Taylor Made designs

Custom Baby Showers Invites + BookPlates

This is just one of the five different baby shower invites I designed last month. I loved that I also got the chance to design bookplates, favor tags and tiny note cards for the entire event. The mum-to-be even contact me afterwards to design her thank you note cards. She said she will be in touch in a month to work on baby announcements :) Love how that works out.

Books + Bookplates

Aren't these a great idea? I just designed these bookplates for a school fundraiser.

Maybe it's all this snow and people are inside reading more, but I have never been so busy designing bookplates as I have this past January/February. How long this trend will continue is unknown seeing we are heading more and more towards digital media. No need for bookplates then :(

Myself, I've been doing my fair share of reading too. {just don't ask me if my books have bookplates in them.} Much like the cobbler's kids, my books are naked too. Someday I'll actually get around to placing bookplates inside them. Although lately the books I have been buying + reading have been on my iPad. A trend I have been slow to adapt. But adapting I am.

I have to admit, it's quite nice to open my iPad and read anywhere: the pool during swim lessons, the doctor's office, the hair salon.  The problem... I like paper. Ok, understatement. I love paper. I like the smell of books. I like the feel of paper and turning the pages of a book. Swishing my finger to turn the page doesn't have the same appeal for me.

I downloaded Treasure Island to read to the kids and it's just not the same as reading a hardcovered book. It's just not the same experience. I'd hate for them not to have a beautiful library full of books. So I continue to buy them books and yes, their books, unlike their mum's, have bookplates in them :)

My latest reads: Cutting for Stone, The Slap,  Peace Like A River, Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet to name a few. All really great books.

So, what are you reading? Are you reading a hardcover or have you gone digital?  I want to know :)

Teacher's End of the Year Gifts

Being the "pod" parent for Davis's class I was in charge of the end of the year teacher's gift. {fun!} Seeing that we all loved, loved, loved Kassandra + Judy { their teacher + her assistant} I had no problem collecting monies for a nice gift. I thought of a charm bracelet – thinking each year their classroom could give them a charm, and at the end of their teaching career they would have this beautiful memento of their school days. Way better than a, "world's best teacher" mug, right?

Off to the jewelry store I went, where I decided on Pandora Bracelets. I was able to get them a bracelet and three charms. Davis wanted to give them a charm just from our family, so she picked out a ladybug charm.

My favorite part of gift giving? Wrapping. I made origami boxes from wrapping paper, had Davis draw me a flower + a ladybug and I made special cards for them. Pretty ribbon + some sand dollars topped them off. They came out lovely. Both Kassandra + Judy loved the bracelets almost as much as they love our kids :)

Have a Heart!

How fun are these?

I saw this idea in a magazine a few years ago and I've been itching to make them ever since. I get such a kick out of making stuff like this :)

It's not too late to make these... it is easy + does not take long to do.

1. Have your kids pose for you. Keep in mind the shape of their arms/hands.
2. Next, download the photos to your computer. If you have Photoshop or an image editor, clean, sharpen and brighten the photos.
3. I prefer to work in a vector-based program when I'm dealing with type. {photoshop is pixel-based... so type is never crisp} So I opened up InDesign + created a 4 x 6 document. I decided to make life easy for myself and bought glossy 4 x 6 photo paper to print on. You could always create 2 up on an 8.5 x 11 sheet. Place the photos into your document. Crop and adjust the photo.
4. Next, I added the text, keeping in mind where the lollipop sticks would be.
5. I then printed out over 50 photos.
6. You can buy any kind of pop to use, but earlier in the week the kids and I made homemade dark chocolate lollipops. {when I say the kids helped, I mean, they taste-tested)
7. Using my exacto knife, I placed 2 cuts above + below the kids hands.
8. I then pushed the lollipop stick into the slits - no need for glue or tape if you are using heavy stock.
You might need tape if you are using thin paper.
9. Double check your list of names... you are done :)

I'm heading into School to set up the Valentine's celebration for Davis's class. I made heart shaped sugar cookies for a class treat. I dipped one side into dark chocolate and then sprinkled some coloured jimmies on top. For William's class treat, I went a little healthier... I bought a box of crackers + a huge block of cheddar cheese. I then used a little heart shaped cutter to form heart shaped cheese pieces. Davis is wearing her red tutu. Looking tres chic. I wish I could pull this look off :)

Valentine Treats

Not that I  need a "holiday" to treat myself or others... but here are some of my recent finds on the web.

Those cupcakes? Adorable, huh? Especially love the doggie illustration. You can order some of those illustrations here at Ticings. Of course, you can find a bunch of great handmade gifts on Etsy, like those bambo rings, that stone heart. or for those love notes... why not some xox pencils?

Silkscreen Ribbon Orders

We are only one month into the new year and I have had six new orders for silkscreen custom ribbon. Today the last two orders were put in the mail. Phew. My gocco machine sure got a work out. As did my arms. Trust me when I say, it becomes tiresome lifting the lever up and down while checking registration and making sure the ink is printing nicely and not drying out. Like many of us, the gocco can be temperamental :)

What was nice, other than the obvious... making some money... all of the orders were very different. For one of the orders, I printed on 7/8" black satin ribbon with silver ink. It came out beautiful. The women who ordered it plan to use it for some valentine's packaging. How pretty is that going to look?

The very fragrant Meredith from Sweet Anthem asked me to print 20 yards of white satin 3/8" ribbon with brown ink. She sent me her logotype and I printed it on the ribbon. I think it came out so great! She is going to use it for her packaging too. Sweet Anthem is a small socially conscious and vegan-friendly artisan perfume shop from Seattle, WA run by perfumer & designer Meredith Tucker. How lovely would it be to receive one of her packages? Check out her shoppe, think Valentine's Day + just because days!

Tamami from Tamami Ko Bag is a repeat customer. She is so lovely to work with. She ordered 30 yards of .5 inch natural herringbone 100% cotton ribbon. I love the simplicity of her label. It is just her shoppe name in black. It's so understated...and looks so lovely in her colourful bags. Just love her stuff. 

The other three orders I'll post another day. Did not want to overwhelm you with too much ribbon. But I hope to inspire some people out there, who are on the fence about ordering ribbon. I get so many inquiries and only a handful of orders. Just an aside, Tamami garnered over 525 labels from 30 yards of ribbon for less than $150. Not bad, not bad at all :)

Happy Halloween

We're getting ready for the huge "sugar inducing" high that is Halloween :) We've put out the decorations, the pumpkins are ready to be carved, and the candy is out (and taste tested...yum).  I'll post the kids in their costumes tomorrow. Yesterday the kids wore their adorable MiteTees to school. Coach Neal passed out some treats to his soccer team. I designed Halloween tags and bagged the candy up for him. Candy + kids = thrilled.
Happy Halloween. Be safe and – I dare ya –  try not to eat too much candy.

Perfect Gifts

Who doesn't want to be a rockstar at gift giving? Or have their child have the best, and most unique things to wear. I know I do :) I'll be honest... I hate having what everyone else has or gives. I always go out of my way to find something that is uniquely different. {That's how many of my Taylor Made design products have started.} Anywho, my friend Cindy gave Davis this t-shirt the other day. Cute, no? She wore it out while we were grocery shopping and so many people stopped us and asked her where she got it. To say that Davis felt special is a bit of an understatement.

"My mum's friend made it – she made it for ME! It's my favorite shirt." declared Davis. Seriously, she was beaming. It's cute + clever with an edge. Love it.

I just love her stuff. You can personalize all her products. {which wins major points from me}  I just know that if Cindy received the exposure she should have, she'd make it BIG. I am talking Oprah big :) So do me a little favor, when you have a chance, check out her site + products at Mitetees.com. She has stuff for newborn babies, toddlers and young kids. Right now she is going to design a t-shirt for William – a skeleton head with an Indiana Jones hat on it. (she knows he LOVES Indiana Jones + pirates) He is going to be so excited to wear it. And really, isn't that what it's all about?

Write it down

I'm a total list girl. I have an itouch which I have used for lists making. But nothing beats writing it down on paper. {And then crossing it off my list.} I find it so tedious to type my list in. And from the amount of books I sell, I am thinking I am not alone. I much prefer to use a nice pen and a favorite notebook than some electronic gadget. Am I alone on this? Maybe I really am getting old!

Knitting Extraordinaire

Thank goodness my sister Nicole loves to knit! Look at these gorgeous sweaters she has made for my beautiful kids. Seriously! Does it get any better than this? I am so thankful that she is so generous with her talent. What do you think? Can you believe how talented she is?

Birthday Gift Ideas

Here's another birthday gift I created for William's friend Savannah. Like most little girls, she loves fairies, and girly things. So I found a fairy illustration online, modified it + added colour to it. I then created a sketch pad, notepad + custom notecards with envelopes and stickers. I also picked up some markers. The fairy illustration has come in handy. Naturally Davis wanted stickers + a notebook of her own. 

I swear, I have more fun making up these presents than the kids have using them. I am still not convinced that a little boy would be enamoured with a notecards, sketchbooks etc. So I find myself heading to the store buying legos :)

I Want to be a Ballon Artist!

Seriously. This woman ballon artist was terrific. William asked her for a penguin and Davis a poodle. I was blown away by her skill. I can make a few things out of ballons, such as a dog, a flower, a sword and a few other things, but that is it. She made a few people some spiders and some butterflies. Amazing! I got her card for future parties :) Oh and that cotton candy... how happy was I when the kids didn't want to finish it up?

A Different Silkscreen Ribbon Order

Isn't this the coolest looking ribbon? Silver ink on black twill ribbon. It came out great. This order was sent all the way to Australia.

I'm really bummed, my gocco supplies are starting to dwindle so once they are gone, so is my custom silkscreen ribbon offering. So if you've been on the fence about ordering, I'd gently suggest, doing it now!

If anyone out there knows where I can purchase some supplies without paying an arm and a leg, let me know!

Great Baby Gift for New Mums – mitetees!

I want to have another baby just so I can order one of these clever onesies!  Seriously... is this not the cutest baby gift ever?

Actually, short-sleeve t-shirts are available for toddlers up to 6 years of age.
Whew. No need to have a baby :) 

Anyway, good thing there is another baby boom going on, because now I can do the next best thing... order some for my friends and be the superstar gift giver :) Cause you know... everyone wants to be known for giving the best gifts. Give one of these, and tadaa, you are a rockstar. That is exactly how Cindy, the owner of MiteTees started this business. She made these onesies for her sister. Gave them to her at her baby shower and everyone "oohhh + awwwed" and wanted her to make one for them. Love stories like that.

I met Cindy last fall while we were both doing a house party. I had seen her onesies in a local store and just loved the whole concept. Oh, and the way she packages them up? Adorable. 

Cindy + I  meet up on Friday mornings for coffee and to just chat about our businesses and stuff. It's so good to have someone else to run ideas by and to provide feedback on stuff. Plus, she's funny :) Her significant other, Paul, is a comedian. So she keeps me laughing.

The onesies are really reasonably priced. They sell for $24.00 and she has a promotion going on right now. Save $4.00.  Tons of different designs. Really, go check out her website. Such great ideas.

A customized baby gift for $20.00? Can you say, a w e s o m e.