Westweek Part 2

This is Westweek continued…The Editor at Large panel on Design Revolution was also very informative. I got a chance to meet and talk to Ronda Carman editor of Allthebestblog.com. She is one of the bloggers who inspired me to start Shoebox Décor. Ronda was very lively and amply willing to discuses the direction blogs are going in. We both feel they will never replace shelter magazines such as Elle Décor but we do believe the content we post helps to give the magazines a boost. Considering her hectic travel schedule, Ronda was very inviting and personable which is how I thought she would be from reading her blog.

While waiting for the keynote to start I had the opportunity to reconnect with fellow Upward Bound House interior designer Vanessa de Vargas. I was amazed that even though she has a laundry list of projects, she still finds time to blog. The rest of the Editor at Large panel included interior designer Brad Ford, HGTV executive Jillian St. Charles, editor of DécorDemon.com Brian Patrick Flynn, and last but not least founder of 1stDibs.com Michael Bruno. The thing I took away from the panel discussion is that they don’t make money from their blogs but they do make money because of their blogs. So if you’re looking to start a blog to supplement your income it may not be the best idea. Lucky for me Shoebox Décor is a passion and I don’t have to worry about it feeding my piggy bank.

My last tidbit of Westweek information is for all you HGTV lovers. Jillian St Charles informed me that they don’t have any small space shows planned for the near future but they do have a lot of small space content that will be add to their web site, so stay tune for that…Happy Blogging Everyone!

Ronda, Brad, Vanessa

Michael, Jillian, Brian

Eddie Ross, Jathian Kochar and Me at Elle Decor keynote

Westweek

Hey all you LA dwellers, if you have some free time tomorrow stop by Westweek at the PDC. It will be a fun two days filled with lots of design information. I'm excited to hear from the Editor at Large panel and I can't wait to meet blogger extraordinaire Ronda Carman, founder of AlltheBestBlog.com. Here is the full line up of events and the Editor at Large Panel info is below...Happy Designing Everyone!

The Editor at Large panel, Wed., March 24, 3:30 PM, moderated by Sophie Donelson, features:

· Michael Bruno, founder of 1stDibs.com

· Ronda Carman, founder of AlltheBestBlog.com

· Brian Patrick Flynn, designer, founder of DecorDemon.com

· Brad Ford, designer and founder of DesignTherapy.com

· Jilllian St. Charles, vice president and site director, HGTV.com

· Vanessa De Vargas, interior designer and host of Designer Tag Sale

The Big Reveal

All The Best and Vicente Wolf have finally announced the details of their partnership, and it's pretty cool. You can read all about it at both blogs.

New Blog Address

Vicente Wolf has a new blog address and a cool feature called Ask Vicente. You get to ask Vicente any design questions you may have. I think I'll ask him how I can get my Hallings Secretary for just a fraction of the price. Any advice from Vicente would be greatly appreciated.

Also, Vicente and All The Best have a thing going on but it's all very secretive. Susan at Vicente Wolf Associates, Inc was kind enough to invite me to the big unveiling in NYC but I'm not 100% sure I can make it. Hmmmmm, I wonder what it is? Well whatever it is I'm sure it will be great.

Happy Hump Day

Isn't Tobi Fairley awesome? Well here are some interiors by her to help me get over my spring fever and to help you all get over the hump.

Happy Hump Day Everyone!

Wow I really need a kick in the butt this hump day. I'm half a sleep and AutoCAD is not doing what I want it to do. Hope you guys are having a better hump day than I am. If not, here are some pictures from Amanad Nisbet to help put some pep in your step. For those of you who want to know more about Amanda, here is a great post from All The Best. Happy Hump Day

Around The Blogs

I just wanted to share some cool post I found while looking around the blog world. Over at All The Best Ronda told us about her new partnership with Mr & Mrs Smith, a chic luxury travel agency. She's even giving away a "Blacksmith" membership each month. Very cool read and contest if you love to travel.

Over at Eddie Ross's blog he shows us how to make some of the cutest flower arrangements I've ever seen. And it looks so easy to do.

And finally Pretty Little Things introduced us to this really cute mini robot that helps you clean. Hope you guys enjoy these great post...

Pencil, Paper and Colored Pencils

In honor of finally working on my sketchbook yesterday, I decided to do a post on a true artist. While scanning through a number of design blogs, I've seen Patricia van Essche's beautiful illustrations everywhere. Whether it's the header of All The Best or on the sidebar of The House That A-M Built, PVE Designs has made its mark on the design blogging world. Patricia even designs wonderful whimsical patterns. I love her work and hope that one day my sketches look half as good.