LA08

I'm excited to be pacing the exhibitor aisles at Dwell on Design | Los Angeles this weekend. I unfortunately was unable to attend the conference; I would love to hear any details if you did...


Have a restful weekend.

LUCKY LADIES

The ladies of Hello! Lucky will be debuting their new letterpress personalized stationery line at the National Stationery Show. Look how pretty... beautiful florals, graphic patterns, elegant flourishes paired with bold colored envelopes. My favorite is sophisticate.

{ ...and as if that's not enough... }

The ladies will also be promoting their new book published by Chronicle Books, Handmade Hellos, with a Meet 'n Greet Giveaway valued at over $1000. They describe the book as:

Handmade Hellos features more than 25 projects from some of today's most talented professional paper artists, gathered by card-mavens Eunice and Sabrina Moyle of Hello!Lucky:
Abigail Brown, Amy Karol, Binth, Cielo Blu, Daniel James, Darling Clementine, Egg Press, Foxy & Winston, François Vigneault, Hearts & Anchors, Hello!Lucky, Julianna Swaney, Kate Sutton, La Familia Green, MikWright, Pancake & Franks, Paper + Cup, Petra Boase, Pie Bird, The Small Object, Shim + Sons, Two Trick Pony, You Send Me.
Inside this beautifully illustrated book, you'll find easy instructions to make cards that celebrate birthdays, holidays, new homes and new babies, weddings, friendships, parties and more. With designs ranging from elegant to striking and sometimes both sweet and snarky, there's a clever card for every crafter—and for every recipient.

DOWN TO BIZ

{photo: apartment therapy la}

I know I am a little behind posting on the design*sponge biz ladies meeting in LA, but still wanted to share a few of my thoughts and this link to Miss Fruitfly’s blog where she has compiled a list of others that attended. (Thanks, Miss Fruitfly!)

A few of the girls (Jean, Jehna, Mindy and myself) left work a little early on Tuesday to carpool up to the event. The trip was faster than we anticipated so, we decided to duck into Milk for some tasty treats. Milk is a cute little shop just down a few blocks from DWR with a delicious menu and an even better ice cream selection. I also recommend the lemon curd… so yummy! Cute logo, huh?

Anyway, back to biz ladies… I have to say that I was blown away by the turn out. It was humbling to be in a room with so many smart, talented women. Each speaker did an amazing job. Grace of d*s touched on pr and marketing which was great. She has put together her notes for download here as well as a few other goodies from previous biz ladies meetings. (sidenote: she mentions submitting your work to both publications and blogs for exposure. If you would like to submit something appropriate for MStetson, I’d love to hear from you. I’ll do my best to share these submissions on a regular basis.)

Billie and Tootie of Reform School shared their start-up experience and, during our session, mentioned that they usually prefer working directly with artists versus working with reps. They also said that they are constantly browsing on the web (and blogs!) for new artists and products that aren’t overly exposed. When asked about start-up costs, they recommended trying to save 3-6 months of rent as well as advise to factor in your salary early on. Once you allocate your funds to certain items and expenses, it will be hard to budget and reallocate your salary in later.

Tanya Aguiñiga is as genuine and sincere in her presentation as she is in her work. Her honesty was much appreciated from all of the attenders. I believe that was the biggest thing I learned that the night… if you are passionate and sincere about your work, people will take notice; it might just be a matter of time. She is a one-woman show: learning to prioritize between creating new products, producing current products and managing the flood of email inquiries. She dedicates much of her time and energy to local and international communities. Read more on how Tanya is merging her talents with community activism here.

And during the last session, Lindsay Horstman from SmithBarney touched on investment and retirement opportunities. Lindsay also recommend, “On my Own Two Feet” which covers balancing everyday expenditures as well as planning, saving and investing for the future.

Overall, I would highly recommend for you to attend any future events if the opportunity arises. Also, I have seen some discussion in the blog world about creating a more regular meeting; I will keep you posted if I hear more.

I hope that all made sense. My head is still a little foggy from all the cold medicine!