jcaroline's blog

New Ribbons from Patty Young & Jessica Jones

New ribbons arrived Friday and they are just gorgeous.  The top two shown are from Jessica Jones, who had shown me this design as a fabric.  It would be a gorgeous fabric, but I also thought it would be a spectacular ribbon.  I think I was correct [blushing].

The next four are from Patty Young.  She originally pitched an Aqua colorway for her Andalucia fabric, but alas, it didn't make the cut.  But I thought a little Aqua would get us ready for spring.  And I couldn't decide between her two Aqua versions of Birdie Damask, so we did both!

All six 1-1/2" ribbons are available by the yard or on a 25-yard spool.

Isn't that darling?

I have received some complaints that I have not shown enough pictures of Olivia lately.  Two complaints exactly and they were both from family.  But anyway, I thought I would send you into the weekend with this crazy picture.  My husband took this with his IPhone while my daughter wrapped herself in the shower curtain.  This is what we do in the mornings.

Back to serious business on Monday.  Have a great weekend!

Twittering My Life Away

One of the things I was introduced to at Mom2.0Summit was twitter.  Actually, a friend of mine introduced me to it last November, but I didn't "get it".  Why would I want to send 140 character messages over the internet about what I was doing?  I mean, I can certainly understand why the world would want to hear from me every few minutes :), but did I really have time to serve my fans that way?

Well, I found out how people are using it now (as opposed to the "my cat rolled over" tweets from the early days).  Twitterers are using the tool to share web finds (products, business articles, marketing ideas), alert twitterers to new blog posts, as well as a quick way to text friends.

Well, how could this be helpful, you ask?  Well, Holly Becker's (Decor8) tweet is how I learned about Hallmark magazine closing that I posted yesterday.  Twitter is also how I know that Patty Young is re-pitching some colors for her new line of fabric, Mezzanine.  Twitter is also how I found out about Heather Ross leaving the fabric design business (thanks BeeSquareFabrics and TrueUp). 

Another twitterer also directed me to this article "Best Twitter Advice Ever" outlining the "rules" of tweeting and how to make the best use of it.

Could it be the biggest time suck ever invented? Oh yeah.  But I like how you can spend as little or as much time as you want.  And unlike an email, you aren't obligated to respond to people (unless you want to).  There are several tools you can use to sort through the twitter feeds and alert you to the ones that most interest you.  And unlike texting, it can be done from the desktop, phone, and other mobile devices.

It kind of reminds me of a person sitting in the office cubicle next to you who occasionally shouts out funny anecdotes or emails a web link you might be interested it. You don't have to stop everything and respond- he or she knows you are working and you'll "catch up" later.

And Twitter's impact on the web is huge.   Compete.com ranked Twitter as the Number 3 social media website in January 2009, up from 22 last year.  (Number 1 is Facebook, Number 2 is MySpace.)

Is it for everyone?  Absolutely not.  But I'm getting a lot of information from it.

PS.  Silly me, I forgot to tell you how to find me if you can't get enough of me.  There is a link on the blog sidebar at the top or follow this link: www.twitter.com/jcaroline.  This might be an alternative if you can't stand to read my lengthy blog posts, but you can't stand not to hear what I have to say. :)   

Magazine Death Watch Day 2

CK Media, the publisher of several craft magazines, including Mark Lipinski's Quilter's Home, McCall's Quilting, Sew Simple, Sew News, and Creating Keepsakes, acknowledged this week that they are working with bankruptcy consultants CRG Partners.

According to Scrapbook Update, "CRG told an unnamed Scrapbook Update source who is owed money from CK Media that the company has $70 million in debt and only $20 million in assets. The creditor was offered 25 cents on the dollar to settle their debt, and was told that 80% of the company's major creditors would have to agree to similar settlements within 30 days to satisfy CK Media's lenders."

CK Media also acknowledges that their lenders brought in CRG Partners in an attempt to resolve the debt.  If that doesn't work, it appears that the lenders might force CK Media into bankruptcy.

Thanks to commenter, Melody of Quilty Mama, for the scoop!

Magazine Death Watch

Three-year-old Hallmark magazine announced yesterday that they are shutting down the magazine and website, siting "difficult economic times, especially for magazines".  The New York Post says that Conde Nast ad pages are down 30 percent, versus the industry average of 24 percent.  (Conde Nast is Vanity Fair, Architectural Digest, was Domino.)

However, Cathie Black, President of Hearst Magazines (O, the Oprah Magazine, Cosmopolitan, Seventeen) writes in Advertising Age on Monday, "Despite Recent Events, the American Magazine is Not an Endangered Species".  She says "According to the Magazine Publishers of America, only 32 magazines suspended publication in 2008 -- an infinitesimal percentage of the 19,500 magazines currently published in the U.S."  She compares this slow-down to what occurred in 1991, and discusses how magazines not only rebounded, but expanded significantly after that downturn. 

One, I am stunned that this country has 19,500 magazines.  Clearly, there is a magazine covering everything and apparently hundreds on each topic! 

Secondly, "I'm not sure I agree with you 100 percent on your police work there", Cathie.  I'm not sure you can use the comparison to 1991 as comfort.  The web media component is very different than it was 18 years ago.  (I was just at a web media seminar, you know, so after 48 hours, I am somewhat of an expert!)  I still say, magazines in their traditional print medium are going to continue to drop like flies.  Will the current titles survive in an on-line version?  If they know how to make the transition, they will.  (But they better hurry.)  Otherwise, their lunch is going to be eaten by the on-line presences that are already out there who understand how to use an "instant" medium and already have loyal readership.

So, for those of us that love lying around reading magazines on paper, buy a good printer or start collecting current issues.

Oscar Who?

Not watching the red carpet this evening because I just plain don't care.  Spent Friday and Saturday at the Mom 2.0 Summit here in Houston.  A friend who reads the internet from beginning to end emailed me about it Tuesday and I'm glad I went.  It was a great opportunity to hear from and talk to people about marketing and this series of tubes we call the web.  I also had not thought about the buying power of mothers (and woman in general) and why marketers are so interested in us.  As one marketer pointed out, "that [Insert Product Name Here] did not WALK into my house."

I found it so helpful to step out of my little corner of the web for two days and get a much bigger picture of what is going on and what it means to ecommerce businesses, bloggers, and social networks.  Discovered some interesting sites and concepts, which I'll share with you over the next week or so.

My take of the two days:

• If the marketing message is relevant to you, you perceive it as informative.  If the message misses the mark, you perceive it as annoying and intrusive.
• Web media is here to stay (duh) and major companies are learning to use it as a promotions and marketing tool in some really innovative ways.  And many of these "content providers", aka bloggers, are doing a great job leveraging that to their advantage.
• We are going to see more magazines and newspapers bite the dust.  They are expensive to publish and can't begin to compete with the speed and flexibility of the web.

Hope you had a good weekend.

Giveaway at The Long Thread

Ellen at The Long Thread contacted me last week about a giveaway and I said "Great!  I'd love to get something."  No, no-- it's you that can get something.  I gave her five one-yard pieces of Anna Maria Horner Good Folks Fabric (shown below) that will be given to a randomly chosen commenter on Ellen's blog.  Enter before midnight on Friday and it is open to international readers.

Of course, if you don't win, you can always buy these fabrics and tell people you won!

Another One Bites the Dust

Craft magazine sent me an email this week and also posted on their website that they will no longer print their magazine CRAFT.  Instead they will focus on the Craftzine.com website and the print version of MAKE magazine. 

I can't say I'm surprised given the current magazine environment, but I am bummed because I enjoyed CRAFT-- I loved the layout, the size and I always found something interesting in it. 

And the last issue (and I do mean LAST issue), featured Amy Sedaris, who I think may be the funniest woman on earth.  And coincidentally, I had just bought her book, I LIke You: Hospitality Under the Influence, which covers such important entertaining topics such as how to put on pantyhose (with step-by-step pictures) and how to handle a psychopath at your party (lure him or her into the closet and block the door with furniture).  She covers party etiquette as well.  When you regret to a party, she says "everything after the 'because' is bullsh*t."  You know what she is talking about-- "I can't come to your party BECAUSE I have to wash my hair."  Words to live by-- just say you can't come.

Goodbye, CRAFT.  I look forward to seeing the changes they come up with for Craftzine.com.

Lead Testing Info on our Products (More CPSIA Stuff)

For those of you using our products for manufacturing children's products, we are in the process of gathering information from our manufacturer's on their testing or manufacturing information, to determine lead content.  I have set up a page on the jcaroline creative! site, CPSIA Information for Manufacturers, linked here and also linked at the bottom of each page on the website. There I will be posting what items we have inquired about and the results.

If you are interested, it is a stimulating read. :)

February Jumpstart Contest at Apartment Therapy

Apartment Therapy and Etsy are sponsoring a DIY contest to encourage you to get your projects done in February!  Basically, you can submit a project to any of their five websites in the following categories:

• Apartment Therapy - home decor projects
• The Kitchn - kitchen projects
• Ohdeedoh - kids' home projects
• Unplggd - home office & tech projects
• Re-Nest - green home projects

The project must be done yourself, you must provide pictures and instructions and the project must be completed by February 23.  Read the complete rules here.

So if you were considering repainting a room, upholstering a chair, painting a desk, do it this month and submit it!  Currently, they have no entries in the kids' home projects category, so that field is wide open!