twice a week on their blog.

4. After two weeks you link up a 'reveal' post at Craftbotic on 15th October.

5. You can then communicate with your blogger and give them more specific help, build friendships and develop your role. This is the newest part of the project and came out of a long conversation with the angel regulars.

6. On the 31st October you write a 'reflection' post reviewing your experience of Blog Angels and what you achieved with your Blog Angel.

It's pretty simple. These small steps will help you to be part of growing community of bloggers who care.

On a serious note, there is always a 'drop off' of Blog Angels. Those folks who get busy and disappear. Apart from being incredibly uncool, it is completely unnecessary. Please make sure you have time to help out in October BEFORE signing up. If life gets crazy you just need to email and let Rosie know. Orphaned bloggers can then be reassigned.  In Blog Angels the only thing you are guaranteed is the opportunity to help some-one else.

What an amazing opportunity that is! The first 100 people to sign-up before 25th September will be taking part. We all hope that it will include you!

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{Post Sponsored by This Lovely}

Blog Angel August 2012 Reveal

Its so exciting that the day of reveal is here! 

This is my second round of Blog Angels, a match up/link up, that brings together bloggers in a fun creative way.

I've really enjoyed getting to know my secret swap blog angel although I feel like I still didn't do enough.  It took the end of the month for me to finally think of a great way to help my angel. I'll explain that in a few.  

Before I go into how I supported my blog angel, I should introduce her to you.

WELCOME TO MY BLOG ANGEL

Samantha from Reinvented in Seattle

Samantha seems to be so full of life, wanting to continually bring peace to those around her.  Its been a joy to read her Karma 365 Project and all the things she has endeavored to do!

First, I want to add that its hard to anonymously and randomly support someone.  You really have to think outside of the box.  

The first task I did was add her to my sidebar through the MEET ME Ad.  

Randomly throughout the month, I would comment on a post or tweet one of her awesome Etsy items.

LIKE THESE:

AREN'T THEY CUTE??

I tried contacting her to become a sponsor but never heard back.  She's a super busy girl!

It wasn't until this week that I remembered that Rosie from Craftbotic mentioned I could email Samantha through Rosie so I did.  But as soon as I got an email back I realized that I was going to abuse Rosies generosity so I set up my own blog angel gmail account.  I emailed her through that. I am hoping that will open up a dialogue, even though we are at the end!  I now have one set up for the next time.

I strongly recommend signing up for October's Blog Angel!  Visit Craftbotic.com to find out how to sign up!  I also recommend creating a secret email.  Samatha, from the beginning asked for help in areas that you can't really do anonymously through tweets and comments without coming across presumptuous.  Creating an email allows you to dialogue with your angel without taking down the mask!

Have a great weekend everybody. I am currently in the Poconos at a church leadership retreat, enjoying nature and some awesome people!  Have a great Holiday weekend! And don't forget to come back tomorrow for the Labor Day Give-a-way hosted by: myself, Tales of Beauty for Ashes, After Nine to Five and Pamela's Heavenly Treats.

<div align="center"> <a href=" http://www.talesofbeautyforashes.com/p/current-giveaways.html " target="_blank"><img alt=" Labordaygiveaway " src="http://i1057.photobucket.com/albums/t389/couponmoseley/LaborDayGiveaway.png"/></a></div>


HAPPY WEEKEND!

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{Post Sponsored by This Lovely}

To Be A Angel or Not To Be

A few months ago, I signed up to be a blog angel with Rosie @ Craftbotic and Katlyn @ Dreamy Meadow.  Blog Angel is a link up to help connect and support fellow bloggers.  Its a great way to get to know new bloggers.  You are matched up with another blogger and are encouraged to secretly help support them for a month. 

I struggled with the venture as a fairly new blogger trying to secretly support another new blogger. Soon after I started following my pair-up, my blogger seemingly disappeared from the blogosphere.  So I felt like my efforts were in vein.   

When the time came again to sign up for another round, I wasn't sure I was up for it.  Its hard to be a secret supporter.  Figuring out ways to help in the way that she requested without making it obvious.   But I decided this time, that I'd try it anyway. If it was obvious, oh well.  At least she knew there was a blogger out there who was attempting to encourage her and support her.

I haven't done as much as I planned when I signed up but I am definitely trying.  I have done a few things to help encourage and support my Secret Blog Angel.  My blogger is very different from me in many ways but we are alike in others.  Its been interesting for me to find ways that I can encourage her especially in the ways we are different.  I didn't just want to find common ground. I wanted to learn from our differences and really learn more about her.  So that's been most of what I have been doing this time around.  We'll see how the rest of the month goes.  

I look forward to seeing how the rest of the month goes.  Check back in on August 31st for the reveal and review!

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{Post Sponsored by This Lovely}

BLOG ANGEL REVEAL

As you might of seen in an earlier post, I linked up with Craftbotic and The Dreamy Meadow to participate in Blog Angels.

We link up with other bloggers to become a secret encourager.  Its a great way to get to know other bloggers and to try and help them do what they do best!

Today is the big reveal!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE

Please meet


 Liz 


over at Simple Nests

Ironically enough, Liz was planning a trip to the city (New York City), where I live, during the time I was following/stalking her.  I did my best to have others give advice and support her trip.
I also spent some time tweeting about her and linking her up on my site.
One of my favorite posts of hers was her post on Pizza, When sucky days hit, make pizza.  I mean How can you not love a post centered around pizza?
I definitely recommend you stopping by Simple Nests and get to know Liz.
If you are interested in being a Blog Angel for August, I encourage you to stop by Craftbotics.

Being a Blog Angel

Earlier this month, I signed up to be a blog angel.  I wanted to get to know other bloggers and I thought this would be a great way to do that.  Being able to stalk them and actually have a reason seemed like a great plan.  


We are now a little more then half way through the Blog Angel time and its proved to be an interesting ride.

1) What have you learnt about yourself from helping another blogger?

I have lots to learn about blogging :)  The person I have has many many more followers and posts under her belt.  I feel a tad inadequate to be supporting her.  

2) What has been the most fun thing about being a Blog Angel? What has been the most frustrating?

Fun: Getting feedback from the person I am supporting (in the form of gratitude)

Frustrating:  Not knowing really how to support them.  I am a little clueless on how to give them what they might need.

3) Has being a Blog Angel changed your approach to blogging? How?

Its helped me feel a little more comfortable in encouraging someone. 

4) How have you made time to help someone else out?

I haven't done as much as i would have liked.  My person hasn't posted much so I've had to be a little creative in how I encourage her.  (Not her fault, she's just a busy gal)

5) Have you been trying to work out who is helping you or are you more concerned with helping others?

Yes, I think i read too much into random tweets or posts but I, on some level, have tried to figure it out.

6) How does being a Blog Angel affect your experience of blog land?

Its helped me be more encouraging and outgoing in how i interact with other bloggers. Something in me often is shy in commenting or tweeting about others.  I think its more of a shyness (that is in my real life too) and a worry that i will weird people out.  This has helped me move beyond that.

Overall, its been a fun experience.  I wish I knew how else to support my person, but hopefully I can find more ways in the next week or two!