My YouTube and new video challenges for 2017

Once I set myself a challenge, I'm pretty good about seeing it through. On the 30th November last year I decided that I wanted to take part in Vlogmas 2016, having never heard of it before and not being a particularly frequent YouTuber. I stuck to it and managed to upload a video each day in the weeks leading up to Christmas, which I was really proud about, and it has given me some lovely videos to look back on that I wouldn't have had otherwise.

A second a day video

So when we were away at the end of December I was having a brainstorm for a new yearly challenge, now that the Sky Blanket is almost finished. I wanted something that I could do every day that would produce some sort of reminder of the year. A friend on Facebook posted a video that she had made last year with each day of the year being represented by one second of video and I loved it and was instantly inspired to start one of my own.

So each day I'm taking the time to record a quick second of video that either represents each day. It might be something special, like blowing out candles on a birthday cake, or just a quick everyday moment in time, whether it's the school run, homework or just sitting around playing or reading. I'm editing the clips together in Movie Maker, and at the end of the year I'm looking forward to sharing the video with the family. I've told the children and they are loving watching it build up, but I'm keeping it as a surprise for Ram (don't worry, I'm pretty certain that he won't be reading this!) to play on New Year's Eve.

52 videos in 2017

I'm not sure if I'll take part in Vlogmas again this year as it was quite intense, but I definitely want to create and upload more videos through the year. I really enjoy the editing of the videos, and while I know that I don't have the best set up for filming, if I do really get into it then perhaps I'll have a think about adding to my kit, starting with some decent lighting. So this year I'm intending to upload 52 videos over the year. I don't want to be too rigid about one a week in case we are away or things get busy, but I think that is an achievable amount.

I don't make my videos very long (for me over five minutes is a long video!) as I don't want to bore people. I'm also not very good at talking directly to the camera as I feel that I look really awkward, but I'm hoping that with practice this is something that I can improve.

I've got lots of ideas. I'm aiming for lots of travel videos of places that we visit over the year, like this one from the hotel in Tenerife that we stayed at in January.

I'm also planning to add video tutorials for some of the crafts that I've blogged about, like these mini Hama bead hearts for Valentine's Day.

I'll also be looking out for some linkies that I can take part in for inspiration, like the video that I made sharing my ten favourite colours and my first proper attempt at talking to camera.

If you want to see more of my video content then please take a look at my channel, and if you like what you see I'd love you to subscribe! You can find my channel here - Jennifer Jain's YouTube Channel.