Yes, it’s that time again! Already! 7 Vignettes October starts one week today and, thanks to Paint Place, you could win $180 of New Look paint and a brush and roller kit.
Here’s the themes list:
Tag: social media
Due to massive demand, I’m going to start running regular social media for small business workshops in Sydney and the first two will take place on Thursday 28 November and Thursday 5 December 2013.
The 2.5-hour workshops, Taking Facebook for Business out of the Too-Hard Basket, cost $295 to include a light supper. They will take place in Surry Hills from 6.30-9pm. I usually charge $200 per hour for one-on-one work so take advantage of a much lower price in a group situation which is still small enough to be intimate.
To celebrate the opening of its new Melbourne store next month, West Elm are sponsoring September’s 7 Vignettes with the chance to win a pair of their best selling Martini side tables.
Next month’s round, which starts this Sunday 1 September, will be judged by interior designer Jacinta Preston. The first prize winner will receieve 2 Martini tables –one in silver and one in persimmon — and 3 runners up which each receive a silver one.
Here’s the list of themes:
Sponsored by the Australian Gift & Homewares Association (AGHA)
Consumers spend 250% more time on social media than they did just 2 years ago. There are 250 million photos uploaded each day to Facebook, with 34% of bloggers posting opinions about products and brands. 90% of consumers trust peer recommendations and only 14% trust advertisements (www.socialnomics.net).
Photo-taking for sharing on social media increasingly occurs in retail stores, an environment traditionally off limits to photography. Many retailers have been wary of the practice, and have only grown more so as they believe the perpetrators are using their stores as free showrooms prior to making the actual purchase at a different retailer, online.
Erika Rax!
It’s always tough, but this month’s judge, Kate Reeves Robertson from The Story of Us, chose @erikarax as our sixth 7 Vignettes champion.
“It was a gorgeous week of sublime hues, fab framing and organised chaos, but it was the elegantly restrained frames by Erika that caught my eye and inspired my imagination every day,” said Kate. “Clean, refined and simply beautiful.”
I loved the simplicity of Erika’s pictures too, and discovering her lovely blog was an added bonus.
Congratulations, Erika! You get to work with Kate to create your own custom stationery set. I have to admit, I’m jealous!
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June 7 Vignettes starts tomorrow
Are you ready for our next Instagram challenge? Just in case, here’s the list:
And a reminder that the prize, for one lucky winner, is two extra large canvases of your choice from Urban Road’s latest collection. I’d definitely pick this one!
You must tag @interiorsaddict and guest judge Suzie Atkin (@suzie_urbanroad) and use the hashtag #7vignettes. You must have uploaded all 7 images by midnight on 7 June, and be an Australian resident, to be in with a chance of winning. The usual instructions can be found here. The fun starts tomorrow (1 June). I’m looking forward to the hashtag passing 15,000 images this time around!
Does anyone else argue with their other half about the amount of time they spend on their phone? Or do your friends wind you up by being on Instagram when you’re trying to have a conversation over dinner? Trust me, I am well aware that I am the LAST person to pass comment on excessive social media use!
I’m a huge social media fan and, as a full-time blogger, using it is relevant and important to my job. A huge amount of my traffic comes via Facebook. In fact, for me, the line between work and play totally blurs with social media. I enjoy it all. I like to talk, across whatever medium, and with my close friends and family, as well and new and interesting strangers! I met my VERY good real life friends Emma (also known as my wife) and Naomi on Twitter, and we have been pretty much inseparable since meeting up two years ago. I digress, but these are all reasons I use to justify my use of social media being important.
I was surprised too! I thought it was just me that once (okay, twice!) dropped a BlackBerry in the bath (true story). Reece has opened entries for its Bathroom Innovation Award (BIA), bringing technology to the forefront with a revamped concept this year, exploring Tomorrow’s Bathroom Today.
“For 2013, we’re bringing the future of bathrooms closer by asking designers to explore the role of technology in the bathroom,’ says Reece CEO, Peter Wilson. “Technology now plays a key role in the home. We believe exploring the potential of technology in the bathroom offers a unique platform for designers to create something truly innovative in a space that has not yet fully realised that potential.”
It’s always really tough to pick a winner of 7 Vignettes, so when we had two $200 vouchers this month it seemed a good idea to have two prizes: one for best overall and one for standout single vignette. Luckily the tough judging job went to Louise Olsen of Dinosaur Designs, not me! But then she decided to award a third special mention too!
The overall winner is @mollysmaison. These are my favourites of hers:
The standout single vignette prize went to @loumasters for this beauty:
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This year’s Life Instyle Sydney
Can you believe this was my first ever visit to Life Instyle? It definitely has a very different, more boutique feel than the other trade fairs and I really enjoyed it. Despite skipping most of Kids Instyle (not my bag) there were still plenty of beautiful wares to look at. Here are a few of my favourites.
My favourite stand belonged to Mrs Darcy (originally of Ada & Darcy fame). I love Kellie Collis’ colourful designs. There were plenty of new things, like gold chevron cushions (just when you think you’ve seen enough chevron you realise you need some gold chevron in your life!), gorgeous girly robes, hand creams and candles. Her floral textiles are just beautiful.
I also stopped by my favourite Voyager Candles’ stand for a sniff, went nuts over the paper goods at Bespoke Letterpress, admired the new Cool Edie’s paint colours at the Murobond stand and fell in love with everything at Bonnie and Neil (gorgeous new bed linen and ceramics mean even more places to use their gorgeous and colourful designs in your home).
Want to learn more about using social media for your business? Maybe you’ve avoided it so far because you think it’s too difficult or you’re too old or it’s not for you? Maybe you’ve got a business Facebook Page and you’ve started playing around with Instagram but you want to know how to make it work for you, and make sure you’re not wasting your time?
I’m running a free one-hour roundtable discussion at Life Instyle where I’ll share my secrets and the common mistakes I see from my social media clients in the interiors and homewares space.
Places are limited and you must book, so don’t hang around! Book here now!
The Life Instyle lookbook is now online too. Check it out.
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Facebook business page tip
As you may know, I do a lot of social media consulting with small businesses in the interiors industry and I notice the same little issues over and over again. So I thought I’d start sharing the odd tip so you can improve your social media presence with a quick fix.
Today’s is a really simple thing but one which many miss when setting up their business pages. The majority of my clients haven’t put their company website under their profile image. To find it, you need to click on ‘About’ and go to the page behind where there’s also address info etc.
Now here’s the thing: people are lazy. The internet has made us more impatient than ever. So if your website isn’t there and obvious and immediately clickable, your competitor is only a click away!
Shelley Ross! (or should we say @shelleyrossxoxo?) CONGRATULATIONS!
Here’s my favourite of her vignettes…
Our judge, stylist Kara Rosenlund, said: “It was such a great week on Instagram; everyone’s commitment and thrill to be be part of such a challenge was really inspiring. It was such a privilege to see into everyone’s homes and lives and read their special and sentimental stories about pieces from their homes and their loved ones.
“Thank you so much to everyone who participated. It brought such an overwhelming sense of community and friendship into the instagram world, I didn’t want it to end.”
There wasn’t even meant to be a prize but we were so impressed we decided to award one! Kara has put together a box of lovely styling treasures for Shelley and I’ll be sending her an Interiors Addict candle.
I must say I was overwhelmed by the success of 7 Vignettes. I’ve run, and taken part in, Instagram photo challenges before, but this one was extra special. There was so much sharing and community. Everyone really encouraged each other and everyone had a go. Some people didn’t even know what a vignette was when we started. Some found out about it on the last day and still managed all 7 vignettes in 24 hours! Amazing! Between us we shared more than 2,000 images! So much enthusiasm, talent and just a lot of great feeling! I had warm fuzzies all week, especially when I kept getting gorgeous little messages like these!
I was so sad it had to end (although I was worrying about the RSI in my right hand from constant scrolling and liking!) I’ve decided to make this a monthly challenge with a new set of words and a new guest judge each time. The next will start on 2 February with the lovely Steve Cordony from Belle magazine. Look out for the new list of words on Instagram. Just keep looking under the #7vignettes hashtag or like Interiors Addict on Facebook so you’ll be sure not to miss it.
There’s something seriously cool going on over at Instagram, have you heard? It’s called 7 Vignettes in 7 Days and it’s my latest Instagram photo challenge in collaboration with stylist and queen of the vignette, Kara Rosenlund.
On day one, we shared nature…
On day two, colour…
Are you using social media for your business? Do you feel like you need some help to take it to the next level? Not sure if you’re doing the right things? I’m offering affordable Social Media Health Checks to small businesses in the hoemwares and interiors industries for $297. If you’d like to get 2013 off to a great start with the free online marketing tools available to you, get in touch.
A recent happy customer, Corinna Musgrave of Hunter & Ivy Interior Styling and Design, said: ““Jen, you’re amazing! Tough advice (ouch!), but so helpful and productive! I will recommend you to EVERYONE; looking forward to working with you in the future.”
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Instagram announces web profiles
I wondered how long it’d be before this happened! Instagram is no longer limited to your phone. You can now share your gorgeous pictures on the web with the launch of web profiles. They’re much larger for a start and the layout’s very nice. Very Facebook. Check mine out here.
Sorry it’s taken so long but there were HUNDREDS of photos to go through and so many of them were beautiful so it was really really hard! But I have finally declared the winner of the book signed by Megan Morton as Mariana Garcia-Katz from VIC. Here are some of her photos.
I was delighted to be interviewed by the editor of Furnishing International for the magazine’s Spring issue. You can read the two-page interview online here from page 38 or pick up a copy.