my blogging story.

On Saturday, it's my 5th blogging anniversary! It's been a crazy 5 years, and looking back over all of my blog posts has shown me how far I've come, how much I've improved and progressed - not just in the blogging world, but as a human being, too!

Over the next few days, I'm going to share some of my favourite blog posts with you PLUS a lovely giveaway to say thanks to you guys for supporting me! But today, I thought I'd tell you how I got started, and all the great things that have happened along the way! 

I have had a blog from around the age of 14 or 15 - but this was more of a private, teenage-ranty, personal diary kind of vibe. After that, I dabbled in tumblr, had another blogspot.com blog, and then Being Little was born. 

It started out as a way to share my art, and what I was generally getting up to. A few months previous, I'd had to drop out of uni in Bristol because of illness, and I was in a weird limbo. I was living back at my mum's, hanging out with the cats, trying to give my days meaning. 

I was still getting to grips with how my life would be from then on. I had a lot of time on my hands to do more art, crafts, charity shop shopping... I even made a few animal costumes! And I blogged about it all, almost every day. Sharing what I was doing spurred me on to do more, and be more creative with my time and (very little) energy.

My first post all the way back in 2010 was so nothingy - just a poster for an exhibition I was involved with. Unfortunately, looking over the next few months of blog posts, the photos don't work! I'm not sure where I was hosting them, so it's a bit of a shame that they're gone. However, maybe it just saves me from a bit of embarrassment ;)

A few months in and I was getting used to taking photos of myself in what I was wearing. I even dipped my toe into the world of YouTube! That is something that I really wish I'd carried on with, as awkward as it felt at the beginning. Trying to get back into it now is scary, and I feel like I'm playing major catch-up!

Sometime during my first few months, I was lucky enough to be noticed by a bigger (and now massive) blogger, who featured me in one of her little round-ups. Thanks to Lily, I gained a good few more followers! 

By February, I'd made friends with beautiful Bee (now one of my closest friends) and some other bloggers around the south west, and we decided that we should all meet! So we organised a meet up in Bristol. It didn't happen until a few months later, but it was obviously amazing, and we organised two more for later in the year! Creating that network is so important, I think.

The beginning of that year was full of exciting things as I was also shortlisted for the Company Casting Call. All my hard work, and constant photo-taking and writing was starting to pay off, and I was getting noticed. Blogging was really starting to get interesting, and it encouraged me to push myself further.




Moving out of my family home and feeling that freedom again was great. I got more and more into being creative with my blog posts - using more prose, doing more outfit posts, experimenting with styles - trying to find my niche. 

By my 23rd birthday, I had 800 followers and was amazed. By the time my blog turned one, I was so happy with how everything was going that I just had to continue! I'm very glad I did because in September 2011, I found out that I had been nominated & shortlisted for a Cosmo Blog Award! This was craaaaazy to me, and it was incredible to have that recognition. It really inspires you and spurs you on to know that so many people enjoy reading your blog.

This was also the month that I met lovely Ella, who quickly became a very good friend of mine. We spent the day wandering around museums, drinking tea, eating cake and chatting. Perfect.

I also started a little blog series called Artist Showcase, to show off all the talented people I know who deserve much more recognition.

October was coming to a close, and I'd been lucky enough to attend the Cosmo Blog Awards in London. It was the swankiest blog event I've ever been to! I didn't win, but I did get to meet some lovely ladies who are doing insanely well with their blogs these days, such as Lily and Liv. They're still such an inspiration to me! It also helped me get more recognition from brands, and so I had many more to work with. 

Just before Christmas 2011, Bee and I were involved in organising another South West Bloggers meet, and this one had a LOT of organising help from Gina. It was a much bigger event, with catwalks, goody bags, and a lot more people! It was so nice to meet some of my blogger friends from slightly further afield!

The blog and my life ticked along pretty nicely for a while - gradually getting better, writing and creating, I dyed my hair pink, I had a few wobbles and a break up, I went to Paris - and eventually I started feeling so much better that I wanted to move back to Bristol.

Having the city to explore, being closer to London, and feeling inspired again gave me and my blog a new lease of life. There was so much more to do and see! We organised a bloggers Christmas tea party and I got to meet more local bloggers, including Hayley (who later helped me meet even more!)

Going to local meet ups and press days in Bristol & Bath was wonderful. It's one of the best things you can do as a blogger - firstly, it's great just hanging out with like-minded people, but also it's good to strengthen those friendships you make, and network in real life! 

I was still struggling with health issues, and especially mental health, but I found that blogging about it helped. It was amazing (and saddening) to know that there were other people feeling the same way as me, and great to have that virtual support network. Opening up helps others open up too. I found it really frustrating that I'd made so much progress, but still couldn't work like everyone else around me. So I started volunteering!

Around then, my boyfriend at the time left to go travelling for a while, so everything kind of fell apart a bit. As always, the blog and you lovely humans that read it kept me going. It's always been my passion and my focal point, and gets me through almost anything! 

Everything ticked on once again - working on more projects with brands, going on a trip to Barcelona, festivalling over the summer, previously mentioned boyfriend moving in, going on trips, being in a music video, making delicious food, starting my first job in 5+ years, losing my Granny, going in a hot air balloon, having a lot more struggles & another break up, finding love & happiness again.. y'know, the usual life stuff. All of these good and bad times make you a well-rounded person, and hey, they can sometimes give you a reason to blog, too!

I joined #BlogClub, which is one of my favourite blog things ever! It's a monthly-ish Bristol meet up created by Hayley & Sophie - we chat, learn, meet new people, eat cake... it's perfect. I've actually met some good friends through this little creation, and I always look forward to it! 

My blog story over the past couple of years hasn't been particularly eventful, crazy, or mind-blowing. It's just been gradually chugging on, growing, evolving. Now, I'm dipping my toes back into YouTube, putting more effort into creating my posts, and gaining more confidence - yep, even more! 

All I can tell you about my blogging story, is that the two most important things that I have gained from blogging are confidence in myself, and friendship. I haven't really learned how to gain a huge following fast, I'm useless with statistics, and I still don't really get how you can earn money from Pinterest. But I love every aspect of this funny old online world!

 • follow on: twitter • facebook • bloglovin'


HEY! YOU MIGHT ALSO LIKE THESE POSTS...