...and Relax.
Despite life throwing in a few curve balls for good measure during April, I really enjoyed writing my Addicted to Beads Series and chatting with everyone here, and on their own blogs.
Preparation
After last year I swore I'd prewrite my A to Z in advance so I could concentrate on Blog Hopping, I didn't (see aforementioned comment about curve balls) but I did manage to write a handful of posts at the end of March before we actually started, well slightly less than one handful, so, er, there were a lot of gaps I had left to fill in!
Themes
The Challenge, I've discovered, really is much easier with a theme. Even if you have left a lot of gaps to be filled in as you go along! Ideas felt more cohesive and I think I achieved what I set out to, in that no prior jewellery knowledge was needed for any post, but I hopefully kept some surprises back for all my regular readers too.
Also special mention has to go to MopDog's theme - 26 Ways to Die in Medieval Hungary - the title alone would be enough, but it's entertaining reading, as are the comments...
Blog Hopping
I didn't get as much blog hopping done as I'd have liked to, a lot less than last year, but those curve balls had to hit something out of whack somewhere along the way... I think it averaged out at about 2-3 new blogs per day but I got in a lot more repeat visits on some blogs and it came more in waves when time presented itself as an opportunity to be grabbed... some days I managed 0.
The beauty of the A to Z is that you can always go back and surf the list or nip back to that amazing blog you found at the beginning that got briefly washed away in the outgoing tide of the Challenge... it will come back if you go and look for it!
If you only read one more A to Z Challenge Blog from start to finish...
I enjoyed many blogs over the course of last month and I do intend to visit more, but the one blog that I read religiously every day was by Reflex Reactions.
Ida wrote her A to Z on Care for the Carers, which was her personal journey on caring for her Mum at the end of her life. Beautifully written and it hit the spot for every letter, most days it made me cry, as good writing sometimes should, but it somehow always managed to leave me feeling hopeful too.
New Blogs and Books to read
One of the aspects I loved about last year's challenge (my first) was the new authors I discovered, many books read during the challenge as a result, and several blogs I've kept in touch with throughout the year.
This year didn't disappoint either on that score, several books read and queued to read later, and a whole host of blogs I'd like to keep in touch with as a result, plus I'm sure I'm going to dip into the main list again when I catch my breath.
During the course of talking about the challenge this year, a friend has been encouraged to start a blog, she's only a few posts in (it's good but she wants to build up some momentum before I tell you about her) and, great news, she already plans to join in with the 2016 A to Z Challenge!
In Summary
Thoroughly enjoyed the Challenge this year, more so than last, and I think that in turn was a lot to do with all the lovely conversations I had on Curling Stones in the comments and ditto on other blogs.
I don't have any suggestions for improvements as the only suggestion I had last year had already been resolved - so from me to the A to Z team - it's keep doing what you're doing!
In a similar vein, to my own readers, visitors and passersby...
What did you enjoy about my series?
Is there anything you like to see improved/changed/repeated for next year?
Here's a quick reference link to all my A to Z posts below - ignore, enjoy, revisit or just marvel that it all got finished!What did you enjoy about my series?
Is there anything you like to see improved/changed/repeated for next year?
Addicted to Beads by Mars
A is for Addiction
B is for my Beadmaker Bead
C is for Cores
D is for Dealers
E is for Elfbeads Earth Bead Set
F is for Fantasy Necklace
G is for Glass
H is for Harm Reduction
I is for Inner Glow
J is for Joy
K is for Karma
L is for Love Hurts
M is for Money
N is for Navy Galaxy
O is for Orange
P is for Paraphernalia
Q is for Quitting
R is for Red
S is for Swamp
T is for Turtle
U is for Unblogged Beads
V is for Velociraptor
W is for Wrist Shots
X is for X Ray
Y is for Yellow Gold
Z is for Zodiac Birthstone Stars
Thank you for all the beautiful posts this April - when I thought of beads before I only though of the ones you buy in bulk at the dress shop, but now I know better :). I totally agree that themes make is so much easier. Thank you for all the visits as well.
ReplyDeleteTasha
Tasha's Thinkings | Wittegen Press | FB3X (AC)
Thanks Tasha, was so much fun discovering Wittegen Press! I love finding new authors :)
DeleteMars xx
I didn;t visit as many other blogs as I wanted but as a co-host I had a couple of chunks of the Linky List I was responsible for visiting every day with help of my awesome helpers. But i'll catch up this month and visit as many as I can from the list.
ReplyDeleteI'm so in awe that people manage to co-host as well as the challenge itself, I can't imagine *how* many blogs you all have to look after!
DeleteMars xx
Hi Mars; Congratulations on finishing the challenge! I hit the same curve balls and was too busy writing the posts to do as much visiting as I wanted, as well as responding to those who visited me. Hope to catch up soon!
ReplyDeleteKnow the feeling Debbie as it's taken me 2 days to get back here now :) We'll both get there in the end!
DeleteMars xx
I really enjoyed your posts, and I am glad you had fun! :) I hope you'll do another lovely bead theme next year! :) Btw I just spent $35 on beads for my Sarmatian dress, and I thought of you in the bead shop :D
ReplyDelete@TarkabarkaHolgy from
Multicolored Diary
MopDog
Thanks, ah bead shopping, how lovely! I've been good as my last bead shop was the end of the March, although I'm not sure that counts as I've been making them in the meantime ;)
DeleteMars xx
You deserve a pat on the back (and maybe a stiff drink!) for finishing and doing so well - congrats! :)
ReplyDeleteI almost considering joining at the last minute, but work has thrown me a few curveballs the last two weeks and I've had trouble even keeping up with reading!
But, as always, I really enjoyed following along when I could. I enjoyed the little surprises throughout, not being able to predict what you were going to write about for each letter. :)
A friend of mine was trying to guess what I was going to do for each letter so it was nice to not tell anyone what the letters were going to be and keep it as a surprise.
DeleteI was a bit worried that some things would have been seen before, like the Navy Galaxies but it's been nice to be able to reshow some beads again too, as it's about celebrating the beads, I think as a blogger you sometimes get caught up in the "showing new (or new to you) shiny things" rather than just concentrate on a topic regardless of bead age!
It's the only blogging challenge I tend to take part in, but I think it's a fun one to do - will be back to mostly weekly posting from now on though :)
Mars xx
I was amazed by your research and the variety of beads! I was totally unaware of this... :( Well done and Good Luck! Adding your blog to my list reflections post!
ReplyDeleteThanks, the research has come via the addiction so I probably can't take any credit for that, other than being able to remember it to talk about it - so impressed by folk who research totally new things for the A to Z! Thanks for the add :)
DeleteMars xx
The beautiful photos of the amazing beads you featured made me keep coming back for more. It's been a great A to Z and I'm looking forward to the next one :) Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace
ReplyDeleteThanks about the photos, I still use my mobile phone to take pics so that is something I wonder about sometimes, although my best £13 investment ever was a light tent as a nod to the fact that UK weather doesn't provide enough sunny days for bead photography! ;)
DeleteI've enjoyed this A to Z despite the time constraints of life in general - looking forward to getting back to a more leisurely blogging schedule for now... just need to catch up on my writing!
Mars xx
Congrats on finishing and recruiting someone for next year. It's so nice to read positive comments and experiences from the participants.
ReplyDeleteIt's been exhausting but invigorating to write this series, I haven't done a series for a while and it was good to get the brain working on ideas again. I love blogging but sometimes it's hard to juggle with a FT job and other life commitments, so it's been a good reminder of why I blog in the first place!
DeleteI can't wait to see what my friend comes up with for next year - I'm enjoying her first posts already!
Mars xx
Like you, I didn't get to look at all the blogs I had hoped to, but I did make it about 400 down the list which was quite good.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of including links to all of your challenge posts in your Reflections one, makes it easy for people to go back and revisit them. :-)
Cait @ Click's Clan
Wowzers, 400 is a spectacular amount! I like including the links as it gives them all in one reference post for everyone, including me! Also it means anyone landing on the Reflection Post can see what I was talking about at a glance.
DeleteI like it when other bloggers do it too, as if I didn't make the full 26 posts on other blogs, but I enjoyed the few I did read when I visited it means I can dip into the rest of the alphabet without searching out posts, less clicks = more reading time!
Mars xx
Well, your blog was a lucky find, Mars. I did get a few bracelet beads for my store last Saturday when I went for stock purchasing, but, I'm still keeping my eyes open for the kind of funky stuff you have posted here.
ReplyDeleteNext year, I also plan to pre-schedule all my posts so that I can spend more time in blog-hopping. Let's see if I manage to do it though. I want to participate from my craft blog too next year. Maybe I should start the preparations and theme selections right away! ;)
Happy blogging, lady! Stay in touch! :)
http://www.mysteriouskaddu.com/2015/05/a-to-z-reflections-2015.html
Thanks and will do!
DeleteI had such good intentions this year about prewriting a theme, but then was busy in the run up to the event and things just slipped away, looking back at how busy I was, I was a fool to think I could write them in Feb/March! Lol starting now is probably not such a bad idea... but I will procrastinate for the next 10 months then panic probably ;)
Mars xx
Hello there.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations on completing the challenge!
I actually got to visit your blog during my AtoZ journey and you were kind enough to visit me in return. The good thing is we still have almost a year left to have a go at what still seems to be an extensive list, even though I've already clocked up hundreds of miles by visiting more than 450+ so far. (lol)
Thanks for sharing your reflections.
Entrepreneurial Goddess
Thanks it's always nice to visit other people, I tried really hard even on the days where I struggled with time to make sure I was able to revisit people who'd found me as a priority over finding out a new blog on the list. I thought the quality this year was really good, so looking forward to dipping back into the list, just need to catch up on some of my own writing at the moment as I've got a few events to write up before they turn into anniversary of the event posts!!
DeleteMars xx
Finding your blog thorough your reflection, which I enjoyed. I'm a writer so I attack the large list of participants by starting with those who have a (WR) designation. In my own reflection,I write about how important I think those categories are to help readers find us. Congrats on finishing. I am certain that both of us will have been blogs because we've participated.
ReplyDeleteThanks Stepheny, congrats on finishing the challenge for a 3rd year!
DeleteMy lessons for this year were that a theme really helped me focus on the posts and I worked hard to keep them both short and accessible to people who've never thought about beads before, but hopefully other bead addicts (who are my usual readers) who have lots of bead knowledge already.
I love finding new writers as part of the A to Z challenge, it's one of the only blog challenges/tags etc I participate in and that I always find new reading is such a big attraction, whether it's in flash fiction, novellas or novels or just a great blog that I love the writer's voice.
I totally agree on your own reflections about uncluttered blogs or exceptionally long posts, or ones that are hard to find the A to Z post or how to comment... I did pass those by in favour of blogs who'd thought more about the blog hopping part.
Thanks for stopping by.
Mars xx
Hi there. I am a beader, and I'm delighted to have found your blog. "Wrist Shots" and "Harm Reduction" are my favorites on your A to Z list. I've Liked your FB page, so I look forward to reading posts there. I think this is an excellent Reflection post. You've covered many important aspects of the Challenge!
ReplyDeleteThanks Lillian, I always post a link to my FB page when a blog post publishes to it's a good way of keeping in touch.
DeleteI could have written so much more on this but I tried to keep it short-ish as I know folk are trying to blog hop the reflections list too... keeping word count down has always been a problem for me so the A to Z is always a good editing exercise as well!
Mars xx
p.s. meant to say I love that cartoon in Harm Reduction, no matter how many times I see it, it always makes me giggle!
DeleteCongrats on completing the A to Z Challenge! Looking forward to next year! See you on the Road Trip!
ReplyDeleteMary @ Jingle Jangle Jungle
Thanks Mary, it's been a great challenge this year :)
DeleteMars xx