On 13th June the biggest blog event hit London town, Blogtacular! With lectures by world famous bloggers such as Grace Bonney from Design*Sponge and photographer/stylist Marte Marie Forsberg among many others. Alongside such great talks were workshops, an early morning photowalk (for a selected group), shops, creative crafts room and genius bar any techy help. Then to round things up in the evening a Pinterest party at West Elm. Exciting eh?!

There was no way that I was going to miss but I had slight anxiety as it would be healthy enough and ok to last the full day but this was a day I needed to attend! Plus I’d get the chance to meet the bloggers that I’ve been chatting to online and have never met, yep I’m a bit of a loner.

West Elm Blogtacular Photowalk

The morning started off EARLY! 7am to be exact. Not something I’m used to or would normally manage in fact I find it really hard. The excitement along with a few headache pills got me on the way to London’s South bank where the photowalk began. A big group of us met next to the London eye and we were greeted by photographer Xanthe Berkelry and graphic designer/photographer Sammee Lapham. Split into two groups we were on our way to with our cameras at the ready.

I really wasn’t sure what to expect, as I’m no photographer or model but my personal aim was to explore and expand my ways of seeing and capturing moments. Xanthe was leading the group I was in and I have to say, she’s very inspiring and her enthusiasm and energy was admirable.

The theme was finding colour but as I’m a huge fan of grey, bleak settings (this London morning didn’t disappoint, sorry sun seekers) I tried to capture this with a few flashes of colour.

A few of my photos

T H E   B L O G T A C U L A R   C O N F E R E N C E

I had to plan my day as I couldn’t fit in everything I wanted to see,which was a shame but it shows that there was so many great speakers. Luckily they are now available online! Whoop.

OPENING KEYNOTE SPEAKER, GRACE BONNEY FROM DESIGN*SPONGE.

What can I say. Grace is super famous in the blogger world being the founder of Design*Sponge and author of Design Sponge at home. She gave so much great advice that I will take on my blogging and creative career journey, teaching us to take a risk, to plan, reassess, redefine and execute. Also, one thing that I’ve been putting off, ‘face your fears’.

I especially liked the fact that Grace spoke about working together as a community and there’s room for us all. It’s nice to feel like an industry can be inclusive and celebrate each others talents and work.

CREATIVITY + INSPIRATIONS LECTURE – MARTE MARIE FORSBERG

Marte is a well known photographer and food stylist, very well known on Instagram too.  Her images follow a beautiful and almost poetic account of her country cottage life. Creating visual stories, Marte talked through her journey to this stage in life whilst making points and advice for our own personal journeys.

“Go out and change your world. What kind of life do you want to lead?”

GROW YOUR AUDIENCE PANEL

This panel hosted by Kat (one of the amazing Kat duos that made Blogtacular possible) consisted of four great social media talents. Cate Sevilla (Managing Editor, Buzz Feed) , Elizabeth Muhmood Kane (Bridal musings), Kristabel Plummer (I want you to know) and Sam Baker (The Pool).

Here they discussed about understanding your audience and your blog’s purpose. Something I found beneficial as it’s easy to be steered in the wrong direction. Being authentic is paramount when writing a blog.

INTAGRAM PANEL

A superstar panel that was enjoyable to watch and learn from. Grace Bonney (Design*Sponge), Allison Sadler (Make it Sewcial), Leona Thrift-Ola (Lucky Dip Club) and Benjamin Hole (Instagram famous Farmer).

I don’t have a great number of Instagram followers in comparison to many other bloggers, with it being a perfect way for people to share images and create communities, I wanted to learn more. It’s not just about follower numbers, it’s more about an online community and an extension of the blog.

– Create consistency and a visual identity.
– Find your tribe. Joining in with hashtag groups or connecting via comments.
– Schedule pics, Grace had a comprehensive and well tested schedule.
– What is your story?

STYLING WITH BETTY MAGAZINE

Charlotte Jacklin and Charlotte Melling from Betty Magazine talked through the style and vision of the magazine. Giving insight into how they work and style. We were then given a task to create a mini shoot, it was all very busy there and I created one shot which on my instagram account. A very minimal shot but I love it.

CLOSING KEYNOTE – ANTHONY PETERS , IMEUS

Anthony is a great creative and talked through the importance of ink and pixels, how traditional making methods are coming back to the forefront of design in this digital age.

He showed a short film that you must watch. MADE YOU LOOK

A room full of happy faces.

THE GOODY BAG

What a treat to go home with a bag of goodies! Plus the beautiful tote bag designed by the very cool Nikki McWilliams!

THE SATURDAY NIGHT PINTACULAR

To round up the day we partied at London’s West Elm with Pinterest. I must say I was flagging at this point, a glass of wine was much needed. There was food, crafts, shopping and lots of chatting with the other bloggers about what we learnt on the day.

I met some lovely people and will hopefully stay in touch with them all.

Thank you Blogtacular, Kat + Kat, for a fabulous day and thanks to these amazing sponsors too…

Annie Sloan, Cricut, Thomson, Mail Chimp, West Elm, Pinterest, One fine Stay, Mollie Makes, Laser Bean.

The list of things that I’ve learnt is as long as my arm and incredibly valuable too. I’ll be back next year!

H x

*Thanks to Mollie Makes for these official photos taken by Piers MacDonald *