Meet the Designer : *golden*

I contacted Rachel O'Connor to make a bib for Beckett's first birthday after her and I were both doing a giveaway on the same website. I swear we were best friends from the first conversation. She was going through all the same things I was with a young family, opening a new shop, working late nights, etc. She has made so many of the very late nights working on projects bearable...her humor and spice are just what I need at 2 AM! In fact, we talk on the phone and IM so much that my son asks me "Is it Aunt Rachel or Rachel Golden?"...about the only two people I talk to every day! Since a trip to visit her in February we can officially call each other "real life friends"...can't wait until July when she comes to visit MN...so much more fun than LA, right? Ha.

And let me tell you...I can no longer throw a party without dreaming up something for her to make...her work is over the top creative and top notch quality. Here is more from Rachel of *golden*!

Her additions to the Made to Match Collection:

1. Polkadot Party Bib for Girls
2. Polkadot Party Bib for Boys
3. Circus Party Bib
4. Polkadot Party Dress
5. Circus Party Dress
6. Polkadot Party Bloomers
7. Circus Party Bloomers

Now more from Rachel herself:

I am a work at home mom to one daughter in Los Angeles, CA. I've been sewing since middle school, but decided to start sharing my creations with others after making the birthday attire she used for her daughter's first birthday party.

I am a self proclaimed perfectionist when it comes to my work and love making the perfect piece that will make your child's party or photos something extra special. I have a degree in Merchandise Marketing, emphasis in Product Development from FIDM, and am a former buyer in the fashion industry so I have the eye for picking out fabulous fabrics and designs.

*golden* shop started after I heard the most dreaded 6 words from my husband in March, 2008: "Time to go back to work". I cherished my new life staying home with my then 1.5 year old daughter. I couldn't imagine paying someone to take care of her, to do the work that I was dying to do for free. That night I threw up a shop on Etsy literally in 2 hours with photos of bibs, burpcloths, and ONE party hat I had made for friends. I believe I had about 6 items in my shop, no blog, no logo, no business plan, no real fabric supply, nothing! Just the desire to do ANYTHING to keep from going back to a "real" job (I hate that term!). I had been researching the option of having a shop for a while and the most discouraging info I found online was that it would most likely take up to 6 months for my first sale. Well, 4 days later I had my first sale. And it hasn't stopped since!

My favorite 3 Projects:

1) Willie Wonka Bib/Hat/Tee. I was contacted by a client who was having a Willie Wonka party. She had no clue if there was a way that could transform her invite, a candy bar wrapper with the party info wrapped around real chocolate, into a had and a bib. I assured her I could do it, although had no CLUE what I was going to do. Well, after a few prototypes, including an entire fabric candy bar wrapper that I had to throw out last minute due to melting thread from the iron (AHH!!) we were left with the result! Each part of this bib is sewn on one by one, down to the little "Wonka" letters. I consider this one of those projects that I will never do again, although I loved the result. Well, fast forward to three days later when I received an email from the client who had received her items in the mail. She loved them so much she wanted a tee! :) Who am I to say no? :) So, again, I created another little Wonka bar replica for her tee. It was well worth the work and time when I saw the pics and heard the reviews from the big event!

2) Celebrate Door Sign. Again, another client's idea. She saw a similar sign to this made out of canvas and paint and wanted a fabric one to reuse year after year. We worked hand in hand to find the perfect cake image, font, fabrics, etc! As usual, this sign falls under the "never again" category after taking close to 12 hours to create, which kills me! I am so extremely proud of this project and wish that A) I made one for myself! and B) it was easier to make and/or I could charge the $500 that i would need to make it worth it to do again!

3) Cheerios Hat/Bib/Tee. A client was recommended through a friend (thanks, Sara!) to come to me for a custom set for her son's Cheerios first birthday party. I was stumped. How the heck would I make an applique to look like a cheerio and not have it end up looking like a life preserver or a donut? :) I did a search on cheerios allover the internet and found nothing. Until it hit me! What if there were little mini faux cheerios buttons or charms I could sew onto the bib? I searched and searched and found nothing. So, being the crazy person I am (just ask Jess!) I decided I would buy some fimo dough and make them myself! Let's just say after 2 hours of making cheerios (see photos) I was half regretting the project, half OBSESSED with it! The final product turned out SO amazing that I put it on my blog (if only I had better photos) and have been contacted by 3 or 4 people since asking me to make them a set!

If you're a regular reader, you obviously know of my mad <3 for both Rach and her work. Buy from her for both comic relief and great products. Thanks Rach!

Meet the Designer : Persnickety Me

I "met" Abby Watson from Persnickety Me last spring. I had a baby boom going on over here and wanted a fun and unique gift to give. My favorite baby item is a pair of Babylegs (more on them in a few days) so I thought an initial tshirt would be a perfect gift to go along with them. My sister and I are trying to keep Abby in business and have established her shirt and Babylegs as our signature baby gift!

So naturally when I decided to enlist some people to design the Made to Match collection, I thought of Abby right away. So here you go...Abby of Persnickety Me!

First her items in the Made to Match Collection...

1. POLKADOT INITIAL TEE for BOYS
2. POLKADOT PARTY TEE for BOYS
3. POLKADOT INITIAL TEE for GIRLS
4. POLKADOT PARTY TEE for GIRLS
5. CIRCUS TEE -Initial
6. CIRCUS TEE - Big Top
7. CIRCUS TEE - Ring Leader

Now a little bit from Abby herself...

I'm Abby Watson (not Abigail...just Abby). I'm a wife (7 years & counting!), a mom, and a crafter. We live in Las Vegas (no I'm not also a showgirl, and no...we do not live on the strip!) I have a 20 month old daughter, Avery, who inspires most of what I create. I grew up in Northern California on a small farm, but my husband was actually born & raised in Vegas which is quite rare.

I live to plan...a vacation, event, project...I love looking forward to something good. I work best under pressure....I'm good with deadlines. I don't miss my corporate job for a single second...I love being a full time mom & etsy shop keeper. Finally...& most importantly...I'm a major cookie addict!

I started my Etsy shop 5 months after my daughter was born. I've always enjoyed making handmade gifts for friends and family & people have told me forever that I should sell my "stuff". After Avery was born & I was lucky enough to stay home with her, I decided this was the perfect time...sew during naps...dream up new ideas during midnight feedings...so that's how I started. My shop has changed little by little during the year & a half I've been open & I hope that they will continue to evolve and grow, especially during our current economy.

1. I really had a fun time making this mohawk beanie for my friend's son...but the best came when he opened the gift & he LOVED it...you can't ask for much more than a 4-year-old falling head over heels for a handmade gift.

2. I've been working on this project FOREVER...I'm designing a gnome doll & pattern (both to sell in my shop)...it's been a slow process, but I have to make it just right...that's the Persnickety Me in ME!

3. My all time favorite, most thought out, highly planned, continually evolving project is...of course...my darling girl. She melts my heart in ways I cannot put into words, she's the most rewarding, frustrating, hilarious, witty, & demanding project I've ever worked on!

You can visit Persnickety Me for any of the items from the Made To Match Collection or for tons of other fun and unique gifts for that little person in your life! Thank you for all your hard work, Abby!

Peppers and Pollywogs

My "Meet the Designers" will start tomorrow...I am giving them an extra day so that I can tell you about a wonderful party planning site called Peppers and Pollywogs. Ever been there? If not, you need to go!

Lisa Kothari has spent the last 10 years organizing hundreds of parties for children of different ages using a vast array of inventive themes, in Washington D.C., New York City, and Seattle. Her main party planning belief is that no matter the budget or amount of time a parent has, an incredible party can always be thrown, keeping children cheerful and parents stress-free during their wonderfully planned celebration!

Last week Lisa posted my Little Miss Birthday entry that was featured on Hostess With The Mostess and asked me if I would be a guest blogger for her on Peppers and Pollywogs. I gladly accepted! So yesterday she featured my post "Choosing a Theme...Early!" on why picking a theme for your child's party early can be a money saver and stress reliever.

Make sure to check it out as well as all of Lisa's other great ideas, posts, and services. I just need to warn you that you could honestly spend hours over there, so be prepared!

I am also sponsoring a give-away on Peppers and Pollywogs...more details coming soon!

Made To Match Week!

This week I'm going to have lots for you about the clothing we've designed to match the collections here at PD&P and the designers who helped make it possible!

First of all, a HUGE thank you to my friend Darcie of Darcie Braaten Photography. After two hours of photographing 5 kids under 5 we have tons of cute pics to show you! Also thanks to my mom who helped keep my kids happy while I helped with the shoot.

Over the next few days you will "Meet the Designers" of each of these fun products. If you'd like to check out their work in the meantime, you can find links to their shops in my sidebar. In the meantime, a few more peeks at their fun new products:

These last pictures of Avery and Grace are my favorite. They cracked me up the entire day with their giggling and silly faces.

Lots more to come this week!

The Firefly Garden Continued...

Man I've been slackin' this week! How did it become Friday at 2:00?

Here is a peek at the banner for the firefly garden shower that I've been working on to match these invitations I posted last week...

Next week will be busy...get ready for lots of pictures of the Made to Match clothing collection and some insight into my girls who helped me design it! If you want a sneak peak make sure to become a fan on Facebook...I'm putting a few of the pictures up on that site this weekend! Click the link on my sidebar to become a fan!

{Happy Customers} : Zora

Check out this little cutie!

Zora's mom Tiffany was delightful to work with and little Zora is just too cute for words! As always, you can see Zora's pictures in better detail and check out all our past little {happy customers} here!

Polka Dots and Pigs!

Not my normal company name, I know, but has a certain ring to it! Our little friend Olivia will be turning three next month and she is super into three things...pink, polka dots, & pigs. Patti asked if I could work all of them into an invitation and here is the result!

Lots more of this party in the coming weeks!

Superheros...Take 4

I have already tried my hand at making Star Wars and Batman classy and cool for three other hip little guys who are obsessed with superheros. This time little Jack couldn't pick just one favorite superhero for his mom to plan his party around, so she just wanted it to look "superhero-ish". So I picked the classic superhero colors for the letters, some black patterns for the background, and a cool comic superhero font. Hopefully it fulfills Jack's wish for a super party!

Need that superhero graphic? (Can be customized to look like your little hero!)

Check out Mot and Dot on Etsy.

Little Miss Avery...I mean Emma!

When I made the invitations for Avery's birthday party that was featured earlier in the week, I SWORE that I was not going to duplicate them because making that image of her took me weeks. I really thought it looked like her by the time I got done, but it was hours and hours of work.

So when someone local contacted me and wanted me to make invitations for her daughter's party that were similar to Avery's I wasn't sure what to say. But she assured me that her daughter looks very similar to Ave, just blue eyes instead of brown. I actually didn't even want to see a pic of her before hand in case that made me want to work on it more...isn't that horrible?!

They are using a modern garden theme so she needed the colors green, pink, and purple.

They went out in the mail today, Kim!

{Happy Customers} : Jack

So I am pretty sure this lady really IS my happiest customer...it just so happens that she is also my sister. My nephew Jack is so darn cute that the pics from his party had to go up on {happy customers}.

No please let me say that in her testimonial, my sister is WAAAAAAY too hard on herself and WAAAAAAAAAY too nice about me. She kind of has that problem. She really is creative herself, she'd just rather die than use a scissors, so leaves this party stuff up to me, right Ray?

Hop on over to {happy customers} and check it out my spunky, adorable, little ball loving nephew!

Firefly Garden Shower Invites

Yesterday I showed you pics from the FIRST project I worked on with my friend Beth. Here is the LATEST project we are working on! She is throwing a baby shower for two of her favorite mommies-to-be. It will be very girly in pinks and greens with a firefly garden theme. Here are the invites I finished last night:

The rest of the decor coming soon!

{Happy Customers} : Zoe

Yesterday I kind of wrote my blog post as though I was writing it to all of you who have been with me for a long time. I guess I should have welcomed all the new people who might be reading...I never really thought of that, but after seeing that 500 people read my blog post yesterday, we definitely have some new PD&P fans. I hope most of you are here to stay!

So if you ARE new here...a few things... (if you're NOT new and don't want to read this, skip down to the orange text!)

1) I try to blog every day M-F. Let me emphasize TRY. I have three kids ages 5, 3, and 1, so that isn't always in the cards.

2) This blog is mostly to give people ideas for parties and keep you up to speed with projects I have been working on. You will see a lot of custom projects on my blog, though I am not technically "doing" custom work right now. Questions?? Check out "About PD&P" from the top menu.

3) If you have questions PLEASE email me! I may not always have the answer, and there are certain secrets about my products I don't give away, but for the most part I love to help people create fun parties for their kids (or baby showers, adult parties, weddings, etc!).

4) Feel free to browse a bit! I have spent hours putting party stuff (and before February maybe a little family stuff too. :) on this blog so I am pretty sure you could spend hours looking, too! I recently had a blog make-over and there are lots of fun and hopefully helpful things as well, such as "Plan the Perfect Party" & "{happy customers}"...plus lots about my family & me, why we are where we are today, and my current schedule.

Okay...so onto today's post then! Beth is a customer who has been with me since the beginning, and I now call her a friend, so she fits into the custom category. Yep, she's the one who a few weeks ago I said pretty much keeps me in business as well as handling some PR for me. She's pretty much the bomb.

This is the first project her and I worked on together for her daughter Zoe's birthday...

If you want so see it closer, read about Beth's experience or see some of our past {happy customers}, click here!

Little Miss Ave Spotted On HWTM...

Well, I'm back from my mini vacay to my parents house. I got those pics taken of all the fab new clothes my girls and I have put together to match my partyware (492 pics to be exact...HUGE thank you to my friend Darcie for taking the pics and Adam for all his help) and can't WAIT to get them back and share them with you!

The best part about coming home was that Jenn from Hostess With The Mostess had an email waiting for me that said the post about Avery's birthday party that I had sent in a while ago was going to be up today!

Photo Courtesty of Hostess With The Mostess

If you are a long-time reader, you've already seen these pics, but she does such a great job of putting them together and making them look fab. Thanks, Jenn! Even if you've seen them, go on over and check it out!

{Happy Customers} : The Triplets

Today will be my last post for the week...off to a mini vacay for Easter at my parents' house.

You will go nuts over how put together these three little {happy customers} are! These are the triplets I talked about a while back. When they were born they were each assigned a color to help tell them apart. (Jacob...blue, Benjamin...yellow, and Zachary...green--and please keep them in that order, right Jamie?!)

Jamie decided to carry the colors right through their party...and I mean down to their shoes and socks. Check out their entry on {happy customers} to see these pics bigger plus 9 more pics!

Have a happy Easter. I'll be back Monday!

{Happy Customers} : Jack and Carter

Day two this week brings some more PD&P cuties. This is the client who found me through Etsy but ended up being best college friends with a neighbor friend of mine! I LOVED how this twist on the normal circus theme and colors turned out. Mom Christy is a floral designer with great taste and a sharp eye, so I needed to deliver on this one! We had to make it fun enough for Carter, turning one, but sophisticated enough for Jack, turning 4.

See the original post for design inspiration and {happy customers} for a closer look and to read Christy's kind words about PD&P!

{Happy Customers} : Carson

It is going to be a {happy customers} week over here! I have a bunch to do to get ready to leave on Wednesday for a long weekend at my parents house for Easter, including making all the product for my Made To Match photo shoot on Thursday. So I got all my posts for the week (will be a short week, just Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday) and decided to make them all {happy customers}. I have a ton of them and they're so darn cute. This week I have 3 of my favorite projects I've ever worked on.

I love this project for two reasons...1)it was the biggest order I had done to date and 2) I made it during the Olympics, which I loved watching! Carson's Mom Amanda really knows how to throw a shindig...and you should SEE her parent's backyard where she threw the party. It is to die for. Lots of space, a swimming pool, etc. A couple of her siblings got married there.

The theme was "what little boys are made of..snips & snails & puppy dog tails" and featured a little boy silhouette. This party was complete with 2 banners, centerpieces, favors, cupcake toppers, hats: you name it, Amanda thought of it! If you want to see closer details of the actual items, check out my previous blog post (has pics of that fab backyard I was talking about, too!)

Head on over and check it out!

Made To Match : THE CIRCUS COLLECTION

I was chatting with a former client this afternoon who asked if my Etsy girls and I were designing clothing to match the circus theme...to which I answered "of COURSE we are!" It is just that I was going to wait until after next week to put any pics of it on here since we are having a photo shoot for all our items. Truth be told, I don't even have the tutu done (the stuff is all sitting here staring at me...on my to-do list for this weekend) so I was going to wait. But since she asked, I might as well give you a sneak peek of what we've got so far!

If you can't wait for the listings to be up in the shops, contact either of these girls (links to their shops are in my sidebar) and they will get you what you need! Lots more photos coming in the next few weeks of ALL 3 PD&P collections...items include tutus, bibs, tees, dresses, bloomers, hair accessories, and leg warmers. Can't wait to show off the products from all these wonderful designers!!

{Happy Customers} : Darrian

I figured that this {happy customers} entry that I've had forever would be appropriate today since it was the inspiration for making THE CIRCUS COLLECTION that made its debut yesterday!

I worked with Michelle, Darrian's mom, last fall to come up with some hats, a crown, and a banner to go with his circus theme. After the party, Michelle submitted her pictures to Hostess With The Mostess and the party was featured there. I started getting requests for the theme a few times a week, so I decided it should just be put into a collection so it was available all the time.

Thank you, Michelle, for all the business you've sent my way and for your kind words! {read them here}

It's {finally} here!

After so many of you asked for this collection after seeing a custom order I had made that appeared on Hostess With The Mostess I started plans to make it into a collection last fall. It took a while, but I think it was worth the wait!

Now Available Exclusively at PD&P:

There are lots more detailed pics in my shop...let me know what you think!