Friday Fotos: Sunshine

I was so amazed by the network of supportive and loving moms who advised and cheered me on during my postpartum recovery. One of them, Maya, always had such incredible emails bursting with her positive words. This is a shout out to Maya (introduced to me by Designing Mom Jenn) and her adorable little one Jacob who she calls "the sunshine of our lives."

Happy Friday and weekend everyone! See you on Monday.

Fin + Roe Giveaway

Stay tuned Monday for a great giveaway from Fin + Roe!

Libby Dibby Giveaway Reminder

A reminder to enter the Libby Dibby skirt giveaway (click here to enter) which ends tomorrow!

Happy Bloggin' Birthday...

Birthday Wishes!
Vanessa (a reader and Designing Mom herself) sent in this cute photo of her daughter's recent 2nd birthday party. To see how she planned a budget friendly bday bash, click here.

Any of you out there with some great birthday ideas or pics of your little ones celebrating? Please send them in and share with us!

Our Projects: Coloring Book Part 2

We're continuing with Tori's group project today with part 2 of the down-loadable coloring book project!
..........................................................
Garden Party
by Designing Mom Tori

Cat, Guissell, and Erika did a beautiful job illustrating these flowers. What little girl wouldn't want to spend their time adding vibrant color to these pages?

A Creative Life: Barehanded Press

A good print goes a long way. You can ask any of the Designing Moms here...we spend a lot of time scrutinizing over the "editing" of a print, be it stationery, products, cakes... Simplicity speaks volumes and I fell instantly in love with Yulianna's prints at Barehanded Press. Read below for more on her "Creative Life" and click here to purchase her creations.


What is the inspiration behind Barehanded Press?

I went to school for art and found myself in a cash crunch after graduating. I decided to put my skills to practical use and print on t-shirts, totes, purses-- you name it. Not having the the money for the expensive equipment one tends to find in commercial print shops, I decided to do all my printing by hand, without the use of machinery. Thus, Barehanded Press was born.


How did you come up with the whimsical motifs for the baby tees?

My baby and kids' designs weren't actually made with children in mind. It simply dawned on my one day that my aesthetic really lent itself to juvenile clothing, so I started printing my designs on rompers and kid's tees. They have proven to be rather popular, so you can expect to see more children's items in my shop soon.


What are the greatest rewards in your creative work?

While I try to keep the pricing on my art affordable, most people can't or don't want to pay hundreds of dollars for a print or drawing. Hence, the most rewarding thing about printing shirts is that it allows me to make my work available to people who would otherwise never have access to it.

What about the challenges?

Printing everything by hand means that I can't crank out hundreds (or thousands) of garments each day the way a commercial shop can. This tends to become a problem around the holidays, but I have learned a very important lesson since I started selling shirts a couple of years ago: start printing in June!

Summer Sample Sale

There's nothing quite a like a mid-summer sample sale in New York. If you happen to be in the area, here's a great one featuring Delphine and other lovely designers...

Giveaway: Libby Dibby Skirt

It's Monday, and we're kicking off another awesome giveaway. This GORGEOUS spinny skirt is from the Libby Dibby collection by Designing Mom Liberty. Any little girl (or mom) would be thrilled to wear her work!

To enter for your chance to win the skirt below, just visit the Libby Dibby site (click here to visit) and comment on which skirt you love the most. The giveaways ends Friday at midnight and is open to readers and Designing Moms. Good luck everyone!

Our Projects: What's in My Bag

I am just loving this group project that Designing Mom Erika put together. She asked us: What's in Your Bag? Certainly, a life of balancing babies and creative projects warranted some interesting responses for it!

I'll be posting up this series in the coming weeks. I also want to turn the question out there to all of you readers as well: What's in Your Bag? Let's get nosy and pry into each other's bags...send us pics and lists to share!

By Designing Mom Erika

One of the greatest things about my job as a graphic designer and owner of Delphine is that these days I can do my work from just about anywhere (with wi-fi). So I'm constantly on the go. Sometimes I have meetings with my staff at a coffee shop or the back yard or even the beach! Here's what I always have with me when I'm working (besides my other tote bag):

My giant Orla Kiely stems tote bag is awesome because it's big enough to fit my 17 inch MacBook Pro, INSIDE it's Timbuk2 computer bag:

Here's what's inside today:

1. A FedEx mailer with files from a client

2. My trusty MacBook Pro. I'd be lost without it!
3. Pantone swatch book

4. Timbuk2 computer bag

5. Upload cord for my camera (camera not shown)

6. Half-eaten chocolate bar

7. Green Paper Company swatch book

8. Russell + Hazel sticky note pad

9. Quarters for beach parking

10. File folders for current projects

11. Stretchy metal thingy that attaches my pencil to the front of my sketchbook

12. Sketchbook (blank pages) where I keep all my sketches and business notes. I go through one every 6 weeks or so.

13. Press proof of my cousin's wedding program

14. Cute calculator from the Dollar Store

15. Wet Ones antibacterial wipe

16. Clipboard with my latest catalog and order forms. On good days it has orders attached to it!

Cardstore.com Giveaway Winners

Thanks everyone for participating in the Cardstore.com giveaway. Hope you had fun looking at all of Erika's wonderful designs!

Erika's 2 winning picks for a set of customized notecards are:
Julie Green and Lindsay Hunniford
Congrats to you both! Please email me at designingmoms@gmail.com to receive your notecards.

Libby Dibby Skirt Giveaway!

Stay tuned for Monday for a gorgeous giveaway from Libby Dibby!

Friday Foto: Cake Love

The Magnificent Mila is already practicing her culinary talents at her Designing Mom Shinmin's "I Dream of Cake" studio. What a cutie!

Have a great Friday and weekend everyone. See you on Monday!

Cardstore.com Giveaway Reminder!

Psst...a reminder to all of you that you still have time to enter in the Cardstore.com giveaway which ends tomorrow. Click here to enter!

And thought I'd have Designing Mom Erika give some behind-the-scenes on how she comes up with all of those wonderful designs...


What inspires your work?

I'm most inspired by color. I often find wacky color combos in nature (like lemon yellow butterfly sitting on a ripe plum) and apply them to my designs. I would never have come up with that color combo looking at a swatch book in my studio.

We have fruit trees in our backyard, and every chance I get I'm at the beach with my son, so I'm outside a bunch. I think that's why little critters (butterflies, insects, fishies) pop up in my designs.


What inspired the line you created for Cardstore.com?

Working with Cardstore.com has been fantastic for me. Because they print digitally I'm not restricted by the rules that go with letterpress printing. So I can put a big field of color next to a tiny stripe of the same color and it'll print great. When I letterpress that would mean two passes through the press for the same color. I'm having a lot of fun playing with colorful, flooded backgrounds. I just submitted half a dozen new designs that use bright colors as backgrounds, and some of the wedding invites I designed use them too.


Why send personalized notes?

Everyone loves mail, right? Send a personalized note to make someone happy. There is something about getting an envelope in the mailbox, addressed in a friend's handwriting, that just makes me smile. Even before I open the card I feel great. It takes a little extra time and a little more thought to snail mail a card, but the thought really counts! Extra bonus points if you doodle a little picture on the envelope, in my book. One of my friends makes homemade envelopes out of magazine pages. I LOVE those! Why use personalized notes? It's a great way to express the inner you. Pick a design that reflects YOU, not the corporate stationery you have at your office, or a generic note card from the store. I think personalized notes are great for any occasion ... I even use them to write birthday cards.

Does S have his own personalized stationery?

Oh yes. He has about a dozen different sets. Some letterpress, some from Cardstore.com. Some with lots of space to write, some with a little. When it's time to write a thank you note he gets to choose which card to send, and he gets excited about picking out the right pencil color and he even likes to pick out a matching stamp. On our "to do" list is to scan in one of his drawings and use it as a "photo" and upload it into a photo border card at Cardstore.com. I think that would be a great set of personalized stationery. Like this one:

S has these Cardstore.com cards (he draws a picture above his name, and writes a note inside):

A Creative Life: Pod Swaddler

My little one is getting to the age and size where he is the great Mr. Houdini when it comes to the swaddle! I was so excited when Hannah wrote to me about her Pod Swaddler...not only because it is customizable, but also because it can be so stylish ((how cute would it be with a Thomas Paul or Amy Butler print?). Hannah is doing a giveaway today on her blog where she'll be awarding a pattern to make your own and also giving away a Pod Swaddler made by her. Click here to enter!
If you're wondering just what a Pod Swaddler is, read on...



What is a Pod Swaddler?

A special blanket designed to make swaddling your infant easy and stylish!

What inspired you to create this?
I was inspired in a couple of ways. When our twin girls were born early, the nurses in the NICU taught me the art of swaddling and all of the advantages to doing it. All of my babies have loved to be swaddled...but I would get frustrated with the blankets either being too bulky or to easy to escape ;). When I was a baby, my mom put me in an Indian cradle board (she actually used this for all six of her children). It is a leather and wood contraption that she could tighten in the front. She said that we were always very content when she put us in this. So with the idea of being able to tie the front, coupled with my love for designer fabrics, the Pod Swaddler was born!


Are there any issues or gaps that you see with swaddlers on the market right now?
There isn't a lot of selection as far as color and style. Also the swaddlers I have had experience with are cumbersome, hard to clean and have Velcro which tends to stick to anything and everything in the wash. I specifically designed the Pod without Velcro or snaps. It is a very straightforward, light weight design that is easy to wash and fold.


With three girls, what's a day-in-your-life like?
My life right now is full of "uh-oh's," "poopy's" and LOVE. We weren't able to have children right away and finally with the help of modern medicine and a lot of prayers our twin girls came to our family. We were very happily surprised when on the twin's six month birthday I was pregnant again with no help at all! So now we have three girls under the age of 2! Life is crazy but it is the most magical, wonderful crazy! I can honestly say I've NEVER been more happy.

Make: Eco Planters

by Designing Mom Liberty


As you may have picked up - around our house we do our best to re-use , re-cycle, and re-purpose . That goes for everything from old clothing, to old food containers, cardboard boxes, and even the tiniest fabric scraps.

Which brings me to today's project.

I make a habit of keeping some of the better containers from food on hand... We keep the larger yogurt tubs and sour cream containers for sand toys - I've had a number of the kids' new acquaintances express sheer delight when they learn they can REALLY keep this (not so pretty) container that we loaned them for making mudpies or collecting shells. It pays to have a few extra on hand and the lids make them really fun.

Other containers I keep around the house for the odd day, like today, where we need a quick project. I love art projects, but I don't love making things that I don't want to keep. Some of that must have to do with the fact that I hate wasting... so I try to help the kids do projects that are usable, easy to make and clean up, fast, and that an adult might actually find a use for.

What you can see in this picture are some planters that we made today. Mine is the second from the left. I used fabric scraps and Mod Podge on the bottom half of an old gallon water jug that I cut the top half off. (When I actually plant something in this, I will punch some holes in the bottom, and weight it with some rocks to avoid tipping) The process is basically the same as the one that we used for our candles a few months ago.

Today, it's summer, and we had a neighbor kiddo with us, so I picked out from my stash, the containers you see here... An empty glass pasta jar, a rigid paperboard Carnation Instant Breakfast container, and another gallon jug cut in half. Everyone had a great time between the paint, the Mod Podge , tearing out paper from magazine clippings and some cut up holographic origami sheets.

The whole project was started and finished in about 40 minutes, and I let them dry on the porch where our neighbor was able to come and pick it up later to take home to mom.

A Creative Life: Rice Babies

I am always just floored by all of the amazingly talented moms and readers out there. Kellie recently wrote to me about her Rice Babies. I was so taken by these adorably patterned stuffed dolls, especially in her inspiration behind creating them. To visit her Etsy site, Click here!


Tell us about Rice Babies. Where the did the inspiration come from?

The Rice Babies was born out of the lack of Asian dolls out there. I didn't like going out there and picking up blonde haired dolls for my beautiful dark haired, dark-eyed nieces. I also teach art, and in my classes I noticed that some of the little girls (Asian) didn't like to draw themselves as they were; they would draw blond hair, big eyes. I wanted to make a change. So I took what Gandhi said literally, "Be the change you wish to see in the world."

What are some of the rewards of creating your own independent business?

I am an Art Major with a minor in Child Development, as an artists, you ARE your own business. It's rewarding to reach people, to do what you love and still have time for your kids.

What about the challenges?

The challenges can be the balance of deadlines and babies. I am a part of a large group of women, you might be one, we call ourselves midnight crafters. You have to wait till the littles are tucked away to get down to business.

What's a typical day-in-your-life like?

A typical day, doesn't exist in our house. ha ha If I had to pick a day , it would go like this:

My 9 month old gets up at 7 am, we spend some time in the quiet, just the two of us. Sometime in there I get a Bible study in before the big one wakes at 8:30 am. We all sit and eat as Dad heads off to work. Little one goes back to sleep, big guy and mom have some time together. We usually go to the play room, he is really into dinosaurs right now. I then make some time for design, pattern reading, and blogging. The little one is up, we eat, play, then all go down for a nap. In this time I try to sew, print, whatever I can while both nap. Dad comes home, we all play, maybe get a family bike ride in after dinner. When all are asleep, that's when I can sew in the quite (well, actually with music). This day doesn't include the days I teach art,that's a whole new routine. We can get quite busy but we always find time for fun!

Story: Word #1...Ball

by Designing Mom Kate

My husband and I are both writers (he's a copywriter, I am now a blogger), we consume books by the shelf-ful (less so for me now that Oscar has arrived), and we love to play Scrabble on date night. I guess we have a thing for words. Our little magpie, Oscar, is picking up words like crazy and I'd like to chronicle some of his favorites here.


Word #1: BALL Oscar's first word was uttered in Mexico around his 1st birthday: "Ball." Since then, I think I may have heard him say the word at least three thousand times. Sometimes he questions, "Ball?" (as in: where is the ball? Is that a ball? Can I have my ball? Are you holding a ball?). sometimes he exclaims with gusto, "BALL!" (as in: there's the ball! I see the ball! A new ball! I caught the ball! I want that ball that isn't mine! I love the ball! The ball brings me more joy than I can possibly express!). And often times the word is simply uttered matter-of-factly, "Ball." (as in: I just woke up and I need to see a ball. I know what a ball is. That is a ball. There's a ball in front of my face. I can say the word ball. Even though you just gave me a vaccination, I will forgive you since you just gave me a ball.).


When we arrive at the park for our morning run - he starts yelling, "Ball!
Ball! Ball!" when he gets his first glimpse of the basketball court. One time in a restaurant he started shouting, "Ball, Ball!" - I didn't see one anywhere - until I glanced at a TV in the corner showing a baseball game (how on earth did he see that?). His ball radar is very acute. His little obsession drives our entertainment choices. He loves balls? Well - then we'll get him a whole slew. Whenever we shop and he sees a ball (as in: Ball!) - I can't resist buying it. I reason - he needs indoor balls, outdoor balls, park balls, car balls, bath balls, diaper-bag balls. And of course he needs large balls, small balls, squishy balls, bouncy
balls, hard balls, balls that fit in my purse, balls that are larger than his entire body. My husband wants to encourage his interest in baseballs, basketballs, footballs, soccer balls, tennis balls. I like the clear ball with a tiny cockatoo inside. I could open a ball store at this point and Oscar would be the best salesman.


He's recently morphed his first word into crude sentences: "That Ball!" is a new favorite. Recently at an outdoor wedding - the couple filled the pool with about 20 beach balls (for the kids). Oscar was like a magnet to the edge of the pool - trying to grab a ball. Finally, I got in the water and would bring him the ball of his choice as he excitedly pointed to "that ball!" (note that each ball was exactly the same). His passion for balls is genuine and adorable and I hope he never outgrows this brand of enthusiasm in his life.

Cardstore.com Giveaway!

If you don't know already, Designing Mom Erika of Delphine Press designs beautiful letterpress work. Her work is also featured at Cardstore.com and I am more than excited to start off the week with an awesome giveaway from them! If you haven't indulged yourself with some custom stationery, here's your chance.

Two winners will receive a set of thank you notes of your choosing personalized with your or your little one's name. To see Erika's full collection at Cardstore.com click here!

To enter, just pick one (or one from her collection at Cardstore.com) Erika's designs below and tell us why it's your favorite! The giveaway will run all week and is open to readers and Designing Moms alike. Happy Picking!

Decorate: Marimekko My Walls

A Marimekko print probably found its way into your childhood home in the form of a bed sheet, pillow or even an umbrella. If you delight in the designs as much as I do, then you'll love their new wallpaper prints for your own little ones. They also have beautiful grown-up versions available as well.

Cardstore.com Giveaway!

Looking for stylish customized notes? Be sure and check back Monday because I'll be doing a great giveaway from Cardstore.com!