golden shop blog

I'm on the move...

2011-01-31T23:42:00.000-08:00

Hi there! If you've somehow happened upon this blog thanks for visiting!! As you can see it's been a while since I've updated!! I wanted to leave a quick post to update you on what's going on! After having my second child in September 2010 I closed my shop for maternity leave, and after careful consideration have decided to move up to my own personal online shop! In the meantime I am taking orders via email at goldenshoptalk@gmail.com. Please be sure to follow me on Facebook for all announcements, photos, holiday items, order info, etc! www.facebook.com/goldenshop

Thanks for stopping by, I look forward to hearing from you and for what the future brings! xo, Rachel

A Mother's Day Poem...

2009-05-10T01:22:00.000-07:00

I find it fitting on Mother's day not only to be thankful for my gorgeous little girl that has changed me forever, but also reflect back on how I got where I am right now. Up at 1:23 am working on 17 orders that have to go out in less than 48 hours. :) If it weren't for my little girl, not only would my life not be complete, but *golden* shop would never exist! Here is a little Mother's Day Poem and a walk down memory lane...

First Comes Love...

Jim and me, August 2002

Then Comes Marriage...

After my surprise proposal on HIS birthday on a gondola ride in Long Beach, CA (I have been crying a bit here!)

Wedding Day, June 18, 2005

After Saying I Do!

Then Comes the Baby in the Baby Carriage!

This is how we announced the baby's sex! We emailed this photo out to everyone! Jim's handwriting is terrible so I had to write "It's A Girl" with lipstick, MYSELF, UPSIDE DOWN, on a BIG BELLY!

About 36 weeks here, I wore stilettos through my entire pregnancy! Now, I couldn't imagine putting them on for 2 minutes!

I am in labor here! This is right before we left for the hospital and I had been in lab or for 7 hours already at this point. That was nothing. I continued to be in labor for another 35 HOURS. Want to ask me again why I don't have another child? :)

After 42 hours in labor, 5 attempts of begging for another epidural (mine did NOT WORK), 4 hours of pushing, 3 proposed divorces, 2 requests to put me to sleep, 1 shouting of the "F" word so loud that they had to close the delivery room door warning me that I was scaring the other patients...Kylie Elle O'Connor was born! 9.10.06, 21 inches, 7 lbs. 15 oz.

My biggest fear of delivery, no joke were the following two things: 1) They would have to take the baby away before I could hold her and 2) my hubby would NOT take photos. Number 1 turned out okay, although she had so many issues I had to wait 45 minutes until they were done making her right. Number 2, blew me away. After 9 months of begging and prepping and practicing, my hubby got it right, and got some fabulous photos of our daughter. This is my absolute favorite picture I own. Ever. Mama meeting baby for the very first time. *tear*

The birth announcement photo. One of these days I will upload pics of all my crafty invites/card/announcements!

Then Comes *golden*!

(Okay, I know it doesn't rhyme. I was toying with using this as my next line: "...Then Comes the Business that is Killing my Marriage!" but figured I should probably not joke about something like that, especially on Mother's Day! HA!)

For my daughter's first birthday party I decided to dust off my sewing machine and whip up some stuff to complete the Flower theme. It wasn't until after I got the reaction I did from all my handmade touches at the party that I decided that MAYBE I could turn this into a career!

The little girls all got these tanks

The little boys all got these tees

The Highchair cover and tray skirt I made, literally at 3 am the night before the party!

My very first *golden* bib. I had NO intention of making a business out of it, I just couldn't find one on Etsy that matched my vision. So, at 4 am the night before the party I whipped this little guy up. It has no velcro clasp (I ran out of time), is no where near straight or symmetrical, but was a secret sign of things to come!

The big ONE year old! (In her *golden* bib!)

And the rest, is history!

Kyky and Mama, April 2009.

Happy Mother's Day to all you moms out there. Take time to reflect back on what got you where you are today. If you are anything like me, reliving those moments will get you so sappy and emotional you just might let a little naughty 2 year old behavior slip by without punishment for a bit...oh wait, nevermind, my daughter is now dumping used coffee grounds on the ground! Revised: Take time to reflect on the love those little hugs give you when you are at your wits end dealing with a little naughty 2 year old behavior. :)

xoxo

Dump Truck Tee!

2009-05-06T22:31:00.001-07:00

I was contacted by the fabulous photographer, Erin Tukua after she shot the awesome pics of Erynn's kids. Erynn's son was wearing my big bro tee and being the best *golden* client ever, Erynn quickly referred the OTHER Erin to me! :) Erin wanted a tee to give her nephew for his second birthday which was a construction party! Check out the adorable invite below, and then the result! My dump truck tee! Too cute, right? Oh! And speaking of total cuteness, check out Erin's website HERE, be prepared to ooh and ahh!!! :) Thanks again, Erin (and Erynn!).

Giveaway number 2!! WIN a Name Applique Cupcake Bib!

2009-05-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

As if ONE giveaway a week isn't good enough, I'm in a second! It just randomly happened that both blogs I was working with on giveaways decided to do it the same week! SO, that means double the chance for YOU to win! Head over to Tara's insanely awesome BLOG, Through Hazel Eyes. Not only is her blog extremely well done, details, chocked full of info, and entertaining (Yes, all four at ONCE!) her kiddos are so cute they make the visit worth the peek themselves! :) I was so excited to read the super kinds words Tara said today about *golden* and even more excited to see photos of her kids wearing my items! Be sure to check out the post and ENTER TO WIN!! I will be making one lucky winner their very own boy or girl Name Applique Cupcake Bib! Go HERE to enter!!

GIVEAWAY!! Win a FREE bib!

2009-05-04T13:20:00.000-07:00

WIN WIN WIN!! Here is your chance to win a FREE "Bake your own" Cupcake Bib from my shop! It is SO easy to enter and if you win, you get to DESIGN YOUR OWN bib! Think of the possibilities! You can match it to your child's first birthday theme with a number one applique, give as a baby shower gift with the baby-to-be's initial, or keep it for your own little one! The fabric combinations are endless! Check out the Playground for Parents blog right HERE to enter!! Good luck, I hope to be making YOUR bib soon! :) Contest ends on May 15th, act NOW!

New Boy and Girl Name Applique Cupcake Bibs!

2009-05-03T04:18:00.000-07:00

AND, you can enter to win ONE of these on Tuesday, May 5th!!! Be sure to remember to visit Tara's blog, Through Hazel Eyes, right HERE on Tuesday to enter! (I will post a reminder!). In the meantime, checkity check it! Going for sale in my shop on Tuesday!

golden featured!

2009-04-30T06:12:00.000-07:00

Check out *golden* on Polka Dots & Pirates {the Blog}! Leave it to Jess at Polka Dots & Pirates to be the one with their act together enough to debut my new items! Check it out, I have a feeling you will LOVE the new additions to *golden*!!

I demand a RECOUNT!

2009-04-22T01:12:00.000-07:00

A funny thing happens when you have a one track mind. Life goes on around you, and in what seems especially lately, very quickly. Let me let you in on a typical *golden* day for the past few months.

6 am, go to sleep. (if you know me you know I am NOT joking!).

7:00 am, DD wakes up, and thank goodness allows Daddy to give her a sippy, put her in bed with me and passes out again!

9:00 am, I am being pulled and poked and pinched and protested to: "WE GO DOWNSTAIRS, MOMMY!!!"

9:30 am, we actually GO downstairs after DD agreed to watch a Disney show while I snooze for 30 more minutes!

9:35 am, read emails

9:45 am, sew.

10:00 am, yell at DD for hitting the flat screen LCD with her Handy Manny Hammer (still sewing)

10:45 am, hubby calls, I lie and say we have been up since 8 am and that the TV was NOT on in our room. Oops. :)

11:00 am, clean up one of the following: a) juice from being dumped from glass to glass on the kitchen table in some sort of toddler scientific experiment, b) pee from the floor from my potty training daughter, c) sand that has been brought in against all my time-out warnings from DD's sand box, or my favorite d) Marker off my daughter's legs from her 'bootiful' art session. (still sewing)

12 noon, run around turning all the lights off (DD is scared of monsters and even during the day needs ALL lights on in every room, even those that are NOT being occupied). I know, energy crisis. People, try explaining global warming to a 2.5 year old after 2 hours of sleep. The lights go on. Anyhow, turn all the lights off before hub comes up and starts in on the "do you want to pay the electric bill?" speech.

12:30 pm, sew while stopping every four seconds to explain to hub that DD does NOT eat yogurt for the hundredth time, and that every single day he opens one and every single day he curses as he is forced to through it away after her refusal to eat it. Okay, I know I should be nicer here, how many dads come home everyday and jump RIGHT INTO making their toddlers lunch?

1:07 pm, NO, WE ARE NOT WATCHING YO GABBA GABBA RIGHT NOW! Tantrum. (still sewing)

1:46 pm, DD and I go to coffee shop. Usually our one and only contact with the outside world each day!

2:00 pm, Yes, we are watching Yo Gabba Gabba right now. Sucker.

2:35 pm, the most glorious moment of the day. NAPTIME! (For DD, NOT me!)

SEW, SEW, SEW, SEW....

5:00 pm, wake up DD from nap and put her half asleep and sweaty into the pre-loaded car for our daily trip to the post office! (not sewing now)

5:30 pm, MOTY time. (Mother Of The Year). This is when I spend enough time with DD that I don't feel AS guilty as I did all day while sewing and not being with her. Walks, park, library, or to Bed, Bath, and Beyond to buy mommy more coffee pods and ride the escalator 79 times.

6:00 pm, get second cup of coffee.

6:30 pm, WHERE is daddy??? DADDY!!!!

7:00 pm, Daddy is home, house is a mess, and in true Rachel fashion, no dinner anywhere in sight.

7:30 pm, eat dinner, after 30 minutes of playing the "what do you want" game. Again, hubby of the year, he makes dinner every night, while I, well, sew.

8:00 pm, is it too early for another coffee?

8:45 pm, rip off pieces of blue painters tape in between sewing bead sprinkles on bibs so my daughter can make "costumes" for her disney figurines. Starting her young...

9:20 pm, YES, we can watch Yo Gabba Gabba again, ONLY because it is almost bedtime :)

9:45 pm, start my nightly emails, lately, close to 25 a night.

10:00 pm, let the war begin. Bedtime for DD. (I contemplate even putting this in here as it makes me look like a horrid mother! Yes, my daughter goes to bed at 10. Has ever since she was a newborn. Scratch that, went to bed against ALL my struggles, at 2 am as a newborn, midnight by 6 months, 10 pm by 1 yr old, so hey, I'll take what I can get, and NO I am NOT dropping that afternoon nap! :)

10:30 pm, scratch my earlier announcement, THIS is the most glorious moment of the day. Let my work day REALLY begin. Emails, coffee, sewing.

3:00 am, my fave radio show begins on Sirius Radio, not to be mentioned here :)

5:00 am, breakfast! Bowl of cereal over the laptop as I order fabric, tees, oh, and a little guilty facebooking too... :)

6:00 am, hubby comes downstairs to get ready for work. Nothing like a good morning/goodnight handshake while passing hubby on my way up to bed. ;)

Wash, rinse, repeat.

SO...you can imagine the loop I got thrown when something out of the ordinary arrived in my day. A box. A big box. A big HEAVY box showed up on my front porch. DD was ecstatic, as she is positive that any letter, box, flyer, newspaper is meant for HER. We rip it open in pure excitement. The tears begin. THIS, my friends, is what was inside:

Yes. That is candy. That is a LOT of candy. That is 500 pieces of candy. And why? Well, because while I was busy living my insane daily schedule life was going on. And going on. And going on so much that something amazing happened and I didn't even know it. This:

Yes. 500 Sales. 500 Sales? No. Wrong. This MUST be wrong! I demand a recount. WHEN and HOW did this happen to little 'ole me? Answers? Anyone? Wow. I didn't know what I am more emotional over, the sales or the fact that this package was in my hands. This package, from, and I apologize, I vowed to make this blog more professional than personal, but I am breaking that rule right now. This package was from the most amazing friend in the history of friends. What type of person watches your shop for days awaiting it's monumental turn to "500" and capture that exact moment with a screen shot? What kind of person counts, eats, replaces, recounts 500 starburst candies to represent these sales? What kind of person pays over $40 to SHIP 500 pieces of candy? I will tell you who, quite possibly the most insanely special person to ever come into my life, my (N)BFF, Jess (minus the "N"). Now I can go on and on about how unlucky your life is to not have Jess in it, but I think the above proof speaks for itself. Not to mention, I am still a bit emotional about it all and I would have you all gagging by the time I felt I gave Jess due justice. :) I know she is breathing a deep sigh of relief that I am allowing my description to be left as is. :)

SO, the point of this story? Other than to procrastinate from working, that is. I did it. I hit 500. I don't know how, I don't know why, but it has come, and passed and I am truly blessed. If you read this blog I have a feeling you are a client or friend that I have become close with through *golden* shop, and it is you that I thank for being where I am today. Here is to the next 500, and to hiring help, getting sleep, and hopefully a tad more time with DD and a tad less with DJ Lance. xo, Rach

* Daily schedule not exact. Do you really think I could live that like everyday? Obviously I was being a little untruthful, I have to be honest...the times aren't exactly correct. LOL.

Petting Zoo Pony Bib and Hat!

2009-04-19T04:22:00.000-07:00

golden is now on TWITTER!!

2009-04-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

Come tweet with me!! (Or at least help me feel like I am not tweeting to myself!). I will be giving updates of my daily workload, cool projects, opportunities, features, and PICS! Find me here:

www.twitter.com/goldensewcute

Tweet ya later!

Where I have been...

2009-04-16T00:32:00.000-07:00

Just when I was getting into the swing of things on the blog...I disappear! I believe the following two photos explain where I have been...WORKING! I wish I had a great story about how I won the lottery, swept my family up and off to Vegas then Hawaii (No joke, that is exactly how I would do it!), and have just been living too marvelous of a life to post, but nope! I have been working myself to the ground, hence the newest development in *golden* - a mini-break!

I LOVE what I do which makes it SO hard to tell anyone NO over an order! SO, I didn't. And didn't. And didn't. And the result? Two weeks in a row where I have had to ship over 35 items. That may not sound like that much, but ONE bib takes about 3 hours from start to finish...times 35...EEK! I can't even do the math! Let's just say I am still exhausted just thinking about it and my husband is not too happy with the state of the house (not to mention our relationship. Funny how being glued to a sewing machine for 294 hours straight puts a tiny strain on the marriage, haha). SO, before the A&E cameras came rolling in filming their next episode of Intervention, I realized I needed to take a step back! Hence, the break.

I wish I could put into words how hard it is to say no to ANY project. I mean, first and foremost, we are in a crazy economy. I watch friends and family being laid off, searching for new work, cutting back, etc. WHO am I to turn away perfectly good work?? :) But of course, the most important reason? I truly LOVE what I do! I love my pile of orders and checking my schedule each day to see what is up next! Seeing the finished product and parading it around the house while my daughter yells "OH MOMMY!! SO boo-tiful"! It all becomes a bit addicting, trust me. But of course, there is only so many hours in the day (and night!) and I have to start saying no at some point. This hit me especially when my 2.5 year old DD came to me and said, "Mommy? Will you play with me?". Aw. Had it been THAT long that she needed to ASK? Yes! It had, and has!

So, if you have made it this long, I applaud you and should probably offer you a discount on a future order, haha! I just felt like I wanted to clarify where I have been and what is coming up with *golden*! Which brings us to the future. When I reopen my shop on Saturday to over 50 emails, haha, things will be a tad different. I have to commit to only taking on 2 orders a day. I will space out my on order as it comes in into time slots topping off at two a day. This just may be the hardest thing I have done since opening my shop! I am currently doing close to 7 or 8 items a night so it will be a big change. One I am really not that happy about, but has to be done. I plan on hiring help (eek!! help??? Who do I think I am??!) ASAP and once I get that under control and see how much it speeds up my work I will be taking on more orders. I am just so blessed to even be having this problem, believe me, which is why I am NOT complaining! In fact, I am complaining that I have to do something about it! HA!

I hope to get back to as close to daily posting as possible ASAP! I have found that SO MANY of my clients actually COME from my blog that I would be silly not to update as much as possible! Wish me luck! :)

Thanks for all of your support of *golden*. I don't even know if I could ever put into words what this experience has done for me, my family, my life. This has become the most important thing I have ever done and I wouldn't be here without all the amazing people I get to work with! SO, thank you!

Big Bro and Big Sis Tees!

2009-03-26T02:24:00.000-07:00

Photo courtesy of Erin Tukua Photography...check out her amazing work HERE!

One of my fave things about what I do is that I get to meet SO MANY awesome mamas. If you have worked with me, or even just sent me an email, you know what a chatter I am (hmm, maybe why I have to stay up so late working - to make up for all my email time!)...I really try to get to know everyone I work with not only to help with the creation of their products, but also because you never know what you can learn or gain from someone else! I have found so many wonderful and talented mamas, aunties, nanas, grandmas, etc. out there and it really makes what I do that much more fun!

I say all this because one of the wonderful moms I met a few months back booked me for her son's first birthday party and we really got to talking! Next thing you know she was editing photos for my family holiday card, we were swapping Disneyland stories (she is local!!), swapping baby pics of our kids in order to compare hair growth, etc. etc.! :) The hard part about what I do is that once parties are over the "friendship" usually drifts off too. Booo. It is hard because I wish I had the time and the finger strength, haha, to continue emailing EVERYONE I work with...it is just so hard to keep up, and I am almost always the one that never responds - my new year's resolution for 2010! I promise it is NOT out of rudeness! :) So you can imagine how excited I get when a client comes back to me so we can strike up convos allover again! :)

A couple months after Erynn's son's first birthday party she contacted me again and ever since that email we have struck up a little online relationship! (My husband loves these stories, me and my new friends that I swear I have known forever!) After not only sending ALL and I mean ALL her friends to me Erynn had a wonderful reason to order a *golden* original...a new baby girl on the way! She requested a "big bro" tee for Will to sport when he meets his little sister for the very first time! Erynn has impeccable taste so after a few emails back and forth we came up with the perfect design and fabrics and voila! The "big bro" tee was born! :) The above pic shows Big Bro Will with his cutie baby sis, Reese. Reese came just in time to add an insurmountable amount of cheer and happiness to Erynn and family's lives and even caused me to tear up a bit! Are these kids cuties or what??!! :) (Thanks, E for the pic!).

Erynn only let a few weeks go by before requesting her next *golden* orig! The "big sis" tee for a girlfriend. I was ecstatic at the chance since I knew I would be making one "sooner or later" (i.e. LATER) so this really got me in gear! Hence, the "big sis" tee was born! :)

These tees can read "big" or "lil" "bro" or "sis" and can be put on tees or onesies! Or any other idea you have..."lil sis" on a bib? No problem! Just contact me and let me know! Enjoy!

Robot Hat!

2009-03-21T15:50:00.001-07:00

How many times can I claim a new fave? WELL, I am doing it again...hands down my top three items EVER! (If I do say so myself!). I loved this hat so much I am begging Jess at Polka Dots & Pirates to design a robot line! I know, I am a bad influence! :)

Saint Patrick's Day Birthday Party!

2009-03-19T10:32:00.000-07:00

I was contacted by a mama whose daughter's birthday was Saint Patrick's Day (so cool!) so she was thinking of doing a shamrock bib but wanted it to still read "birthday" not just St. Patty's Day. A did a few tweaks to my cupcake bib and voila!

On another note, I thought I would include the St. Patty's day tee I made for my daughter for "green" day at school this week! Yes, every ONCE in a while my trooper of a daughter gets a little something *golden*! :) I am going to list these in my shop for next year!

Elmo Hat!

2009-03-14T11:25:00.000-07:00

golden featured!

2009-03-09T23:47:00.000-07:00

Check out *golden* shop on The Simply Made Blog! Put together by a fellow Etsy seller, PolkaDotPixie, this blog is FULL of amazing Etsy artisans all hand picked by PolkaDotPixie! Be sure to check out PolkaDotPixie on Etsy as well, some ADORABLE baby bibs, pillowcase dresses and AWESOME tote bags that should NOT be missed!

Happy Happy, Joy Joy!!

2009-03-08T01:01:00.000-08:00

Check out all the NEW fabrics I have collected over the past week! I figured it was time to spruce up the old cupcake bib...this pic is PURE happiness to me! Contact me to design YOUR perfect bib and party hat!

Yippee!!

2009-03-02T17:49:00.001-08:00

Thanks for all the support! xo, Rachel

golden featured!

2009-02-28T01:59:00.000-08:00

Last week *golden* was featured on cuteable.com!! I currently have my items in over 10 online boutiques and a couple brick and mortar shops which is so much fun! It is exciting to see orders come in without having to do all the work of marketing, convo'ing, fabric scanning, etc! One of my online boutiques is http://www.belladue.com/. Nikki at BellaDue has the most adorable things and it takes a lot of restraint to hold back from ordering from her every time I go to her shop! She carries some amazing items, most of which can be personalized, which I KNOW my clients love! So, needless to say I was so excited for BellaDue, (as well as for myself!), to get an email notifying me that a *golden* party hat made it onto cuteable.com! Check out the post HERE and then be sure to visit Nikki's beautiful shop HERE!

golden featured!

2009-02-26T03:57:00.000-08:00

Yeah! *golden* was featured today at On The Dot Creations Blog, a blog devoted to showcasing great polka dot designs. Julie (just about the BEST blogger around) has the most original and exciting ideas of how to share her adorable polka dot designs! Her newest is called the "Polka Dot Parade" which is a mini slide show featuring a few artisans at a time. Today was the kick-off for the parade and Julie was sweet enough to feature me! Click HERE to enjoy the parade! Be sure to poke around and add Julie's blog to your blog role, it is ADDICTING! :) Thanks again, Julie!

Number 11...and that ain't bad!

2009-02-23T22:40:00.000-08:00

A quick update with the results from the Etsy Carnivalesque poll...thank you SO much to everyone that took the time to vote for *golden*! There were 60 items hand picked by Etsy admin and interns and I was already SO lucky to have made it in the 60! So to check first thing this morning and to see that I didn't win first place was NO big deal to me! I had to do some clicking and searching but found the results - and *golden* landed at number 11! That's 11 out of 60, so not bad! Especially because the top 20 make it into the official Etsy Blog and Etsy Gift Guide! That was prize enough for me! Thank you all so much for your support!

So many fun and crazy things are happening at *golden* (not to mention HAVE happened) I just need to create 25 more minutes in the day for blogging! But here's a quick recap/scenes to come: *golden* hats/bibs spotted at TWO celebrity parties, a whole new look coming to *golden*, a giveaway coming soon, a mention on a major shopping blog, brand new "hats" being added to the shop, etc! Please stay tuned and bear with the shifty posting, there are honestly days that I don't have time to say hello to my husband let alone type an eloquent (HA! ) blog post! :)

VOTE VOTE VOTE for golden!!

2009-02-20T11:01:00.000-08:00

Come one, come all, step on up and VOTE for *golden*!! I was recently alerted that my circus party hat was selected for the Carnivalesque items poll on the Storque (Etsy's E-Newsletter)!! If I win I have the opportunity to be featured in a gift guide or on the Etsy Blog! So enough with the small talk, get out there and VOTE for *golden* HERE:

Carnivalesque: How do you party? VOTE HERE!

*golden* Chenille Circus Personalized Party Hat

(You must be an Etsy member and sign into vote. This is a great opportunity to sign up for Etsy now if you haven't already! Its easy AND free!)

HURRY! Voting ends on Monday, February 23rd at 7:00 am!

Cheerios Bib, Hat, and Tee!

2009-02-18T01:16:00.001-08:00

I was contacted recently by a client who was having a "Cheerios" themed first birthday party. I was going out of my mind trying to think of ANYTHING Cheerios that I could do knowing very well that if I had just cut out a Cheerios shaped applique it would look like a donut, a bagel, an innertube, or worse, just a big blob! Finally I started thinking about finding fake Cheerio buttons that I could sew on, but they did NOT exist! SO, leave it to me and my crazy ideas, I decided to make my own Cheerios out of polymer clay! K was VERY supportive of this crazy new idea and told me just to go for it! I hope you like the final result...this quickly moved to my top slot for best bib/hat/tee EVER! :) Enjoy! (again, sorry for the HORIBLE quality photos - MUST get my big camera fixed!!)

The Birthday Boy's Birth Date:

Ducky Bib and Hat

2009-02-15T00:35:00.000-08:00

For my long lost pal, Amanda...I know, I am HORRIBLE at email...xoxo

Birthday Door Sign!

2009-02-04T02:54:00.000-08:00

I was contacted by one of my favorite return clients to make a birthday banner for her son's birthday party, and while we were working on designing the perfect banner for her party she asked me if I would be interested in making her a door banner. We worked together to come up with the perfect design and here is the result!

PS - I will NOT be selling these in my shop at this point...although I LOVE the outcome and had fun working on it, it was one of those jobs that I found myself halfway through realizing I would have to charge a future client $800 to make it worth my time to do again! :) (Anything for you, Cat!).

Lastly, I wanted to show you the birthday banner we came up with...I fell in love with it! And it is a great design for someone with a more limited birthday space...by separating the words into two banners you can layer and squeeze the banner into a smaller space!

Coming soon...A WHOLE NEW LOOK!

2009-02-01T14:25:00.000-08:00

With the coming of a VERY exciting announcement about *golden* I decided it was probably about time to get a REAL logo! This is just the first step in the branding of *golden*, but a huge step nonetheless! Stay connected to see what follows, I promise it will be quite a fun and exciting ride!

Here is the logo...you likey?? (Done 2 different ways for a couple different uses)

Thanks so much to the amazingly over-the-top talented Amy Dillon for creating this AMAZING logo...I could NOT have done ANY of this without you! xoxo

Princess Crown Party Hat!

2009-01-29T15:33:00.000-08:00

Convo me or email me if you are interested in a Princess Crown Party Hat! I am super busy so don't have a chance to list it in my shop yet! Want it in boy colors? Let me know and we will work out the perfect hat fit for a king!

Okay, so it's not a bib or a hat...

2009-01-28T00:20:00.000-08:00

...But here is my most recent project I spent an entire day on! My best friend Sue is having a 30th birthday bash on Saturday and wanted to order some personalized wine charms to hand out as party favors. Well, me and my big mouth...I realize WE COULD MAKE THEM!! (Correction: I could make them while the most UN-crafty person alive watches and serves me coffee, hee hee - love ya, Sue!). Well, we were happy with the idea when we were DONE but there must have been at least 4 times that I stopped and said "Let's just order the ones online I will even pay for them!!". When all was said and done, here was the final result...I hope to get pics of the entire event to post here after the party!

Safari Bib and Hat!

2009-01-23T04:30:00.000-08:00

Tees and skirts!

2009-01-22T00:18:00.001-08:00

A while back a girlfriend of mine asked me to make some gifts for a friend of hers. Clearly, this was WAY back when business was SUPER slow! :) I currently have a list of 6 gifts I need to make that date all the way back to last summer! Eek! As you can see, one of them inspired a bib I currently sell in my shop!

Boy Star Bibs!

2009-01-20T23:40:00.000-08:00

In celebration of this amazing and momentous day here are some Stars and (not so many) Stripes bibs! Here's to a new vision and change in America. Or, as my two year old daughter would yell, "GOBAMA, GOBAMA"! As President Obama said, "Today we celebrate, tomorrow we work". Hmmm, then why have I been working all day and night today? :) Happy Inauguration Day!

Valentine's Day Boy and Girl Bibs!

2009-01-19T21:25:00.000-08:00

Now available in my shop!! Guaranteed delivery by Valentine's Day! Front (left) heart is FULLY customizable with your choice of word or phrase! Check them out here:

http://www.goldenshop.etsy.com/

(Please excuse the HORRIBLE photo quality. My big fancy camera DIED in December and it has been quite tragic. I am stuck with nothing but my old mini digital camera. Ugh.)

Bib of the Day!

2009-01-18T15:42:00.000-08:00

Polka Dot Party Bib!

Bib and Hat of the Day!

2009-01-17T22:42:00.000-08:00

Choo Choo Bib and Hat

Happy New Year!

2009-01-03T15:13:00.000-08:00

Only in L.A....

2008-12-07T22:11:00.000-08:00

Where else in the world can you go to the mall to see Santa and end up finding this:

I kid you not. Here was my little girl all excited to tell Santa that she wanted "doo-bops toys" (The DoodleBops Toys) for Christmas and the "real" Santa, i.e. old, fat man with a beard, was nowhere to be found. Instead we were told to wait, "Hunky Santa" would be there soon.

Okay, so I probably should have walked away at this point, but who am I to pass up a hot muscular guy who may let me sit on his lap? Well. I was wrong. No, not about the hot and the muscular, but about the lap. I had NO idea what we had in store. In fact, I don't think anyone did until the lights in the entire mall went down, techno started blasting and down the escalator came 4 trashy girls that I thought for sure came straight from Scores (a little Howard Stern reference). Then he arrived. Santa. No, HUNKY Santa. It was the exact guy from the above photo. They shimmied and shook, and did moves I have ONLY imagined are on display at men's bachelor parties! Now I am NO prude, please, but I didn't know if I should laugh or be appalled! But then I looked down to my stroller and saw the worst sight of all, my 2 year old daughter bopping up and down, smiling as wide as can be, waving and screaming 'HI HUNKY SANTA!!!!!!!!!!". Now you tell me where else in the USA can little girls get a crush on Santa?

Here's to hoping THIS is the Santa that comes down OUR chimney this year... :)

A New Ladybug!

2008-12-04T15:13:00.000-08:00

Years and years ago (well it feels that way!) I was contacted by a customer who wanted a ladybug bib and hat but that her theme was pink and brown. She told me to just go for it! So here is the result!

Charlotte's Web Party!

2008-12-03T15:40:00.000-08:00

My first ever wholesale account, Sugar and Spice Kid, is owned by a wonderful woman named Caroline. She and I end up having a LOT in common, including kids with VERY close birthdays! Back in September Caroline had an AMAZING Charlotte's Web 2nd birthday for her little girl. She had it at a really cool outdoor location that included animals, hay rides, and a cool tractor ride! The best was her "Party Animal" sign on the tractor for the hay rides, she got a pic of all the kids lined up behind it and it is just precious!

Caroline came to me asking for a Charlotte's Web themed bib for her daughter with the only requirements being a ruffle around the outside that matches the initial, a piggy for Wilbur and a spider for Charlotte. Well, I took her idea and ran with it. I decided little Claire deserved an EXACT replica of little Wilbur and spent forever trying to get it just right. As for Charlotte, she became a little button buggy with hand embroidered legs. BUT, my favorite part is her web. I figured it just NEEDED to say "Claire" just as Charlotte would have spun it! :) I am pretty happy with the finished product!

Happy Thanksgiving!

2008-11-27T21:23:00.000-08:00

So I have a feeling rejuvenating my blog right before the holidays was a bad idea....but I am TRYING to stay at it! Just a quick note to say Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you find yourself with family and friends and spend a day full of love and happiness.

While we're at it...

2008-11-21T15:48:00.001-08:00

Here is another custom colorway I did with my Applique Name hat! This client bought my original Applique Name hat a few months back and came back for one for her second daughter! I was so excited as my favorite client is a "peaty" (repeat-y)! I think it is the biggest compliment when someone comes back for a second item; that they trust me and my work that much to shop again! Not to mention I don't get a LOT of peaties as most people are buying bibs/hats for their child's first birthday, an event that is towards the end of the bib wearing phase! :( That is when I like to remind everyone that my bibs make a great baby shower gift! :)

Rachel came to me as a fellow shop owner on Etsy, (another huge compliment, a hand-maker knows what to look for in a handmade item!). Her shop, Busy Nothings has amazingly beautiful invites, announcements, stationery and more! Check her out HERE! Rachel wanted to order this second hat for her little girl but in a purple, pink and yellow colorway. She didn't request fabric samples just told me to whip something up! And here is the finished product:

Pink and Green and Cute Allover!

2008-11-20T22:03:00.000-08:00

I have decided to start going back through my archives and posting about past custom orders for a couple reasons. First of all, anyone who has ordered from me knows what a freak I am and how I LOVE to surprise my clients with their order when they get it in the mail. I hate to send pics first, I prefer the fireworks of them opening the box fresh out of the mail and loving (hopefully!) what they see! If I post their items here the night I ship it out it will ruin the surprise! (I said I was a freak!). Secondly, after over 200 sales (90% of which were custom made designs) I have a lot of showing off, oops, I mean SHARING, to do!

Here is my favorite hat, my applique name hat, that I custom made for a client. She wanted my name hat but in her color theme which was pink and green. For those of you I have yet to work with I figured I would share how the design process goes!

1) Client emailed me and explained what she had in mind. She wanted my Appliqued Name hat seen here, but in different colors to match her theme:

2) I responded with ideas and color samples. In this case, she wanted pink and greens, so I sent her these:

3) Client came back with her favorite fabrics but wasn't sure how they would look matched up with each other. SO, I sent her back these images of her fave swatches matched up as I thought they looked best:

4) Client came back and said that these were her fave sets, but to work based off her thoughts, not tied to them:

5) I listed client's item in my shop:

http://www.etsy.com/view_transaction.php?transaction_id=10970534

6) I made the hat! As I was working on it I discovered that some fabrics worked well, some had patterns that were too big for such tiny letters, etc. I used my best judgement (with the okay from client as seen above) and came up with the final product:

7) Client received the hat and LOVED it and shared some CUTE CUTE CUTE pics from her big day! And let me tell you, this little girl ROCKED the hat! Her outfit was so adorable and the hat was the icing on the cake!! Thanks again, Stephanie!

Okay, I said MAMA loved the hat, not Kenzie! :) (Could this little girl BE any more adorable??!!)

Not yet!

2008-11-20T15:02:00.000-08:00

I bet you all thought I fell off the wagon already, huh? Not yet! I was out of town for a couple days at my girlfriend's house up in Santa Barbara and made the wise decision to not bring A) my sewing machine, hee hee and B) my laptop! We got back yesterday but I was busy as a bee making up for the missed 2 days of work. It was very nice to get away from it all (and go to sleep at 1 am! I haven't done that since before I opened my shop!) and I was revived and energized and ready to go when I got back!

I will be back later to post some new custom creations but will leave you with this photo. What has happened to my sweet, sweet baby? I'll tell you what has happened. She turned 2. And boy is she 2. This is what I caught her doing the other day when I walked into the kitchen. Now you may understand my need for the etsy shop, my daughter has a very expensive brie cheese habit I have to keep up with! (Yes, she is obsessed with brie, in fact, it is the reason she opened the fridge, pulled open the drawer, ripped open the cheese, got a butter knife, and started cutting herself a piece!) **Please ignore my disgusting fridge!! :)

Hut. Hut. HIKE!

2008-11-17T16:42:00.000-08:00

I love when I get asked to create custom items for boys. I have the HARDEST time thinking of boy themes and designs on my own. Maybe it is because I only have a little girl, or maybe it is because I am SO anti-boys after being outnumbered in my home by two step sons and a husband for 6 years!! Well, now that I think of it, I have always been pretty girly...heck, I used to dress my brother up as a girl and make him play Girl Talk with me! (Sorry, N. I will leave your name anonymous!).

Anyway, when I got a custom request from Jaime I was super excited! She wanted a football bib for her adorable son's second birthday! Jaime is an awesome photographer and you all know how much I LOVE looking at pics! (So send me some after your party!!!). She was doing blue and brown as her party theme and I had JUST received a new order of such fabric! After sending over samples Jaime picked out her faves and here is the end result:

I think it came out so cute and am now going to get to list it in my shop!!

Thanksgiving Bibs!

2008-11-17T00:09:00.000-08:00

Okay, so if any of you have been following my shop, you noticed that I shut down for a week and half. The plan was to catch up on orders and then take a few days to clean the house, do laundry, spend much overdue time with my daughter and husband. Yes, that was the plan. It didn't happen. I was so far behind that I am STILL working on orders and am reopening the shop today. So much for my day off idea! I am so happy to have the business, don't get me wrong, but if I don't do some laundry ASAP my husband will for sure break his neck walking past the laundry pile on the way to the bathroom at night!

That being said, you will now understand why Thanksgiving bibs are NOW just being listed! I have been sitting on these bibs for over a month but was so busy that I didn't want to list them just yet. Now that I am ready to list, there is less than 2 weeks until the big day! EEK!! Luckily, I can get them out on Saturday via priority mail and have them in your hands on Wednesday at the latest! Feel free to convo me and ask me to ship them to your holiday destination so your bib will be waiting for you for the big day!

As a new feature on my blog, I am going to list how my items came to be, not just the finished product. So, the story behind the turkey bib starts here...last year before I had a shop, or a care in the world, haha, I decided I wanted to make a cute turkey tee for my daughter's second Thanksgiving (but the first she was actually able to eat at!). I couldn't find a tee in stores that wasn't totally dorky and lame so I began to design! I started thinking about the hand-traced turkey we used to do as kids and it hit me to do each "finger" as a different fabric feather! The choosing of the fabrics was the WORST part (I can barely match up 2 fabrics, let alone 17!) but here is the final result of the turkey tee (plus one I made for my nephew as well!):

I knew the minute I opened my shop that I would be offering this turkey tee as a bib for Thanksgiving! I showed it to a wholesale account of mine and she loved it and wanted it as tees as well. After making 17 turkey tees I decided that bibs were the way to go...it gets pretty difficult to sew on a tiny little t-shirts! So, here is the final product:

Boy:

Girl:

And there you have it! Turkey bibs just in time for turkey day! (oh, and they wash amazingly well! My daughter wore her turkey tee as a layer piece under other shirts for months - the whole laundry issue surfaces again! - and after close to 20 washings it still looks great!).

Congratulations! It's A Blog!

2008-11-16T22:50:00.000-08:00

I am pleased to announce the birth of my blog. Okay, so it has been around for a while, but we are going to ignore that. In fact, let's just call it a re-birth! I am going to attempt to clear the slate and start anew for the last and final time. I may not post every night (heck, I barely have time to eat dinner every night!) but I will post as much as possible and finally post something that has ANYTHING to do with my shop, not just my little girl! :) Keep an eye out for posts about my custom orders (I promise some will blow you away!), new items, special announcements, discounts, etc! Please bear with me and I start to get back on track and work out the kinks of the new blog set-up. Cross your fingers that I can actually keep it up this time! :)

Had to share this...

2008-10-27T02:06:00.001-07:00

Prompted by an insane email I woke up to this morning I decided to post a pic update of what's going on here in LA!

My NBFF (New Best Friend Forever for those of you not in the know) Jess (from the AMAZING Polka Dots and Pirates shop on Etsy...CHECK HER OUT, you will freak!) who I miraculously met through our giveaway on On The Dot Creations sent me the craziest email today...a pic of her in SNOW!! Yes, snow! Okay, she is in Minnesota so I guess I shouldn't act like it was at the equator or anything but I couldn't believe it! Clearly I am a down home So Cal girl so snow shocks the heck outa me! So, being the wonderful and supportive person I am, I responded with this pic from our day today:

Yep! SUN. A LOTTA sun! It was 91 degrees in Malibu! Remember growing up and having to put a dorky jacket over your Halloween costume which then completely covers/ruins your outfit? Well this year I am afraid Kylie is going to be too hot!! I knew I should have gone for Miss Hawaiian Tropic for her costume. Damn. There is always next year! :)

Hope this post finds you all warm and snuggly, be it in the sun or by your fireplace!

Yippee!

2008-10-14T10:53:00.001-07:00

I woke up this morning to a Google Alert and was super excited to find this:

YEAH!! My first Gift Guide! Thanks Etsy! :)

Birthday Banners!!

2008-09-15T14:01:00.000-07:00

I have been getting a lot of requests to see the fabric banner I have been blabbing on about and am starting to fear it isn't as great as I have talked it up to be, haha! I thought I would throw a pic up for reference since it may be a couple days until I get around to listing it or posting party pics! (Busy couple of days making up for last week!). Let me know if the meantime if you are interested and I can create a custom listing for you! I have the pricing all worked out so it is literally ready to go, I just need to take the time to get it up in the shop! I hope I don't disappoint....

I give up!

2008-09-14T23:49:00.000-07:00

Well, since I blew the whole "don't make this blog personal, make it business" theory LONG ago, I might as well just give in. I figure, this business IS me, it IS personal, therefore, so is the blog. There. I said it! I am no longer going to fight the urge to post about DD or my day or some crazy deal I got on fabric. Hey, MAYBE just MAYBE that is why you all buy from me? Because you get to know me as a person? Yeah, I will just go with that one. If I am WAY off here, PLEASE tell me. Tell me to shut my trap and get back to business and you will have it! (well, okay, I will probably have to open a NEW blog for that one, but I will do it!).

In the meantime, here you go - RACHELgoldenshoptalk.blogspot.com, haha! And what better way to kick off my new PERSONALIZED blog than to shove more personal life down your throats? A video of my little princess blowing out her candles. You know it is a tech world when it is easier for me to upload videos and publish them online than it is to upload photographs! Gotta LOVE the Flip camera (a gift from DH!!! The best gift I have received since my engagement ring, well actually, probably the FIRST gift since then, and it has been 4 years! :)). Notice how Ky is constantly blowing out the candles throughout the whole song...she couldn't wait for the grand finale! (oh, and ignore the singing voice!). OH! This may be the first time you all have seen what I actually look like! Eek! It was a bad hair day, please don't hold it against me....

It's OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2008-09-14T15:44:00.000-07:00

Remember when you were a kid and you couldn't wait for your birthday party? Well, no one ever told me that while I was excited for the party, my mom was excited for it to be OVER! Now I know. I think I am more excited that it is done with than my daughter was to even have the party! :) Granted, I drove myself to craziness all on my own, do you really think my TWO YEAR OLD DAUGHTER would know if her candy in her pinata wasn't coordinated with the pink and purple Disneyland themed party? NO! Hell, I don't think, okay, I KNOW, the adults at the party would even notice! But, that is the craziness that is me. One of my recent customers said that once they get an idea in their head, there is no satisfying them until they get exactly what they picture. That is me. To the tenth degree. That being said, the party went off without a hitch, except Space Mountain collapsing in on the kids and then blowing around the field, but come on, what kind of kid likes space mountain anyway? I think it really added to the "scariness" that Space Mountain should be anyway! :) The best part of the party (besides it being done and over with) was the fact that I couldn't get people to leave! I am talking 2 year olds still wanting to play after 2 hours of partying! No meltdowns, no boredom, NO wanting to go bye bye! That was compliments enough for me!

Check back soon for pics, I know I have been talking this up for a while and have received interest in photos, as well as links as to where I got some of my stuff (be prepared for the CUTEST birthday banner and MOST ADORABLE party dress both made especially for Kylie from my fellow Esty'ans).

I am also happy to announce that I am going to be adding a new item to my shop!! Fabric banners! I fell in love with them a while ago and it wasn't until my good (new) friend Caroline at Sugar and Spice asked me to make her one that I realized I COULD do it, and pretty well! :) Then came my daughter's banner, which I made in a rush at 4 am the other night, and I think it came out awesome! I am going to offer the option to have it custom made with your choice of fabrics (I will order fabrics especially for you!) and name, word, number, saying, etc. so it will be perfectly personalized just for you (Duh! Would I have in any other way?!!). I will be listing and announcing this soon!!

Thanks to all of you for your support and understanding this past week when I was crazed out of control over this party...I hope when I post photos you will understand why I was so busy! :) Thanks for being patient with return emails and orders! I can't wait to fire up the (new) sewing machine tonight and get back to work!

Here's a thought...

2008-09-05T02:11:00.001-07:00

I wonder if you can train yourself to like coffee black? I mean, at this point, I can't waste any precious room in that cup on half and half...I need it all and I need it strong! Only problem? Without 2 3/4 cups half and half and 73 packets of sweet and low, I hate coffee! I wonder if I could train myself? I mean, I trained myself to like beer...or, wait, maybe UC Santa Barbara trained me to do that? Just thought I would put it out there...

It's My Birthday....

2008-09-05T00:35:00.000-07:00

...And I'll D.I.Y if I want to!

(Okay, it is 12:36 am after a few months of not going to sleep before 5 am...bear with the corny headline!)

***Photo courtesy of Polka Dots and Pirates. Go visit my new pal Jess in her AWESOME Etsy shop...WARNING...you will go crazy over all of her insane birthday party must-haves...don't you need a birthday banner to match your bib from *golden*? :) ***

Yep! It's my birthday! And it better be a good one...It is the LAST one before the big number 3 comes creeping up on me! Haha...maybe it is just me but I am kinda wishing I was out of the 20's at this point...it doesn't help that I am the always the youngest in all of my mommy and me classes, my hubby is 12 (yep, I said it, TWELVE) years older than me, and when I am out with my stepsons and daughter people tell me what a great Nanny I am and that the kids are so lucky to have me. Um, yeah, NOT the nanny...although, that is the story my husband gives everyone!

Anyway, enough about me, let's talk about ME! (It IS my birthday!). Here is what I have learned this past year:

1) Not to be afraid to follow my dreams. i would have NEVER EVER thought I would be here today, with an etsy shop, actually making money doing what I love! You know that lame advice that people give when you are searching for a job? The "Do what you love and it will never feel like a job" crap that you want to rip out of the speech balloon floating in the air that has just left their lips and stomp on it with your knock-off shoes which are all that you can afford because you were laid off while 5 months pregnant and are now a stay at home mom with one income that doesn't give you even a one-hundredth of what you were used to having to spend every month? Yeah, that advice. Well, I take it all back - it IS true! There are days that I can't wait to get to the sewing machine and hope that Kylie takes a longer nap that usual so I can keep going! This new "job" has done so many things for me, but most of all, have allowed me to continue to stay at home with the (second) love of my life, my adorable nutball of a daughter!

2) To whisper to my daughter at bedtime every night. No matter what type of day we have had, whether it was all smiles and cuddles or my losing my temper and telling Kylie that we are NO LONGER drinking juice boxes on the couch with NO diaper on and while holding an open face peanut butter and jelly sandwich (all of which were my idea, but I don't need to admit that, right?), the nighttime whispers make it all go back to perfect. Hearing her little whisper answer of "Yeah" when I ask if she had a fun day or if she wants to go to Disneyland next week, etc. just melts my heart. Period.

3) Sit and watch my little girl for 5 minutes everyday. I realized a few months back that before Kylie, there were days that were good, but that I went through so many days, even good ones, where I never laughed out loud or smiled so huge it hurt. Just watching Ky for a few minutes everyday accomplishes both of those tasks. It makes me wonder how I was ever happy before she was in my life!

4) Say "Thank You" to my husband at least once a day. For all the jokes and jabs I give him, he does so much for our family. He works 20 hours a day in order to allow me to stay home with our little princess, something I could never replace. So I say I learned this, but I am not so good at DOING this...hmmm, sounds like a goal for next year!

5) To be a strong woman. My mother told me that once you become a mom you have to "stop crying" (yeah, I am a crier) and stand up for what you believe in, especially in situations involving my daughter. She was so right. I have overcome so many fears and insecurities and have become so much stronger as a result.

6) I CAN do this thing called Mommy, and can do it pretty damn well! (If I must say so myself).

7) Make your friends your family. They are the ones that live only 5 minutes away and are most likely the first ones you would call in case of an emergency over out of town REAL family.

8) To never complain that I am lonely or bored. HA! I miss those days! :)

9) Just ask, you will be surprised that the answer isn't always "No"!

10) Lastly, I have learned to TRY to live in the moment...still working on it, but getting better. Kylie will never be this adorable again, my life will never be this crazy again, and I will never be this same person again.

Well, if you are still reading this post and have gotten this far you deserve a reward!!! I mean it!

For my birthday I am offering a super sweet (hopefully as sweet as the Costco cake I begged my hubby for, even though it is crazy huge and I only want to eat the frosting off of it which makes it SO not worth the money) deal...starting NOW and going through Sunday, September 7 at 11:59 sharp I am offering $2.90 off each item in my shop! That's 10 cents for every year I have been alive, haha! Just be sure to wish me a Happy Birthday in your "notes to seller" box at checkout. (Can I get any more vain? I am basically personally requesting birthday wishes! But, like I said, it IS my birthday, I am allowed to do whatever I want! :) ). I will send you an updated invoice that reflects your new prices!

Okay, so what are you still doing here reading my boring and VERY poorly updated blog? Go buy something already!! :)

Meanwhile, I will be here working on next year's goals...penning my next novel, finding a cure for cancer, and training for the Iron Man. Yep, it's my birthday and I'll LIE if I want to! :)

Do not disturb...

2008-08-31T23:16:00.000-07:00

Well, at least I can stay on track with my slow posting schedule! :) BUT, no posting means super busy, super busy means LOTS OF ORDERS! :) (ooh, and LOTSA wholesale requests, yeah!). I am just stopping by to update real quick, because I am BEAT! I finished probably the most hectic and insane week of orders ever! Because of the holiday weekend I lose a shipping day, hence had to shove a BUNCH of orders into a few days! Anyone that knows me, or anyone that has received my items knows, I will NOT send out ANYTHING sub-par...it is that darn perfectionist in me! That being said, the typical 35 minute bib job never takes me just 35 minutes! Ever single bead sprinkle has to be perfectly positioned, color coordinated, shaped, etc...that takes a bit of time! SO, needless to say, I am completely sleep deprived! Well, I WAS sleep deprived...after dropping off my last few items at the post office yesterday I came home and went straight to sleep! Even after my 2 hour nap I was still beat! I went to bed at 10 pm for the first time in months!! It was great! Even greater that today was Sunday, Daddy's day to get up with DD! Of course, in true Daddy fashion, I was woken up being asked where Ky's pants were since they were going to go to the park. I opened one eye, got a good look at my poor daughter, and I was up for good! That poor girl was wearing a Brewers baseball T shirt (2 sizes too big) and who knows what pants she would be wearing if I didn't jump in to save her! Of course, I have to admit, it was 11 am at this point so I can't really complain! :)

I am back to work again tonight, but this time on the most important project...Kylie's second birthday invites! And boy do I have a treat for all of you! Well, I guess mostly for her invitees, but you know I will be sharing them on my blog! They have been over a month in the making, and although the party is in 2 weeks from yesterday, oops, at least they will be finished and will actually be mailed! That is a feat in itself! :) Now don't stress me over the party...maybe I will get to that planning next week!

So, in the meantime, I will be going to sleep at 2 am tonight (that's early for me!) and will leave you with the following...now take a hint! :)

It's TIME!!!

2008-08-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

(photo curtosy of On The Dot Creations)

Enter and win!! Come on, help me get the MOST comments on Julie's blog, On The Dot Creations! :) Like how I have to turn it into a competition? :) Good luck!!

Click HERE!!! to enter!

Come and get it...

2008-08-22T10:02:00.000-07:00

I am SO excited to announce that I am participating in my very first "giveaway"!! And I KNOW you are going to want it!

A while back a WONDERFUL woman named Julie informed me one day that she posted about one of my items in her blog, On The Dot Creations, where she scouts out and compiles everything cute and polka dotty! I was so excited! That was JUST the exposure I wanted! We became friendly via a couple emails and the rest is history! ;) So, when she asked me to participate in her "Blog Party" I was SUPER excited! It was such a cute idea and I couldn't wait to participate!

SO, not only did I offer up a bib to be personalized for the event, I knew it had to be extra dotty and extra special, so I created a brand new one! Hence, the pinwheel bib!

SO, I know what you're thinking...how does it work and how can I win?! As soon as Julie puts up my giveaway I will post a link to it here on my blog. And it couldn't be easier, all you have to do is visit the adorable On The Dot Creations blog (which is a prized in itself, SO many cute things to explore, Julie has impeccable taste) and post a comment on your favorite thing in my shop! She will pick a winner at random and your bib will be personalized just for you with your choice of number or initial and will be shipped out on its way to you in one to two weeks! Seriously, that is all it takes to win this brand new, SUPER cute bib!

Don't forget to check out ALL the other giveaways at her blog party as well! I think I am going to enter a few right now! :)

Check back for the announcement of my giveaway being listed! How fun! And thank you, Julie, for letting me be a part of something so exciting!

New (and hopefully final) Photo Set-up...

2008-08-17T03:06:00.001-07:00

Likey??

(Oh, and new bib too!)

New project!!

2008-08-16T23:25:00.000-07:00

Oh my goodness, why do I do this to myself?? Because I'm nuts. A while back I purchased the most adorable apron pattern thinking I would make some cute gifts out of it and call it a day. Okay, so first of all, I am amazed I actually USED it! I have a box of patterns I buy for when I have some "downtime" which we ALL know is never happening. So, that being said, not only did I make ONE thing last night with a dust-collecting pattern, but I sat down this morning and got busy, and made the apron!

Well, let's just say it was a success!! It ended up BEYOND cute, I would NEVER use it as an apron and would be angry if anyone who I gave it to did either! :) It is advertised over a tee and jeans on a little girl and that is for SURE what we are using it for! I say we, because, well, here is where the nuts part comes in...as soon as I finished my gift apron (A - you better not be reading this right now!), I whipped out some new Heather Bailey Pop Garden fabric and started working on apron number two! I mean, DD HAS to have one too! :)

So, now when I am up until 4 am sewing I will know it is all because of my stupid idea to take on a new project!

Why do I mention this here? Well, first of all because it is my blog and I will blog what I want to, and secondly, I MAY start selling them in my shop! :) MAY being the operative word, hee hee. We shall see...here is a sneak peak, but I don't want to show it in its entirety until the birthday girl opens her gift tomorrow...

Cute, right?!! :)

I really do STINK at blogging!

2008-08-16T00:27:00.001-07:00

I thought I had turned over a new leaf, but apparently, I have just turned over 48,983 leaves at once and all of which are NEW! I am so slammed that I can't even think straight! (Yeah!). SO, without further ado, I present to you today's horoscope...if this doesn't sum it up, I don't know what will...

"Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22): Recent history has shown you more than your share of long working days, endless task lists and plenty to worry your pretty head about. You're ready for a nice, lengthy rest."

Yep, that's me...well, not so sure about the "pretty head" part, is hair that hasn't been washed in 11 days because I am spending every waking hour sewing while trying to entertain DD, still considered pretty? (Only HALF kidding).

I promise to be back soon with some AMAZING announcements including my AWESOME retail deal, a COOL COOL COOL blog that is sponsoring a free give-away of one of my newest bibs, family update, and sales updates...let's just leave it at this AWESOME and unbelievable number:

112

Yep! 112 SALES!! In THREE months! I think I feel a tear (and a heart attack) coming on! :)

Promise to be back....

It's not ALL torture...

2008-07-29T02:24:00.001-07:00

For proof that my daughter doesn't hate me for dragging her allover the neighborhood to look for the perfect bib photo spot...she doesn't look too miserable here:

I'm here! I'm here!

2008-07-22T14:56:00.001-07:00

OMG, am I slammed!! I am NOT complaining, but OMG am I slammed!! I am loving it, though! Wish I could say the same for little DD, but oh well! Just wanted to stop in to say I'm alive (barely) with thanks to 7-11 coffee every night at 11 pm! :) I may be heading there a little earlier tonight...just call me Britney...well, at least I put SHOES ON before I go in there! :)

You asked...and I listened (for once!)...

2008-07-19T18:00:00.001-07:00

Yep, for once, I kept my mouth shut long enough to listen to all my requests, GIVE US A CUPCAKE BIB FOR BOYS! Well, here it is! As usual, I can custom make ANY item in whatever colors you want, but this one (which was partially designed by the lovely Caroline at Sugar and Spice Kid) turned out REALLY cute as is! Be sure to check out the matching hat as well!

When I actually LEAVE the house...

2008-07-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

Kylie (DD) and I always have a good time, but it usually has to happen outside of the home! When I am home I am sewing, emailing, updating, printing, organizing, or sleeping! Poor Kylie. Here are a few pics from our recent trip to the beach...I am a couple weeks behind in pics, but I finally just uploaded them yesterday! :)

VERY exciting news coming soon...

2008-07-16T16:13:00.000-07:00

I don't want to jinx myself until I see it for myself, but a very SWEET and STICKY announcement should be coming soon...yum, I can taste it now...

Here is a hint:

Just because it is a first...

2008-07-16T02:02:00.000-07:00

I know I wasn't planning on LOADING the blog up with pics of DD, BUT, this is a first and a day I have been waiting for forever!! Our first pigtails! Okay, so the back half of the head didn't make it in, but still, I see pigtails! It was so funny how we got her to keep them in...I just told her that her hair looked pretty, just like Barbie's! :) Worked like a charm!

PS - She is wearing her favorite Minnie shirt that Mommy made :O)

This just in...This just in...

2008-07-16T01:34:00.000-07:00

Seeing double?? Check out my NEW bibs for twins! (or triplets, or hmm, what do they call 4's??, or well, you get the idea!). An AWESOME AWESOME AWESOME customer asked me to custom make these for a baby shower gift and after I did, I fell so in love with them that I decided I HAD to list them in my shop!

How cute would a little set of twins look in these bibs?! Hmm, just realizing I should do them in girl colors too! Duh! I will have to fix my listing and go get some cute girly pea in a pod fabric!

And since I LOVE to show my "inspiration" for my items, here is how the process started...my customer sent me this image and wanted the bibs to match the theme:

...which lead to this: (and the rest is history!)

Today's project...

2008-07-13T17:12:00.000-07:00

Okay, so I know I should be sewing, or at least coming up with new designs, but today I took on a project that has been BUGGING me and poor little DD forever! I have decided to set out and come up with a solution for Mommy's of chubby footed toddlers everywhere!! For those of you reading who aren't blessed with a CF'er (Chubby Footer) let me explain. I have been finding the CUTEST little girl shoes ever for my DD, only problem, the do NOT fit the chub of the foot. I am not talking long feet or even wide feet, I am talking CHUBBY from top to bottom. Every adorable shoe comes with a t-strap, a mary-jane strap, even just plain velcro, that NEVER fit over my daughter's foot! I am guilty of being a bad mommy and forcing her in them anyway only to take them off 5 minutes later due to the cries of "ouchie, footsie!" from DD, and finding red marks in the exact pattern as the hot pink elastic strap that stretched across her foot. Bad mommy.

So today, I had enough. I recently found 5 pairs of the cutest Keds you have ever seen at the fashion outlets and got them all for close to or under $10 a pair!

Of course, problem with all of them, they don't fit the CF!! After weeks of trying to stretch them out, forcing DD in them anyway, or just shoving them back in the drawer, I decided today was the day to solve this crisis. Yep, I am doing for CF'ers what Al Gore is doing for Global Warming. (My Dad would be proud I used a semi-current event here, haha...actually, I probably don't even have it right, but close enough...). After careful inspection of exhibit A...

...I started to use my seam ripper and was planning on removing the elastic completely. I was ripping away at the thread all the while cursing myself knowing I will NEVER be able to put these damn things back together and I have officially ruined this pair of shoes...that is, unless DD takes to running and climbing in ballet flats with no support or strap to hold them in place! My original plan was to remove the elastic, reposition it, and superglue AND hand stitch (as if I had that fancy machine or the handheld infomercial sewing machine - that would be cool - to stitch in small places) them back, resulting in a looser strap! Well, my luck turned, after just pulling the stitches out I discovered the elastic was getting looser, AND it was already glued into place between the rubber and the canvas!

After just removing the stitches I release all this extra stretch in the elastic, and VOILA! My cure! It hasn't been tested on human feet yet (I am not so crazy that I would wake a napping child to test out my Theory of Relativity {as if it were that important}), but shown below in my "Plastic Baby Bottle Double Blind Test" I clearly prove the elastic is stretching more! I have YET to see a CF'er of this magnitude, so I think I can officially say, problem solved!

Wow, I REALLY need to get a life.

I'm having an affair...

2008-07-13T12:23:00.001-07:00

Don't tell my husband. Although, I would be amazed if he didn't already know it! I am having an affair...with etsy. Yep, I admit it, and now it is out in the open. Honestly, etsy is like that bad boy that EVERY girl wants, but NO ONE should be with! He never calls when you wait around for him, you are sick to your stomach all day waiting for a call or an email, and when he does call, you are on cloud nine! The full-on happy dance kind of cloud nine. Until, once again, he leaves you for a few days. You never know where he is or what he is thinking, you never even know if you are going to hear from him again. You walk around moping for days like Jessica Depressica until, WHAM! He's back! You swear to yourself that you are NOT going to deal with it anymore, but sure enough, you are hooked again. You ever heard that song by Bjork? "It's oh, so quiet, and then WHAM, BAM, BOOM, you're falling in love"? TOTALLY the feeling.

Okay, so for all of you non-etsy sellers, let me translate this crazy thing called etsy-love. I wake up in the morning and run downstairs half-dressed with a daughter in a diaper that hasn't even been changed yet, dying to make it to the laptop and refresh my etsy screen to see if "he's called"...i.e. I got a sale. If it is a yes, I throw DD in the air and we do the happy dance. We thrust our arms up and down smiling and laughing screaming "we did it! we did it!" (operative word being "WE", I mean, this really is all for her, the sleepless nights sewing, the rushing allover town to the post offices, the dragging her around the complex so I can get the perfect picture of my items before I ship them out and they are gone forever, the offering of popcorn and cookies just so she will stay five feet away from me for more than 3 minutes so I can sew one more stitch, etc. Yep, all for her. I mean, if not, mama would be at a REAL job and she would be in day care. She should really think about that for a while and maybe then she would cut me a little more slack, haha.) We are on cloud nine all morning! We run for the phone, call Daddy and start the "sale war"..."Well, while I was sleeping I had money coming in, how many sales did YOU get today" (in a taunting voice. Hey, it is only fair, he does it to me EVERY time he gets a sale!). Everything is wonderful and amazing and GREAT! For five minutes. Then, I start worrying, again, what if that is it? that isn't enough! I NEED MORE!!!! There goes the sick in my stomach feeling and there goes my constant obsession, refresh, refresh, refresh the etsy website. Nope, nothing new. Come on, a CONVO, SOMETHING!!! Nope. After doing this for over 20 minutes I decide it is best just to leave the house and get my mind off of him, oops, I mean it. That works every time. We go to the beach, to play dates, to the park. We come home...to nothing. So this is when you start thinking you aren't good enough. (Is it my hair? Am I too fat? I KNEW I shouldn't have worn the flats with that skirt, etc.) I start spying on "him"...I start to look at the "prettier girls" (my competition shops {NOT going to put a hyperlink here, LOL}) and wonder why I can't do what they are doing? Why did THEY get 4 sales today alone...I will never be good enough...no one likes my stuff...I should just give up. It is a downward spiral. I mope around making dinner and cleaning the kitchen. Put the little girl to sleep. Come downstairs to start sewing the ONE order I do have (as if this is a bad thing, right?!), walk past my computer and see it:

A SALE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh happy days are here again! Pop open the beer, do the happy dance (alone this time, and much quieter, can't wake the little girl). Run upstairs to throw it in hubby's face. THIS is the life!

For 5 minutes...

Probably a good thing I didn't marry the bad boy...I can only handle ONE rocky relationship at a time.

A new choice coming to goldenshop!

2008-07-11T01:28:00.000-07:00

I am busy working on a new "item" for my etsy shop! I have been working on it all night and am only half done! Here is a sneak peek:

Hopefully I will have it listed tomorrow!

Solitary Confinement!

2008-07-09T13:43:00.001-07:00

Seeing as we are stuck at home for a WEEK in solitary confinement due to the newest sickness DD picked up I figured now would be a good time to sit back, relax, and do nothing for once. YEAH RIGHT!! Time to sew, sew, sew! Not to mention, time to actually start posting on my blog! Oh, and hopefully listing LONG OVERDUE items to my shop. I still can't believe I only have the same 10 or 11 items up from when I started!

A quick reflection is in order...I am SO GRATEFUL for all the amazing buyers I have worked with and for having 32 sales to date! I honestly was hoping for 3 or 4 sales my first month and I can't stop smiling at the fact that I completely went above and beyond that! Huge thanks are in order to my first buyer (A.L) and my amazing buyer (L.T.S) who referred at least 5 people to me! I would NOT be here today, swamped with orders and up until 3 am sewing, if it weren't for them, haha! Honestly, I am so excited to be where I am and you should see my happy dance every time an order comes in!

Not much else new to report, other than I am going to TRY to update this blog as much as possible (I have said that before)! And I promise to keep the pics of DD to a minimum! :)

Visit my Etsy Shop and buy HANDMADE!

2008-05-12T02:13:00.001-07:00

http://www.goldenshop.etsy.com/

Specializing in handmade Personalized Baby Gifts including Personalized Baby Bibs, Personalized Burp Cloths, and Personalized Birthday Party Hats!

*golden* shop blog

I'm on the move...

A Mother's Day Poem...

Dump Truck Tee!

Giveaway number 2!! WIN a Name Applique Cupcake Bib!

GIVEAWAY!! Win a FREE bib!

New Boy and Girl Name Applique Cupcake Bibs!

*golden* featured!

I demand a RECOUNT!

Petting Zoo Pony Bib and Hat!

*golden* is now on TWITTER!!

Where I have been...

Big Bro and Big Sis Tees!

Robot Hat!

Saint Patrick's Day Birthday Party!

Elmo Hat!

*golden* featured!

Happy Happy, Joy Joy!!

Yippee!!

*golden* featured!

*golden* featured!

Number 11...and that ain't bad!

VOTE VOTE VOTE for *golden*!!

Cheerios Bib, Hat, and Tee!

Ducky Bib and Hat

Birthday Door Sign!

Coming soon...A WHOLE NEW LOOK!

Princess Crown Party Hat!

Okay, so it's not a bib or a hat...

Safari Bib and Hat!

Tees and skirts!

Boy Star Bibs!

Valentine's Day Boy and Girl Bibs!

Bib of the Day!

Bib and Hat of the Day!

Happy New Year!

Only in L.A....

A New Ladybug!

Charlotte's Web Party!

Happy Thanksgiving!

While we're at it...

Pink and Green and Cute Allover!

Not yet!

Hut. Hut. HIKE!

Thanksgiving Bibs!

Congratulations! It's A Blog!

Had to share this...

Yippee!

Birthday Banners!!

I give up!

It's OVER!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Here's a thought...

It's My Birthday....

Do not disturb...

It's TIME!!!

Come and get it...

New (and hopefully final) Photo Set-up...

New project!!

I really do STINK at blogging!

It's not ALL torture...

I'm here! I'm here!

You asked...and I listened (for once!)...

When I actually LEAVE the house...

VERY exciting news coming soon...

Just because it is a first...

This just in...This just in...

Today's project...

I'm having an affair...

A new choice coming to goldenshop!

Solitary Confinement!

Visit my Etsy Shop and buy HANDMADE!

golden shop blog

golden featured!

golden is now on TWITTER!!

golden featured!

golden featured!

golden featured!

VOTE VOTE VOTE for golden!!