Taylor Made designs

A couple people wrote and inquired about hosting a Taylor Made designs party :) Since they want to show their friends the kinds of product I will have available, I made up this little montage of my "stuff". So when they visit my blog, they can see some of the "stuff" I have available. 

I am updating my etsy store this weekend. {i know, finally} so feel free to take a look. The mini books are perfect teacher + hostess gifts. I sell a lot of them during the holidays.

Also, it's party season! How many times do you bring a nice bottle of wine {bc you are no cheapskate} as a hostess gift and your hostess says "thank you" and places your pricey bottle next to a dozen of other wine bottles? My wine tags will let them know, "it's from you!". They come four in a pack – and are environmentally friendly. I promise you, you'll be so happy you bought them. So easy + really, so inexpensive. Check'em out!

TAG it | 2008 Holiday Tags

I've been busy working on the 2008 Holiday line for TAG it. They are printed and ready for purchase :) My wine tags are done too. I am on the ball this year :)

By this weekend they will be available via my TAG it site. I will also put some in my Etsy store. If you are interested in some tags, but want a different selection, (you know, 5 red, 5 green, a mix of different designs etc.) just email me. I'd be happy to put together a package just for you.

Oh, want to hear how small the world is getting? I received an email months ago from Andrea who I only know through her blog + etsy store – Well, she was at her local liquor store in Victoria BC Canada and she saw my tags for sale and thought it was so cool to see my stuff there. She was sweet enough to write and tell me :)

Many of you have been so generous to send me the addresses of local businesses that you thought would want to carry my tags. Well, I have reached out to many of them and they have bought them. SO, if you want to go to your local store, and not have to buy them online, just send me some addresses and I'll do my best to contact them + ask them to carry TAG it tags. Plus, if you do give me some addresses, I will probably send you something for being so nice!

Happy Halloween Invitations :)

It's almost Halloween! My kids and my husband's favorite holiday.

I designed Halloween invitations again this year for Davis's school. Since my life has been crazy busy this past month, I kept a lot of the same design elements I used last time. I do try NOT to complicate my life... yet, still volunteer my time when possible :)

Not sure if it was because Mercury was in retrograde or what, but of course, only AFTER I printed the invites out, did someone contact me with a typo. grrrr. So I ended up reprinting. So much for keeping things simple and getting them off my plate. Things always take so much more time than you think.

Thank you all for your kind thoughts + words regarding my mum. She was released on Sunday and is home. So far so good. She is a doer... so sitting back and relaxing is not her style at all. I hope she will try not to do too much and remember she had major surgery!

A Little Prayer...

for my mum. She's having surgery on Wednesday. And though we know in our hearts she is going to be all right, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask :)  So, if you have a moment + can send some good thoughts her way – myself and my family would be very thankful!

Apple + Pumpkin Picking

As long as I can remember I have gone apple picking with family.
Fall = apple + pumpkin picking.

This past weekend we drove up to Harvard, MA to Carlson's Orchard. As you can see, we had a terrific time and picked lots + lots of apples + pumpkins. On Sunday I made apple crisp. Yummy.

Taylor Made designs Party

Many of you emailed me and asked how my Taylor Made designs party went last week...{thank you!} and, what exactly was a Taylor Made designs party?  So, I figured I would post a little something about it :)

I belong to a woman's group and one of the members wanted to have a girls night in. She invited five different vendors to set up their wares in one woman's home. She then invited around 30 plus women to do a little holiday shopping. It was lots of fun. I didn't make as much money as I normally do, but I wasn't planning to. I had four other vendors competing for purchases :) 

It was so nice to meet the other vendors. See how they set things up... I always learn something new when I participate in events like this. I also always forget to take photos of my space + products till the evening is almost over! {which is what happened here}

My tags were a major hit, as were my ABC prints. I also sold quite a bit of custom stationery + my mini Taylor Books and a couple of my larger Taylor books.

I am so happy that I have been making product every week. I have quite an inventory. {first time ever~} I realized that it's just too stressful trying to prepare for a party a few weeks ahead of time.  I'm too old for all nighters :)

Also, my 2009 calendar... done. I can't tell you how much work putting together the calendar is initially. Culling through photos of the kids +  setting the months up etc. I mentioned last winter that my goal this year was to get my calendar done early + I did. I make @ 9 calendars for my family alone for the holidays. That's a lot of printing.

My next TMD party is in early November at a woman's house in the city. For this party there will be around 10 women and only me selling. I normally just set up my stuff on their dining room table, leave my price list out and then hang around the area to answer questions. Depending on the group, I might make a quick little presentation explaining each product and how they can have products "taylor made". I try to keep it casual + fun. 

If you have any questions, just let me know. I'd be happy to answer them. If you are local and would like to set up a TMD party, just email me at: kat at taylormadedesigns dot com

Have a great weekend everyone! We're going apple + pumpkin picking :)

Happy Birthday William!

My sweet William turned 6 over the weekend. Yes. 6.
How is that possible? I swear I'm still only 25 :)

I look at that top left photo and I just die. How lucky am I to have such sweet kids. – they rival the sweetness of the blue frosting on those cuppie cakes!

I made over 50 cupcakes over the weekend with two sets of "happy birthday william" signage – one set went to church for coffee hour, and the second set went to William's school. I wanted William to feel special, because he is. I could not ask for a better little boy. I know in a few more years, he will be smarter than me. Seriously. He's sweet, funny, creative, smart, and kind. Gosh, I hope I don't mess him up :)

I don't know why, but when I look at that photo of William and Davis... her cheek + arm on his arm, their content smiles, I can just imagine 20 years from now... the two of them, looking just like that. I hope they will always be close friends, be happy + content, and continue to smile for me and my camera. Happy Birthday William. I love you.

Silkscreen Ribbons + Tags

Here's a recent ribbon order... isn't it pretty?

Erin has a great Etsy store and plans to cut the ribbon up to use as tags for all her wonderful products. I wish I had better photos, but it has been gray and rainy here for what seems forever!

Good photos are getting harder + harder to take. I'm thinking I should invest in a little light box. Does anyone out there use one? Any recommendations?