typepad is doing some pretty awesome things this week. first, they're releasing a new feature that's completely free and really great, called microblogs. why do you care about microblogs? because all year, typepad has been completely upping the awesome - there's a huge network of typepad bloggers, and useful features here to network to new bloggers and expand your audience. readers and commenters can fully participate in your community in new ways: through favoriting, following, commenting,... Read Full Story

it's been busy-busy at girlscantell world headquarters, and i've been printing up a storm for a great bunch of new stockists. now when you click the link "find a shop near you" on the right at girlscantell.com, you can browse through all the retailers (listed alphabetically by state!) that carry girlscantell wares. know a shop near you that would be perfect for girlscantell goodies? demand they contact me for details! sara (at) girlscantell.com, of course. or just send me their information ... Read Full Story

those who follow me on twitter are probably aware that i'm abstaining from caffeine for the next two weeks (or more... we'll see how it all pans out). the important lesson i've learned from my 4 and a half days now (not that anyone's countingin) without caffeine is that apparently any superpowers i may typically possess come directly from caffeine. it's been a little better the past day or so - tuesday way brutal! anyway, since i'm not my most articulate, here are some recent shots from aro... Read Full Story

i had the lovely fortune of finally meeting el lohse of the totally magical shop elloh at art star craft bazaar this summer. she's smiley and bubbly and every other quaint, sweet adjective that might come to mind upon browsing through her work.  when i noticed elloh's link to her own daily ode blog on twitter (follow her at twitter.com/elloh, of course!), i was immediately smitten. and thought i'd share this discovery with you, loves. anyone who attempts to do anything daily wins effort point... Read Full Story

last week, i was eating cereal one morning, mindlessly flipping through local supermarket circulars and came across the flyer above for the new grocery section in my local target, my little heart went all aflutter. why? well, frankly, it's fun. it makes actually really terrible food (that's a whole other blog post, really) look aesthetically appealing and thoughtful. they could have easily used that template that every other supermarket seems to use (ie, the one below) and called it a day. ... Read Full Story

sometimes it's easy to get distracted by all of the side effects - i accidentally get caught up in why views are down or there haven't been as many followers or why is this selling and that just sits there. and that's when i try to stand up, pay less attention and get back to work. it's so easy to let all the little "measures of success" totally cripple you. or at least me. i forget one of my favorite things to remember: work makes work. the best thing i can do is to make myself hop away fr... Read Full Story

"Don’t get us wrong. We like crafts. We just don’t like these crafts. Yes, we know these people put their hearts into it. We know it took hours and hours. We know how mean it is to laugh at their creations. And we regret being the only web site on the internet that makes fun of things." - from the regretsy disclaimer page. there aren't too many blogs that make me snort with laughter (and you're welcome for that mental image), but regretsy.com is the funniest damn blog i think i've ever r... Read Full Story

photo by laura kicey a big thank you to the fantastic sarah lockard of aroundmainline.com for compiling a really gorgeous series of photographs of some of my favorite philadelphia-area artists! you can find the article in the storque as part of the shop local series. i'm so incredibly flattered to be included in this lovely group of ladies. and an even bigger thank you to the fabulous laura kicey, aka helveticaneue, who i had the pleasure of meeting as she shot my photo for the article at te... Read Full Story

one of the most important things i've done this year for my business is treating like a business. and it really seems like the more seriously i take showing up and getting things done, and done well, the more rewards there have been. it's lead me to a couple realizations: if you believe you're running a real business, other people will, too.you can only be as successful as you'll believe that you can be. now, you should know by now that i'm not some fancy-talking, blowing-sunshine-up-your p... Read Full Story

i'll admit i was never much of a sports fan. i didn't grow up rooting for one team or another, or watch any sport with any regularity as a child. (of course, this could be because i grew up in central new jersey, smack dab between philadelphia and new york, so i didn't have any real allegiance to a set of teams, really).but last year, the phillies totally won my heart. they turned me not only into a phillies fan, but into a (novice) baseball fan. erik and i lucked into tickets for the last h... Read Full Story