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Here we are again. Another week of amazing blog posts, entertaining photographs and several mesmerising video blogs. The blogosphere is full of such talent!
One of the Bloggers who stands out for me this week has been blogging for about a year now. She has two amazingly gorgeous twins and grown children as well. Makes me wonder how in God's Green Earth, she does it all? Not only has this blogger had a lovely blog-makeover recently but she's also dipping her very talented toe into the video blogging world. Who, might you ask, is this uber-clever blogger?
It's Marianne Whooley from Mari's World!
Such a happy little family! Mari is one of two dozen or so new BMB Video Bloggers who are embracing the challenge of the video medium to launch themselves into a different realm of the blogosphere. Mari's video, Why Do I Blog, had me humming Rhianna and wishing I could iron and chat at the same time.
Marianne also did an amazing vlog post on Life Before P&G where we got to see Mari in (nearly) all of her glory. Outstanding effort Mari! You would have done well in the 1930's!
Marianne's Flashback Friday post allowed us all to see into Marianne's past and really amazed me. I just had to delve further into her blog after reading that post. What a woman!
I highly recommend adding Marianne Whooley of Mari's World to your regular blog reading rota. She does not disappoint! And to add a bit more fun to the mix, I've also selected 10 Must Reads for this week. These bloggers are but 10 of the 77 bloggers who signed up for the BMB Comment Group. They'll be pairing up with other bloggers to show their support for each other in April.
Until next week, enjoy your new reading material and have a very Happy Mother's Day this Sunday, 3 April!
While this time of year perversely heralds the arrival both of Easter chocolate and the first magazine bikini diets, it's unquestionably the season of renewal and colour, a moment when you don't just want to leave the new beginnings only to the flora.
You start to think of dressing differently, looking different, even giving your home a makeover, and what better way to liven up than with a fresh burst of colour?
At our next #mycolours Twitter party, we’ll be talking about ways to reinvent your wardrobe and pep up your home with colour.
#mycolours
Mon 4 Apr
13:00 – 14:00
Sponsored by DYLON, the party will feature our first “blogger hostess” – the inimitable Maggy from Red Ted Art, whom many of you know for her brilliant crafting ideas. She’ll be on hand to talk tips about using colour and dye for projects and crafts.
We’ll also learn more about ways to use dyes from our sponsor. For example, did you know that you can use fabric dyes to:
But we want your best tips for accenting your look or home design with colour too! Tweet your tips during the party and you’ll be entered to win a Colour and Make Up Consultation from Colour Me Beautiful. Three runners-up will also win £50 worth of makeup vouchers, with all winners bagging a selection of DYLON home dyes.
Be your own stylist or home designer using colour. Start collecting your own tips now, and see you on April 4!
If you want to work with brands you need to know about Klout. Why? Because more and more brands are using their data to measure online influence.
Klout are a social media analytics company that measures online influence using Twitter and Facebook data. They incorporate all sorts of stats, such as follow and following counts, retweets, lists, and influence of retweeters and mentioners. This information is blended with Facebook data such as, comments, likes, and the number of friends in your network, to come up with a "Klout Score". For the time being, Klout does not include blog stats, but I would not be surprised if that changed soon.
Here's our British Mum Bloggers Have Klout Index for March 2011. This month we are highlighting our members with the top 50 (ish) scores. Enjoy.
| Rank | Twitter ID | Klout score |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | mediocre_mum | 69 |
| 2 | kateab | 68 |
| 3 | nickie72 | 67 |
| 4 | porridgebrain | 65 |
| 5 | liveotherwise | 64 |
| 6 | englishmum | 64 |
| 7 | tara_cain | 64 |
| 8 | karamina | 64 |
| 9 | mumstheboss | 63 |
| 10 | susankmann | 63 |
| 11 | cosmicgirlie | 63 |
| 12 | mum_themadhouse | 63 |
| 13 | LizJarvisUK | 62 |
| 14 | Caroljs | 62 |
| 15 | MumsRock | 62 |
| 16 | theBitchinWife | 62 |
| 17 | Superamazingmum | 62 |
| 18 | RedTedArt | 61 |
| 19 | cafebebe | 61 |
| 20 | missielizzieb | 61 |
| 21 | beckicklesie | 60 |
| 22 | LindaSJones | 60 |
| 23 | Crystaljigsaw | 60 |
| 24 | and1moremeans5 | 60 |
| 25 | Jax2000 | 60 |
| 26 | michelletwinmum | 60 |
| 27 | 01momonawire | 60 |
| 28 | simply_hayley | 59 |
| 29 | PippaD | 59 |
| 30 | WhimsicalWife | 59 |
| 31 | swhittle | 59 |
| 32 | christinemosler | 59 |
| 33 | exmoorjane | 59 |
| 34 | Cheshire_Claire | 59 |
| 35 | kateagreen | 59 |
| 36 | scottish_mum | 59 |
| 37 | cherylp59 | 59 |
| 38 | maisoncupcake | 59 |
| 39 | mummytips | 58 |
| 40 | MTJAM | 58 |
| 41 | Melaina25 | 58 |
| 42 | caro_mad | 58 |
| 43 | notesfromhome | 58 |
| 44 | jessies_online | 58 |
| 45 | petitmew | 58 |
| 46 | mumrablog | 58 |
| 47 | LauraAWNTYM | 57 |
| 48 | Erica | 57 |
| 49 | Kahanka | 57 |
| 50 | lauracymft | 57 |
| 51 | lakessinglemum | 57 |
Want to be evaluated in our next index? Make sure you fill out this form.
Congrats to all that made this month's index. Go ahead and grab the code and tell the world!
Here's a smaller version if you have a more petitie sidebar:
Here's a link to past British Mum Bloggger Have Klout rankings.
*These scores were recorded on 23 March 2011
This week's Blogger of the Week is "holding on to COOL with both hands and refusing to give up ME without a fight." This is a mantra I wish I could use!
You know her on Twitter as mumrablog and have been entertained by her ever changing avatars and her refreshingly honest take on parenting.
This week's Blogger of the Week is Sarah Hayward, better known as Mumra! If you haven't heard of Mumra/Sarah you may also have seen her if you're a reader of Top Sante as she was featured in a brilliant article in January of this year. Sarah is taking the world by storm.
Sarah's commitment to fitness has been especially impressive in the last 6 months. She's been working out HARD at Nuffield Gym in preparation for some charity runs this summer. In her ongoing fitness quest, Sarah began a new weekly feature on Mumra which has got people trawling through their music libraries to contribute to Mumra Playlists. She's got my toes tapping. Now if I could just figure out how to use iTunes to get them!
This week, however, I was extra impressed with Sarah in her Gallery post. On Wednesday we were regaled with the story of a young Sarah and her entrepreneurial spirit that is second-to-none! I now see where Sarah's get-up-and-go comes from.
So sit back and have a read of Mumra. You will not be disappointed!
Before I go, I'd love to highlight 10 other blogs you simply must add to your reading rota. These bloggers will be embracing the VIDEO blogging format in the very near future so get your screens tuned in for the latest and greatest from these bloggers.
Enjoy your new reading material and watch this space for more amazing bloggers to follow!
Here's part 2 of Emily Carlisle's post about how blogging can change your life. Also know as More than Just a Mother, Emily entered the blogging world with a bang in 2008 and has picked up all kinds of tips since. Over to Emily:
If you’re starting to think what it might do for you, here are some of my top blogging tips;
1. Start. That’s my first tip. Every single one of you could go home tonight, log onto a free blogging site such as Blogger or Wordpress, and write your first blog post.
When you start blogging one of the biggest challenges can be getting the "party started" with regards to comments. It can be difficult to get people to comment until you've established more of a following which can be very discouraging to newbies.
At BMB, we like to encourage the community spirit as much as possible. For those that want a little kickstart with comments on their blogs, we're organising comments groups for April.
This is how it works: Fill out the form below before 29 March and we'll put you in a group of 10 bloggers. Then all you have to do is make sure you visit the blogs in your group at least once a week, and leave comments if you feel you have something to add.
It's a bit like being placed in an NCT Group after you've had your first baby. Hopefully some real "blog" friendships will blossom.
**Thank you to the 77 bloggers who have signed up for the FIRST BMB Comment Group. Registration is now closed however, there will be another oppportunity next month to register for the next comment group. Until then, happy Blogging!
Got that wineoclock feeling but not sure what to have? Fed up with drinking the same old thing? We’re here to help! We are really excited to announce our first ever BMB wine twitter tasting, taking place on the 31st March from 8 - 9 pm.
The format is simple. Starting at 8pm, we will taste through a selection of three wines including a sparkling, a white and a red wine. All of the wines have been selected by fellow BMB member and wine expert Helen McGinn (@knackeredmutha). She’ll guide us through the wines answering any questions you might have as we go whilst we swirl, sip, slurp and swap notes.
For the second in our "Why Do You Blog?" series, we present Helen at Regards Rainbow.
What is your blog name/url and social networking links? My blog is called Regards Rainbow. You can follow me on Twitter @regardsrainbow and on Facebook
What is your name/alias? I write as Regards Rainbow but my real name is Helen.
How did you come up with your blog name? I run my own company in my spare time, which is Rainbow PR and Regards Rainbow came from this, on the blog there is an explanation of how I got to the name, it reads:
Continue reading "Why do you blog? Helen @ Regards Rainbow" »
The British Mummy Blogosphere is a wild and wonderful place. Diversity reigns supreme. Best of all there's a place for EVERYONE no matter their level of expertise.
This is why I so enjoy trawling the blogosphere to bring you exciting blogs to add to your reading rota. I have found so many amazing blogs and such brilliant writing. And I've found you a cracker for this week's Blogger of the Week!
This particular blogger says that she used to be cool but then she had a baby and now she wees when she sneezes. I think many of us can relate to this challenge! What I love about this week's Blogger of the Week is how refreshingly honest she is about EVERYTHING! I give you...Mammywoo.
Linda Jones is a name known to many in the blogging world because of all the projects she's involved in. But one type of project is very close to her heart. Here she writes about blogging for charity and shares her tips so you can too.
As the tragedy of earthquake and tsunami unfurls in Japan, parent bloggers are harnessing the power of social media to help those devastated.
Rebecca at Two Become Four rounded up ways that the community have rallied round: How can we help Japan?
Blog design has come on by leaps and bounds lately, but it's left one blogger wondering if we should be focussing quite so much on our blogs' beauty versus their personality. Emily, who blogs at Baby Rambles (@babyrambles), writes:
Blogs are improving their looks. When I started blogging a few yeas ago, most of the blogs I read had an amateurish layout like mine. My blog still has that amateur look, but many out there have smartened up. And with the huge amount of themes and looks available to download into your blogging software now, it can be a full-time job just keeping up with the latest templates and widgets and making your blog look perfect.
Ah, Spring...the birds are chirping, the days are lasting longer, the flowers are starting to bloom...a time for renewal...a time for all things bright and beautiful!
What a great time to find a few new blogs to read! We love having a growing lists of brilliant blogs to peruse. It helps us all to be better bloggers! Finding inspiration, being spurred on to write, interact and learn. And it's fun!
We give you the March BMB Blog Hop. It's as simple as a simple thing. Add your blog url to the Linky below. If you're feeling overly ambitious, you can add the Linky code below to your most recent blog post and the Linky will appear on your site as well. Failing that, just add your url and we'll find you!
Be sure to trawl the list and see if you can find 5 new blogs to follow in April. Do your best to comment on them as much as possible as we all LOVE to know that SOMEONE is reading our work. After you're done reading, go outside and enjoy the glorious English Spring that is finally settling in!
Our #springcleaning Twitter party last week was a great success, with loads of bloggers showing up to tweet their favourite cleaning tips, laugh about this never-ending job and lend moral support to those who just can’t get motivated. Sponsored by @Rentokil, the party turned up tips for every type of housekeeping philosophy, which we’ve separated into sections below.
And as @PippaD pointed out, the benefits of spring cleaning aren’t just a tidier house – it can also give you a more ordered state of mind after the cobwebs of winter.
There were so many fabulous suggestions that we couldn’t include them all here. But here are a smattering to help you with the practical (and psychological) task of getting your home shipshape.
Cleaning strategies
@Aresidence: One room at a time. Gives you a sense of completion before moving on.
@neviepiecakes: Declutter a small area each day eg. a shelf or makeup bag. off to do mine now!
@Aresidence: Dress up as fifties housewives, drink g and t and listen to Nina simone. Worked when i was a student anyway...
RT @SarahJBass: Thats more like it RT @Beckicklesie: More motivation?! Heavy cleaning burns 204 calories PER HOUR!
@Lauren122484: Making it a goal to throw away 100 things today!
@momonawire01 Reward yourself when you've finished the house, it's blooming hard work!
Continue reading "Mum bloggers’ 66 tips for spring cleaning" »
The BMB Blogger of the Week describes herself with these heartfelt words...
In the years B.C. (before children) I was involved with music which I loved. I also did a postgraduate degree and then threw myself into academia which I loved too. Now I do freelance work when people ring me up and ask me to although I have to resist my first urge to turn them down on the basis that if they saw my house and my organisational skills they wouldn’t ask me to write a shopping list for them, let alone do some work.
I worry about poverty, the environment, animal welfare and war. I hate the way motherhood renders me invisible in society. I hate that some people think it’s OK not to vaccinate their child. I’m working to change all of these things in very small ways.
I write stuff all the time, mostly in my head because I’m busy with children, but sometimes I get to put it down on paper or on the internet. I also love music, especially pop, Britpop and, rather geekily, film scores. Mostly I live to read (even though I can’t remember the last time I had a moment to read more than a sentence or two in peace).
In the spotlight for the first of our "Why Do You Blog" series is Pippa from A Mother's Ramblings...
What is your Blog Name/Url? (Twitter ID & Facebook Fan Page URL) My Blog is called A Mother's Ramblings. You can also find me on Twitter and my Facebook Fan page and on YouTube.
What is your name/alias? I am known mostly as Mummy on the blog, but I go by PippaD which is my real name!
How did you come up with your Blog Name? A Mother's Ramblings wasn't my first blog, and I wanted a place for my ramblings on parenting as it didn't fit in with the other blog areas as well as the other areas would fit in with blogging about parenting! I didn't know about a lot of parenting blogs back then so I thought I should combine my love of walking/rambling and my love of parenting and my habit of never shutting up...
Continue reading "Why do you blog? Pippa @ A Mother's Ramblings" »
Being able to express yourself is one of the biggest benefits of writing a blog. Ghostwritermum - aka Susanne, a mum of two and a teacher - talks here about what spurred her to blog and gives her advice on making the most out of confessional writing. She writes:
I recently read an article that stated that most bloggers started up their blogs as a reaction to a traumatic or distressing event in their lives and that this was particularly true of parent bloggers. The article certainly struck a chord with me as it summed up the very reason I created ghostwritermummy.
Continue reading "Blogging as therapy - why we need it and tips for doing it" »
For most of us, life has returned to normal. Stressful mornings, rushing to get out the door for the school run, carrying on with our usual daily routine, reversing the morning school run and cracking on with homework, dinner, bath and bedtime. I think we may all be a bit wistful for the Half-Term break that has just ended.
Some of our BMB members handled the terror of half-term with remarkable aplomb. We'd like to highlight some of our best and brightest in the first BMB Half-Term Adventure Carnival. Hopefully we can all learn from their genius and prepare ourselves for the month of April and May when very little time will be spent in school thanks to the Easter holidays, Royal Wedding and May Bank Holidays. I sense the fear already!
Ever been confused about all the carnivals and memes out there? Scribbling Mum (pictured) is on hand with this primer about them.
When I first started blogging over a year ago I wondered what the heck people were talking about, inviting me to join in with their 'carnival'. Did I have to dress up? Would there be cake?
I can remember getting my first 'meme', being thrilled, but spending way too long thinking about how you'd pronounce it if you had to say it out loud. Was it mee-mee or memé? When I asked this of the seasoned blogger who'd tagged me she was like 'Em. Not sure. Weirdo.' and ran away.
And who was this McLinky they spoke of? As a Scot, should I be offended at this apparent stereotyping?
Continue reading "15 of the best parent blogging carnivals and memes " »
The first clue that this wasn’t your average book launch came as we arrived. “Don’t forget to use our hashtag – #SBBlackDoor”, two press people told us as we entered the Secret Garden at Shoreditch House last Wednesday.
The second came from the author herself, who kept her speech short, announcing, “"I won't speak long because this is a tweetup and we must get back to tweeting."
Representing mum bloggers everywhere at the launch of Sarah Brown’s new book Behind the Black Door last week was founder of BMB Susanna Scott (@amodernmother), myself (@JHowze), our CyberMummy partner Sian To (@mummytips) and Livingwithkids’s Liz Jarvis (@livingwithkids).
Continue reading "BMB and CyberMummy at @sarahbrownuk’s book launch" »
