The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau

Posted on 09. May, 2012 by Princess Lasertron.

with chris in NYC earlier this week

Today is the launch of my friend and mentor Chris Guillebeau’s (you can follow him on Twitter too!) newest book, The $100 Startup. I’m so excited that it launched to such a great reception–it’s #9 on Amazon now, and #1 in entrepreneurship, self-help, and education. Yowza.

Personally I’m a bit over the moon because I’m featured in The $100 Startup. Chris talks about my unconventional career and how I made my work fit seamlessly into my life as I grew into a coworking studio space, had a baby, etc. There are tons of profiles of crazy unconventional businesses that are different from mine so you are sure to find inspiration and motivation from this book.

I sat down for a bit in Central Park with Chris on Sunday when I was in New York City, where he kicked off the book tour today. I encourage you to check out the list of his stops on the $100 Startup Book Tour and see if you can make it to one of the events. I wish we were hosting one at CAMP again this year but it was just not to be–glad I got a chance to say hi when we crossed paths in NYC though!

Let me know if you pick up the book, and tell me what you think!

xx
meg

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white horsies jump: mama and alice go to the international horse jumping event

Posted on 25. Apr, 2012 by Princess Lasertron.

I was asked about a month ago if I’d like four VIP passes to The International, an exciting world-class horse jumping show here in Omaha. I’d never been to a horse event before, so I accepted with glee–and it was SO fun!

So here’s what I learned about horse jumping:

• It’s judged on speed, and number of faults.
• If you knock down one bar, it’s a four-point fault. If your horse refuses to jump, that’s four. And if they refuse twice, you’re disqualified

The same jockey and horse won both nights, and on the second night, his wife, who also rides, came in second! They kissed while they were on their horses doing the ribbon parade thing–it was so cute. Then when all the horses have their ribbons, they gallop around the outside ring.

One of the best parts was the opening ceremonies of each night–a Native American tribe played a song to honor the veterans in the audience, and–I gotta say I liked this best–a troupe of trick-riding cowgirls FLEW around the arena doing horse acrobatics. Their white horses had pink manes and tails and GLITTER on their hides, and the girls stood on top of the horses, flipped around the saddles, and hung to the ground by one leg while the horses raced at top speed around the ring. The icing on the cake was the soundtrack to the routine–Space Jam by Quad City DJs? Lose Yourself by Eminem? And a little Down With the Sickness–yes, they played Disturbed. YES. Sarah, Alice and I were the freaks rocking out in the bleachers.

It was my first time at a horse show of any kind and we had so much fun. Alice loved it–she won’t stop talking about “white horsies jump HIGH!” “White horsies jump!!”

We enjoyed the Mercedes-Benz and Borsheims VIP cocktail parties (Mama and Aunt Sarah enjoyed them very much), and Alice loved the music–a little band on the first night, and harps on the second. One of the jockey’s dogs–a little pug–got loose and ran up on the stage while the harpists were playing. Two staff members were chasing him all over! Pug hero!

Thank you again to The International, Britten at Bailey Lauerman, and Borsheims for making it possible for me to attend–and thanks to my besties Alice and Sarah for making it so much fun.

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ask a furniture designer: a conversation with peter cales

Posted on 06. Apr, 2012 by Princess Lasertron.

Peter Cales is a designer, woodworker, and friend I have known socially for a few years, but we recently became closer friends and I’ve really enjoyed learning about his craft and his process, which he shares in generous detail on his blog at Measure Cut Cut. A few weeks ago, he delivered my newest purchase–a commissioned “black and birch” striped table for CAMP Coworking. We were in need of a new conference table, and I wanted something well-designed and bold, with some feminine je ne sais quoi. He sourced reclaimed wood from the Witherspoon Mansion and hand-cut each leg with the perfect amount of detail and curve.

I interviewed Peter about his inspiration, what he’s learned, where he’s going, and his process when working with custom clients. Try working with a local independent furniture designer in your area–it’s such a cool way to go handmade.

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Q: What right now are you really excited about and inspired by, and how is it influencing your current projects?
Peter: I’m really inspired by the Kent Bellows Studio right now – especially the building and the sort of “living” sets Kent made for his paintings and drawings. I’ve been interested in exploring textures and opaque tones in the work I’ve been doing lately. I just scheduled my first solo show to take place at KBS next September. I’ve had the opportunity to work with the kids there on a weekly basis for much of the last year and I just feel a unique energy every time I walk into the space. The building – and my mentoring experience, the kids, the staff, the history – it’s all influencing the work I’m doing and pushing me to take chances and try new things with my work.

Q: Are you ever stuck on ideas? What do you do when you feel like you want to create something, but you don’t know where to begin?
Peter: I get stuck sometimes in the design process, but usually I know I only have a small window of time to effectively work with a client, so I try to push through those kinds of things. Typically, I’ll just start drawing shapes and individual elements until things start to click. I like to make things for people who are interested in the design or fabrication process, so I usually end up trying to incorporate details that directly relate to their story or life. Those tend to be pretty inspiring in terms of working through road blocks in the design process.

I’m notoriously guilty of starting projects without really knowing how they’re going to reach fruition. Usually I’ll get a mental image of a completed piece. And if I know it’s something I really feel strongly about and want to make, I’ll just work until the real things matches the picture in my mind. I’ve made some of my more interesting chairs, and developed some of my signature pieces by doing this – particularly my star tables and signature wooden hot air balloons. Sometimes I end up wasting material because I’ll get so far into something and realize the piece just isn’t working. But generally I like the freedom of doing things really intuitively.

Q: What do you love about where you live?
A: I love living in Omaha because of the opportunity here. I mean, I’m able to work and support myself (most of the time, anyway) by making stuff. Who wouldn’t want to do that? I don’t think I could do what I’m doing in many other places. Access is a big thing in my world. I’m talking access to a network of clients and supportive people, resources, affordable housing and workspace. Omaha seems unique in the sense that if you want to do something here in the arts world, you can just do it. You don’t have to jump through hoops or know the right people. You can just do stuff and have a chance to be successful. There are definitely some drawbacks, too. I think there are some cultural ceilings here and there certainly aren’t the markets here that exist on the coasts. But the opportunities far outweigh the limitations right now for me.

Q: What advice do you have for someone who wants to support a designer like you but has never ordered custom commissioned work before?
A: I have a sense that most people are nervous about inquiring about custom work. They either think it’s going to be really expensive or that I’m going to be weird or something. But custom work is sort of my bread and butter, and I’m used to working with people who have modest budgets. Most of my clients tend to be younger professionals who have a little money to spend and want something unique that they can’t get at Ikea or Nebraska Furniture Mart.

I try to approach this kind of work in a really personal way. I want my clients to feel comfortable with me, but I also want to feel comfortable with them. After all, my work – kind of a part of me, really – is going to be in their home forever. And they’re likely going to incorporate the piece into their day to day lives. So I really work hard to seek out clients who will appreciate the experience of working closely with me. I want to know peoples’ stories – what they’re like, what they’re interested in and how our aesthetics match up – before we even start talking about what kind of piece they’re interested in. But I invest a lot of time in the custom/commission process because it’s important and valuable to me. After all, this is how I’ve chosen to spend the majority of my time, so I want to really enjoy my work experience and feel fulfilled by it. Custom work is time consuming and definitely not as cost-effective as more streamlined things. I could make more money making simple cabinets or repetitive designs, but it’s more worthwhile to me to consistently enjoy my work than it is to make a little more money doing something I don’t enjoy.

Q: Is there anything that you haven’t done or learned that you’d like to try?
A: There are so many things I haven’t learned. I want to be a better craftsman. I think I have an unfounded reputation as some sort of great craftsman. I’m probably better than most people who don’t make furniture and art for a living, but I have a long way to go before I earn any sort of great title. I think everyone should continuously work toward perfecting their craft or whatever they’re passionate about doing. I also want to ride in a hot air balloon. I have a pretty terrible fear of heights, so even flying on an airplane kind of freaks me out usually, but someday I will take a balloon ride. I also want to be a guest on Fresh Air with Terri Gross someday. I want to go back to Southeast Asia too. There are loads of things I want to do. But mostly I just want to make something amazing and leave a significant legacy. That’s what it’s all about for me.

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One cool thing Peter is working on right now is a side project called Tiny Wooden Box, a limited-edition line of just that–small handcrafted wooden boxes–priced at $50 each. I think they’re adorable and you’ll have use for them for a long time. I visualize a man buying one to hold an engagement ring for his wife, his wife using it to store her favorite earrings and rings, and maybe using one to store locks of hair from a baby’s first haircut or teeth for the tooth fairy. What don’t you need a tiny wooden box for?!

Check out Peter Cales’s commissioned and gallery work on his website, Measure Cut Cut, and pick up a tiny wooden box for your treasures too.

xo
meg

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day to night in kansas city: fash flood x lasertron

Posted on 14. Nov, 2011 by Princess Lasertron.

Here’s another post brought to you by my friend Sarah Lorsung Tvrdik of Fash Flood where she shares style inspiration, hair and makeup tutorials, and images from her fantastically beautiful life. She agreed to unleash her styling expertise on some of her favorite pieces from our 2011 dress collection. Last month she showed how to style our Nicole Dress for a formal event, and this time around she is sharing how to create a more casual look with the same dress. Remember that you can order each of our dresses in your own favorite color!

Hello Lasertron readers! I’m back again wearing the Nicole dress for an easy day-to-night look.

I recently wore this dress for a day trip to Kansas City, Missouri for my second wedding anniversary. Have you ever had one of those trips when you weren’t sure what to pack because of the quickly transitioning weather? That was definitely this trip. When I packed it was bright and sunny in Omaha and barely cold at all. In Kansas City it was chilly, overcast and even a little rainy.

For this casual daytime look, I paired the Nicole dress with a sunny vintage sweater cape, swirly purple Missoni for Target tights and camel colored Leifsdottir flats. I didn’t initially plan on the wearing the tights, but I had to out of necessity since it was freezing!

This look turned out great for my day trip because I was able to wear the dress for both the daytime -when we went shopping and drank a million cups of coffee, and for dinner -I just threw on a dressier vintage beaded cardigan and heels and was good to go. In my previous post, I wore this dress with a petticoat, but this time I wore the dress alone and the skirt still had plenty of volume.

A little about our trip; we went to one of our favorite restaurants in Kansas City, the Blue Bird Bistro (lots of vegetarian/vegan options) and then ran into a Día de los Muertos themed exhibit around the corner from the restaurant. For anyone unfamiliar, November 2^nd is Día de los Muertos or Day of the Dead. You can read more about the history of this day here.

Nevertheless, I’m not sure exactly what this place was, as it was closed for the day but it seemed like some sort of cultural center. I loved all the traditional, multi-colored flags and had to sneak into their courtyard for a few photos. There was even a Día de los Muertos Steve Jobs shrine in the courtyard (not pictured, we thought it would be a little weird to pose by it).

All in all, this dress was great for traveling and kept me from stopping back at our hotel to re-do my entire look to go from day to night. Visit the shop at Princess Lasertron to read more about the Nicole dress!

Until next time,
Sarah of fashflood.com

P.S. Like this style? Read about another stop on our trip on my blog.

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emerald city: fash flood x lasertron

Posted on 10. Oct, 2011 by Princess Lasertron.

This post was written for me by my friend Sarah Lorsung Tvrdik, purveyor of style and beauty at her style blog Fash Flood. She’s truly a local fashion plate and a longtime inspiration to me since we first met in 2005 when our boyfriends (now husbands) were roommates! She introduced me to MAC cosmetics, my beloved hair dresser Rebecca, the worship of Miu Miu footwear and the show Mad Men. I owe her so much, and even more after she agreed to unleash her styling expertise on some of her favorite pieces from our 2011 dress collection. She first took home our Nicole dress in Emerald Green, which is beautiful on her. Remember that you can order each of our dresses in your own favorite color! Here is the first in a series of Fash Flood x Lasertron posts written by Sarah–The Emerald City!

Named after one of my favorite local models, the vivid, emerald green frock known as the “Nicole” dress is my pick for the first of many Fash Flood x Princess Lasertron posts to come. (Note of Bias: This *might* have a little something to do with being a redhead)

For this series, I’ll be demonstrating how to dress each piece ‘up’ for formal events and how to dress it ‘down’ for everyday use. This dress was the perfect choice to begin with because of its saturated hue (a HUGE fall trend) and fabric; being made in 100% cotton makes anything more versatile, and I was excited to find that you can even wash this dress at home–on gentle, of course.

I paired the Nicole dress with a few of my favorite vintage accessories (All of my vintage accessories are my “favorite”, btw) like this magenta satin sash from Coriander on Etsy, black and white hat and gloves, white cat eye shades and glittering Christian Louboutins (my wedding shoes, eek!).

I’m also wearing a crinoline made by Princess Lasertron underneath the skirt to add volume. And let me tell you, once you go crinoline, you can’t go back. I want to wear this sucker under every skirt I own. Such a great versatile item that I can’t believe I lived without.

Hair was kept simple in an off to the side braid, which seems to be a newish trend in the bridal world; favoring simplicity over the hard-headed up-do’s of the past. At my own wedding, a few of my bridesmaids chose braids or side ponytails which I loved.

To finish this look I mixed MAC’s ‘Girl About Town” with “Impassioned” lipsticks and added a little lime green shadow (MAC’s “Bitter”) and finished it off with a dramatic cat eye liner (Lancôme Art Liner in “Noir”) and Lancôme’s Doll Lashes mascara.

This look is perfect for any non-traditional bridesmaid, to wear to your own bridal shower or even to attend the formal wedding of a close friend or relative. Did I mention this dress has pockets? You don’t even need a clutch, just tuck your favorite lipstick in the pocket and dance your pretty little heart out.

Thanks again to Megan and the Princess Lasertron team for letting me try out this lovely dress. I’ll see all of you lovely readers next time, when I use this dress for a casual look. In the meantime, you can check out my blog at fashflood.com.

xo, Fash Flood

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