I love politics. But man, do I hate asking for a vote. Today I'm asking for a vote in the Martha Stewart American Made contest. I entered it hoping that someone at that organization would notice my shop. You know, a back door entrance to get on their radar. Now that the contest has progressed, it's time to see this through and ask for your help. If you are inclined, click here for my page to vote. You do have to give Martha your email. UPDATE: If you have clicked on my entry page, thank you! I was just informed by Martha that at this point in the contest, only finalists can garner votes. I am NOT a finalist. 

The Martha Stewart American Made contest originated a few years ago as a way to highlight makers, creative entrepreneurs, and small businesses. My favorite past winner is a company I've written about before -- Spoonflower. Spoonflower is a textile company that was born out of one woman's frustration with textile choices. She was sewing her own drapes and couldn't find the polkadot fabric she envisioned. So she designed it and her husband figured out how to print it. He joined forces with his brother and now millions of customers upload their own designs to be turned into fabric or wallpaper. It is the largest marketplace of independently-designed fabrics and wallpapers, which, incidentally, are printed at extremely affordable price points. Genius.  

In a separate positive development, Finder Not Keeper will be included in Uppercase Magazine's 2015 Compendium of Creativity. I've been a fan of Uppercase Magazine for ages and am so honored to be included in this anthology. This is how Janine Vangool describes the Compendium: 

Across the Internet there are blog posts, websites and Etsy listings, but these are scattered and fleeting: items are sold, sites are updated with more current projects, blog posts quickly get buried by the latest thing. We’re so busy looking for what’s new, that there isn’t time to appreciate what we’ve already done. This book will be a beautiful compilation of all that we're making and doing.

I'll be sharing the Compendium here as soon as it's published and available. In the meantime, thank you for supporting Finder Not Keeper and this fledgling blog which grows little by little every single week. Like a teenager, it brings me great joy even as it keeps me up at night.  

Photo by Renn Kuhnen

This was a post I wrote about Martha Stewart and the complexity of her role in our culture. I still think she deserves the Congressional Medal of Honor.