design sponge diy contest finalists

i am sure you have read about the supremely excellent diy contest that grace at design*sponge has put together, with exciting prizes or the top winners (including gift certificates from 2modern and subscriptions and merch from readymade magazine). the deadline for entries has passed but now the voting will begin. check out some of the innovative things created by the first few finalists:

side table with newspaper base

doll parts coat rack

perspex interior door panels

that surreal wall rack has got my vote!

check out the other finalists as they are released to the public at design*sponge today and cast your vote for the winner here.

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a brush with grace

i want to tell you that i was present at the design sponge biz ladies meeting last night here at jayson, and it was 1) well attended (100+ people!); 2)well structured; and, 3) well received. the evening was a series of four 20 minute talks about the who, how, where and why of marketing/pr, retailing/buying, wholesaling and scaling a small business, and financial planning. i was quite impressed with the panel of speakers and what was said, and i highly recommend you go if this event ever comes to a city near you.

as a retailer i did my best to share information with curious people. there were times i got burned by it but for the most part i was glad to tell people what i knew. actually the whole night had me thinking about retail… and if i were to get back into it, what would i do? the hamster wheel in my mind is turning, kids, but let’s just leave it at that for now. you’ll be the first to know if anything comes of my mind’s wanderings, natch.

i said this last night to grace personally, i don’t pay lip service, but she makes her knowledge (and herself) so accessible to everyone and anyone and that is so important to people just starting out in business. thank you grace for sharing what you know and organizing an event that has benefited many, many women around the country. knowledge is power!

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design sponge redesign

i’m a rogue and quite possibly the last one to post about design sponge’s redesign, but i don’t care — i’m doing it anyway! it’s as if the site is bionic. virtually overnight (at least to the end user) it has seamlessly become bigger, faster, and stronger, chock full of myriad posts, photos, editors and contributors for new features and guest bloggers.

i’ve enjoyed watching the evolution of design sponge, and am moved by grace bonney’s savvy, dedication, consistency and talent. we should all be so lucky as to aspire to her levels of enthusiasm, and be capable of housing as much passion for our own interests, both personal and professional.

for now, though, just go to the site.

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