Why do I Blog?

Yes, a question I often ask myself or more likely ‘why do I bother to blog?’. Here’s an open and honest account of why I keep this little blog space of County Bumpkin Chic alive in a bit of a candid interview with myself.

Why did you start the CBC blog?

Bear with me… it’s quite a long one, you may need a cuppa tea or something stronger.

In 2009, the world we knew at fashion giant New Look was shaken up when the Board announced a re-location for key teams including the close-knit marketing dept I was in from sunny by the sea Weymouth to the big smoke of London. I was very fortunate to be able to transfer from Local Marketing to the newly formed Internal Communications & Sustainability department. Or CSR which was the buzz word back in the day.

I was sad to be leaving the fun, action-packed & creative role tailor designing store launch activities & student events to the unknown world of Internal Comms. And was more worried I’d lose my creativity or identity in the new role & without all those creative buyers, designers & marketers to bounce ideas off, I decided to enrol on a winter City & Guilds Dressmaking course.

Our main project was to make an item of clothing, & I decided on a cord skirt. It was by no means a masterpiece & I was definitely in no hurry to switch careers to be a fashion designer. I think the New Look designers, would have just laughed at me. But what it did do was give me an outlet to be creative. & with my new sewing skills under my belt, I bought myself a Janome sewing machine & started making crafty bits & bobs. Mainly shopper bags, inspired by Cath Kidston’s sewing books. I went on to sale a few creations to friends over Xmas after setting up a Facebook album called Country Bumpkin Chic. 

So, from a Facebook album of Country Bumpkin Chic kitsch shopper bags & bunting, I decided to share my crafts on a wider scale setting up a Blogger account in Jan 2010 called Country Bumpkin Chic… It wasn’t until June 2010 that I published my first post about my latest creations & so the Country Bumpkin Chic blog was born.

What did you blog about in the beginning?

Well, I tried living up to the blog name, so would write about my latest Cath Kidston inspired creations through to sharing cake recipes & then I started writing about my other passions: festivals, album reviews, bars, the horses through to ‘The Joys of Dating’ – which always makes me chuckle when I read it back. In 2011, I managed to publish 45 blogs! I really don’t know how I found the time, but I must have felt very creative & just needed to write.

Why do I blog?

In 2014, my New Look chapter came to an end when I turned down moving to London & took a redundancy package instead. In those first few months, I wrote as much as I could to build up my online writing portfolio. I also found a new inner confidence & would ask to interview musicians at festivals & gigs, & had the pleasure of interviewing Newton Faulkner & the very dreamy Seth Lakeman.  

Blogging became less about showing my creations & more about the writing, photography, my interests & meeting interesting folk. It also proved a great talking point in an interview at a Brand Agency & landed me an Account Manager role. 

Why do you blog today?

Today I think blogging & micro-blogging aka Instagram can get into a real comparison rut of millennials trying to outdo one & other on the latest 3^rd party tie up. Remember when the Made in Chelsea girls promoted charcoal toothpaste. WTF?

For me, my blogging space is a place to share knowledge whether that’s some top tips on equipment needed to SUP, celebrate people doing amazing things such as my best friend running the marathon for MS or interviewing interesting people such as the artist behind Sealegs Cartoons. And if possible, it will have a west country link. Simples.

I’ve been blogging or writing since 2010 & do feel by now I should be a bit more on it, but like many people juggle a FT job, competing 2 horses (now I know not everyone does this) & general life.

Writing is also great therapy & cheaper!