A Froggy Rocker, Mama and Big Announcement...

What? You weren't there this past Wednesday at 9 pm to hear me, Mama Possum and Rocker gab about blogs and our overall awesomeness? WELL! You will be fined two points from the biggest Stalker contest! Okay, I suppose we'll forgive you. Just remember the golden rule...there is to be NO discussing of "Lost" with me until I have seen it!

IF you missed our little show, you missed a very froggy Rockerchic and I chat about blogs and how to use them for your business. Here are a few key points:

Use widgets and tools to your benefit! Such as:
www.entrecard.com
www.feedburner.com
www.tehnorati.com
Those are just the tip of the iceberg, there are many more.

Also discussed was the cardinal sin of blogging, (particularly if you use Entrecard), NO AUTO MUSIC!! We cannot emphasize that enough! HUGE turn off for your readers, and a big no-no if you use Entrecard.

Do remember WHY you blog, if you blog personal stories, remember that if you are using that blog for business, EVERY reader is a potential customer and what you blog about can either hurt or help you. Try to avoid personal rants, complaining and NEVER EVER bad mouth another artisan. That's just bad mojo. :)

And do not miss next week's Mom's Cafe! I have a prior committment, but the lovely Witchy will be stepping in for me for more nonesense, mom/artisan info and fun!!

Have a great day!!
~~Amy the Possum

Amy The Awesome of BlockHead Radio

Thursday night I had the privilege of sitting down with the Amy the Awesome and interviewing her live on the air! Many followers of BlockHead Radio are already familiar with Amy. This wonderful gal has a passion for life, and as a part of her passion she has done a lot to support BlockHead Radio! In fact, she's now on staff here, and doing a fantastic job of helping maintain the blog, and promoting BHR to the masses.

Amy is a stay at home Mom with two rambunctious boys. When I asked her why she had named her etsy shop "Mamas Little Monkeys" she told me it was because it sounded a lot better than calling them rascals! Sounds like normal little boys to me though, and she obviously loves them a lot.

On top of taking care of her boys and her work with the radio, you can find Amy doing lots of fun creative things and spreading that creative goodness all over the web! On etsy you can find her under MamasLittleMonkeys and FleurdeInk. She's also a faithful member of CafeMom and she sells on several other venues as well! Unfortunately I don't have every one of her links to share with you.

In her shops Amy sells childrens clothing, recycled crayons in fun shapes, photography, graphic design, toys, soaps, pretty pens, and whatever else her awesome mind comes up with! Do you have kids? Then Amy probably has exactly what your looking for!

Did I mention that Amy blogs as well? She does a lot of the blogs posts here on this BHR's blog, and she has her own blog! So head on over to it and learn even more about Amy! Plus you can get to know her better by tuning into her show, Mom's Cafe, Wednesday night at 9pm on www.blockheadradiolive.com.

FNFFA---Come on Down!!

The weekend is over, and we ALL need a break!! Join us at 9 pm Eastern for the Friday Night Free For All!! Great chat, tunes, talk and laughs!! As always, it's BYOB..sorry, we still haven't figured out that technology!

So we want to see you there! Kick back, fling the shoes and coat across the room, and RELAX!

9 pm Eastern right here on www.blockheadradiolive.com!

Stay Up to Date On CPSIA!

Thank you to all those who joined us in chat and tuned in for our CPSIA 'Party'. While we know the fight is FAR, FAR from over, we at BHR wanted to show our thanks and support to everyone who has fought so long and hard for us! Several people have gone FAR and ABOVE the call of duty to help fight CPSIA and save not only handmade, but small business, and our rights as consumers, parents and ARTISTS!!

(If you do not know what the CPSIA is, FEEL FREE To email me at ANY TIME! Amy, (aka, Mama) can be found at mama@blockheadradio.com or mamaslittlemonkeys@yahoo.com If I cannot answer your question (which is very possible..) I will know where to refer you to though!!)

If you need to know ANYTHING about CPSIA, the following sites should be on the top of your 'stay up to date' lists!! Most, if not all, of these sites have ways for you to subscribe and get updates in your emails.

Rob Wilson and crew at www.cpsia-central.ning.com Join this community and make your own Ning page. Stay up to date, videos, blogs, and more! You can also find him on Twitter at: http://twitter.com/challengeandfun

Rick Woldenberg and crew at Learning Resources Site and Rick's Blog. Great blog posts, videos, and a strong fighter against CPSIA. Chances are if you need a contact for anyone...check Rick's blog...he has it! :) Rick is also on Twitter: http://twitter.com/rwoldenberg

Dan Marshall and crew at Handmade Toy Alliance. Here you can find a video made by your very own Amy the Awesome Possum, contacts, how you can help, businesses in alliance, and more! There are also many more links on the sidebar of this site to help you navigate your way! There is also a Facebook page for Handmade Toy Alliance.

CPSIA-Compliant Suppliers Blog. BHR cannot verify the validity of any of these suppliers, however we share the link with you because perhaps that will help you in buying your supplies for your own handmade work or families!

Kathleen at Fashion Incubator, keeps us up to date on all things CPSIA...as well as my fave part...SEWING goodness! :) Also run by Kathleen is National Bankruptcy Day. Kathleen can also be found on Twitter. http://twitter.com/kfasanella

Walter Orson from Overlawyered continually eloquently and professional puts into words what we all feel! Find Walter on Twitter: http://twitter.com/overlawyered

Contact the CPSC here about CPSIA.

CoolMomPicks has some helpful info also as well as the super cute bear badge you can have!


Obviously there are MANY more working to fight this, but this should get you going!! :)


HOWEVER, remember the CPSC cannot CHANGE anything about the CPSIA. Who can? YOUR lawmakers!! It is up to YOU to contact them, any way you can!! Find them ALL at www.house.gov If all you can send is a form letter, that's fine. But remember phone calls, snail mail letters and faxes work better than emails. In fact, most of the time you cannot email any representatives out of your district/area. So go ahead, Blockhead Radio gives you permission to kill some trees and WRITE YOUR LAWMAKERS!!

This CAN be changed but it is up to YOU!!!!!


Feel Free to snag this widget off The Possum's Personal Blog.
http://blog.mamaslittlemonkeys.com

Don't Forget about your chance to WIN FREE ADVERTISING!

Spread the word guys!! Don't miss your chance to win FREE ADVERTISING here on Blockhead Radio!! This is not a wimpy little prize here people! Share your business, blog, site, WHATEVER, with at least 5 thousand listeners!!

CLICK HERE FOR ALL THE DETAILS!

Contest ends soon! Don't Miss Out!

Thirsty Thursday, Random Poll

Yes, folks, it is ALMOST Friday! That means just one more day until you can kick back, relax and take a break! What? You don't do that on the weekend? Well, my friends, you need to try to take a break and chill for just a little while every weekend!!

So, with that thought in mind...

Informal poll......

What is your FAVORITE drink!? It doesn't have to be alcoholic (though those are always welcome.) but what is your favorite beverage of choice?

We have a few favorites around here on BHR.

Appletini's.....

Rum and Cokes....

Wine...ask Blockhead Rod about that one...

And of course this flows through all our veins here at Blockhead Radio...COFFEE


And naturally one must stay nice and hydrated with water, teas, juices and other lovely beverages.

But touch my coffee and you'll not live to tell about it...

Sooooo, what can we serve you here at Blockhead Radio? Okay, so technically it's BYOB here, BUT we would love to partake of said beverages with you!!

These will be ESPECIALLY handy when we have our little shindig on Feb. 22nd, 8pm. It's a little "thank you party" for all those who have worked hard to fight against CPSIA, and a sort of 'dang it, let's have fun already' get together! So bring the chips and dip and come on by!! www.blockheadradiolive.com

For more information about CPSIA you can visit:
www.cpsia-central.ning.com
www.handmadetoyalliance.org
www.nationalbankruptcyday.com
http://twitter.com/rwoldenberg

Mindless Monday...with a little monkey

Seriously? It's Monday again ALREADY?? Sigh.

Well in case you missed it, don't forget to tune in every weekday at 9 am Eastern for the Morning Brew Ha Ha. You'll get your daily dose of Blockhead Rod, Witchy and some rocking tunes! You have to provide your own coffee though...sorry. We're full of love at Blockhead Radio...but reach for the coffee and you draw back a nub...



Here's to a wonderful day!

Getting to Know Us at Blockhead Radio!

Getting to know the Possum!

Name: Amy
User Name/Shop Name: mamaslittlemonkeys/fleurdeink
Shop URLs/Website URLS:
www.mamaslittlemonkeys.com
www.fleurdeink.com
http://blog.mamaslittlemonkeys.com
www.cafepress.com/momsmonkeys
What type of art do you do? Sewn items for adults and children, soaps, graphic designs (Mama's Little Monkeys)
Flower Pens (Fleur De Ink)
Custom Clothing, Coffee Mugs, etc, (Cafepress)
How did you get started in your art? Honestly, out of necessity! I started cloth diapering my second son at 3 months and could NOT find any cute cloth wipes (I had yet to really find Etsy at this point, or even know about the handmade movements!). So I decided to try my hand at sewing my own. I bought a sewing machine off ebay and I was hooked! Flower pens naturally came later because in my former life as a teacher, we LOVED flower pens because people were always stealing our pens and it's a little harder to steal a pen with a big flower on it..plus it's way more fun to write a lesson plan with a pen with a big huge rose on it!
Where do you draw your inspiration? For my sewn items, from my kids, friends, and often the fabric I use. I have what you might call a fabric obsession. It's quite out of hand. And now the soaping obsession is building. For the flower pens, really whatever is pretty! I can't garden to save my life (literally, my family would die if they depended on me to grow food!), so I love flowers I can't kill AND are functional! I need an extra room to store all my supplies!
What are your main obstacles in your art? TIME! I often feel torn between work, kids, husband, house, etc. Obviously house cleaning is the first thing to go when I'm short on time! I mean, we're not living in a pigsty or those houses on "Clean House", but Martha would not be pleased...plus, hey, 2 kids under 4, EH, my house is just NOT gonna be picture perfect!
How did you find BHR? I am ashamed to say I really don't remember!! I THINK I found it becuase of the SNS, Witching Hours thread! (Shhh don't tell the boss that I can't remember!)
Are you a member of the Pluggers United Team? Yuppers! I'm mamaslittlemonkeys there too, and proudly proclaim my love for pluggers in my shops profiles!
What is on your wish list of handmade items? What would you LOVE to have, money being no object? Oh my gosh. Too much stuff. Probably some lovely wooden toys from www.banished.etsy.com, EVERYTHING in www.aebaby.etsy.com, All handmade soaps! Seriously, the wish list is huge. Oh and anything in www.glutenada.com YUM
What is one art/craft you'd love to learn to do? I would love to learn cold process soap one day. I enjoy melt and pour and am quite busy with it as is, but at this point we do not have the physical space for me properly do CP or HP soap, and also with the small kids around, I'm thinking clumsy me and lye are not good combos?
What is your 'off air' job/life? Family? Kids? Well, I am always a wife and mother first...(those kids are around here somewhere...) In my former life I was an early childhood education teacher, I worked with special needs kids, my husband is a mechanic..oh excuse me, automotive technician. I am conversationially fluent in American Sign Language (yes I can curse in ASL), I'm 5'12" and NO I did NOT play basketball. I love all things chocolate, coffee, and martini (in no particular order.) I LOVE "Lost" and will miss every Wed. night BHR show until Lost is off..I'm sorry..I've made it 5 years with those ppl, I must see it through! I used to want to be a writer once upon a time and dreamed of moving to New York City! I eat to live, I do not live to eat (unless it's above mentioned 3 foods), and I do NOT eat seafood!! I also have Celiac DIsease and run the local support group for the Celiac Sprue Association, so that is why you see "glutenfreegirl" at the bottom of the posts!!
What is your favorite dessert? Homemade: Pamela's Gluten Free Cake Mix that I turn into this AWESOME mocha/cream cheese cake...drool. Eating out: Chocolate Thunder from Outback--its GLUTEN FREE!
What are your business goals? Fight CPSIA to the death. Reevaluate future plans and goals due to CPSIA, perfect melt and pour soaping, work local craft fairs and have 60 sales this year! :)
If you have an extra 24 hours in the day with no constraints, what would you do? Sew and Soap in PEACE! Without having to put the baby in the crib or put tv on for the 3 yr old....Blast music, have a drink and create in PEACE!
If you could meet ONE BHR crewmember or listener, who would it be and why? I'd honestly have to save I'd love to meet each and every one of you...but if you held a gun to my head I'd HAVE To meet Witchy because I can so see us cruising down Bourbon Street, slurping down Hurricanes and dying of laughter! (and McGeeky trailing behind us carrying the shopping bags....)
Shameless Plug for anything here: Shop my lovely handmade shops and PLEASE check out my Cafepress shop!!

BHR ROCKS! :)