Hellooo! :) Today’s Friday interview is with Steffi of herzekleid. :) We got to know each other through blogging last year and since then, we have always been in touch, exchanging mails and contributing guest posts to each other’s blogs. :)
Steffi’s blog is wonderful, her sewing skills are awesome, she always shows her pretty projects. Apart from sewing tutorials, she shares tasty recipes and gives insights into her everyday life, her blog’s soo much worth reading! :)

1. Please introduce yourself. :)
My name is Steffi, I’m 31 years old. I live in a rather small town in Austria with my boyfriend and our daughter (4 years old). At the moment I’m pregnant, we expect our son to be born at the beginning of September.
I studied German Literature, Educational Science and History of Art and worked in a few very different jobs. At the moment I’m staying at home with my child(ren).

2. Why and when did you start blogging?
When I wanted to learn how to sew, I started looking for sewing tutorials on the Internet. I soon stumbled over many sewing- or DIY- blogs. I really didn’t know that there were blogs like these, so I was very excited to read them and to find so much inspiration. What is more, I was fascinated that people share their knowledge and help each other. So after I spend more and more time reading such blogs (and improved my sewing skills), I decided that I wanted to do this myself. I started “herzekleid” (translation: like ‘hearty dress’) in January 2011 and have been enjoying blogging ever since.

3. How would you briefly describe your blog’s style and content? What is special about it?
I mostly blog about my sewing projects or other crafting projects. Because I love baking and cooking, I also like to share recipes. Moreover, you can get some glimpses at my other interests and hobbies or our family life.
I can’t really say what is special about my blog, but I try to be authentic and to write about the things I like and not to follow trends.

4. What is the best thing you have ever made / created / sewed / cooked / …? Please tell me about your best project and share a link!
This is really hard! In general, I’m very proud that my sewing skills have improved a lot over the last 2 years and that most of the things I sew are actually used in our every day life. On some days after grabbing some clothes out of the closet in the morning, I realize that many of those are handmade! Especially my daughter has lots of clothes I made for her.  When I look around our apartment, I find many handmade items, such as pillowcases and blankets in the living room, or oven mittens and aprons in the kitchen and my daughter plays with the toys I have sewn. This makes me very proud.
One thing I made which I love even more than I thought I would do is this patchwork blanket. When I made it, it was supposed to be a picnic blanket for summer, but now it’s on our couch all the year long. It’s so cozy and comfortable, I love the colors and patterns.

5. Concerning the creative part of your life, what is the best thing that has ever happened to you?
I’ve always loved to do crafts, loved painting and drawing and trying out creative techniques, even as a child. So I guess I was very lucky that my parents always encouraged me to do what I love and still do. And of course there is my boyfriend who believes in me and and helps me whenever I need him. I recently opened my own little shop on Dawanda – I think I would have never done this without his encouragement!

6. Who and / or what inspires you? Where do you get your inspiration from and how does your inspirational process look like?
I get inspiration from everything – from every day life and the things that surround me. Sometimes I see a nice pattern somewhere, interesting colors and shapes, a nice illustration…  or even a drawing by my daughter. Of course I also get inspired by other blogs and the projects that are shown there or by crafting books and magazines. But to be honest, I’m not at all good at following instructions, I always want to do it my way :-)
Because I always have more ideas than time to work on them, I keep several notebooks where I jot down my ideas and sketches in order not to forget anything.

7. How do you organize blogging? Do you always prepare your posts in advance or do you rather spontaneously post about what comes to your mind?
I blog about the things I really do. That means I don’t sew or bake anything because I want to show it on my blog, but I show the things on my blog I would have made anyway, even if I didn’t have a blog. So I don’t really plan my posts, they rather document the things I do. Sometimes, when many things I could blog about happen within a few days, I do not post them all at once, but save some topics for another time when I would not have many things to show otherwise.

8. How do you manage the balance between your family / private live and blogging / your creative live?
 As I said, I mostly blog about the things that happen in my everyday life or the things I do in my spare time. So if I wasn’t blogging, there would not be much difference, except for me taking photos of these things  – but I don’t think that disturbs my family a lot. Of course I often spend a lot of time in front of my computer and my daughter starts complaining because she wants me to play with her or to read something to her, but in general, I think I can manage the balance between family life and blogging quite well. I also tell myself that I only have to blog as often as I want to and that the whole thing really isn’t that important.

9. Please name three of your favorite blogs to share them with my readers and briefly tell me why you like them and what makes them worth reading.
19nullsieben: Selina sews wonderful things! I really like the colors and patterns she chooses and the fact that she has her own style. Somehow there is a special atmosphere at her blog.
Naturkinder : Caro has lots of beautiful ideas, posts many great tutorials and takes beautiful photos.
Tagtraeumerin: I love Laura’s colorful style, the amazing clothes she sews for herself and her DIY ideas and tutorials.

10. Please share links to three of your favorite DIY ideas or projects made by other people. :)
I really love this shelf.
I like whales and I like the combination of printing and stitching.
One day I have to make this top!

11. Is there anything really important you‘ve learned through blogging and do you have any useful advice for other bloggers?
Well, of course by reading (sewing) blogs I was able to improve my skills, I was introduced to many new ideas and I was also able to get to know some really nice people.
My humble advice for other bloggers is: Be yourself. I do not like blogs that copy other ones or do anything to get more readers. It gets boring very quickly if you see the same ideas on many blogs.

12. What is your biggest dream or most important goal you want to achieve?
This sounds like a cliché, but most important for me is that me and my family can live a happy life, that we are healthy and have everything we need. More than having a big career or a lot of money it’s important to me to spend time with the ones I love and to do the things I love as often as possible. Of course there are always some material wishes as well – for example we are currently looking for a new, bigger apartment, and I’m dreaming of maybe having a little garden.
Aside from that, I recently opened my shop on Dawanda where I sell handmade bags and other things. It has taken me quite a long time to find enough courage to do this, although I’ve been dreaming about it for a long time. I very much hope that my little shop will be rather successful and that other people like the things I do as much as me. I’m still looking for the perfect job for me – some kind of creative work would suit me best I think. One day being able to earn a living by doing the things I love would make me very happy.

Dear Steffi, thank you so much for this interview!!! :)
Dear readers, don’t forget to check out her awesome blog & shop – her cute woodland animal bags are to die for! <3 Happy Friday!

(All photos in this post belong to Herzekleid!)