Can you believe that this time six years ago I was a budding blogger who couldn’t wait to get their thoughts down on paper? I’ve come a long way since then and even though I cringe slightly when I looked back at old posts, I haven’t the heart to delete them as they’re a reminder of why I started. Sure my photos were badly taken on an even worse camera phone, but who cares?
I was starting to get really emotional about this blog; despite my ups and downs I am really, really happy that I decided to blog. If it wasn’t for blogging I wouldn’t have met so many amazing people and wouldn’t have a clue about SEO (I still don’t really have a clue about it) and it’s just such a good way to get all of my chaotic thoughts out of my head. I feel so much lighter if I write everything down!
So I decided to compile all of my blogging highlights, whether it’s to do with my blog or what my blog lead me to do if that makes sense (it probably doesn’t). I’ve done my best to do this in time order, but some things might’ve gotten messed up!
Table of Contents
01. Writing my first ever post
It all began with my first ever post (obviously). I had blogged a little bit before I tried out Blogger but it wasn’t very good (it was awful) so the highlight of my “blogging life” was actually typing out “Hi I’m Lizzie and I’m a gyaru from the U.K”. Nothing has changed since – 6 years on and I’m still me and I still love gyaru.
02. Meeting other people for the first time
Blogging led me to more U.K gyaru which actually led me to meeting up with people that I had no idea who they were. It was the first time I hung out with people that I didn’t know from school, and it was scary. In a good way, of course, and sure my partner did tag along to keep me company *cough*tokeepmesafe*cough* but from then onwards I got more confident and got sucked into the gyaru community. Last year I went to my first ever gyaru meetup abroad! Fingers crossed I can go to more before I get old and boring.
03. Publishing my first gifted review
Oborocharms were the first company to ever sponsor (well, gift me an item) back in 2012, and I am forever grateful that they gave me the chance to do a review! They provided the stepping stone I needed to do more in future, and soon I was doing sponsored posts for circle lens (yes, I did wear them once upon a time…) and more!
04. Launching my first ever giveaway
Once I reached 300+ followers I decided to launch my own giveaway, and little did I know that it was going to become really successful! I reached out to Oborocharms and Mukuchu to sponsor some goodies (thank you so much!) and had enough prizes to announce two winners, one of which later became my very close friend!
05. Reaching 1000 followers on GFC
300 slowly turned into 1000, and I couldn’t believe it. I had no idea that people actually liked reading my blogged so I carried on, and my teenage obsession grew into what might very well be a long-term thing. I have swapped GFC with Bloglovin’, and can’t wait to grow my following and discover new blogs on there!
06. Setting up my own domain name
mysticthorn.blogspot.com then changed to just mysticthorn.com (which has recently become hellolizziebee.com) and I haven’t looked back! I am so happy that I have my own domain and it feels as if I have more control over it. This is my blog, not anyone elses!
07. Giving my blog a makeover
This happened at around the same time that I set up a domain name. I stripped back my light blue and sparkly leopard print background and went with pale pink and white pattern with crowns in it. I’ve most recently given my blog another makeover, stripping it back even further into what it looks like now. Now I feel more free, and that I could do any style I want and focused more on my content.
08. Writing my first review with Kawaii Gyaru Shop
I’m so glad that Kawaii Gyaru Shop reached out to me to do sponsored posts, and they are by far my favourite sponsors. Not only are they really nice but they’re very efficient and have great attention to detail. I can’t recommend them enough! They’re my go-to store for all things cute and Liz Lisa. Aside from that, I’ve learnt so much from working with Kawaii Gyaru Shop such as learning new ways to advertise without being super sales-y.
09. Picking up my DSLR
It’s strange to think how long I’ve avoided using a DSLR – it has definitely improved my photos and I’ve been thinking a lot more about composition and using props in my beauty shots. I still take selfies on my phone but nothing beats the quality of the camera. I’m going to invest in a tripod soon for outfit posts, and to move away from taking selfies.
10. Meeting up with bloggers
This is fairly recent, and it was the time when I met up with Fii and Han. I’ve known them on Twitter for a while but haven’t actually met them before, so when I saw them it was like I was a newbie all over again. There were so many things I didn’t know about the blogging world, and even though I’m still too shy to actually attend a blogger meet I was really happy to meet these two.
6 years has been a good run, and I can’t wait for many more years to come!
What are your blogging highlights?
Is there anything your thankful for? I really can’t wait to create more memorable moments… I’m tempted to do this post in a few years time and keep building up on it.
Until next Sunday ♡
Lizzie Bee xx
What do you think?