I can’t recall how I discovered Karen, but somehow I stumbled upon her last year, stalked her blog for awhile, then reached out and tweeted to her that I thought she was awesome.  That was last year and we’ve been internet friends ever since, or as Karen puts it, “I’m so glad we Intermet.”  

Karen is daring and crafty and funny.  She cooks and builds and decorates, all with finesse and a sense of humor, hence the perfect name for her blog The Art of Doing Stuff.  One time in an email she signed her name “Karen!” and I replied that she should always sign her name like that.  Because she’s not just Karen.  She’s Karen! 

I like to pretend that Karen! and I are twins separated at birth.  She’s just like me except for the fact that she’s tall, thin, blonde, and Canadian.  

Please welcome my Intermet friend Karen!

“Hi everyone. I’m new here.  My name’s Karen.  I do stuff.  A lot of stuff.  I design stuff, repair stuff, cook stuff and even do crafty stuff.  Partly because I’m incredibly curious and partly because I’m cheap. And perhaps a bit of a control freak.  But only perhaps.

Oh, and sometimes I swear. But I won’t in this post because I promised Kate that I wouldn’t. But since she’s taking a brief holiday and probably won’t notice, maybe I will.  Today I’m going to share with you one of my favorite cheap outdoor design ideas.

Get ready for it … this one’s a doozy.  Doozie?  Doosey.  It’s a humdinger.  It looks high end with a side of huge impact, and it costs next to nothing.  You’ll be able to do this. In 3 minutes flat.

When I redid my backyard (like an idiot) a few years ago, I found out that outdoor lighting is expensive.  Like, really expensive.  If I’m gonna shell out a whole whack of cash for something in my backyard it’s gonna be on a beef tenderloin for the BBQ.  Or a better BBQ.  Or a talking parrot who refers to me as Princess Leia.  It isn’t gonna be for lighting, if I can help it.

So while perusing my local second hand store I came across some truly unfortunate stains on the carpet AND these ubiquitous opaque glass shades.  You’ve probably thrown a few out in your lifetime.  Stop doing that.  Stop it right now.

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Hello my friends, I have a very special visitor today.  Many weeks ago, I had a long conversation with Gina of The Shabby Chic Cottage and I was so inspired by her story I asked her to tell it here!  I first met Gina at Blissdom and we’ve been friends ever since.  Many of you know her already, Gina is the creator behind The Shabby Chic Cottage blog and Etsy shop. 

Gina has been a comforting presence and voice for me on all topics of small business.  If you have a desire to create and sell your handmade creations in an online forum, Gina has years of experience and an inspiring story to tell. 

Please welcome my friend Gina to share her story of how she started a successful business on Etsy, one that gives her the ultimate satisfaction of creating hand crafted goods, and also a few extra dollars in the bank for her creativity and efforts!

“Hi y’all!  I’m Gina from The Shabby Chic Cottage.

I’m so very excited to be here today!  Kate is such a wonderful source of encouragement and inspiration for me, I was honored when she asked me to write up a post about how I started my business.

I didn’t start my blog with any aspirations of making money.  I had blogged for 2+ years on another blog that barely had any readers, but I’m a writer, so I wanted a place to write what I wanted instead of writing obituaries all day (part of my old “day job” duties.)  After 5 years of living in my childhood home, we finally were at a point where we could begin to remodel, and so I started The Shabby Chic Cottage in April 2009 to journal the changes as we went along, sort of a virtual scrapbook.  I had no idea where it would lead.

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“Keeping a day planner is an essential time management tool and one that will help get 2011 off on the right foot.  By logging appointments, schedule and important dates in a daily planner, you can reduce stress by knowing that you aren’t forgetting anything.  When kept up-to-date, a planner allows you to find needed information quickly, prioritize effectively and schedule appointments immediately.

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Even though there are several great online calendar options, I enjoy writing down our household schedule in a good old fashion day planner.  Today there are so many beautiful and chic options available in a variety of colors, prints, sizes, functionality and price.  

 

Here’s my list of favorite planners for 2011:

 

Known for her fun, vivid Palm Beach inspired prints and patterns, Lilly Pulitzer offers a chic collection of daily agendas for 2011. This useful and unique planner features a 17 month agenda {August 2010  through 2011} and is complete with weekly & monthly calendar pages, dates to remember, contacts and notes.  A large version {6 3/4" x 8 7/8" is $24.95 and includes stickers.

 

 

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