FK Guest Contributor Jade Suine chats to Kelly of the sisterly duo behind the Made By White & Friends blog

Tell us a little about your blog and why you started it?
We started our blog a few years back as a way to share what we do behind the scenes of Made By White. Really though, it’s turned into a place where we can post about things we love, new products, inspiring ideas and people we like! We are both into a lot of different things, so generally it is a good mix of vintage finds, cute animals, artists we admire or just about anything we both love.

How does sharing the blog work for you, do you consult with each other before posting content?
Sharing a blog works really well as we both like the same and different things, so the content varies and it also means we post when we both have time. We don’t need to consult with each other on the blog because we’re sisters and work pretty well together. I know neither of us would have a problem with anything that ends up on the blog because we have similar interests and views on what really matters to us.

What do you love most about blogging?
Getting a nice response from people regarding your blog and the things you make is always really great, especially when you share things from your life or big events. In particular, the support we got from our blog post regarding a store in the UK copying one of our most beloved designs was very encouraging and it was so nice to see everyone was as worked up and angry about it as we were, especially the people who owned the original brooch by us! Sometimes it takes things like that happening for you to realise just how many people love what you do, it is very humbling and exciting at the same time.

How influential is the product feedback that you receive through your blog?
We have a really nice regular crowd who read our blog and give us feedback on new things we create, which is really encouraging and lovely to hear. In general we create the things we want to create and don’t worry about what the response will be because at the end of the day all we can do is hope there will be someone out there who will love it as much as we do, and usually there is!

Do you have any tips or hints about successfully running your own blog that you would like to share?
Blog lots and blog about what’s important to you. Don’t try to please people with what you share, just put it out there and wait for like-minded people to find you! It also helps if you take lots of interesting photos to document what you’re blogging about.

Is there a pattern in your posting habits?
We post randomly when we can find the time, but generally a few times a week on average. We both have side projects and day jobs, so life is always very busy, but we try to keep a lookout for anything we think could be good blog material.

Your blog contains a lot of inspiration from your everyday lives; has blogging made you take more notice of the visual candy around you?
Having a blog means you are always looking for things to share with your audience and it’s also a really great way of sharing big events in a way you otherwise wouldn’t. We both recently went overseas and sharing it on the blog was so much fun because a lot of friends and family read it too and knew exactly what we had done that week without us having to tell them. As well as that we always try to think of things our fans might find interesting about our everyday lives and our small adventures; as a result you do notice things you otherwise wouldn’t appreciate.

What are your top 5 favourite blogs and why?
A Beautiful Mess is by far the most inspiring and beautifully photographed blog I read. Elsie Flannigan has recently opened her, (and my), dream vintage clothing/cupcake/handmade shop and I can hardly contain my envy and awe at what she has done with it and what she gets done on a weekly basis.

Other blogs we love include: Inside a Black Apple, Georgie Love, The Ever Dazzling, The Lark
Meet Me at Mikes, Doe-C-Doe, Design *Sponge, and of course The Finders Keepers!

www.madebywhite.com/blog