Browsing Tag

blog

Escapeland

One Lovely Blog Award

06/28/2010

Miseducated has been bestowed the One Lovely Blog Award by Rachael from Glass of Win.

Of course I had quite a blast rummaging through new and old blogs alike looking for a great list a favorites that you would enjoy. I’m really excited about this award because it gets bloggers communicating with other bloggers and that’s always a great and positive thing! Hurrah for all of the wonderful ladies out there that are creatively blogging. This one’s for you!

Accept the Award

As acceptance of this award, the following criteria should be met
Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and his or her blog link.
Pass the award to 15 other lovely blogs.
Remember to contact the bloggers to let them know they have been chosen for this award.


Please take me.

Lovely Blogs

1. Thompson Family Blog
2. Twinkiechan
3. Shrinkle
4. PaperCakes Finds
5. Pugly Pixel
6. Print & Pattern
7. Retro Plants
8. Gnome-N-Birdy
9. Liefgeval
10. Pink Bow
11. Bakerella
12. Smile and Wave
13. Vol.25
14. The Pink Couch
15. Polka Dot Robot

Diary

Still Miseducated and Becoming a Mommy

06/08/2010

Hello everyone!
So sorry for the lack of updates lately, I bet you’ve been wondering where we are! We still have lots of DIY goodies (summer DIY!) coming, new articles and of course our super special giveaway is still in the works for you. You’ll be able to join in shortly!

Just so you know I’ve had my baby — she was premature but she’s doing pretty well. Learning to eat and breathe at the same time! She’s staying in a children’s hospital, which is TORTURE, but we’re hoping she’ll be home in a week or less! We visit her all day everyday which explains for the lack of updates around here — but I have not forgot about Miseducated (you’re still one of my top priorities!).

If you’d like to stay updated you can follow me on twitter or join the Miseducated fanclub on Facebook. We’ll keep you posted!

Stay tuned for many more rainbows in the future! Thank you for understanding!

xox

Design Your Life

Changes in Blogging: Blog Schedules and DIY Projects

05/16/2010

Oomph! It’s time to start looking into my very-random schedule and see what we can do here to inspire and improve!

Scheduling

After much thinking (pregnant women think a lot) I decided that I would create a loose posting schedule (think DIY Tuesday and Weekly Roundups) that you could look forward to and I could make sure I’m meeting my personal quota. I feel I’m going to have to tighten things up way before Colette makes an appearance outside of my womb! She’ll probably be just the inspiration I need to soar through deliciously sweet and tasty articles. I cannot wait.

Back to the issue at hand!

Things may look a little bit different around here, a little more orderly perhaps! (Although this is Miseducated and orderly is not always our forte..)

DIY and Craft Projects

Not only will DIY projects, printable patterns and tutorials be featured here but we’ll also soon be adding projects which go on for many weeks. Right now we’re working on an art journal set especially for you (I know how much you love art journaling, you tell me all of the time! ^_~) — this DIY project will go on through many weeks of articles to keep you inspired.

Authors & Contributers

I absolutely adore all authors, contributers and guest writers here. I’m changing around the system just a bit over the next few weeks — I adore receiving occasional articles but cannot imagine stressing to already-busy authors to keep up with weekly article quotas here. Especially not until I can offer a nice compensation which is a definite goal in the future.

So, as you might have noticed, I’ve been filling in a lot of the cracks but I still support all of our contributers from occasional to one-time. I appreciate every little gem of inspiration and information you would like to offer us!

Featured Artists, Businesses and Designers

You might have already heard some talk about the upcoming giveaways — what better way to promote delicious artists and crafts than to let you have the goodies for yourself?

If you’re interested in participating in a giveaway, simply contact Miseducated with your shop url or information and let us see what you can do! If you are chosen for a giveaway we’ll scoop up our favorite wares that you’ve created, you will be featured on Miseducated and readers will get a chance to win your stock.

Stay tuned for our second giveaway — I’ve collected creations from a few artists this time to sweeten the pot. When we recieve all participating artist’s goodies you’ll have a chance to win it all right here.

Other News

T-shirts will be back soon, so sorry to have you waiting for another stock! Our paint stock is low but we’ll be creating some more soon! These are hand-painted one-by-one keeping with original indie artwork and will be sold here as they become available.

Day With a Camera Visual Splendor

Day With a Camera: Craft Day

05/08/2010

Do you need an excuse to dig out your favorite crafts you’re working on and spend the day crafting and laughing with your best friend? No! So why aren’t you calling a friend now and planning some relaxation time with color? You never know what ideas might come out of a craft day either.. maybe you’ll find your passion.

Again I urge you to take along your camera always! I used to get looked at funny for this but now everyone I know does the same. When you are creating such beautiful memories it’s often fun to take photos of them for future albums — I love looking at photos, don’t you?

craft day

jamie's afgan
This is a beautiful afghan crocheted by Jamie.

Diary

Your Hostess Has Fallen Down the Rabbit Hole

04/27/2010

My pride! My joy! Miseducated, I have missed blogging inspirations and hearing from you. I’d never leave weekdays without posts unless life has taken me for ransom.

It just so happened this weekend that my never-ending morning sickness had finally gotten ahold of me. I was dehydrated and having cramps and contractions — how scared was I!

It’s 2 months early, Colette still has quite awhile to bake in my stomach.

So I was rushed to the hospital and ordered to stay while they pumped me full of fluids and monitored my little stomach dweller.

The bad news is I had to stay.. the good news is all the time spent monitoring Colette paid off because she’s *very* active and healthy for her age! It was music to our ears.

Now, as for the wonderful world of Miseducated..

We have quite the inspirational, diy, career-inspiring AND GIVEAWAY goodies coming to you very soon! I’ve been collecting some of the sweetest handmade items from artists around the world to offer you in our Spring Giveaway.

This is yet another way for Miseducated to support handmade artists. Did you know you can apply to be featured in a future giveaway? Miseducated will purchase your handmade goodies and give our wonderful readers a chance to get ahold of them.

So stay tuned for new ezines and newsletters arriving into your inbox (you can submit your email in the ezine space in the sidebar!), inspiration and of course tons of color and unconventional Miseducated fun.

I speak for all of our contributers when I say, you make everything worth it!

DIY

Get Started Blogging and Have More Success

04/23/2010

So blogging is quite a huge trend these days, it’s a hobby many creatives and non-creatives alike can get into. It opens up communication and discussion online, offers anyone the ability to make their own specialty of knowledge accessable to everyone. A new way to share inspirations and ideas alike. (I love blogging.)

If you’re getting into blogging (or are already into blogging) for the business aspect, this is not that kind of website. (I’m sure you noticed when you first looked around!) There are many great websites and blogs online devoted to business advice however, the information highway is in your hands.

We, as you may have guessed, are more of an artistic/personal expression and lifestyle blog — business is not the purpose here but is becoming a large chunk of time — we simply love sharing and creating.

bloggingsm

Comments

As you know, comments do not mean good content but they are a great encouragement to new and seasoned bloggers alike. Readers may contact you using a variety of the methods that you have available and the one that most bloggers obsess about is, you guessed it, comments. Comments do not mean quality or share-worthy content, they simply mean your post has started a discussion for a variety of reasons.

A great way to encourage comments in posts is to ask your readers questions and invite discussion into the topic you are writing about. The great thing about the blogosphere is that there are so many different bloggers and readers alike that opening up discussion is always a great idea.

The Best Way to Generate Lots of Comments on Your Next Blog Post via Problogger

Subscribers

Itching for more subscribers? Make sure that a subscription button is in a highly-visible area and create good content. Encourage your readers to subscribe at the end of your posts if you like, give them a reason to subscribe.

bloglovin

Bookmark and Share

Content Ideas

This is my absolute favorite topic of blogging! I have this endless list of silly content rolling through my mind all the time, I have a ton of drafts waiting to be finished and even articles I’m too afraid to post. Now that I’ve forced myself to add a post a day, I save a lot of content, ideas and drafts. I often give our writers article ideas and always have a list of inspirations available on demand for all of our contributers.

Content is what is MOST important about your blog, how much people search for it, visit it, read it, like it, share it. That is what makes and breaks blogs because essentially that’s what they are, logs of content. Who wants to read a droning, slow, uninformative article very often?

Create an exciting, visual post of your inspirations or even your day.
Write about a topic people are invested in and offer a new perspective.
Write about a topic you are passionate and knowledgeable about, teach your readers about something or how to make something.
Write a valuable review.

Layout and Imagery

This is something I am often emailed about from visitors and something I really felt should be addressed. By using Google search you can search for free themes available for a variety of blogging platforms, myspace, etc. Customize the theme to suit your taste and don’t forget to give credit to the designer.

Keep it simple, the content is what’s most important and you’ll more than likely pick up skills for customizing your blog further along the way.

..and Remember

Success in Blogging is made of Little Victories also via Problogger

Diary

Miseducated Scrapbook: Online Art Journaling

04/12/2010

Yikes! I’ve missed you so much lately and getting to be creative in both work and play. This past week was entirely draining but I left it feeling much more enlightened (..and slow ..and tired .. and pregnant).

I have never experienced happiness like this, absolute fulfillment.. Colette opened a new book of endless inspiration and motivation to create the world we want.

Did I tell you she’s kicking now?

So anyway, as of recently I’ve been getting back into keeping my sketch/idea book up to date and I’ve found out that still the craft of art journaling is still so fun and addicting. I decided to share it with you and inspire you to do your own journal, letters or scrapbooks! Big plans for these so if you’re interested in contributing please let me know!

So I’ve written you a little letter..

As for inspiration.. hit up your local thrift store and flip through the vintage magazines. When I feel uninspired I take a break with my magazine collection and then I imagine ways to translate home decor into web design and graphic art. It’s even great for inspiration to just relax and read as I’ve said before. Remember, a 20 minute break can help tremendously!

Until later, stay sweet, inspired and colorful.

letter

Escapeland

20 Design & Style Blogs I’m Loving

03/23/2010
memo

The wonderful thing about the blog-o-sphere is the amazing amount of creative dames that publish posts full of eye candy and insight.

Can’t Get Enough

These are in no particular order.
1. LOLITA – She displays inspirations from a style I adore so I can’t help but inhale all of the eye candy.

2. notebookdoodles – Cute and refreshing in the many blogs that reuse images from other websites. Adorable.

3. Fleur Avenue – Blog and jewelry shop ran by a very sweet and inspired girl. Her style feels reminiscent to me of a zakka magazine and I love it.

4. Oh, Hello Friend. – The sweet style of this blog makes me feel warm inside, positive people make the world go round.

5. NubbyTwiglet – A delicious design blog, old friend and favorite and was reminded to us by a sweet visitor.

6. SHRINKLE – Watch what color and creativity do when they rule your life and your business. Amy conquers everything she takes on with cuteness.

7. Creature Comforts – Soft and comfortable, this blog is full of cute decor and style.

8. The Paris Apartment – A decadent and delicious blog reminiscent of Marie Antoinette and vintage France. On top of it all she’s sweet, very inspired and a dear friend.

9. Modish – A very cute lifestyle blog.

10. Black Eiffel – A design and lifestyle blog with delicious and clean color.

11. Pimp and Pomme – My crafty friend in France’s little jewelry and style blog that is absolutely adorable.

12. Bored and Beautiful – Lots of delicious fashion and backstage art and fashion shows.

13. Hidden in France – French inspired design and frilly decor.

14. MerMag – Lifestyle and DIY blog with delicious personal photos and a peek into the life of a sweet family.

15. Print & Pattern – A really inspiring log of cute and colorful patterns and illustrations.

16. Poppytalk – Delicious, minimal, modern design and lifestyle blog.

17. Sanctuary – A sweet inspiration blog filled with decor ideas and personality.

18. Design Milk – Modern design for your home that is destined to make you drool.

19. Delish – Cute and clean inspiration blog filled with delish-iousness!

20. Design*Sponge – A very inspiring home decor and DIY interior design blog. My absolute favorite.

What about my blog?

Want us to look at your blog? Be sure to leave your url when you comment.

Visual Splendor

Blog it Forward: On Inspiration

03/22/2010

When I found out about sfgirlbybay‘s project Blog it Foward, I was so excited to be involved. Seeing all the amazing entries has me finding tons of new blog friends to connect with — design is a common language we speak.

What’s most inspiring to me and the work I do is life experiences, love, loss, emotion. There are also some silly things like vintage magazines and Japanese toys I cannot seem to stop collecting. Everything I have in my home inspires me to some deal.. I’m constantly inspired to alter, change and recreate. I’m also inspired by 60s and 70s psychedelic artwork, of course.. sometimes my work is overly colorful but I feel it’s right. If I tried to be less like myself and more like others it would be a boring world.. people inspire me, how different and yet how alike we all are.

Most of all you inspire me, you who visits and encourages me to continue strongly at my dream. With every visit, comment, email I float to the moon and sail through the stars.

may22sm

Another thing that has always made my life better — has saved me in so many instances I couldn’t imagine, inspired me endlessly and soothed me to sleep when I felt no comfort…

What inspires you?

Diary

This is Getting Too Personal

03/14/2010

Things are changing so fast these days I can hardly keep up — I’ve had to become a new person (mommy) in 5 months and all the while planning an entirely new life, career goal, place I call home. There’s no room to be selfish and lazy anymore — all of my time is now precious as it always should have been, it wasn’t until now that I’ve realized LIFE IS GOOD. You can do what you want, be what you want, have what you want. It’s all just waiting for you to work for it. I used to think working for it was impossible, I shied away. However now I see that if you devote your life to your passion it can really pay off in a whole lot of ways.

doit

Speaking of which.. Did you see I’m actually posting everyday now? That’s right! I schedule them all in advance now so that I’m on top of all of the art/design I need to create and so you’re sure to get your post every morning.

bunnybelly

I’ve started joining my lovely staff and contributers here in the wonderful activity of guest posting. I’ve finally began opening up and devoting much of my free time to blogging/design/marketing. My life is filled with purpose again and I’ve found that I am doing what I love. If you start seeing changes around here this is what is happening because of this realization.. I’m making small changes so that I can devote more and more time to you and your wonderful creativity. If I could eventually offer artist scholarships and grants I would be a very thankful woman, this is one of my dreams. Helping you wonderful women artists achieve your dreams with me.

Do I regret the extreme dry spell as I devoted my time to restudying marketing and all of those hidden goodies in media law and other journalism classes my life was filled with once upon a time? Sometimes I feel I wasted a lot of time and wish I would have realized all of this sooner, but it happens with time.

A sweet friend once said, “You’re preparing for something big in the future.”

I never forgot that and nor should you. What is it you’re preparing for? All of the unique lifestyle experiences you’ve had are shaping you — what you do with it will steer your life.

maternity

To show you how passionate I am, this was GOING to be an awkward, silly, too informative post about my recent discovery in the journey to becoming a mother. My breasts have stopped feeling quite so sore, in fact they were beginning to feel a bit cold. I quickly noticed I’ve started into the wonderful world of breast milk and things are going to get a lot worse. 🙄 However, I cannot wait because my obsession that tops even work is my sweet little girl, Colette. I’ve been collecting the most adorably cute items I can find and storing them for her. I cannot wait to meet the little pixie who stole my heart and pushed me into my passion.

East Meets West Maternity at pingmag