I’m so happy to be part of the Creative, Inc. blog book tour today. Creative, Inc. is written by Meg Mateo Ilasco who wrote Craft, Inc. and does a lot of things, and Joy Deangdeelert Cho who is a prolific designer and whom you might know best as the person behind the blog Oh Joy!.

The description on the back of the book reads: “Packed with real-life advice from freelance superstars who have excelled in their industries (and made mistakes you can now avoid!), this book is an essential resource for all creatives — from illustrators and photographers to graphic designers, animators, stylists, and more — who want to succeed and doing what they love.” The book covers topic on how to promote your work, set fees, license your artwork, deal with taxes and hire and manage. Each chapter goes into depth on what you need to know, offers examples of working out fees or invoicing, and includes an interview or two with a creative professional that gives up a huge amount of great information. They are realistic about when you should charge more or less depending on the advantage, how to look at a licensing deal, whether you should expand a business or close it, whether you should hire (or fire) an agent. Most all of this information is mostly new to me and presented in a way that makes me feel like somebody has my back.

Sound like information you need? Lucky you I have a book to give away! If you’d like to get it please leave a comment with this post. The Fine Print applies. I’m going to do a shorter than normal deadline for this one, you’ll have two days to enter and The Random Number generator will be picking a winner on Wed. Sept. 1st at 4 p.m. PST. Good Luck! Winner randomly chosen and is being contacted, thanks for entering!

Next month we’re headed out for a coastal road trip, we’re taking Highway 1 and Highway 101 along the coast from San Francisco to Seattle. It’s going to be epic. I would love to know if anybody has suggestions on places not to miss. I’ve scoured Ask Metafilter for suggestions on this very route and found a bunch of information – one, two, three, four and five. But have you been? Did you find something really great? Oldey timey diner? Ice cream stand? Underrated beach? Tide pools? Regional brewery? Bit of strange American history? Treasure maps?

Any suggestions are very much appreciated!

The episode of the Craftsanity podcast recorded at the Conference for Creative Entrepreneurs with Jennifer interviewing me is now available to listen to. I should warn you my brain stopped working half way through. (I wasn’t expecting to record it in front of an audience! I became a bit overwhelmed, I admit.) Many thanks to Jennifer Ackermann-Haywood for the interview, I had fun! (Flickr photo by Maryjanesattic, thanks!)

How to Decorate for a Backyard Summer Party – Holidash. I love the idea for keeping water balloons and sparklers around for your dinner guests to play with. Also the use of a colorful beach towel as a tablecloth seems very practical when you’ll be serving cold drinks that will condensate. (I don’t know about you but my coaster always gets stuck to the bottom of my glass and slides off and plops into my lap which makes me feel flustered and usually leads me to eventually tip a tall glass of lemonade all over the table, all preventable.)

Living in 182 Square Feet in Seattle The Seattle Times | Apartment Therapy. I love that his focus is on getting himself back out into the neighborhood instead of hanging at home too often.

How can I muffle loud pipes in a wall, preferably cheaply? | Ask MetaFilter. We discovered that a kitchen sink pipe runs through our lower level living room when we drilled straight through it while hanging curtain rods. Now that we know where it is (silver lining?) we might try to muffle it.

Design*Sponge » before & after: ashley’s chair + mary’s ikea hacks. I really love the second chair makeover on this page, almost makes me wish we didn’t have upholstered office chairs.

Your Smoke Detector Questions, Answered | Unplggd. I’m suddenly feeling insecure about never cleaning out my smoke detectors.

Design*Sponge » new: oh joy wallpaper for hygge & west. I really like this, and as I usually dismiss wallpaper as too much work I will be considering where I could use this.

decor8 » Aunt June Fabrics. An Etsy shop I really must remember, I have throw pillows to make.

shelterrific » tried and true: spot shot carpet cleaner. I need this, I am a clumsy person who prefers red wine in delicate and tall stemmed glasses.

Limited Edition Walnut Eames Hang-It-All | Design Milk. If only we had the space, all our hallways and entry areas are too tight for anything but the most compact of hooks.

Simple Lovely: The Summer of Self Improvement — Paper Chandeliers (Or “The Patience Edition”). I love the reflection on DIY, but I also love this paper chandelier. I have a new light fixture that is plain and just begging me to decorate it for the seasons.

Traditional & Affordable: Cotton Rugs | Apartment Therapy DC. I could use a big rug in our dining room.

Col-Letto Bed | Design Milk. This bed with foldable soft sides is really neat. I want one.

Did you hear? The Netflix iPhone app launched today. It’s pretty cool. If you have a Netflix account it lets you watch from your streaming queue, it even loads the information on which episodes of a series you’ve already watched, or watched part of. You can search for new movies and add them to the instant queue or start watching right away. What you cannot do from the app is access or add to your regular queue. (I hope they make the Netflix Mobile site snazzier soon.)

I have a 3G iPhone and I’ve read that the Netflix app won’t work unless you’ve upgraded to iOS 3.1.3. Now, just in case you don’t know, if you have a 3G do not update your to iOS 4.0! (That would be the current one.) This causes all sorts of trouble for 3G phones. If you didn’t upgrade to 3.1.3 when it was out you have to do some fiddly upgrade and downgrade action to get there. This thread over at Ask Metafilter has some advice and links on getting your 3G phone to the iOS 3.1.3. The commenters there also say that rumor is the iOS 4.1 will fix the troubles for the 3G iPhones. Thank goodness.

The scene from my desk right now:

A Whole Lotta Nothing: Q&A with John Scharffenberger: First wine, then chocolate, and now … tofu? :: The Ethicurean: Chew the right thing..

How To Make Your Own Glow Sticks, at Laughing Squid.

SUCCEED Blog: A collection of the world’s most epic, awesome, mind blowing Succeeds. I have not mentioned how much I like Suceed Blog, it is a panacea to the many fail blogs.

Have Family Portraits Taken? Check! | Mighty Girl. Oh wow this made me laugh, and made me feel better about my half hour delay hair emergency for our portraits with Mastin Studio and how gracious and unaffected Kirk was about it.

What can I do for my guys? | Ask MetaFilter. I love the universal call for money or PTO over providing trinkets or paying for a party. As somebody who has worked for silly companies I can say I too found the offer of stuff for my extra time demoralizing.

xkcd: Sample. I find myself getting all Get Off My Lawn style uptight when NPR plays one too many stories with ambient traffic noise that is jarring to hear while you’re driving.

The Magic of Fake Ice – Cubes, Slush, etc. (NOTCOT).

Craftzine.com blog : How To: Make Over an Old Bike.

Oopsey Daisy: Wednesday’s Wowzers: 3 dozen (plus four) flower tutorials. With thanks for including my felt dahlias!

Craftzine.com blog : Natural Dye for Homemade Playdough.

Jordan Ferney | Oh Happy Day!: Balloon Invitations. So sweet.

Craftzine.com blog : How-To: Make a Pretty Twist Tie.

all buttoned up.: The Buying and the Storing. With good guides to how much to buy, overbuying is something I’m guilty of.

annekata: Make Your Own Summer Sandals. Oh, cool, an answer to my I-Can’t-Wear-Flip-Flops problem. She modifies flip flops and uses strips of t-shirt jersey as ties. Thanks to Kelly for sending this link to me!

Design*Sponge » diy project: mailing tube wine rack.

balloon cupcake favor | Hip Hip Hooray!. So sweet.

Craftzine.com blog : How-To: Lovely Fabric Flowers.

Crafts With Kendra: Simple Picnic Caddy – Holidash. This caddy is charming. Quick, make one before summer goes away!

I’m planning a full-body henna tattoo. How do I prepare myself and the henna for best results? | Ask MetaFilter.

Craftzine.com blog : How-To: Apply Henna.

I have blackheads on my nose that won’t go away. Help! | Ask MetaFilter.

How to become “repulsed” by junk food? | Ask MetaFilter. Advice on breaking sugar cravings.

Fallen Princess: The Fragrance Version of Fresca. Note to self: this is that perfume you keep meaning to try out and forgetting the name of. Here it is. Go find some.

Experience PARISIENNE | Ooh La La! How To Get that Perfectly Messy Bun. I’m specifically looking at this: After showering, she massages in either Aveda Pure Abundance Hair Potion or a homemade spray, made with one part sea salt, three parts water and a few spritzes of leave-in conditioner. “It makes my hair piece-y enough to work with,” she says. Via this thread on how to wear long hair at Ask Metafilter.

Best perfume selection in US department stores? | Ask MetaFilter. Answers lead to a lot of online places that sell samples, in particular I like the 10 sample choice from the 100 fragrances every perfumista must try at The Perfumed Court.

This is me snagging an extra button pin from the bag of them that Etsy had brought along.

I had a wonderful time at the Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs this past weekend. I met people in person whom I’ve known online for years, I learned a lot (outsourcing is every bit as difficult as I suspected!), I was recorded (live, onstage, eep) for a podcast (I’ll let you know when it’s available to listen to), and it all felt more like a gathering than a series of classes. Bravo to the organizers. Rumor is that CCE will be in San Francisco next year and if you’re somebody who has or wants a small business in the arts/crafts realm I can highly recommend attending. Also, the sponsors for the conference were particularly well matched, I learned about a bunch of services and resources I’ll be using. (I don’t mean to sound like a shill, it’s all true, and I also really want CCE to succeed and grow. So if you have a product you’d like artists and crafters with websites and Twitter accounts to know about, look into being a CCE sponsor next year.)

On of the things that happened at BlogHer this year (I didn’t go either, we should go next year!) was a celebration of the Voices of the Year and people (one of those was me) were asked to contribute a photograph that corresponded a nominated post, the images were curated by Kirtsy. They photographs displayed at BlogHer and now they are being auctioned off to raise money for The Nature Conservancy for Gulf cleanup.

The auctions are being released by group (Aug. 16-26: Life, Aug. 24-Sept. 3: Humor, Sept. 1-10: Op-Ed, Sept. 7-17: Geek/Nerdy) and the first one are up right now. Beautiful photos, great cause, art for your house.

Ants on a Cupcake + Busy Bees. At Hostess With the Mostess.

Thanksgiving Leftover Sushi | This Is Why You’re Fat. I actually thing this is a pretty cool idea.

The Corndog-Egg | This Is Why You’re Fat. American version of a Scotch egg?

everyday chocolate cake | smitten kitchen.

Pizza Cups | Slice Pizza Blog. So awesome, pizza made in muffin tins and easy to eat without utensils.

What are some non-alcoholic martini ritual substitutes? | Ask MetaFilter. I especially like the link to these mocktails by Q Tonic.

Cool Idea! DIY Ice Cream Kit in a Jar | Apartment Therapy The Kitchn. Neato.

Pithy and Cleaver » The Quickest Biscuit: Blackberry-Peach Cobbler. I may be team cake, but Scott will vote cobbler every time. Via Serious Eats.

Infusion Profusion: Game-Changing Fast ‘N Cheap Technique, at Cooking Issues. How to infuse liquor instantly, thanks to Kay for sending me the link!

You Grow Girl™ – » Yes Virginia, There is a Blue Tomato. It’s beautiful!

The Secret to Successfully Painting IKEA Shelves Reader Intelligence Report | Apartment Therapy Chicago.

Serious Entertaining: How to Turn Office Supplies Into Dinner Party Accessories | Serious Eats. I heart Helen Jane.

Off-the-shelf door replacement – easy? | Ask MetaFilter.

I’m looking for a home owner’s manual. By that I mean a book, website, etc. (the type of media doesn’t matter) that is structured like a car manual’s scheduled service interval section. | Ask MetaFilter.

Outstanding online furniture stores for medium to high end furnishings? | Ask MetaFilter. Includes a lot of Seattle recommendations.

Making it Lovely | Transforming the so-so. » DIY Painting Tips, Tricks, and a Step-By-Step Guide. Scott and I painted most of this house together, but as we start painting the bathrooms it’s always good to have a look over the basics and this guide to painting a room at Making It Lovely is a good one.

I’d like to buy a cool, large map to hang on my wall. | Ask MetaFilter.

Serious Entertaining: Three Quick and Easy Napkin Folds | Serious Eats.

Design*Sponge » diy project: portable sun shade.

Trompe-l’oeil Door Wallpaper | Design Milk. I like these, thanks go Maggi for sending me this link!

Design*Sponge » diy project: drawer knob finials. I have to be honest, my own curtain rods have stood finial-less for over a year. I bought them at Target and none of the finials looked good to me. I wonder if door knobs like these would fit into the rods I have?

Just Something I Made: FUN WITH DECALS PART 1: In the Kitchen Free PDF Images. Downloadable decals for your kitchen, via Craftzine.

Marimekko Upholstery Fabrics | Bold Designer Fabrics by Marimekko Finland. I didn’t realize some Marimekko fabrics were upholstry weight, thanks Laura for the tip!

Door Sixteen » Attack of the 16-foot planter!. Instructions for some huge, and pretty, planters. Thanks Anna!

You’re coming to the Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs? Hooray! They’ve picked a really good neighborhood. Here is a list of places I know and love, all within about six blocks of the Century Ballroom (Friday’s conference location). I’ve included an address and a link to a Google map for each below in the hopes that those reading this on a mobile device (hi there!) find it easy enough to use. Please note, there are more places mentioned on the bottom of this page of the CCE’s website, as well as their Where To Eat series: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6. Do know that the conference will be providing breakfast and lunch.

You need to eat:

Oddfellows Cafe – This restaurant is in the same building as the Century Ballroom, the entrance is just around the corner. It’s charming and has a good menu, open all day long and late into the night. (Breakfast? Yes!)
1525 10th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122
[map]
(206) 325-0807

Via Tribunali – Serving some seriously good Neapolitan pizza. The pizza come unsliced so if you’re sharing ask the server to bring some kitchen shears that they have for this purpose. Seriously, it’s the easiest way to cut pizza and you’ll ditch your pizza cutter shortly after you return home. (Breakfast? No.)
913 East Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98122-3816
[map]
(206) 322-9234

Boom Noodle – Yummy noodles, well designed interior. (Breakfast? No.)
1121 East Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98122
[map]
(206) 701-9130

Vermillion – They serve a small menu, usually a soup, a cheese plate and a few other things, but they are cozy and charming and have a good wine list. Walk through the art gallery to the cafe space in the back. (Note: Vermillion is where we held the first year or so of Grassroots Business Association meetings, we *heart* Vermillion.) (Breakfast? No.)
1508 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
[map]
(206) 709-9797

Cafe Presse – Located across an annoyingly busy street but so worth the trek for amazing and unpretentious French food. A Stumptown coffee is next door. (Breakfast? Yes!)
1117 12th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122
[map]
(206) 709-7674

You need to eat some sugar:

Cupcake Royale – One of the original cupcake places in Seattle. My favorite cupcake is still the ballerina (vanilla with pink vanilla frosting). They also have good espresso here.
1111 East Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98122
[map]
(206) 328-6544

Molly Moon’s Ice Cream – Amazing ice cream in amazing flavors. Expect to stand in a long line of impressively dressed people. This is about five inches from the Century Ballroom entrance so I expect you’ll be having ice cream before you leave Seattle.
917 East Pine Street, Seattle, WA 98122
[map]
(206) 708-7947

Old School Frozen Custard – Amazing custard with your choice of things to add. Expect to stand in a long line of impressively dressed people.
1316 East Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98122
[map]
(206) 324-2586

You need to eat because you’re happydrunk and it’s 1 a.m.:

Big Mario’s Pizza – Seattle’s newly opened New York style pizza by the slice place has your back, open until 4 am.
1009 E Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122
[map]
(206) 922-3875

Po Dogs – Ever tried a Seattle hot dog with cream cheese on it? Now is the perfect time. This place has an impressive menu and vegetarian options.
1009 E Union St, Seattle, WA 98122
[map]
206-325-6055

It’s the morning and you need coffee and a pastry before you see anybody:

See above: Oddfellows Cafe (right downstairs from the Century Ballroom) and Cupcake Royale (cupcakes for breakfast!).

Cafe Vita – This one is closest to the conference locations, and another of their shops is my own local coffee place so I double love them.
1005 E Pike St, Seattle, WA 98122
[map]
(206) 709-4440

Stumptown – Two locations, one is near Cafe Presse, both a few blocks away. Excellent coffee.
1115 12th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 860-2937
616 East Pine Street, Seattle, WA 98122
(206) 329-0115
[map]

Victrola – This one is a few blocks away, but it’s close to the Cakespy shop. Excellent coffee.
310 East Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98122-3610
[map]
(206) 462-6259

Take a shopping break:

Cakespy Shop – So worth the short walk down, it’s filled with stuff you’ll love. (Also the owner, Jessie, is speaking at the conference!)
415 East Pine Street, Seattle, WA 98122-2311
[map]

Elliott Bay Book Company – Right next door to the Century Ballroom, this historic independent Seattle bookstore recently relocated from it’s (beloved, sniff) original location in Pioneer Square.
1521 10th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
[map]
(206) 624-6600

Stitches – Fabric, yarn, needles, ribbon, felt, findings. All your therapeutic crafting needs (or adhesive needs) have been curated here for you. They even have sewing machines that you can rent. And Japanese fabric. And needle felting supplies should you feel the need to stab somebody something. Honestly, when I need something I come here first, they have some of the best fabric offerings in the city.
711 East Pike Street, Seattle, WA 98122-3719
[map]
(206) 709-0707

Value Village – Thrifting! This is across the street from Vermillion.
1525 11th Avenue, Seattle, WA 98122-3903
[map]
(206) 322-7789

You need to sit on some grass and do some people watching:

Cal Anderson Park – The side of the park closest to the conference location (right across the street) is all soccer fields, but walk deeper into the park and you’ll find an impressive fountain and lots of places to stroll or sit for a while.
1635 11th Ave, Seattle, WA 98122
[map]

Other vital needs:

Drugstore: Walgreens – Just a block away from the Century Ballroom, no need to bring your own band aids.
1531 Broadway, Seattle, WA
[map]
(206) 204-0599

Grocery store: QFC – Just a couple blocks away, for all your special snowflake food needs.
1401 Broadway, Seattle, WA
[map]
(206) 860-3818

Post Office – Because the TSA won’t let you carry on the new fabric scissors that you bought at Stitches.
101 Broadway East, Seattle, WA
[map]
(206) 324-5474

You need to borrow a computer – Some nearby internet cafes (yes they still exist) because you, like me, never bring your laptop along but always find a near emergency situation where you’re handheld thingy just won’t do and you need a computer NowNowNow and cannot wait until you get back to your hotel.

Uncle Elizabeth’s Internet Cafe
1123 Pike Street
Seattle, WA 98101-1923
[map]
(206) 381-1600

Online Coffee Company
1404 East Pine Street, Seattle, WA 98122
[map]
(206) 323-7798

How can I Implement Revenue Sharing on a WordPress Blog While Serving Ads Only to Search Engine Visitors? | Ask MetaFilter.

A Look at Platform Adventure “Wizzley Presto and the Vampire’s Tomb” (Review) | Touch Arcade.

‘Ecco the Dophin’ – More Classic Games in Sega’s Same Old Emulator | Touch Arcade.

I’ve seen a couple Askmes for good, short podcasts. I want long ones. | Ask MetaFilter.

10 iPhone Apps I Adore « Bio Break. Some great stuff I want to remember.

Recommended news websites for gadgets and games? | Ask MetaFilter.

Craftzine.com blog : Design and Photography Theme Roundup.

How do you best manage a new commenter who shows up and clearly enjoys stinking up the room? | Ask MetaFilter.

Removing Twitter’s Recommended User to Follow “Feature” – kitchenmage. Oh thank goodness.

Hide who to follow for Greasemonkey. Scott also recommended this script to remove the Who To Follow on Twitter.

Over breakfast last week Scott and I found ourselves wondering about the origins of Melba Toast. Why Melba Toast? I have no idea, I think we were eating pancakes at the time. Turns out Melba Toast has a very romantic origin, romance! fame! scandal! all play a part, at least from it’s originators. Wikipedia take it away:

It is named after Dame Nellie Melba, the stage name of Australian opera singer Helen Porter Mitchell. Its name is thought to date from 1897, when the singer was very ill and it became a staple of her diet. The toast was created for her by chef and fan Auguste Escoffier, who also created the Peach Melba dessert for her. The hotel proprietor César Ritz supposedly named it in a conversation with Escoffier.

This part of history isn’t something I studied so I was delighted to read about these huge personalities. Dame Nellie Melba was a soprano and a major diva and gained a lot of scorn from her friends and colleges with her acerbic personality. She toured the world to sing, she made recordings and was on the radio in the very early days when almost nobody had a radio to listen to, she had affairs, caught a fever in Egypt, had a facelift (I did not know they existed in the 20s), gave farewell tours for nearly a decade and her face is on the Australian 100 dollar bill. What a lady.

Escoffier and Ritz have fascinating stories too, well, more fascinating than I suspected. They worked together at the Savoy until they were implicated in the disappearance of £3400 worth of wine and spirits. They then opened the Ritz hotels in Paris and London and attracted all the rich and famous as clientele, they went on to open hotels and cook for royalty and, it appears, generally lead fabulous lives. Escoffier established the system by which all our restaurant kitchens run. I love this anecdote from The Times, found on Wikipedia: “Colour meant so much to Escoffier, and a memory arises of a feast at the Carlton for which the table decorations were white and pink roses, with silvery leaves – the background for a dinner all white and pink, Borscht striking the deepest note, Filets de poulet à la Paprika coming next, and the Agneau de lait forming the high note.”

Alright, history lesson concluded.