Cripes has February has wizzed past in the blink of an eye. Once again we're nearing the end of the month and I thought I'd finish it off by sharing a nifty little round up of February posts on Sprinkle of Glitter. It's been a good'un!
February on Sprinkle of Glitter an introduction to my husband, Matt. It's not often I'll dedicate an appreciation post to the man in my life, but this month Matt has certainly come up trumps on the husband scale and I could not resist sharing his wonderful ways with you HERE. This month Matt also filmed his very first vlog for Sprinkle of Chatter which you can watch that HERE. Isn't he a dreamboat? Haha.
'My iPhone life' returned this month on Sprinkle of Glitter and I'm pleased as punch that you enjoy seeing these little snippits of my life as much as I enjoy capturing them. I shared with you HERE some iPhone snaps I had taken throughout January whilst I enjoyed the adventures of being mummy, friend and Youtuber.
Matt made another appearance this month, this time as my sweet Valentine. You can read it HERE. He truly gives me all the warm and fuzzies and I'm a lucky, lucky lady!
There's another important, smaller, person I am lucky to have in my life, Baby Glitter. I contemplated sharing a post about motherhood being my crowning moment of glory in life, but instead I wrote about what I've learnt as a mama since bringing a teenytiny into the world, built in alarm clock included. You can read about my thoughts on motherhood HERE.
Finally I discussed the whole shibang behind creating a Youtube video, yummy snacks and all! If you're curious about the process of creating Youtube videos, the set up involved or the all important props I use then you can read my 'behind the scenes' post HERE. I hope it was helpful for ya!
And that was my February! Let's hope March brings us some sunnier skies, eh?
Toodlepip!
xx
Contributor - Louise
To find new ways to stalk me or learn about my disclosure policy, click HERE.
Today I'm going to talk about something that usually slips through the net- making videos for YouTube. Obviously the videos themselves don't slip through, they are proudly sat on my channel waiting for you to graciously give them a few minutes of your time, but the process of making them and the things done to get to completion are so rarely discussed, I thought I would talk really candidly about the whole shibang.
I figure that if I find it really interesting, someone else might and if that's you then hooray. Mission accomplished.
The video we are using as our case studio today is THIS Valentines Get Ready With Me (GRWM) which I uploaded on Sunday 31st of January and at time of writing this has over 375,000 views. Happy days.
I didn't realise this snap hadn't been taken but it's kind of perfect for this post. I'm going to use it as a little map to show you all the things you wouldn't know just from watching the video (featured below).
1. Two things about this little spot:
Firstly, see that pink Polaroid? It was gifted to me by a lovely gal I had the pleasure of hanging out with a couple of years ago at a YouTube gathering and also featured twice in the video. First at 0.17 minutes in and then 2.11. Fun fact for you - the picture I was shaking and that you then see developed is actually Katie Snooks filming the video. Originally it was just a nod to each other because we thought it was nifty but now the secret's out and you know too!
Secondly, notice how stiff my left arm is as I intro the video? That's because my bottom was perched on the edge of the teal cabinet and I thought it was about to collapse. We shot that part with very tense thighs and a silent prayer that I didn't crash and break it, haha.
2. This is Katie Snooks or 'Snoozey' as I like to call her. She works for my management company but also runs her own blog and YouTube channel. Since GRWM videos aren't as static as sit down vlogs, she offered to come up from London and film it for me, which I was super grateful of. She filmed using my camera which is the canon 70D with a EFS 17-55mm lens. It was shot on manual mode and I stupidly forgot to turn the stabilise button on. You live and learn. The whole reason the picture above was taken was to demonstrate what a little dot Snoozey is. Either that or I'm a giant. You decide.
3. Darcy dolly debris. As well as filming videos I am a Mama so aim to film whilst she is napping or with family. On this day though my step mum and aunties were unavailable to take her on adventures so my step sister Hollie kindly came round and played with her downstairs. Obviously though, I can't keep my hands off the little squidge and regular cuddles and plays were in order. Next time you see a cut in my videos, chances are there has been a little Darcy playtime in between.
4. Beauty junk. In the video you can see the wires of the hair tools I didn't end up using and I'm annoyed about this. Whenever I watch it back I wish I had moved them before the camera was turned on but alas, you can't win everything. Also in that video I had all my makeup to my right which felt REALLY unnatural and there are about sixty billion edited out clips of me saying, 'ooh it's weird having it all here'. Fun factoid for you there. If you're planning on making a video, ensure you have EVERYTHING to hand before filming. You will be so glad of your preparation.
5. The set up. This is probably the most important part of the making process and something I still mess up on a regular basis! When filming upstairs I always sit in front of my window at around 11.30am as this is when it's bright but not direct sunlight-burning-your-eyes-out bright. To really make the most of the available light I scrunch the curtains up out the way- not ideal but yanno. I use a Hama Star 75 tripod to keep my camera where I want it and usually that's it. For beauty videos I need a mirror and so end up taking a little trolly thing I bought in a vintage shop last year, loading on a few boxes and then popping my mirror on top. So professional!! If I did more beauty videos, I would invest in something a little more substantial but for now, this higgle piggle option works fine.
^^The video we're chatting about ^^
Tip! Social Media
Once your video is live, you're going to want to talk about it on social media. Be mindful of this during the video making process and be efficient. For example, take pictures on your smartphone as you go, that you can use for twitter, facebook, instagram etc or 'live tweet/instagram/facebook' as you do it (eg. "Excited to be filming my new video!") so that your audience know what to expect and can (hopefully) look forward to it.
Other things I try to do on filming days are have plenty of drinks and yummy snacks to hand (if someone is helping you film then they'll be glad of them too!), leave myself plenty of time so you eradicate any sense of panic (things are easily fluffed when you're in that mood) and write little bullet points of what's important to be in the video so you don't forget anything.
I am absolutely no expert at making videos for YouTube (or anything haha) but I thought it might be nice to share some of my experiences and things I've learnt over the years.
If you have any questions about anything I've talked about, do ask as I'd be happy to do another post answering all your queries!
Was that useful or interesting? I hope so!
Toodlepip!
xx
Contributor - Louise
To find new ways to stalk me or learn about my disclosure policy, click HERE.
The last Monday of February. Woah there. Next month will be a quarter through the year already! Are you sticking to your New Year Resolutions? I'm just about hanging in there!
I think a great many people can correctly call themselves creative as creativity takes a great many forms. You might be gifted with a paintbrush, a dab hand at DIY or able to read music like letters. All of these things require you to let your imagination go with an idea, dream up something new or challenge the status quo. And yet all of the above take bravery and courage.
Sometimes when you find something you are really good at, you are praised for it. This in turn makes you do more of the thing that earns you praise and so you go round in a very comfortable cycle of loveliness. But what about when you want to try something new? You might really want to give something a go because it interests you or you think it will be worthwhile but you're afraid that you will fail or that you will be mocked or unsupported.
Take comfort in the fact that this is a problem that has been faced by squillions of creative people before you and most certainly you will not be the last.
When I first started Sprinkle of Glitter the YouTube channel, my Auntie said in a really scathing tone, 'Why do you feel the need to do this?'. It hurt. It hurt really deeply. It was one of those things that I remember perfectly to this day. Where I was sitting, what I was doing, the time of day, everything. I was so taken aback that my new exciting, creative hobby was being put to the test in that manner that I meekly mumbled something about, 'because it's quite fun' and ended my call.
Four years later and it's a very different story. Thank goodness.
Despite being slightly wounded at the start of my ongoing creative journey, I carried on. It took a fair bit of courage (and a few more hurtful comments from a few more people) but it paid off. Whether you measure success in financial terms, enjoyment or simply completion of something you set out to do, have courage.
Have the courage to continue on your own path. Have the courage to not follow in someone else's footsteps but, if you want, to make your own. Try new things. Embrace and uplift other people. Be kind to yourself. And most of all, don't listen to naysayers.
This week, I'd like you to do one extra creative thing. I say 'extra' because you might already have some planned so this has to be as well as those. Do it with wild abandon and full passion. If it's something you can photograph, please do tag me (@Sprinkleofglitr) on Instagram so I can delight in it with you.
