The D*S Book Tour is just getting started (thank you to everyone who came out to the NYC and Boston events!), and I’m so happy to be heading into a weekend of more crafting and fun. Amy and I are in Philly today for our Terrain event (we have a few tickets left if you want to come join in the fun), but late tonight we’re catching a train south for a fun weekend with two events in DC. Before we head out and prep for tonight’s cocktail party, I wanted to post the RSVP for another event: Austin, Texas!

Without having ever visited, we seriously considered moving to Austin a few years ago. It’s chock-full of great people, amazing art, delicious food and, of course, a fantastic music scene. NYC ended up winning-out in the end, but Austin has been tops on my list of places to visit for years now. So I’m thrilled that we’ll be heading to Texas on Saturday, October 15th for a crafting event and party! If you’re in town, I hope you’ll come join us for fun and crafting. The details are at the bottom of this post.

Until Monday, I just wanted to thank you again to everyone for their support with Design*Sponge at Home. To say that this is the most challenging project we’ve ever done is an understatement, so to see and hear from so many of you about the book has been a dream come true. If you’re interested in checking it out, you can watch the trailer here and pick up copies here: Amazon, Barnes & Noble (comes with exclusive digital content), West Elm, Anthropologie (comes with exclusive printed content), Indiebound, Books-a-Million and iTunes. International sellers and more shops can be seen here. xo, grace

*P.S.: Don’t forget to enter the Design*Sponge at Home Sweepstakes for a chance to win a 2-day trip to NYC and $2,000 shopping spree with me in NYC!

Austin Book Tour Events:

Event: Craft/Book Signing/Celebration at Anthropologie
Date: Saturday, October 15th, 2011
Time: 5–8pm (5–6pm craft workshop/6:30–8:00pm signing + celebration)
Location: Anthropologie (601 North Lamar Boulevard, Austin, TX)

Details: We will be teaching all craft-event participants how to make their own custom wooden wax seal! Craft guests will watch a demo, make their own wax seal and leave with the seal they made, along with sealing wax and stationery to test on. Afterward, we’ll get together for the larger celebration of the book launch, where you can buy copies of the book and have yours signed! Drinks and treats will be served. Proceeds from this event will benefit the local arts charity Art House at the Jones Center.

We will also have a custom backdrop designed by Michelle at Red Start against which you can take photos (courtesy of Mel Farro Cole) with your friends and fellow guests!

RSVP: The crafting event is limited to 33 people, so please RSVP HERE soon ($10 per person for the craft event). The main event will fill up quickly, so please RSVP HERE for that soon, as well.

*Illustration above by Julia Rothman

Below is a summary of this week’s highlights:

• MUST READ: Design*Sponge at Home Sweepstakes! (Win a 2-day trip to NYC and $2,000 shopping spree with Grace)
• EVENTS: Apartment Therapy Design Evening: Design*Sponge Talk
• BOOK TOUR: Minneapolis Event Details!, Chicago Event Details!, Dallas Event Details!
• New City Guide: Los Cabos, Mexico Guide
• Living In: Belle de Jour
• Biz Ladies: Best of the Past 3 Years
• Sneak Peeks: Hollister & Porter Hovey, Cassandra Ellis & Ed Prichard, Kimi & Paul Galloway
• DIY Projects: Block-Printed Chevron Fabric, Greeting Card Organizer, Hanging Vintage Thermos Display Shelf
• Before & Afters: Sunny Yellow Bedroom Redo, Wood Paneled Accent Wall
• Make It Yours: Erin Austen Abbott and Sean Kirkpatrick
• In the Kitchen With: Luisa Weiss’ Berliner Pfannkuchen
• Upholstery Basics: Constructing Coil Seats — Part 2
• Behind the Bar: Lauren Fister’s Melon Rumballa
• Artwork: Sarah McNeil
• Misc.: Heartwood Design, Freelancing in Style, Beldi, Sand by Yukihiro Kaneuchi, Alabasta Trays, Flock Star Stripe, Mattermade Collection Number Two, Obsessive Compulsive Posters, Font Winner Turned Font Seller!

Tweet

When I finally finished writing the manuscript of Design*Sponge at Home the first thing I thought about was a fun contest to celebrate the launch. I’m always bummed that I can’t travel and meet people face-to-face more often, so my favorite idea involved being able to fly some of our readers out to NYC to shop and have fun with us. I didn’t know if it would ever become a possibility, but thankfully our book tour co-sponsor West Elm stepped in to save the day and make my dream contest a reality.

Today I’m so thrilled to announce the Design*Sponge at Home Sweepstakes! West Elm is going to fly one lucky reader and their guest out to NYC for two nights and give them $2,000 shopping spree at West Elm and any other stores of their choice! You’ll spend the day with me (and our other NYC-based D*S team members) shopping through our favorite Brooklyn hot-spots and eating at our favorite restaurants. It’s going to be a seriously amazing design-filled trip so I am beyond excited to announce that the contest is now open! Here are the details:

Contest: 2-day trip and $2,000 shopping spree in NYC with Design*Sponge!
How to enter: Just fill out the form here (no purchase necessary)
Eligibility: The contest is open to residents of the United States, please see official rules and eligibility here.
Deadline: All entries must be made by 11:59:59 PST on 10/31/11

I am SO excited to go shopping and touring around my favorite borough with two of you. Thank you so much to West Elm for sponsoring my dream contest and making all of this possible. We’ll see two of you soon! xoxo, grace

*Illustrations above by Julia Rothman

Tweet

Tomorrow we officially kick off the Design*Sponge Book Tour with our first home-town event at the NYPL. Before I head out to gather up last-minute craft supplies, I wanted to take a quick moment to thank everyone who’s picked up a copy of Design*Sponge at Home so far. I haven’t had a spare second to track down a copy a store yet, so living vicariously through all your sweet Tweets, Facebook pictures and emails has meant the world to me. Thank you. [Photo above by Amy Merrick]

Since I’m feeling like I could float today, and I happen to have a small stack of books sitting in my hallway, I thought I’d do a little mini book giveaway today! We’re gearing up for a MAJOR contest next week (it’s going to be amazing!!!) so I wanted to do something small this week as a little thank you and to celebrate all the sweet pictures I’ve been dorkily saving from everyone’s Tweets and Facebook updates.

I’m going to be giving away 4 copies of Design*Sponge at Home to readers who send in pictures of themselves with the book or pictures of where they plan on reading/housing their books. I’ve heard from so many people who already got the book and want to give away another as a gift, so I’m going to choose 2 winners who don’t have the book yet and 2 who do.

So, what will you win? You’ll get a signed, personalized copy of Design*Sponge at Home, some of the ribbons flowers featured in Flower Workshop chapter opener and a copy of the D*S Summer Newspaper. If you already have a book and win a new copy I’m happy to personalize it as a gift for someone else.

Here are the details to enter:

Deadline: Monday, September 12th, 2011 at 3pm EST
What to send: A picture (low res) of either: You and your copy of Design*Sponge at Home OR the place in your home where you hope to read or house the book.
What we’re looking for: The most creative photos will win, so feel free to bust out your Wacom tablet, funny outfits, props or just have some fun with Photoshop. We’re looking for funny ways to celebrate the book and reading in general.
How to enter: Please leave a comment here describing your picture (be sure to fill in your name and email when you comment) and provide a DIRECT link to the image on Flickr, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Twitpic or any other photo sharing program. Please be sure the image is public and that the link works when you are signed out of your account.

*The winner will be announced shortly after the deadline next week! Best of luck to everyone! xo, grace

I love how Katie Evans’ shoes match the book cover.

Tweet