Learning the Lingo

I recently was speaking to another crafter and realized that there is some lingo that if you are new to the Internet Crafting World you might not be aware of . . . look at me talking like I am some “veteran” . . . my blog is just a toddler compared to most!

I told this person that I would be happy to help her learn the lingo . . . sort of a Crafting Blog 101.  Her and I both laughed in our conversation saying that we needed anything to do with the computer “dumbed down” so that we could understand it.  I told her that my husband is a computer programmer and I often have to say to him “Explain it to me like I am a 3 year old” because he starts talking computer and all I hear is “blah, blah, blah”

Anyway, I am willing to help anyone with questions they have.  Feel free to post them to the comments of this post and I can do a entire blog entry to answer your question.

Question for today:  What is a Blog Hop?

A blog hop is when several bloggers get together and on the same day they post a project, normally with the same “theme”.   Think of it like following a trail . . . the first place that you go for the start of the hop is the Host or Organizer of the hop.  They will show you a project and then at the end of their post they will usually say something like

“And now I am sending you off to Melissa’s Blog so you can see what she created”

and include a link to the next blogger in the line up . . . the second stop on the trail.

When you get to that blog there will be another project for the same theme and then at the end it will send you to another blog, so you end up “hopping” from one blog to the next. It is a great way to find some new blogs you might not have known about, or to see how several different people would create something off the same theme.

The length of the hop, or number of stops in the hop, is usually decided on by the Host or Organizer.  I like hops that have around 10 blogs in them so that you get a variety of projects, but it does not get too long . . . can you imagine hopping around to 30 blogs!?!?!  That is more of a blog marathon than a hop!

There are several ways to be a part of a Blog Hop

Organize your own hop

This is what Melissa and I did with our Disney Pixar Blog Hop.

We both love Disney, so we found a group of talented crafters and brought them together for our first hop.  That was so much fun that we did it again, and added a second day so that we could involve even more great crafters.  Now we are getting ready for our THIRD Disney Pixar Blog Hop.  We even have a Facebook Page for people who are fans of our hops so that they can be the FIRST to know when we set a date for our next hop.  (By the way, the date for the next one is September 24th and 25th)

Look for others who are organizing hops and ask to be a stop in their hop

– I found a group on Facebook this weekend for Pre-Blog Hop planning.  There are a lot of people on this group that will announce when they are thinking about doing a hop, and the theme of the hop, and ask for people that would like to join and be stops in the hop.  If you don’t want to organize your own this would be a good group to be a part of so that you can connect with others and be a stop in a hop.  Here is a link to the group.

Just hop –

Even if you are not a stop in the hop, you can still enjoy the fun!  Go to the blogs in the hop and see their projects and get inspiration for YOUR next project.  You will have a lot of fun seeing what everyone created, and there are usually prizes along the way that you can sign up to win, which are referred to as Blog Candy.

By the way, if you are looking for a hop to give you some inspiration, I happen to be in a hop tomorrow!

I was recently added to the Getting Cricky Design Team, and TOMORROW is our Let’s Get Cricky Blog Hop.  I hope that you will stop back tomorrow to see what I have created, and then hop along to see projects by the rest of the design team.

I hope that answered your questions on what a Blog Hop is, and how you can be a Hop Stop or a Happy Hopper who just visits the blogs in the hop.