Ashley Hackshaw is the owner, editor and designer behind a popular DIY and lifestyle blog, and also runs a sewing pattern and clothing line. She loves donuts, reality TV and doing something creative every day. Here we chat with Ashley to learn more about her blog, Lil Blue Boo (lilblueboo.com).
CW: How did you become interested in crafts, and why did you start blogging about them?
Ashley: My earliest memories are of my mother sewing and painting. I received my first sewing machine when I was 3, and I haven’t stopped crafting yet. Three years ago, I started my blog on a whim, after my girlfriends encouraged me to share my projects. Boo, our daughter, loaned me her nickname to use in my website’s title.
CW: How has your blog changed since you started?
Ashley: It began as a place to log my craft projects and then took a personal turn. Now, it’s more like a daily journal where I keep track of my interests and things I want to remember. For me, the hardest part of blogging is reining in all the topics. I seem to pick up a new hobby every week. Readers never know what they’re going to get.
CW: What is your blog’s mission?
Ashley: I want to encourage people to find their creative streak—whether it’s through photography, painting, quilting…or even accounting. I love it when I get an email from a reader showing a finished project they’re proud of. Also, I try to share a philosophy that’s helped me, “Choose Joy.” Sometimes, an inspiring quote is all you need to get through the day.
CW: What kind of relationships do you have with your followers? What posts or subjects have proven most popular?
Ashley: Lil Blue Boo has become a community where readers know and interact with each other. Our forum makes it easy for them to share tips, recent projects and ideas about everything from parenting to health. I’m always amazed by how appreciative DIY-ers are of my information. It keeps me motivated.
Some of my most popular projects are my Spin-spiration Folk Art (a wall-mounted lazy Susan that Boo can spin to pick her mood), an iPad cover that looks like a composition notebook and a dishtowel skirt.
CW: How do you balance blogging with family life?
Ashley: Blogging is my job and my business, and my husband and daughter are my life. They’ve become accustomed to seeing me with a camera in hand. Every little event becomes a blog story. It’s fun to look back a year and see what we were up to on a particular day.
CW: Why did you decide to share your experience with cancer in your blog?
Ashley: I’m mostly an open book and never thought twice about sharing my journey with cancer. That’s why I launched the Cancer Chronicles part of my blog. I’ve written about what chemo feels like and even posted a video of me shaving off my hair. I hope it will help someone who might be going through something similar. I don’t want to waste this experience.
(Web Bonus: Check out Ashley’s craft tutorials for pom-pom socks for kids and how to make a paperweight & coaster.)
For more information about Ashley and her blog, visit her at Lil Blue Boo.
Photos by Ashley Hackshaw.