Ask Design Mom Week — Blogging Advice

Question:
I just started my own blog this month! It looks boring, I have no followers, and I feel left out of the "Blogging Circle." Can you give me some tips on how to make my blog better? — Tanya



Answer:
Thanks for the question, Tanya. I'll start by saying, you're not alone. I think I get questions along these lines more than any others. How do I grow my blog? How do I get sponsors? How do I change my header? How do I decide on a blog topic?

But I confess, I don't answer as often as I'd like. For a few reasons. One, the answers are long. Long enough that people teach multiple classes and hold multi-day conferences to try to cover the answers adequately. Two, because I try (I can't say I always succeed) to limit this blog to topics at the intersection of design and motherhood. Three, because bummer for me, in a given week, I'm only able to respond to about 20% of my email. If that.

But since it is Ask-Design-Mom-Week, I thought I'd at least take a minute to say: it's not too late. You can still get into the blogging and social media scene. You can still start a site. You can still participate. You can still build something new. You can still grow what you've created.

If you feel like you've missed the boat, you haven't. If you feel like you're not in the club, it's a false perception. Period. This whole scene is still new enough that people are reinventing it everyday. Starting from scratch. Coming up with new and brilliant interpretations of how this whole thing could work. Just yesterday, I received an email from two friends who have started a new blog. It's called the Sweeterie and it's different than anything I've seen before. A super smart, simple concept. And it's beautiful. And I have no doubt it will grow. What will it grow into? Who knows. We'll find out in a couple of years.

Can I promise that your audience will grow super fast? Nope. Most audiences don't. There are a few instant successes, but most people that are doing this for a living, built their audiences slowly over several years. Just like any small business. Are there techniques to help you jumpstart growing your community? For sure. And that's why people attend conferences (like Alt and Mom2Summit — two conferences that Kirtsy plans the programming and panels for). To find out the best ideas and most effective ways to work in this space.

But the advice you'll hear most often, every time the topic of growing your audience comes up, is: comment and participate. Get out there. Comment on the blogs you like, big and small. If there's a blog party or Mr. Linky, try it out. If you see people mentioning NaBloPoMo, click the link and find out what it is. If you see buttons for a conference, ask about it. The more you explore, the more likely you'll find the perfect social media fit for you.

Dear Readers, what advice would you add to this topic?

Jane, The Pink Robot

Go here. Press the play triangle. Then press any letter key. You will be rewarded. (Possibly, your children will like this even more than you do.)

Thanks for the link, Eliza!

Best British Designs of 2009

I checked out the candidates for The British Design Awards 2009 this morning and left my votes. There are two categories: British Design of the Year and British Surface Design of the Year. You can vote once in each category. I wonder if my vote counts if I'm not British? Who knows. The editor of the collection has a terrific eye — everything is beautiful. It was hard to pick a favorite.

(By the way, if you take a minute to vote yourself, don't miss the Absolute Zero Degrees ‘Omega’ wallpaper — the designer is an internet friend of mine. He has my vote for sure.)

Where The Wild Things Are

I love the texture in the sewn header of the "We Love You So" blog.

The blog is new to me (I spotted it on kirtsy. It was posted by the super stylish Karey M). Apparently the blog was "established to help shed some light on many of the small influences that have converged to make this massive project [the new movie, Where the Wild Things Are] a reality."

I must introduce it to Ralph, who is obsessed with all things film.

Hair Relief

I got my hair done last night. It was in sad, sad shape — I hadn't made time to get it done since I moved. But now I've discovered Natalie. She's a hair genius. And I feel totally hot. If you want Natalie to cut your hair, you can find her here.

Also. One of the funnest parts of getting my hair done was talking blogging and social media. Natalie and her friend Ashley just launched a cute new site called Sensibly Styled. The tag line: Sensibly Styled finds all the modest clothing, from all the brands you love, and puts it all in one place.

It was fun to talk strategy and share advice on growing a site. Man. I can pretty much talk social media all. day. long.

Outfit pictured put together by Sensibly Styled.

Once Upon A Time — by Guest Mom Stacy

Magazines became a part of my being at age 11 when I decided I wanted a haircut, a short one. My mom is a beautician, but trained in the 60’s, she was more comfortable with beehives & back-combs. So she bought me my first fashion magazine ever. Seventeen magazine. I was hooked. At eleven. So many things to see, to learn, to want to be. And I found a haircut.

I craved every new issue—I think I still have the one with Whitney Houston (as a model) on the cover, eating a giant ice cream cone & wearing a sweater dress whose pattern was in the magazine (did I mention this was like 1982? And no, even though I begged, my grandma would not knit me the dress, as I was only 12, not 17).

By high school, it was Seventeen, Teen, YM (sometimes, not a huge fan), & the queen of teen mags, Sassy. How unbelievably crushed was I when it disappeared. How could I go on without Sassy’s witty commentary & solid advice? But go on I did.



To college, where I had now enlisted the likes of Details, Elle, Vogue, Bazaar, Interview, & Mirabella. The occasional splurge of British or Italian Vogue might cause me to skip a meal or two, but it was so worth it. I lived through those pages, shaping my world, what I would someday surround myself with, after this collegiate journey. Then, no Mirabella. Gone. The way of Sassy. It’s existence as ethereal as the images by Paolo Roversi. I was sad.

Then came Martha. Martha Kids. Martha Baby. And Real Simple. And Country Living. And Domino. Blueprint. Cookie. Wondertime. I had a lot of reading to do! But each one brought something different, something essential. There were piles in the car, while I waited at preschool. The reason my purse is as big as I am—to carry mags, of course. Oh, I must mention here that I also keep many of these. Forever. Not in a weird, stepping over piles in my house way, but in a necessary, these magazines contain a world of important images, articles, and inspiration that I might well need someday way.

And thank goodness I did. Because so many of them are now gone. And I can honestly say that for a time, like after I realized there would be no more Blueprint, no more Domino — ever — I wondered how I would ever find that collection of visual inspiration in my life. It felt like something was dying.

Enter blogs. Without realizing it, they had slowly begun to take magazines’ place in my world. First, Design Mom. Then Oh Happy Day. Then A Cup of Jo. Black Eiffel. Bloesem. Inchmark. Katie did. Simple Lovely. Twig & thistle. Heather Ross. Simply Photo. The list grows every day. All of these amazing visionary women. To you I must say: thank you. You have given back a part of me.

Orisinal Games

Kara sent me a link to Ferry Halim's collection of Orisinal games. They are beautiful, and dare I say soothing? I knew I would like them as soon as I saw the page — all those little icons are so pretty.

What Kara said about them is just right: "There are a ton of games here that are child-appropriate but the graphics are really sweet and sophisticated, so I appreciate them as well. Sometimes, when I'm completely overwhelmed at work and feel like my brain is starting to melt and I just need to clear my mind, I will go this site, play a game for 10 minutes and feel so much better."

Kara recommends Bumble Bees, Cranky Crabs and Wake-Up Call.

Papier Mache Magazine

I'm so impressed with this new online children's magazine from Australia called Papier Mache. Gorgeous with a capital G.

Thanks for the link, Brianna. Nice find!

Picture Hope Video

Sixth Sense

My brother Josh sent me the TED video of Pattie Maes demonstrating the "sixth sense" technology. I watched it right before I went to SXSW and I think I was more respectful to all the 22-year-old-techy-geeks in attendance because the demonstration is so freaking cool. It makes me want to wear a tshirt that says: The Future Is Now. If you ever have spare minutes, you can always feel good about filling them with TED talks.

Everyone Is Beautiful Video

Spotted on kirtsy.

A very pretty video featuring an excerpt from Katherine Center's new book, Everyone Is Beautiful. (Do you remember how much I love Katherine?) The fantastic photos in the video were taken by the talented Mary Swenson, of blog favorite Pretty Good.

[ Edit: Oh! There's a second video here featuring a different excerpt. Also gorgeous. ]

Guest Tweeter at #GNO

Are you on Twitter? Or are you curious about Twitter? Then join me on Twitter tonight. I'll be the Guest Tweeter (I know. Tweeter is a ridiculous word.) for Girls Night Out.

This is how it works. On Tuesday nights, the ladies at Mom It Forward organize a Girls Night Out on Twitter. Anyone that would like to participate is welcome. Even non-girls. That means you're all invited.

Each week there's a theme and women all over the country have Twitter conversations about that theme. Or really, about whatever's on their mind. To keep track of the conversations, each tweet includes the tag #GNO — as in Girls Night Out — clever. If you go to http://search.twitter.com and type in #GNO, you'll be able to see every single tweet that is sent out by every single person participating in tonight's GNO.

In addition to a theme, each week there is also a Guest Tweeter that helps moderate the conversation. This week, that's my job. Yay! For the theme, I was assigned "Green Living" — a topic I'm not at all an expert in, but something I'm as curious about as the next person. So every half hour or so, I'll be putting out a green-living-related-question to help spark conversation. You can see the questions I'm planning to discuss here.

411 recap:
-Date and Time: Tuesday, March 10th. 9:00pm EST (That's 6:00 PST.)
-To find more information about #GNO, click here.
-To RSVP for tonight's #GNO, click here.
-To see what we'll be discussing tonight, click here.
-To follow along the conversation tonight, click here and type in #GNO.

I hope you'll join me tonight. It's lots of fun. And goes super fast. I've never been the Guest Tweeter before, but I'm told my fingers will be exhausted by the end of the night.

image credit

Multi-Color Search Lab

Want to have a whole bunch of visual fun? Go visit the Multicolr Search Lab. Click on a color at right and watch as it accesses creative commons photos on flickr that match the color. Playing with this makes me so happy. No really. So dang happy.

Thanks for the link, Laurie!

Family Pride

Three internet things made me proud of my family this month (I'm always proud of my family, but these things made me especially so). Jordan's blog has a gorgeous new look and a new title reflective of her url. Liz launched her vintage baby clothes shop on etsy — I love how Liz follows through on her good ideas. And Steve made some political history. As he has done more than once throughout his political career.

I may have mentioned this before, but it's pretty darn cool and definitely bears repeating: Steve has been blogging longer than any elected officeholder in the US. Upon learning about blogging, Steve immediately saw the impact it could have, the transparency it could offer and the feedback and discussion it could provide, and jumped right in.

This month he took advantage of the internet to try something new. Steve is sponsoring a bill this session, and as is the custom, he took it to the media so they could ask questions and have the chance to report about it to their readers. But. Instead of going straight to the traditional press, he went to the new media outlets instead. The Utah Senate invited all the political bloggers they could find in the state to call in, attend in person or join the discussion online. Which made the discussion far more accessible to far more people. From what I understand, this is the first time this has ever been done.

Steve and I don't always line up the same way politically, but I think he's a flat out genius (confirmed here and here). As such an enthusiastic social media fan myself, I love that Steve is making use of these tools for the benefit of his constituents. To me, it looks like progress.

Yay social media!

The photo at top is my family (at least parts of my family) in Tijuana.

Grommets = Really Cool Indie Products

There is a killer of a contest happening at kirtsy this week. We're hosting it in conjunction with Daily Grommet. And if you've ever sent me an email letting me know about the rad new product you came up with, or the stylin' new thing your brother created, or the super hip item your bff is selling in her etsy shop, then this contest is for you. For reals. (By the way. I love those emails, keep them coming, please!)

Here's the deal: tell us your favorite new-on-the-scene or yet-to-go-big product and you could win a fantastic prize package worth over $230! It's super easy to enter. Just leave a comment over at the kirtsy blog — include the link/url of the product you want to promote and by all means, tell us why you like it. And that's it. You're done. One comment.

Or. Several comments if you want to promote several products. You can enter as many times as you'd like.

What a fantastic way to promote yourself, your friends or your favorite entrepreneur. We can't wait to see what you suggest!



Bummer for me — I can't enter. But if I could, I would link to the beautiful personalized jewelry at Bel Kai Designs. Take a look at my new necklace from Bel Kai. It's so pretty. And it has all 5 of my kids names. Neat!

Make Your Own Handwriting Font

Spotted on Kirtsy. A FREE service that will convert your handwriting to a font. Love this. Do it with your own handwriting. Or document how charming your kindergartener's script is.

via lifehacker

100 Dresses Project

Did you hear what Kirsten of Tollipop is doing?

Using the classic children's story, The Hundred Dresses, as a starting point, she's created a Hundred Dresses Project. She is drawing her own series of one hundred dresses and has challenged others to make one hundred “somethings” as well. It's especially sweet to read the stories she conjures up about each dress-wearing-girl. And I love seeing the names she picks. (For anyone needing to name a daughter, I'm betting Kirsten's list of 100 names will be pretty fantastic.)

You can follow Kirsten's progress by clicking the "hundred dresses project" link in her sidebar. What hundred things would you make?

Friend Me. Tweet Me.

This weekend, Ben Blair and I were sitting with our laptops in front of the TV. (Same old, same old.) And we decided to get him all setup on Facebook. Turns out he loves it. Loves connecting with old friends. Is really good at leaving comments. And with millions of other people, thinks the whole thing is genius.

Then, last night, I was talking to my brother, Jared. And he basically testified of the truthfulness of Facebook along with every other thing that is good and right.

I'll be honest. I set up an account a long time ago. Mostly for professional purposes (it was important that the kirtsy founders had a presence there, blah, blah, blah). But I haven't paid it much attention. Now. After seeing how much fun Ben Blair is having with it. I'm feeling more committed. Are you loving it too? Sweet. You can friend me here. Or tell me how to friend you. And we'll totally be friends.

On a related note. If you're not on Twitter yet, you totally should be. Especially if you like status updates on Facebook. Twitter is like status updates on crystal meth. Plus, you can use twitter with any cell phone that can text. Did you hear that? You can tweet from your cell phone! You just text it in. During a boring movie. While waiting in your car at the school pick up line. It's amazing! And so much fun.

My twitter name is @designmom. You can find me here.

And for those of you that are super-cool, you can even connect your Twitter and Facebook accounts — so that anytime you tweet, it updates your Facebook status. But maybe we should save that kind of mindblowing info for the next Hands on Kirtsy session.

Fa La La La Lots of Prizes

More good news! — kirtsy's latest contest was just posted. And it's HOT! Over $550 worth of goodies. From two of my favorite companies. Check it out:

First of all, Serena & Lily is offering up a $150 Gift Certificate to their gorgeous home goods shop. You probably know them for their baby bedding, but their line is so chic and sophisticated, that grown-ups everywhere begged and pleaded for them to expand their line. And they did. They now offer all sorts of gorgeous home items. And I covet the whole collection.

To sweeten the deal, check this out: for only the 2nd time in the entire history of the company, Serena & Lily is having a sale. Right now, you can get 30% off all their delicious bedding. And it truly is delicious. You'll want to eat it for breakfast. And sleep in it. All at the same time.

Second of all, All About Cute, an internet hotspot full of lovely items for you and your best friends, is offering up an Orla Kiely Bundle of treats retailing over $400.00! How deluxe is that?

The winner of this kirtsy Fa La La La Giveaway will receive an Orla Kiely Boulevard large zip wallet, an Orla Kiely Dreamsicle orange angora sweater (winner chooses her size, of course), and a $50.00 Gift Certificate to All About Cute, that she can spend as she pleases. I can picture it now. You'll be sporting your hot new sweater while pulling your hot new wallet out of your handbag, so that you can spend your hot little gift certificate.

And you can make that $50 feel like $100. Because from now through the end of the year, everything at the All About Cute site is 50% off. Just use the code: holiday.

It's super easy to enter. Just leave a comment on the kirtsy blog post, or over on kirtsy. Yay!

Of Note.

1) You can find my two most recent posts at Cookie Magazine's Nesting blog — one featuring wire laundry baskets, one featuring custom collage art by Janey Garnet. Both are don't miss finds.

2) Last chance notice:



You can enter the One Laptop Per Child Giveaway at Kirtsy through Sunday 12/7 — just leave a comment and you could win one of FOUR laptops. Sweet! There are a little over 100 entries so far, with four life-changing computers up for grabs — that's really good odds! So get those comments in ASAP. Such a great cause!

3) You can enter the super-generous Klutz Giveaway through Sunday 12/7 as well. Seven Klutz books plus a $50 Visa Giftcard. Fab!

Spotted on Kirtsy

Spotted on kirtsy. Another blog to feed my addiction: Greedy Girl. Clever writing. Pretty pictures. And there's a smart calendar swap going on right now as well. Check it.

Also spotted on kirtsy. You can win free registration to the Mom 2.0 Summit in Houston, Texas. The kirtsy girls will be there — with a whole crew of other interesting people — and we can't wait to meet you! Plus, while you're at the summit, you'll get a chance to attend a Hands On Kirtsy session.

What's Hands On Kirtsy? So glad you asked. I've been dying to get the chance to announce this. Hands On Kirtsy is:

"Fun, practical gatherings of goodness to show you and yours a few new easy things to take up online. Each session will be hosted and led by kirtsy editors, kirtsy founders and kirtsy friends, who just want to get together to show you some new (and maybe not so new) cool things that will help make your online life easier, smarter and definitely more interesting."



Basically, kirtsy is going to host meetups all over the country where you can come and learn how to twitter, how to kirtsy, how to use an rss feed reader, how to facebook, how to flickr, etc. We've got 6 dates on the calendar so far. And plans-in-the-works to roll this out nationwide early in 2009 with over 200 gatherings next year.

I can't believe how excited I am for this program! I think this will go a long way in filling a big educational need. There are several people in my life that keep me in the know on the latest social media trends and sites — that teach me how to use sites like delicious and stumble upon. But from what I hear, most women don't have such mentors. So kirtsy's going to make it our mission to teach these tools to women everywhere. Because we can. And because we're all about empowering women online.

What social media/web 2.0 tool do you most want to learn?

Vote for your Favorite Video

Spotted on kirtsy: the best looking and most clever electoral map ever. ("Leaning weirded out by Joe Biden's hair" will make me smile all day.)

Hey. I know the election is over, but if you're still feeling the urge to get your vote on, I suggest you head over to Generation Huggies and vote for your favorite video. Moms from all over the country have submitted 60 second videos filled with their thoughts on Motherhood. They're super sweet and if I could, I would watch them all day. Seriously. I can't believe how much I like hearing mothers talk about their experiences.

The videos with the most votes will be featured in a national ad campaign and recieve a cash prize. Best part: you (yes you!) can submit your own video as well. Generation Huggies is accepting videos through November 20th. Go check it out.

Winner — Sycamore Street Press

Hooray for Giveaways. Hooray for pretty paper. And Hooray for Tiffany — you are the winner of the Sycamore Street Press Giveaway — Congratulations! Please send me an email and I'll put you in touch with the sponsor right away. Thank you Sycamore Street Press!



If you didn't win, you can totally distract yourself with this Hue Test — move the color chips around until you have them in order. My score: 4. How did you do?

I spotted this on kirtsy. And Laurie put it on kirtsy after she spotted it on Goody Blog. And Goody Blog spotted it on How About Orange.

Your Message Here

Learning about this project made me smile. In an Urban Outfitters window, facing the Institute of Contemporary Art in Philadelphia, there's an art installation. The people behind Something Hiding In Here are collecting messages to display on a wooden sign board they made. They change the message daily and post photos to a blog.



You can suggest your own everyday message here.

The always hip doobleh-vay sent me the link.

YouData/Kirtsy Contest

Oh my goodness. Oh. My. Goodness. There is the hugest contest ever going on over at Kirtsy. It just launched yesterday. And there are 3 ways to win.

Kirtsy just found an Ad Network that we love. It's new. It's different. It's called YouData. And it's brilliant. Basically, it matches consumers up with relevant advertisers — no more steakhouse ads being shown to vegetarians. Awesome. A perfect fit for Kirtsy.

Extra bonus: With YouData, you the consumer, make a little money every time you watch an ad. For reals. You get paid to give some of your attention. And really, that's the way it should be. Because in this digital world, where media is with us constantly by way of cell phone/tv/radio/laptop/blackberry, attention is a hot commodity. And you are the sole owner of your attention. There's a cool little video here, that says it even better.

So sign up with YouData and every time you're at iTunes, about to drop 99¢ on the latest Kanye, you can offset that cost by watching a few ads. Nice.

Anyway. Kirtsy is so excited about our new ad network, that we're having a huge contest to celebrate. As I mentioned earlier, there are 3 ways to win.



1) Register at YouData. It takes less than 2 minutes. I swear. I've done it. It's fast. And as you fill out a MeFile survey, you'll click the boxes that relate to your interests, so only relevant ads will be shown to you. Brilliant. Do that, and you're registered to win the laptop of your choice. In case you missed that, I said A LAPTOP OF YOUR CHOICE. Either a MacBook or a Dell XP. Whichever you prefer.



2) Leave a comment over at Kirtsy. Tell us what you think of our shiny new ad network. Let us know what's on your mind. Leave any comment, and you're entered to win one of TWO NEW IPOD NANOS. You know the ones — all those gorgeous colors! Two winners will each receive one, and they get to pick the color of their choice. Of course.



3) On YouData's blog, there is a Dear John letter to Advertisers. Because we're ready to break up with the old way of doing things. We want to get paid every time we watch an ad. And we want advertisers to move in that direction. If you feel the same way, "sign" the Dear John letter by leaving a comment below it, and you're entered to win one of THREE ITOUCHES. That's right. Three iTouches. Which are basically iPhones without the phone service — they'll have you watching movies, getting online on-the-go, and gps-ing, without having to switch your cell contract.

Easy peasy:
Leave a comment on this link for the 2 iPod Nanos.
Leave a comment on this link for the 3 iTouches.
Fill out a MeFile at this link to win the Laptop of Your Choice.

6 prizes. 3 ways to win. Get on it.

New to Me Blogs

Nothing better than having a few minutes to explore great new, or new-to-me blogs. Have fun checking out some of my latest favorites.

1) Inchmark
Brooke in Brooklyn launched her lovely blog Inchmark just a few weeks ago. But it is already one of my favorite daily stops. She has such great eyes. Oops! I mean she has such a great eye. : )

2) food+flower+style
This blog belongs to my friends Anna and Liesel. Back in the day, Anna owned a a lovely little flower shop. And she was both a friend and client — I handled all her print design, and if I was lucky, her window displays. Good times. Note: the blog is the companion of their very chic online shop of the same name.

3) We Covet
Great name for a shopping/style/design blog right? And started by two internet superstars, Her Bad Mother and Sweetney. You will want to visit again and again. Because it's a lovely place.

4) Ambrosia Girl
She showcases her family and interests on a very tidy little blog that appeals to me very much.

5) Three Wheels Turning
Paper and design. What's not to love?

Olympic Medal Visual Map

From the 1984 Olympics — the first ones I really remember.


From this year's Olympics (so far).

My sister Rachel just posted about this great visual map of Olympic Medals that shows which countries have won the most during each year the games were held. It's beautiful. And fun to watch as you adjust it. (Click the images to see them bigger.)

My mom mentioned remembering how political the games have sometimes been, looking at the maps through the years. Nice find Rachel!

Just Something I Made

So a couple weeks ago I received an email from Cathe Holden and I think I have a full on internet crush on her now. When I checked out her blog, I totally wanted to make out with it. I wonder if she'd ever be a Guest Mom here. . .




Don't miss the photo tour of her beautiful studio tour here. And check out her globe bowl and glitter pins project as well. So much great stuff. I'm going to have to go through her archives so I don't miss anything.

Grosgrain

Oh. Go now and visit one of my new favorite blogs. Grosgrain. The lovely author makes beautiful children's clothing for little girls. And then gives it away. I mean it. She gives it all away. And the clothes really are cute. Super cute in fact. Check it: the Train Stop Shirt Dress, the Reversible Birdseed Skirt, and the Popcorn Bloomer and Blouse.





And those are just a small glimpse of her wonderful creations. Why does she do this very generous, very creative thing? Well I have no idea. But isn't the internet great?

Someone should totally kirtsy this.

Mighty Haus

Did you see what I saw on kirtsy today? The super strong duo of Mighty Goods and Mighty Junior is now a trifecta — Mighty Haus was just unveiled! A daily shopping blog (a clever and witty and just-right shopping blog) that focuses on items for your home. Items like this Paper Potter that I want to own right this minute. Fantastic. Three cheers to Maggie Mason and Melissa Summers on the launch!

Do you know what else is happening on kirtsy this week? A super cool Kirtsy Loves Video Games Giveaway! You have until Saturday night at midnight to get your comments in over at the kirtsy blog. Then. Four Winners will each receive $150 worth of yummy, portable, Nintendo awesomeness. You know you want to get on this. Because you totally wanted to dress up as Ms. Pac Man in the fourth grade and couldn't make it happen. And this will make it all better.

A Practical Compendium of Random Things

One of my favorite internet stops lately is D. Sharp's Journal (and etsy shop, and studio). When I visit her sites, I am treated to lovelies like:




this collection of tickets (a kirtsy feature), this magical paper birthday crown (also a kirtsy feature — geez, kirtsy is so darn cool), and this completely charming homemade bird feeder. I especially enjoy her "I love" series of badges in the left margin of her blog. So clever. So pretty.

Summery Contests

I've been hearing about all sorts of fun contests happening around the interwebs — maybe these will help jumpstart your summer.



The Crafty Crow is hosting a Funny Food Contest*. Five different categories. Which means lots of ways to be creative. Your kids would LOVE this!

No Cleaning Here is hosting a Recipe Contest. Not just any recipes. Scary, strange recipes. Time to hit the family cookbooks.

Kaboodle is hosting a My Favorite Spring Dress Contest. And I even know one of the semi-finalists! Go vote for darling Erica Jenson looking fabulous on a vintage cruiser.


*If it was a Charming Food Contest, I would enter these cheese and apple boats featured at Tutus and Turtles. Simple and adorable.

This Little Piggy Stayed Home

Check out Cookie's Nesting Blog to see the reliably great posts — and two of my recent additions to the line-up. You can find some incredibly good-looking city posters by Ork that I highly recommended in last week's post. And a round up of the best piggy banks that have crossed my path — and that I just shared today. Here's a sneak peek of a few of the pigs:

Ask Design Mom Week Starts Monday!

Do you remember the last Ask Design Mom Week? Well it's awesome. And it's back. And it starts on Monday.

Here's the story: every so often I realize I have become a serious slacker about answering Ask-Design-Mom Questions. So. I take a week and post as many as I can. Then I answer some. And you, the clever reader, answer some as well.

A new twist for next week: I'm hosting 5 different excellent Giveaways — one a day, Monday through Friday — to thank you for your help in answering all those worthy questions. So meet me here on Monday for good questions, good ideas and good prizes. I can't wait!

Three Things

1) I'm heading to The Stationery Show with Jordan this morning. I am soooo looking forward to this. The Stationery Show could easily be my favorite trade show of the year. It's big but not too big. And it's oh so inspiring. This visit will be even more fun because I'll be with Jordan. Yay! I'm sure I'll have lots of pretty things to share after our little outing. I can't wait to report.

2) The Stationery Show alone is going to make for a pretty terrific Monday. But happily, the fun doesn't end there. While I'm at the show, I'll be using Blogger's new future-post feature to publish a lovely introduction to this week's Guest Mom: Amy Sharp.

Amy is a wonderful person to know virtually. And although I haven't met her in person, I'm betting she's pretty fantastic in real life as well. You are going to love her posts this week! I've had a sneak peak of 3 of them and they make me adore her even more. I was originally introduced to Amy through her fantastic blog Doobleh Vay and through her fine editorial work at kirtsy. I'm so glad you'll get to know her too! She's written up a darling little intro. And if all goes well. It should post all by itself in another hour.



3) It's especially good that we have Amy with us this week. Because I'll be partially absent. I'm heading to Houston this evening for more exciting kirtsy meetings. Kirtsy meetings = spending time with Laurie and Laura = laughing really hard while simultaneously working really hard = happy Gabrielle. This is my third trip to Houston since December. I'm thinking I should just get an apartment there, right? I'll be back on Wednesday.

Enjoy Amy's posts! I'll do my best to twitter some updates from my cellphone while I travel — you can see the updates in my sidebar. (What's twitter? How do I even explain. It's somewhere between i/m-ing and blogging. And I was totally peer-pressured into trying it — thankfully. Because it's awesome. And you should be twittering to. Come on. Try it. One time won't hurt.)

Nesting

Starting yesterday, I'm an official contributor to Cookie Magazine's Nesting blog. I'm very excited about this. My first post went up here. To start, expect to see my contributions there on Thursdays — only you may not know it's me. Why? Because (despite the fact that I have never met them) the team of editor's behind the Nesting blog are so unified, that we write with a collective "we" instead of an I. Solid.

Let's go to the museum — by Guest Mom Allysha

Did you know there are online museums? Most museums have websites and some even have exhibits online, but then there are those museums that exist entirely out there in a little room in cyberspace. Just google "online museums" and you'll get a good listing for traditional and non-traditional museums alike.

Here are two museums I want to introduce you to today:



First, The American Package Museum. It's a collection of old American packaging for all sorts of things from Scotch tape to Crisco cans to Brillo soap pad boxes and more. Not only is it completely entertaining, but some of the package design is really cool to look at.



Then next up, we have The Museum of Useful Things, which is all about "celebrating the Beauty of Function in everyday objects." The Useful Things they exhibit are beautiful in form and function.

And you can buy some of them, too, if you'd like. Because, truth be told, this museum is also/actually a little store, full of interesting things. But they have a noble purpose. (They do have a mission statement.) You can have some of that beautiful form and function in your own home! Maybe you'll appreciate those mundane tasks of life a little more, now.

(And really, the whole museum/store thing is just a dissertation in the making, I can feel it. Anyone out there studying culture and media? Here you go!)

The actual MUT (as it is called) is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But that does not limit us. We have the internet. So, go! Have a nice stroll through the museum.

Rick Rolled

I don't think I've laughed this hard in awhile. Have any of you been Rick Rolled? I swear I'm the last to know about this but it just happened to me yesterday. When you least expect it, you might click on a video link about an interesting story and the link will instead take you to this classic Rick Astley video.

In fact, apparently on April 1st, Digg directed all of their featured videos, no matter what the title or description, to the video. You can read the Rick Rolled story here. Best prank ever.

And in case you weren't convinced of the mighty power of social media, check this out: because of all the Rick Rolling, Never Gonna Give You Up has been voted the official song that will be sung during the 7th inning stretch at all Mets Games. We are so going to a Mets game just to experience the awesomeness.

Celebrity Gossip Round Up — by Guest Mom Vera Sweeney

Hey gang! My name is Vera Sweeney and I am this week's Guest Mom. I'm super excited to be part of Gabrielle's website because I just love the concept and she is a fun gal. I run I'm Not Obsessed, a celebrity gossip website that is work and kid friendly. I keep everything PG so wandering eyes can gaze upon your computer screen without any scarring effects. After all, who doesn't need a little gossip during the day? Here is today's recap:

A) I'm giving away three of these amazing necklaces from Emitations. Click here to get started!!

B) Any Cashmere Mafia fans? Well, you better get online because rumor has it that the show is not getting renewed. So I suggest you start making a stink if you want to keep Lucy Liu on the small screen.

C) Guess who is starting her own jewelry line? We can't get enough of this new mom whose boyfriend has his own clothing line that is slowly becoming a Hollywood standard. How does she have time with that new baby?

D) Looks like Owen Wilson and Kate Hudson are back together and I couldn't be happier. Click here to see all the juicy details.

E) Want to get the celebrity look for less? Blake Lively is a new comer on the scene — but her Gossip Girl fashion sense is ON POINT. Get her entire outfit for less.

F) How about a new wedge for the summer? These are cheaper versions of Jennifer Aniston's seasonal shoe. Find out the prices here.

G) Why is White Tea good for you? Here are the reasons why it should be part of your daily routine.

H) Five exercise habits that sabotage weight loss! There is so much more! I can't possibly cover it all here. Check out I'm Not Obsessed to fulfill all your obsessions!!

Mommybar Toolbar

Has anyone tried this? I just heard about it. It's called Mommybar and it's a toolbar you can download that becomes part of your web browser — and apparently has all the Mom websites and blogs in one place, plus a google search box. If you have any experience with it, I'd love to hear what you think.

pingg e-invitations

Kelcey sent me a link to pingg. It's a new email invitation service, and they've tried to really step up the design and photography. The site is clean and beautiful and easy to use. Pick formats from the pingg gallery and the designer series. Now I just need an excuse to send out some invitations.

Alltop

So have you heard of Alltop? It's a new and super-cool way to explore different interests on the web. It's the brain child of Guy Kawasaki — social media superstar — so you know it's got to be good. How does it work?

1) Go here to see the topics covered by Alltop.
2) Pick a topic you're interested in, for example "Dads".
3) Then, what you'll see is a list of all the top/best/hottest Dad blogs, plus the titles of their most recent posts. And those post titles are updated constantly — pretty much like "live" updates.

It's a fantastic way to get a sense of what's happening out there on the internets and a great starting point if you're wanting to explore.

Of course, if you check out a topic list and your very favorite blog is missing, you can go ahead and suggest it. Find out how here. I'm especially loving Alltop because I just found out that they added my blog to their Design List and Mom List. And I couldn't be happier. Thanks for the love Alltop!

Polyvore

Don't you love it when technology catches up with your wants and needs? Take the brilliant site Polyvore for example. Using simple drag and drop software you can put together outfits or inspiration boards. Ever wondered how that Anthropologie skirt would look with the J Crew sweater? Now you can find out before you make a purchase.

I messed around on Polyvore for 20 minutes or so this morning. It's super easy to use. And pretty darn addicting. Have fun. Found on sk*rt.

HEMA

I don't even know what in the world this is, but I think it's brilliant. Go here and watch for like 30 seconds. And then smile.

Thanks for the link Hailey.

Visual Dictionary

Annie sent me a link to the Visual Dictionary. What a discovery! Photos of words found in the actual world. From their website: "Photographs of signage, graffiti, advertising, tattoos, you name it, we're trying to catalogue it. . . "

Best part: anyone can submit an image — and you know you want to. What a cool place to browse and find inspiration on a sour day.

Girls Day. Pencil Day. Happy Day.

Fair warning: you're going to hear a lot about sk*rt from me this week. Because there's lots of cool stuff going on over at that cool site. And because I (and my partners) have worked really, really hard on sk*rt and want to talk it about it all day long without stopping for meals.

But. I promise that what I share this week about/from sk*rt will be wonderful and worth your time. And that after this week, I will tone the sk*rt speak down. Way, way down.

Now that I've cleared that up, I can't wait to tell you about more fun stuff I found on sk*rt yesterday.



Like this fantastic tutorial from Photojojo on how to apply your favorite photo to a set of pencils. I'm totally bookmarking this. It will be perfect for next Christmas when my kids make gifts for their siblings. Found on sk*rt.



Also. Did you know that yesterday was Hina Matsuri or Girls Day in Japan? March 3rd. Or 03/03. (Apparently Boys Day is 05/05.) Here's the basic scoop:

"The overall idea of Hina-matsuri is to wish girls a healthy growth. In a family where a baby girl is born, parents give a set of dolls called “Hina-Ningyo” to the baby at her first Hina-matsuri hoping that she will grow happy, healthy and beautiful. Every year they keep decorating the dolls on the day of Hina-matsuri and hold a party to celebrate the child’s growth with some cake or tiny rice cakes."

Too sweet. I'd love to celebrate this with my kids. Now I know. Found on sk*rt.

Sk*rty Findings

Just found this fantastic Easter-Egg-Sidewalk-Chalk how-to, by Skip To My Lou, on sk*rt. Brilliant. I can't wait to try this with my kids.



Also just found on sk*rt: this site called Stuff White People Like. Equally brilliant, but for different reasons. Super funny. Plus, I've never felt so transparent.

Mother of the Year!

It's February 20th, so obviously you've got Mother's Day on the brain. What? You're thinking about how horribly cold and gray the last half of February is and when in the world will Spring ever get here already? Weird. Because I'm totally thinking about Mother's Day.

In fact. I've been asked to participate as a judge in this year's Mother of the Year event, sponsored by Mother's Day Central. And you should for sure nominate someone. It's super easy and the prize is great:

$5000 to the winner.
Plus flowers.

I love flowers. And I love $5000. Alas. As a judge, I can not win, can not even be nominated. But you can! Go check it out. Nominations are accepted through March 5th — that's only a couple of weeks away. Who will you nominate? Your mother? Your sister? Your friend? Better question: who will your husband and children nominate? You, of course!

To Fight off the Ennui

I'm quite sure that like me, you sit around most of the day wondering how to fill your time. For example, today, the housekeeper has already ironed the sheets with sprays of linen water. The chef has just finished reviewing the dinner menu with me. The nanny has the kiddies on a snow-shoeing adventure. And my pedicure isn't scheduled until tomorrow. Well, here are a few items I'm going to check out to help me fend off boredom (wink).


1) Skip to My Lou has put together some Last-Minute Valentine Ideas. For boys. For girls. Just print and assemble. Can't get much easier than that. (I think my oldest son, Ralph, will be all over those whirly-gigs!)


2) I love this great new parenting blog, Letters to a Parent. Letters written by parents to parents concerning their philosophies and approaches to raising kids. Real words from real people. Brilliant. I've already sent in the names of five of my favorite blog writers in the hopes they'll be asked to write essays. And if you're interested in submitting an essay too, go for it! You can see the guidelines here.


3) Speaking of Brilliant Ideas, look at the smart and simple Valentines that Design Mom Reader Ann Williams came up with. Colorized photos of her darlings. She printed them for friends at school and emailed them to far-away-family. Love it. (And what handsome boys!)


4) CWDKids is hosting a Kids Care Contest and is looking for nominations of children across the USA who are making a difference in the lives of others and their communities. They'll help one child continue their good work by making a $5,000 donation (nice!), in the child's name, to the charity of his/her choice as well as a $500 CWDKids gift certificate (sweet!) and recognition in a future catalog. What child will you nominate? Find the details here.


5) Good ol' Mod*Mom has some amazing Valentine Giveaways going on. Like really amazing. Don't miss out. You can enter through February 14th — that's tomorrow!


6) And last but not least — Design Mom Reader Josie Brown sent in this super-smart lego table idea. Low-cost — the whole project was about $75. Very functional. And good-looking too. Lots more pictures on her site so you can see what it's all about. Josie, submit this to Ikea Hacker already!

There. Something to do between the soap-watching and eating of bon-bons.

Shutter Sisters

There's a new website called Shutter Sisters that I have spent some very satisfying time exploring. It's for photographers and wannabe photographers and admirers of photographers. Founded by some of the most creative and inspiring women out there. Eight sisters. Three of whom I consider trusted blog friends, Andrea Scher of Superhero Journal, Karen Walrond of Chookooloonks and Tracey Clark of Mother May I.

Check it out. Explore. Get involved in Love Thursday. Or try a Superhero Photo Challenge. Nominate a photo for One Sweet Shot. Or join their flickr group. Mostly just let the beautiful photography inspire your day.

I've heard bits and pieces about this project over the last year and was so excited to see the site had launched. Congratulations Ladies!!

This site is going to be huge. I'm sure of it. I recommend getting involved early so you can say, "I was a Shutter Sister from day one".

I found the announcement on sk*rt.

Good People know Good People

Back in the day (before babies 4 & 5 made their appearance) I worked with a lovely Creative Director named Stephanie and a talented Art Director named Steven. They are still advertising hotshots, and in all their glorious spare time these city-apartment-living-experts have started a new site. And I think it's brilliant.

It's called the Good People Guide. And it's a place where anyone can read honest, unbiased reviews of local contractors, handymen, movers, house cleaners and on and on. Which means that you'll know just who to call when inspiration/disaster strikes your own home.

Plus. If you've had a good or bad experience hiring something out and want to share it for the benefit of all mankind, you can do that too.

Smart, right?

So much better than making a cold call from the yellow pages then crossing your fingers and saying several prayers that the person will actually show up and do what you need them to do.

Jordan's Mobiles. Liz's Cards.

Did you see the great mobile Jordan (my sister) and Paul (her husband) made? Origami cranes + wire hanger = wonderful.


And what about Liz's (my sister-in-law's) charming gocco Valentine cards? Welcome to the jungle.

Women in Social Media are ?????

What are women in social media? Well, apparently they are us. We are they. We are in social media. If we are reading blogs, blogging, checking out videos on You Tube, reading sk*rt, looking at photos on flickr, etc, etc, and all of the above. We are women in social media.

Hmmm. Who knew we had such a fancy title? Well we do. And Laura, my dear friend and partner at sk*rt, is going to be speaking up for women in social media at the Got Social Media conference in Houston on Thursday.

And since she is speaking of you and for you, she'd like to hear from you. So let's help her out. Leave a comment here on this post and let her know what you think women in social media are. Just complete the phrase: "Women in social media are ______."

She'd really like to hear what you have to say. So much so that she's going to randomly pick from the comments and give one lucky gal a one-year subscription to Domino Magazine (a publication which I adore)! Isn't she a sweet heart?

I can't wait to hear what you have to say.

Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

We had the day off today. No work. No school. Lovely.

My brother Josh and his kids came over, plus some up-for-anything friends from the neighborhood, and we spent the day making movies. Ralph wrote and directed two cinematic masterpieces starring all the kids. Josh helped him film and edit them with iMovie.

We ended the day with pizza and chicken chili and a screening of the two flicks, plus good conversation (much of which was about living in the East vs. living in the West). A great day.

Then I sat down at my computer tonight and found the coolest link on sk*rt.

Enjoying some time testing my geography skills and pondering this big wide world seemed a fitting way to end a day that's all about celebrating Human Rights.

One sheet of paper = Toy

Look what showed up on sk*rt today? I'm going to make one of these after school with my kids. I like projects like this to keep my kids' hands busy if they get bored at church. And this one is so cool.

Speaking of cool, have there been extra good links on sk*rt this week or what? I'm thinking the "lose it" button is definitely working — cleaning out the un-sk*rtworthy links gives the great links more attention.

If you haven't tested out the "lose it" button and entered the Clean Up sk*rt Contest yet, I highly recommend it. The prize is timely and awesome: a year's supply of laundry detergent from Dropps and a 7-piece hand cleaning pack from CleanWell, (take that! nasty cold & flue season). You have through this Friday to participate and the odds are quite excellent — as of this post, there are about 50 entries.

Entering is easy. Go here and click "lose it" on 10 items you dislike. Then go here and leave a comment. That's it!

Clean Sk*rt Contest!!

Did you receive your fabulous sk*rt Newsletter? Than you probably already know all about the new contest. But just in case you missed it, here are the details:

This week, January 14-18, get ready for a super cool, super Clean sk*rt Contest. Great fun. Great prizes. Great opportunities to clean up!

Thanks to some excellent software developers, you now have even more opportunities to vote at sk*rt. That’s right. You can vote a story up OR vote it down. Just to make things more interesting. This also gives the community (aka, YOU!) a chance to better monitor what it likes and, well, what it doesn’t like quite as much.



Spot any spam? See anything unseemly? Simply click the nifty LOSE IT button at the bottom of each post, and cha-ching! It’s lost. If a couple of people do it, it’s lost forever. Whoohoo! And wow, is it satisfying. Kinda like Whack-a-Mole, but without the pesky moles.

And if we do say so ourselves, voting down to clean up is so very fun and addictive. Ahhh, the power!

So much fun and addictive that we’re turning it into a contest! All you have to do to enter is VOTE DOWN 10 stories in the Up & Coming section with your nifty new LOSE IT! button and then leave a comment in this post at sk*rt to tell us of your massive power. (Simple…really…Just vote down ten, leave a comment here.) Then, you’re magically entered to win these extra clean prizes:

1) A YEAR’S SUPPLY of laundry detergent from Dropps! That’s 12, 20-load packets. Free. Their site is cool, and the product is super easy to use…just drop it in, no measuring, no drips. And it’s greener than your average detergent…super concentrated, just a tiny bit of packaging compared to traditional laundry soap. How cool is that?!!!

And…

2) A CleanWell seven-product hand hygiene pack. An all-natural, no alcohol, very cool looking clean collection that kills approximately a kabillion germs. Excellent. The prize pack includes TWO 1 oz. hand sanitizer spray bottles, ONE 6 oz. hand sanitizer spray bottle, ONE box of 20 individual wipes and ONE bottle of each custom scent (ginger bergamot, orange vanilla and lavender absolute) of Foaming Hand Wash. Rad.

So there you go. That’s $125 worth of free, sparkling, spotless, spic-and-span, spectacular prizes. And really, how often do you get cool stuff for cleaning up? We can answer that: not often enough. If you win, we’ll chalk it up to clean living. And clean sk*rting. Good luck!

You can get even more info from the sk*rt blog or on the sk*rt Giveaways page.

Fight World Hunger

First, I checked my email and saw that smart Wendy had sent me a link to a cool site. Second, I got online and stopped in at sk*rt to check the latest, very cool headlines and saw the same link. It's a sign. Apparently I'm supposed to improve my vocabulary. Or fight world hunger.

Probably both.

Design Your Own Snowflakes

If it's too cold this weekend to get outside (it is!), keep your kids/yourself entertained with this lovely snowflake building site. (I know. A repost from last winter, but so worth remembering.)



Also, just a reminder that you have until Sunday night at midnight to enter the Get Organized in 2008 Giveaway.

KidsHaus

The lovely Shannon from Rocks in My Dryer sent me a link to this new-to-me blog KidsHaus. I love it. I've already found a handful of posts to bookmark. Like this fantastic couch/bed by Nume that she posted today.

And this gorgeous rocker by 10 grain, available at Design Public.

Podcast Tonight with Kristen of Motherhood Uncensored

Happy day! A 2-man painting crew has been in the basement today painting it a nice shade of yellow — Benjamin Moore's Mellow Yellow for those who are curious. We have been converting it to a playroom since we moved my office space out of the basement a few months ago.

The space is small and pretty dark. It desperately needed a coat of something cheery to brighten it up and I haven't had the time/energy to make it happen. Ben Blair saved the day again and scheduled the painters. They'll be done tomorrow. Lovely.

The only downside is the painting has interrupted my internet connection. Here it is 5:00 and I'm just getting online. I swear I'm completely dysfunctional without the world wide web.

Anyway. This is just a quick post to invite you to listen-in to tonights podcast hosted by Kristen Chase of Motherhood Uncensored. We'll be talking about Christmas traditions, last minute gift ideas, decorations. Lots of good holiday stuff. You can find the podcast here.

Also. Many, many readers sent in brilliant questions. Thank you! I had quite a time sifting through them. But I've emailed the winners — and an alternate — and am waiting to receive confirmation that they're available to call in. If you sent in a question, please check your inbox.

I'm so excited. This is my first Design Mom podcast experience. Hope you'll join me.

Call for Questions

Lucky me — I get to be a guest on Kristin Chase's, aka Motherhood Uncensored's podcast this Wednesday! We'll be talking about fun holiday traditions, decorating, celebrating. All sorts of good things. And the networks won't be censoring any of it.

But I need your help. I'm looking for a few Design Mom Readers to call in Wednesday night with holiday related Ask-Design-Mom questions. Here's the dealio:

If you'll be near a phone Wednesday night between 9:00 and 9:45pm EST, and you've got an Ask-Design-Mom-Question, then I'd love to hear from you. Please email your question to me at gabrielle@designmom.com. I'll pick a few of my favorites and invite the questioners to call in on Wednesday night.



Even better: Craftsbury Kids, one of my favorite vendors, will send you a $25 gift certificate if your question gets picked! Not too shabby. You could use your gift certificate to pick up the fantastic frog hat in the photo, or one of dozens of darling things in their shop.

I'm really looking forward to chatting it up with Kristen. And I'm really looking forward to reading and answering your sure-to-be-brilliant questions. For the curious, you can find all of Kristen's excellent podcasts here. Then. Tune in to the same place to hear us Wednesday night.

Holiday Goings On on the Interwebs

So many things.

My sister Jordan had her baby.
Moses. Adorable. While you're waiting patiently for her to start blogging again, look up her fantastic 30 Gifts under $30 posts to give you some brilliant last minute ideas for Christmas.

Christmas Tour of Homes.
Just found this today! BooMama has organized an Internet Home Tour of Holiday Decorations. So fun to get a peek into people's homes. Go check it out. But please heed BooMama's advice and pace yourself. It's a lot of tinsel to take in.

Flood Relief in Washington State.
Daring Young Mom is helping with flood relief efforts in Washington. You can read her moving posts about the horrific damage and inspiring stories of service here, here and here. Want to help out a family in need this Christmas? Of course you do! She'll tell you how.

New York Area Gift Swap.
Organized by the wonderful Mommy Poppins. It's a great opportunity to clean out the kids' rooms of the toys they don't need any longer, make room for the new gifts and do something good for children less fortunate. Oh shoot! I missed it. It was yesterday. I. have. got. to. catch. up. on. my. email. You can still read about the great event here. For any of you traveling to New York this Christmas, also check out her NYC Holiday Guide.

Looky Book

Clever Laurie just sent me a link to Looky Book. A great new site that lets you view childrens' books online — cover to cover. Seriously. Every page. What a brilliant idea and useful tool. Check it out. It's still in beta and I'm sure their collection of books is growing fast.

The Marketplace

Good news: Lots of new discounts and deals are up in the Marketplace. And more are being added in the next few days.

Fair warning: Many of the offers that were introduced on November 1st will only be listed through the 30th — that's tomorrow — yikes! Grab those deals while you can.

Fun Stuff at Sk*rt

Exciting things happening at sk*rt this week and I have to share.

First of all, the smart and witty and always glamorous Laura Mayes represented sk*rt at the Rice Alliance Information Technology Venture Forum in Houston. Each company there was invited to show one power-point slide and give a 90-second elevator pitch. Apparently, Laura’s presentation was flawless (no surprise), because sk*rt won! And we have a very cool trophy to prove it.

Sk*rt is the most promising!




And then, because Laura is such a fantastic presenter — and at this point, a social media guru — she was invited to speak about sk*rt at the Got Social Media event. Go Laura! Go sk*rt!



And now that I've done a bit of sk*rt bragging, I've got something nice, just for you, so that you won't think sk*rt has grown too big for its britches. Sk*rt is so very thankful for it's users, that we're hosting a Thanksgetting Celebration to show our gratitude, with Giveaways all week long. For you. Loyal sk*rt users.

It's easy to enter, just leave a comment on any sk*rt ThanksGetting post, like this one. You can find out more information on the sk*rt Giveaways page and the sk*rt blog. But please note, comments on this blog post don't count as entries.

Flood Street Curiosity Shop

Have you seen all the cute items Jordan has added to her shop? I've got to order me some of that twine. I would basically use it non-stop. And the giant balloons? They're like the happiest thing ever invented.

Everyone Loves Letterpress! From Papered Together: Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway #14

‘Tis the Season to send out some letterpress. Actually, now that I think about it, anytime’s the right time to send it out. Because it’s just that awesome.

Papered Together agrees. So much so that this lovely little Minneapolis letterpress studio makes all kinds of cards, coasters and custom stationery for wedding, birthdays, new businesses, new babies or just for fun, entirely by hand on antique presses. It’s really so cool. And so personal. In fact, Krista Stout, the owner and master letterpresser (is that a word?) is inspired everyday by “the slow, mindful art of creating each design, mixing inks, preparing the press, and hand-printing each card one at a time.” Maybe it’s because she comes from a long line of printers and loves “thinking of all the hands that have used these old presses before.” Or maybe it’s just because she’s cool.

And you know why she’s cool? Because she does letterpress. Also because she’s giving away a set of any six cards AND a set of coasters from her excellent etsy shop. So go ahead and register to win a Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway Prize Package by leaving a comment on any Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway lovely, like this one. Do that and you’re registered to win one of the fabulous packages.

This post, my friends, features the very last Maker Faire artist that is collaborating with Sk*rt this year. Don't miss your chance to win the third and final prize package. The more comments you leave on different “Maker Faire” entries at sk*rt, the more you’re entered. So great. So go.

Note: no comments on this post, please. Leave your comments here instead. And feel free to vote it up!

Robin's Egg Pink: Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway #13 is Modern and Sweet!

It’s true! You can be both modern and sweet. And Robin’s Egg Pink proves it with a fun (and modern and sweet) collection of jackets, pants, aprons, onesies, shirts, dresses and holiday gear. That’s right. And it’s all made with flair, care and cool craftsmanship. I would expect nothing less from an Art Director with a Bachelors in Fine Art and Design (and the mother of a little boy). She gets the importance of indestructible art. Nice huh?

Even nicer, she’s giving away a lovely little apron for the Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway…item #13. This lavender and strawberry apron would be perfect for your favorite little “baker”. It also may save a shirt or two. I’m just saying.

So register right now by commenting on any Sk*rt/Maker Faire Givewaway item, like this one, and you’re registered to win one of the fabulous prize packages. The more comments you leave on different “Maker Faire” items at sk*rt , the more you’re entered. It’s the most modern and sweet giveaway going on right now. Seriously.

Note: instead of commenting on this post, enter by commenting over at the sk*rt post. While you're there, vote it up, please. It's so deserving of the popular section.

Still Going Strong with Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaways....#12: Sarah Jane...Illustrating Childhood

Illustrating just how to be young and fabulous, Sarah Jane creates a wonderful assortment of lovely illustrated designs for the small set. Or the large minded. Or both. Either way. However you look at it, her art is fantastic. So look at it. Check it out. She creates a number of cool cards and prints that she offers at her new etsy shop. And by discovering Sarah Jane now, you can catch a rising artist as she soars to stardom.

And speaking of that, you can get to know Sarah Jane even better through her blog. (How much do we love artists with blogs?!!) where she talks about inspiration, art, family and even asks for reader opinions and feedback on designs (How cool is that?!!)

Even cooler, she’s donating a $50 gift certificate for one lucky winner’s favorite prints or cards for the Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway…item #12. So register right now by commenting on any Sk*rt/Maker Faire Givewaway item, like this one, and you’re registered to win one of the fabulous prize packages. The more comments you leave on different “Maker Faire” items at sk*rt, the more you’re entered. So fun. So fabulous. So like Sarah Jane.

Note: I've turned off comments on this post, so you'll remember to enter on the sk*rt post here.

Design Mom Marketplace

As promised, it's time for the BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!

For the last month I've been putting together a new feature on my blog. It's called Marketplace. And it's just for you. And I'm really excited about it.

Almost every day, I receive emails from vendors letting me know about deals and discounts they want to offer to Design Mom readers. Of course, when it's a vendor I know you'll love, I want to pass the news along, but this blog would get bogged down if it was non-stop discount announcements all day long.

So I've come up with this solution: I've put all the deals and discounts and bargains and specials in one place. You'll be able to find them easily, whenever you need them. Like when you're shopping for a just right baby gift, an extra-special hostess gift, a super-cool birthday gift, a pick-me-up for yourself, new mod bedding for the nursery, a little bling for your night out. . .

Plus. I've tried hard to make Marketplace really pretty and fun to look at. With the hope that perusing the deals will feel a little like window-shopping. Without the crowds or lines or food courts. Whenever you need a deal, just click the Marketplace button in my sidebar and it will take you right where you want to be.

And November 1st seems like just the right day to launch this, don't you think? It's time to start making Holiday gift lists. Maybe Marketplace will help you have your best shopping season ever.

photo via Getty

Some Stuff About Some Websites with Stuff

Mighty Junior launches today. I was already a fan of Mighty Goods, so it was kind of no-brainer that I would like it's offspring. But when I had a sneak preview a few days ago I realized that the authors (Maggie Mason of Mighty Girl and of Melissa Summers of Suburban Bliss) and I share more similar taste than I realized. And now I'm extra-excited to have a new source for good stuff. It's like getting two more sisters.



Speaking of Melissa Summers. I must tell any who are still in the dark, about the website Alpha Mom. Isabel Kallman has gathered the best of the best on her fantastic site. I go there for 3 reasons:

1) Some of the most amazing bloggers (including Ms. Summers, Amalah, Finslippy, and Dooce) write for Alpha Mom weekly.

2) Anyone can go learn from or add to the extensive product reviews. As entertaining as they are helpful.

3) There are also super useful videos on all sorts of topics. In fact, don't miss the lovely ladies from Cool Mom Picks — that's Liz of Mom 101 and of Kristen of Motherhood Uncensored — talking about some of their favorite finds.



Speaking of Cool Mom Picks. Have you seen their Safer Toy Guide? Very helpful. And if you've moved on, and you're in the stage of parenthood where the fear of toys has been replaced by the fear-your-daughter-will-break-her-neck-on-the-uneven-bars, or beyond that to the fear-your-son-will-get-his-heart-broken-by-that-girl, you'll still love to know what toys are kosher to give as gifts to your friends and family with wee ones.

Sk*rt Maker Faire Giveaway Item #11: Mixed Media Fine Art by Kelly Rae Roberts

Kelly Rae Roberts, a Portland-based artist, social worker and all-around lover of life creates mixed media works, prints, and prints on wood in an effort to express connectedness and a sense of vitality in her art. She succeeds. And she does so beautifully. You can read more about her story and her work here.

And you can see more of her lovely art here. And keep up with her on her blog here. I know I will be, because I am LOVING her work!

And I'm loving that she’s donating 3 small archival prints that have been mounted on wood for the Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway…item #11 in the mix. And if this doesn’t motivate you to register, then I’m not sure what will. So go!

Comment on any Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway item, like this one, just for fun. Any comment. Do that and you’re registered to win one of the fabulous packages. The more comments you leave on different “Maker Faire” items at sk*rt, the more you’re entered. So get to commenting. A Kelly Rae Roberts masterpiece is on the line.

Baby Brewing Brews Up A Fantastic Addition to the Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway with Item #10

I love Baby Brewing. Partially because it’s the brainchild of brilliant Kristin Hammond of Mommy Needs a Cocktail. And partially because she knows pregnant women and tiny babies deserve cool comfy tee shirts and gear. (And when you think about it, who deserves to be more comfy than prego and newborn people?! I can answer that. No one.) So this great little shop provides t-shirts that are guaranteed to make you laugh all the way in super soft cotton.

And they’re providing a “Dreamer” bag or tee (winner’s choice) to a lucky Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway Champion.

So register! All you have to do to enter to win a Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway Prize Package is leave a comment on any Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway item, like this one. Do that and you’re registered to win one of the fabulous packages. The more comments you leave on different “Maker Faire” items at sk*rt, the more you’re entered. So get to commenting.

After all, what could be better? Nothing I tell you. Except maybe one of Kristin’s cocktail recipes.

Wolfie and the Sneak: Sneaking In at Sk*rt /Maker Faire Giveaway #9

Who are Wolfie and the Sneak? Well it seems they are two crazy kids in love, who also love making things. Here’s what they say about it all…

Renee went to art school to become artsier and fartsier, while Charlie was professionally trained in photography. They met on a blind date at a little country flea market, and though it was no affair of love at first site, Charlie proposed then and there with a plastic ring from a vending machine. Love did come later. And eventually so did marriage.

And so did some seriously great art. You can check that out here at Poppytalk Handmade. And they’re sharing a bit of this talent with us to give away in a Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway Prize Package. Whoohoo!

Renee (Is she Wolfie? Or Sneak? Will we ever know?), this very talented indie artist of prints, posters and cards is donating two prints. Two lovely lovely prints. So leave a comment on any Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway entry, like this one, and you’re registered to win one of the fabulous packages. The more comments you leave on different “Maker Faire” entries at sk*rt, the more you’re entered. Easy. So sneak a few comments in. It’s totally worth the shot!

Darleen Meier, Swanky Handcrafted Jewelry, Gives the Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway #8 Some Serious Bling

From a very early age, Darleen Meier had flair for fashion design, which eventually brought her to New York to pursue a career in fashion. She eventually moved in the jewelry direction and lovers of the bling will be forever grateful. Because her work is fantastic. Here’s more detail from her website.

Darleen’s jewelry features 14k gold-filled or sterling silver metals charmed by precious or semi-precious stones, all hand picked for cut and clarity. She names her jewelry after family, friends and icons, infusing an exclusive ethos into each piece. Her designs feature intricate wire architecture fused with vibrant gems, turquoise and coral in diacritic clasps and findings.

All I know is that it’s lovely.

And one lovely (and lucky) sk*rt person will win one of Darleen’s newest (and extremely popular!) pieces: a Francesca cuff bracelet worth $96. The Francesca combines varying round gold-filled links with three small touches of olive marquise natural zircon stones.

Gorgeous! And you can win it here in the Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway by leaving a comment on any Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway entry, like this one. Do that and you’re registered to win one of the fabulous packages. The more comments you leave on different “Maker Faire” entries at sk*rt, the more you’re entered. Easy. So comment. And cross your fingers for the bling. It’s well worth the wishing.

Jump Up and Down For Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway #7!

Jump Up and Down. It’s not just a great thing to do. It’s a fantastic little company that makes wonderful things. Things like this stylish bag they’re offering up to one lucky winner in celebration of Maker Faire Austin. Isn’t it fab?! I think so. It’s made from Amy Butler Water Lotus and Imperial Fans from the Nigella collection. Absolutely
beautiful.

Check out even more photos and all their lovely things at the Jump Up and Down Etsy shop. And know that I'm a big fan. I've posted about Jump Up and Down before.

Then, go ahead and register to win a Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway Prize Package by leaving a comment on any Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway lovely, like this one. Do that and you’re registered to win one of the fabulous packages. The more comments you leave on different “Maker Faire” entries at sk*rt, the more you’re entered. Easy. So comment.

And then jump up and down if you love excellent handmade items! I am.

But don't comment on this post. In fact, you can't — comments are closed. Instead, leave a comment here.

Craftzine Gives The Best Of CRAFT for Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway #6

I love Craftzine! After all, it is the new craft magazine for the new craft movement. And how can you not love that?!

Plus it is the go-to place to see the latest, greatest, smartest maker ideas. Even non-crafters, who don't have an ounce of crafty DNA, can get inspired by the groovy ideas shelled out daily on CRAFT. It's good like that.

And even better, Craftzine and CRAFT magazine...the people behind Maker Faire...have given a box set of the not-yet-available-for-the-public books "The First Year of CRAFT" vol. 1-4 valued at $60. All the best. In one set. Straight from CRAFT and Craftzine. Awesome!

So register for a Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway Prize Package by leaving a comment on any Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway item, like this one. Do that and you're registered to win one of the fabulous packages. The more comments you leave on different "Maker Faire" items at sk*rt, the more you're entered. So get to commenting.



And then go over to Craftzine and tell them how fantastic they are. Because they are.

Note: comments closed on this post. Instead, enter the sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaways by leaving a comment here.

Everyone Loves Jen Lemen: Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway’s Fifth Featured Artist!

The next Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway Artist is like Raymond. Everyone loves her! And well we all should. Because she’s an amazing artist, an amazing person, and amazing soul. And her works of soulful art are on display here at SoulSister Designs and at Jenlemen dot com.

It’s all just inspiring.

And thankfully, she was inspired to give a matted piece of original art from her upcoming zine and a hopefulness kit (buttons/cards) to a lucky Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway winner. They’re worth $25 in cash and so so much more in every other way. Thank you Jen!

And don’t forget to register for a Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway Prize Package by leaving a comment on any Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway item, like this one. Do that and you’re registered to win one of the fabulous packages. The more comments you leave on different “Maker Faire” items at sk*rt, the more you’re entered. Inspired? Comment away!

Note: comments closed on this post, so you'll remember to leave your comments here to enter the Giveaway.

Be The Goddess You Are with Goddess of Leonie: Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway’s Fourth Featured Artist!

Welcome to the FOURTH Sk*rt/Maker Faire featured artist’s work, where you are invited to Be the Goddess inside you. Here, “in this little chapel of creativity”, she continues to “document joy and light in its myriad rainbow of colours. Come visit me for tea, paint on the hands, sacred space, and art on the floor at www.leonielife.com.”

She’s Austrialian, a writer, a photographer, an all-round goddess, a big dream dreamer, a crazy dancer and a fantastic artist! Check out Leonie Allen’s beautiful work here where joy is always an option.

The goddess will give the winner of a Sk*rt/Maker Faire Prize Package a print of her choice worth $25. All you have to do to enter is leave a comment on any Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway item (like this one), and you’re registered to win one of the fabulous packages. The more comments you leave on different “Maker Faire” entry items at sk*rt, the more you’re entered. Can you believe the goodness of it all?

Note: I'm leaving the comments closed on this post so you won't be confused. To enter this Giveaway, leave a comment here or on any sk*rt item tagged "Maker Faire."

BananaSaurus Rex Shops Supreme as the Third Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway Featured Artist!

BananaSaurus Rex features astonishingly beautiful things for post-modern bohemian Mamas and retro-stylish Babies — made of amazing vintage, recycled and other rescued materials. Cool huh? Check out their stuff here at their lovely Etsy shop.

We love it! And to add to the Maker Mix, BananaSaurus Rex is offering one of their beautiful handcrafted MamaGoToMarket Bags worth $20. We’re so excited, aren’t you? Shop on!

And don’t forget to leave a comment on any Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway item, like this one or this one or this one, and you’re registered to win one of the fabulous prize packages. The more comments you leave on different “Maker Faire” items at sk*rt, the more you’re entered. The contest is good like that.

PS — If the bag featured looks familiar, you may have seen it in an earlier Design Mom post.

PPS — I'm leaving the comments closed on this post so you won't be confused. To enter this Giveaway, leave a comment here or on any sk*rt item tagged "Maker Faire."

Wish Upon an Up-and-Coming Star…Rebecca Knudsen Shines as the Second Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway Featured Artist!

Remember those amazing stained-glass stars I featured in my most recent Design Mom Giveaway? Well. Here's another chance to win them.

Sk*rt is delighted to announce that Rebecca Knudsen has offered up two original stained-glass stars to shine in the sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaways. As you can see from her work featured here, Rebecca makes beautiful things. The two 9” stars are together valued at $30.

Thanks for celebrating Maker Faire week with us Rebecca!

And don’t forget to leave a comment on any Sk*rt/Maker Faire item, like this one or this one (or both) and you’re registered to win one of the fabulous prize packages. The more comments you leave on different “Maker Faire” items at sk*rt, the more you’re entered. FYI: if you type "Maker Faire" in the search field on sk*rt, it will show you all the items you can comment on to enter — at the time I'm typing this, there are 5 items so far. That means 5 chances to enter.

Good luck! And shine on!

Note from Design Mom: I'm leaving the comments closed on this post so you won't be confused. To enter this Giveaway, leave a comment here or on any sk*rt item tagged "Maker Faire."

Magpie Girl Rocks as the First Sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaway Featured Artist!

Here it is. The first prize announcement for the sk*rt/Maker Faire Giveaways!

Sk*rt is proud to partner with Rachel Mee Chapman aka Magpie Girl a fabulous Seattle-based artist. Her work is lovely and fantastic and you can find some of it here.

And to celebrate independent makers and Maker Faire Austin, she’s been kind enough to giveaway the following two items:

A Typewriter Key Bracelet: Vintage typewriter keys are cleaned and filed to create this unique bracelet. Spell out your name, wear and inspiring word, or just sport a collection of numbers and symbols. 11 keys per bracelet, 6.5 inches in length

An Original Shrine Kit: Create a pocket shrine to inspire you or to bless a friend. The kit in includes a reclaimed tin, beautiful papers, and other adornments.

Together these items are worth $50 — a wonderful addition to our amazing prize packages. So we’re on our way. Watch for more items all throughout the week (there will be 12!) And leave a comment on any Sk*rt/Maker Faire item..like this one…and you’re registered to win!

Stay tuned… And thank you Magpie Girl!

Note from Design Mom: I'm leaving the comments closed on this post so you won't be confused. To enter this Giveaway, leave a comment here.

Maker Faire Week at Sk*rt!!

[ Preface: for those of you who are new Design Mom readers, you should know I'm one of the sk*rt founders and there are few things I enjoy more than talking about sk*rt to anyone and everyone. So of course, I post about sk*rt here as often as possible. Don't know what sk*rt is? It's like Digg for chicks. You can get it know sk*rt better here and here. ]

Maker Faire Austin is happening this week, and sk*rt is getting involved in a super-fun way. We at sk*rt are ready to kick it up a notch and celebrate some of our favorite independent makers and do-it-yourself-ers!!!

Because, as I’m sure you’ve noticed, there are some pretty amazing artists, makers, designers, crafters, chefs, and creative geniuses who hang around and sometimes even show off their stuff at sk*rt. And we LOVE it!

In fact, we’ve all found some of the coolest independent designers through sk*rt, and we want to make sure you don’t miss them! So we’re going to take this week and this opportunity to highlight them, celebrate them, and give them a little extra love. And in turn, they want to give you a chance to win some of their amazing makes.

That’s right, we’re talking a major SK*RT/MAKER FAIRE GIVEAWAY, people.

Here’s how it will work. We’ll be posting at the sk*rt blog everyday between Monday, October 15 and Sunday, October 21 about the different featured independent makers and what they’ll be adding to the SK*RT/MAKER FAIRE GIVEAWAY! Each day we’ll let you know about new items being added to prize packages. Cool right? Honestly, the prize packages are so huge, we have to ease you into them. Seriously. So we’ll let you know one or two items at a time. Because they’re that awesome! And so are the fantastic sk*rt makers behind them.

All you have to do to enter the GIANT SK*RT/MAKER FAIRE GIVEAWAY is to LEAVE A COMMENT on ANY of the sk*rt entries tagged “Maker Faire”….like for instance, any one like this one, or like this one. In fact, if you're an artist/maker/designer/crafter/chef/creative genius yourself, you could even post your own link on sk*rt, tag it "Maker Faire" and anyone who left a comment on your post would be entered.

The more comments you leave on different “Maker Faire” entry items, the more you’re entered. Cool huh? To find "Maker Faire" items, simply browse sk*rt or type Maker Faire into the search field at the top of the sk*rt website.

We can’t wait to introduce you (or reintroduce you) to some amazing independent artists and makers. After all, that’s what sk*rt (and Maker Faire Austin!) is all about!

Happy Sk*rt/Maker Faire Week everyone!

The Hipster Mullet

I love this photo essay at The New Awesome of Russian boys (and a few Russian Mannequins) with hipster mullets. Hot. I wonder if my son Ralph could pull this off.

Happy Columbus Day!

The kids and Ben have school off today, so we're going to spend the afternoon strolling around Central Park, thinking fond thoughts of the Nina, Pinta and Santa Maria. I'll leave you with a few cool links until I'm back again tomorrow:

I just learned about "Boo-ing" from Skip to My Lou. My kids would LOVE every part of this — making a container, making the treats, writing a poem, ringing and running . . .

Mommy Poppins has organized a Halloween Costume Swap for New York area moms. Great idea! I can imagine something like this working well in pretty much any community — get to it Moms.

Have you ever been to a local bookstore to meet an author and get a book signed? It's a great thing to do and a wonderful way to forge a real-life connection between books and your kids. Check out your favorite bookstores for their upcoming schedules and if you're in New York, go to Books of Wonder this Saturday from 12-2 and you can meet John Segal, the author/illustrator of some of my favorite children's books.

The fantastic illustrator Sarah Jane, the artist responsible for the beautiful drawing at the top of this post, has her etsy shop up and running. Yummy, yummy stuff.

And a quick reminder. You have until tonight at midnight (pst) to enter the Small Vendors Rock Giveaway.

Happy Columbus Day, everyone!

Design Sponge Redesign

Did everyone see the Design Sponge Redesign? Looks great. Lots of texture and everything you need at your fingertips. Very nice. Note the new url. And for added fun, don't miss the sneak peak into Grace's own apartment.

Bugaboo Video

Did everyone already see the Bugaboo Bee movie? (The Bee is the latest stroller by Bugaboo.) The movie is interesting and pretty to watch — I appreciate when a company takes the time to make their promotions beautiful. Plus the message makes it across: from the movie it's easy to see the Bee is lightweight, easy to use, and very maneuver-able. I like the color options.

Trivia bit: I hear the dance was choreographed by the same guy who does the Scrubs dances. Nice work Scrubs dance guy.

FreeCycling

I've been wanting to try freecycling since I first heard about it and I finally did it this week! Go to the Freecycle site. Find a local group by putting in your town's name. Then quickly register. It took a whole of 5 minutes to sign-up and post my first two items: a scanner and laser printer. Both were picked up yesterday.

I love knowing they are going to people who will put them to good use right away — instead of sitting in my garage for months and months gathering dust until I remember to take a load of goods to the Salvation Army. Freecycling seems like an especially good option for items that probably wouldn't fetch much if you tried to sell them on Craigs List/Ebay. And unlike Craigs List/Ebay, I didn't feel like I had to "sell" the items. You know: look up similar items to see how much they are selling for, list all the features and benefits of the products, etc. Because the items are given away for free, there's no research or spin.

Also, I love that in addition to offering items, Freecycle users can post "Wanted" items too, so fellow Freecyclers can hook them up. I tell you, I've got big plans for clearing out my house.

Long Weekend

Hello Friends. I'm taking tomorrow and Monday off. We've got cousins coming to town, and Labor Day to celebrate, and some back to school preparations to complete. I'll be back Tuesday, September 4th with the Lovely Kyran from Notes to Self visiting as Guest Mom. In the meantime, I'll leave you with a few fun links:

Your Momma
A new company that features only products made by Moms. Moms are the best multi-taskers.

Mimi Lou Wall Art by Zoe B
I like this take on wall and furniture decals. You can see their ideas to get inspired here.

Glitz Design
A new line of scrapbooking papers and accessories that's getting a lot of attention. Extra bonus: the founder of Glitz is a friend of my friend: the super-cool Liz of Backward's Attraction.

Hey Peanut
An online shop with clothes just for baby and toddler boys.

Mama Merit Badges
Don't you know a mom who deserves a merit badge?

Street Mining
Love this mention by Swiss Miss about people getting together and exploring the streets of New York. (Thanks, Laurie!)

Six-Word-Memoirs
"He wore dresses. This caused messes." Read the six word memoirs at Smith Mag. Or even better, submit your own.

Lego Desk
Yep. Made entirely from Legos. Personally, I interact with Legos on a daily basis and can't help notice links like this.

Happy weekend, everybody!

A few things of Note

It's the one year anniversary of Darlybird! I'm such a Darlybird fan. For those of you new to Design Mom, Darlybird sponsored my very first Giveaway. So I'm ready to celebrate! You can join the fun: enter happydarly in the coupon code field of the checkout screen and Design Mom Readers will receive 20% off their entire order! Sale ends August 20th, so shop early for the best selection.


And I've got another discount for you as well. Remember those darling baby announcements I posted about from Handsome Devil Press? Well they've also offered Design Mom Readers a discount. Type in coupon code designmom at check out and get 10% off any of their cards.


Also. You know how I can't stop talking about sk*rt? Well I'm not the only one. ComputerWorld wrote an article about sk*rt and dozens of sites have reviewed sk*rt as well. (We're tracking out publicity on our delicious page.) I'm so dang excited! I hope you're enjoying sk*rt as much as I am. Use it to find cool links and promote the blogs and websites you love!

And don't miss the latest sk*rt contest to win loot from The Silly Wagon. It's easy to enter and ends tomorrow. Find the details here.


Last but not least. In case you missed it, there is a Giveaway going on here at Design Mom right this minute. You could win a gorgeous, red handbag and planner binder from FranklinCovey valued at $240. Just leave a comment on that post.

Blog Party at GoodyBlog!

Be sure to drop by GoodyBlog and check out their blog party featuring 6 excellent Giveaways! Tell them congratulations on being Typepad's Featured Blog.

True Mom Confessions

If you're not already addicted to True Mom Confessions, prepare yourself. I was introduced to this site at BlogHer and the whole idea is so brilliant I can hardly stand it. Some confessions are funny, some are sincere, many are down right heart-wrenching. Reading it makes me want to hand out hugs right and left.

Mr. Picasso Head

Another artsy-fartsy way for you or your kids to spend your day online: make your own masterpiece at Mr. Picasso Head.

found at How about Orange

Babble Pedia

There is a fairly new parenting wiki out that I've been wanting to explore. It's called Babble Pedia. And it seems like a smart way to share any expertise you've gathered as a parent.

For the readers asking "wiki?" - it's basically an online encylopedia that anyone can add an entry to. You can even edit someone else's entry. If you have lots of time on your hands, have fun exploring wiki.com.

Hello

My husband just showed this to me and I couldn't stop laughing.

Small Magazine: Issue 2

The latest issue of the online magazine, Small, is ready to view. Check it.

I blogged about issue No. 1 here. This issue is just as lovely, if not more so.

Two Don't Miss Items

1) The lovely Judy from Goody Blog just put up a hot new podcast. And it's so good. Greg from Daddy Types is the guest — just in time for Father's Day. Give it a listen. Then remind me to post this on sk*rt.


2) Nan, of Life is Like a Lunchbox is hosting a week long Apronpalooza. Three apron giveaways each day. All week long. And it's not too late to enter — even on the Monday aprons. But maybe you already know this, because I totally saw it on the front page of sk*rt last night.

I'm heading over there now to throw my name in the ring. You should definitely join me, but dibs on this black and white one — it's gorgeous!

Hostess with the Mostess Stationery Week

The Hostess with the Mostess has a special week going on at her blog. And I am especially in love. She's spending the whole week showcasing stationery(!) — everything from wedding invitations to everyday cards. I'm grinning just thinking about it.

Yesterday she featured several companies — all new to me — and all producing really beautiful work (like Avie Designs, who made the hot cards below). I can't wait to see what she posts today. Plus, as icing on the cake, she's hosting a couple of stationery giveaways as well.



The whole week is in honor of the New York Stationery Show, happening this week. Can you see why I'm so happy? The Stationery Show is like a second Christmas for me. Pretty overload x 10. Confession: I think I even prefer it to the Gift Show. I've got family coming to town. A big conference on Friday. Hosting book club tonight. So I'm not even sure which day I can go. But I'm bound and determined to get there.

And for your own pretty overload, I highly recommend you pay a visit to the Hostess right away.

Junior Society

I just realized I've been remiss in not making sure Design Mom Readers are aware of the really excellent blog being authored by Robert Mahar of Mahar Dry Goods.

If you've been reading for a while, you already know I'm so impressed with the collection of hand-crafted and artisan goods that Mahar Dry Goods has put together. And I'm equally as impressed with the Junior Society Blog.

Not only does Mr. Mahar have an eye for quality products, he also clearly knows a good illustrator when he sees one. The illustrations throughout the Junior Society are by S. Britt, and they make the already good blog content doubly charming.

Definitely one of my favorite new sites.

Internet Baby Shower

Thank goodness I read Blog con Queso. Girl con Queso is in the know. And her's is the first blog where I read about the Virtual Baby Shower being held for 3 Parenting Blog Celebrities: Liz at Mom 101, Christina of A Mommy Story, and Tammie of Soul Gardening. Go here to play games, win prizes, learn all about it and leave some baby advice.

The best baby advice I've received:
Nap when your baby is napping. This is a great idea if you can make it work.

The worst baby advice I've received:
Nap when your baby is napping. This idea just doesn't work, especially if this is baby number 2 — or more.

A virtual shower. What a great idea. Congratulations to the 3 lovely ladies!