I just discovered a new-to-me woman’s lifestyle magazine based in Finland called Kodin Kuvalehti thanks to editor Tiina who also authors her own blog called Sparkling Ink who was nice enough to write about me and send over a copy. Oh yes, I said write about me. The surprise part was when I opened up the July issue and saw words praising decor8 (she translated it for me). Wow!

I’m so flattered to be featured in a Finnish magazine — I can’t even begin to explain how exciting it is for me to now have readers in Finland joining me each day here on the site. If you’d like to read what it says, please click here. Thank you so much Tiina Kodin Kuvalehti magazine for featuring me and my blog in your magazine, what an honor.

(image: holly becker for decor8)

A big hearty thanks to Susannah Conway from Ink on my Fingers, an English photographer and writer who interviewed me today on her beautiful blog.

It was fun to really open up like this in an interview, I definitely am learning to drop my guard and feel more at ease when approached with questions. Or perhaps it’s that Susannah just knows how to ask the right questions. In any sense, I talk about my recent class and experience as a teacher, childhood hobbies, favorite books and I list four people that I’d love to see mildly intoxicated… Ha! I hope that you enjoy it. :)

Thank you Susannah!

(image: susannah conway)

I hope I don’t come across as bragging here but I’m quite excited that Chronicle Books quotes me from a recent review I wrote about the book, “Secrets of Simplicity” over at Real Simple and I’m flattered by it. Here’s the ad, you may have seen it floating around…

In addition to this ad, I forgot to tell everyone last year that I’m also quoted on the back of Amy Butler’s latest book, “Little Stitches For Little Ones” released last July ‘08. Here are my words as they appear on the back jacket of the book: “Sewing is suddenly fresh and exciting again thanks to Amy’s easy-to-follow instructions and her gorgeous vintage modern fabrics in some of the most inspiring colorways ever.” – Holly Becker, decor8 (it has my old blog address but oh well, I changed domains since then.

Point is, I was so thrilled when Amy wrote to me asking for my thoughts about her book — it’s pretty wild to pick up a book at Barnes & Noble and see your own name on the back. It’s also encouraging to know that people trust my opinion, this means so much to me above all other things — I’m trustworthy. How nice. I like that because above all other things, it’s what I look for when I pick my own friends or when I scour the web for product reviews. I want to know that my source can be trusted.

My friend Shanon Gass commented today on a Flickr photo showing the Chronicle ad above, “YAY! That’s so exciting. I love that your voice represents trustworthiness and that writers/blog writers that work so hard, like you do, are having their opinions respected. Congrats!” – I agree, well said not just on my behalf but for all those bloggers out there.

(images: top: chronicle books, lower: holly becker for decor8)

I’m smiling and blushing as I type this because I do not consider myself a blogging babe but hey, if Glamour magazine says so… I’ll bask in this for the entire week!

Thank you Beth at Glamour for including me in your Blogging Babes series, it was fun to talk cosmetics and hot rollers which I swear by. :)

(image from glamour mag)

What a way to kick off a long holiday weekend! Look for me today in People magazine in their February 2009 Stylewatch issue… this is really exciting! A few months ago People asked me to be part of a select group of Style Experts they’d chosen to  pull together a list of what’s hot to make The Hip List. I praised handmade as being hot and mentioned a few of my personal favorites out there. They took my list and not knowing who would make the cut, I took a deep breath this morning as I opened the issue. Ta-dah! They mentioned my top three: Etsy, DaWanda, and Boston-based Simplemente Blanco.

It’s great to be in People magazine because it is a completely new audience for me. I’m honored to be part of their panel of experts which includes: Melissa Lavigne, David Morrison, Ann Mack, Holly Brickley & Courtney Leeds, Amanda Freeman, Josh Kafka, Carolyn O’Neil, Helena Echlin, and Mia Kim.

Thanks, People mag!

(Images from People magazine, February 2009 issue, on newsstands today!)