Shortly after my mom was diagnosed with dementia (I've written about that here and here), I read that one way to fight its onset is to keep your brain busy by always learning something new.
I decided to take that to heart…
I started looking for topics that interested me, and at around the same time I came across some beautiful, inspiring home decor blogs.
Honestly, I didn't even know what a blog was until then! Soon after, with plenty of nudging from my friend Kim (thanks, Kim!), I started one of my own.
I fell in love with blogging and quickly decided it would be my “learn something new” project.
{source}
{Me, too, Johnny!!!}
Blogging has not only pushed me to be more creative (and actually finish projects!), it has also opened my eyes to graphic design, blog design, and “techy” topics I'd never heard of before!
At first I googled every little question I had and hunted down tutorials until I figured things out. Later I moved my Blogger blog over to WordPress using an e-book (you can read about that steep learning curve here and here).
Now I'm always on the lookout for courses or posts that can teach me more. Here are some of my favorites (most aren't free, but keep an eye out for sales now and then).
1. Shoot Fly Shoot's Photography 101 and 201. I've recommended these before. Pictures are one of the first things that catch people's attention on a blog, and I want to get better at taking good ones!
2. Shoot Fly Shoot's Room Makeovers with Photoshop. I bought this when it was half price and haven't had a real chance to dig in yet, but I've loved what I've watched so far.
3. Emily's Simplified Graphic Design.
I LOVED this course and watched and practiced every lesson. If you're interested in graphic design and have no idea where to start with Illustrator, this is the place to go. Having every topic I wanted in one course saved me a huge amount of time, since hunting for tutorials on specific problems can eat up hours.
4. Debi's “Improve Your Blog in 10 Minutes a Day” 31-day series is what I'm working through right now, and I'm loving it!
If you're interested, head over to Debie's blog now for the details. On November 1st it becomes an e-book that you'll have to pay for.
As I said earlier, you can usually find free tutorials on most topics, but sometimes it's nice to simply take a “class”.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links.
