check out joey and lana make a house a home for a little interview with yours truly!

i’m so thrilled that scoutie girl and i were mentioned in chris brogan’s last email newsletter as someone “doing it right.” wow. and thank you so much to kelly watson – who wrote this fabulous post on marketing mistakes that artists make here at sg this week – for putting me on her list!

if you’re visiting scoutie girl for the first time, welcome!! i’m so thrilled to have you here. scoutie girl is all about spreading the word about independent craft & design. we focus on makers, the great stuff they make, and their stories. we’ve got a penchant for the passionately handmade!

if you’d like to know more about my philosophy for “doing it right”, please check on the post i wrote on the “art & business of crafting your online self.” and then, pretty please, flip through the pages of sg for lots of visual inspiration! oh, and on the off chance you’re interested in my ebook that was also mentioned, you can find out more here.

i hope everyone has a fabulous weekend. i know i will! i’m flying high as a kite!

i’m facilitating a “blogging your passion” workshop with the PA Guild of Craftsmen on saturday, march 20! the guild office is located in lancaster, pa which is an easy trip from philly, baltimore, washington dc, and all of central pa. the workshop is 3 hours long and will include training on getting your blog started & customized and then will focus on forming a mission for your blog, brainstorming post ideas, and writing for the web.

at $40 for non-members, this class is a steal! all registrants also receive a complementary copy of my ebook, 52 weeks of blogging your passion.

click over to the guild site to register online!

i don’t know about you, lovelies, but i’m ready for this weekend! not only that… but i have a keen desire to bathe myself in all that color in the paintings by meg walker above.

and from meg walker’s flickr profile, i found these scrumptious pin cushions (below) by namolio. i just adore the contrast in the colorful crocheted tops and the muted linen inside.

speaking of color – i’m also thrilled to tell you that i finished up work on the new website for illustrator stephanie corfee this week. she launched today! she’s having a grand BOGO sale so please pay her a visit, leave her a fabulous comment, and visit her shop to pick up something happy & colorful this weekend.

finally, i would love for you to check out two posts from this week if you missed them: the art & business of crafting your online self & blog it forward :: what inspires me is you! see you on monday – refreshed & re-focused!

dear readers, mind if i put you on hold?

i’m not going to be signing off this week as usual. instead, i’ll be blogging slowly through this weekend (i have much more to share from the blog issue!) and will post a recap on monday. on monday & tuesday, you’ll hear from the contributors but not from me. i’ve got a lot of catching up to do after a weird week!

if you haven’t yet, i would love for you to check out my behind-the-scenes & more personal blog at taragentile.com. not as much eye candy as over here, but i think you might like some of the info! this week i wrote a popular post on how writing a great comment on a design or craft blog might get you featured faster than a carefully crafted submission email.

i’m currently finishing up a lecture-y thing to present on tuesday at my alma mater on the “art & business of crafting your online self“. crafting these presentations is fun because i try to take a more academic outline and turn in on it’s head to feel more like blog. okay…well…. fun for me!

so, if i see ya around – awesome! if not – have a fabulous weekend!

i love pins + paper because they have their finger on the pulse of craft and the pulse of technology. pins + paper is run by two sisters, working together on creating beautiful products for you, your home, and your biz. their skills are varied and their passion flows from the screen.

so, kristen, why do you blog?

I started our Pins + Paper blog to do something fun other than self-promote our store, I have a huge passion for supporting the arts and thought it would be not only fun to do but informative and encouraging to other crafters and artisans like myself. I’m an Art Educator by trade and love to share new happenings and informative articles. Our blog’s tagline says it all in a nutshell: exploring craft, loving handmade, and supporting artisans. My favorite mediums are paper goods, bookbinding and sewing so paper and fabric-related tutorials and features is what you’ll see on blog as well as local artisans in the area I’m currently living in(I move around the country a lot with my husband who is in the Navy).

and how has blogging influenced the way you create?

Exploring the web for content for our blog has really inspired me to new ways of thinking about how I make my products, how I acquire supplies for my shop, how I market myself and manage our business. There are so many wonderful resources out there that are free and even though I have to search for most of these things myself, it’s worth taking the time to do research and exploration outside of your studio. And also, looking beyond your own form of art-making will help keep your ideas fresh, too. It’s like what I tell my students when I teach painting: if you want to become a great landscape painter… “Don’t go looking for great landscape paintings in the library that were done by another artist to inspire you as your work will always look like it belongs to someone else. Instead, go outside and explore the world around you to find your own landscape to paint.”

now, put down your pins and paper, and go check out pins + paper.

post sponsored by:

i started blogging almost 5 years ago. (wow, that’s crazy!) at the time i had no idea what i wanted my blog to be. i didn’t really have a plan, i just kinda wrote when i wanted and it had no cohesive elements. it went on like that for a long time. it wasn’t really a huge priority for me….just something i did when i felt like it. over the past couple years i’ve really tried to bring more focus to my blog with daily features and a photo of the day.

the reason i blogged 5 years ago is very different from why i blog today. to be honest, i’m not really sure why i started blogging. today, i blog for several reasons. first of all, it’s a free form of advertising for my companies. i try to write once every week about all my work and what’s happening in the studio in my ‘marzipan monday‘ feature.

i also blog because it’s a great way to connect. when you work from home and don’t have coworkers to chat with during the day it can get a little lonely. blogging is my way to ‘get out’ of the office and have real conversations and connections with people. i’ve met some fabulous people through my blog and love the relationships that have come from it.

blogging is also my way to memorialize my children’s activities. i don’t have time to have a fancy scrapbook, but i do have photo albums and the weekly posts i do on my blog for ‘family fridays‘. i would love to get that portion of my blog made into a book using something like blurb.

my blog is also my form of accountability. i started taking photos about a year and a half ago. i now feature a photo of the day every weekday. since it’s a daily feature, it keeps me accountable to my goal of improving my photo skills.

one of the things i love most about blogging is that it allows me to share what’s going on in my life and the things i love the most. i love sharing the things i want on tuesdays and my thrifty finds on thursdays.

having my blog has both allowed me and forced me to think of something other than work 24 hours a day. it’s a creative outlet that gets me thinking in ways i wouldn’t normally. i’m thankful for that.

if you blog, why do you do it? is it for yourself, for others, for work, or something completely different? we’d love to hear everyone’s reasons. share your reason in the comments!

i am soooooo excited to tell you about a new program here at scoutie girl! as part of scoutie girl’s mission to support & extend the creative community on the internet, i am launching a “blogger in residence” program.

for a two week time period, i’ll be inviting an emerging blogger to come and bring a bit of their unique perspective to scoutie girl. they’ll experience a bit of the community that we have here while gaining valuable exposure for their own endeavors. each blogger in residence will post 4 times and, in exchange, i’m offering an hour of virtual brainstorming with me. if you’d like more information on getting involved as a blogger in residence, please email me!

i’m also happy to introduce our first blogger in residence: evelyn reeve of oh my word! evelyn is passionate about all things beautiful and handmade. she says, “I believe that objects have the ability to tell stories, but sometimes they just need the right storyteller.” while she’s growing her blog, she’s also developing an online boutique called “hello magpie.” here’s how she describes her boutique:

“It is up to each of us to make socially- and ecologically-responsible purchasing decisions.
At Hello Magpie, we try to make it a little easier by offering quality, creative gifts + goods made of natural, organic, handmade, recycled, upcycled, biodegradable +/or vintage materials. As often as possible, we source things made in the U.S.A. and all of our packaging is 100% recycled or biodegradable.

love!

evelyn’s first post here will be up tomorrow but, for now, stop over to oh my word! and say hi.

i’m pleased as punch to introduce you to scoutie girl’s newest contributor! justine smith is the creator of handmade marketer and the writer of a popular newsletter geared towards helping handmade sellers & indie biz owners get ahead!

justine is also mom to a little cutey named azura – who provided the inspiration for justine’s career move!

justine will be writing a weekly column inspired by her love of pop culture, film, and television. later today, you can see her picks for a handmade oscar party.

join me in welcoming justine smith to scoutie girl!

photograph by unisonphotography, clothing by chicle de anya via flickr

thank you so much for the overwhelming response to last week’s issue on success! we had a blast writing it and compiling it. and i know we’ve all treasured the positive comments sharing similar stories.

this week, we’re aiming to warm you up and brighten up your world! you’re going to see a spring fashion preview featuring the best of indie clothing, accessories, and jewelry design.

i hope you’re ready for a little sunshine! while you’re waiting for more blue skies & flower blossoms – i’d be thrilled if you’d take this *short* 5 question survey so that we can help make scoutie girl even better for you!