Happy Site Friday: Vintage children's books

It's been a while...Happy Friday!

Today, I bring you a treasure chest. You are going to love it. www.vintagechildrensbooks.com. This is a gold mine folks. I have made one purchase from them a few months ago, and I got some books from the 50's, 40's and even one from 1746. Yes. They didn't make 'children's books' then, but they made religious songs for children to learn about how to behave in society. Such a great find. The books I am showing above are all $5 (except for Sara Crew, which is a mere $100) but you could do some major Christmas shopping here (ah -hem...for me...ah-hem). Seriously, I have to restrain myself here. I have a complete passion for vintage children's books (really?) and this is a gold mine. They are adding new stuff all the time, so check back every once in a while. Have Fun!

winners!

Wow! Thank you for all your WONDERFUL responses! ! So many of your suggestions I already have plans for, and many of them, I had never even thought of...so thank you!!! I am so excited to get cracking on new products and designs....I am just itching!!! Random.org selected four random winners for me.

And the 4 calendars are going to: (drumroll please)

Rebecca, Elizabeth, Sarah and Kathleen. You have all been sent emails and your calendars will be on their way next week!

Thanks again for all your wonderful support! Be watching soon for a buy 2 get one free. I can't say when...it will be a surprise, but I am giving you heads up to be on the look out:)

Mischief Managed.

Dear Ian,

I think that God made you absolutely beautiful for a reason. Like yesterday when you sneaked an entire bag of baking flour into your crib and ate it until you fell asleep leaving "dough" clumps all over you and your bedding...or this morning when you managed to find the same sack of flour again and dump it all out onto the floor and freshly cleaned laundry...or later today when you decided to play "cat" and dumped the entire box of Grape Nuts all over mommy's bed and pretended it was cat food and I found you licking it up and spreading it all over the room with your 'paws' ... all I could do was notice how incredibly scrumptious you are. Why do little boys get away with so much? Because they are so much more darling than they are mischievous! Next time, please just give me a little warning when you are feeling extra clever...it would have been nice to have an empty vacuum!

Love,

Mama

A bit of biz: the elevator pitch.

Ok. So, I am a new fan of elevator pitches.

Elevator what?

Ya. I thought that too.

With this event in Salt Lake City, I knew there was going to be an elevator pitch competion with prizes $2000 in products and services, so I decided to figure out what was so great about it.

Google is my friend, and I learned very quickly that:

An elevator pitch (or elevator speech) is an overview of an idea for a product, service, or project. The name reflects the fact that an elevator pitch can be delivered in the time span of an elevator ride (for example, thirty seconds or 100-150 words). (from Wikipedia).

Why was this appealing to me? Because I had no idea how to sum up my product (without any visuals) in such a short amount of time, and I knew that if I knew how to, I would be a lot more successful at getting other people to believe in or be interested in supporting my business.

An elevator pitch is typically presented to a panel of investors who would be lending you money to start or further your business. So numbers and stats are a big part of the presentation as well. All of which I needed to know for myself anyways.

So, I wrote. I revised. I sent it to my Dad. I wrote some more. And then I hacked chopped cut and erased.

And, well....I won.

You can read about here. Not the best photo of me, but well, I was rather unaware that someone was taking picture because I was in complete shock that I won! It was a HUGE leap out of my comfort zone to present in front of a panel of judges as well as a large audience of business owners. But, getting out of your comfort zone is just what you need to build strength and confidence, and that was my main motivation. It wasn't fun, but it was worth it!

But even if you aren't going to pitch to investors, you NEED to know what you are about clearly and concisely. I didn't realize how hard that was till I got started on this.

Here is what you need to answer:

  1. What is your product or service?
  2. Who is your market?
  3. What is your revenue model? (how do you plan on making a profit)
  4. Who is behind the company?
  5. Who is your competition?
  6. What is your competitive advantage?

Asking yourself these questions and writing them down will reveal so much to you. Especially when you put it in the context of someone challenging you. What DO you sell? Does it have a CLEAR branding? Who is your competition? How are you different? What is your plan to succeed in a competitive market?

All these questions I really wasn't that excited to answer. I mean, "I am an artist, right? I just really like to draw!" Well, if you plan on making any profit from your hobby, you REALLY need to answer these questions. And believe me. It is harder than it looks. But, when you do, you will have a clearer vision of how to succeed with what you really love to create. Have fun!

Happy Birthday.

Dear Mr. Incredible,

Today is your birthday. The big THREE-ZERO. I remember the first birthday I got to spend with you. I actually didn't know it was your birthday...we were just well aquainted class mates at the time, and you were to modest to tell all that you were turning 19. I felt terrible I didn't know. Well, after 11 birthdays spent with you, you still are too modest to tell anyone. So, I will do it for you. Happy Birthday my love. How did I get so lucky to marry Mr. Incredible? I still can't figure it out...so let's just eat cake. I love you!

xoxo

yours truly

Happy Site Friday: Get organized.

Picture via Oh Happy Day.

I haven't posted a happy site friday in a while, but I wanted to leave you with some great clean. fun. happy. organizing tips. Well, sites. I won't pretend to have all the knowledge. I am a master at learning from the one's who have it down...and clean & organized spaces are my focus this year.

Here are some random sites and articles:

Paper clutter

Home Office organization

unclutter

simple living

minimilstic home

Getting things done

Small Spaces

Happy Friday!!!

Bid Open! Support the Neilson Family!

Today is the day: I am auctioning off my FULL set of calendar prints in support of the Neilson Family that needs our help. For those of you who don't know, Stephanie and Christian Neilson (parents of 4 children under the age of 5 and author of the ever popular blog: Nie Nie Dialogues) were in a tragic plane crash 2 weeks ago which killed the pilot, Doug Kennard, but left the couple with severe third degree burns covering most of their body (Stephanie 80% and Christian 30%). They leave behind these 4 children who will be living with extended family while Stephanie and Christian remain in critical condition,enduring months and months of treatments. They are currently in a chemically induced coma, and are expected to be for several months. Their medical bills are expected to be in the millions, and people all around the world are committing to help.

So in my efforts to help, I am auctioning off my FULL set of Calendar prints which will be for sale in my shop this weekend retailing at $200. If you are new to my blog and shop, I have been creating a new print every month since last October, and I have finally completed the set! The set included 12 prints, each portraying my dear little girl (who will remain un-named....you choose!) caught in a moment typical of the month she finds herself in. Each print is hand drawn and digitally colored by me, printed on archival fine art paper with archival inks, and lovingly signed by me. Many customers have designated a wall in their home for all 12, or have a single frame that they rotate a new one in every month. Each print features the month on the bottom left hand corner, but you are also welcome to purchase the prints with out the month.

So...

Here is how it works:

I will start the bid at a certain amount: $50.

Write your next bid in the comments section, and keep checking to see who is the highest bidder.

Only bid in increments of $1. No loose change folks.

If someone out bids you, keep adding your bid in the comments section until the Auction is closed and I will announce the highest bidder.

The auction will close Friday Night at midnight.

And remember, the retail price is $200 for all 12 prints...so let's try and match that:)

Once you have won the bid, you will send the money to the Stephanie and Christian Neilson Fund.

Happy bidding! Good Luck!!!

Oh, and when you are done here, check out www.designmom.com for a $150 gift certificate to my shop as well as hundreds of other wonderful things for auction!!