fill-in-the-blanks with brilliant blogger: melissa blake

it's a fun new series on the blog, nicies! a fill-in-the-blank interview with some of our favourite super-bloggers from around the blogosphere that inspire each of us everyday with their writings! we all know that brilliant bloggers spend so much of their precious time crafting the perfect posts. so  i thought we'd give our fave wordsmiths a little break: i sent each nicey a page full of fill-in-the-blanks questions { my words in blue } ...  & they filled them in with their insights { their words in grey/gray! } . hope you'll enjoy fill-in-the-blanks with today's brilliant blogger: the inspiring melissa blake of *so about what i said*

Hello, friends!

I'm Melissa. I am a writer, columnist and blogger.

I blog about my physical disability, art, style, shopping and photography over here: So about what I said 

{You might be surprised to hear that I can be shy at times.}

Beyond blogging, my  perfect day would be a sunny day, with my family, eating, talking, about Frasier, listening to Taylor Swift, playing Yahtzee.


I'm short (really short!) with natural red hair + green eyes.

Here's my favourite photo of myself.

I love this photo because I'm smiling, which I love to do.

I just finished a newspaper column and just started an article for ShelterPop. I'm in the middle of always working on my blog.

I love making cookies with my mom & writing lyrics.


My favorite shows make me smile & my cats make me happy and calm.
A word I love to use is apparently.

I LOVE blogging!

The community and the fun of it amaze me!

I began blogging to tell my story and now I blog to share the gems I love

It amazes about blogging that so many lovely people read what I write!

 
My 3 tips to a great blog would be: 

Consistency 

being friendly
& being honest

 

Gosh! It's challenging blogging when there's too much to post and not enough time.
But fear not, I just try to go at my own pace.

One of my favorite blog post series I've ever written are these ones on my future husband .

I  like how the story is evolving.

I  always love reading other blogs.

I love the Cupcakes and Cashmere blog because it's very well-rounded.

and I love The Musings of a Wannabe Star  blog because it's real and honest.

and of course A Diary of Lovely  blog is amazing because it's beautiful.

One thing I wish I had learned sooner in bloggyville is that it takes awhile to build an audience.

and don't worry: if not everyone likes you then they don't matter anyway.
My favourite part of blogging is the community.

However, I could do without the mean girl mentality.

Something awesome happening on my blog these days is my branching out on the topics I cover. Check it out here.

melissa blake

blog | twitter | her psychology today blog |   glamour

......................

yay!

thanks so much, melissa,  for your inspiring words!

i'm a great fan of melissa's wonderful openness, articulate writing, and motivating ideas, so it's a real pleasure to have you here today, nicey.

be sure to visit her around the web... she's such an amazing wonderwoman!

& please leave her a hello here, too!

happy blogging, nicies!

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fill-in-the-blanks interview with brilliant blogger: sandy a la mode!

it's a fun new series on the blog, nicies! a fill-in-the-blank interview with some of our favourite super-bloggers from around the blogosphere that inspire each of us everyday with their writings! we all know that brilliant bloggers spend so much of their precious time crafting the perfect posts. so  i thought we'd give our fave wordsmiths a little break: i sent each nicey a page full of fill-in-the-blanks questions { my words in pink } ...  & they filled them in with their insights { their words in grey/gray! }  hope you'll enjoy fill-in-the-blanks with our next brilliant blogger: the lovely sandy of sandy a la mode!

Hi all!  I’m super excited to be featured here on the fabulous rikrak studio blog! {editor's note: thanks, cutie! so honoured to have you! }

I'm Sandy from Sandy a la Mode, a blog and more recently, an etsy shop!

I love cupcakes & traveling & shopping for dresses.

I blog about my photography, baking, sewing adventures as well as inspirational finds over here: http://www.sandyalamode.com/.

{You might be surprised to hear that I travel almost every other week, to cities all over the world, for my full-time job.}

Beyond blogging, my perfect afternoon would be: a picnic, with my husband, eating ice cream, talking about our next vacation (hopefully Australia), listening to Billboard Top 100 songs.

I'm a huge fan of frozen yogurt with mochi + strawberries.

Here's my favourite photo of myself.

I love the photo because that camera strap cover was the first thing I’ve ever sewn and made me realize that I could be a crafty person.  Also, most of the time, you can find me behind my camera.

I just finished sewing a bunch of mini drawstring bags for my etsy shop.  To celebrate my grand opening, I am offering them for FREE with every order.

I love making anything with puff pastry & sugar.
 

The sunshine makes me happy & ice storms make me sad (and really cold).


A word I love to overuse is “amazing”.

And I may have made up the word “dramaful.”

I HEART blogging!

Taking pictures for the blog and meeting new bloggers inspires me to keep on posting!

I began blogging to document my journey in cooking, sewing and photography and now I blog about inspirations, our basement renovation progress and other DIYs as well.

What amazes me about blogging is that there is such a VAST community of encouraging, supportive bloggers out there!

My 3 tips to a great blog would be:

pictures
content
& humor.

Gosh! It's challenging blogging when I have a full-time job, travel all the time, have all this housework,
but fear not, I just try and schedule up posts ahead of time on the weekends so I’m not AS busy on the weekdays trying to blog.  It doesn’t always work out that way, but I try! J

One of my favorite blog posts I've ever written is this one on the baby shower I planned for my friend. 

 
I documented with photos the food we prepared, the decorations we made and the games we played.

I spend a lot of time reading other blogs.

I love the rikrak studio blog because it's fun and has posts about a vast variety of topics. { editor's note: superthanks sweetie! }

and I can’t help but check the bright side project blog because it's got giveaways every Monday, Wednesday and Friday – who doesn’t love giveaways?.

and of course the oh hello friend blog is beautiful because it's always got a daily dose of inspiration.

One thing I wish I had learned sooner in bloggyville is that it is super addicting.

and don't worry: if I can get myself to close my computer lid then I can step away for from blogging for awhile and enjoy the fresh air haha.

My favourite part of blogging is that I have been able to meet so many blogger friends online and even some in person.

However, I could do without spam comments.

Something regular happening on my blog these days is my Friday Flavors to Follow posts.  

sandy a la mode

blog | shop | twitter

Hope you all enjoyed reading a little bit more about me, a fellow blogger and friend.  OK time for me to go, ice cream is calling my name! 

......................

yay!

thanks so much, sandy, for your inspiring words!

be sure to visit sandy around the web.. she's such an amazing superwoman! 

& please leave her a hello here, too!

happy blogging, nicies!

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have a favourite poem?

lovin' this 2006 national poetry month poster by the aap

have a favourite poem?
have a book of poetry that you cherish?
have a poet you just adore?

well here in canada (& the usa, too!) april is national poetry month. a chance to celebrate the "aesthetic & ... evocative" language form that is poetry.

i'm lucky to be married to a fabulous poet, who both writes and studies the form, and so over the years i've come to adore so many fabulous poems, poets, genres of poetry.

i love the energy of a great poem.
i love the way a good poem can inspire us, mesmerize us, romance us, speak for us, motivate us, allow us, evoke us, provoke us: run the whole gamut of emotive thought in a few
perfect
words.

i love how poetry reaches folks of every age. little rikrak (and so many children i've taught!) are so inspired by language when they read or hear brilliant poetry like: shel silverstein, dr. seuss, dennis lee, and so many more linguistic masterminds who use creative language to engage the wee ones of our world! love it!

as a young adult, i came to love the masterful simplity of poetry:
in a brilliant poem: william carlos williams' the red wheelbarrow,
thru a book: adrienne rich's beautiful i dream of common language,
or learning about a whole body of work to adore: like bp nichol,
basho, e.e.cummings, or pablo neruda.

of course tastes change over time. (luckily, or i'd still be sporting my neon-technicolour, shoulder-pad studded business suits from my pre-teen years! *phew*) ... and it's always such a joy to discover a new-to-me poem, or poet.

so i want to hear yours!
? have a favourite poem?
? have a poem that has a special meaning to you?
? do you ever write poems?
? have a poetry book that changed you?

{and ottawans: if you're out and about tonight, mr. rikrak is hosting the poetry cabaret: pan-canadian poetics at the ottawa international writer's festival in town: it promises to be a great night with erin moure, rachel zolf, gregory scofield and more!}

happy poetry month, nicies!
yay words! Pin It