Today we announced the winners of our Naughty Secretary Club Polyvore Contest!  Read an interview with our gold medal fashionista, style tips from Simon Doonan and of course take a gander at a slew of cute outfits using Naughty Secretary Club Jewelry.

 Read all about it on my blog here.

Two blogs in one day, well that's just crazy!  Since both blogs are really more pictures than they are writing I figured what the hell.  I'm home from my first day at BEA convention and boy am I pooped.  Love the hotel, but they need something a little better than a shear curtain to keep the sun out.  My room was lit enough to do brain surgery by 6am and my circadian rhythms got me right out of bed.  It was just as well I ordered breakfast and watched Regis and Kelly.  I headed for the convention about 10 and braced myself for a lot of walking.  There are a ton of people there and the place is huge.  I didn't even make it through one hall today.  All your favorite book vendors are there F&W, Chronicle, Tashen, Harpers Collins and more.  I love books so and there were so many to add to my wish list.  I even got a free copy of Guerrilla Publicity!  Lots of celebrities too.  I saw Dionne Warwick, Mario Lopez, Mary Lou Henner and George Hamelton!  I didn't talk to them, but I did see them and stand within 20 feet of them so that counts. Here are a few of the other highlights of my day...

I stumbled into the Princeton Architectural Press booth where they had mock ups of Handmade Nation, postcards and tote bags to give away.  I asked the lady in the booth to take my picture holding the book.  Looks like my profile in the book is in the chapter entitled South Central along with Jenny Hart, Whitney Lee, Kathie Server and Knitta.

Another unexpected surprise was that my friend Travis Nichols from Austin was the convention.  He has a new book coming out called Punk Rock Etiquette that I got a signed preview copy of.  The book is hilarious and the illustrations are amazing.  After all Travis is a rock star and a cartoonist so how could it not be.

My signing in the F&W booth was from 2:00-3:30 and will be the same tomorrow (Friday).  We had free Naughty Secretary Club T-shirts to give away, promo copies of Naughty Secretary Club to look through and I bought a few pieces of jewelry to give away which seemed to make some really cute girls very happy.  It was so fun to see my book all around the booth and to actually hold a copy in my hand.  It is a square shaped, wide as a normal book just not as tall.  I had no idea.  I kind of love it.  It was so fun to see the reactions of people to all the jewelry I brought with me.  I also got to see some old friends like Stephanie Girard of Sweater Surgery and Tamara Berg who was a guest on Craft Lab.

I need to freshen up a bit as I am going out to dinner at Spagos tonight.  I wonder if Wolfgang Puck will be there.  If you are at BEA here in Los Angeles tomorrow be sure and stop by the F&W booth around 2pm!

A few months ago I did a post called How I Got Into Seventeen Magazine and You Could Too.  Several people emailed me afterwards asking questions about what a look book was and how I put it together.  Several other people made comments about the fact that they too made one of a kind items and by the time they put something into a look book to send out to a magazine that item might be sold.  I just had my look book redone and am posting it here for you to see and answering a few questions.  The look book is two sided, on shiny paper and folds up and is stapled like a booklet. 

This is the cover and the back page.  I wanted my logo big and lots of jewelry.  I also wanted my name.  Lots of people go by a company name, but no one knows their real name.  When I write an article as Jennifer Perkins I would like for that to be synonymous with and just as familiar as Naughty Secretary Club.  I feel like people are doing themselves a disservice when they hide their name.  Sure your brand name takes precedence, but people want to know there is a real person behind that brand too.

The back cover of the look book is an ad for my new book The Naughty Secretary Club: The Working Girls Guide to Handmade Jewelry.  Since I am taking this current batch with me tomorrow to BEA in Los Angeles and that is my biggest announcement on the horizon I thought it was important to dedicate an entire page of the press kit to this.

The next page in my press kit is my bio and my contact information.  Some magazines will just want to use my jewelry for a photo shoot and others might be interested in writing an article about me.  I want to be sure the press kit has both.  This is pretty much the same bio that is on my website.

Who doesn't love bullet points?  When it comes to busy magazine editors they all do.  Some might love reading my bio and others might find it daunting and would prefer the bullet points.  These bullets let editors know a few fun facts about Naughty Secretary Club: I'm an Austin Craft Mafia member, I host Craft Lab, the books I have projects in and more.  Just quickie highlights.  Most importantly there is more jewelry on the page.

Editors like to see what kinds of press coverage you have received.  As the saying goes: No one reads your press, they weigh it.  These are a few of the mastheads of magazines I am most proud of.  The second page are a few tear sheets of where I have been featured.  This page gives editors an idea of how your work has been previously featured and how they might work with you.  I actually might go in and add another page of tear sheets before I have a huge batch of these printed up.  Again there are more jewelry pictures sprinkled around the page. 

Also, if you are just starting out and don't have a page full of magazine pictures to fill the pages with don't fret.  It is not the most important part of your look book and hopefully after you send yours out you will have some to fill the pages of the second edition.

What I do not have shown here is the cover letter (and of course business card and free jewelry sample) that I will also send along to magazine and blog editors with this look book.  This is where I will introduce myself and let the editors know that my work is mostly one of a kind and they should treat the ever revolving stock on Naughty Secretary Club as the most up to date look book.  Very seldom have I had an editor want to pull something they specifically saw in my look book.  A look book gives them an idea of your work and style, it puts you on their radar.  From here they know to contact you if they are shooting something that they think your work might fit with.  Editors will not call and say can you send the necklace on page two in the bottom right hand corner?  They will call and say we are looking for huge chunky necklaces with lots of colors and pearls can you send us some samples. 

Hopefully this helps give you a better idea about look books and press kits.  This is my new press kit and it is different and shorter than the last one I sent around so I am curious about what the response will be.  I'll keep you posted.  Does your look book have a completely different look?  Do you think I am missing something?  I'd love to hear your thoughts on this or answer any other questions.

I have spent the entirely too much time playing on Polyvore today.  Have you joined yet?  You need too!  Not only did I join, I started a Naughty Secretary Club group.  I have blogged before about Polyvore and mentioned that it is like playing online outfit party.  They have tons of clothing and accessories to choose from to make your own images just like these.  PLUS you can install a clipper on your computer so that you can import images from other shopping sites and add them to your outfits, like say some Naughty Secretary Club Jewelry. 

I am so excited to see what kinds of outfits people put together using Naughty Secretary Club jewelry I decided to run a contest about it!  All you have to do is sign up for Polyvore and join the Naughty Secretary Club group.  From there put together some outfits using Naughty Secretary Club or Hot Pink Pistol and add them to the group.  We will pick our top 5 favorite outfits and not only post them here on the blog but we will also give you some awesome-o prizes!

FIRST PLACE - $ 100 worth of Naughty Secretary Club Jewelry
SECOND PLACE - 50 worth of Naughty Secretary Club Jewelry
THIRD PLACE -  $25 worth of Naughty Secretary Club Jewelry
FOURTH PLACE -  Naughty Secretary Club T-shirt
FIFTH PLACE - Copy of Bead Simple by Susan Beal

Remember in order to win your set has to include at least one piece of Naughty Secretary Club or Hot Pink Pistol.  Good luck and be sure to keep checking the group to see what kinds of fun outfits people are putting together.

Have you just been beating yourself up about missing the last 2 Naughty Secretary Club jewelry cl**** here in Austin?  You kind of should be because we had tons of fun rummaging through the big pile of vintage crafty curios I brought to make our charm bracelets.  We had almost more fun one Saturday morning making fabric jewelry.  Sadly I can not for the life of me find my pictures from this class!  If you missed the class and the fun, stop the deep pangs of regret in your heart and call (512-707-2405) or email Craft-o-rama in Austin to sign up for the new batch.  I'm teaching 3 cl**** including a brand spanking new one, paper jewelry!

Collage Cuties Class: Tues. 6/17 6:30pm-8:30pm
Love what you see on the scrap booking aisle, but don't care a thing about it? Incorporate all the fun papers into your jewelry! In this class you will make a bangle bracelet, large disc earrings and necklace using paper and decoupage medium. Learn to look at pictures in magazines, junk mail, wrapping paper and more in a whole new way. Feel free to bring any paper you would like to class, but Jen will also bring a large stash of her collage curios like vintage wrapping paper, wall paper, book illustrations, old cards and more for you to choose from as well as jewelry supplies and decoupage medium. Fee is $40.

Fabric Jewelry Class: Thurs. 6/19 6:30pm-8:30pm
And you thought fabric was just for sewing, oh no it is for jewelry making too. In this class we will talk about ways to use fabric in jewelry design. Each student will be able to make a ring, pony tail holder and two different bracelets! We will learn how to use a button covering kit, make a fabric quilting yo-yo and ribbon wrap a bangle bracelet. Not to mention lots of discussion throughout about incorporating in unusual elements like fabric into your jewelry design.  I will bring my huge suitcase FULL of vintage fabric for us to play with! Fee: $40 and includes materials

Charm Bracelet and Earring Class: Sat. 6/21 11am-1pm
Learn the fundamentals of jewelry making while whipping up your own one of a kind Revamped Vintage Charm Bracelet, and matching earrings. This fun and informative 2 hour class will cover the basics of jewelry making like the difference between head and eye pins, wire wrapping, and how to open and close a jump ring. Class supplies include everything you need to make your charm bracelet and earrings including a giant assortment of vintage beads and charms from the Naughty Secretary Club stash for you to choose from! You will need flat and round nosed pliers as well as wire trimmers for this class. You will be able to buy a set from the instructor on day of class as well for an additional $10. Fee: $40 and includes materials.

I hope to see you in one or many of the cl****.  Later this summer I might be doing some cl**** on how to start and run your small business as well as how to market your small business!

P.S. I wanted to give a shout out to one of my students the Paper Squirrel.  Check out her fun Etsy store for amazing vintage supplies!