February Fairy Launch Tour {Interview With Ella Marie}

Hello readers! Today I’m going to be posting an interview with Ella Marie of “February Fairy“, formerly Pip of “Pip and Lolly”. This is my first time participating in a blog launch tour and I had a lot of fun interviewing Ella Marie.

First, here’s a bit about her.

Click below to see her blog!

About Ella:

Ella Marie is a teen lifestyle blogger with a passion for inspiring other girls. She is a Christian, ENFP, aspiring actress, night owl, and lover of lemons and ice cream (not together of course). If you enjoy simple encouragement or are ready to dance to Meghan Trainor songs with her, then she’s ready to rock the world with you! 

 

And here’s the schedule so you can see the other parts of the launch tour!

Wednesday

~Ilsa – Twitter post

~Audrey Caylin – Blogger interview

~Seriah – Twitter post

Thursday 

~Michaila – Author interview

~Abbiee – Instagram post

~Totally Graced –  Twitter post

Friday

~Two Girls, Two Mountains – Blogger interview and mini guest post

~Charis – Blog mention

~Abbiee – Twitter post

Saturday 

~Megan – Blogger interview/discussion

~Sasha – Blogger interview

~Abbiee – Facebook post

Okay! On to the interview. (All images are from unsplash.com.)

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The Interview

M: What made you decide to start your own blog?

EM: As you probably know, I blogged at Pip and Lolly for quite a while.  But when I started, I had no idea how to do anything when it came down to blogging.  After a while, my posts started to improve and I learned about basic blogging terms.  The thing was, it still felt very unprofessional to me.  My sister, who was Lolly in Pip and Lolly, never had time to post, so it just felt weird for it to be the name, if it was really just me.

I wanted a fresh start, with all of the blogging knowledge I learned now.  And so, February Fairy was born!

 

M: What made you decide to go from Pip to Ella Marie?

EM: I originally wanted to use my real name for February Fairy, but since that didn’t work out, I used Name Berry to look up some names.  Name Berry is also a great site for figuring out character names, just so you know.  I found the name Ella, which meant fairy maiden and instantly knew it was the one.  I’m not sure where I came up with Marie, it’s just a pretty name, I guess.

M: I think both Pip and Ella Marie are great names. And yes, I agree! Name Berry is quite nice. Alright, name three bloggers that inspire you.

EM: You, Abbiee, Rosinalee.

M: Well thank you! I wasn’t expecting to be there. XD So what was the hardest part of starting “February Fairy”?

EM: I’m not extremely tech savvy, more on the not tech savvy side, actually.  But I found a simple theme I adored from Gooyaabi (don’t ask me to pronounce it) Templates.  I uploaded it, started editing, but then, for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out how this one thing worked.  Long story short, I ended up changing themes, and I like this one even better.

So, in answer to your question; the hardest part of starting February Fairy was working out the technically aspects.

M: Why’d you decide on the name “February Fairy”?

EM: I don’t remember exactly how I came up with the name. I remember, for about a while I had been experimenting with different blog names, but nothing felt natural. I wanted something me. Then one day it sort of popped into my head, The February Fairy. I ended up changing it to February Fairy, for consistency and the alliteration sounds much better. But it mostly stayed the same.

The “February” part is because it’s my birthday month, and “Fairy” because I think every girl should feel as graceful, elegant and feminine as a fairy, that’s part of the message I’d like to convey through my blog.   

M: I think your blog design looks really nice. 🙂 What blog platform do you use?

EM: I use Blogger.  I know so many people who aren’t a fan of it, but since it’s what I started out with, I really like it.  At first I didn’t know ANY successful bloggers who used Blogger, so I considered switching to WordPress,  but then I found quite a few bloggers who used it, so I decided to stay.  Plus when it came to buying a domain name, Blogger is half the price of WordPress.  And let’s be honest, I’m a fairly cheap person. 

M: Okay… Blogger does sound kinda nice. 😛 I really have no experience with it, so I wouldn’t really know which is better. What do you consider the most valuable thing you learned in your past two years of blogging that you have applied/will apply to your new blog?

EM: Don’t be discouraged.  I used to get really down when I spent a few hours on a post, just to have no one comment.  I’ve learned if you want views, you should go view other people’s blogs first.  Don’t follow so they’ll follow you, but follow blogs you really enjoy (like yours, Megan).  Building followers doesn’t happen overnight.  When I first started February Fairy I was the ONLY one who looked at my blog.  Which was how I wanted it, at the time, because I was still working out the details.  But as soon as I started commenting on other people’s blogs, following, ect. I started getting much more followers.  Interaction is key.

M: Well said! I very much agree with the “don’t follow so they’ll follow you”. Do you plan to have a blogging schedule or do you think you’ll just post when you feel like it?

EM: I’m hoping to post every Saturday and Wednesday.  During busy times, I’ll probably bump it down to only Saturdays, but for now I think I can handle two posts a week.

 

M: Name two of your main blogging goals.

EM: I can’t lie (I’m actually incapable of this, in person), I’d love to have a huge following.  But more than that, I actually want to make a difference in other girl’s lives.  I know how it feel to be self-conscious, meaningless and unheard.  I don’t want any other girls to feel the same way.  I want to empower girls to live for Christ and speak up for themselves.  I want to help girls learn to shake the world.

#shaketheworld

M: What are three topics you hope to post about?

EM: Encouragement, fashion/makeup and photography.

M: Sounds great! Do you know what types of photos you’ll be taking?

EM: Aesthetic ones, hopefully.  I’m not positive yet.  I don’t even have a professional camera, I usually use my iPhone.  But I love photographing people and flat-lay.

M: Ooh, flat-lay. I can’t wait to see your photography! Do you think you’ll be blogging at February Fairy for the rest of your blogging “career”?

EM: I hope to!  I really like February Fairy, but once I’m in my 30s or something (assuming I blog that long!) I might change it to something else.

M: Do you have any tips for people starting new blogs?

EM: Connect with a blogger who seems like they know what they’re doing.  Most will be happy to answer any questions you have.  Because when I started I had absolutely no idea what a blog button even was.  Another bit of advice I’ve learned is not to promote your blog before you’re finished with the theme.  I understand when you edit it later on, your blog won’t look picture perfect, but first impressions matter, and if you aren’t happy with it, no one else will be.  

M: And finally, a really random un-blog related question: would you rather have a coat with a hood and no pockets or pockets and no hood? (XD)

EM: Haha!  It all depends on whether or not I have gloves 😉 But assuming I don’t have gloves, I would choose the coat with no hood because my hands get cold so quickly.   

M: I really like coats with pockets. I always try to slip my hands into the place where the pockets should be, even if there aren’t any.

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Thank you so much for having me Megan!  I enjoyed answering your questions so much!  You and your blog are both stunning.  I can’t wait to see where God is going to take you.  

Thank you! And thank you for letting me be part of your blog tour, Ella! I had a lot of fun coming up with questions. I can’t wait to read your new posts!  

have you checked out ella’s blog yet?

pockets or hoods?