Sk*rt's Getting a New Name!!

Have you heard the rumor about sk*rt getting a new name? Well the rumor is true. And there's a fantastic contest going on where everybody gets to help choose the new name. And the prizes are big. A fancy new cord-free/hands-free phone. A Magic Bullet blender/food processor. And a free BlogHer Registration. That's over $700 worth of goodies.

Entering the contest, as usual, is as easy as pie. Just leave a comment here or here letting us know what your favorite choice is from the list of new names — or you can even suggest your own.

Enter as often as you'd like. But you've got to do it fast. Because the contest ends this Friday. As in day after tomorrow.

Happy Earth Day

Craving green today? Me too. To help you get in the Earth Day mindset, check out the fabulous sk*rt Young At Heart Contest. You can win a $400 Fuji Crosstown bike!! Because the only greener transportation than biking is walking. How to enter? It's easy: just leave a comment over on the sk*rt link or the sk*rt blog.

The Sk*rt Paramount Meetup

This is really going to be a fantastic week. Laurie and Laura are coming to New York and we have a jam-packed schedule full of business meetings and lunches and get togethers and drop bys for sk*rt. On Thursday or Friday we're even hoping to make it to at least a little bit of the BlogHer Business conference. But the coolest part of the week will definitely be Wednesday night.

We want to make sure we get to see friends and internet buddies while we're all together, so we're hosting a fabulous meetup. Here's the 411:

The Sk*rt Paramount Meetup
NYC Wed. April 2, 8 p.m.
Paramount Bar
235 W 46th St (@ 8th Avenue)



par·a·mount [par-uh-mount] –adjective: Of highest importance, chief in importance or significance.

If you’re sk*rty or (Design Mom-y) and you happen to be in NYC, we are going to have a get together on Wednesday, April 2 at 8 p.m. at the Paramount Bar at 235 W 46th St (@ 8th Avenue).

And we totally want you to be there. It's paramount. Plus, just in case you need more convincing, check this out:

Blurb, the super-cool custom bookmaking company — the very same one that just hosted a Giveaway right here on Design Mom — will treat all sk*rty paramount meetupers to a free book! Whoohoo! That's right. Everyone that attends will get a code to make a free Blurb book. Everyone.




Make a cookbook. Make a wedding album. Make a book for Mother’s Day. Make whatever book you like. Or try the famous and exclusive Blurb Slurp: Your blog. Automatically slurped into a real book. So freaking cool. Now, it’s even more paramount that we get together.

Seriously. Can't wait to see you. And give you a Blurb certificate. Let me know if you can make it!

SXSW

photo by Karen of Chookooloonks

I'm back from Austin. And it is good to be back. Things I want to tell you about:

1) How incredibly nerdy-awesome SXSWi is. As in 99% of attendees were 21-30 year old males who love to spend hours building lego sculptures (and if at all possible, motorizing them), wear flip flops through all four seasons and think Facebook's announcement yesterday (that Facebook is now in French) was a life-changing piece of news (either because they live on Facebook or because they are so-over-Facebook and are offended that anyone has deemed it newsworthy).

I've hung out with people like this all my life and I always enjoy it, but it was a tiny bit disappointing that I was with thousands and thousands of people and there was no one to notice my cute shoes. :)



2) How fun it was to meet Heather and Jon Armstrong. They are lovely and basically stood in a reception line for hours and hours so that adoring fans (the sk*rt chicks included) could kneel at the alter of Dooce and pay their compliments.



3) How delightful it was to host the sk*rt meet-up yesterday with yummy cupcakes, prizes from Everyday Food and lots and lots of attendees who braved the cruel daylight savings time change to join us for breakfast. Oh. And there was a unicorn.



Plus more stuff. Like how this was the third time Laura and Laurie and I met in person — and how they are the most bestest people to work with. Yummy lunch at the Whole Foods flagship. Meeting and hanging out with some awesome sk*rt editors — like Karen and Gwen and Betsy. Power-lunches with Shannon and Jesse. And on and on and on.

But really, until I have photos (someone please send me photos), this is the most boring story in the world. (And even with photos, I fully realize that this story is mostly for my mom.) And thus I end my picture-less report.

Edit: Oh. Hooray! I found some great shots on Gwen's flickr page. Thanks Gwen! And more photos from Laurie. And even a photo from Karen. This post is now overflowing with glorious photos.

I'm Going to SXSW!

I'm super excited. I'm heading to SXSWi tomorrow. I've never been before but I keep hearing it's a kind of Geeky-Disneyland-Circus-Awesome-Event. (I told my techie brother Josh that I was going and he almost passed out because he was so happy for me.)

Of course, I had no idea what it was until maybe 3 weeks ago — I'm clueless like that. But if you're a player in the interactive world, apparently you have to be there. And since sk*rt is all that and all web 2.0 and all social media and all, we will be there. Handing out mints.

We're even hosting a little SXSWi get together Sunday morning. And you are so invited. If you are going to be anywhere near Austin this weekend, here's the official announcement:

Meet us at City Hall Sunday, March 9th! Swing by Austin Java (301 West 2nd Street) at 9 a.m., and we’ll all be there for an hour or so (or more, or longer or however long we want) and we’ll hang. It’s super close (steps away) from the convention center, so if you’re going to SXSWi, you’ll be right there.

We might even have cupcakes.* Because we’re crazy like that.

Of course, we know that there’s a lot happening on 3/9, so we’re getting an early start…with coffee… and sk*rt lovers…and breakdancers**… and trained monkeys***, and then even more coffee****.

We can’t think of a better way to start a day. You can even let us know you’re coming if you visit the event listing at Upcoming.

And! This just in! Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia and their awesome magazine Everyday Food have just let us know they’ll be giving 10 subscriptions plus 10 cool counter top magazine holders to 10 random people there. So, the most random people win. Kidding. But something like that. Plus, everyone who comes will receive a copy of the latest Everyday Food issue. You know, to read if a SXSW speaker gets boring. It could happen.

We hope you come — we'd love to meet you.

Kisses,
the sk*rt chicks

*Cupcakes could be anything.

**Okay, so not really breakdancers.

***And probably not monkeys. Probably.

****Also, herbal tea.

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.

The Great Big Grande Brand Spankin’ New Sk*rt Contest!

There's a great new contest at sk*rt celebrating all the big changes I mentioned yesterday. Ihave to tell you all about it because I don't want you to miss out. Entering is easy. Just tell us sk*rt chicks what you think of the new changes — Snazzy? Chic? Brilliant? Disaster? — we want to hear what you have to say. Leave your comment on the sk*rt blog or the sk*rt contest post and you could win over $1000 worth of prizes:



1) An InGrid Home Security System and a year’s worth of monitoring service. $660 value.

Designed by Klaus Rosberg, the designer who created Target’s ClearRx prescription bottle and Heinz’s EzSquirt ketchup bottles and whose work has been featured in MoMa and The New York Times. The InGrid Digital Home Security System. It provides important home security AND it’s aesthetically pleasing. InGrid has e-mail and cell phone notification, as well as Web site access and control that allows you to customize, manage and monitor your home protection systems from anywhere in the world. It has about a million other features too, so you can set the system to work simplest and best for you. Awesome.

2) Gillette Venus Embrace, One-year supply. $75 value.

That’s 3 Venus® Embrace™ razors, 3 cans of shave gel, and 2 replacement blade packs for the year supply. That adds up to 14 razors for the year. Venus® Embrace™ is the most technologically advanced shaving system we’ve seen. Snazzy. It has lots of blades and even a Protective Ribbon of Moisture™ (doesn’t that sound so spa-like and schmancy). It really makes shaving swell.

3) SIGG: A Collection of 5 Bottles. $125 value.

We LOVE SIGG and their most stylish reusable beverage bottles in all the land. And we thought they were a relatively new thing, but SIGG is celebrating its 100-year anniversary at: www.SIGG100.com. The site will launch on Feb. 11th and last through April 22nd (Earth Day). During this 10 week period, SIGG will partner up with Laurie David’s organization, Stop Global Warming, to explore 100 Significant Eco-Moments in the past century. Visitors to the site will have an opportunity to win a trip for two to Hawaii to attend the 5th annual Kokua Festival headlined by Jack Johnson. SIGG will also be hosting online Q&A’s with 5 environmental activists, which include Zem Joaquin, Ed Begley Jr., P. Simran Sethi, Christopher Gavigan and Laurie David. How freaking cool is that?!

4) Lands’ End $250 Gift Card

Lands’ End was an “early adopter” of the Internet, launching its web site in 1995. Initially, the site featured 100 products as well as stories, essays and travelogues, but today, the U.S. site offers every Lands’ End product. And you can take your pick from the massive amounts of Women’s, Men’s, Kids’ and Babies’ clothing, shoes, home and travel gear as well as overstocks.

Fantastic right? How fun will it be to receive all those goodies?!!

It's a big contest to celebrate a big exciting new look at sk*rt. Leave your comment before midnight, March 15th, and you’re registered to win big! Hooray!

(Note: I'm going to turn off comments on this post, just to make it clear that you need to make your comment over at sk*rt.)

Sk*rt Excitement

Have you checked it out yet? Sk*rt unveiled its makeover today — under the genius direction of Laurie. It's got some major new features and is getting all kinds of attention and we couldn't be happier about it. Laura wrote up a fantastic little announcement about the changes and I'm dying to share it with you:

sk*rt: Now with Extra Kick Pleats.

Kick pleat, n. : An inverted pleat in a skirt used to give breadth.

Notice anything new around sk*rt? Sure you did! How could you miss sk*rt's new kick pleats...they make the whole ensemble extra fierce with even more breadth and style and schhwank. We just made that word up. But it still doesn't even begin to describe all the coolness happening at sk*rt. And since goodness comes in threes, we have three very exciting things to tell you about:

1) sk*rt has a new look.
Isn't it great? You can read more about it soon — we're still getting it all written! But the biggest difference is the popular page now features two columns...a Popular section and an Editors' Picks section. Which brings us to number two...

2) sk*rt has new editors.
That's right. 20 new editors who won't actually edit anything per se. They'll just be on the lookout for the coolest items posted on sk*rt and everywhere elsewhere on the internets. Each editor is an expert genius in her area, so we can't wait to see what all they'll find near and far. Far and wide. World and wide and web. Look for more details soon on all our amazing sk*rt editors.

3) sk*rt has a new ranking system.
You'll notice the numbering system on the left has changed a bit and the 'Love it' phrase has gone. We all still have a lot of love to give, but the ranking system is much easier now. First of all, you don't have to be logged in to rank. And now, each time you click on a story, the number will automatically increase. This creates a more accurate, smarter ranking system that happens without you having to make that extra step. But don't worry, if you don't like what you just clicked, you can "un-vote" a story back down by clicking the "un-vote" button that appears once a story has been clicked. It's really simple. Much simpler and real than before. If you want more details on this new do, go to the Getting Started or FAQ sections. Or email us at whatsup@sk-rt.com.

And that's not all. Of course that's not all. Because it wouldn't be a big exciting new-look, new-editors, new-ranking sk*rt kind of week without a GIANT CONTEST. That's right, you guessed it, sk*rt is having a huge contest over the next two weeks (March 3-15) in honor of our kickin' new sk*rt, and we're giving away over $1,000 in prizes. You read that right. And you can read more about it on sk*rt and on the sk*rt blog.

So that's the skinny. You were right, sk*rt is different, better, breadthier. You asked for the betterments, and you got 'em. And we agree. These kick pleats are going to be fantastic.

We're so excited about the new sk*rt!

xo,
The sk*rt chicks

sk*rt's Brightside Contest

Fun things I found on sk*rt this past week: First Kiss Stories. 10 Reasons to Drink More Water. Songza: type in a song and it will play it for you. Asian iCandy Store — I especially love this one. It's an online shop full of products by Asian artisans and designers. Lots of great stuff. Guide to Blind Hemming Jeans. And. Best of all, there's a new sk*rt contest with over $500 worth of great prizes.

A grand-prize winner will receive:



1) A personalized hardback copy of The Bright Side of Disaster signed by author Katherine Center directly to you. (Remember Katherine — the fantastic Guest Mom that visited us awhile back?) The two book covers shown here are the hardcover that came out last year, and the paperback that comes out in April.



2) One Stuck on You Essentials Pack.
The Essential Pack from Stuck on You includes 50 Large Iron/Sew On labels (Navy, Red or Pink), 20 Vinyl Shoe Dots (Pink, Green, Redm Blur, Silver, Purple or Orange) 50 Small Vinyl Labels (Retro, Funky, Clear or Pink) and 2 Bag Tags (of winners choice). Labels for everything your child owns.


3) The Peanut Shell Family Pack with three fabulous products:
For maternal types, The Mojito: A Must-Have Limited edition Peanut Shell sling! Super smooth cotton with a chocolate background and fresh lime paisley print. We LOVE it and you will too! For the paternal types that help carry the load, The Temptation: A wonderful dark chocolate brown cotton stretch sling. Super perfect, with 3% lycra, allowing the sling to give a bit to make it easier getting baby in and out and mold to your shoulder! Also, this one’s definitely for mom: The Mojito Nursing Cover — too coordinate perfectly with your sling.



4) A $150 gift certificate from Zutano
From newborns to toddlers, cozies to collectibles, and toys! Zutano has the cutest, softest, coolest, snazziest things. And you can win $150 to spend however you’d like! Zutano is one of my all-time favorite lines.



5) An Ann Taylor LOFT Maternity gift certificate for $100
As we’re sure you know, Ann Taylor LOFT features updated classics that are feminine, stylish, and polished. Now the company has taken another step forward in outfitting women in every stage (and size!) of their lives by taking the look and feel of favorite LOFT styles and re-designing them to make maternity wear that is super cute, comfortable, and stylish. Thank goodness for the brilliant minds behind stylish maternity clothes.

Extra bonus: any sk*rty sk*rts who live in the U.S. or Puerto Rico can get, 20% off plus Free Shipping at Ann Taylor LOFT through February 29th with this coupon code: EXPECTING (The code is case sensitive so the code needs to be entered in all caps when it asks for the promotion code in checkout.)

6) Plus. And this is a big plus. Fifty people will receive a free copy of The Brightside of Disaster by Katherine Center and be invited to participate in a Virtual Book Club coming up in April. A podcast hosted by sk*rt and featuring the Katherine Center herself.

Pretty fantastic contest don't you think? Find out how easy it is to enter (really, really easy) here or here.

Animal Noses Plus etc.

e-Mom at Chrysalis sent me a link to these great animal nose paper cups by Pick Your Nose. Fantastic! Just think of the birthday party you could plan around these.





And then, the animal cups reminded me of these amazing Animal Hand Paintings that I found on sk*rt (I'm not kidding when I say I find the coolest things on sk*rt) from a link that Alpha Mom submitted. (There are a ton of pics and they are all super-cool, go check it out.) My kids were so delighted when we looked at these.


Plus also. Speaking of cool things on sk*rt, there's a fantastic new giveaway that just started today: The We Heart sk*rt Users Contest!

Roses are Red.
Violets are Blue.
Sk*rt Rocks the Casbah.
All because of You.

Go to the sk*rt contest page or the sk*rt blog to find out how you can win one of five Valentine-sy prizes from Shutterfly.


Like a 12-inch Valentine Day Photo Book, valued at $54.99. The content is guided, so all that's needed is to add photos and titles. The headlines and thoughtful designs are all set in place.


Or, for those of you that prefer to design your own book, you might win a 12-inch Love Book, valued at $54.99. And especially perfect gift for guys who really want to impress their long-term special someones.


Or maybe you'll even win a Valentine's Day Sterling Bracelet, valued at $49.99. The kind of treasure that's just right for Mom or Grandma — sure to become an heirloom gift.

Great prizes, no? And we make it so easy to enter because it's absolutely true: We heart sk*rt users.

One last note, if you're curious about who won the Fat/Super Tuesday Contest, watch the sk*rt blog — the winner was announced here.

The Big Easy Way to Win

The Sk*rt Call for Editors Contest was Amazing! Over 400 women were nominated and we couldn't be happier about it. We are having the best time getting to know each and every nominee as we pull together our new team of editors. It's going to take us a bit of time, but while you're waiting you can find out who won the HP Photosmart Printer and Sensio Coffee Machine on the sk*rt blog. If you didn't win, it's all good. Because sk*rt is a non-stop ride of fun and there is another great contest that has just been announced today. A contest that's all about tomorrow:

Tuesday, February 5th is so many things. It’s a day to vote. It’s a day to celebrate. It’s Super Fat Tuesday! And we’re celebrating all week with The Sk*rt Super Fat Tuesday Contest. . . because Voting = The Big Easy Way to Win!

Here’s how it works. Just vote for 10 stories this week in the Up-and-coming or Popular sections at sk*rt, then leave a comment on this sk*rt post. That’s it. Then you’re registered to win. Super Easy. Fat Prizes. And one Super Phat Winner will receive:



Three new Monopoly games from Hasbro. A Disney-Pixar Monopoly edition, a Monopoly Jr.: Disney Channel edition, and a Monopoly Electronic Banking edition that includes debit cards instead of paper money.

What's all the Monopoly fuss? Well. Monopoly totally gets our obsession with voting — with making our voices heard. So they've put together a fantastic campaign. They're about to launch the first-ever WORLD Edition of Monopoly and have opened up a worldwide online vote to determine which great cities from around the globe should be on the game board. Once each day, people can vote for 10 of their favorite cities (from a ballot of 68). The voting continues through Feb. 28th and the top 20 cities with the most votes make it onto the board.



Wondering how your favorite cities are currently ranking? Visit Monopoly World Vote here, and you can see the leader board, which shows what cities would land on which colored spaces if the voting ended today. (At the moment, New York is the only US city that would make the board. . . while Canada and China are both seriously voting like crazy! Whooohoo! Maybe because they aren’t voting on Tuesday? Not sure, but there’s serious worldwide competition going on here!)



In addition to the vote-friendly Monopoly games, the winner will also receive a Mardi Gras friendly Brennan's New Orleans Cookbook! Phat is right.

So, to wrap up, here’s what you need to do this week. . .

1. Vote for 10 sk*rt stories and leave a comment on this sk*rt post before midnight EST on Friday, Feb. 8 to be registered to win the Sk*rt Super Fat Tuesday Contest.

2. GO VOTE for your favorite political candidate on Tuesday, Feb. 5, if you live in one of 24 US states or providences voting on Tuesday. So exciting!

3. Vote for your favorite city to be represented on the new Monopoly World board. Because that’s fun.

4. Eat lots of oyster gumbo, sausage jambalaya, crawfish etouffee, and anything else you can get your hands on. It’s just what you do.

5. Have a great week!

Happy Super Fat Tuesday! (And Happy Voting!) From the Super Sk*rt Krewe!

Sk*rt Call for Editors Contest!

Just a quick reminder: today's the last day to nominate someone, or someones, or yourself, to be one of the new sk*rt editors. We've had well over 200 nominations so far and we can't wait to go through them and find your favorite candidates.

Remember, anyone who sends in a nomination is entered to win an HP Printer and a Sensio Coffee Maker — that's almost $275 worth of prizes just for telling us who you think would make a great editor. The more nominations you send, the more times you're entered to win. You can get the full contest details here.

Also. Look what I found on sk*rt today:



Free paper toys! I had blogged about these gorgeous toys last summer and then promptly forgot all about them. I was so glad to see them on sk*rt. Making paper toys would be a perfect winter day activity.

Sk*rt Call for Editors Contest!

1/24 EDIT:
The nominations are coming in fast and furiously. And we LOVE it!! Keep them coming. Email us at sharethelove@sk-rt.com and tell us who you think would make a great sk*rt editor!

--------

It's non-stop excitement at sk*rt . Yesterday we announced the winner of the Clean Up sk*rt contest. And immediately after that we announced the new big deal that's happening now until the end of the month: sk*rt is putting out a Call for Editors!!

I'm so excited about this I can hardly stand it. Here’s the scoop. We're in the middle of some major redesigns over at sk*rt — including the addition of an “editors’ picks” section. But we need a few more editors to share their excellent picks with the world. We’re looking for smart, snappy, with-it women. We’re looking for women with special interest in sk*rt's nine categories and for generalists who have special interest in everything.

You know that friend you have that's always sending you the smartest links? The funniest videos? The coolest products? She would make an excellent sk*rt editor!

And just to make the finding-of-the-editors even more fun, we thought, why not have a cool contest?! And then we thought, heck yes, that’s a great idea! So here it is. The Call for Sk*rt Editors Contest. Anyone who nominates someone (or themselves) to be a new sk*rt editor is entered to win these two fantastic prizes:



1) HP Photosmart A826 Home Photo Center, valued at $199.99

This printer is made especially for all you mothers with a digital camera surgically attached to your hand. Get those photos off your computer and get them on display already!

Featuring a large 7.0-inch color touchscreen with stylus included, the Photosmart A826 allows users to edit, design and personalize photos with borders, text and creative graphics. With the 100-sheet internal paper tray, users can conveniently print up to 100 photos at a time. Print borderless 4 x 6- and 5 x 7-inch photos, holiday cards, wallets and panoramas from the convenience of home.



2) Philips’ Senseo Single Serve Coffee Machine, valued at $69.99

I'm actually not a coffee drinker and have personally never tried this, but I've been told more than once that these single serve coffee machines are better than sliced bread.

The Senseo® coffee pod system lets you savor a single serving of fresh gourmet coffee at the touch of a button, just the way you like it, whenever you like it. Designed by Philips, one of the world’s largest electronics companies, the Senseo® single serve brewing system brings great taste, in both design and coffee, to your kitchen. Mild pressure and a special spray head produce an optimally balanced coffee filtering process. No messy coffee grounds or filters. Enjoy a single serving of fresh gourmet coffee in under a minute.

That’s almost $275 of prizes. Simply for giving your pick(s) for sk*rt editors. How cool is that? Anyone can nominate as many people as they’d like — and each nomination equals an entry. Email us with your nomination at sharethelove@sk-rt.com.

It’s simple. Just send us a name and the link to their web site or blog so we can get to know them. They don’t have a blog? Then let us know why they’d be the perfect pick.

I can't wait to see who you nominate!

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.

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.

Fun Stuff at Sk*rt

More awesome stuff is happening at sk*rt? Yes! It's true! So much awesome stuff that sk*rt is practically exploding with all the awesomeness.

For example, the very first, very cool, sk*rt newsletter comes out today! If you're a registered sk*rt user — and there thousands and thousands of you — watch for it in your inbox. Not registered? No problem. I'll include a link, as soon as I've got one, so you can get the scoop as well.

Also, just last night Sk*rt was interviewed by the lovely Kristen Chase on her Motherhood Uncensored blog talk radio show. Kristen is a fantastic interviewer and it was a blast to talk about sk*rt with her. Click here to
listen! (Kristen doesn't have our permalink up yet but it's coming soon.)

Also, also. Check in on Monday to hear all about sk*rt's big new contest featuring sk*rt's big new "lose it" button! Now you can vote up your favorite stories and vote down the stories you deem un-sk*rt-worthy — a very useful tool as you browse the "up-and-coming" section and encounter horrid, annoying spam. Click "lose it" and feel the power!


Not sure what sk*rt is? Here's an introduction:

Last summer at BlogHer, I launched sk*rt with two other bloggers I'd met online — Girl con Queso from Houston and Laurie of Upside Up in Charlotte, NC. The site has grown like crazy and we're all delighted with it. I post about sk*rt here at Design Mom from time to time because it's a big part of my online life and I love to talk about it.

Sk*rt is a website where anyone can submit a link of interest. Anybody. Any link. Found a great sale? Instead of sharing it with a few friends through email, post it on sk*rt and share it with thousands. Discovered a great blog? Post it on sk*rt and help spread the word. Read an impassioned political article that left you thinking? Submit it on sk*rt and see what other people have to say. Sk*rt exists to promote every cool website and blog and interesting article out there. Sk*rt is a portal to the best on the web for women.

When sk*rt users see a link they like, they click "love it". If the link gets enough "love it" clicks, it makes it to the main page where it gets tons of attention. Sk*rt is modeled on a highly popular site for men called Digg. It's the same concept, but designed for women, with 9 categories that appeal to women.

If you're interested in voting, the thing you need to know about is the two main sections: Popular & Up-and-Coming. When links are first submitted to sk*rt they show up in the Up-and-Coming section. Only those with enough "love it" clicks make it the the Popular section. The Popular section is the first thing you see when you get to sk*rt — the Main page or Front page, it's sometimes called.

To vote, comment or submit a link, you need to register. It's super quick and easy, and totally free of course.

But there's no registration needed to see the super-cool stories that have made it the front page — made it through the filter of savvy sk*rt users — all you have to do is click here.

More questions? See Getting Started with sk*rt, sk*rt faq's, and the sk*rt about us page.

Lost in Houston

So I've kind of disappeared, but I didn't mean to. I'm in Houston sk*rting it up with Laurie and Laura. I thought it would be internet central and that I'd be blogging like crazy, but it turns out this trip has been all about meetings. Meetings. Meetings. Meetings.

Meeting business advisors for sk*rt. Meeting web 2.0 people for brunch. Meeting cool people like Katherine Center and Karen Walrond (who took the fantastic photo above — thank you, Karen!). A meeting of the minds with Laurie and Laura.

This is my first time in Houston. I love it. I really love it. It's green. It's 74 degrees. The architecture is charming. And there are excellent restaurants all over the place. My already enormous hair has frizzed to gigantic proportions in the thick humidity. I'm officially living large in Texas.

I fly back to New York tomorrow. I'll be blogging again on Thursday. Can't wait.

Oh! And I'll announce the lucky Quiet Hours Toys Giveaway winner on Thursday as well.

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.

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.

If You Can Maker Faire, You’ll Make It Anywhere.

For a whole week or so, it was non-stop Sk*rt/Maker Faire announcements around here. But I've never taken a minute to report on the actual Maker Faire. And update you on the huge Giveaways. So here goes:

Sk*rt made a stop in Austin for Maker Faire last week. And wow, was it fun! Our booth was right next to our friends at Etsy and ReadyMade, and we loved hanging with our CRAFT friends. Martha Hopkins, author of Intercourses spent time in the booth with us all weekend, signing copies of her lovely book and giving all kinds of making ideas. Oh, also, there were robots.

Really, what more could you want in a weekend?

Oh yeah, sk*rt users! It was so fun to meet so many sk*rt users. And to talk up a few of our favorite makers with everyone we met. Makers like those fourteen who featured giveaway items in our giant Sk*rt/Maker Faire giveaway.

Which reminds me. We have some big news. The first two winners of the Sk*rt/Maker Faire Prize Packages have been announced. Those lucky ladies. Find out if you're one them here.

Even more fun: it's not too late to get involved. There is still a Prize Package waiting for a winner. We haven’t given away the Craftzine & CRAFT - The First Year of CRAFT, Vol. 1-4 and we have three additional items I'll be featuring here today for the fabulous Package 3 giveaway.

In other words, you have more chances to win! Just leave a comment on any Maker Faire item over at Sk*rt and you’re registered. You have until next Monday (November 5th) at midnight to leave enter.

Bottom Line: Sk*rt loves makers, and independent designers, and giveaways…and of course, you do too. So get on over and comment!

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.

Win A Subscription to ELIZA Magazine from Sk*rt!

There is a new up-and-coming fashion magazine out there. It’s called Eliza.

Beautifully shot. Beautifully printed. An excellent addition to your collection. And since it is such an up-and-coming periodical, we thought a free, year-long subscription to Eliza would be a great way to draw your attention to the sk*rt Up-and-Coming section. The section where stylemakers, divas and mavens decide what is worthy of the sk*rt Popular section.

Think you can spot a good link when you see one? Then you (yes you!) can be a sk*rt stylemaker, a sk*rt diva, a sk*rt maven too. All you have to do is go to the Up-and-Coming section and scroll through the pages, all the while keeping watch for the best of the best links. Then click “love-it” and show that your opinion counts.

To enter your name for the free subscription to Eliza, just share your point-of-view with fellow sk*rt users by voting for at least 10 items in the Up-and-Coming section by this Saturday, September 22nd. Then send us an email to: sharethelove@sk-rt.com and let us know you entered. Be sure to include your sk*rt username so we know it’s you. We’ll announce the winner next week.

Happy voting you trendmakers. And if you can’t wait to see if you won, get your own subscription to Eliza here.

Sk*rt Podcast

Check it out! Stephanie Roberts from ListenShare interviewed the Founders of Sk*rt for the People Powering Business podcast series. Hear what we (me, Girl con Queso and Laurie of Upside Up) had to say about the sk*rt launch, sk*rt users and the future of sk*rt! You can find the podcast here.

And while I'm on the subject of sk*rt, I highly recommend you head on over to the Up-and-Coming section — there are so many cool links that need your vote to move to the front page. Don't hold back my friends. Love it. Love it. Love it.

Are you new to my blog and have no idea what sk*rt is? Well. Get ready to add some new awesomeness to your life. You can see one my posts about sk*rt here. Or, see the sk*rt FAQs page and the Getting Started with sk*rt page.

Voting is Serious Business Contest at sk*rt

I think I forgot to tell you about another fab contest at sk*rt. It's super easy to enter. Just click “Love It” on at least 10 items in the Up-and-Coming section and at least 5 items in the Popular section. Then email sk*rt and let them know you’re a voting expert. (You can find the details, contest dates and where to email at the sk*rt blog.) Three winners will be announced on Tuesday, August 21st and will each win a $25 Gift Certificates from The Silly Wagon!

What will you buy with your $25? A mobile giraffe? A Zutano stripey jacket? Felt sugar cookies? Whatever you choose, you’ve sure to have a great time browsing The Silly Wagon's excellent collection. Get more information here.

Add to sk*rt

Did you notice the new "Add to sk*rt" option at the end of each post? I'm so excited about it. Why? Because, now, if you especially like something on Design Mom — maybe a giveaway, or an excellent Guest Mom post — you can just click that button and put it on sk*rt in a snap. And then all those amazing sk*rt users will come check it out. Which means Design Mom readership will grow, bringing me every closer to world domination.

From the feedback sk*rt has received so far, any blog or website that makes the front page of sk*rt, apparently gets a ton of hits.

So I've got a suggestion. You should totally put an "add to sk*rt" or "sk*rt this" button at the end of each of your posts. Then. Your awesome readers can put your awesome posts on sk*rt. And. You can get tons of hits from curious sk*rt users.



You can find directions to add any of the widgets shown above here. If the directions are too technical, just shoot an email to the sk*rt help desk (help@sk-rt.com) and the lovely Laurie of Upside Up (the sk*rt technical Goddess) will walk you through it. Laurie can even help you design a custom sk*rt widget that coordinates with the design of your site.

Why it's good for you: it's free, it's easy, and you'll get a bunch of traffic when your readers list your posts on sk*rt. Why it's good for sk*rt: sk*rt wants to be associated with super-cool blogs like yours.


PS — Check out the sk*rt blog later today to find out the winners of the sk*rt Off and Running Contest and the sk*rt Means Business Contest.

sk*rt Up and Running Contest

Okay. The Up and Running Contest has been announced. You can check out the sk*rt blog for the full details, but here's the basic 411:

There are 20 Pairs of Ryka Shoes up for grabs! The 20 winners get to pick their favorite pair. There are 3 ways to enter and you can enter 3 times. Just show us your a true sk*rt by:

a) voting on at least 10 items in either the up-and-coming section or the popular section of sk*rt every day this week (M-F)

or

b) submitting a link to sk*rt everyday this week (M-F)

or

c) leaving comments on at least 2 sk*rt items everyday this week (M-F)

Email sharethelove@sk*rt.com by Sunday, August 5th and let us know if you did A, B or C and you’re entered! Want to enter more than once? Do option A, B and C, and you’ll be entered 3 times. The winners will be announced Tuesday, August 7th.

20 pairs means really good odds of winning — don't miss your chance to get your feet into a pair of these awesome shoes!

sk*rt Launched!

Well, I'm back from BlogHer and sk*rt is officially launched! The sk*rt buzz at the conference was all over the place. It was so great to see so many people excited about it.

We gave out little white tins filled with little white mints. We gave out the most adorable cards. We gave out books and bags and prizes, prizes, prizes. You can find the prize winners announced on the sk*rt blog — check to see if you made the list.

We were interviewed. We were videoed. And the best part, the sk*rt founders finally got to hang out.


Girl con Queso and Design Mom


Upside Up and Design Mom

If you're feeling like you missed out, take heart. I'm about to announce a huge contest to celebrate the official sk*rt launch. And that's not all. There are fun contests planned all week. Stay tuned. . .

BlogHer Prep

I've got a long list of BlogHer/sk*rt launch preparations, so posting will be spotty for the next couple of days. . .

sk*rt at BlogHer

So today is Tuesday and I leave to BlogHer on Thursday. I'm looking forward to it for so many reasons. I can't wait to meet lots of interesting people that are bound to be in attendance. I'm excited to pack for one person instead of seven — and be on an airplane without my kids. But what I'm really, really psyched for is the official sk*rt media launch. To take place at BlogHer. On Friday. So awesome!

You can read about some of the great stuff sk*rt has planned for the launch on the sk*rt blog. And I'll recap here.

In addition to handing out yummy goodies during the actual conference, we will also be dealing out the door prizes at a Pre-BlogHer Unofficial Party. Anyone at the party will be able to enter their name to win awesome stuff:

3 winners will each receive an outfit from Ryka. Any Ryka top. Any Ryka bottom. The winners get to choose their favorites.

3 winners will each receive a $50 gift certificate to Mahar Dry Goods. Mahar’s collection is fantastic. Browsing their site will bring a smile.

1 winner will receive a set of 3 custom storage cubes from Via Toy Box. The winner gets to choose from any 4 available faces and 8 available colors. Retail value: $177.

10 winners will each receive a year’s subscription (worth $20) to Organize Magazine. The magazine has just debuted and is gorgeous.

3 winners will each receive a generous 6-book prize package from Chronicle Books, including: I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids, Three-Martini Family Vacation, Fit Mama, Organic Baby, Don’t Just Stand There and Mama’s Little Book of Tricks. Retail value: $97.70

And EVERYONE at the party will receive their own copy of I Was a Really Good Mom Before I Had Kids. Plus. A certificate for 30% off and free shipping at Chronicle.

We hope to see you at the party! We hope to see you at BlogHer! And if you’re not going to BlogHer, we’ll have fun contests for you as well. Watch for announcements on Friday.

A big thank you to our terrific sponsors!

sk*rt categories

As usual, lots of fun things today at sk*rt:

1) There are new and improved categories. Check them out here. Read about them here.

2) The winner of the Share the Love Contest (featuring a slew of lovely prizes) was announced here.

3) The winner of the Speak Your Mind Contest (featuring the fabulous Shutterfly book) was announced here.

4) There is a NEW sk*rt contest coming — inspired by the new categories. Watch for it.

5) And finally, you can always find cool new links to check out on the sk*rt main page.

Have fun checking everything out!

Sk*rt Button Contest! Last Chance

A few weeks ago I announced that it was time for the sk*rt launch. Well. The soft launch to be exact. Leading up to the official launch at Blogher next week. And I just wanted to report that the soft launch has been amazing. Sk*rt has thousands of registered users already — and the number grows every day. Happily for all of us, the more users, the more diverse and interesting the content on sk*rt — keeping you in the know about all the cool things happening out there.

If you haven't had a chance to get to know sk*rt yet, I hope you'll check it out today.

And I also wanted to remind you that the sk*rt Spread-the-Word Contest ends on July 16th. That's only a few days away. But you still have time to enter. If you have a blog or website, just put this button in a post or on your sidebar:

Or pick one of the many sk*rt buttons available here. And then send an email to sharethelove@sk-rt.com letting us know you posted the button, and you'll be entered to win some incredible loot. $500+ worth of incredible loot. From our incredible sponsors — Darlybird, Funktion Home, Jaime Zollars, Little Jules, and Nora Fleming. Check it out:



We're pretty pumped about all of it. Especially the prizes. You can find even more details about the sk*rt Spread-the-Word Contest and the cool prizes here. And a BIG thank you to everyone who has posted the button so far. You rock!

Have a Blast at sk*rt

There another great contest going on at sk*rt, a Blog Blast with the Parent Bloggers Network! The basics: write a post on your blog (or hijack someone else’s blog) on the topic “What Are You Hiding Under Your Sk*rt?” (heh). You don’t have to title it as such and this can go any direction you’d like… it’s entirely open to your interpretation — and we’re excited to see your take!

Then load your post up onto sk*rt and make sure you tag it with “Parent Bloggers Network” (this is essential). The person who gets the MOST votes on their post at sk*rt wins a fantastic prize package from some impressively cool companies:

A birth necklace with birthstone from Little Jules.
A tee or tank and stationery from Pro Mom Couture
Rock Star Momma, by Sky Hoppus, (our next Guest Mom)
A Little Capers tee.
A $50 GC to Barnes and Noble

Total value: $275

Not too shabby. Find the contest dates and more details here.

sk*rt update

Well, well, well.

Sk*rt is settling in at it's super-shiny-brand-new-server. And now I feel confident sending people there without fear that it's going to crash on their first visit, leaving them with a poor impression. Because sk*rt is in fact awesome. And first impressions mean a lot.

Speaking of impressions and being impressed, check out today’s impressive sk*rt contest:

Anyone who places at least 5 votes in the popular section, plus at least 5 votes in the up-and-coming section, is automatically entered to win this gorgeous heirloom necklace (retail $190) from The Fine Art of the Family.

This necklace is their Signature Floral Half Locket. And it is one fine piece of craftsmanship. From their website: Very delicate, this single image case necklace is for that one perfect picture and is designed to wear with the image side down, close to your heart. Available in Sterling Silver, this half locket has a one-inch case embellished with our signature floral pattern. It comes on an 18-inch chain. An extra chain loop makes it adjustable to 16-inches so it always falls exactly right no matter what you are wearing and allows for layering with other necklaces.

I love the look of this jewelry. The necklaces. The bracelets. So refined.
Who/What will you feature in your necklace? Possibly your nephew/dog/grandmother/favorite shoes?

You have until Tuesday night (6/19) at midnight pst to place your votes — at least 5 in popular and 5 in up-and-coming. I would tell you to have fun, but it’s unnecessary.

Voting at sk*rt is nothing but fun.

what's your sk*rt personality?

First things first. We are still working furiously to transfer the sk*rt site to a larger capacity server, but it's pretty much a 48 hours+ process. So if it's hard to get onto sk*rt today because it's busy, my apologies in advance.

Also, if you didn't get over to sk*rt yesterday to enter yourself in the Shutterfly Custom Photo Book Contest, consider this your reminder. It's a great prize. And really easy to enter — just submit at least one item to sk*rt and comment on at least 3 items. If you've done this already, you're automatically entered. You have until midnight tonight pst!

One last thing about sk*rt for the day"

I love seeing how sk*rt personalities are already forming — and it's only day 4. I find I'm mentally noting the avatars and usernames of posts I really like, then checking out their profiles so I can see what else they've posted or see if there's a link to their blog. It's like a new way to find kindred spirits.

If I understand correctly, at Digg, there are certain users that have posted great items so consistently over the history of Digg, that anytime they post anything, users vote it to the front page immediately. I'll be interested to see if something similar happens at sk*rt.

Do you already have a favorite sk*rt user? Will you be the first big sk*rt personality?

Comment & Submit & WIN!

Sk*rt is back up. (Yeah!) And I have to say, I can't believe how great it is — and only 3 days in!

Users are finding the most interesting things. Women are submitting news headlines that they know other women will love. I've discovered 3 new blogs that I adore. And a new pair of shoes that I'm coveting. Plus I read an extensive article from the Times about holding-back preschoolers before kindergarten — a topic hotly debated in my neighborhood.

If you haven't spent some time on sk*rt yet, I highly recommend it, and there's even another contest-as-bribe to encourage you to get involved:

All day today and all day tomorrow, June 6th - June 7th, anyone who submits a link to sk*rt, and makes three comments, is automatically entered to win a 12 x 12 inch Guided Memory Book from Shutterfly!

You may remember when I posted about making one of these for my Grandmother. It was really a great project to put together. So satisfying. I heart these books. And Shutterfly makes it super-easy to make one. You just upload your digital pictures and then drag and drop them into a template. You can add photos to the cover and even add text to the spine. And this month, a book like this would make the perfect Father's Day gift for your Dad.

The just-launched books come in sturdy hardback covers sized at either 12 x 12 or 8 x 8, and start at $43.99 and $23.99, respectively.

So get yourself entered already: at least 1 link submission and 3 comments = entered to win this fabulous book!! You can find more details on the sk*rt blog.

So Exciting!!

Ummm. I've got some good news and some bad news.

The good news: Sk*rt made the front page of Digg last night while I slept soundly in my very comfy bed. So cool!

The bad news: Sk*rt made the front page of Digg last night while I slept soundly in my very comfy bed. Why is that bad? When a website makes the front page of Digg, the site gets such an unexpected surge of visitors and traffic that it shuts down. It happens on such a regular occurence that it has a name: the Digg Effect. So if you haven't noticed already, sk*rt is offline.

The sk*rt site is down, the sk*rt blog is down, and anyone who has posted a sk*rt button on their site won't be able to see it until the site is back up. It's awesome that sk*rt is getting so much attention. We believed it would. Eventually. We just didn't think it would happen on day 2 or 3(!) of our launch.

So we're scrambling this morning to get the site going again. Please bear with us. And thank you, thank you, thank you for making sk*rt such a fabulous and interesting place so quickly!


[ Note: I've got some great Design Mom posts for today, but they're going to have to hang out for awhile until I've figured out this sk*rt stuff. Stay tuned! ]

How I Use sk*rt

In case you're wondering, Day One of the sk*rt launch was fantastic! Some quick stats:
- Over 50 sites added the sk*rt button or wrote a post about sk*rt.
- There are now over 325 registered users.
- And yesterday, there were over 12 pages(!) of new content entered — that's more than 120 new items.

Thank you to everyone who visited sk*rt yesterday to check it out and hopefully play around on it for a bit. If you still haven't given it a try, I hope you will today.

To get you inspired, sk*rt is hosting another contest. The first 30 people who vote for 5 or more items in the "Up-and-Coming" section starting at 1:00 est today will be entered to win 30 Custom Party Invitations from Anna Bella Fine Stationery! You can find the details here. And I'll share a few examples of some of my favorite designs at Anna Bella so you'll see what a great prize this is:





Great prize, right?

Last sk*rt info for today: I want to describe how I personally use sk*rt for those of you who aren't sure how this technology is going to improve their lives.

Because the internet is so unfathomingly big, and growing every day, I sometimes have a sense that I'm not using it as fully or efficiently as possible, that I'm missing something. But sk*rt goes a long way toward addressing that for me.

Since anyone can post something to sk*rt, there's much more of a chance that more items can get posted there. Period. Like yesterday for example. No one person is likely to find and post over 120 cool or interesting things in one day. So the first benefit is that there is just plain more people finding more content and putting it in one place.

And then, sk*rt gets to really shine, because the Users become filters. Twice. First by deciding what should get posted to sk*rt in the first place. And Second, by browsing through all those posted items and voting for the very best, most interesting ones.

Which means that when I check in to the sk*rt main page, it has all kind of really cool content — content that I'm not likely to have found on my own without a huge investment of my time.

So basically, I check in with sk*rt for a just a few minutes every time I sit down at the computer. In the popular section, I see at glance which items are really drawing attention and are worth a deeper look.Then I browse through the items newly added to the Up-and-Coming section and place my votes, maybe leave a few comments. During the rest of my time on the internet (when I check the latest news headlines, read my favorite blogs, etc.) if I happen upon something sk*rt-worthy — like a cool contest, a big sale, a well-written essay, a news piece I'm interested in, a new good blog, etc. — I post it to sk*rt immediately, and know I've done my part to keep people informed.

Sk*rt has been in beta testing for awhile, so I feel like I'm already a veteran user. And during my first visits to sk*rt, I confess, I spent more time — checking out the faqs, trying every link, getting to know the registered users — but now it's more of a quick check-in throughout the day.

Thanks to sk*rt and the awesome sk*rt users, I feel like the chances of me missing something are almost non-existent.

Win a Subscription to Organize Magazine!

If you haven't already seen the Big News post about sk*rt scroll down, or check it out here. And get all excited. Because besides the major loot in the sk*rt Spread-the-Word Giveaway, there will be all kinds of awesome sk*rt contests over the next month or so.

And the first one is today. Starting this very day, Monday June 4th, at 1:00 pm est (that's 10:00 am on the west coast), the first 25 people to vote for 5 or more items at sk*rt will be automatically entered to win a free subscription to Organize Magazine! You can find more details here. That's some pretty good odds as far as contests go. And this one is totally fun to enter — personally, I find clicking the little "love it" button pretty darn addicting.

In fact, I consider it a good day, when I can head on over to sk*rt, check out the latest posts in the "popular" and "unpublished" categories and vote my little heart out.

Head's up: you have to be registered and logged-in to sk*rt to vote. It's super easy and super fast. You'll be glad you've done it ahead of time so you'll be ready to vote at 1:00!

sk*rt is Launching!

I know I keep going on and on about how rocking this month is. And I'm totally not kidding. For example, today, I've got a big announcement. I talked about it here. And I mentioned it here. But now I get to announce it for realsies. Several months ago I started working on a project with 3 other lovely bloggers: Laura Mayes, Laurie Smithwick, and Rebecca Gholdston. It's called sk*rt and it's basically a she-inspired version of Digg. And it's basically awesome. And it's launching today!



We all think Digg is an extremely cool concept, we just have never found the content to be all that interesting — because Digg is written for and by an audience of techie men — which we're not. So we thought, wouldn't it be great to have something like this out there that features topics we're interested in? And then we thought, heck yes it would be. And then we created it.

Here's the Gist: Sk*rt is an online media ranking site created for and by women, featuring topics women dig. Sk*rt was designed to promote sites, blogs, video, products, articles, ideas, art — anything online, really — to women and to the men who want to get in our heads. Sk*rt is basically a filter of cool stuff on the Web. If you aren't familiar with the concept of Digg, it goes like this. Any item (site, product, idea, video, blog, article, etc.) can be submitted by anyone. Readers can vote for the items by clicking the "Love It!" button on the left hand side of each submitted item. The items that get the most votes raise up to the front of the site. It's actually a great design, because it's organized so that if you only have a few minutes, you can scan through what's new, what's highly ranked or what's interesting to you; or you can search more specifically by category.

Sk*rt features nine categories: World Wise; Mind, Body, Spirit; Out and About; Around the House; Raising Kids; Getting Dressed; Entertainment; Food; Arts, Crafts & Design. There's a popular section and an unpublished section. Items have to get a certain number of votes to "make it" to the popular section. Overall, it's pretty self-explanatory, but if you're craving more details, see our Getting Started page here and our FAQ page here.

To launch sk*rt in a big way, I'm looking for your help. There are a few things I'd be thrilled if you'd do to spread the word.

1. Visit sk*rt and have a look. Play around on it. Vote on a few things that look interesting to you. Or submit something (put your favorite blog, website, product, whatever, on there).

2. Tell your friends about it. If you have a blog or website, put this button in a post or on your sidebar:


Or pick one of the many sk*rt buttons available here. And then send an email to sharethelove@sk-rt.com letting us know you posted the button, and you'll be entered to win some incredible loot. $500+ worth of incredible loot. From our incredible sponsors — Darlybird, Funktion Home, Jaime Zollars, Little Jules, and Nora Fleming. Check it out:



We're pretty pumped about all of it. Especially the prizes. You can find even more details about the sk*rt Spread-the-Word Contest and the cool prizes here.



Overall, we designed sk*rt because we wanted to have something like it for ourselves. Also, we'd love to do our part in helping get the word out that there are smart women leading the social media revolution. (That would be you).

The official media launch is scheduled for Friday, July 27th at BlogHer. Which means you're ahead of the game, totally in the know, part of the avant-garde group that knows about and uses sk*rt first. And because we're so psyched about the sk*rt launch we'll be having contests leading up to the July 27th media launch like crazy. In fact, I'll be posting about another contest today — stay tuned.

And watch for posts about sk*rt all week, because I've got sk*rt on the brain.