Hope you’ll all swing by the darling Thistle & Clover blog to check out my guest post on my “dream holiday outfit.”  I put the collage together all by myself in Pages (the Mac equivalent to Microsoft Word) and am quite proud of how it turned out (don’t ask how long it took me…).  Seriously though, aren’t those ear muffs the cutest?  Thank you to the awesome shop owners (and former Plucky Pioneers) Rand and Camilla — I’m so tickled to have been asked!

Greetings from San Francisco, New York and Kansas City!

It is with great excitement I announce that in January 2011 my dear friend Jane Lilly Warren and I are launching a new monthly lifestyle publication titled Matchbook: Field Guide to a Charmed Life. Each digital issue we look forward to celebrating the classics (shaken and stirred!) in our own unique fashion with delectable bites of style, beauty, decor, travel, and culture. The darling Fallon Hogarty has become our right-hand-gal as we organize the spectacular line-up for our premier issue. I’ve been pinching myself the entire process and it’s only just begun! I do hope you’ll join us on this grand adventure by following us on Twitter and “liking” us on Facebook. I can’t wait to share this surreal experience with you every step of the way! The Matchbook team believes there ought to be a destination for campfires, confetti, and joie de vivre in the virtual world — and we’re setting out to create it.

Feel free to snatch the image above and spread the news! None of this would have ever been possible without your support. Thank YOU for helping to make this Neo-Trad’s dreams come true!

From lipstick to letterpress, gelato to grosgrain, and Paris to Peru, consider us your field guide to a charmed life!

I hope you eat up this cheat sheet for Greenwich Letterpress!  The sisters have such great taste—between Katz, mums and Paris it’s hard not to obsess!  Thank you to my plucky partner, Jane Lilly Warren, for her fantastic work.  The girl’s a graphics genius : )

Please welcome our latest batch of Plucky Pioneers, sisters Beth Salvini and Amy Swanson of New York’s charming Greenwich Letterpress.  When I lived back east their darling shop/studio in the West Village was one of my regular haunts and I just know you’ll adore them.  Enjoy!

Five words used to describe yourself.

Beth: Sarcastic, sensitive, determined, confused, and creative.

Amy: Creative, cooperative, sarcastic, entertaining, and enthusiastic (aka sometimes unintentionally loud).

What inspires you creatively?

Beth: Television, humor, my cat, magazines, John Hughes, art and music.

Amy: Pop culture, photography, vintage illustrations, traveling, paper and fonts (I am a font geek).

Who were/are your design mentors?

Beth: My parents were the first people in my life that were always doing creative/artistic things—I’m positive it rubbed off on me.

Amy: Our parents were always supportive of any creative endeavor we wanted to pursue.  We grew up in a creative household which I think made my sister and I go in the direction we did.

How would you describe your personal design aesthetic?

Beth: Yard sale chotsky chic with some Beverly Hills 90210 thrown in.

Amy: We use a mix of contemporary and vintage graphics which lend themselves well to the old-fashioned quality of letterpress printing.

What propelled you to found your own company?

Beth: The idea of working with my sister and getting to carry on the family tradition of being printing entrepreneurs.

Most glamourous part of owning your own company?

Beth: Getting to make most of the decisions, no matter how hard they might be & having creative control is pretty priceless.

Amy: Probably the most important perk to me is having complete creative control over your designs.

Least glamourous part of owning your own company?

Beth: You take work home at the end of the day. I tell my friends it’s like having a baby that never grows up.

Amy: Working constantly, blurring the lines between work and home.

Best business advice you’ve been given?

Beth: Take ownership of everything you do.

Amy: Do not take everything so personally.

Creative businesswoman you admire?

Beth: Martha Stewart, Chandra Greer and my mom.

Amy:  My mom, she’s got the goods.

What keeps you organized and on task?

Beth: Owning a shop that is open to the public makes you realize how on point you need to be, it can feel like your mistakes are on display.

Moment you knew you’d “made it”?

Beth: Recently i’ve met some new people who I vaguely described the shop to and turns out they were already fans, after 5 years it still feels weird when someone says, “you mean Greenwich Letterpress is your shop!?”

Amy: Being featured in the TASCHEN’s New York book was an real honor for us.

Describe your typical work day…

Beth: coffee, emails, blogs, designing & finding and supporting new artists to carry in the shop. On a great work day all of my favorite customers come in to gossip.

Amy: Purchase a very large coffee, check emails, go over project list, design, figure out which lunch delivery we are getting, check out some favorite blogs, then back to work….

Your dream project?

Beth: Collaborating with other artists or companies. Projects that allow you to use your design aesthetic and apply it to something that might be outside of yourself or take you out of your comfort zone.

Amy: To have more time to work on products for the shop. Designing our card line has been a dream project for me.

What goals do you have for your business in the future?

Beth: We just renovated our space and I hope to continue to offer a unique and fun shopping experience for everyone that comes in. My sister and I also have big ideas for growing our own line of cards and gifts.

Advice to other budding creative entrepreneurs?

Beth: It’s hard work, so make sure you’re ready and try to keep your sense of humor when times get tough. If you can make it work, it’s a fun life.

Amy: As long as you love what you do and couldn’t imagine doing anything else all of the hard work is worth it.

Thank you Amy and Beth! Stop in tomorrow to see a Greenwich Letterpress cheat sheet by my Plucky Partner, the talented Jane Lilly Warren!

Voila! Compliments of my very dear and talented friend Jane Lilly Warren, the Southern Proper cheat sheet!  Thank you so much to Emmie for taking the time to respond to our questions.  I don’t know about you, but I absolutely adore her picks (Kate, Tory and Milly—yes please)!

Morning loves!  I’m so excited to be reigniting the Plucky Pioneer series today with the oh-so-charming Southern Proper.  I have long admired the company’s selection of preppy chic aesthetic and their Town & Country inspired fall campaign (pictured above) left me weak in the knees.  Founded by friends Emmie Henderson Howard and Reagan Howell, the company sells an array of southern-inspired clothing, bow ties, neckties and accessories.  Without further ado, here’s Emmie!

Five words used to describe yourself.

Authentic, Grateful, Steadfast, Southern and Social

What inspires you creatively?

Guys in Ties, Alliteration, Old Dirt Roads, Vintage Books, Handwritten Notes, Plaids and Ginghams, Strolls through Southern University Campuses, Dear Friends, Soirees with Champagne, The Derby, Country Clubs, Creative Cocktails

Who were/are your design mentors?

Truly my design mentors come from all walks of life….from our Southern Proper designer and Chocolate Butterbean Entrepreneur, Joni Lay, to my mother, the librarian, who wins teacher of the year almost every year for her creativity and love for children! I also get a ton of design inspiration from icons such as Ralph Lauren, Chris Knott of Peter Millar, Kate Spade, J. Crew.

How would you describe your personal design aesthetic?

Tried and True. Crisp and Refreshing. Draped in New Fashion trends and blended with Old Fashioned Traditions.

What propelled you to found your own company?

Adoration for a well dressed guy in a brightly colored bowtie, bit loafers- no socks, and a seersucker suit!

Most glamourous part of owning your own company?

Brainstorming and Creating new collections every single day…along with the chance of knowing that I could possibly bump into someone wearing our product anywhere in the world at anytime!

Least glamourous part of owning your own company?

Piles of Paperwork and Boring Bookkeeping.

Best business advice you’ve been given?

You have to do business with people you trust….but it never hurts to keep their credit card on file!

Creative businesswoman you admire?

Mireille Guiliano and Kate Spade

What keeps you organized and on task?

A huge dry erase board with important dates, addresses, pricing formulas, etc. Along with personalized jotter cards that I carry with me everywhere I go for notes and to-do lists!

Moment you knew you’d “made it”?

Our first Southern Proper features in Southern Living and Garden & Gun magazines! It was in print for all the world to see!

Describe your typical work day…

At Southern Proper every day is anything but typical! We are always on the go with meetings, travel, product development and fun! But there’s one thing you can count on every single day, we are always dressed preppy whatever the occasion!

Your dream project?

Partnering with an iconic brand such a Ralph Lauren on a Specialized Southern Collection. Or developing our own reality TV show to help gentlemen every look and act their best!

What goals do you have for your business in the future?

Our long term goal for Southern Proper is to be the leading lifestyle brand in the southern region, dressing men from head to toe! We not only want our customers look the best in the world, but be the best for the world too by portraying to lifestyle and tradition of the South.

Advice to other budding creative entrepreneurs?

Don’t ever be afraid to ask for help, always utilize your resources, and lead with your heart!

Thank you Emmie!  Be sure to check in tomorrow to see the Southern Proper Cheat Sheet—Emmie’s top picks for film, travel and more!

How I’ve missed Jane’s magnificent, colorful Cheat Sheets!  Thank you again to Jen and Chris of Cabin 7 for being this week’s Plucky Pioneers.  Your lovely gilded creations are such an inspiration—-keep up the beautiful work!

After a Katie-is-moving-cross-country break, I am pleased to announce the Plucky Pioneer series is back in full swing starting NOW!  I’m even more excited to be kicking things off again with two of the sweetest, most creative young women you ever did meet, Jen Jafarzadeh L’Italien and Chris Haber, of Cabin 7.  These ladies use the age-old craft of gilding to create some of the most lovely modern objects for the home.  From vintage wood blocks to white birch cardholders, I love that the Cabin 7 collection is truly a celebration of both new and old.  Without further ado, our 15th installment of Plucky Pioneers…

Five words used to describe yourself.

Chris: creative, outgoing, loyal, generous, technologically-impaired

Jen: curious, passionate, workaholic, thoughtful, storyteller

What inspires you creatively?

Chris: I’m inspired by things in nature. And I constantly look to magazines for inspiration — tear out favorite pages. I’m also inspired by things I loved in my childhood.

Jen: The list of places where I find inspiration is seemingly endless these days: definitely magazines and books are still a big part, but the blog world has uncapped a constant stream of inspiration. I’m passionately in love with the history and charm of vintage finds. I can happily walk in an antique shop and spend hours sifting through what some people may call junk, but I see as some of the ultimate treasures.

Who were/are your design mentors?

Chris: The people I’ve worked with along the way. Eli Rios (worked at his furniture restoration studio for years), Paul Thimau (amazing screenprinting professor at F.I.T.) and Thomas Venturella (I did a stained glass internship with him and created a 16 foot tall stained glass window.)

Jen: Honestly I’m sitting next to one! Chris is definitely one of my design mentors. She’s not only my shop partner and friend, but she’s the one who taught me everything I know about gilding. She really loves the craft and she has her own amazing, crazy tricks and methods for making gilded objects — her love of the art is infectious. The editor who hired me at Real Simple, Kelly Tagore, was my first design mentor. She taught me how to how to seek out inspiration but then create your own fresh twist on an idea – and how to produce photo shoots. And working alongside incredible stylists along the way, like Lili Diallo helped me develop my own style and hone in on finding what feels right in creating a pretty photo.

How would you describe your personal design aesthetic?

Chris: I like color and I’m not afraid to use color. I’m attracted to designs that make me happy.

Jen: I appreciate modern, but my true style is always rooted in vintage elements. I also love repurposing antiques to make them work for here and now (I have a library card catalog case organized with all my hardware supplies and tools.) I got married on a farm in Maine and the elements and decorations came together in my true aesthetic — a love of handmade, rustic, natural beauty.

What propelled you to found your own company?

We knew we wanted to do a business together for a while. We both have different strengths to contribute, which helps make our business work, and we’ve known each other since we were 11. We both have worked at jobs where we’re working so hard for someone else and felt like we could work for ourselves, do what we love to do, and make money. You get to a point where you know what you’re worth. It’s also sweet to have total creative control of what you do. And it’s pretty amazing to work alongside one of your best friends!

Most glamourous part of owning your own company?

Making your own hours. Seeing people love what you created.

Least glamourous part of owning your own company?

The structure and organization you need with bookkeeping, taxes, all the stuff you have to be disciplined about but wish you could ignore.

Best business advice you’ve been given?

You don’t need 50 great ideas for a business, just a few solid ideas that are fresh. Don’t give up on a good idea even if it doesn’t take off right away.

Creative businesswoman you admire?

It’s impossible not to list Martha Stewart. She’s amazing.

What keeps your organized and on task?

Chris, “Jen!”

Jen, “Me!”

Moment you knew you’d “made it”?

We haven’t even looked up since this all started, but being featured on Daily Candy less than a month out from our shop launch was definitely a wow moment.

Describe your typical work day…

It depends on what we’re working on, but typically we meet up and gild together, focusing on one type of object. Luckily, it’s easy to gild and talk, so our days fly by so fast.

Your dream project?

Chris: I would love to gild inside the interior of some historical landmark.

Jen: It would be a dream to gild something for John Derian’s shop.

What goals do you have for your business in the future?

We’re hoping to do Renegade Brooklyn next year. We have a few collections up our sleeves that we’re working on. We want to continue to expand the shop with unique twists on gilded objects. We’d love to see our gilded objects sold in boutiques sometime down the line.

Advice to other budding creative entrepreneurs?

Remember to keep it simple and don’t do everything at once. A big part of starting out is strategically narrowing down and editing yourself.

Be sure to stop in tomorrow morning to see the Cabin 7 Plucky Pioneer Cheat Sheet!  Thank you Chris and Jen!!!

That’s it Jane, I really am commissioning one of your beautiful cheat sheets for myself!  A huge thank you goes out to the lovely Meg Galligan for being our Plucky Pioneer this week.  We’re so excited to watch Margaret Elizabeth Designs grow and flourish!

More in a bit dear girls… xo katie

Happy Monday loves!  I am so pleased to introduce you to today’s Plucky Pioneer, Meg Galligan of Margaret Elizabeth Designs.  The darling, young Meg started making jewelry in her dorm room at Boston College and the business has grown steadily ever since.  How could it not when you’re selling things as stunning as the crystal and ribbon necklace above?  I, for one, need it in every color!  Interesting enough, Meg still holds a day job (somewhere I think you may have heard of, I’ll let her share…) and manages her jewelry business in her “off” hours.  If only we were all so creative in our down time!  Her jewels are not only available on her website, but also various boutiques on both the east and west coasts.  I have a feeling we’ll be seeing a lot of Margaret Elizabeth Designs in the future, but for time being, here’s the charming Miss Galligan live from San Francisco…

Five words used to describe yourself.

Curious, Creative, Spirited, Passionate, Loyal [Above, Meg working on some finishing touches --- love her lamp and inspiration board!]

What inspires you creatively?

Everything! Travel, colors, texture, nature, glossy magazines and lovely blogs…

Who were/are your design mentors?

My mom, Midge, and my grandmother, Nonnie. My Nonnie was a wedding planner- she always came up with the neatest ideas and constantly exuded uber-creativity, style, and all around coolness. As for my mom, she is incredibly artistic (also very cool) and is always there to chat about new designs & ideas.

How would you describe your personal design aesthetic?

Traditional with a twist? I like layers- classic cardigans, scarves, bold/geometric prints, fun accessories and a bit of sparkle.

What propelled you to found your own company?

I started the company in college more or less by chance. I had always loved making jewelry and started designing necklaces and earrings for myself & for friends. My first trunk show was in my dorm room. From there, I started selling to small boutiques in Boston and launched my website in 2005. It’s been fun!

Most glamorous part of owning your own company?

I love working with brides to design jewelry for their special day, or help them choose pieces for their bridesmaids. There’s always something really special about knowing that the jewelry I designed is being included in a wedding!

Least glamorous part of owning your own company?

Quickbooks, budget setting, html/website stuff (I’m terrible with the tech side of things)

Best business advice you’ve been given?

Save your receipts (thanks, Poppie!)

Creative businesswoman you admire?

Christiane Celle, Gabrielle Chanel, Margaret Russell, Ina Garten (love her!), Jenna Lyons, Martha Stewart, Paige Nichols…

What keeps your organized and on task?

Hand written to-do lists. I really love a well written to-do list. My mom still says that she finds them floating around the house from years ago.

Moment you knew you’d “made it”?

Still waiting! But it was pretty cool to see Kate Hudson photographed wearing one of my necklaces in US Weekly.

Describe your typical work day…

No day is typical, but they all look a little bit like this: Wake up, check email, read my favorite blogs, head to Google (I work there during the day), come home and work on designs, check in with stores, fill orders, get shipments ready for the next day, catch up with friends, cook dinner or check out a new restaurant… (have a favorite in San Francisco you recommend?)

Your dream project?

I’d love to collaborate with a major clothing designer whose design aesthetic matches mine…and do a line specifically for that designer- “Margaret Elizabeth for ________”

What goals do you have for your business in the future?

Growth! I’m working right now on expanding into new cities and towns. Summer is a fun time for trunk shows- both home shows and in stores, so my goal is to introduce Margaret Elizabeth to new markets and customers. If you know of a shop that would be a good fit, let me know!

Advice to other budding creative entrepreneurs?

Do it! It’s amazing how things unfold when you’re doing something you really love. [Below, Meg creating jewelry for her budding business as an undergrad at Boston College.]

Be sure to check in tomorrow for Meg’s Plucky Pioneer Cheat Sheet—her top picks for film, fashion and more!  Thank you Meg!