Whew! The Blogger to WordPress transfer is complete and I’m attempting my very first post on WordPress. There is a story behind why I decided to switch to a self-hosted WP site. The short version being that I woke up one day, logged on to my computer and when I tried to access my blog all I saw was a message shouting at me, “This content has been removed”! There was a moment of heart dropping terror, followed by a frantic Internet search for answers, followed by a resigned, “Oh well, I’ve only lost over a years worth of hard work . . . ! For some unknown reason, my blog came back after a few hours and I decided that the WP transfer I’d been talking about needed to happen sooner rather than later. Now, I don’t want to badmouth Blogger. I love Google and I use it every day. Let’s just suffice to say that with a self-hosted site no one can shut me down. What do you think Mr. OTN, is that a good thing or a bad thing?

So let’s get started with my first post. I’ll begin by adding a picture right here:

Hey! It came up! I must admit that figuring out how to size this picture took a bit of time but once I got the settings plugged in all of the other pics came up just the size I wanted them. So, what do you think of this “plasterish” piece of wall art I found at Goodwill? The original $49.99 price tag was still on it but I only paid $6.99. The color was a little dirty looking so I thought it might be fun to try using Gesso to create the Old World Finish that the amazing Rosemary at Villa Barnes is so adept at. I followed her step-by-step instructions.

I began by painting over the grime with Home Made Chalk Paint Recipe #3 in the color Myth by Behr Paints . You can find that recipe HERE.

Then I slathered on the Gesso (this product is used to prepare canvas and other surfaces to receive paint and can be found at any craft supply store).

I wiped it off before it could dry with an old t-shirt, leaving behind the Gesso that had settled into the crevices.

So simple and the look is totally different, don’t you think?

I think it now looks more like a piece of carved stone than plaster.

She looks so pretty behind my kitchen stove but alas, she cannot stay. This is just one more thing that will go along with me to the French Flea.

The contents of my booth are growing one item at a time.

Okay, well my first post in WP was a little time consuming but not too bad, especially since it was just little ol’ me trying to figure things out all by myself! There are still a few bugs to work out and there will definitely be a lot of new things to learn, just like there was with Blogger. I’m still trying to get used to my new look but that is something I can easily play around with (believe me, I’ve changed the background and script color dozens of times already). One feature I LOVE is that all my posts are truncated on the Home Page so that you can scroll down and see snippets of previous posts along with a thumbnail pic, and a button to “read more”.

All the credit for the Blogger to WP transfer goes to Kristi Linauer of Addicted2Decorating (Yay Kristi!). The whole process took her only one evening! The time that has elapsed since then has been me, wading through WP trying to figure things out. I’ve actually been able to customize several things all by myself. It’s funny . . . I always tell people that I’m not computer savvy because of my being of an older vintage . . . but now . . . what once seemed so foreign to me is really beginning to click. When I talk to other people (even young people) about HTML, widgets, etc. they often give me a blank look. I think I’m going to have to stop declaring myself a non-techy! WP really isn’t harder, it is just different, and the options for customizing my blog are endless. I’m sure I’ll be asking Kristi to fine tune a few things for me along the way but I’m feeling really good about becoming somewhat of a DIYer on the computer 🙂

Blessings to you,

P.S. I’m still trying to figure out how to get comments to show up in my email so I can respond directly. Please be patient with me as I’m really not intentionally ignoring you!