Miss Modish- Mojo Maker

Kitty Photo Friday!

Aww, getting a little sunny on the tummy. Something I'm looking forward to myself once it warms up here!

If you'd like to see some other pics of my home (and more kitties) check out my "Little Corners" feature on Design Crush! She started the column to help focus us on the favorite little spots in our homes, not the things you want to change about it! I like that. Submit your favorite little corners to her, too! Thanks so much for having me, Kelly!

And today's the last day to snag the Tip-Top Pitch Kit for only $24! Get the kit, or any package in the shop, for $25 off! Hop over to the tip-top pitch shop and use code "MMSPRING25" for your discount. Good thru midnight tonight, pst!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! And if it's sunny where you are, please soak it in for us Pacific Northwesterners! It's quite quite dreary and wet out there :(

Off to mud romp in the yard with Otis. See you next week!

<3 jena

ps: next Wednesday, April 4th, is my 6 year blogaversary and I'm planning something special!! :)

White puffy clouds & a wish for Dooda

Well it's a dark and dreary day here in Portland so I'm trying to brighten it up with some memories from our last sunny day! We had some good little clouds that day. Ah, fond memories... 

I've been distracted all morning worrying about my dooda pops man (dad) who is in the hospital right now- he had a heart attack last night! He's doing ok, I just spoke to him and am feeling relieved. I'm sending all my prayers and energy to you dad, that you can go home soon & that your ticker keeps on tickin for a long time to come! I love you pops!!

Let's go surfing!

{photo from US National Archives commons}

Web-surfing that is. Har har. Do people still call it that? I have no idea. But I do know, I've been finding a lot of awesome stuff around the web today that I wanted to share! Maybe this will become a regular thing, eh?

... Oh my gosh, typing that just sparked a flash of a memory from a dream I had last night! I must've ran a survey on the blog or something, as I was reading a bunch of comments from people on changes I could make for the blog, and one person said they want it to be more engaging. And I was like, "huh. Okey doke!"

Dream recall takeover! Weird! I hardly ever remember my dreams anymore, so that was refreshing actually.

Well, in an effort to please the anonymous commenter of my dreams, aka: myself (and hopefully you guys too) I'm going to try to be more engaged here on the ol' bloggy wog...

It's hard, with all my other projects and things going on, tis true. But when I'm not here, I miss it! And I miss you all. And I wish I had time to pop in here more often, so instead of wishin, I'm going to have to make time! Because I have oodles of ideas for new columns ahead, including doing some VIDEO tips & Q&A! (that seems so scary to me still- eeeek!)

Anyway... onto the surfing, huh brahs?

• I somehow stumbled upon xoJane, the new site by the editor of Jane magazine, which was my FAVORITE mag EVER!! And it folded years ago :( And I cried about it. And my eyes welled up again this morning when I found her new site, I'm so excited about it!
  
  
• The stunning, hilarious and cuter-than-can-be, Mayi Carles, is doling out tips on video blogging in her Vlogging 101 series- she's so so good!! I'm watching and learning, Mayi!
  
  
• Dearest Nature introduced a great collaborative project called Spring Pickins, asking others to join her in collecting little bits of found nature this spring, and sharing photos of them on our blogs on the 19th of each month. I'm joinin in! Would you like to?
  
  
• And I wrote a guest post for Oh My Handmade Goodness on how to pitch to blogs ethically, and successfully! It's part of Jessika's business ethics month over there. I'll also be co-hosting an OMHG twitter chat on pitching to blogs tomorrow with her, from 10-11am, pst! Hope you'll join us there!

See you back here tomorrow with some photos, or somethin! Hope you're having a good day :)

jena

Kitty Photo Friday!

It's hard to resist laying my head on that big ol' fluffy belly!

Well, the sun is shining bright right now in Portland so that's enough to make me happy! I also just got back from a wonderful Creative Mornings talk that was super inspiring and hilarious! They're free breakfast lectures by and for creatives that happen once a month. Check out and see if one is happening in your neck of the woods!

I have some links to share with you guys too that I thought you might like: 

• Super wonderful artist and kind soul (that I've featured here on Modish quite a bit in the past) Alena Hennessy is running an e-course through Squam called Abundant Wild Life, to help cultivate your creativity and help you find new forms of self-expression! Registration is on now, sounds like it'll be a wonderful experience!
• And fantastically friendly Donaville from Discover Paper has just started a new blog called Dearest Nature, all about nature related topics. It's gorgeous and already filled with great content from her and her team of contributors. Check it out!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you back here next week!

<3 jena

Celebrating Spring with a Pitch Shop SALE!

Hip hip hooray, it's spring! Only, it still feels like winter around here in P-town, wah. No spring flowers to smell yet, no strolls in the sunlight- just dreary, wet, muddy, cold!

So, since the weather isn't cooperating, I thought I'm gonna have to get my spring kicks some other way and decided it'd be a fine time to have a SALE!

Spring is a perfect time to start putting ramping up your self-promotion efforts for your shop, and pitching your products to bloggers is an amazing way to get some free exposure!

The Tip-Top Pitch Kit is a great little support system to help you learn how to send pitches that are sure to capture a blog editor's attention!

But that's not just my opinion. The reviews for the Pitch Kit are in, and it's a heaping pile of....

helpfulness!

Some of the happy customers who ordered the kit are saying:

• "chock-a-block full of goodness and answered so many of my questions."  Nicole, Acanthus Jewelry
• "very well laid out, such an easy read and definitely helpful!"  Bridgett, Perideau Designs
• "great material to have and refer back to as you're growing your brand and communicating it with the world around you! Two thumbs up!"  Vana, Le Papier Studio
• "It's an awesome kit! I downloaded it, read it...and I'm already starting my "research" and planning my submission letters. It's just what I was looking for!"  Dawn, Dawn Smith Designs
• "It's overflowing with useful advice and very supportive; you have such a great style of writing" Rachel, La Maison Du Prince

And thanks to all the editors who've reveiwed the kit! Here are just some of their remarks:

• "I definitely recommend it as a helpful tool to help market your work at any stage in your business." Jan, Poppytalk
• "I can honestly say, it is an easy read loaded with helpful information that can help you successfully land media and blog attention for your product."  Anna, In Honor of Design
• "Your Top Pitch Kit is insanely awesome! You've offered so many valuable tips and rewarding bits of information for business owners."  Donaville, Discover Paper
• "This kit is something that will help many shop owners, both those who are just getting started and those who have been around but are unsure about how to pitch their products."   Kristen, Paper Crave
• "Have no fear- if you’re an artist/designer/maker looking for more exposure for your online shop, and products, this kit will teach you everything you need to know about pitching yourself to blogs." Bonnie, Going Home to Roost

If you've been itchin' to try the kit out, the timing is mighty fine because I'm offering $25 off the Pitch-Kit, and custom +add-on packages! That means the pitch kit is only $24 right now, and you can schedule in some great personalized attention at a super deal too!

You can add:

• a pitch clinic, so you can try your pitch out on me 1st and get great feedback
• or a custom media list, so I can create it for you and fill with 20+ of the best targeted blogs for your shop + tips on contacting each of them
• or both!

Just head to the Tip-Top Pitch Shop, click the Buy Now button for your package of choice, and enter discount code: MMSPRING25 to receive $25 off your order!

The offer will be good thru the end of day Friday, 3/30/12, so act fast and tell your shopowner friends! 

And if you have any Qs, please contact me!

Happy spring, and happy pitching!

Kitty Photo Friday!

I'm not the only one that's happy the Mr is home! She missed snuggling with his warm blooded body- I'm always freezing so I'm no help!

And look at one of the little gifties the Mr brought back from Japan- this cute kitty planter with a self-watering tail!

It came with a little pellet that you pour water on and it expanded into a little sack of soil!! And you put the little sack in the kitty's pack and sprinkle the itty bitty seeds onto the soil, then stick it in a cup with some water and it soaks it up thru the tail! I hope the seeds sprout, I can't wait to see.

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I'll see you back here next week!

<3 jena

Been spending my days lately....

...taking advantage of the few sunny days we had last week, walking around the hood.

...watching Unzipped, an old documentary about Isaac Mizrahi putting together his Fall 1994 collection. Had all the 90's supermodels in it plus was so interesting to see behind the scenes! Good rainy day movie.

...wearing about 18 layers, including a kitty layer, to stay warm over the weekend when our heater was broken.

...catching up with some magazines.

...hanging with the Bobohead mud-monster.

...recording a guided meditation for The Catalyst Course! A very interesting experience for me to listen to my own voice for that long, sounds so weird!

...dog-earing the new Free People catalogs. I want that aqua rain jacket!

...consulting the deck.

...wondering why the heck it's so cold all the sudden?

...getting lots of to-dos checked off!

...shopping for supplies for a couple projects I want to work on.

...waiting for spring to come!

I've been keeping busy while the mister is gone. I've lost all notion of what day or time it is without him here, it's strange. His work schedule kinda keeps me on track with the rest of the world- without him here, I'm staying up all night, sleeping all morning, eating at strange times. I'm all outta whack! Not to mention, I miss him! But he's coming home tomorrow morning, wahoo! I'm so excited!!

What's making you feel excited lately?

Kitty Photo Friday!

Kitty reflections... s he loves peeking on Otis and me playing fetch in the backyard!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend and I'll meet you back here next week!
<3 jena

Hello!

Just wanted to pop in and say hello! The sun is shining bright here in Portland! There's something about waking up to a sunny day that feels incredibly refreshing and special, cause it doesn't really happen all that often here!

I'm busy busy behind the scenes of The Catalyst course this week- it's going SO AWESOMELY WELL! Jen & I can't get enough of it! Seeing all this hard work we've been doing for months come to fruition, and being able to connect with people in there and share our stories and advice, it's without a doubt, one of the most rewarding experiences I've ever had in my life! Already! It's on a-whole-nother level of big time serious wonderfulness, Jen and I can both feel it.

I just feel so incredibly grateful to be doing all this stuff right now with Miss Modish & The Maven Circle both- it feels like right where I'm supposed to be!

In other news, the Mr. left for Japan approximately 26 hours ago, and I miss him terribly already! Good thing I have plenty of work, and 4 furry babes, to keep me company- and nice friends willing to feed me dinner while he's gone! hah.

How's your day going today? Any projects you're feeling excited about?

Kitty Photo Friday!

I had a little portrait session with all three kitties last weekend, pretty girls!

Well this weekend is our last to prep before The Catalyst starts on Monday! eek! (psst: today's the last day to register, if you haven't yet. We're gonna have so much fun, I can't wait!!)

I'll also be prepping my mister before he heads off to Japan for over a week, next Tuesday! (for work) I'm going to miss him, boo hoo! :( Good thing I have these fluffhead kitties, plus a big bobohead dog, to keep me company. Them and... tons and tons of work!

Well hope you have a good weekend and I'll see you back here next week!

<3 jena

VIDEO: An easy way to "find more time" in your days

We have another video to share with you all today! We're talking about a really easy way to find more time in your days- first step, track it! It's only a few minutes long, take a gander:

{Another greeeat freeze frame to start it youtube, you're the best! Not.}

This video is a teency weency snippet from some of the videos we've been filming for our Catalyst Course- And the videos themselves are only a teency weency snippet of the wealth of information we'll be sharing.

In the course you'll also find:

• fun journaling and creative exercises to get you digging deeper into your own situation
• worksheets to help you shift your thinking and get some objective perspective
• an audio guided meditation (by me!) to help you relax and re-focus
• an awesome Maven-tastic downloadable goal sheet and weekly schedule
• Q&A days each week, happening via the comments, so you can participate anytime
• a private Facebook group so you can chat openly and connect with us, and your fellow classmates
• loads of additional resources (articles, links, videos) to check out, so you can delve even further into the topics we'll be discussing 
• and a heaping helping of encouragement, know-how and support, from us, and all the Mavens participating in class!

Tomorrow (Mar 2nd) is the last day to register, and class starts Monday March 5th! We're so so excited to get started, waahooo! Hope you'll join us!