Rock Star WAHM!

I guess since I don't have a little girl of my own I am always fascinated and drawn to wanting to carry all the prettiest, most girly and unique clothes available on the market in my boutique's catalog. I was searching the web again, the other day and I found a site that really has a great new outlook on what can be both girly, yet punk. Vintage Lucy's is an e-boutique dedicated to carrying vintage designs with a hip flair to them. When I first noticed the clothes I was very intrigued by the idea that I couldn't place a label on them. I thought, 'are they vintage?', 'are they rock?', 'are they trendy?', 'are they punk or are they country?', what can I classify these clothes? The more that I looked at them the more I thought, who cares what to label them I want my kids to have them all. I just had to contact the designer to carry Vintage Lucy's in the Boobba Baby catalog. I thoroughly looked at all the products making sure to annotate what all I'd like to retail, actually I wanted it all but I had to keep within financial reason, then I looked at Vintage Lucy's about us page. That in itself made me want to carry the line even more. Tabatha, the mommy behind Vintage Lucy's, seemed so Rock Star Mom, very together and down to earth. She's the cool mom that I aspire to be. So, I wrote her an email begging for the clothes and wanting to know more about her.

What I found was that all my preconceived notions were only the beginning. Yes, Tabatha is a Rock Star Mom. Her love of music influences her designs, in fact when she is making clothes for a client into the wee hours of the night she is blaring music in the background. Usually, Sex Pistols, Elvis, Johnny Cash, Patsy Cline or Social Distortion, the music effects what she is designing at the time. Tabatha's late great-grandmother Lucille, whom the line is named after, is another big influence. She remembers being a little girl at Lucille's 1920's bungalow in Downey, California where she helped raise her and her two brothers. When Tabatha finds vintage table linens, hankies and retro prints that she must use in her designs she knows it is great-grandma guiding her hand. Tabatha said that her own life is also a source of inspiration for her designs, a life filled with ups and downs that she handles with true rock star grace. In 2000, when her brother passed away Tabatha took in his son and has since continued to raise him. When she tells me this I thought how hard that most have been for her since she has four children of her own. Before I can even ask that question Tabatha adds that her brothers passing brought her heartache but that his son has been a pleasure to raise. The more that I get to know her the more I can see why her designs are so, unique! You see, she isn't your typical mom, well she isn't your typical woman, she is much more than that she is extraordinary. A lady that has tattooed sleeves on both arms who sews like an angel and who's heart is filled with love. Love for her children, love of all things musical, a love for the past and especially a love for creating art out of clothing. She doesn't want to raise her children to fit into anyone's cookie cutter mold, she wants them to express who they are, how ever they choose to be inspired to do so. She yearns to bring hip funky fashions to the youngsters and make quality products at the same time. I think she has more than accomplished her goal. She adores the idea that Vintage Lucy's is quickly becoming the go to line for parents who are similar minded and want more from a children's line than teddy bears and bunnies.

Vintage Lucy's began out of a Tabatha's desire to stay at home with her children in 2002, yet from her persona (1 part June Clever, 1 part Lucille and 2 parts Rock Star) developed much more than the typical line of clothing that any crafty hen could come up with. So, if you too are a rock star mom or a mommy who isn't waving the soccer mom flag from the SUV, please visit Vintage Lucy's website to purchase what is hotter than hot in children's clothing. By the way I'll warn you, Tabatha's daughter Bailey is going to blow you away with the attitude that she models the clothing for her momma.

Thank you for taking the time to read my words. Blog 2 you later!

Evolution of Dance, this white boy can dance!
From time to time I will be adding things that crack me up. In life you gotta have some laughs too! So, if you have six minutes to spare you have to sit and watch! Enjoy! Thank you for sharing some laughs. Blog 2 you later!

www.Fashion-Chicks.com where faith is always in fashion...

At the age of 23, most young people are concerned with what their cohorts think. Most 23 year olds aren't business owners and many haven't even established enough roots to keep themselves footed in one place. Meeting Jessica the owner of Fashion-Chicks.com gave me a different outlook on today's youth. At the tender age of twenty-three, Jessica is an established business owner with a dream, a path set for success, and a very keen eye for girls fashion trends. While, most young ladies her age are out partying doing the club scene Jessica, is planting seeds for future harvesting which she waters with faith. She tells me that at the age of fourteen she found God and since then has been living a Christian life. She recalls how a couple of years ago she felt the desire to go into retail since shopping was something she had always loved. Born with a natural eye for the best in girls clothing Jessica made her first purchases and soon she was selling clothing out of her bedroom to family and friends. A girl with a hope that a few sales would give her extra money for school. She prayed on it, she planned, she kept selling (still out of her bedroom), things kept getting better for her, sales kept growing and customers all kept coming back to buy again. She found so much success through word of mouth, she eventually had to rearrange her living quarters to accommodate a professional look to her girls fashion "bedroom" boutique.

Through it all Jessica kept her dream, her faith and her determination to work and study hard. She eventually became a medical transcriptionist, a job that she loves, while her clothing sales expanded to eBay. She was very grateful to God especially for finding love and she rejoiced that with each day her dreams grew and seemed more possible. She found her success in business by being honest and maintaining integrity. She finds it incredible how she still has the same customers that she started off with 2 years ago but to me it sounds only natural. A couple of weeks ago after saving enough and praying even more, Jessica was able to launch her now even greater line of clothing into the world wide web. She carries clothes that are just perfect for everyday casual wear and even some more classy styles in sizes 3-14. The cute styles found above are just flying off her racks now that she owns her own online boutique. Her belief is that success is not her own to claim since she feels guided by her faith. Now, that life is better for her the extra income provides her more time to listen to music, shop, talk with friends and plan her wedding. Soon to be married, Jessica dreams about someday sharing her love of fashion with her own child and God willing she adds, someday owning her very own bricks and mortar boutique in Houston. She laughed, "One that doesn't consist of my bedroom's brick and mortar." Jessica may be young and she may be new to owning an e-boutique but she is not a newbie to fashion or a stranger to God. To see more of the sassy and girly fashions Jessica has to offer visit her store online at www.Fashion-Chicks.com. Thank you for reading my words. Blog 2 you later!

Sweet-Pea-Creations Proving that good things don't have to cost a lot

Many people today automatically assume that if something is inexpensive than it must be of poor quality. I unfortunately once belonged to that mindset buying the most expensive products thinking that I was getting top quality. Then I had my first son and my world was turned up side down when I learned how many things a baby required (sound familiar John & Anna?). After the initial shock of 'oh, my God how are we going to pay for this baby' wore off I learned how to comparison bargain shop and my skies cleared. Lesson after lesson I learned that low price does not equal low quality. I just came across a WAHM run business that is proof positive that GREAT products can be affordable. Looking through the online catalog at www.Sweet-Pea-Creations.com I kept thinking, 'how can these beautiful birth announcements & shower invitations be at such low prices?', I contacted the owner about her products and I realized why. Over the phone I asked Susan why her prices were so low for such great products? She replied that so many people had recently been asking her the same question enough for her to think more than once about raising her prices. She continued to tell me that after people get their announcements and invitations back many say, "Susan, you really should charge more!" but Susan still continues to keep her prices low. As the mother of two toddlers she knows how much it costs to bring up babies and she also knows how important the birth of a new child is to a family. She is very proud to make it possible for families on a budget to announce the arrival of their child in style without having to break the bank. Her prices have made her very popular with those on a budget, she in fact started selling on eBay where there are many bargain shoppers. It is her quality work that brings her many repeat customers and referrals, though.

Selling on eBay isn't easy because there is always someone selling the same thing at a lower price. So, I asked her how she had managed to stand out from the pack enough to build a steady customer base large enough to then launch her own site. Her reply was that her main goal has always been to provide each customer with complete order customization. If a customer has a very specific and difficult idea for an announcement or invitation she welcomes the challenge. Susan said, "I recently finished work on a birth annoucement that was extremely difficult beacause the customer had an exact idea of how the finished product should look. She specified that it must be a 5 x7 and that all the wording be around a large open span where a picture of the baby would go. She didn't want any of the lettering to cover the baby's face. She also wanted it to be in a specific font." I asked, "Wow, that sounds like it must have taken you twice the work of a usual order. How much extra did you charge her for the customization?" Her reply came as a huge surprise to me, "I didn't charge her extra. My specialty and goal is to design cards that are especially made for each customer. I don't want two cards to ever be alike. I will work closely with my customers to make sure everything is just as they want it. I am also happy to make any suggestions to those customers who aren't quite sure what they want. I create announcements and invitations whose final product are exactly what the customer wanted whether they came to me with specifics or not". "So, how many tries did that one very detailed announcement take you?", was my next question. "Oh, I don't know it took a few to work the font just right to include the exact wording the Mom wanted and not have any of it touch the edge of where the babies picture would be. It was worth it though. I love being able to do it perfect and see what my customer says.", Susan replied. I think that it is an incredible thing Susan does. There aren't any large printing companies that I have ever heard of that go to the lengths she goes to in order to achieve customer satisfaction, especially at her low prices. Susan says that she is grateful for the opportunity that Sweet-Pea-Creations provides her to be able to stay at home with her children. She doesn't plan on raising prices now that she is so popular even among those not on a budget because she finds it to be a mutually rewarding relationship she shares with her customers. She gets to be a WAHM and they get totally customized products at great low prices. For a standard 4 x 6 announcement or invitation from Sweet-Pea-Creations pricing starts at $1 each and the minimum order required is only 20. For a larger 5 x 7 the pricing starts at $1.25 each, minimum order is also 20. Which is a very reasonable and fair price for cards that are handmade using high quality cardstock (acid free), papers (acid free) and ribbons, printed with fade-proof and smudge-proof inks, that even come assembled. By clicking the sample of Sweet-Pea-Creations most popular announcement Pink Rose you will be redirected to their website. Thank you for taking the time to read my words. Blog 2 you later!

It's my Anniversary

Hi, everyone! I know I just started the blog and I have been writing daily, but I am taking the day off today. It is my 8th wedding anniversary and I won't be posting or doing too much business stuff today. I have to dedicate a bit of time to the man who makes all my dreams come true. Thank you for taking the time to check in though. Blog 2 you later!

Need a Father's Day Present for the hubby?

I personally hate shopping for electronic toys for my husband for three reasons:

1. All the high tech mumbo jumbo is like Greek to me. I can read and edit HTML, but I have no idea what the difference between an MP3 and an IPOD is. Is there a difference?
2. I just plain don't care about all those technological gadgets.
3. My husband can and does get himself exactly what he wants leaving me to shop for other things he loves but won't buy for himself.

So, after years of being married and learning that you can't change a T-shirt kind of guy into the collared shirt type, I have become quite the T-shirt guru. I never knew before my husband schooled me that men aren't satisfied with getting just any old tee with a witty saying. Men want the fabric to be soft, the collar to not ride into their necks, the seams to not be scratchy and to have more options than just text on the shirt. So, for you girls out there still in need of some presents for the Daddies in your lives here are some great sites for T-Shirts. Clicking on the shirts pictured below will take you directly to the sites that offer them for sale, just to make it even easier for you.

For the man that is into art most anything from Defunker.com should catch his eye. My personal favorite from them and my latest buy is the Jezabelle tee by Brown Sound that they sell. I think I love it so much because it really brings out the green in my husband's eyes, but he loves it because it is made of very soft cotton. Want to check out more T-shirts offered by Defunker click on the picture of the Jezabelle.

Note the next few tees are not for the "PC" types! They are all for sale at BustedTees and are for those who can appreciate jokes. For the sports lover that hates the Yankees, like my husband, father and brother do, BustedTees offers the perfect shirt for him sold in grey and pictured below.

The husband who hates Nascar or the wife who does can wear this next tee to let everyone know how they feel.

This next tee also by BustedTees is one that everyone might not get at first but the gun toting, hunting and gathering sort of man will crack up right away and so, will the History teacher type.

For those of you who are on the left coast the The Ryde designs T-shirts are true to California living and might be your cup of tea. Doug and I miss living in the San Francisco Bay area so when I got him the shirt pictured below he smiled. Funny because The Ryde motto slogan is "We make the clothes that make you smile".

TrippinTees.com is really good for super witty sayings and cool graphics and these are probably the softest shirts on the market. They also sell ladies tees that are very cute I just bought the one on the left for the hubby, the one in the middle for me, plus the one on the right for my future sister in law. Hey, I like shopping especially when a company gives extra incentives to buy more and TrippinTees offers free shipping if you buy three or more. To get to their website just click any of the tees below.

Last but not least are the Tees by Old Guys Rule my personal favorites to give to the my own father. As a joke I think I'm going to give Doug one too, when he turns 30 in a few months. All of the Old Guys Rule line Tees in one way or another display their motto, "Old Guys Rule". The graphics on these go very well with their motto. My Dad now has a few and he likes to wear them as a way to commemorate that in fact he is old but he still rules. Below are a few samples that you can click on if you are interested in getting to their site.

If you ever find any or already know of some other lines that are great let me know, I am always on the hunt for new T-shirts. It is so much nicer to buy things that are a bit more original than what you can find at Old Navy or Abercrombie and that also cost less, too. I personally have not bought from either one of those places after finding these great sites. I was pretty much tired of paying 30-50 dollars for a T-Shirt that would fade and/or shrink in the wash, plus pretty much everywhere we went some other guy had the same tee on. Well, I hope I gave you plenty of different options when it comes to buying tees for the man in your life or even for yourself. Thanks for taking the time to read my words! Blog 2 you later!