I first started blogging on Blogger over 8 1/2 years ago. It was easy to set up, there were plenty of themes available, and most importantly, it was free to use. As time passed and my blog grew larger, I moved over to WordPress.org. There I was able to grow and customize my site even more, eventually adding my own e-commerce shop, where I sold tote bags, patterns, and knitwear.
I loved the options and freedom that running a website on WordPress.org allowed me to have. I was excited about being able to combine the Mama Michie’s Musings blog and Noby Designs e-commerce shop in one place. In addition, I liked that I wasn’t locked into a certain look and that only my coding abilities stopped me from making any changes I felt were necessary (but even there I had help, thanks to my husband who is a Software Engineer).
All of that freedom was wonderful, but it’s not free and there’s a price that gets paid yearly.
Fast forward a few years, and we’re once again at the point where hosting fees are due. As much as I liked having everything under one roof, so to speak, I felt that having everything together was also holding me back. That’s why I’ve decided to separate Noby Designs from Mama Michie’s Musings and give them each their own space on their own WordPress.com site.
Hopefully, the change won’t affect you, as the reader, too much. What this means for me, though, is that I will no longer be self-hosted, so no more hosting fees!! Yay! Since I haven’t been writing as regularly as in years past, I just couldn’t justify the cost of self-hosting at this time.
I’ll admit that I was afraid that I’d have to move back to Blogger. That wouldn’t have necessarily been a bad thing, but transferring 6+ years of posts and media back over would have been a nightmare. I found another option, though, and have decided to move forward!
What this also means for me is that I no longer have to worry about mixing family posts with “shop talk”. While it may not seem like a big deal, it really was holding me back mentally.
I hope to make this transition as smooth as possible, but please bear with me as there may be a few hiccups here and there. If all goes well, though, you’ll be hearing much more about our daily to do’s and what not’s right here, while all things handmade and Noby Designs can now be found here.