Tip for Your Week: Remember that no matter how hard your days may seem this week, that you can always find joy in the laughter of a child. So turn your stress towards the wisdom of a child and laugh. Rent a funny movie or chat with a friend that always makes you smile & laugh for your health, laugh for your spirit, and laugh for your self!

Quote for Your Week: “he who beats a drum for a mad man to dance to is no better than the mad man himself” - African Proverb.

I hope this week has been a productive, creative, and inspirational one! We have some great updates for you all to check out from the Inspiration Network. Enjoy, and we hope your upcoming week is filled with as much joy, love, and pure inspiration as the last! Here's The News:

Que Jimenez: If you are looking for some artistic and holistic inspiration then head on over to Que Jimenez and be inspired by her wonderful writeup on her latest artistic endeavor: block printing. Be sure to also check out the most fabulous vegan dishes and desserts on her sister blog: “From Scratch”. Ki has the most wonderful recipe for a vegan chocolate cake that looks much too enticing to be good for you and some good ol' vegan black eyed peas! If you want that recipe for that scrumptious apple pie on her blog, then be sure to leave a comment.

I Like Her Style: Sylvia of I Like Her Style has been nominated for the first ever Fashion Blog Awards (aka. the fabbies), so if you love her blog then show her some love by voting for her.

She also has a wonderful interview with fashion photographer Piper Carter from VH1's hit show “The Shot”. Sylvia chats it up with her inspirations and advice on living the life as a photographer and the challenges that she felt along the way.

Ebony Mommy: Yolanda of Ebony Mommy has a great review on “The Ultimate Tea Diet”: “With the new year many become focused on ways to finally rid themselves of bad habits and get healthy. Whether you are looking to get back in shape or regain your focus for other areas of your life tea just might be the missing ingredient to attaining your goals. The Ultimate Tea Diet is a fresh new approach to health and weight loss based on the goodness of tea.” Check It Out!

Treat: Calling all Chicago Ladies! Derilyn from Treat wanted to share a great volunteer opportunity with all of the creative Sisters in the Chicago area. Project Osmosisis looking for volunteers to work on-on-one with the youth as part of their “Express Yourself Portrait Program.” The Express Your Self-Portrait program creates self-esteem by having kids paint a portrait of themselves with the assistance of a professional designer or artist. OSMOSIS volunteers work one-on-one with children to help each of them use the basic principles of design, such as color, line, and shape, to create a large-scale self-portrait.

When: Saturday, February 2, 2008

Time: 9:00am until 2:00pm

Where: Chicago Public Library, West Pullman Branch, 830 W. 119th Street , Chicago, IL 60628

If interested, please contact Lisa at lisam@projectosmosis.org.

The Luscious Librarian: The Luscious Librarian has a very incite-full post from author Sara Corbett about the female circumcisions thats going on in Indonesia.

Adventures In Motherhood: Visit Shazia from Adventures in Motherhood for some lovely motherly blogging about the chores that many of us moms have a hard time balancing and completing.

Neo Sew Mama: Nina of Neo Sew Mama has a handful of creative treats for you to be inspired by. She has posted a great vegan biscuit recipe that she adoringly calls “ Ninas Better Than Buttermilk Biscuits”, and if knitting is your thing(and we know for many of you it is!), she gives some great links on loom knitting, which also includes a nice little video on basic loom knitting stitches!

Fly Girls: Last but most definitely not least, we have Andrea from Fly Girls, who hives us a little sneek peak into her first day in her life as a graduate student for Graphic Design; and be sure to check out her Fly Girl of The Week!

Got Inspiration? If you have or know someone with a lovely and inspirational site that you feel should be apart of the ymib network, then feel free to shoot us an e-mail at: contactus (at) ymib.com, and we will be more than happy to review it for consideration. Be sure to include the website link and if you are the owner of the site or blog, be sure to include your name, a short paragraph of what your blog is about and your favorite inspirational quote that relates to life or the genre of your blog. The goal of our Inspiration Network & Network News is to help promote the inspiration that women of color & culture are providing to the world!

In Return: you will receive a listing in our Inspiration Network Directory, random highlights in our network news, as well as a lovely little banner to post on your site to let everyone know that You Make It Beautiful in the ymib Inspiration Network!

What We Look For: Please note that not just any blog can be included in the Network. We are looking for sites and blogs that portray pure inspiration and uniqueness, updated posts, as well as clear and sharp imagery, with very little gossip, and for those willing to post our Inspiration Network Banner and/or a direct link to ymib.com. Feel free to browse our current Network members for examples. Members will be added continuously, so check back frequently!