It’s a special day in FanningSparks’ world. This is the 420th blog post and it marks FanningSparks’ eighth year online. That’s right ― I’ve had the good fortune to share my stories, ideas and photos every Tuesday morning since March 2018. Special thanks to everyone ― all 312,000 of you ― who has taken the time to visit the blog over the last eight years.
Speaking of good fortune, luck played a big role in setting the theme for this year’s celebratory blog post. After all, it’s not every day you see a gorgeous Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus) looking at a big number 8! Definitely a right place, right time moment!
Not only did this woodpecker provide the perfect hero shot for this eight-year anniversary blog post, but these industrious birds are also credited some uncannily relevant life lessons. The folks at My Advice for Life, for instance, include several savvy gems in their list of Advice from a Woodpecker ― “Find Your Own Rhythm … Peck Away at Obstacles, Carve Out a Place for Yourself, Tap into Your Talents… [and] Use Your Head!”
Speaking of carving out a place for yourself, the FanningSparks blog is that place for me. This is where I attempt to inform and entertain by sharing my experiences, adventures, projects and thoughts.
Shown below is a selection of photos which made my Top 25 Photos from 2025 roundup after appearing in the blog. They show a cross section of the subjects covered during the blog’s eighth year ― visiting botanical gardens; attending local events such as an ox pull; making projects such as floral cones, driftwood sailboats, art dolls and netting; and learning about the ocean and maritime culture.
FanningSparks Recognition & Feedback
In the blog post marking the blog’s sixth anniversary, Come Celebrate with a 6-Year-Old!, I noted that writing a blog post is something like putting a message in a bottle—you send it off into the world and hope someone will find it and take the time to read it.
Occasionally, I hear back from a reader or see my photos shared more broadly. Many thanks to everyone who has taken the time to comment, pin, like, reshare, repost or mention FanningSparks’ content.
One such example comes from the Halifax County Exhibition’s reaction to my blog post, Strong as an Ox, about the Classic Ox Pull competition at the Exhibition. They reshared my post on their Facebook page and included one of my photos in their recap post.
Another example of FanningSparks’ content being shared more broadly is the Lilies & Hummingbird Barn Quilt Block pattern I created and shared in my 2022 blog post Lessons Learned from my First Barn Quilt Block. 
Although I didn’t invent this design from scratch, I did create this composition showing a hummingbird with three lily-like flowers. In fact, I’ve had a few readers contact me asking if they could buy the pattern ― I was happy to give it to them. I’m also happy to see it pop up on the Barn Quilt Addicts Facebook group. 
Funny story ― I just checked the Barn Quilt Addicts Facebook group and found the below post. A member posted my photo with the caption “I’ve seen quite a few people do this. Is there a pattern or a video?”. So, I responded with a link to my blog post and attached the pattern so anyone can use it for free.
Then I got even more curious and did an image search with Google Lens. Wow! She was right when she wrote “I’ve seen quite a few people do this”.
Google Lens credited FanningSparks in their overview which read: “This Hummingbird Barn Quilt is a hand-painted wooden block featuring a stylized bird and flower design created by the artist behind FanningSparks.” Others, like the below Etsy seller who showcases what appears to be my photo and sells printed patterns for what appears to be my design, are not as generous. I’ve reached out to the Etsy seller with a request that they credit FanningSparks in the product description. We shall see how that plays out!
In the meantime, I’ll revel in the fact my little design has made so many people happy!
FanningSparks Blog
FanningSparks’ eight-year milestone provides the perfect opportunity to stop and examine the blog’s health. In addition to any anecdotal evidence to be gleaned from recognition and feedback, it’s helpful to review the statistical data provided by Google Analytics.
The below graphic, FanningSparks Visitors by Year, illustrates the growth trend from a modest 3,000 visitors in the first year to a staggering 81,000 during the last 12 months. Notably, this is the first year there was a downtick from the previous year ― 5,000 more users visited during year 7 than year 8. Regardless, the accumulative total ― 312,000 visitors over eight years ― is very encouraging.
Moving on to take a closer look, this Daily User Activity graphic shows the number of visitors per day over the last six months. There’s an obvious, understandable, dip around the holiday season but the current trend seems to be on the rise. 
FanningSparks Top Posts
Another data point to consider is the popularity of the various subjects presented on the blog. Shown below are the ten blog posts viewed most frequently during the last 12 months. These tend to be fairly consistent year over year. A couple of notable changes are that Old Silver Wind Chimes – DIY Tutorial (at #7) and Cut Flowers That Really Last (about fused glass flowers at #9) made the top ten this year. Links to the blog posts are listed below the graphic.
1. DIY Bluebird-Approved Birdhouse Tutorial
2. Strawberry Tower Planter – DIY Tutorial
3. DIY Turkish Mosaic Candle Holder Tutorial
4. Maker Apron – DIY Tutorial
5. Flat Plane Carving with Harley
6. 6 Fascinating Facts about Sable Island
7. Old Silver Wind Chimes – DIY Tutorial
8. Lessons Learned from my First Barn Quilt Block
9. Cut Flowers That Really Last
10. Hello Marvelous Photo Embroidery – DIY Tutorial
Of course, more recent blog posts have less time to capture attention so it’s helpful to consider them separately. The most popular posts published during the blog’s eighth year are A Barrage of Textile Collage and… 
… Making Art with Nature in Nature.
FanningSparks Social Media Platforms
Judging from the number of Facebook, Instagram and Pinterest followers, FanningSparks’ social media presence remains steady. The number of blog subscribers (ie regular readers who have signed up for weekly email notifications) shows a modest 10% increase. 
Social media platforms use mysterious, proprietary algorithms to determine what content will be displayed to which visitors. Sometimes the algorithms favour FanningSparks content and other times, far more often recently, the algorithms choose not to display FanningSparks content.
Regardless, I continue to publish updates on Facebook and Instagram every week for the readers who prefer to get their updates that way. Currently, FanningSparks has 124 Facebook followers and 245 Instagram followers and I’m grateful for every one.
As a rule, photos shared in a blog post are also pinned on a FanningSparks Pinterest board. Every pin includes a link back to the original blog post making it easy for viewers to click through for more information. I’ve created 6,460 original pins on the FanningSparks Make, Travel, Decorate and Nature boards.
The most popular pins on the FanningSparks’ Pinterest boards are shown below. They get a surprising amount of attention. The FanningSparks’ Maker Apron pin, for instance, has been re-pinned a whooping 8,673 times since it was posted 4.5 years ago.
Links to the associated blog posts are listed below the graphic.
1. Maker Apron – DIY Tutorial
2. Camellia Road Trip
3. DIY Bluebird-Approved Birdhouse Tutorial
4. Lucet Cordmaking – DIY Tutorial
5. Red Leather Snowflake Ornament – DIY Tutorial
The final data point I’d like to check is what Google Analytics calls Traffic Acquisition. It’s essentially a record of how visitors find the FanningSparks blog. Google Analytics reports that 24,718 users visited FanningSparks in the last three months and the vast majority of those visitors (63%) found the blog via “organic search” meaning they came to the blog after searching for a specific topic on a search engine such as Yahoo, Bing, Google or Dogpile. 
A small number of those visitors, 281 to be exact, came to the FanningSparks blog via “Referrals” meaning from non-advertised links on other websites, apps or blogs. Referrals provide an interesting opportunity to trace where FanningSparks’ content has resurfaced.
For instance, in their post How to Upcycle Old Clothes Fast, Ready to Refashion, the Spindle and Spoon Homestead blog included a link to FanningSparks. In their section titled “Bonus Tip: Best T-Shirt Upcycle Ideas”, they wrote “You can upcycle t-shirts in lots of different and creative ways to make some really quick, easy projects. … Tote bags: Cut off the sleeves and collar of a t-shirt, then sew up the bottom of the shirt, to create a reusable bag that is perfect for grocery shopping. Tutorial here.” and linked to the FanningSparks blog post T-Shirt Tote Bag: Two Ways. 
Another example occurs in a blog post titled Festival of Light: 5 Winter Solstice Activities for the Classroom on School Specialty’s blog The Schoolyard. They write “This year, brighten up the dark days and celebrate the winter solstice with the following projects”. The fifth project listed is “5. Make mosaic candles”. They provide the following description with a link to the FanningSparks blog post DIY Turkish Mosaic Candle Holder Tutorial, “Winter is a season of darkness and dormancy, so there’s no better way to celebrate it than to turn the classroom into a festival of light. Candles are reminiscent of the celebratory bonfires long associated with the winter solstice. Have students create their own mosaic candles. The finished candles can later be given as gifts, as gift-giving is part of the winter solstice tradition in many cultures.”
In this third and final example, The Cup of Life blog post, 11 Ways to Repurpose Vintage Teacups, also links to a FanningSparks blog post. They write “Let’s explore some fun, easy and functional ways to use your vintage teacups outside of sipping your favourite tea”. The fifth item in their list is “Pin Cushion” described as “Turn a teacup into a functional and decorative pin cushion. Simply fill with a tight ball of fabric or felt, secure it, and voilà! A pretty addition to your sewing kit. Check out this DIY Teacup Pin Cushion.” They link to the FanningSparks blog post Teacup Pincushion – DIY Tutorial.
Thank You
This concludes our deep dive into FanningSparks’ eighth year. Thank you so much for your support and interest over the last eight years! Please join me for more making, travelling and sharing in the upcoming year.
