3 years ago today...

Our family became 4,

complete.

Abbey became a sister.

We are so blessed to have her in our life

so sweet

so funny

so girlie

a total crack up!

Happy Birthday Lily,

We love you so!

wild & crazy

wanna get wild? zebra koozies are here! available in can, water bottle & zip-up beer bottle style, they are awesome for bridesmaid gifts, girls night out, beach weekends, or add a little spice to your weekend at home! at $12 each monogrammed, you can't go wrong, get yours today!

also available in damask, giraffe, polka dot, camo & solid colors

Clutter, Clutter Everywhere!

Seriously! This is embarrassing to show, but I just felt like I had to be honest! People often ask me how I do it. How do you run a home business, take care of your huband & 2 girls, car pool to school & preschool, get them to ballet & gymnastics, keep up with making dinner & doing laundry, etc, etc...ya know, the normal wife & mommy stuff.

Well, let me be honest! Sometimes, well, most of the time, I am a mess! I try my absolute best, and I have an amazing family that helps me so much, but I am a mess. These are a few shots of my office this morning, and the entry way to my house. There are boxes EVERYWHERE with new & restock items coming in. I am filling orders as fast as I can, but after doing the show last week, & the give away on one of my favorite blogs, Joy's Hope, I am super-swamped right now!

I have not been taking the time to clean up after myself & my family, and my husband has been helping with getting the kids to school & making dinner. My mom came over earlier in the week to help me get a handle on the paperwork & a jump start on orders. It has been crazy! But, I just have to remember, a little clutter never hurt anybody. I know that I will get my orders under control & then I will be able to clean. The kids are happy & healthy (side note: the kids got the nasal N1H1 vaccines on Thursday, so swine flu: STAY AWAY!) & my husband is wonderfully patient, so, I will get to it eventually!

Now I need to stop typing & start filling orders, 7 due to go out this morning!

The Shop was Open!

Just thought that I would give everyone a glimpse into the show that I did this past weekend. It was a lot of fun, and I met a lot of great new people, vendors & customers! It was set up in a beautiful home in downtown Tallahassee that was built in the '30s. The ceilings were tall & the moldings in the home were beautiful! The home was built by Sara's grandparents & now she & her husband & 2 boys live there. It was such a treat to spend the weekend set up with all of my monogram ware in this lovely home. I was one of 12 vendors (yes, can you believe that her home could hold us all)? We had a lot of fun & now I am enjoying this lovely Sunday with the family (Lily is sleeping now, so I thought I would steal a few minutes for blogging!) And tomorrow, it will be back to work so that I can start filling some of these show orders!!

Trick or Treat!

OK, With the show it's been a little crazy, but I finally got a picture of the Pumpkin Buckets! They are too too cute for trick or treating for the kids (& practical, right?) They also look fab to keep your candy in for handing out on Halloween night. Just comment or email me if you want one for your spooky one, they are not on the site yet!

$15 includes the pumpkin, name & ribbons!!

Wish me luck, it's the last day of Holly Days today!

Holly Days 2009

This week on Thursday, Friday & Saturday I will be at Holly Days in the Los Robles neighborhood here in Tallahassee. I have not done a show in quite a while, but when I got the call from Sara, a fellow Maclay parent, that they were looking for someone who did monogrammed gifts, I decided to go for it!

Sara & Susan who host & organize the show are super great, & I am excited to go. Lily is now in preschool, so I thought that I would jump back in to doing shows with both feet!!

If you have a chance, come by & see a bunch of my new stuff, as well as some other great vendors. There is also going to be a gift basket giveaway with something from each of the vendors in it. I am giving away one of my new Scalloped Edge Memo Boards. They are fabulous, and you will definately want to enter the drawing! It is going to be great, hope to see you there!!

Great View, Awful Game

So, we get the call from my husband's boss...ya want box tickets to the FSU v USF game on Saturday? ummm, hello, YES! My husband & I are both FSU grads, and of course went to all of the games in college & a few after college. But after kids, it gets a bit more difficult, so lets just say that we havn't been to a game in a while! So, I call my mom, who graciously says yes (as always...thanks mom!) that they will watch the kids. I reschedule a photography appt with my friend Cindy, and we are ready to par-tay! GO NOLES!

So Saturday morning rolls around & we drop the kids off & head over to Doak Campbell stadium, which BTW is gorgeous (way better than when we went to school)! We get into the stadium, head inside & trade our tickets for wrist bands. We then enter the air conditioned elevators & head up, cause it was only about a thousand degrees outside! When we get off the elevators, we head down the hall & pass signs for Ann Bowden's box (wow wee!!) & then 2 more doors & we walk into the most incredible view of the field that i have ever seen! It was amazing, we could see every thing!

Then we look around, and the food and alcohol spread is AH-MAH-ZING! Ribs, pulled pork, mac & chz, chips & salsa, salads & sandwiches, beer, wine, champagne, vodka, crown royal, sodas & mixers-are you drooling yet? And then the host asked when we would like to have our burgers fresh off of the grill with all of the fixins delivered to the box, I mean come on!! We went outside on the deck for the Air Force Jet Flyover, beause they were honoring the military at this game, it was great! We watched the game & then got the instant replays on the 2 flatscreen TVs that were mounted on each corner of the box!

I am now forever spoiled, I don't think that I will be able to enjoy a game ever as much as this one (except maybe watching a game from box seats that we actually win)!!! Maybe next time!

Lovin the MMO!

This was our second week of MMO (Mother's Morning Out) and Lily loves it. It kind of breaks my heart a little bit that she wants to go SOOO bad and doesn't EVER want to come home at the end of the morning, but then I think back.

Back to 6 years ago when I dropped Abbey off for only TWO mornings a week.

Back until she screamed & cried like crazy every morning for the first months.

Back to the teachers rearranging the schedule for the day to paint and do crafts first because she loved to craft (don't know where she gets that from)!

And I realize how much better this is!

Lovin the MMO!

Wow, How did that happen?

I can't believe that it is Sepember. I am so embarrassed that I have not blogged all summer! That must mean that we had an amazing summer, right? Totally, we did!! Peter & I got away to the beach by ourselves for a quick weekend at the beginning of summer (thanks mom & dad)! Panama City Beach is one of the most beautiful beaches in my opinion. We stayed on the 17th floor & had an amazing view of the aqua blue water. We slept in, took walks on the beach & I actually got to read a book! It was much needed couple time!

Then later we headed to North Carolina where we always spend the week of July 4th. It was amazing! My cousin & his wife got a new wave runner this year, so between that and the boat & tubing/skiing we spent 3 full glorious days at the lake. We topped the week off with watching fireworks from the boat in the middle of Lake Tillery on July 4th, what a site!

We also spent a few weeks in Orlando at the end of July & went to Universal & Disney with the kids. This was the first time that we had ever gone to a water park & it was awesome! Lily was still a little young for some of the slides, but loved the wading pool & kids areas. We had a really hard time getting her away from the beachy areas, she just wanted to play in the sand! We had an amazing time & hated to come home even after 2 weeks!!

The last days of summer were spent catching up on orders (from all that vacationing)!! We ran up to the pool when we could and caught some movies here & there, it was great family time!

Abbey started 3rd grade a few weeks ago(I can't believe it) & has a spectacular teacher. And Lily just had her first day of preschool this week. I am excited to have some designated work time for the first time in 3 years! I am ready!!

Well, that was our summer in a nutshell, and I hope to be a little more consistent from here on out with some posts! I just want to say thanks to all of my great customers who are the ones that have allowed me to have this great creative outlet for the past 5 years. I absolutely love Tiny Tulip & creating great gifts with a personal touch! I am happy to be here for my kids when they need me, but to have a little something of my own as well! You guys are awesome!!

Ok, Ok, so plans change....

So, I intended to make the round neck tops with my delicious Spring Dahlia fabric, but this tutorial from House on Hill Road caught my eye instead! I have to say, it was a bit ambitious for my first major venture as a sewing mommy, but I think that I pulled it off! What do you think? The girls have really enjoyed twirling in them & I just paired them with a cute little tank top and a coordinating messy flower pin to tie it all together. Nothing is cuter than my sweet little tiny tulip's in matching twirling skirts! I have to take advantage of this while I can, because I know that A is not going to let me do it too much longer! Now get out there & make your own twirlin skirt for your little darlin!

Inspiration

I am so excited that school is out, all of the teacher gifts are completed, delivered and shipped....life is good!!!

And now for a little inspiration. I absolutely L.O.V.E the Sandi Henderson fabrics. I ordered some a few weeks ago, and have been soooo excited to get sewing on my brand new Bernina. I am going to make a cute little round collar top for the girls, wish me luck! I have never made anything like this before. Most of my sewing consists of ribbons on burp cloths, koozies, sewing on buttons, making messy flower pins, etc. I used to make my own scrub tops when I was working as a nurse at the hospital, but no tops for the girls. I am so excited!! Hopefully if all goes well, I will post pictures when all is said & done. Don't expect anything to soon though... you know how that goes!!

So anyway, hopefully we can all take a step back & enjoy some time with our kids this summer, and mix in a little yummy craftiness. Take a look around the bologosphere, there is inspiration everywhere!

Inspirational

You have to check out Crystal (yes, maybe I am partial because of her name) over at Little Bit Funky. She has beautiful stuff & I have been coveting a silhouette picture of my girls for a while now. I absolutely LOVE this one with the bright pink and the polka dots....right up my alley!

So go on over and have a look, you might just find some inspiration for yourself!

Is it summer yet?

I don't know about you guys, but I am so ready for summer! The last week and a half of the school year is so hard! Abbey doesn't want to get up in the morning (and who can blame her?), teacher gift orders are in full swing for me, I am working nonstop to get them done for everyone, and it is raining and yucky here in Tallahassee! Agghh!

I am taking the first 2 weeks in June off for a much needed vacation with the family. As I weed vinyl for clipboards & keychains, & sew together more koozies & tote bags than I can count, I just keep dreaming of the beach, don't you want to go?

Beautiful Bunnies

So, a few weeks ago, I went up to a dear friend's house because she is an amazing photographer & has a really cool studio. She lives on acres & acres, and has a beautiful landscape for capturing great pics. If you are local to Tallahassee & you don't know Cindy at A Moment Captured, you need to check her out. She took a bunch of photos of the girls, and they were absolutely amazing! I thought that I would share with you one of the casual shots that she took for me to put on the website. These are the new bunny tees that I have been doing. I just don't have them on the site yet!! They are coming...in the mean time, if you would like one, just email me or call me. I just couldn't wait any longer to share this great picture, Thanks Cindy!!

Really Cool Stamp

I was reading one of my favorite blogs, and they sent out a giveaway from a cute little stamp shop. I checked out the shop, and I really love it. Check it out & see what you think! The etsy shop is Terbear Collectibles & they have the cutest stuff!

Cool Mom

I absolutely love these little hand sanitizers! They have been great for little add-on gifts & they are only $5.50. You can customize your font & colors! I love pulling mine out of my purse & having everyone ooh & aah! Abbey has one in her backpack for school & her friends say "Your mom made that? How cool!" I have to enjoy this now, because as she gets older, I know that I will just get the eyeroll & an icy "whatever mom!" I love that she thinks that I am cool! I'll take it as long as I can get it!

Crazy busy anyone??

I am amazed at how busy it has been lately! Tiny Tulip Monogramming is doing great & keeping me super busy! This is just a small sampling of all of the things that I have been working on lately. I have had several extremely large orders, and have even had to enlist the help of my mom to get them out on time! My mom is great & is such a support to me. She is proud of the business that I have built and helps me in many many ways. She comes over on a Saturday & helps me weed vinyl, or keeps my girls so that I can get some extra work time in, all while working a full time job during the week herself! Can you believe that? And by the way, have I mentioned that my dad keeps Lily every Thursday? What a blessing! It is wonderful for her to spend time with her Papa each week, to be spoiled rotten & play in the dirt or eat ice cream, whatever her heart desires!

Family is so important & I don't know what I would do without the continued support of my parents & my husband, it is truly awesome!

Also, I really appreciate all of my great customers & friends, this would not be possible without all of you!

Time Gets Away...

Wow, time really has a way of flying, doesn't it? I can't believe how long it has been since my last post. We had house guests & the weather has been so lovely this week, that we have been outside playing quite a bit!! And, Tiny Tulip has been very, very busy! When I am not with the kids or doing housework, I have been filling orders & shipping, shipping, shipping!

We have a bunch of new product on it's way...I am sooo excited! My most exciting addition that is coming soon to Tiny Tulip is shown above, these Monogrammable Flip Flops. They will be available in brown & pink damask and black & white damask. The tops are canvas and can be monogrammed with an initial, a tradional 3 letter monogram, or a name! How preppy! I can't wait to get mine! I will post with more later.

My New Fave

I am absolutely in LOVE with our new Monogrammed Self-Inking Stamps! They are so neat! I got the antique cipher, as shown in the picture above with my address & last name going around it, and it is beautiful! I have gotten so many compliments on it! I use it on notepads to personalize a note going to my daughter's school & on envelopes as a return address label...the possibilities are endless! You guys have to check these out!

Here we go...

OK, so here we go... I have never done anything like this before, but I have been encouraged by a lot of friends & family to give blogging a try. I really enjoy checking out other peoples blogs, so I thought, why not?? I hope that this can just be a place that everyone can get a glance into what is going on with me & with Tiny Tulip at the moment.
I am working on some great new items that we will be adding to the site before too long! Things like Applique Initial T-Shirts & Tanks, as well as some great new Monogrammed Soaps that I am really excited about. Also, on there way are some great new polka dot , camo & giraffe license plates that are going to look AMAZING with our vinyl monograms...I can't wait!!
Anyway, I will be posting some pictures really soon to give everyone a little preview, stay tuned!