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| Too Cute Tuesday: Wine Glass Charms |
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Posted by: nouellette
on Tuesday, December 29, 2009 Tagged in: Untagged
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Too Cute Tuesday (TCT) is a weekly event on the Breaking Even blog that involves friends, crafting, and cocktailing. Every week it's a different, inexpensive craft to make and a different, fun cocktail to keep things social. If you have an idea for a craft or otherwise want to participate,contact Nicole. This Tuesday was a quiet one here at Craft Central. With everyone out with family, or on dates, or just staying inside and safe from subzero temperatures and strong winds here in Maine, I (Nicole) crafted alone this evening. Realizing earlier in the week that we had an abundance of glass beads in our stash, I tried unsuccessfully to think of a creative way to use them. Stuck, I took the predicament to the Facebook page for ideas. Jodi of Living The Road Less Traveled recommended I make bookmarks, sun catchers, or decorative glass tags (for parties). Kelly at Almost Frugal seconded the notion of wine glass tags, suggesting I use hook earring bases as the part that loops onto the rim of the glass. TCTers are so smart!
| Marketing Monday: Mardens |
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Posted by: nouellette
on Monday, December 28, 2009 Tagged in: Untagged
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Know an individual or business doing something cool to promote themselves online? Let me know about it and they might be featured as part of Marketing Monday.
 This week's inspiration actually came to me as I was driving in the middle of a snow/ice storm back home from Christmas festivities.
A radio ad in the middle of the Maine woods had the familiar Marden's jingle but urged me to join Marden's on Facebook and Twitter. I especially perked up when they mentioned to visit the Marden's website to see the weekly flyer before it got into the newspapers.
For those of you less familiar, Marden's is a Maine institution, known in part for its cheesy catchy jingle "I should have bought it, when I saw it, at Mardens!" and for its great deals on everything. (If you don't have to feed it, Marden's sells it.) It's a salvage store with locations across the state, meaning its inventory is not only location dependent but also constantly changing.
Marden's would no doubt be a success in Maine regardless of publicity (Mainers are in general a practical people who love a deal) but all it's promotional efforts have made Mardens the success it is today.
Here's what Mardens is doing right:
| Merry Christmas |
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Posted by: nouellette
on Thursday, December 24, 2009 Tagged in: Untagged
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Wishing you the happiest of holidays, whatever you celebrate, and the best for you and yours in the coming year.
Friend and blogger Craig started a weekly personal finance chat on Twitter with BudgetPulse last week. He was looking for cohosts and since I like Craig and talking about money, I offered to be a part of it. Each week, the topic is different with the undercurrent of money (sound familiar?). Tonight on the Weekly Personal Finance Chat, we're talking about dating. What does personal finance have to do with dating. More than you'd think: Who pays? Is it more expensive to be single or in a relationship? Basically all things love and money will be all over Twitter tonight, and if you have a Twitter account, you can be a part of it!
| Too Cute Tuesday: 2009 In Review |
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Posted by: nouellette
on Tuesday, December 22, 2009 Tagged in: Untagged
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Too Cute Tuesday is a weekly event on the Breaking Even blog that involves, friends, crafting, and cocktailing. Every week it's a different and inexpensive craft to make and a different cocktail to keep things social. If you have an idea for a craft or otherwise want to participate, contact Nicole. 
It's been another exciting year of crafting and cocktailing every Tuesday night at Craft Central. Too Cute Tuesday began in 2007 when Nicole was bored one night and said 'Pfft! I can make that!' Mostly a solo effort, Nicole moved to Bar Harbor at the end of 2008 and told Dorrie about TCT over a pint at O'Learys. Dorrie was sold. 'We can do it at my house!' And often, we do. 
The first part of TCT 2009 was with Nicole and Dorrie. Slowly the crafting circle grew as Sarah moved in with Dorrie. Sam started coming. Then Sarah brought Sue in, and then Christie. Now people bring friends, visitors, and even their moms. Making Too Cute Tuesday a weekly event people looked forward to was by far the coolest part of 2009.
| Marketing Monday: Maine Maven |
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Posted by: nouellette
on Monday, December 21, 2009 Tagged in: Untagged
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Know an individual or business doing something cool to promote themselves online? Let me know about it! I first came across the Maine Maven site a couple years ago. It's one of those blogs I subscribe to that's kind of like a good old friend: no matter how long it's been, I seem to be able to pick up right where I left off. I was having a bit of writer's blog when my Twitter friend MargaretsCards suggested I write about Maine Maven. Good idea! 
| What Would Jesus Buy? |
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Posted by: nouellette
on Friday, December 18, 2009 Tagged in: Untagged
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It was a pretty good tongue in cheek look at our consumerist culture, which ramps up to new levels during the holiday season. Seeing clips of crazy shopping footage, encouraging television anchors (buy now!), and pervasive holiday commericals all together made me realize just how bad it was. Sometimes I forget about these things since I don't have cable!
| A Note About Online Privacy: There Is None |
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Posted by: nouellette
on Thursday, December 17, 2009 Tagged in: Untagged
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It's been interesting to watch reactions to Facebook's changes in their privacy policy. Status updates of some of my friends have outlined how to change privacy settings by unclicking a box in the administrative options of a profile. Then I saw an interesting post on Beth's Blog about a movement called Seppukoo (named after the noble death of samaris who threw themselves down on their swords) to get people to cancel their Facebook accounts and reclaim their lives.
I haven't felt very strongly about any of this because I've always felt that anything I post on the internet, whether it's a tweet or a blog or a status update, can be accessed by anyone with enough tech skills.
| Too Cute Tuesday: Christmas Candies |
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Posted by: nouellette
on Tuesday, December 15, 2009 Tagged in: Untagged
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Too Cute Tuesday is a weekly event on the Breaking Even blog that involves, friends, crafting, and cocktailing. Every week it's a different and inexpensive craft to make and a different cocktail to keep things social. If you have an idea for a craft or otherwise want to participate, contact Nicole. It was back to the regular format this Too Cute Tuesday of friends getting together for a craft and a cocktail. Tonight, we did a little Christmas baking, which was Christie's idea. Note that coincidentally Christie is having a holiday party on Saturday with hors d'oeuvres, so I get the sneaking suspicion that she's going to serve her share of treats at this social event. And in addition to saving Christie some work, we all have our fair share of sugar and chocolate to tide us over into the next year. This week, we had a new TCTer. Jordanne joined Christie, Sue, and I for a Christmas sweet cooking extravaganza. Both of these recipes are from our very own Christie.
| Marketing Monday: Jack Frost Ski Shop |
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Posted by: nouellette
on Monday, December 14, 2009 Tagged in: Untagged
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Know an individual or business doing cool things with marketing/promotion both online and off? Let me know about it; I am always looking for ideas! I spent this past weekend skiing in New Hampshire. I have a couple of friends who are members of ski clubs in the Mount Washington area and this weekend was the kickoff of the ski season for the Eastern Inter-Club Ski League or EISCL (pronounced "ice-sill") at Bretton Woods. I attended as a guest, helping my friends at the registration table in exchange for a free lift ticket. I later found out that the whole event was underwritten by Jack Frost Ski Shop, located in Glen New Hampshire. 
Sadly, this was not obvious to me at the event but the good news is I learned a lot about the Jack Frost Ski Shop anyway. Here are some things we can all learn from them, and what I think could be improved upon:
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