Good morning and welcome to a new week on decor8! How was your weekend? Did you have a good time? I have to kick off the week by telling you a bunch of good things. First, the GREAT news! We found a place to live and we are moving October 1st. I told my haus maus readers this past Friday but in case you don't visit my other blog (it's more personal than this one, not as visual) then I guess I'll shout it from the rooftops. I AM MOVING. Oh, yeah! :)

I'm totally giddy about it and can't wait to move in and remove everything from storage -- our things have been waiting for us since we moved to Germany nearly a year ago so unpacking my belongings will feel GREAT. You can see a mini tour of the place here, though the photos are a bit rough as I took them during renovations and they are snapshots... but you can get a feel for how it looks. As I start to design the kitchen and move my things in, I'll be posting details about it on haus maus so if you are not already following that blog then you may want to so you don't miss out in case you like a good decorating project (or a few bad ones, depending on how well it goes, ha ha!).

I'll also share some home decorating projects here on decor8 as I go, but since this blog is more about showcasing fresh established and upcoming talent and not so much with the spotlight on me, then I won't turn decor8 into a Holly's New Apartment blog, I swear it. Though I am totally tempted, LOL.

Okay, onto the next good news for the week. Leslie and I will host another Blogging Your Way e-course. This week you can register for the class beginning on Friday morning so stay tuned, I will post the link on decor8 when you can register. The class details are here and to get on the email list to be notified the moment the class opens for registration please click here and complete the form.

The class will begin on Friday, September 3rd but since that is the day before Labor Day weekend in the states where so many BYW students usually login from -- that Friday will be very light, with brief introductory podcasts from Leslie and I and materials for you to read and download. Then you can return on Tuesday, September 7th for the first class. After that, it will run weekly on M/W/F until Monday, October 4th.

Blogging Your Way is a self-paced e-course in a password protected environment so you do not need to login on certain times or days of the week, though it is suggested that you access the class at least 2-3 times a week to keep up with the materials and to get to know other students in the forum. New materials are released on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. You must have a blog to participate since many of the exercises involve working on your blog along the way. We will not discuss how to create a blog, rather how to make what you currently have more authentic, beautiful, interesting and meaningful for you and your readers.

After the course ends on October 4th, students will have full access to the class website and forum for an additional 4 weeks at no charge. Each week during the final 4 weeks I will post a podcast to say hello and speak on a specific topic and then you will be directed to the forum to discuss the topic amongst yourselves. The fee for this class, including the extra 4 weeks of forum time, is $119 USD and is payable in full via Paypal at the time of registration. I have already taught over 410 students worldwide and look forward to teaching more in the weeks to come. Former BYW students are welcome to attend again as Leslie and I are always adding new content to the course and will include 10 podcasts from me and 2 from Leslie.

And finally, the rest of my good news! Did you know that I'm typing this on my way to Belgium by train? Yup. Then after working in Belgium all day I'll take an evening train to Amsterdam with Debi and the publisher who is coming with us this time, and I'll be based there until Wednesday night and then flying to London and finally back home at the end of the week. It's going to be busy but this is the final week of shoots so I'm a bit sad to see it end! I've loved being on the road for the past several months with Debi who has been a great companion. After this week I will be working on a few tight deadlines but once September 1st rolls around the book will be turned in and it should be published in the early Spring. I'll be checking in from city to city as I go and blogging as usual, so be sure to visit each day for something new that I've prepared. Please note: Etsy Take Five Tuesdays will resume next week as I don't have time to pull that together on the road... sorry!

Okay, so that's all of my news... Time to get started with today's posts.

Meet you back here in a moment!

xo, Holly

(Photos: Leslie Shewring)