Graphics Alive 2

Last spring I was contacted by Victionary and asked to submit a ton of product photos for a book they were putting together, Graphics Alive 2. This book is a follow up to the best selling first addition and I was elated to be in the running for the second! Duncan and I had a week full of late nights snapping photos, editing photos, and answering their questions. I am beyond thrilled to finally share with you that we are IN! Not only are we in the book, but we're the first brand featured! I always thought that even if I didn't get selected it would be an honor to be considered, you know just like being nominated for an Oscar? Though I still think that's true, it sure feels darn good to have made the cut.
I know I'm a bit biased, but this book is awesome. If you're into product design or graphics at all I think it's a must have. The cover alone would have sold me on it in the bookstore! It has a canvas, soft cover that slides inside this amazing sleeve and the eyes are holograms that appear open and shut from different angles. Here's the first page after the forward. Vivi Dot!! Unfortunately, they didn't quite get the credits right. Duncan and I did the photography. Hanna Brooks Nation created the girl images I use on my packaging and Kami Shallenberger created the very popular feather image. They also changed some of the wording for the descriptions, but ah heck who cares.
The second and third pages for Vivi dot: Duncan and I did get our names listed in our bio section in the back! Thanks for reading and sharing this exciting day with me!

Vampd Magazine - Dots of Joy

I met the lovely ladies of Vampd Magazine at the Pool Trade Show this past August. They were very enthusiastic about about Vivi Dot and hoped to feature some items in their next issue. I just received my digital copy of their anniversary issue and I was SO excited to find my Bold Solid Rings featured in their fashion section!
I'm well aware that my line of accessories features a lot of whimsical and cutesy prints. These fun items are big part of what I do, but I also have a lot of edgier items that often get lost in the cute. Because of this I am especially excited to be featured in Vampd amongst other fashion forward brands. I also can't wait to share my new statement necklaces with you soon. It's a brand new, more sophisticated look for Vivi Dot and I think you'll really love them.
I'm no hand model, but I tried to capture a quick pic of how I wear my solid rings. I usually wear three hues from the same color family at a time.Thanks again to Jade from Vampd Magazine for this lovely feature! You can see a sneak peek of 25 pages of the mag here and can purchase your online copy for only $1.99 here.

Pretty in Pink for Mom's Day

This week's decked out features pretty pinks and neutrals. The adorable dress is from Modcloth and the vintage shoes can be found in Dear Golden's Etsy Shop. Pull your hair back with some Pink Posies Hair Clips and your look will be complete! This outfit would be perfect a lovely Mother's Day Brunch!Speaking of Mother's day... Wendy of DecoDollop featured the Vivi Dot items she purchased in a sweet post titled Something a Mother Could Love. I adore the photo she took of her Redheaded Coquette Hair Pins on the krinkle kraft paper I package my orders with. I hope you all have a great weekend with your Mothers and Grandmothers. I'll be celebrating my mom Pam and Grandma Dottie long distance. I can't wait to give them a belated hug when I visit Seattle in June!

Cali & Portland Love

Today has been an exciting day! I'm a sponsor over at Calivintage this month and Erin just posted up my giveaway for a $50 Vivi Dot gift certificate. Erin does daily outfit posts, hosts weekly give aways, shares her blog favorites and much more. Check out her blog and enter for a chance to win!
I also just noticed that my Purple Bike Lane Hair Clips were featured on the PDX Neat Sheet - What’s blooming in Portland shops this May. I have Say Say Boutique to thank for this which is where the hair clips were spotted for sale. Click on either image for their source.

Press Round Up

Vivi Dot has gotten some great press mentions recently so I figure it's time to round them all up! First up is the one I'm the most excited about. Time Out New York included a Vivi Dot Watch Necklace in their collection of multi-use jewelry. They requested a sample a while back, but I didn't want to get my hopes up until I saw the article with my own two eyes. I was tipped off by an order for two watch necklaces that had their URL as the referring link. The feature was up! I was even more ecstatic when I saw who else was included. I was on the same list as products by Hayden-Harnett, Fred Flare, Micheal Kors and Mod Cloth! There are also a lot of watch necklaces out there these days so the fact that mine was the only one the list made it extra special.
My Squirrel Watch Necklace also got some love in this 7x7 Glam Watch Post that rounded up a bunch of Cyber Monday deals.
I placed an ad in N.E.E.T. Magazine's 17th Issue and am so excited to be in such an amazing online publication. If you aren't already a subscriber to this amazing online mag (it's FREE) make sure to sign up now! They also posted my discount code on their blog! They really have a knack for making everything look so pretty.
Last up was a feature on Design Mom's Gift Guide to Darling Things. Gabrielle Blair (the Design Mom) is a mother of five, an art director, co-founder of Kirtsy, and is even in Martha Stewart's Blog Circle. It's a HUGE honor for Vivi Dot to be considered darling by such an accomplished woman with amazing taste and a very impressive resume!

Design Crush- Win Free Vivi Dot

Hop on over to Design Crush for a chance to win a whole slew of Vivi Dot items! It's really easy to enter the contest. Simply list your favorite Thanksgiving dish and email address in the comments on the 'Win It: Vivi Dot' post and you'll be entered to win. Kelly's blog is always updated with beautiful images, design inspiration, mouthwatering recipes and a much more so make sure to bookmark it and check back often.
Here's where you can find out more about the items included in the big prize:
* Red and White Chrysanthemum Watch Necklace
* Holly Jolly Button Gift Pack
* White Hair Bows on Purple
* Gnome Ring

Scoutie Girl Gifts

Scoutie Girl Gifts recently launched and it has quickly become my go to place for all things handmade. I've already bookmarked quite a few items for my holiday shopping list. I submitted a gift guide of my own to the site and it was posted last week! Check out my 'Let's Go to the Zoo' gift guide with twelve hand made pieces featuring my favorite zoo creatures. If you like what you see please cast a vote for the guide by clicking the five stars at the bottom of the page.

Make sure to also visit the Scoutie Girl Blog for daily finds from the world of the passionately handmade.

:: sufix.abuse ::

Just a quick post to share a delightful blog I came across when checking my referring sources. Suffix Abuse included my Vivi Dot Tiny Dots Watch Necklace in their post last Thursday. Not only am I happy to be in such great company, but also to discover this deliciously captivating blog full of visual stimulation and inspiration.
Make sure to visit her blog often for more photo compilations like the one above.

Another Chance to Win Free Vivi Dot!

CollegeCandy.com is hosting a Vivi Dot giveaway to honor the official kick off of spring! All you have to do to enter is comment on their post about which Vivi Dot item you like the best (comment there not here). If you're the lucky winner you'll receive a Vivi Dot gift pack including the favorite item you've selected! You have until 2pm Pacific time on 3/31 to comment so go here now and be entered to win!

Loveology

Sifra is the lovely lady from The Netherlands behind the blog Loveology. She just included Vivi Dot in her most recent post, earning her some Vivi-points in the game of Spot the Dot! Make sure to bookmark her blog for moving photographs, excellent etsy finds and other highlights of simply stunning things.

I'm honored to be in the company of two talented artists Camilla Engman and Yumi Yumi who are featured in the same post. Make sure to check out their lovely shops and blogs as well!
Yumi Yumi's Blog and shop
Camilla Engman's Blog and shop

Do you WishWishWish for Free Vivi Dot?

One of my new favorite blogs, WishWishWish.net posted a contest for some free Vivi Dot items over the weekend. Hop on over to her site and comment on the Vivi Dot post to be entered to win.
Carrie has a wonderful fashion focused blog that highlights her shopping adventures, what she wears, and various other things that inspire her daily life as an 18 year old college student in the South-west of England. Be sure to add her to your blog list as she's definitely one to watch!

Oh and by the way... I can't get enough of British English vocabulary. Hair grips! It makes perfect sense and isn't that much different than what they're called in America, but for some reason it sounds oh so much more charming.

I'm Thrilled!

I'm ecstatic to announce that my Vivi Dot cuff links made 'The List.' The San Francisco Thrillist list to be more specific. According to Mediapost.com, "Thrillist targets young 'successful' men with tailored product and service recommendations in the areas of food, drinks, services, gadgets, gear, sports and travel." It is often likened to the male version of DailyCandy though unlike that publication you can't pay to be featured.
Or as Thrillist puts it...

We only cover what we like.
We're not going to waste our time or yours with things that suck -- you already have your job for that. So we don't write reviews, just recommendations, and because we painstakingly wade through the crap to unearth greatness, you get exclusively the best of your city's food, drinks, gear, services, entertainment, travel options, and events, like booze cruises, and a divine concept surely birthed on a booze cruise -- stripper cruises.

So yay, they like Vivi Dot!
Here's what they had to say:

Handmade-to-order in SF, these cheeky little guys are one inch 'round, and covered in fabric emblazoned with stuff like saffron yellow stegosauruses, blue propeller planes, and a pair of traveling gnomes donning beards and red caps (as opposed to those gnomes who wear mustaches and fezzes).

(click on the image to enlarge it)
I have some other PR related posts coming soon so it may just be time for an official press section!

Crafty Giveaway!

Vivi Dot is a part of the Modish Giveaway this month! It's the last month Jenna will be doing the giveaway in its traditional form so make sure to participate and get a chance to win hundreds of dollars in crafty wares! With over $2,161 in fabulous goods the giveaway is split up into three packages (one today, one tomorrow, and one on Friday). All you have to do is check out some of the awesome goods and comment on something you like. By commenting you're entered to win! It's that easy! Check out the details of this give away at Modish and enter today.

Spot the dots in the picture? Look out for my Polka Dot Mushroom hair clips in this first giveaway. 12/12/08 Update:
Spot the dot in the day two and
day three giveaways too!

A New Blogger Friend!

Marta of Marta Writes came across my watch necklaces on Etsy and became a fan. Today she posted a list of her favorite online shops for a Black Friday Giveathon. Make sure to check out her excellent list of suggestions and take advantage of the special discounts designers (including Vivi Dot) are offering through her site. Make sure to follow her blog as well because it's a great one! I'm so glad she found Vivi Dot so we can keep up with all the fun and innovative things she's doing!

Vivi Dot's First Advertisement!

I made a bold move and decided to purchase my first advertisement for Vivi Dot! I'll have a small little space in the December/January issue (on news stands the end of Nov) of ReadyMade Magazine. Check out the proof of my ad below and make sure to check out the 'Gallery' section of the issue so you can see and use the coupon code that I conveniently removed for this post. Sorry, you've gotta get the mag if you want the discount. Please note that the watch necklace in this photo should be available in the Vivi Dot Online Store within the next week.

Blog of Note!

Vivi Dot is Blogger's 'Blog of Note' today! I'm so excited for the chance to get my blog in front of so many people who are new to Vivi Dot! Hope you enjoy it.

The Adventures of a TIMF Vendor

After a marathon weekend at the Treasure Island Music Festival I've finally found the time to announce to the blogosphere that it was a success! This show was by far the biggest event the Vivi Dot team has ever participated in and we're proud to say we not only survived, but we had a great time and sold a record number of dots along the way.

Here's how it all went down....
Duncan and I headed out to Treasure Island on Friday to set up and check out our booth space. By the time we arrived it was pretty chilly and windy so set up really only amounted to hanging some lanterns, figuring out our table layout and dropping off as much product and display supplies as we could. We walked around the grounds and were pleasantly surprised to see how small it was. It definitely is a 'boutique festival' and not nearly as daunting as Coachella, Outside Lands, etc. After our quick walk around we were off to Trader Joe's to grab snacks and beverages for the weekend ahead.

We woke up early on Saturday and headed off to pick up Summer and Allie who had coffee and bagels waiting for us. We arrived on Treasure Island around 10am and quickly started setting up the booth. We couldn't have asked for a better location as we were on the corner facing the main entrance/walkway. We were also neighbors with the mini Indie-mart so our friends from Deadbeat Sister, Pop Junkie, etc were right nearby. We were also kitty corner to San Franpsycho who we later realized was run by a guy (Andy) who Duncan grew up skating with. The only drawback to our open corner spot was that we were at the mercy of strong gusts of wind. Thank goodness for cat ties and fishing line! We rigged up some Macgyver type s*#t that saved us from having to have someone guard the outside of the booth and watch for fly-away product.





The concert goers started streaming in at 11:30 and the traffic flow to our booth didn't really slow down at all until after dinner. Duncan and I were able to sneak away to catch a little bit of Hot Chip and Justice and listened to everything else from our booth, which thanks to the alternating stages was easy to do.

Day two went pretty much the same way as the first, but it was a tad busier, warmer and less windy early on. I was excited to see that there were buyers for each of my varied products though rings, small hair clips and watch necklaces seemed to be the biggest sellers. All of the shoppers were upbeat and really excited about what the Vivi Dot booth had to offer. It was awesome to get the Vivi Dot name and products out there to an entirely new set of consumers.

Allie and Summer headed home on the shuttle after dinner. This allowed them to get home at a more reasonable hour and freed up the entire car to get everything home. We started packing up at the designated 9:30, mid way through the Raconteurs set. We made the tough decision to hoof it to the car with everything instead of waiting at least another hour and half before we'd be able to drive onto the grounds. This was a really rough way to end three very long days, but when my head hit the pillow at 11:45 instead of after 1:00am it was definitely worth it. Oh and frozen treat from the ice cream man on the way back from our first of three trips to car didn't hurt either.

Check out some of the 'press' Vivi Dot has received as a result of the TIMF:
Popote
Classy Sassy
Worn Through

Indie-mart named best of the Bay

Congrats to Indie-mart (and Kelly) for winning the 'Best Nomadic Hipster Boutique' in the 2008 Bay Guardian's Best of the Bay awards! Check out the fun write up below:

The Mission Indie Mart, a roaming thrift store, local design showcase, and barbecue that takes place monthly in backyards and at dive bars throughout the Mission District was dreamt up by Kelly Malone, a tattooed hipster chick with three lifelong obsessions: DIY fashion, hard drinking, and good times. Sadly, while her hobbies did wonders for her social life, they caused quite a stir at the Gap, where Malone had been working for more than 10 years. So she set up her own business. Her brainchild has become a staple of Mission dwelling: a monthly opportunity to mingle with artists, musicians, fashion designers, misfits, and fall-down drunks like the founder herself, whose hourly announcements at MIM evolve throughout the day from straightforward information to inebriated performance art. Her best line to date: "The bathrooms are in the back, the T-shirts are in the corner, and the vodka is in my belly. Now come on stage and let's get naked, bitches. Wooo!"

And another congrats should go to Broke-Ass Stuart who won for Best Local Author! You can often find Stuart selling his books and T's at Indie-mart too.

SFIndieFashion Mention!

I'm very excited to report that Vivi Dot was mentioned in an SFIndieFashion.com post! SFIndieFashion is a go to place for me to make sure I'm up to date on all of the indie fashion happenings in the Bay Area. Lorraine Sanders is the author behind the site and does a great job covering events, spreading the word about local designers, etc, etc. I read her posts regularly and was very excited to see 'Vivi Dot' listed in an interview piece with the one and only Kelly Malone (of Indie-mart and Still Life).

"This week, Kelly was kind enough to let us bug her with our questions during an afternoon visit to Still Life, where you’ll find lots of lovely creations and men’s and women’s apparel from local folks like Nooworks, Amanda Archer, Kate Durkin, Turk & Taylor, 19 Moons Jewelry, Please Dress Up and Vivi Dot."

Make sure to check out the full article and add SFIndieFashion.com to your list of sites to check often!