LET'S take a road trip south for this week’s North Coast Blogger. Just down the Pacific Highway, past the Big Banana and then head inland towards the Dorrrigo mountains to one of
my very favourite little towns: Bellingen. Here, tucked away on the mid North Coast, you will find crafter Cath Young balancing creative and family life from the forest home she shares with her partner, "Chef" (he’s a chef, hence the pseudonym), and their two super-cute girls.
I’ve been following along with Cath’s creative blogging journey since her very first blog post and she continues to inspire. Not only with her clever craft and designs, all of which I adore, but with her attitude to living gently on the earth – without making a big hoopla out of it. She’s solar-powered, compost-loo-powered and organic all the way, and she is like so many of the creative artists I admire: A hard worker. Cath just gets on with the job, and doesn’t hold back from telling it as it is on her blog,
Chunky Chooky.
Here is the story of Cath's blogging journey:
My name is Cath Young and I am a social worker, Head Honcho
at
My Bearded Pigeon and chunkychooky. I live in Bellingen
and my blog is called
Chunkychooky.
I have been blogging
since March 2009… This question actually made me look though my whole blog
backwards, rather than just go to the last post... My goodness, Busy was so
little when I started!
I started the blog to
promote my new business - chunkychooky. At the time I was making fisherman pants and
rattles and softies for babies.
I didn't really know much about blogging when I started. I had recently discovered blogs when I was
looking online for sewing patterns to work out how to make a softie for my
baby, then when I opened an Etsy shop, I thought it might be a good way of
promoting my shop.
My blog tells the
story of things I make; country life; being a mother; being a small business
owner; being a social worker and my outspoken opinion about everything!
Blogging has helped me so much creatively and with my
business. So much so. When I started blogging there was a bunch of us who used
to do My Creative Space which was a meme on the
Kootoyoo blog, and every week I
would post pics of what I had made and would love visiting everyone else to see
what they made. Seeing Kirsty's embroidery made me want to learn
which I did learn and I love it!
I have pretty much learnt how to sew from reading blogs. I
am constantly amazed at what people make and do at home. I never knew there was
SO MANY people who liked making things like me!
Having a blog enabled
me to make a few things and show the people I would be selling to and ask them
what they thought. I have also made real life friends though my blog, some whom I have met in real life and consider my buddies now.
The most challenging part of blogging, most recently, has been time!
The combination of a new baby and a busy business has meant blogging has been
temporarily suspended... I am micro blogging, I have heard it called, on Instagram
and Twitter.
If you are thinking of starting a blog my advice would be to
think about what kind of blog you want... There is a bit of a shift to all
these sponsored posts on blogs. You have
to work out if you want to do that
before you start, I think.
I was incredibly lucky in that Penguin Books asked me to
review craft books on my blog. I asked them if I could host a giveaway with the
review and they agreed. It was great. I have
a huge bookshelf of craft books and I felt like these giveaways were hugely relevant
to the people that read my blog. I still
get asked to do some weird things on my blog and to host giveaway for vacuum
cleaners and stuff… But, I don't want my blog to be like that.
What I love most about
living on the North Coast is the space, the beauty, the quiet. Rainforests, rivers and beaches all beautiful
and clean and you often get them all to yourself! Good food, good coffee and a wonderful arts
community. A great sense of community.
Right now, I am excited about some new items and lots of new ideas for My Bearded Pigeon and expanding
where we are selling: we are also slowly reopening our Madeit shop and there is
a new eshop coming soon too... just trying to keep our heads above water with
juggling family and business!
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| Couldn't resist adding this snapshot I took of Cath and her sweet little baby girl when I visited them recently |
***
Thank you so much for sharing your blogging journey, Cath!
To visit Cath's blog, Chunky Chooky click
here.
To visit Cath's My Bearded Pigeon Etsy shop click
here
And you can join Cath on instagram @MyBearededPigeon and twitter @MyBeardedPigeon