jcaroline's blog

Go Texan Day and A Book Giveaway

I believe she might be the prettiest cowgirl in Texas. Miss Olivia does love a costume and Go Texan Day is yet another opportunity for her to dress up. She and Dad picked out the attire yesterday and she wanted to sleep in it last night.

I hope her belt buckle doesn't cause her to lose her balance!  Oh, I predict a summer full of pink cowboy boots, whatever the occasion.

In honor of Go Texan Day, let's give away a book written by a Texan shall we? Kay Whitt's Sew Serendipity to be exact.

 

Don't be concerned- she has no Western projects in the book! They are all gorgeous skirts, jackets and dresses made in her beautiful style with excellent patterns and instructions. To win a signed copy of this book, leave a comment by Wednesday, March 2, by noon Central Time. Why don't you tell me in the comments if you have ever owned a pair of cowboy boots and on what occasion you wear them. I bought my first pair when I moved to Houston and I wear them once a year to go to the Rodeo.

I went to NYC and all I got was ...

  ...the latest information on how social media is changing everything.

I just got back from Blogher '10 in New York.  Here is what I learned:

1.  Women control 85% of household spending.

2.  A "pink twitter" is a combination of lemonade, vodka and grenadine.  I really thought it was... oh, never mind.

3.  AOL still exists.  Who knew.  Apparently they now make business card holders and IPod speakers.

4.  I did not win an IPad, but the free box of Ph-Balancing tampons completely made up for it.

5.  I taped a video segment for 5 Minutes for Mom, and can say proudly, I gave them absolutely nothing they can use...

6.  ...though I think my comment about locking my doors while blogging to combat internet security issues was genius.

7.  There are a ton of really talented writers and artists in the blogosphere.  Watch for Kirtsy's auction of art pieces based on inspiring blog posts.

8.  I must get rid of the ".typepad" in my blog name.  It's so 2009.

9.  A Mr. Potato Head and PlayDoh can completely make up for being gone for five days.  For a four-year-old anyway.

10.  I am now inspired to get back to a regular blogging schedule, so beware.

Happy Father's Day!

I hope everyone had a Happy Father's Day, whether you have one or you are one!  I got creative last week and took pictures of the kiddies, put together a collage in Photoshop, had it printed at a photo store and framed it in those big 12x12 Ikea frames.  I made the pictures black and white because 1) I like that look and 2) it hides color problems or other photo issues.

 

I cut my reprints to 12 x 12 from a 16 x 20 enlargement as the photo store didn't offer that size.  In retrospect, I could have saved some money had I ordered a bigger reprint (they offer a 24 x 30) and placed all three of them on one sheet.  Oh well, live and learn.  I'm now working on an 8 x 8 version for the grandparents.

Congratulations to Rosemary who won last week's book giveaway: a copy of Small Stash Sewing!

Wiley Book Party holds Life Lesson

Wiley Publishing had a book launch party for Sandi Henderson, Melissa Averinos and Anna Maria Horner during Quilt Market.  It was held at this very cool restaurant called Cosmos in the Graves 601 Hotel (no connection to architect, Michael Graves).

Anyway, here is my pictorial essay of the event.

Here is the friendly staff setting up the drink luge.  This one is a little more fancy than a traditional drink luge- they expect us to use glasses.  (I had never heard of one before, but they run the alcohol through the ice block to chill it.  In the extreme party version, you just drink off the ice block as it runs off.  I wouldn't waste my time- a good old-fashioned shaker chills the drinks much better.)  Note the candles to highlight the luge and in the lower right of the picture as table accents.

The restaurant created "signature" drinks honoring each author.  I tried the Anna Maria, which was very good.  I was tempted to try all of them, but since they were 99% alcohol, I decided I better tone it down a bit and continued with drinks that were only 50% alcohol.  Note the glow of the candles reflecting in the menu.

Raise your hand if you knew where this was headed.  Yes, a guest's scarf caught on fire as they filled up their glass at the drink luge.  Caught on fire.  Like flames.  Her friend had to pull it off of her neck and stomp it out on the floor.  Fortunately, the only thing injured was the scarf.

Though I've always said, "It's not a party until someone catches on fire", do watch your candle placement around your drink luge.

First Birthday!

Henry's first birthday was last weekend (where did the last year go?) and I actually got a little crafty for it.  I made the banner above and I plan on reusing by removing the number each year.  Actually, I have in my mind creating a cake with velcro'ed candles-- have to work that one out.

I also printed out little pennants to top the store-bought cupcakes.  That was easy and fun.  Some 110 lb. paper, glue stick and toothpicks and you are good to go.

And to be completely over the top, I made each child a personalized towel for summer.  The towels are just bath towels from Target and I appliqued their names on them.  Most of the children were older (a one-year-old doesn't have any friends) and they really seemed to like them.

Oh, the birthday boy?  I thought you'd never ask.

The sandbox is his downfall.  He can't get enough of that sand.

Even though a mouthful seems like a good idea at the time...

I'm off to Quilt Market in Minneapolis tomorrow.  I think I'm going to have a good time.  I have no obligations and I finally know a bunch of people that will be there.  And with twitter, I'll be able to find them.  (So if you want to avoid me, don't respond to my tweets!)

Mother's Day Follow-up

I did get a gift from Olivia for Mother's Day-- a dwarf orange tree, so she did understand that the present wasn't for her.  She also made a book about me at Mother's Day Out.

I can't wait to get that giraffe.  Do you suppose they can survive on the leaves in our backyard?

"we play together and mommy's silly"?  I have no idea what she is talking about.

This page is tricky.   I guess my daughter is going to force me to admit that my hair is closer to brown than it is to blonde.  I'm glad she says I'm 3 years old, because in her mind, my age is so outrageous, it might as well be 100.  And thankfully, she thinks my favorite drink is "aqua" (water).  I'm glad I didn't have to explain anything to her teacher.

I hope you and yours had a Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers out there, especially mine.  Thanks for making sure we were always dressed nicely, even if you did make us clean the house on Saturdays.

My husband told Olivia this morning that this weekend they would be buying a present for Mother's Day, to which Olivia exclaimed, "A present!  For me?"  So we'll see how that turns out.

Knock Off Wood 1; Williams-Sonoma 0

Ana at Knock Off Wood has gotten the not-unexpected cease and desist letter from Williams-Sonoma, owner of Pottery Barn, West Elm, Pottery Barn Teen, Pottery Barn Kids.

The letter tells Ana she must remove all Pottery Barn pictures, trademarks and furniture collection names from her site by March 12.  

There are several things about this that fascinate me and it all has to do with how companies are either embracing or completely screwing up social media.  

I am not a lawyer *, but I do play one on TV,  and I think Ana does have a defense under "fair use" which among many rules, allows you to use copyrighted material in your work as reference for commentary, etc. as long as it is cited.  There is also a some legalize about whether or not you profit from the other party's copyright, etc. etc. etc.  But, let's be honest, regular people don't have the time, or more importantly, the money to defend it.

So, being a student of social media and how it is changing the way brands interact with consumers, I offer my advice to Williams-Sonoma.  Legally, you win.  Socially, you lose big.

First, your claim that "The reference to WSI's product names throughout the website convey the misinterpretation that the website is somehow affiliated with WSI." is weak.  I doubt any reasonable person going to that site thought it was in any way affiliated with WSI and knew exactly what it was-- a do-it-yourself site that imitated WSI products.  Besides, this is often solved quite easily on other sites with a disclaimer:  "This site is in no way affiliated with WSI and all trademarks and copyrights are owned by WSI."  (Check out Regretsy and IkeaHacker.  And trust me, Regretsy is not complimenting Etsy sellers, but it sure is selling their products.)

Second, according to Quantcast this blog reaches 2,416 people per month.  That is 2,416 more eyeballs that see your products and say "Wow!  That bookcase really is cool."  Wait, that's 4,832 eyeballs if they all have two eyes, but you get my point.  And most of the content is quite complimentary to your products, except for the reference to price.  But I'm sure it's not the first time you have heard you are expensive.  In the social media world, you are missing a big opportunity, in my opinion.  Don't make her pull out your name-- make her run a sidebar ad on her site in exchange for the use of your pictures.  The ad could say "After you try to make your own, just buy ours."*  Because I assure you, everyone looking at the site is not going to succeed at making their own.  Or "I don't care how good you are, I don't think you can pull off a couch."  And despite their protestations, there are regular folks that buy your stuff, even if they don't admit it in public (or on a DIY site).

Third, the web makes everything you do very transparent.  Thus why your cease-and-desist letter is now an image on the World Wide Web that will never go away.  And quite frankly, it's hard to send a cease-and-desist letter to someone in such a different position than you without looking like an ass.  A letter along the lines of  "We are aware you are using some of our trademarks and copyrighted images and would like to discuss how we can achieve our goal of protecting our brand while letting you achieve your goal of making furniture that attempts to be as wonderful as ours available to everyone." would have looked so much better as a jpeg than your letter.

Lastly, I have seen many a site use your images and collection names as they fawn over your latest offerings.  Heck, I'm pretty sure you would ignore me reprinting your entire catalog on my site if I ooohhhed and aaaahhhhed about which pieces I wanted.  Unfortunately, in the world of social media, you've got to take the things you don't like with the things you do.  It is a conversation and not all conversations about you will be positive.

And, by the way, you didn't invent the bookcase.

* My legal and ad copy services are always available by emailing me.  Since I have no training in either, my rates are quite reasonable.

Edited to add 3/14/10:  Mike Masnick at TechDirt has a great article about this with a much more detailed analysis of fair use.

Not What You're Expecting

I have been dragging my feet telling you, but jcaroline creative! is significantly downsizing its operation and eliminating many of its offerings.  We will clearing out our inventory through March 15.

Okay, I've give you a minute.

What's going on, you ask?  Well, the bulk of our business has always been crafters that make and re-sell items and for those of you in that world, you know what is going on.  Retail on any level is not doing well and hasn't for at least a year.  We noticed a significant change in buying activity last March and by my own stubbornness and conniving were able to plow through any way waiting for the uptick.  Well, in my humble opinion, the uptick isn't coming soon and it isn't going to be significant enough to undo the hurt caused by operating by the skin of our teeth for a full year.  So, after much consternation and hand-wringing, I have made the decision to bring the site to a soft landing before other parties force us to crash land.

Where we go after we significantly reduce our inventory is still somewhat uncertain.  I do plan to keep the jcarolinecreative.com website up and running with some selection of items-- at this time, I plan to offer webbing, some hardware and our jacquard ribbons.  The tutorials and how-tos on the site will also still be available and I do plan to add more.  At this time, we do not plan to offer fabric or as large of a selection of ribbons.  Jcaroline Home will continue to operate, but probably with fewer fabric selections.

The jcaroline blog will also still be around and updated.  In fact, it should get updated more as I can focus more time on sewing and other creative endeavors.  I also have some ideas to expand its scope as a fabric/sewing/crafting blog.

So, yes, I and my business in some form will still be around, but we are proceeding with a necessary transition at this time.  Thank you for your support for the last eight years and I'm hopeful for another eight years in some form or another.

The upside of this is we are holding one heck of a sale.  To beat all sales.  Until it is all gone.  Start shopping.

I'll keep you updated as the adventure unfolds.

Help For Haiti at the Fat Quarter Shop

Kimberly and friends at the Fat Quarter Shop put together the coolest idea to help raise money for organizations providing relief in Haiti.  They are auctioning off donated quilts and other sewn items.  If you win the bid, you need to provide proof that you donated your winning bid to one of the five agencies they list, and they'll send you the item.  What a clever way to raise money and what a clever way for you to direct where the money is going.

Shown above is the Fresh Laundry Quilt sewn by Kimberly herself.  The entire list of items for bid is listed here.  Bids are open until January 29, 2010.

Here are the instructions on how to bid.

If you don't have the funds to buy a quilt (though the opening bids are certainly reasonable), you can donate to the Red Cross and specify the Haiti Relief and Development Fund.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a quick note before I buzz out for the holiday weekend.  First, how about a coupon?  15% off using coupon code "THANKS" through November 30.

Plus we've gotten in a ton of new fabrics, namely Flower Bucket from Genevieve Gail, Meadowsweet from Sandi Henderson and Woodland Delight from Paula Prass.  Enjoy!

So have a great weekend and I'll see you back here next week!

Post Quilt Market

First, let me warn you that you will find much better Quilt Market Recaps elsewhere.  I forgot to take pictures of most booths and didn't really "work" the show very hard.  I hit the usual suspects, but I by no means saw most of the booths.  But I did take pictures of the things I made for Quilt Market.

Above is Sandi Henderson and her husband, Dustin, in her booth.  As usual, they did a great job with her booth and she won Best Merchandising Award.  She had wanted chair covers and sent me 1/3-yard cuts of a bunch of her new Meadowsweet fabric and told me to do whatever I wanted.  That made me nervous, but fortunately, she loved the results.

I basically created a "trellis" patchwork by inserting natural canvas between 5" Meadowsweet squares.  I definitely wanted a solid in there, but when I used a color, it didn't show off the fabric as well as I would like.  The natural really helped showcase the fabric, in my humble opinion.

 

Here they are again so I can admire them a bit more.  Sandi loved them (sigh of relief) so I sent them home with her.  Everyday she can study her fabric designs as she eats her meals.

Paula Prass was showcasing her new fabric Woodland Delight and her sometime-in-the-near-future pattern release.

 

That is a little girl's tunic made out fabrics from her pink and gray colorway.  It has a pleat down the front with a cowl-neck collar (I don't know if that's what the neckline is really called, but you get the idea).

Her booth was also very cute and her fabrics looked great.  For whatever reason, I completely forgot to take pictures of Pillow & Maxfield's, Patty Young's and the main portion of Michael Miller's booths.  They were all very cute.  Fortunately, Jona and her husband, Joey, of Fabritopia picked up my slack and got some good shots of those booths.  I'm not very good at this recap thing.

I'm on the cover of Glamour!

Don't I look awesome?  I can't believe they made me look that good!!  Here, let's get a closeup...

 

Oh, you didn't think I was the blonde, did you?  No, no.  JCaroline Home is featured in the Glamour giveaway section this month and that little orange button on the front tells you all that.  Okay, not really.  But Page 46 does...

 

And there is nothing that says you can't enter too!  The contest starts September 8, so I'll post a link for you then!

Updated:  The link is up.  Enter the Glamour Giveaway here!

It's our Birthday!

On Sunday, j. caroline designs turns eight years old.  So let's celebrate!  First, to reward you awesome customers, use coupon code EIGHT at checkout and get 15% off your entire order on jcaroline creative! Oh heck, let's do it on the new jcaroline home! site as well!  (Through August 17 on both sites.)

And next week, I promise to regale you with snippets of jcaroline history, including "vintage" photos!  Yes, I have photos of every fabric we've ever carried and every purse we ever made.

I also plan to do a giveaway every day next week of something I find in my ginormous stash.  I don't even know what it will be yet, I just know I need to clean out.  So everyday I'll post a picture of the found treasures on the blog and instructions on how to enter.

I'll keep the giveaways open until the 17th and then choose the winners based upon whatever parameters I come up with.  I should probably limit it to one giveaway per person, so if you happen to win two, I'll contact you and let you pick which one you want.

So let the party begin!

Blogher Part II- I Got a Mr. Potato Head and I Trampled No One

I am loving the recaps of Blogher '09 I'm finding on the web.  Let's just say we all had different experiences.  I missed virtually all of the drama because I wasn't invited to any of the private "swag-heavy" parties.  And those that were open to the public had lines that were too long, so I passed.  I just want some free drinks and food and I'm good to go!

I met up with some people I would not have met sitting in my office.  Unless they made a special trip to see me, which is not likely.

Tonya from Currently Crafting greeted me as a long lost friend.  I was so flattered.  But I felt a little slighted when Jessica of How About Orange showed up on the scene- I think Tonya squealed a bit louder over her.  I'm trying to get over it...

I met Erin of Schlosser Designs and FreshNestDesign.  She used to be a Texas girl, but is now in Chicago.  I've talked to her on Twitter and now I've talked to her in real life.  She's an interior designer by trade and a crafter.  Loved her FreshNestDesign business card, which was on a paint chip.  Lowes may never let her in the store again, but the cards were darling. She also handed out these darling notecards based on her stamps:

Alma of Loveland Miscellany is a graphic designer in Utah and between she and her husband, teach Illustrator and Photoshop classes.  (Don't think I'm not going to abuse that contact!)  Her calling card was a memory game with cards of several of her graphic designs.  Super cool.

Christy Nelson of ChristyNelson.net was another crafty gal I met there.  She gave out the cutest friendship bracelets as her business card.  She is famous for her Craft Challenges, in which she sells very reasonably priced craft kits (like $5!) and you can then submit your finished project to her challenge and win prizes!  Clever! 

I met tons of other people, unfortunately, many only briefly.  But the people I talked to were all polite and interesting.  I guess the rude ones were at the parties fighting each other for swag!

I did bring home some swag.  The Mr. Potato Head was my favorite.  I wanted to keep it, but I did give it to my daughter.  The FTC is considering regulations regarding disclosure of paid product placements in blogs, so I in an effort to comply, here is what I received in free product:

• 1 Mr. Potato Head $7.00
• 2 Playskool Lil Garden Pals $7.98
• 1 EOS Shave Gel    $4.99
• 1 EOS Lip Balm $3.99
• 1 Free Sample of Tide's new Stain Release Detergent Booster  (estimate) $1.00
• 1 Coupon for a free Tropicana's Trop50 Orange Juice (estimate)  $2.80
• Approximately 15 recycled and canvas bags to use for my grocery bags (estimating $1 per)  $15
• 6 Diet Pepsi's from the Pepsico Exhibit (consumed onsite)*  $9
• PBSKID's button, book light and notepad  (estimate)  $6

Total Swag:  $57.76

You might love this video put together by TellingDad, who wasn't even at BlogHer '09, but assimilated all the stories whirling on the web. 

* Apologies to my Coca-Cola bottling ancestors, but Coke didn't sponsor!  And Diet Coke still tastes WAY better.  But I love IZZE, which is also owned by Pepsico.

Blogher Part I- The Op Ed Project

If you read many blogs, you will find lots of posts on Blogher '09.  Apparently, there is always controversy of some sort and this year was no exception.  However, I heard rumors about these going-ons, but I was never in the middle of the hub-bub, so I don't have anything to add.  It seems that some people are not very polite when free things are involved.  (Let's face it-- some people aren't very polite regardless of what's involved, yes?)   I'll let you do your own searching on that and you'll find plenty to read.

I happened into the "Leadership session", just because it sounded more intriguing than the other offerings.  I am so glad-- it was by far the BEST of the entire conference.

The session was run by Catherine Orenstein, who is involved in the OpEd Project (www.theopedproject.org).  In short, the OpEd project is about getting women's voices out into the mainstream of debate, since most debate in newspaper's OpEd (Opinion/Editorial) pages, on television and in our government is dominated by men (about 80%).  So the OpEd Project was started to teach woman how to get their voice out there on whatever they are passionate about.   It is obvious how this would apply to a woman who is passionate about a political cause, like health care, for example.  But what intrigued me is how applicable this is to anyone who has something important to say and wants to be heard by a larger audience.  (Of course, important is in the eye of the beholder, but that is part of the lesson as well-- how you make it important to other people.)

The phrases that came up that really stuck with me included:

"thought leadership"

"gateway to public conversation"

"no one owes us their attention"

"starting a conversation instead of ending one"

"evidence-based short form argument versus rhetoric"

"the difference between being right and being effective"

The first session focused on what gives a person credibility (you know, that stuff they scroll under the pundit on CNN).  The attendees all came up with the obvious:  degrees, high-powered positions, being published.  The most overlooked component was personal experience.  And think about how powerful personal experience is.  (And we all have it, yes?)

The second session focused on how you would write a piece that would appeal to a forum that reaches people.  Catherine was careful to explain that this is not specific to newspapers, it applies to any forum that has readers-- blogs and webzines as well as traditional media.  And what intrigued me is not just how this applies to media outlets, but how it applies to writing in general.  If I wasn't so old, I might just go get a journalism degree!

Those two sessions were just a glimpse of what is offered in the OpEd Project seminars, offered around the country.  All of the points covered in the seminars are also listed under Resources on their website.  It will make you think, about all sorts of things.

And you can read the transcript of the entire session on Blogher, if you would like.

Next post on BlogHer '09, I might make a little lighter.

On A Bender

Okay, it's the last week of the Carnival of Savings, but I'm late getting specials updated so I'm extending it to May 5.  The website upgrade is 90% finished, and quite frankly, it may stay at the percentage for a few days.  I'm dreaming in html...<span style="crazy">Know what I mean</span>?

So I went crazy this week on putting things on sale. (That's what I meant by a bender, what did you think?)   For example, 

We now carry patterns from Sandi Henderson, Patty Young and Heather Bailey, with more to come. Just for fun, I put them all on sale this week- at least 30% off.

Organic cottons are about 30% off this week as well. Super soft and well, organic. This week only.

Paula Prass's Flights of Fancy is on sale for $6 a yard, while supplies last.

Kid's Silhouette Collection is marked down to $5 a yard, while supplies last.

We've also have a ton of odds and ends on sale , most for $6 a yard or less. Choose from Anna Maria Horner's Garden Party, lots of Michael Miller, Alexander Henry, twills and vinyls at great prices!

Plus, we are still offering free gifts with purchase and are giving away another Martha Stewart's Craft Encyclopedia.  Just sign up when you purchase and we'll draw from the orders for the week. Congrats to Sue in Illinois who won last week's book.

I think you DO care what I had for lunch

Yesterday, my husband's cousin's husband (did you get that?) made us a paella that was to die for.  He has relocated from North Carolina to Houston- his family is to follow in a few weeks.  So, yesterday he made us some of his award-winning paella with a South Texas flair- crawfish, blue crabs, jumbo shrimp and deer sausage.  It was incredible.  He moved in his car with all the essentials:  his paella pan, a Laz-y-boy recliner, a TV and two cases of wine.  Thank goodness he brought the pan and the wine!

Now back to business.  Congratulations to Colleen of Missouri who won the Betz White Sewing Green book giveaway.  And Jessica of New Jersey is the proud winner of Anna Maria Horner's Seams to Me book that we gave away last week.  This week we are giving away Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts book.  Sorry, I tried to get a signed one, but I haven't had any luck.  Apparently, the people at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia didn't recognize my name! ;-)  [Oops, I didn't mention how to enter to win.  When you purchase something this week or next, you'll see a checkbox at checkout to register to win the book.]

This week's sale items include some colors of 1-1/4" heavy duty cotton webbing and our new bulk packs of tortoise thick belt buckles.  We also have some great gifts with purchase, but I'm not doing all the work- you'll have to click over here to see what those are.

Have a great week!  I'll try to update more frequently this week.

What happened to the week?

I don't know what happened last week.  Suddenly it was Friday and then Easter and now it's Monday again!  And no posts throughout. 

Our Easter egg hunt was held indoors due to rain.  For those keeping track at home, I did not make her Easter dress (the Gap) or the Easter basket (Sam's club).  We did, however, dye our own eggs.  We then made egg salad with expired mayonnaise.  Fortunately (for me, anyway) only my husband ate it yesterday and he soon discovered there was a problem.  Apparently it doesn't last two years beyond the expiration date.  Who knew?

It's week two of our Spring Carnival of Savings, this week featuring ribbon.  Our book giveaway this week is Anna Maria Horner's Seams to Me.  You are entered once for every order and Anna Maria will personalize it to you!  Also, great free gifts with purchase!

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.