In Case You Missed It...  

Could it be? Yes it could. Something's coming... something good.

As I mentioned in yesterday's post, something BIG is on the way this weekend. It's a collaborative effort between me and 11 amazing other bloggers. Make sure you check back here tomorrow... my headline will feature a link to this new, super-secretive project (when it'll be a secret no more). I hope you'll follow along there just as you do here!

Now on to today's regularly scheduled post...

I wanted to take a minute to direct your attention to something in case you missed it this week. Some of you may have noticed that this cool little design has popped up on my blog in a new section over on my sidebar. Yes... yes... I have given in to "the man" and have started accepted advertising on my page. And I wanted to tell you why and how it's happened. You know, cuz I value you and your input.

So, here's how it all began. A few months ago, I was surfing the blogs (as I do in my spare time) and I came across this amazing page. I was blown away by Colleen's designs. DH & I had desperately wanted to do a mural for G's nursery, but we were never able to find anyone half as talented as Colleen in our neck of the woods. But I did contact Colleen to tell her how beautiful I thought her artwork was.

Fast forward a few months, and I get an email from Colleen in my inbox, inquiring if I'd be willing to swap advertising space in exchange for a piece of artwork. Already knowing the quality of work Colleen puts into her products, I knew my answer would be yes. It was just a matter of what design and how to get it from one coast to the other.

Colleen and I quickly decided on a princess castle on canvas that would adorn G's bedroom door (to see a step-by-step post on how this was created, head here). After that, Colleen figured out the proper way to ship the canvas and... voila!... it was at my doorstep (actually, in this case, it was on G's doorstep, or rather, her door!). Thanks to Colleen's help, we were able to hang it using dowels and some over-the-door hooks-- really easy, and really inexpensive to do!

The decision to accept advertising had been a very difficult one for me. I don't have a very "commercial" blog (well, at least in my opinion), and while I realized I could profit from this page, I was afraid doing so would in some way compromise my editorial integrity. Prior to Colleen, I had rejected a few offers for advertising because I just wasn't sure of the product or company.

But I feel like this "blog bartering", as I've called it, is the perfect solution for me at this time.

So, this is me, being completely transparent-- yes, I am accepting advertising on my blog. No, I was not paid for this first ad, it was simply a swap. Again-- and I've said this before-- I will never accept any type of promotion (be it an ad, a review, or a giveaway) from a company I do not personally trust and use. NEVER.

And that's my promise to you as a blogger.