Hopefully, you’ve visited my “about me” section or at least skimmed through the home page introduction and know a little about WhimsyRoo and why it exists. If not, here’s the long and short:
WhimsyRoo is a creative arts blog. I write about creative projects both for myself and with my little girl, who inspires me every day. My hope is to empower other moms and care-givers to take time to create something both with their children and on their own because crafting and creating can be a part of everyone’s self-care.
The blog covers topics like party planning, DIY gifts, and of course kids’ crafts. Since I homeschooled Roo for the first two years of preschool, I also have a few preschool education and activities.
But none of this answers “what is WhimsyRoo?”
The Name
The name came to me while I was trying to come up with a name for my Etsy shop back in 2013. I didn’t want something that would hole me into a single niche or category or art style. I have an artistic mind and I love to create things, but I also tend to get bored easily. A few paintings will get finished, a dozen more started, then it’s on to sewing cosplay costumes for a few weeks. I accepted that my art and creativity tend to follow my whims and that’s where I found the “Whimsy” part of the name. A nickname from when I was a child included “Roo” (Sammie Roo) like the young kangaroo from Winnie-the-pooh. Roo is also how I refer to my little girl in the posts to give her a bit of anonymity.
The Motive
Let’s be honest, pretty much every blogger on the internet is writing to make money. I’m not there yet, as of writing this post in 2019, but I’ve learned so much in the 12 months the blog has been live. (So I am aware that there is little possibility of this post ranking for SEO and that there are no pinnable images. But I’ve been sick this week and not doing much crafting, but I’m still committed to publishing one post a week!)
Beyond wanting to make a little cash, I love writing. I have for as long as I can remember learning how to write words and put them together on paper. I also love to craft. I’ve mentioned before that it is a form of self-care for me. It stimulates me mentally and the satisfaction of completing something helps my emotional state. However, I have trouble crafting something just for the sake of crafting. It has to serve a purpose or else I feel guilty about wasting materials and/or time.
When I craft now, I’m getting the self-care guilt free. I know I’m going to write about the experience and use the pictures later to create an interesting blog post that maybe will inspire someone somewhere to create something similar.
Who is Roo
As I said, Roo was a part of my childhood nickname, and also the pseudo name for my three-year-old daughter. Crafting with her has been a special bonding time for us. Like most moms of small children, I have a hard time putting the chores on hold to spend some one-on-one time with my kid. Mostly because I honestly have no interest in playing dolls, acting like a cat, or reading the same book 50 times. Because I have this time carved out weekly for us to sit and craft, we can spend time together doing something we both enjoy. I know we are creating memories just as much as we are creating content for my blog and creating something to put in her scrapbook. She inspires my weekly projects and keeps my mind engaged trying to find something new that interests her.
What’s next?
Today marks one year since I posted my first blog post. (True first, not one of the many failed attempts to write a blog, the first that I kept writing weekly with a goal in mind.)
As I said, I’ve learned so much. I’m grateful for having resources like other bloggers. Those that give away the fruits of their experience through workshops and online courses so I can learn in a day what they learned in a few years. I’m grateful for social media for both allowing me to promote and publicize my posts and for giving my resources to reach out to others for help and guidance.
I hope to achieve some of my goals in this next year, like cash my first paycheck! I hope to create new products to sell in my Etsy Store. I hope to come up with a new Preschool activity product. Most of all, I hope to continue creating content that mothers and care-givers like me need and want.
With that in mind…
Please don’t be afraid to email me
Tell me what kind of content you want to see. More DIY projects for you? More Preschool educational activities? What posts did you love? Which ones did you find boring? Let me know so I can keep learning and growing. Help me create my dream website where mothers and care-givers can come to be inspired to create memories with their children.