Oh my goodness, I'm busy. Lots of manusmade stuff happening, and I wanted to pop in and bring you all up to speed!

First off, the Down and Dirty project is in full swing! I'm working with Megan to build up manusmade into something amazing. I already have a good foundation - I love making my products and the design process, I love meeting people at crafts, and I'm getting better at the entrepreneur side of things. I'm working with Megan to really figure out the business' core values, where I want to go, and how best to get there. So where do I want to go? I want to build a community of people that love bringing handmade goods into their lives - not only do they like having them around, but they enjoy using them everyday. I don't want the handmade goods you and I buy to be like Grandma Sue's best china - just sitting in a glass cabinet somewhere - I want the goods we make and buy to be used, to be loved, to be handled everyday. And through Megan's help, I'm figuring how best to design my wares and market them in a way that is in line with this philosophy. Come and hang out with us on Megan's blog, where Megan sets the stage every Monday and I wrap it up on Fridays with thoughts about the work I've done throughout the week. Or, hang with us on Facebook and Twitter (Method and Madness or manusmade).

I'm also getting ready for the next installment of Urban Craft, taking place this Saturday, October 1st in the lobby of the Great Canadian Theatre Company (GCTC) on Wellington at Holland, from 10am-2pm. I'll have pillows, aprons, tea towels, and lots of felt storage boxes for sale! I'll be introducing givemanusmade, which are sets of tea towels and aprons you can just pick up and buy as gifts. I've made it easy in that things are packaged together and come ready with a gift tag. All you need to do is fill it in and pick a friend to give them to! It's all about making the gift of handmade gifts easy. Come by and say hello this weekend, I'd love to talk to you in person!

Anyway... Aside from all that, I'm SOOOO excited to announce my giveaway winners! I used random.org to generate the winners. As you may have noticed, a couple of people had troubles leaving a comment below, so I opened up comments on Facebook as well. I got a total of twelve comments (woot!) and what I did was list them all in order of time stamp. So, for example, if commenter A on the blog wrote on Monday, and commenter B wrote on Tuesday on Facebook, and commenter C wrote on the blog on Wednesday, commenter C would be #3. 

So, drumroll please.... (my husband actually plays the drums. If I was actually home right now, he would probably do a real-life drumroll for all of you if I asked him too! Let's just pretend I'm at home...)

The first number the random generator generated was number 2 - so NATASHA, you are the grandprize winner of the apron and a tea towel!!!! Yippeee! I happen to know that Natasha is an awesome cook, and loves to spend time in the kitchen, so I'm super happy that she won!

The second number the random generator generated was number 10 - MICHELLE, you are the second-prize winner and you'll be winning the cushion! Michelle has a super chic pad in NYC, and I'm super excited that the pillow will go to her and grace her lovely abode.

I'm sorry I can't show you screen prints of the random number thing. I have no idea how to do that, so you'll just have to take my work for it.

Thank you all for entering, I had a blast, and I loved every comment you left, you guys sure know how to make a lady misty-eyed. I love you!

The birthday:
Sunday was my birthday. I loooove birthdays and I celebrated in style with my family and a couple of friends with lots of good food and drinks. The drink of the day was a homemade lemonade infused with lavender that I got last year in France. Yummy! It was especially good when paired with a splash of gin or vodka . ;)

The giveaway:
My celebrations, though, are not complete until I celebrate with all of you! That's why I am going to giveaway a present to TWO lucky winners at the end of this week! All you have to do is join in the conversation in the comments and tell us about those little everyday moments that you love to celebrate. Is it when your baby wakes up in the morning and he's super cute and groggy? Or is it that quiet moment on the couch with your husband where you're snuggling and chatting about the day? Whatever it is for you, let me know.

From the comments, I will randomly pick a grand-prize winner who will win a bib-style apron AND a tea towel (value=$66)! I will also pick a 2nd-place winner who will win a cushion cover (value=$40)!

How to enter:
1. Leave a comment telling us about an everyday moment you love to celebrate.
2. Like me on Facebook, and let me know in a separate comment (or let me know that you already do).
3. Follow me on Twitter, and let me know in a separate comment (or let know that you already do).
4. Write a blog post/tweet about this giveaway, and let me know in a separate comment.

Contest closes at 11:59pm EST on Friday, September 23, 2011. No entries after that time will be accepted. Good luck!!

****UPDATE! I understand that some people are having trouble leaving comments here. I'm accepting comments on Facebook as well!

Down and Dirty Project:
A few days ago, I let you in on a big secret - I won a contest with Megan Gallagher from Method & Madness for three months of business coaching. Lots of you have shown your support and happiness for me, in person and on Facebook, and I just wanted to let you in on what I'll be doing over the next three months with Megan's help.

The goal will be to make manusmade better, in as many ways possible! For my lovely customers, it means better products at the right price. It also means a better experience for you - you'll be a bigger part of the whole process, things will be simplified and organized in a way that makes sense, and manusmade will become your go-to shop for so many aspects of your life - gifts for those special moments, home, baby, and more! For me, it means more efficiency by streamlining production, and it means a more organized thought process for all the designs and products. All useful things, especially as I continue to have a day job on top of manusmade.

Megan and I will be looking in depth at: the product line, the brand, the blog, pricing (and profitability, this is a business, right?), production, outreach and community, and a super-duper secret surprise that will be born in the new year.

Exciting, right? Yup! My little brain has been spinning ever since the first call with Megan! I'm excited for me, obviously, but I'm SO excited for you - I'm thrilled to be offering better products in a way that makes sense (I promise, in the near future this will make sense) to you guys. I'm thrilled to be able to build a more solid community around manusmade, and will be happy knowing that I'm helping to make those little moments in YOUR life happier (the Big Moments like baby showers and birthdays, or even just the littlest of moments, like drying dishes). Stay tuned!!

Birthday giveaway!
Speaking of birthdays..... mine is coming up very soon (Sunday)! I've always been a big fan of birthdays (especially my own, yes, I'll acknowledge that) and love celebrating in style. Last year I celebrated in Paris with my husband over very good champagne and was a little too busy eating macarons to celebrate with you. Sorry. It's not you, it's me. This year I'm here and ready to party - I'll be giving away a super duper little bundle of manusmade goodies starting Monday, September 19! I won't tell you what they are until Monday, though - that would ruin the surpise, of course! So definitely check back here on Monday - I'll be asking a question - your answer in the comments will be your entry, and at the end of the week, I'll be picking a winning entry at random. And I'd be awfully tickled if you could tell all your friends.