Beth Sugarblur: blogger

Outfit / Sleeves of the summer

, by Beth

Writer's Block: 10 easy things to blog about when you're feeling lazy

I'm writing this now becauase I am going through one of those phases where I am completely stuck on what to blog about. I haven't posted in a while and feel bad for neglecting my blog in favour of university and work lately, and now I'm too busy to create big set ups and can't be bothered to take pictures for an outfit post. I've been looking for inspiration from other blogs, Pinterest etc and now have a few ideas I can make happen over the next few posts. Since I was looking for help, I thought I'd make a post offering that help to my future lazy-blogger self. Hopefully someone else can benefit from this list too.

1. Latest buys or month favourites

This can just be a mini haul of everything you have bought recently. If you're strapped for time or bother, just pick your favourite buys, readers aren't going to mind if you forget to picture your Head & Shoulders shamp. If you're feeling super lazy, lay our your items on a clear space (I like to use the wooden flooring and turn it white using Facetune), take a group shot for the head image and maybe zoom in on a couple of the products for a few extra pics. Bash in a few opinions and post! Quick and easy!

2. Life hacks

Maybe you've come across a really cool idea that makes your life a little bit easier, or a cheap and easy way to make your bedroom look hella' marble, share it with your readers! I'm actually planning a post about thrifting and upcycling. This is really easy as it doesn't require much thought, just a quick explanation of whatever your hack is and maybe a picture or two. If it is something you can't physically picture, lay out of couple of your posessions or pretty products. If it is to do with blogging, maybe include your laptop, iPad, a notebook and pen or something like that - love all that stationary shiz.

3. Going somewhere?

If you're going on holiday or just a weekend away, while you're packing, take some pictures! I love to see what people take away with them and how they do this. With spring/summer coming along, this is gonna be a post most of us are gonna wanna read and create.

4. Been somewhere?

Whether it was just a trip out for the day, visiting a beach, a country walk or a shopping day, take some snaps, upload them all and give your readers a little diary entry about your day out. If you want, take an outfit post to go with it. If you can't do it yourself with a tripod or something, just get someone else to take it. I find simply turning away from the camera, looking into the distance or into a shop window, is a quick and easy way to get a decent outfit post without having to endure 100's of retakes because your lipstick wasn't on right.

5. Review something unusual

If you're used to reviewing makeup products and are getting fed up with the usual 'it blends well, it's pigmented' etc, which can get a bit repetative and uninspiring, do a special review on something completely different. In the past I have reviewed my dressing table with lots of pictures and added links to matching or similar items from the place I bought it from. Also try camera reviews, if you think you produce HQ photographs, tell everyone about it, I'm sure there would be someone wondering how you get such great images.

6. Your favourite apps

Show readers how you edit your pictures, include screenshots or maybe a video on how you use the apps. Demonstrate what features the app has, show before and after images. This one may take a little longer if you choose to go all out, but you can make this post as detailed or brief as you like. I think people are always interested in how people edit their pictures, so I'm sure this would be a big hit if you're stuck on what to post next.

7. Wishlist

A major cop out but a really easy post to throw together in a couple of minutes. You don't even need to take any pictures! Have a browse on some clothes websites, decor stores or even holiday sites, screen shot or save the image and slap it right into your blog post with a big 'I WANT'! I am a bit dismissive with this sort of post, but if you have an active readership, it could be quite helpful to someone who is looking for something - you may just introduce them to the right place. This could also work for a gift guide. If you don't want to disturb the look of your blog with someone else's images, next time you go shopping take some pictures of things you like and put them in the post instead.

8. Outfit post without the fit

Again, if you're looking for a relatively quick way to update your blog but don't want to be bothered with dressing up, putting your best makeup on etc, then grab your outfit selections and lay them out on the floor instead. I like to use some marble or white wood effect vinyl just spread on the floor as my backdrop for this. You can get it from Wilko or Amazon or eBay for about £5. You could lay the clothes out properly or neatly fold them. Since getting some of those copper hangers from Primark, it looks nice to hang outfits from those on a rail or off the top of a wardrobe. Easy!

9. Bedroom/home tour

This is a super easy one because the things you're going to be picturing are already set up! Literally just go around whatever room and take some close up snaps of any sweet little trinkets and ornaments as well as a wide angle view of the whole room. I recently did this with my bedroom and it worked well for a quick and easy post. If you don't want to do it on your own house, check out a furniture shop like Next or Dunelm and take some photos of how they have set out their home products for some inspo.

10. Vent about an issue

I'm doing a masters course and I've come across a subject I'm really interested in about how social media actually makes us unhappy (ironic, I know), so I'm going to take a few sections out of my recent essay on this matter and post onto here as I think it is really interesting. Maybe think about what interests you, perhaps a news story has recently sparked your attention or something you've experienced at work or school that you thought was or wasn't fair or good. Just type it into Google and do a little research, no need to go deep into the scholary sites like I have to with uni, but have a look at a couple articles and put together your own article, venting your own opinions or frustrations with whatever you've chosen. I think it is all too easy to post about the latest foundation, your newest skirt, where you're off to on holiday. Just have a go at talking about something a little less materialistic and see what happens.

I think the key to blogging is producing high quality content, so by no means do these suggestions suggest to get any old crap out there just to make a post. There are ways in which you can create a good looking, well informative blog post without having to put in a whole day's worth of effort - not all of us are full time bloggers. Hopefully these suggestions on what to post when you're super stuck will help inspire you to post something great with ease.

What is your go-to post when you have the dreaded blogger's block?

Do you have any more suggestions?

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, by Beth

In blogger, blogger hacks

How to maintain a consistent looking Instagram

Over the past few months, I've slowly (finally) transformed my Instagram into a theme that I feel is working well for me. I've had many compliments and lots of questions asking me how I get it to look how it does. So I thought I'd write a short how-to guide explaining how to create a consistent, professional looking Insta.

Pick a filter and stick to it

This is probably the most important step I like to follow. I think something that instantly makes an Insta look better and more professional is if all the photos have the same filter applied to them. So whether you choose a filter with a lot of blue tones, black and white, whatever, your account will instantly flow better and be more pleasing to the eye if the content is matching in this way.

How to pick a filter

I wouldn't pick a filter that requires you to apply something like 5 colour filters from 3 different apps and then adjust 10 different photo editing options - it's just gonna take far too long every time and you're gonna get fed up with it very quickly. I use one colour filter and then use FaceTune to turn any backgrounds in my pictures black and white. I've gone for this look because I think it mades the central object really pop out and also makes my instagram look really clean and comfortable to look at. Then I simply use the features in the Instagram photo edit to add a bit of structure, sharpen etc. It is effective and easy to do, so I recommend choosing something simplistic like that.

I find it best to apply a fairly neural filter too. You can really over do the editing with too much contrast or brightness etc and the image will end up looking really unnatural and over edited.

Backgrounds
By this I mean the backdrop of your photos. Since I edit my photos to look nice and white, I tend to only picture things that have bright backdrops to help with the editing process. For example, I probably wouldn't post a night time shot because it would be too much of a contrast to my other images.

Angles
I think it is nice to experiment with different angles with your camera. Even though I want my Insta to look consistent, I also want it to look natural. Instead of taking all of your pictures from above with the feature object dead on centre all the time, try experimenting with different angles so viewers don't get bored of your account. Even by just crouching down and positioning your object to the far left will help you mix up the angle of your images.

Image content
If you're a blogger and your sole focus is makeup or shoes or whatever, it is best to fill 80% of your Instagram with images relating to your chosen topic. This helps to build an audience as they will begin to recognise your account and style with your chosen focus. If you don't have a particular content focus, I think it is even more crucial that you get a consistent theme going.

Camera choice
To keep my Instagram looking as professional as possible, I only use the camera on my iPhone 6S+ or Lumix Camera(s). So I wouldn't really post an image using SnapChat as I think it makes my account look less blogger and more 'personal account' - I've got @BethChx for that! These camera choices also keep images of a nice quality.

These are just some of the tips I like to think about when updating my Insta. I'm not saying it is wrong to have a 'non consistent' account, this is just some simple tips for those who are looking to improve theirs! The main thing is to be unique and create an account that is a true reflection of you. If that means using a different filter every day, taking pictures of your holidays one minute to daft photos of your dog the next, then go for it!! I think it is often too easy to ask how someone edits their pictures and just apply it to yours, have a mess around with some editing apps and try to create your own look. Here are some apps I love:

- VSCO: some lush filters, lots of editing tools
- Snapseed: nitty gritty editing e.g white backgrounds
- Facetune: nitty gritty editing e.g white backgrounds, removing blemishes
- Afterlight: good filters, lots of editing tools
- PhotoWonder/MakeupPlus: for sorting out any makeup mistakes (careful not to overdo this one)
- Phonto: Adding text like watermarks, announcements etc
- Layout: adds frames or multiple picture collages