all things girls can tell

super things! (aka the holiday sale)

welcome, officially, to the holiday season.
here at girlscantell world headquarters, we're celebrating in style, with super things!

what are super things? so glad you asked. every other day or so, i'll be listing one item (the super thing!) for 25% off (or more!) in my official web shop (that'd be shop.girlscantell.com). it's one item - one diagram on one thing in one color of my choosing, every few days, for less than it's normally listed, until i choose a different item to become the super thing. it's almost like a chain letter, only it's not promising seven years bad luck and it won't reveal who your secret crush is.

 

the first super thing is cheeseburger coasters! because everyone loves a cheeseburger and coasters are not only lovely, but they keep your furniture spiffy. they're listed right now for 25% off the normal coaster price! just $12 for this superawesome set. enjoy!

microblogs and more!

 

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, reblogging and, ultimately, blogging with a free typepad micro blog.it's really easy to have real conversations and interactions with these tools.

it's all been introduced by the typepad folks or made shinier since this past april when i had the good fortune of meeting with the superfab community team - they were completely excited then. as features have been consistently rolling out, it's easy for me to see why now. so with the introduction of microblogs, everything is now more accessible and open for all to use (at no cost).

but another really interesting thing typepad is doing this week is, instead of just of sending out a traditional old press release to all the usual suspects, they asked many of their bloggers to announce the news right here on our typepad blogs. it's a really nice statement of how important and widely read typepad blogs really are. a totally fun way for a company to put their money where their mouth (keyboard? what's the analogy i'm looking for here?) is. bravo to typepad for thinking about a really normal procedure in a whole new way.

so, if you don't already have one, do yourself a quick favor and sign up for a free typepad microblog account at typepad.com. and if you have questions about typepad's usability or things, feel free to contact me. i've been blogging with typepad for about 3 years, and it's one of the best decisions i've made for my business. 

ps. they also introduced a gorgeous new, streamlined design for typepad blogs, chroma, but i wanted to play with it a bit before chatting about it, of course. you can read all the good stuff, officially, here.

the boutiques list is up to date!

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 and i'll check it out.

yay! stay sweet, kiddos!

photo friday

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 around the studio. enjoy!

 

 

 

 

happy friday!

hero blog: daily ode

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 points from me (it's a feat i'm not sure i'll ever muster the courage to tackle successfully), but she seems to do it with a smile. so fun!

enjoy!

hopping away

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 from the computer, stop obsessing over analytics and go make fabulous new things. because if you're not putting anything new out there, there won't be anything for people to find. the only thing that will continuously sustain any audience is good, solid, consistent content.

and so on that note, i'm setting aside my laptop for just a bit to work on burning new screens, taking new photos and making some more amazing things for you all to discover. soon. i promise. xo!

doing boring better

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. but they took the opportunity to make an impression.

what boring, mundane things do you have to generate for your business that you haven't seen as an opportunity to make your own yet?

hero blog: regretsy

"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 read. i was going to say it's the funniest craft-related / etsy off-shoot blog i've ever read, but it's more than that. it's just funny.

the only thing i don't like about regretsy is that i didn't think of it first.

seriously. why are you still reading my blog when you could be browsing amazing gems like these?

 

yeah. that's a baby chicken in a hand-knitted poncho. what of it?

philly etsy spotlight!

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 terrain (which is the most gorgeous home + garden store in the world!). she takes amazing photos and, as it turns out, is also a total sweetheart. yay!

(yes, this is just a big ol' post full of superlatives. there's nothing wrong with that.)

treating it as such.

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 panties, daily affirmation type person (which reminds me, i want to pick up a copy of barbara ehrenreich's newest book - bright sided: how the relentless promotion of positive thinking has undermined america. it sounds super interesting) who thinks all you have to do to accomplish things is will them so. however, i have become exceedingly convinced that if you don't think you can succeed, that will indeed hold you back. if you can't imagine making a living doing what you love, how will it ever happen? the very truth of it is that if you don't honestly believe you're going to be successful, no one else will, either.

(i suppose this is called confidence.)

and that, bloggity friends, is most of the reason why sometimes i like to dress up like i work in the fanciest of offices (dare i say a la mad men?) even just to work in the studio by myself, editing photos, answering emails and packing up orders. it makes me feel like i'm at a real job (which in turns makes what i do actually a real job. yes?)