On Monday, December 11th, Eris and I will be on WGHP Fox 8 at 7:45 a.m. to talk about MerriMail and Tips for Entrepreneurs. If you are in North Carolina's Piedmont Triad region, please tune in and see what happens.
We will post our advice for entrepreneurs on our blog after the show airs.
I have just spent the week giving the MerriMail web site a much needed face lift. New animation (seen above) and bright new colors. Be sure to check her out.
If the little bird is already perched on the M, refresh your screen to see the animation.
We are so thrilled to be featured as part of Venus' Indie Giver Guide as presented by Jessica Hood. We love being associated with Venus, the No. 1 source for coverage of women in music, art, film, fashion, and D.I.Y. culture. Be sure to check out this quarterly on the newsstand and online.
Mark your calendars for the next Rock & Shop Market on Saturday December 2nd! The Rock & Shop Market is a hip, urban market in downtown Raleigh, North Carolina showcasing designer goods from over 35 local & national emerging artists as well as live performances by The Midtown Dickens, The Octobers & DJ Marco!
Thanks to Skirt! Magazine for the kudos in their November issue. Be sure to pick it up for a great read during the Holiday weekend.
Want to give MerriMail as a gift, but need something to present? We now have the answer. We put together a set of eight different cards for you to choose from. Select your greeting and print it out. Enjoy!
Jug or Naught, Fredric Meijer Gardens, Grand Rapids, Michigan, 1999.
Photographer: David Ferris.
I just had an excellent interview with Patrick Dougherty, a world-renown sculptor from North Carolina. The interview will be featured in the upcoming issue of MerriMail, due out in January. Fly through Twisted Logic to get a sense of the depth of his work.
We are in the process of collecting a comprehensive list of inspiring workshops, conferences and events. Please browse our listing and be sure to add any of your favorites in the comments section.
Looking for something to do tomorrow in Raleigh, NC? Check out The Handmade Market.
The Handmade Market is a showcase of artists, independent designers, and crafters that is produced by The Handmaidens, a North Carolina collective of nine independent designers.
And if you can't make it, you can see the fabulous list of vendors who will be promoting their delightful goods.
A special thanks to Eris for representing MerriMail at Pink Mink's Open House. Be sure to visit Pink Mink for life's little luxuries the next time you are in Winston-Salem. This is where Eris first discovered the sweet little bird salt and pepper shakers.
We just added a list of workshops hosted by a few of our friends, along with places we have taken classes before. Thanks to Melba for sending in the information for JustBe... Connected, a creative bloggers conference next fall in Cape Cod.
We would love to hear of any of your favorite places to take classes and workshops. Please add them in the comments section and we will be sure to add them to our workshops page, as well.
One Chic Mama: Merriment in Your Mailbox
What an honor to be featured on Mary Michelle Little's One Chic Mama. She designs incredible clothes and aprons for children and their moms. She also creates non-traditional wedding dresses. So be sure to check her out.
We are so thrilled to be featured on today's blog from design*sponge. Read more about Grace and design*sponge to see why this feature is so important to us.
Thanks, Grace! Your photo and write-up is fabulous.
We received our first press write-up today in the Elkin Tribune. Please be sure to check out page 11 of the paper. It may be a lot easier to read than this image.
A special thanks to Karen, Yvonne and Nancy for helping us assemble our first issue on Monday. You helped make the day fly by.
Also, for those of you who are fortunate to read the Elkin Tribune, Caroline actually grew up in Germanton.
We were so thrilled when Stephen Asprinio agreed to be our first guest expert. Known for being an expert in pairing ingredients with fine wine, Stephen almost made it into the final round of Bravo's first season of Top Chef. We knew that he would be the perfect person to advise our readers on a range of peppery wines in our first issue of MerriMail. How exciting when he said yes!
Plus with his entrepreneurial spirit, Stephen seemed like a perfect person to feature. Food has been his passion from a very early age. After training in many of the leading restaurants in the country, it is exciting to see that Stephen is launching his own venture - FoodReal. Be sure to visit his web site to learn more about his new restaurant, which is opening in 2007. And for all of you Top Chef fans, Stephen also features his insight from each episode. Enjoy!
Isn't the menu for our web site sweet?
We actually launched the MerriMail web site a couple of weeks ago, but we have had a busy couple of weeks creating a sample idea card for the first issue to share with vendors at the Atlanta Gift Mart. We have lots of fabulous guest experts and wonderful gifts that we found while we were on our trip. Eris and I are both very excited about the first year of MerriMail. I am in the process of adding the subscription page so that it will be very easy for you to subscribe.
Eris and I finalized the MerriMail logo today! Time to celebrate. Just one baby step keeps us moving towards our Fall launch. More details to follow.
Originally published on Beyond Friendship Gate on
Eris and I first started talking about working on a business together over a year ago. I called her with an idea after watching the intro episode of The Apprentice in 2004. Now two years later, the idea is finally starting to evolve into a reality. We had our first weekly conference call this morning to determine our action items. One of my tasks was to register the Merritt Studios domain name with Webmasters. Done.
The name Merritt Studios comes from our mom's maiden names. They are sisters. And, needless to say, we loved playing together as kids. Among our discussions about Duran Duran, Guiding Light and our upcoming Barbie weddings, we also discussed starting a business together. How exciting that it is finally coming to fruition.
The picture above is from my second birthday party. Eris is to the far right, climbing into the chair. I feature this picture on my fortunehearts about page.
Originally posted on Beyond Friendship Gate on Tuesday, February 28th, 2006
