*insert drumroll here*

AND THE WINNER IS…

Number 3! A fellow Niki and Wisconsinite! Congratulations to Niki Bivona! The two organizations that she supports are the Urban Ecology Center and the Hunger Task Force, both really awesome causes in my homestate of Wisconsin.

I will be giving your contract information to PrintRunner so they can contact you about the details of your win. Congratulations again! And thank you to Jess and Jenelle for taking part in the giveaway as well. You guys rock!

My birthday was yesterday, so expect a post with lots of pictures coming soon. It was the best birthday ever.

“You are a child of the universe,
no less than the trees and the stars;
you have a right to be here.
…And whether or not it is clear to you,
no doubt the universe is unfolding as it should.”
- Max Ehrmann

But first, I have a request for you. I would LOVE it if you could donate to an organization that is near and dear to my heart. No, it’s not required to enter the giveaway – it’s just something nice you could do for me on my 26th year of life (and for them).

My Birthday Nonprofit: Amazon CARES

This is a personal plea from me. Amazon Community Animal Rescue, Education & Safety (CARES) is a nonprofit organization that was founded by my good friend Molly Mednikow. This is a one-of-a-kind organization that operates in Iquitos, Peru, that offers animal rescue, spay and neuter services and education to the Amazon community, runs a no-kill shelter, and is the only charity dedicated to animals in the entire Peruvian Amazon region. The amount of good this small organization does for a very large area is astronomical.

Unfortunately, earlier this year, the Amazon was hit with a tremendous amount of flooding that devastated the organization – the shelter they had spent years building was destroyed. Molly and her trusted troupe of staff and volunteers carry on the work they have dedicated their lives to, but they struggle as not enough funding goes to rebuilding and less goes to the animals. They need your help.

For my birthday, I want everyone who reads this to donate $5 or more to the Amazon CARES ChipIn and help them raise the money to rebuild their organization and help give relief to the animals of the region. You can donate and see updates at this page, or you can donate via the ChipIn widget below.

Thank you. From the bottom of my heart. It would be the best present ever to see Molly and Amazon CARES continue the good work they do.

Edit: Molly just put this post up and it breaks my heart. If you were thinking about donating, now is the time! They could use all the help they can get right now! Let’s do this!

And Now… The PrintRunner Giveaway!

I haven’t done a giveaway in awhile, so I was totally excited when PrintRunner asked if I wanted to take part in theirs (and get my own cards too). I was also super stoked when I discovered the green aspect of the company – they’ve adopted some pretty stellar eco-friendly printing practices, which y’all should know is important to me. You can try PrintRunner’s online business cards printing through their online printing services.

Giveaway Details

Business Card Size and Style Business Cards: 2×3.5 (Standard)
Quantity: 250 cards
Colors: 4/4 Color Both Sides
Paper: 14 pt. UV Coating on Front, 14 pt. UV Coating on both sides,
Proof: NONE
Rounded Corners: NO
Ready To Ship In: 3 Business Days
Awards: May 31st, 2012
*Giveaway is open to US Residents only, ages 18 years old and above.

Deadline

This giveaway is open NOW and will close on my birthday, May 19th (at 11:59PM CST). What do you need to do to win? Comment on this post and, just for fun, tell me what your favorite charity or cause is. I would love to see what you guys care about. Don’t forget to follow PrintRunner on Twitter and Facebook – they’re pretty great. I’ll pick a winner on Sunday via the Random.org generator.

Hope you’re all having a wonderful May and happy Giveaway!

Cupcakes for Clara is a wonderful illustrated business that offers a range of adorable products, all based around Laura’s character, Clara (and her twin sister Macy and their neighbor Colin). I am in love with Laura’s illustrations – they are cute, clever, and colorful (three of my favorite things). Be sure to check out her website.

The Snail Trail!

If you’ve been reading this blog for long (or even if you just got here), you probably know that I LOVE snails. It’s part of my name after all. There’s a whole history there that I won’t get into now, but I’ve been a snail-lover since I was a little girl. So I was super excited when I learned about Laura’s latest product line and what she’s doing to promote it.

Begin THE SNAIL TRAIL!

To celebrate her new product line, Laura is doing a week of freebies, but in a very clever way. What you have stumbled upon right now is a TREASURE HUNT! On her own blog, and blogs of her friends, there will be hidden a little snail. Like this one:

FIND IT! Because when you do, you’ll find an awesome little free printable from Laura and Cupcakes for Clara! They’re adorable and fun and you know you want to do it.

Of course I’d be taking part in this. Somewhere on my blog homepage, you’ll find that snail – click on it and get ready for some adorableness!

And just because, have some snail poems.

Considering the Snail by Thom Gunn
The Lobster Quadrille by Lewis Carroll
Warning by Shel Silverstein
Upon a Snail by John Bunyan
The Snail by William Cowper

Enjoy and Good luck! Now go snail hunting!

May is my favorite month for several reasons. One, it’s my birthday month. May 19th (write it down). Two, it’s Geek Pride Day on the 25th (grab your towel). And Three. Today. Best holiday ever.

Happy Star Wars Day!

When I was still in college, I spent four months of my senior year living at the Audubon Center for the Northwoods in Sandstone, Minnesota. It was one of the most wonderful times of my life and I learned more in those four months than I did during my entire four years of college. This was thanks to, primarily, the incredible and motivating teachings of Mike Link and his wife Kate Crowley.

Which brings me to the reason for this post.

The Full Length Mississippi Kickstarter Project

Last year, Mike and Kate took on Lake Superior, walking around the entire freshwater resource, educating and creating awareness for their beloved great lake. Next year, the pair want to bike up and down the entire length of the nation’s largest river system. Their adventure has sparked the creation of the Full Length Mississippi Kickstarter Project.

In less than 48 hours, the Full Length Mississippi Kickstarter project will end and they still need about $500 to reach their goal. This is an all or nothing campaign – if they don’t meet that goal, they get nothing.

I am reaching out to all of you to please donate even just a little big. This endeavor can’t happen without you. Mike and Kate aim to raise awareness and educate the public about the health of our natures freshwater ways. They will bike the river and use their knowledge to create educational programs for schools and organizations and share what they discover along the way both in person and online. It’s an incredible journey and you can take part and help make this happen.

Support The Mississippi River!

Please support this project. I owe Mike and Kate a lot – they are inspiring people and have taught me so much. Help me help them by donating to this cause. Please support Full Length Mississippi!

Update 4.19.12, 8:12 CST: We did it! Thanks to you amazing people, Mike and Kate reached their Kickstarter goal with 22 hours to spare! You all rock! THANK YOU!

OH MY GOSH ME AND KEVIN EASTMAN!

Day 04 Question

What Is Your Favorite Movie? And Why?

SO MANY ANSWERS! Honestly, I don’t even know where to begin, so here’s a list. In no particular order.

The Last Unicorn because it’s beautiful and epic and an amazing adaptation of the book.
Peter Jackson’s The Lord of the Rings trilogy because of the same reasons as above.
The Dark Crystal because Brian Froud and Jim Henson are gods and the most amazing storytellers.
Anything by Miyazaki. ANYTHING. Look him up if you don’t know who he is. The man is a genius.
The Little Prince because again, amazing adaptation of the book and Gene Wilder is the perfect fox.
All Don Bluth movies. Nothing says “childhood” like Don Bluth.

And oh so many more than I’m going to kick myself for later for not remembering.

One Positive Thing from Today

A few weeks ago, I won weekend passes to STAPLE!, a indie comic convention here in Austin. I’ve been before so I was excited to go again. This time, for one main reason: KEVIN EASTMAN. That’s right. You heard me. Kevin Eastman, creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, was going to be there. And he was! And he did not disappoint! I dragged Ash to his Q&A which was awesome, and then made her stand in line with me afterward so I could get my TMNT issue signed. Not only did he sign it, but he also sketched a turtle on it, AND was gracious enough to take a picture with me. After I announced to him that when I was eight years old I dressed as Mikey for Halloween.

I didn’t tell him that I had turtle sheets when I was younger. That might have been embarrassing. In any case, I got to meet and hug Kevin Eastman today. I’m going to be hard-pressed to find anything more positive and awesome the rest of this month.

Be well!

My new Vibram FiveFingers!

Day 03 Question

What is One Thing That Has Been Frustrating You Lately? How Can You Overcome It?

I’m going to make this short. I’m currently frustrated by several things. One being the state of our house. We moved into this current house last May (almost a year ago), and we’re still not completely unpacked. This is partly my fault since I hate unpacking and I generally don’t get home until it’s time for dinner and freelance work anyway so I procrastinate on it. But it needs to get done and it’s one of my resolutions. Which leads into another resolution. ORGANIZATION! I mentioned a few entries back that my co-worker is helping me get organized. I’m hoping to take what I learn from her and turn it around on my house and try to get it organized as well. It’ll get there. Slowly but surely. One step at a time.

Another thing I’m frustrated with is my inability to pick up a pencil and draw. I get all excited to and then as soon as I open a blank page in my sketchbook, WHAM. Nothing. It’s frustrating. Anyone have any tips on how to get past artist’s block? So far, I’m failing miserably. I’d love some input.

One Positive Thing from Today

The whole day today was kind of wasted because I had a run-in with some shrimp in the early afternoon as we wandered around Sam’s Club trying samples. This wouldn’t be a problem if I was allergic. Which I am. While this absolutely sucks and made me want to shoot myself in the head because of the pain and the whole I-Can’t-Breath issues I was having, it did lead to several positive things.

1) We remembered to pick up Benadryl at the store. We’ve been out for awhile.
2) Because I’m sensitive to Benadryl and its sleepy side effects, I took a 17 hour nap. I think I’m FINALLY caught up on my sleep.
…and…
3) It reminded me how absolutely wonderful my girlfriend is. As soon as she realized what was happening, she grabbed my hand, got a big bottle of Benadryl, had it open and made me take some before we even got out of the store. As soon as we got home, I was already mostly out of it, so she put me to bed and took care of all the chores for the day and fed all the animals by herself (which is a huge feat by itself considering all the mouths we feed every night). She is just amazing, that girl.

So while I was pretty much out of it, good things came out of the whole ordeal. That’s positivity.

Oh, and before all that happened, I got to go to REI and pick up my brand new Vibram FiveFingers. Hell yes. So happy to start running again.

Be well!

Someone just got married.

Day 02 Question

Who is One Friend You Appreciate Having? And Why?

So I have two answers for this question and I don’t think either of them will be considered cheating. My girlfriend is not only the love of my life, but she’s my best friend. And Ash isn’t just my best friend, she’s my motivation, my inspiration, and the one who, no matter what, stands besides me. She is a mentor to me, a resource of knowledge, and more often than not, makes sure my sanity stays in tact as I attempt to push myself to my limits. I appreciate her more than she knows – I have a horrible habit of not talking about how I’m feeling and so I think she sometimes feels a little invisible and under appreciated. I don’t know what I would do without her though. She makes life whole. She keeps the house in check, the furry kids in check, and me and my work in check. She watches out for me and saves me from myself more often than I can count. She is my other half.

My second answer is Emily, my middle sister. She’s 18 now (we’re 7 years apart), and we are now in that incredible timeframe of being not just sisters, but good friends. I talk to her as much as I can and her opinions and thoughts mean more to me than anyone else’s. She’s got my back and I have hers. And she makes me laugh more than anyone else. When I’m feeling down, I know I can call her up or video chat with her and my whole world is brighter because of it. She’s an incredible person too and has this wonderful talent of lighting up a room when she enters and make everyone feel happier just for talking with her. She has a gift for making others smile.

My task for today is to let both of these amazing people in my life know what they mean to me. So Ash and Emi, this post is for you. I love you both so much. <3

One Positive Thing from Today

My boss’ birthday is tomorrow. Our team went out to lunch today to celebrate him and had pizza at this really awesome little pizza and deli I had never been to. It was great and I love out-of-office bonding moments like that. When we got back, I made him a little origami crane because it’s my traditional gift to give friends for their birthdays. His sincere delight in the little paper bird made me, in turn, delighted.

I also spent part of my afternoon “decorating” my friend (and Ash’s cousin) David’s cube (we work together). He got married last Friday and spent the week on his honeymoon. As a coming-home-yay-you’re-married type of surprise, I made a “Just Married” sign and tied some cans to his chair (see image above). I’m excited to see his response come Monday.

Be well!

I’m just going to say it. I want to go to SXSW Interactive this year. No. I really really REALLY want to go to SXSW Interactive this year. I was fortunate enough that last year I was able to attend through my day job, and I met so many amazing people and learned SO MUCH. So much that I’m pretty positive that I learned more in 5 days at SXSWi than I did in my 4.5 years of college. I thought for sure I would be going again this year, but it looks like if that’s going to happen, I’ll need your help. So I’ve come up with a deal for all of my awesome readers, family, and friends.

The SXSWi Snailbird Proposal

If you help to send me to SXSWi, I promise you I will bring to you all the latest, greatest news and education from the most awesome conference ever hosted in Austin, Texas. I will create a separate SXSWi page where I will write up all my notes, post all my pictures, and share all the downloads, tweets (both on designcoyote and rescueanimals), and resources I find. I’m even going to create a special #hashtag for Twitter usage so all you have to do is follow it to see my SXSWi tweets.

Some of the sessions I hope to go to (which is also all the things you get to learn about as well!) include: Storytelling Beyond Words: New Forms of Journalism, Security and Privacy in Social Networks, Taking Your Brand Back from Your Customers, Voices Carry: Why Authentic Brand Voices Matter, Social Media Boundaries: Personal/Personnel Policy, The State of Social Marketing, The Promise and Pitfalls of Real-Time Marketing, Social Media in the Underground World of B2B, Epic Battle: Creativity vs. Discipline in Social, Sparking Real World Action with Social Media, How Comics Journalism is Saving Your Media, Can Gaming Make the World Better?, How to Raise Awareness Through Blogger Outreach, Tech Superwomen: Mentors and Mentees FTW, and oh so much more that are on my list but I don’t have room to post.

OH! And don’t forget I would totally take pictures and share notes from speakers like Kevin Smith and Joss Whedon. Because hell yes, you know you want to hear from the two of them.

We all love learning. And you already know that I love sharing knowledge – on here, on @designcoyote, on I Love Rescue Animals, and on @rescueanimals – so you know that I’m only going to be bring you the best quality and create a stellar resource for those of you who can’t make it to SXSWi yourself. This is your chance to be a part of SXSWi for just a small donation (and some fantastic incentives). I will be sharing a ton of resources for social media, sharing positive causes, utilizing the internet and social media to raise donations, and how to market yourselves online, as well as design tips I learn, the newest technology for artsy folks, and other great education resources.

There’s even an entire session devoted to social apps and charitable giving using social media and how philanthropy utilizing Twitter and Facebook is on the rise. There’s just so much good going on at SXSWi this year that I don’t want to miss it. And there’s so much that I can bring back and teach others. I feel that animal folks in particular would get a lot out of the sessions I want to go to because we work so hard to raise money online and social media has changed the way we’re able to share messages – whether it’s about finding a forever home for a stray dog or it’s asking for donations for a sick cat. This is all knowledge that needs to be shared to our community – it can help so much and I don’t think many animal folks know how invaluable SXSWi is to our cause.

How Much Will This Be?

I didn’t find out until today that I would have to come up with creative ways to get myself there, so the total amount of money I’m trying to raise is $950 – which is JUST the price of one SXSWi ticket. Since I live in Austin, all the lodging expenses are taken care of, and I’ll pay for my own food and goodies. I just need help getting the ticket.

What You Get For Helping!

Don’t worry. You won’t be walking away empty-handed either. Besides the shared knowledge of all I learn, you will also get an awesome incentive depending on what level you donate to. These are as follows:

$1-$15: Join the list of other donors on my SXSW page.*
$16-$29: The above and an individual shout-out on the designcoyote twitter (1,700+ followers).
$30-$49: The above and a pencil sketch of your pet/favorite animal (in The Family Menagerie style).
$50-$74: The above and the pencil sketch gets inked and colored with marker.
$75-$99: The above plus a 100×100 pixels digitally colored avatar of your choice (in TFM style), as well as a shout-out on the rescueanimals twitter (17,800+ followers).
$100-$199: Be included on the donors page, receive a twitter shout-out (on both), a sketch of a pet/favorite animal, and a 100×100 pixel digitally colored avatar, and 1 month of advertising on the blog*.
$200-$349: Mention on donors page and twitter accounts, marker-colored image of pet/favorite animal, 100×100 avatar, 2 months of advertising on the blog*.
$350-$474: The above AND a full-colored digital illustration of your choice.

$475: SPONSORSHIP LEVEL 1! You will have a large prominent THANK YOU at the top of the SXSWi resource page, thanks on both Twitter and Facebook (for both Snailbird and I Love Rescue Animals), PLUS 6 months of advertising on the blog and a full blog post thanking you on Snailbird*.
$950: SPONSORSHIP LEVEL 2! You will have a large prominent THANK YOU at the top of the SXSWi resource page, thanks on both Twitter and Facebook (for both Snailbird and I Love Rescue Animals), PLUS 12 months of advertising on the blog and a full blog post thanking you on Snailbird AND I Love Rescue Animals (and if you or your company has a blog, I will also write up a guest post about everything I learned because of your generosity that you can use on your website)*.

Interested in donating but looking for some other prize/incentive? Feel free to comment or email me and we can talk! I’m open to hearing your ideas.

*Being included on the donors page, as well as getting posted on Snailbird and I Love Rescue Animals websites, means getting your name and link seen by artsy folks, nature-lovers, and lots of animal advocates, pet bloggers, and other activists. Snailbrd gets on average 5,000 unique visitors a month with 80-90k hits a month. I Love Rescue Animals receives an average of 6,000 unique visitors a month and 100-150k hits a month.

ChipIn to the Send-Nikki-to-SXSWi Fund!

So you can all help keep track of where I am in donations, I’ve set up this nifty ChipIn that’s connected to my PayPal account. Once you donate, you will receive an email from me confirming the amount and the prizes you will receive. Just click on the ChipIn widget below to donate or go straight to the ChipIn page.

What If The Goal Isn’t Reached?

Good question. If I don’t receive the goal of $950** by March 9th, all of the donations will be fully refunded. That’s right, you’ll get all of your money back and I’ll just have to wait to go to SXSWi next year. If however, it IS funded, as soon as SXSWi is over (March 13th is the last day), I will begin work on all of your prizes. It’s a win-win situation (the very best kind)!

**Note the ChipIn has been lowered to $900 because I received $50 in donations outside the ChipIn. – Updated 3.5.12.

The Final Plea

I want to go to SXSWi so much. It was an incredible experience last year and I don’t want to miss out again. I learned so much, and I feel that this year will be even better. So for just one donation, you can help send me to this awesome conference full of great opportunities and in return you get to learn all that I learn and some (you know those incentives are pretty awesome). Pretty great deal, yeah?

So please please help, and share with your family and friends! I will be forever grateful to you and so very honored. Thank you! You guys rock!