$10 gift certificate giveaway!!

I am going to try the Bloggy Giveaway!

Prize: A $10 Princess MiMi Designs gift certificate toward any product! $10 would cover personalization on a custom hairbow holder or buy a cute headband. Even better, hold onto that $10 and give me a chance to photograph all of my new, beautiful clippies and headbands! It is up to you!!

Here's what you need to do:

Visit my Etsy store and post a comment about your favorite hairbow holder and/or a color combination that you would love to see.

Be sure to include a way for me to contact you if you're the winner! You don’t have to have a blog to win, but be sure to leave your email address if you don’t have one.

This contest ends Saturday, November 1st, 2008 at 9 a.m. EST. I'll draw one winner at random from all valid entries and will notify the winner by blog or email that they've won. The gift certificate will be sent via email.

Thank you for visiting my blog and shop. I am new at this and am having a lot of fun meeting everyone!

My workspace

This is the space, my space to create. I used to have an area of the floor in the "man room". My husband's self-declared space to watch sports and decorate the walls with pictures of the Buckeyes and the Browns -- I still got to pick the paint color. In "his" space, I could watch television (HGTV most likely), or listen to music, or just close the door. Now, I am smack dab in the middle of the playroom...surrounded by princess clothes, more baby dolls than you can imagine, blocks, books, art supplies, the list goes on. Now, I have to clean up every time I quit for the day so that I can be sure there are no spare staples on the floor to stick in tiny feet. There is no organization in this space no matter how much I try. I have the desk, the bench (with storage inside), the narrow closet on the left. You would think that would be enough. But, I want a pretty space. An inspiring space. A place that when I put everything away, it is all truly put away. Here are some great ideas I found online.

I am not a fan of all of the bright pink, but I love that everything is put away!! This is from HGTV.com.
























This is my kind of organization...the kind I lost about 4 years ago with my firstborn. So neat, so pretty! Found on BHG.com.

Maybe someday!!!!!!!!!

Productive Day

My husband took the girls away from the house today so that I could try to get myself organized for my upcoming open house (see invite below). I had a great day! I was able to cut fabric for hairbow holders, recover a chair cushion, and make all of these clippies. I even had time to go to the gym for a swim, browse through Gymboree, and make my bi-weekly stop for supplies at Jo-Ann Fabrics. It is amazing what can get accomplished without my little "helpers" around! I have to say, I am exhausted!!!

Fro's Bows

I had to blog about Allison...my newest web friend. I have never met her in person, yet we seem so much alike! I wrote to her over a year ago when the idea of personalizing my hairbow holders came about. I found her on the web and saw that she embroidered ribbon. Since that time, Allison has been doing an AMAZING job embroidering ribbons, monogramming hairbow holders, and keeping my girls stocked with beautiful bows and outfits. She is quick, reliable, affordable and perfect! I have never had anything done by her that has not been right. So, if you are looking for an adorable boutique outfit for your little one, hairbows in any size, shape or color or even a lanyard to hold your keys, visit Allison at Fro's Bows but don't forget to come back and get a bowholder to organize everything that you couldn't resist buying!

Headbands!

Every time I complete an order for a hairbow holder, I always make a clippie to match and send it along attached to the bowholder as something a little extra. I have a lot of fun making clippies with ribbon, layered felt flowers, buttons and gems. One night, while trying to fall asleep, I had the idea to turn those clippy creations into headbands. Not only that, but headbands that were completely adjustable. So, I spent the entire night while everyone was asleep, making headbands. I have passed them out to friends and customers to try and, finally, last week, I posted them on my Etsy store. I listed 4 and overnight sold 3. WOW! So exciting. I haven't had time to list anymore -- mainly because I have a very unwilling model in my 4-year-old! I thought I would show them off here though! Let me know what you think.

Balance

I am officially overwhelmed -- unable to find my center, unable to balance all that is happening in my life. I work part-time (20 hours per week) as a pediatric physical therapist. I love my work and LOVE the kids that I work with. Their positive outlook on life and motivation to succeed is contagious! I am a mama!! I have two beautiful girls that are ALL of me. They complete me each in their own little way. I am a wife. I have a supportive husband who loves me to death and picks up everywhere that I leave off. I am a friend, a sister, a daughter and a granddaughter. And now, I am a crafter, a blogger, a mompreneur. I am no different than many mamas out there except that I can't get quite figure out how to balance all of this. The problem -- I can't let any of it go. I am having fun with the crafting even if it is stressing me out more than I ever imagined my "mindless" hobby could. My career pays bills and supports this crazy crafting thing until it can support itself. And the rest -- well, it is what it is -- FAMILY -- it's what's MOST important. My family is my balance and by venting all of this in my blog, maybe I have just had a moment of clarity. The hairbow holders, headbands, and tutus will get done. I am doing the best that I can. For now, I am going to go give my sweet, sleeping girls a kiss on their foreheads and get some shut-eye of my own!

Great graphic designer on Etsy!

I wanted to write about one of my favorite sellers on Etsy. Joan at Bitsy Creations (and Bitsys Greetings) has been wonderful to me! She did the graphic design for the beautiful banner at the top of this page, created gorgeous business cards for me and now, to top it all off, has just sent me this invitation to an Open House I am having to showcase some handmade goods. Joan listened to my ideas and then chipped in her creativity to capture just what I wanted for showcasing my craft. If you need quality, professional business cards, banners, invitations, ANYTHING for your business or if you just need cute little greeting cards, announcements or labels check out Joan's shops. You won't be disappointed!

Organization

That word...it is something I used to be a pro at. A place for everything and everything in it's place. That was before my two princesses entered my now topsy-turvy world! I am a type A personality, a first-born. I like things to be neat and orderly. I think I TRY to clean up 10 times a day! So frustrating. I don't even have time to think let alone be organized. Many of you live that life too! Now that I am blogging, I have realized that I need to be organized to keep track of what blogs I like, what blogs I have posted on in attempt to bring traffic to mine. So, I searched Etsy this afternoon for a pretty journal that I could keep beside the computer to write down the things I find during my computer time -- inspiration, great gifts, recipes, etc. Here are a few that I found that I think are beautiful (I love damask!). We'll see if this helps me on my quest for Martha Stewart quality organization!!!


Kate Black Velvet Cherry Keyhole Journal
Julieboyles Black and White Damask Triple Fold

Blogging 101

My new found obsession is blogging. I used to spend hours after the girls went to bed and after giving my wonderful husband a quick kiss, browsing Etsy. Now, I spend hours and hours trying to learn about blogging -- how to attract people to my blog, how to add links, how to add rings (and what a ring was!!!), etc. Wow!!! What and education I needed. I feel so old, so far behind the times, but I am learning. I have started a list of my favorite blogs. I visit them for inspiration on layout and content. My favorite is Sara Tams' blog. She offers great advice on blogging and business promotion. And, on a side note, she has absolutely gorgeous stationary too! Visit her blog and you will find a link to her new website!

Why hairbow holders???

Many people have asked me how I came up with the idea for the hairbow holders I make. To be honest, it was an attempt to get back to my pre-pregnancy, slightly obsessive-compulsive ability to organize. My firstborn arrived with a head FULL of hair. She was 3 weeks late and took over 3 1/2 hours of pushing to enter the world. The doctor's joked that she was having her hair done and that is what took her so long! Immediately, I was overwhelmed with clippies, bows, headbands, etc. I couldn't keep it all together and certainly couldn't find any two clippies that were alike even though I was positive that they all came in sets of two! And she always needed two to try to tame that head of hair!!!





The idea of the barrette board (as it was originally called) was born! I decided that I wanted to make something functional yet decorative, something that would let me SEE all of those hair accessories all at once. I had so much fun figuring it out. Learning what would work and how to put it all together. The first hairbow holder was rough. It was just a bunch of ribbon wrapped around a board. But, with input from friends and family, it evolved. Eventually friends wanted one, then friends of friends wanted one. I started having more and more fun finding fabrics and fabric combos, finding ribbons, layering ribbons. I figured out how to have them personalized (a great embroiderer and fellow mommy crafter helped -- www.frosbows.com) and found pretty ways to hang them. And now, I think every little girl (and mommy!) should have one!

WELCOME!

I have been struggling with how to take my "kind of a business" craft of making beautiful, decorative and functional hairbow holders to a new level. I have finally decided that it is time to embrace the world of blogging! I will try to post regularly. Please check back often and comment freely. I'd love to hear from you!