gadgety cuteness

Did you notice the cute new gadgets in the sidebar? Aren't they fun? Don't you want them too?

The Twitter badge is from the very talented Julie Green of up up. Grab one for yourself--there are four adorable color palettes. Also, stop by her Etsy shop. She has all kinds of papery goodness.

Cathe Holden's blog, Just Something I Made, has gobs of free blog gadgets, like the Comments Make Me Smile one I just added.

Don't you love when crafty people are also generous people? :)

Now, don't ignore the gadgety cuteness! Follow me on Twitter, leave me a comment, grab yourself a gadget, and leave the other gals a comment too!

all a-twitter!

Happy Almost Spring! We're in Daylight Savings time; temperatures are rising; birds are chirping; and it seems everyone is all a-twitter!

Are you on twitter? When I first heard about it, I thought to myself, "Do we really need another venue to make ourselves seem more self-absorbed? Do people I know and/or don't know need (or even want) to know what I'm doing at random moments throughout the day?" But, I gave it a fair shot for the sake of a work project and what do ya know, this girl is hooked! It's an easy and fun way to connect with friends and co-workers. It's become a great way to discover events around the city. It's a free advertising tool for your blog, and an extra way to chat, share links, etc with other bloggers. I even get occasional updates and glimpses into the lives of biggies like @halseanderson and @realjohngreen!!

Check it out. You may be surprised to find out who's tweeting. Everybody's doing it; why aren't you? ;) The Library of Congress, School Library Journal, The Columbus Dispatch, President Obama, The Today Show, CNN, and countless other radio, news, social, and community organizations. And those are just the "serious" ones! There are also plenty of tweeps out there doing it for fun and laughs. (Not convinced? Read this article. And this one. And, lastly, this one.)

So, aside from being all a-twitter about twitter, I'm also feeling so giddy and excited about my latest blog news. As you know from some of my posts, as well as my blog header, I'm a wanna-be writer. :) For now, it's mostly this blog and book reviews and product reviews, but I do dream of being a published author one day. A major source of advice, information, and encouragement is Christina Katz, who blogs at The Writer Mama, and is the author of several books on the business of writing, one of which is so perfectly titled The Writer Mama: How to Raise A Writing Career Alongside Your Kids. So clever!

Well, the book was a great jumping off point for me, and one impetus that brought me to blogging. After reading the book, I checked her web site, found the blog, subscribed to her newsletter and found a couple other great "writer mama" blogs from her blogroll. A few months down the line, I stumbled across her on twitter, which makes it very easy to see what she's up to and get much-needed reminders to write!

So, the news. I've taken a very roundabout way to get here, but here we are. During the month of March, Christina is celebrating her blog's 2 year anniversary, and she's doing it up big with a blog tour and giveaway -- every day in the month of March. And, drumroll please, she'll be stopping by this very blog on Day 16!!! I'm thrilled to have been selected to participate. You'll be thrilled too because on Day 16 (Monday, March 16, 2009) you'll have the chance to win a copy of The Writer Mama!

Hope you'll check back! tweet, tweet!

Etsy Artists + YouTube = A New Favorite

Once again, Twitter has clued me into something I never would have wanted to miss. Yesterday I saw a tweet from Etsy complimenting littlebrownpen's YouTube video. Curious, I clicked on over to check it out. Here is what I found:

Isn't that just the coolest? I'm such a fan of stop motion animation and I hope someday I'll have the patience and creativity to attempt one. (And, the music is totally rockin'. I'm going to have to find that on iTunes.)

Aside from how amazing the video is, aren't the cards, calendars and gift tags just adorable? This morning I logged on to the Etsy shop and purchased the 2009 calendar. Within 2 hours, I was printing them out and totally loving them. Little Brown Pen emails you a PDF file of whatever it is you purchase. Then, you print as many as you like and can go back and access the file anytime for more! It's an impressive and inspiring concept; one that's economical, innovative, and environmentally-friendly. Bravo, Little Brown Pen! And thank you.