On Kirtsy This Week

Hello Friends. I made significant progress on my taxes this morning (organizing documents and updating spreadsheets) and feel delighted about it. I am very much looking forward to marking that task off my list. How about you? Have you already sent yours in?

Here are some of my favorite kirtsy links from the last week. (Kirtsy is a site where anyone can share cool links — I'm one of the co-founders).

-The fantastic photographer, Justin Hackworth, is signing people up for his annual 30 Strangers project. Will you be one of them?

-A new magazine for Creative Humans. That means you.

-Do this: A blogging workshop that's free and requires no travel.

-What does "middle class" mean these days?

-Mmmm. Color. I love this house tour. It's where I found the photo above.

-Newsweek article from 1995: Why the Internet will fail. : )

-The giant mirror makes the room, no?

-Recognize this belly?

I hope you enjoy these links. And I hope your weather is as sunshine-y as mine is today. Do you think winter is really over?

My Mouse Path

This is an image of Anna's mouse path throughout the day. (You can click it to see it bigger.) The lines are movement and the dots are periods of inactivity. I find it beautiful and intriguing. Things like this make me disproportionately happy. Are you curious about what your mouse path would look like?

Sub-Studio

One of my new favorite internet spots is the Sub-Studio Design Blog. When I stopped there today, I found this "Dirt Poster" by Roland Tiengco. Go to Sub-Studio to see photos of how it is made. It's brilliant. And made me smile. (Plus, I like the message. I can't imagine the American obsession with work is always healthy, but as a life-long citizen, it's true that I love the sense of accomplishment when I work hard and get something done. Shall I stand and deliver the pledge of allegiance now?)

If you have time, you should also check out the gorgeous, color-coded Sub-Studio Gift Guide. It will blow your mind. And your head. And your brain.

Thanks for introducing me to Sub-Studio, Molly!

Custom Crib

Very cool. A time lapse video of a DIY crib being built. And the light-up S E X Y in the living room is all kinds of awesome.

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