I'll be the first to admit it: I've always been kind of an anti-Valentine's Day kind-of-girl. I don't get the showering-of-affection-one-day-a-year so the greeting-card-companies can rip us all off thing. (Of course that was my sentiment long before the handmade revolution. I'd never even need to buy a mass-produced card now.)

At any rate, I'm a little low on content this week for Weekly Blogged #3 because everywhere I turn there is something pink and heart-shaped. And frankly, I'm ready for Monday to get here so I can have my blogosphere back. Here's my favorites from this week that have nothing to do with that dreaded V word, in a short and sweet list.

Above: The Art of Display on SF Girl by Bay. (So much eye candy here.)

Fashionscapes by Reed + Radar {via Teagan Tall}

I lamented on Twitter recently regarding my lack of personal, tangible inspiration board. And somewhere between that lamenting and now I realized that I have the perfect inspiration board that is just collecting virtual dust already for me: my blog. And while I'd like to do something slightly more formal than post links and pictures, we'll have to work up to that. So for now: baby steps. Enjoy these, because I have been.

 
Left: Factory 20 on Oh Hello Friend
Right: Whimsy and Spice on Indie Fixx

Though I wish I could blame my accidental mass-unsubscribe of all my favorite design blogs, I can't for this week's lack of "week-end blogged" content. What I can blame, however, is my current obsession with upgrading, updating, and revamping my wardrobe. However, here are some posts that definitely made it to my Shared Items from this past week, and are highly worthy of your time.

{image from Beverly Hsu: Helvetica cookie cutters}

During the week, I tend to abuse my Google Reader Shared Items because I can't seem to keep track of a Tumblr, I don't like to stumble upon things, I've abandoned Delicious, and my Facebook doesn't cross-post to my twitter account for personal preferences. So consider this a broadcast of what I've been reading, summarizing, and linking to all week. PROTIP: Add my shared items to your Reader to follow along if you don't follow me on Twitter.

• Divine Twine: I can admit when I have a problem. I'm obsessed with twine. {via Just Something I Made}
• Valentine's Day Goodie Bags: Gorgeously designed to print yourself. I remember seeing these last year, and they're still great. {at Twig and Thistle}
• Message in a Cookie Cutter: On the subject of cookie cutters with something to say, which seems to be the overall theme this week, these are lovely. {via Creature Comforts}
• Jamie and Adam's wedding is my favorite "real wedding" to date. {via 100 Layer Cake}
• Sense of Popos: A map of San Francisco's secret spaces. {via Strangemaps one of my weekly faves}
• Speaking of J.D. Salinger...: On the death of J.D. Salinger, The Stranger kindly reminds us of King Dork, a novel by the lead singer of The Mr. T Experience, one of my all-time favorite bands. {via Line Out}
• Hendrix's statue may be moved: If Hendrix leaves the Hill, so do I. Off to Georgetown. {via Seattle Sketcher}

Last but not least, check out my interview on THE WASH, where crafty chicks come clean. I'll be posting an interview from Jeanee, creator of our cute Valentine's day cupcake fizzzies, later today!

Once in a former life, I was an SEO (Search Engine Optimization) developer. I helped companies move from the nether regions of Google to the top rank in their selected keywords, so I generally like to think that I know what I'm doing when it comes to SEO best practices and where to go to find the best SEO information on the web.

When I was an SEO, SEO Moz was basically my blog Bible. I'll admit, my site right now does not have the greatest SEO score — though I am on page one for my top keyword &mdash but since my fiance recently was hired at SEO Moz as a developer, I've taken more interest in it again.

(Disclaimer: I have not been in any way asked to write this or compensated for this blog post. These are my personal opinions.)

Enter Open Site Explorer, a new free tool from the SEO Moz crew to browse external links pointing at your site (or shop, in this case). For the next 48 hours, the pro version is free to evaluate, which is why I'm posting for the second time today. (I know, that's unusual.)

What's it good for, you ask? Well, it's good to find new sources of links for your brand, and good for finding out who's already talking about your brand. It is replacing the Yahoo! version of this tool, which Micrahoo (Microsoft merged with Yahoo!) will be doing away with sometime in the coming months.

Read on to see some screenshots and learn how to evaluate your Etsy shop using Open Site Explorer.

It's the first day of true sun (read: NOT SUN BREAKS) that we've seen in Seattlle this winter and I'm loving every second of it in my new light-filled, window-covered office. I know some people (I'm looking at you, Arizona!) that would complain that 53 degrees is bitterly cold, but just look at these photos from Siberia and be grateful.

If you were worried you might fall into a cat nap in today's afternoon sun in Seattle, I hope these provided enough of a wake up call. See the rest at EnglishRussia.

Apparently this photographer used to travel in tandem with another who is now shooting in Africa. Gee, I wonder why?

Like many of you, we've been scratching our brains for a way to help those in need in the aftermath of the devastating Haiti earthquake. We're still working on a way to do something here at Sweet Anthem (so watch for that), but in the meantime please head over to our good friend Jen Wallace's blog, Indie Fixx, and participate in the online auction to raise money for the Red Cross International Response Fund. There's a great selection of goodies from many talented indie crafters up for grabs, and you get to help people who are really in some dire straits in the process. Win and win.

Our thoughts and prayers are with everyone involved, both in the earthquake and in the relief efforts.

Another reason we've been so quiet on the blogging front: our joint-label effort (called Eos) with local energy company Blue Marble Energy was released this week. Blue Marble Energy is the first biorefinery in the world to create petrol-free aroma chemicals, and we were on the scene to turn that into a carbon neutral fragrance.

Check out King 5's report here! Eos for Her contains neroli, sandalwood, green tea, and banana; while Eos for Him contains cognac, honeysuckle, white ginger, apricot, and candied fruits. The Eos line is presented in elegant, square glass bottles with silver metallic caps with roll-on applicators, and the silver-stamped tags were handmade by local jeweler Carolyn Buss.

You can buy a 1/2 ounce bottle of this limited edition fragrances directly at Blue Marble for just $30. Local folks can pick it up in time for the holidays — contact BME for details.

Last but not least, Eos was voted #2 on the top 5 bio-based gifts for the holidays at Bio Fuels Digest.

Daria: The Fragrance Smells Like: Exasperation, coffee, notebook paper, pizza, slightly bitter notes tempered with occasional bits of warmth Bottle Style: A herd of beautiful wild ponies running free across the plains. Well, either that or the creepy eye-spiral from "Sick Sad World." Cost: Your soul, you sell-out. The world needs another celebrity fragrance like it needs another member of the Fashion Club. Tagline: "Everything Stinks, And Now So Can You." — Jezebel

ROFL. (Via Diana.)

I've been mistakenly posting a lot of links to my personal twitter account before I post to the blog, forgetting that my blog feeds there thanks to HootSuite — so if you saw this link already, I apologize. But they're too good to leave sitting wrapped up in a shortened URL. These color photos of Russia ca. 1917 are too damned good to not post (via Newsweek).

PROTIP: you might see some Russia-inspired perfumes in the coming seasons around here; Russian Languages was my major and I still have an intense fascination for the place. More on that later, though. (See, it's all relative.)

We like it wild has been an ongoing series at Design*Sponge lately that never fails to disappoint. From flower spotlights to studio tours, this column has me hooked. I think it sprouted up in place of Weeder's Digest, and I'm tuning for sure. Bookmark and fall in love. Don't thank me, thank them.

This has reminded me to try to post my photos from our trip this past weekend to Volunteer Park's Dahlia Garden. Yes. Whenever I get to those C.O. Bigelow photos as well. mental note

I can't believe I missed this spotlight from the DieLine on C.O. Bigelow. Their work is one of those career-changing styles that captivated me early on and heavily influences my personal brand's apothecary look and feel. The DieLine has a few other posts on Bigelow, so be sure to check out the archives while you're there.

Head on over to the DieLine for LOTS more pictures. This is a perfect segue for my photos from inside the C.O. Bigelow flagship store in NYC, but I don't have them up yet! I will try to soon!

Tub and Tile soft scrub by mrsjonessoapbox

What would happen if you took Sweet Petula and Villainess and combined the two? Theoretically, the result would be Mrs. Jones's Soap Box, which I saw awhile back on Lilyella but couldn't resist blogging about myself. The packaging alone marries simplistic and clean with grungy and apothecary in a way that doesn't seem trendy or overbearing, and really just entices me to try them out.

To make matters more interesting, these are not typical spa luxury self-pampering products as they may appear. Nay, but they are cleansers, polishes, detergents, and other earth-friendly products for "life's less glamorous jobs". I dig.

• PanTuNieStal home tour
• Polish and Russian clocks
• Old Polish Jam labels

If you've never, head on over to the American Package Museum online for a trip down memory lane. Above: Camay soaps, one of my favorites from the exhibit. Then again, I'm a sucker for bath and beauty packaging and anything mid century modern. Via Coudal, the founders of the Museum of Online Museums.

"My biggest indie challenge is hitting the off button, setting limits for myself, or putting myself on a normal schedule. Most days I work from the time I get up till I go to bed. My idea of an extended vacation is fifteen minutes out by the pool in the evening with a cup of tea. But at the same time I am very low key. So I can't really complain. I am doing what makes me happy."

Liz Zorn, in a recent newsletter on the Indie Beauty Network

Liz also says in the article: "Our niche of hand poured small batch perfumes isn't quite so niche anymore."

Nose Words isn't so much of a new column in this blog as it might become an inspiration board. Things I need to remember, interesting stuff perfumers and perfume critics have to say, and ideals I agree with or would strive to adhere to. I read a lot, but barely write about it. Maybe this will at least get me back in the blogging habit. :)

We've had so much fun with Etsy over the years and have loved every second on that little gem of a handmade-focused site. I personally have been a longtime lover of all things handmade and anything in the DIY movement for a very long time, so when I discovered it in 2006, I fell head over heels.

So I am super excited that today, my wee little shop is the featured seller. Read the full interview here, or after the jump in this blog post. I'm in pretty darn good company, too. Everybody from The Black Apple to one of my own cohorts in smelly crimes, Sweet Petula.

We've been featured on the Etsy front page now twice this month, first thanks to a staff pick and then yesterday to the above gorgeous treasury!

As a result, I'm extremely low on stock and will not be relisting Your Choice collections until I return from NYC. I apologize for the inconvenience for Etsy buyers - you can still get them here on this shop in the Collections section - but I need to slow them down a little somehow. *huffs around out of breath*

I had this long, angry post about the IFRA (International Fragrances Association) Amendment #43 and its destruction of natural beauty products, the political misguidance and the bad science it seems to be representing, the consumer fear mongering it so feverishly supports and promotes, and the seemingly "meh" response among my perfumer friends, even those bent on using only natural ingredients. I had this long semi-witty diatribe about what it's doing to the niche perfumery world, how one of my friends is having to close her shop to reformulate, etc ad nauseum.

And then I came across Magickal Realism's Trashion perfume series, an experiment at using only synthetics in creating perfumes, an attempt to realize the world that IFRA seems to want so badly for consumers.

In the perfumer's words:

The protest of this formulation is in its syntheticism; IFRA wants to create a world of nothing but synthetic perfumes, and this is an example of what you'd get - a smell with little substance beyond the first hit. Think of it as hands on education about what an all-synthetic world could get you.

Brilliant and said much better than I could have at expressing my anger at all of this (if they're regulating oakmoss, why not polycyclic musks containing galaxolides? why not parabens? you can't regulate one with a modicum of moral superiority and not the others on the transparent agenda of "known to cause allergic reactions"). This is the kind of action I've been seeking from fellow perfumers. I don't want to just roll over and take it, despite how much or how little pull I think IFRA would have over some of us in the end as it stands. Regardless, kudos, Diana, for you are sheer genius.

As for me, I won't be reformulating anything. Caroline uses such little oakmoss in the end that it's no point, and while I use an essential oil of jasmine in quite a few of my perfumes, it is not sambac. I'll simply continue to strive for transparency as I always have. I actually plan to open a synthetic-related shop at some point, mostly because of my interest in chemisty & science, but, like I said, I will always tell you what's what. Till then, go support Diana, and say no to IFRA.

I plan to post a follow-up entry at some point with more informative links for those outside of the industry going "bzuh?". Watch for that soon!