On Blissdom & Girl Crushes

See that little badge over there? The Blissdom one?

14 days.

2 weeks until I attend my first blogging conference.

Blissdom.

I’m just giving that one it’s own line. Room to breathe and stretch out in all of it’s sparkly magnificence.

Not just any blogging conference. The one where I exhibit at my first show in the U.S. (Y’all cross your fingers for me regarding all things ornery custom officials). It’s the one where I am one of the very few Newbie Community Leaders. It’s the one where I will come together with amazing women. Wonderful mamas. Top-notch business women.

There is so much feeling right now, that I am over-flowing with, concerning attending this conference – that it’s hard to put into words.

So bear with me.

I suppose I should start with how it is I began blogging. It was only a few years ago (2009), just after the birth of my son Wyndham. My posts were long (still are?) and infrequent. I was (still am?) a complete novice regarding it all. I had no idea how huge the blogging world was. The mom-blogging world specifically. Or whatever label you want to give it, as I know of many (I am one of them), who are not overly fond of the term.

I wrote for myself, without much concern for audience, or analytics, or sponsors. Any of it. Nothing but the pure learning and cleansing, uplifting experience of it. If you’ve been following me here, family, friend or foe – then you will know this: much has changed. As is often the case when one starts up a project, things grow, evolve and bloom. If you are decent at what you do? They have a tendency to take on a mind of their own, molded and defined by what one does when opportunity knocks. Which is a part of my bloggy story. I’ve written about her before, how I made her a tutu because Tutus for Tanner – and how none of this, pretty much, would be happening had she not seen something in the way that I write words.

Something worth a recommendation. The her being Catherine and the recommendation being my writing gig at Babble. What has happened since then has been nothing sort of BOOM, WHAM, POW! I need  not delve into all the technological, business blogging geekery that came forth (BIG learning curves), because this post is about relationships.

Friendships forged in the online world, where women fight, laugh and cry – sure. But above all else? Support and empower one another. Run businesses and pave the way in many an industry. A big one being the handmade world (my niche!) blogging and social media and technology. World rulers, these women I tell you. Leaders. Which brings to me to more shout outs.

I ‘met’ Arianne when I started writing for Babble’s, ‘Being Pregnant’ blog – she was a colleague and still is. Now that we’ve had our babes, battled colic and are about to hug each-other to the ground at Blissdom, we write for Baby’s 1st Year. I was drawn to Arianne by her eyes first. there was some sparkle, depth and lightness/darkness there. Visible in even her tiny thumbnail bio pic. I am drawn to women like that. It didn’t take long to connect with her through our various commonalities in parenting, vintage style, indie-art love affairs and values.  I was definitely smitten upon reading her personal blog, To Think Is To Create.  I had no idea, back then – that she was (is), the community manager of Blissdom (US chapter).

This Arainne mama? She’s the reason I’m going to Blissdom. It was she who asked me to bring my crafty wares to the Handmade Marketplace which launches the conference. It was she who encouraged me to apply to be a Community Leader. It was she who hooked me up with roommates. For all of this, and what’s to come, I thank-you Arianne. From the bottom of my cracked, well worn and travelled; heart.

Not just any roommates. Oh no, women who make my heart go pitter patter. Fluttering in admiration of their brilliance. Writers, artists, mothers, lovers, mentors, teachers. Arianne connected me with women, into a circle – that I feel distinctly electric in. On fire with possibilities, soul-feeding, business savvy learning possibilities. Not to mention the magnificence of the key-note spekers, sessions panelists, workshops…oh they THINGS they have planned for us. Again. BOOM! WHAM! POW!

It is with my great pleasure that I shall bunk-up, frolic and foray about Blissdom with Sara Sophia, poet-artist-writer and Amy Turn Sharp, writer and the wooden toy queen of Little Alouette. And they like me! They adore my creations! Hooray for art and creativity. In all of their vast, unique mediums, they truly draw people together.

So, here I type – one-handed while I nurse my darling babe and call out to all of you crafty, creative queens of the internets. If you are going to Blissdom, and are of the craft niche – sign on up on this list here. I want to make sure I connect with each and every one of you. Besides, I have to track all of you lovelies somehow…I’ve got some crafty swag bags to share! Just a little extra magic for your weekend, especially if you are a newbie like me. Pretty, shiny things make the heart happy.

Yes, I’m nice like that. Only sometimes. Keep that on the DL, k?

All vixens mentioned in this post? I hope you like hugs because Ima gonna bowl you over. If you are not into the hugs, tooshie spanks can be arranged. Please specify in the spreadsheet or in the comments section here if you are not of the craft niche. See you in T-14 days in Nashville yo!

7 Comments

  1. Reply
    Arianne 09/02/2012

    Honored to welcome you to this crazy awesome community, and blushing 5 shades of neon red at your sweet words. Can’t wait mama! <3

  2. Reply
    Sherry Carr-Smith 09/02/2012

    I love it! I hope we get to meet, and I definitely want to shop your stuff. I’m so excited for BlissDom and love that we’re in such a great class of newbies.

  3. Reply
    Bridget 09/02/2012

    I’m a CL in photography but I’m a crafty mama, too! You are going to LOOOVE Blissdom and I can’t wait to get a look at your handiwork at the marketplace!

  4. Reply
    Carmen 10/02/2012

    I’m a CL in parenting/special needs , and I’m the complete antithesis of crafty. I have TONS of ideas but absolutely zero ability to actually, you know, DO said crafts. So I’ll be stalking all of those crafty people!

    You will have a ton of fun at Blissdom!

  5. Reply

    […] Click here to read the rest of this post over on le petit rêve. […]

  6. Reply

    Looking forward to seeing your crafty goodies at Blissdom.

  7. Reply

    […] Segerman (@ariannesegerman) BLOG: Mabel & Riv This lady. Well. She was one of my very first connections in the blogging world. A friend who took me under he wing, loved me and supported me, no matter our differences. She […]

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

You may use these HTML tags and attributes: <a href="" title=""> <abbr title=""> <acronym title=""> <b> <blockquote cite=""> <cite> <code> <del datetime=""> <em> <i> <q cite=""> <s> <strike> <strong>

Want More ROAR In Your Life?

Subscribe to our Reader's Digest and get our posts delivered straight to your inbox once a week!