DIY lovers, there is a new site in town that is destined for internet greatness…The DIY Dish (a new venture from the mompreneurs who brought you the highly successful YouCanMakeThis.com). Sisters Kim and Kris serve up creativity and fun with fabulous new web shows, projects and more. Get in on {The DIY Dish} and find your “creativity is served” on a silver platter! ~ XOXO Daria

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YOU CAN WIN WITH THE DIY DISH >>

Article by: Jennifer Cirka

Hello!! I am so excited to be writing for Daria and Boutique Café!! My name is Jennifer Cirka, but many of you may know me as Jaybird Designs. I am a professional crochet designer and independent publisher. My designs have been featured in magazines such as Crochet Today!, Crochet World and Interweave Crochet along with a booklet called “Top-sy Turvy” with Leisure Arts.

Along with all my mompreneur responsibilities I am also a stay at home mom of one, and wife. With this job, like many of you, I am also responsible for the family finances. When I quit working for the USPS six years ago, our family’s income was greatly reduced. I had to learn a lot about being frugal and saving money. I actually started my business to support my yarn and craft habit!

Now, I am in no way an expert on this subject, but through the years I have met many people and found many sites that are! With their help, I am happy to say that not only is my business growing, but my family has been debt free (with the exception of our home) for almost 2 years now! I’d like to share some of my secrets with you!

Every morning, with my cup of coffee, I have a series of websites that I visit. My hands down favorite is One Pretty Thing. She has compiled a list of some of the BEST do-it-yourself projects on the web! From Christmas and Hanukkah décor, easy to make handmade gifts, and even tips for your business, you can find tons of useful and inexpensive ideas on her site. And the best part is that she does the internet searching for you! Not crafty or too busy? I bet you know another mom who is and could use a little extra money this holiday season.

Now, for the savvy shopper in you, I always check out Slick Deals. Every day you can find some great deals on items, especially now for your Christmas shopping!! The other day I scored an awesome deal at Victoria’s Secret, three sweaters and a free scarf for only $31! Guess what will be under my Christmas tree this year? I’m currently on the lookout here for some other great gift ideas!

And if your dream this holiday season is to be debt free, you must check out Dave Ramsey! My family listens to his radio show a lot and we got tons of tips and great ideas that helped us. When refinancing our house this summer, we contacted one of his preferred mortgage providers and they actually told us that the deal we were offered from our current mortgage company was better than anything they could do for us! I was shocked…they were turning down our business! We managed to combine our original 30-year mortgage along with our Home Equity Loan and drop down to a 15 year mortgage. We paid cash for the closing costs and our monthly payments dropped $30!! Our new goal is to have the house paid off before our first grader graduates from High School.

Well, I hope you enjoyed a sneak peek at some of my secrets. I look forward to sharing more with you through Mompreneur Corner.

Jennifer Cirka
www.jaybird-designs.com
www.jaybirddesigns.etsy.com

Press Release:
Boutique Cafe Kicks off Holidays with Mompreneur Corner & 2009 Holiday Gift Guide

CANADA—November 30, 2009— From the very beginning Boutique Café’s passion has been supporting mom entrepreneurs (“mompreneurs”) and women in business. For over five years the website’s podcast interviews, fashion show spotlights, product reviews and various forms of advertising have given added attention to women business owners.

Daria Muirhead, Boutique Café’s owner and podcast hostess, is all about helping these women fulfill their dreams. In another effort to do so she recently launched Mompreneur Corner, a new feature on Boutique Café that will showcase featured articles by and for incredible business women. The weekly articles will cover a wide range of topics, from the importance of branding your business to better balancing family and business. Mompreneur Corner will offer readers specific how-to’s from expert panelists in areas such as fabric design, product placement, advertising, stress management, mothering from behind a desk and zeroing in on your passion.

“I have put together a wonderfully talented group of women for our Mompreneur Corner feature. They will quickly become an integral and ongoing part of Boutique Café and I am excited to share their talents and expertise with our audience,” said Daria.

In addition to the new Mompreneur section on Boutique Café, the site is currently showcasing its 2009 Boutique Cafe Holiday Gift Guide. The gift guide is packed full of discount codes, free shipping offers and other special promotions. This is fourth installment of the website’s popular holiday shopping guide and is a tremendous draw for readers and advertisers alike (many of whom happen to be work-at-home moms and mompreneurs).

Whether you’re interest is family or business (or holiday shopping), you can find what you’re looking for on Boutique Café.

About Boutique Café

Boutique Café is the world’s first boutique podcast. The site’s weekly shows highlight topics of interest to fashion savvy moms around the world. Whether readers are looking for a new muse, the latest in fashion for children, reviews on must-have products or tips and tricks for women business owners, Boutique Café can help. Besides producing a highly portable and downloadable radio show, the site also supports a community forum of buyers, designers, moms and professionals. Boutique Café has experienced great success in its first five years of operation and has gained thousands of subscribers to the show as well as thousands of visitors to the site each day. Visit BoutiqueCafe.com for more information.
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Article by: Emily Hill
I don’t foresee myself being in front of a camera any time soon (one can hope though, right?) but I was still extremely interested in attending the Startup Princess Image & Media Academy. I’m all about putting my best foot—or outfit or eyeshadow or authentic self—forward!

The event took place last weekend at a beautiful cabin in Sundance (Utah), and thanks to Seth Jenks (@SethJenks) and APX Alarm I was able to attend. The company sponsored myself and two other gals including my good friend Quinn Curtis of CreatedByChicks.com and Limelight Food Photography. (Thank you, Seth!)  I was only able to attend Friday night, and though I was sorely disappointed to miss Saturday (Cherie Burton’s class, Tara Starling’s professional styling and makeup, Russ Dixon’s photography and of course more girl bonding), I got enough out of Friday to reevaluate my own personal style both inside and out.

There’s just something about 25 entrepreneurial women in one room tucked away in snowy Sundance, well fed and ready to be inspired—I can’t explain it. But it was cool. My favorite of the evening was Skyping with Danielle LaPorte (@DanielleLaPorte) of White Hot Truth. When she was done speaking all I could do was sit there and let it all soak in…for a good ten minutes. It’s a good thing I took notes because it was fast and furious—and fabulous.

Sarah Ward from Cable Car Couture introduced me to the power of the collared shirt and Tara Starling of Starling Beauty Academy introduced many of us to the application of the color wheel in makeup. (Quinn and Janet may still be reeling after learning about the tensile strength of mascara-coated eyelashes…) And if all that stylin’ was glam enough, both e.l.f. cosmetics and Timex sponsored the event and so we freshly inspired women went home with some glam of our own. My girls oohed and aahed over e.l.f.’s mini makeup kits and I’m excited to own pretty much my first blingy accessory. ever.

Kelly King Anderson, Startup Princess herself, knows how to throw a good event and from what I’ve heard of Saturday’s adventures, the gals had a great time. You can read Quinn’s take on it here and here (she keeps you in suspense with a two-part recap) and catch the Whrrl story here. THANK YOU again to APX Alarm for sponsoring us. As far as security companies go, APX is pretty dang cool. They monitor not only burglary and fire but also carbon monoxide and medical emergencies. What you REALLY need to do is check out the APX Alarm blog–it has some really great articles on personal and family safety (love “Confessions of a Worryholic“) and they’ll be doing a series of holiday-related security posts as well. You’ll definitely want to add the APX Alarm blog feed to your reader!

If you want to feel like you were part of the action, head to TwitterSearch.com and check out the #supa09 hash tag. Even if you’re not planning to pose for the camera or pitch to the media you can catch a lot of what went on during the event. I tweeted my fair share of 140-character snatches on Friday and I’m sure there were quite a few more on Saturday.

Head on over to the Startup Princess site and subscribe to the feed so you don’t miss another conference or event and be sure to follow Kelly on Twitter (@startupprincess). As mompreneurs we can use all the inspiration (and girl bonding) we can get!

How did you become ThatFunkyBoutique?

In 2003, I started creating children’s clothing and needed a name. During an online chat with friends, several were suggested and I immediately was drawn to That Funky Boutique. Seemed catchy and I do like to have a playfulness and uniqueness in my creations. I’m no longer doing children’s items but it still seems to fit ok for my etsy shop.

Can you share your background in design?

From a young age I knew I wanted to be an artist. I can’t say enough about the professors I was able to learn from while getting a BFA with emphasis in Illustration and design. After school, I worked for an advertising company for several years where was able to design and illustrate national catalogs and then went off on my own as a freelance artist and designer. I’ve been freelancing ever since and consider it my main focus. Though my textile designs do take over during some seasons! Recent illustration clients include Chatti Patti, Knuckleheads Clothing, Portabello Pixie and others. My That Funky Boutique line fits in nicely between projects as I can never sit still.

Where do you find your inspiration for your creations? What part of
the process is your favorite?

Inspiration for my textile creations comes from all over the place. From my children, from nature, from the materials on hand. Those are the biggest jumping off points.
The first part in the process is my favorite. From early sketches to completing the sample.

How did you come up with your new HOT scarf design for fall? What are
the features of it that will make women want them this season?

My scarves came about on a whim. I hadn’t sewn in quite a long time due to a cross country move that demanded my time and energy. But I dusted off my machine to do some personal sewing for fun. My first scarf was originally going to be a throw blanket out of some wool and cashmere scraps. I did one long length to start the blanket. There happened to be a mirror close by where I was working and I caught a glimpse of myself with the piece. I threw it around my neck and viola. A unique scarf. I had a feeling it would sell and sell it did! Along with more than 100 more in the first month of selling. I never set out to sew and sell again but here I am enjoying it!

What has been the response since having your scarves featured last
week on The Today Show?

I was humbly honored to have my scarf requested for The Today Show segment. I’m hopeful that the segment brought in lots of viewers for all Etsy artisans! My sales are the same—selling about as fast as I can create them!

www.thatfunkyboutique.etsy.com
www.thatfunkyboutique.blogspot.com

We recently sent Boutique Cafe viewer Jen Holyoak as our “Special BC Correspondent” to attend the “Moms Who Make it Conference” in SLC Utah. The goal of the conference was “Give Your Life & Business a Complete Make-Over, Creating the Life You’ve Been Dreaming Of!”

Jen was able to interview some incredibly talented women, get the scoop on some great businesses, and we’re thrilled to see the fun footage she was able to snag on her new Flip Camera!! Enjoy the ride as we share a bit of the behind the scenes from this amazing summer conference, put together by the dynamic duo of Quinn Curtis & Emily Hill. Thank you for inviting us to attend, and thank you Jen for all your hard work!! We LOVE our amazing viewers! Please leave comments for the featured gals in this episode – they ROCK!

Links to check out:
Olive Juice Co. (Kim)
You Can Make This & You Can Quilt This (Kim, Kris & Sherrie)
Girls Loft (Margie)
Dear Lizzy (Liz Karchner)
House of Three (Rhonna Farrer)
Created by Mom (Quinn Curtis)

** Click button below to view video coverage, or view it on our YouTube channel shortly right here>>

Have you been featured on Boutique Cafe? Perhaps you’ve been interviewed in our popular podcasts, sponsored a giveaway, been reviewed in the Daily Dish, spotlighted in our Fashion Show or advertised in our Gift Guides. If so you can let everyone know just how cool your company is!

Fly our “Featured On” banner on your website, blog or store. Shout it from the rooftops, because you’re Awesome!


Copy the following code and paste it into your html page:
<a href="http://www.boutiquecafe.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://www.boutiquecafe.com/images/bcfeaturedon180.jpg"/></a>

* If you haven’t been featured on BC just yet, never fear! You can still add one of our “Share the Love” banners here. We love you for it! XO

SavvyMom.ca is holding their annual “Momprenuer of the Year Awards” this summer open to Canadian momprenuers. At the insistence of several sweet Boutique Cafe members, I have thrown my name into the hat and would love to have your vote for this honor. The first prize is valued at $17,000 worth of cash and prizes to help grow and boost your business, this would be a huge help to Boutique Cafe in continuing to bring more quality content to our listenership and continuing to support other momprenuers get the word out about their businesses.

Thank you so much for taking a moment to cast your vote for Boutique Cafe!! Cast your Ballot here ».