FK Guest Contributor Jade Suine chats to Justine creator of paper artistry blog Upon a Fold

Tell us a little about your blog and why you started it?
My blog is all about paper; paper products, paper artists, paper exhibitions, paper shops, paper-craft and just about anything and everything to do with paper. I started the blog because it seemed like the best way to connect with other paperphiles. There is a large paper-loving community out there and I felt like I had so much to share.

Is there a pattern in your posting habits?
My posting habits are definitely random. I try to blog as often as I can, but basically it comes down to whenever I have a spare moment, which is usually late at night or in the early hours of the morning. For me it’s like keeping a diary, it is nice to have somewhere to refer back to for inspiration of the paper kind.

Do you have any tips or hints about successfully running your own blog that you would like to share?
I love reading blogs that predominantly post original content, rather than content found via other blogs. This motivates me to try and do that myself and as an example I recently blogged about my trip to Tokyo, sharing information about paper shops and other places of interest. The response was great and many people began emailing me to say they had booked tickets to Tokyo based solely on those posts. To me that was unbelievable! My blogging tip would be to post unique material as much as possible. Links are important too, be sure to provide them so your readers can delve further into the subject if they wish.

How has blogging impacted your own paper work?
Part of my work is running the Upon a Fold online paper shop and the blog helps bring in new customers as well as allowing me to announce when new products have been added to the store, (both of which help keep the shop running). On a more creative level though, the blog inspires me each day. I wouldn’t call myself a paper artist, I’m a graphic designer, but I work with paper everyday and via the blog I have discovered so many amazing artists and designers creating with paper in ways I thought were impossible. Sometimes I’ll look at an object and wonder how it could possibly be made of paper? Fewer boundaries means more experimentation, and realising you’ve created something quite beautiful by mistake is a wonderful thing! Since starting the blog I’d say I’ve definitely learnt to experiment more with my work.

What do you love most about blogging?
I love that I can share all my favourite papery things with thousands of people all over the world in a just matter of minutes. I don’t think I will ever cease to find that amazing.

Can you share with us your 5 favourite blogs?
Selecting only 5 is hard, as I have so many favourite blogs and am discovering new ones everyday. Today my top 5 would be the following, for a few different reasons. They are all beautiful, honest and unaffected. They are colourful, original and thoughtful too. Sometimes I feel like I need a reminder to just relax when I’m blogging and be myself. These bloggers all do that so well.

Anna Emilia  annaemilial.blogspot.com
Grijs grijs.blogspot.com
Anja Mulder anmulder.blogspot.com
Itis Edition  itisedition.blogspot.com
Karen Barbe blog.karenbarbe.com

uponafold.com.au/blog