Happy 4th of July??

I had saved this banner so that I could post it on July 3rd so it would be up all weekend of the 4th. Oops! Totally slipped my mind and I found it when I was going through some pictures last night. I guess today will have to do...its at least still July!

I made some invitations for Addison a while back. She was having her party at the lake on the 4th of July along with her cousin Cale.

And since the party already took place, might as well include a picture of the birthday cutie!

Happy birthday Addie!

I Scream, You Scream...

Lots going on over here at the Newman household...my sister moved into a new house yesterday and we painted almost every room on the inside of her house yesterday. I am also busy getting ready for our annual ice cream party.

Ice Cream Party 07

Because none of my kids have summer birthdays two years ago I had a party for all my kids little neighbor friends to come over and have ice cream and run through the sprinkler. Then last year I was so busy starting my business that it just didn't happen. So this will be the second of our annual minus one year ice cream party.

Lots to do before next Wednesday!

Hudson's Monkey

I've done quite a few monkey banners in my day, but mostly with the same monkey. This time my husband's cousin Dana already had a certain monkey that she used for her invitations she made so she sent him on over! She was so helpful because she actually sent me samples of the paper she used for the invites and I was able to find a bunch of them to use for the banner as well as a few other coordinating ones.

I am actually putting this in the mail tomorrow, so I am not sure if it is a good idea to put it on here as it is ALWAYS better to have the client see it in person first, but since I know her so well I think it is pretty safe. Hope you like it, Dana!

SUPERJACK!!

First, I need to clear up a couple things that I made confusing last week...

1) I AM NOT QUITTING. =)
The funny thing is that for ME, nothing changed in the past few months as far as business plan, its just that a lot of you hadn't looked at my schedule and realized I was booked out as far as I am. Again, I apologize (I mean, kind of...it is a blessing, too!) that I am booked so far out and can't accommodate more people.

2) YES, EVEN IF YOU ARE A PAST CLIENT YOU SHOULD GET ON THE WAITING LIST FOR 2010 IF YOU THINK YOU'LL WANT TO ORDER.
I wish I could take on everyone, but honestly, I KNOW I won't be able to. So come November 1st I am going to decide how many projects I will take on, make a calendar, and start at the top of my list until all spots are filled. That is the only fair and sane way to work it.

Thanks so much for all the emails I got last week. It was fun to hear from some of you I haven't heard from in a while! :)

Now, on to SUPERJACK. You may remember my nephew from his baseball party last summer. Jack is a fun little busy guy who I happen to adore (as do my kids, unless they are trying to kill each other, of course.) Jackson is classic for climbing on anything and everything in sight and has some impressive jumping skills as well. I suggested to my sister a few months ago that he have a superhero party since they are kind of the thing to do these days and he was always pretending to be one superhero or another anyway.

After finding some fun paper, I designed a logo that is Superman-ish only with an adjustment in color and style which my sister made into a tshirt. My mom has made all of our kids capes as well. Rachel ordered all the kids masks from someone on Etsy (I'll get the name and link it when I recap the party...not sure what seller it is at the moment). Put it all together and I had one fun night of picture taking with little Jacks.

I have to admit that I returned to my house and told my sister "There are a few cute ones, but I am not sure I got it." Then sometimes when you aren't expecting it (like standing in the driveway telling someone that you DIDN'T get it), you might get what you were looking for.

Isn't that funny? Man he cracks me up. So I took that pic and made these...

Lots more of Jacks party coming soon!

{Happy Customers} : Caiden

This was such a fun circus set to work on because it was for the nephew of Adam...a photographer I got to know through my friend Darcie. He is so fun and was a huge help during our Made to Match shoot.

Little Caiden has the cutest grin ever! I mean, really, you should check out the pics that Adam took of him for his one year session and the pics he took at the party.

To read more and see the pictures closer up (and a whole lot of other cuties!) head on over to {happy customers}.

Have a happy and safe holiday weekend!

How perfect is this?

It is no secret to anyone who knows me that I kind of adore Em Tanner and all of her designs. She even has my kids on her site (wanna see?) But just recently she came up with a line called "Me 2 a Tee" in which you can make a character look just like you right down to the accessories! She has one product that I thought all of you just might adore as much as I do...

Perfect for a bday or what?

I just may have this shirt sitting here waiting for Ave's flower bday party (in December!)



(Never hurts to order early, you know. :)

And if that isn't enough...here are a few of my other gift giving or bday faves from EmT!

1. My new FAV gift to give Me 2 a Tee! Water Bottle
(my friend Kelley just told me that this was her 5 year old's favorite gift from his party!)

2. Ahoy MA-TEE! Tshirt (wish this one had been available before T's pirate party)
3. How cute is this Me 2 a Tee! Lunchbox?
4. So many options to personalize your Me 2 a Tee! Tshirt...need one for your princess?
5. Show everyone her age with the Quirky Circle Clip
6. Or how about just an initial she can wear everyday? Ave may need a Scalloped Quirky Circle Clip to match her tshirt!

I was going to link all these, but really, its more fun to just click around on Em's site. There is waaaay more than I could ever show you here.

Looking for the perfect gift to give yourself?? After I bought this for myself for Mother's Day, a bunch of my friends wanted one for themselves, too! It has been a lifesaver with schedules (now that my 30 year old brain doesn't work as well) and spices up the kitchen, too!



Funky Bubbles Calendar

If you want to become Em's Fan on Facebook, she has a coupon code she listed this morning. Plus, this girl will crack you up with her updates. While you're on there, become a fan of Polkadots & Pirates, too! I know there is also an EmT coupon on Tot Trends Weekly, another great site you should check out. Happy shopping!

Happy Birthday PD & P!

One year.

One year ago today my dreams of a little shop on Etsy came true. I wrote this post, only the second ever I had written on this blog. I honestly had NO IDEA at the time what this would turn into.

This little company took on a life of its own. In fact, at times it has taken over the life that was my own. There have been moments when I was ready to hire an army and make this big. Then there have been moments when I have a reality check (also known as Eric Newman:) and I have pulled back a bit.

After 6 months of doing mostly custom work...all of which I loved, but that was eating into my life for practically no pay...I wrote this post. I stopped doing customs on Etsy, but continued to do them for friends and family. I launched 3 product lines. I launched a clothing line with some pretty amazing girls. I got to take a really fun trip. I have "met" a ton of wonderful moms, aunts, and grandmas who wanted to make their little one's birthday special. I have also "met" a lot of other really cool party girls in the business. I have had SO. MUCH. FUN.

So what's next?

Well...as I did at the six month mark E and I have had discussions about how things are going...both family AND business wise...and where we want things to go from here. Out of necessity I will be returning to my job teaching third grade (I really do LOVE teaching) this fall. I will miss days home with my kiddos, but I know they will probably adjust better than I.

As many of you have noticed on my schedule, I am currently booked through the end of 2009 for outside orders. My Etsy shop is currently closed...and in all reality I don't know if it will ever reopen. I have developed a little following here on this blog (THANK YOU ALL MY LOYAL READERS) and for quite some time I think I can stay busy by word of mouth...that is until the day I am ready to GO BIG on a huge website of my own. Please don't read this as I'm closing altogether, just closing Etsy!

I have a waiting list of sorts started for people to contact after November 1st when I decide how much work I will take on next year and whether or not I will hire help. If you want to get on that list, email me at polkadotsandpirates@gmail.com. It does not require any payment at this time.

In the meantime...I will be here. Blogging. Working my tail off after my kiddos are asleep. Twittering (follow me!). Answering your emails. And working on something that you may be interested in...especially all you DIYers...

I have a HUGE new project in the works. From the topics of emails I get almost daily I am guessing you're going to like it. I need a little more time to iron out all the details of a all out announcement, but I'll give you a hint...

Interested? More details coming soon. Promise.

Thank you to all of you for your continued support of this party girl. Sorry for the super long and maybe boring post. I promise back to the party tomorrow.

One year.

One stinkin' awesome year.

Gonna go throw some confetti at myself now. :)

XOXO,

Jess