The TomKat Studio has MOVED!

The TomKat Studio has launched a new blog on Wordpress!
Please join the party at www.TheTomKatStudio.com!

Please visit us HERE!

{My Trip to NYC} Part Three :: Martha Stewart's Bloggers' Night Out!

I apologize for my delay in reporting back on the amazing experience that I had visiting NYC! Things have been crazy busy here at The TomKat Studio! So here we go....
As you may have read, I was invited to Martha Stewart's Bloggers' Night Out event, held at Martha's headquarters! After my last minute shopping excursion (read more here), it was time to head to the event. Here I am waiting for a cab! Melissa from Project Nursery spotted me and took this picture!..... Flash forward....15 minutes. No cab. No cab. No cab. The hotel door man can't even get me one. Frantically, I went across the street to try to hail one in the right direction. No luck.
PANIC. I NEED TO GET TO MARTHA STEWART.
I did not want to be late. I was invited to come up early and I did not have time to be delayed. All of a sudden, this young guy says...need a ride?
Ummmmm.....well.......
"HOP IN.........MY BIKE."
Really? Really?
I mean, it's hot and humid and I'm all dress up, hair done, fresh makeup, little dress, high heels...and you want me to get in the back of a pedicab? I've never been in one, so I though it was more for tourists taking slow tours. I didn't realize it was a viable means of transportation!
Well, people I would do anything for Martha....so I JUMPED in!
I wish I had a video of this. I called my husband from the pedicab and yelled..."I'm on my way to Martha....in the back of a bike!" All of a sudden I looked up and yelled..."I think I'm in Times Square!" It felt straight out of a romantic comedy where the girl is rushing through the busy city, trying to get to her true love before he marries the wrong girl. Guess what? Instead of being 30 minutes late taking a cab, I was 2 minutes early! Bless that guy who gave me a ride and swerved through 100 taxis to get me there! I took a few minutes to compose myself and freshen up (in the men's room, girl's was locked) and then called up to meet the lovely, Courtney of Martha Stewart! Whew.
Courtney invited me to come up early before the event (I felt so special!) to chat and meet other fabulous event planners, Tara Wilson of Tara Wilson Events and Stephanie Grimm of Couture Parties! I have worked with Tara on several television segments (here and here) and Steph and I have been chatting online forever! It was such a pleasure to meet them, along with Courtney and her friend, Anne Marie of Perfect Bound. We met up and then took a tour behind the scenes of MS Headquarters! After the tour, it was on to the big event! There were beautiful displays from Martha Stewart Weddings in the hallway on the way to the event location! Gorgeous cupcakes, cakes, craft projects and more! All of a sudden, I was walking right behind Ms. Stewart herself! Sadly, I did not get the opportunity to have my photo taken with her. She only took a few photos with fans and then decided no more so that she could enjoy the short time she had at the event! She welcomed us all and talked about the various Martha Stewart blogs. Inside the party, there were tables and booths set up by the various Martha departments. Of course, I went straight to the craft department table and tested out some of their new punches coming out! For more photos of the event setup, visit the Flickr photo pool! The best part about the event was meeting some of the amazing women who have inspired me to create this business! Not only was I steps away from Martha, but I finally had the opportunity to meet my idol, Amy Atlas. It was such a pleasure to meet her in person. She was so sweet and everyone was flocking to meet her. She told me that she was proud of me and loves how aggressive I am when it comes to my business. I was so happy to be able to thank her in person for the wonderful exposure and opportunities she has given me. Next time I'm in NYC, I hope she'll let me take her out to lunch! I also had the amazing opportunity to meet and chat with Darcy Miller, Editorial Director of Martha Stewart Weddings! She was so friendly and sweet to everyone. I told her that I style children's parties and she asked for my card! (thrill!) Meet my new best friend, Stephanie of Couture Parties. Stephanie and I hit it off immediately and stuck together during the party. We were even interviewed on camera about the event! Stephanie is a super talented event planner in Newport, Rhode Island. We ended up going out to dinner together after the party and had a great time! We could have talked for hours about ideas, parties and business! Love you, Steph!Here I am, right at home at Martha's Headquarters! After the party, we were waiting sitting in the lobby waiting for some friends and I just didn't want to leave.
It felt so surreal being in Martha's building.
Who knows? Maybe one day, I'll be back!
I also had the opportunity to meet some of my fans and fellow party girls!
See collage photo at beginning of post! From top left:
Kate of Kate Landers Events
Tanya of Save the Date for Cupcakes
Stacy of Scrumptious Swirls
Kristy of Posh Pixels
Megan of The Decorated Cookie & Amy of Amy Atlas Events

Center: Amy Atlas, Darcy Miller of Martha Stewart

It was truly a pleasure to meet you all!

{My Trip to NYC} Part One :: A Mommy With a Dream

{art print via the love shop}

Written August 4, 2010 on my flight to NYC

Where am I? I’m not really sure I believe it myself.

About a year and a half ago, I left my career in real estate to stay home with my little ones, Tommy & Kate. I started a little blog, The TomKat Studio to share creative ideas and projects I was working on. Given my love for design and photography, a blog was the perfect outlet for me. I started blogging about home decorating, staging, baking, parties and all things pretty that caught my eye. After quickly gaining readership, I decided to open up an Etsy shop to sell some of the things that I was creating.

Fast forward…a year and a half, I am on a plane, on my way to the Martha Stewart headquarters in New York. I rarely take the time to reflect on all of the amazing things that have happened since I started focusing on my passion. I rarely take the time to realize how fast my business has grown and reflect on the fantastic opportunities I have been given. Last month alone, I was named Doer of the Week on Martha’s Dreamers into Doers site, had the opportunity to work with Amy Atlas on an Instyle Magazine photo shoot, was featured on Hostess with the Mostess, had one of my designs featured on People.com, was written up in a fabulous article in The Arizona Republic and did an interview with the top radio station in Phoenix.
WHAT?! That was just JULY! Pinch me.

Tomorrow, I will be attending Martha’s Bloggers’ Night Out at the MS Headquarters. I will have the opportunity to meet some of the very women that have inspired me. I may even have a chance to meet MARTHA. Can you imagine?

Keep dreaming...you just never know where you could end up!

Stay tuned for all of the details from my trip!

Heading to NYC for Martha Stewart's Bloggers' Night Out & BlogHer '10 Conference!

I can't believe I pulled it off! Tomorrow, I am hopping on a plane to New York City to attend both BlogHer '10 and Martha Stewart's Blogger's Night Out! It was totally a spur of the moment decision, but when I get my mind set on something...I tend to go for it! After receiving the invitation for the Martha blogger event and hearing the buzz about BlogHer, I knew I couldn't miss out!

I just secured a pass for BlogHer, a flight (thank you Southwest Airlines!), and a room with a group of fabulous mom bloggers TODAY!
Yes...TODAY and I am flying out TOMORROW!
EEeeeek!

It isn't easy to leave my family, even for a few days...but my wonderful husband urged me to go for it! I have to give a little shout out to my neighbor, Christine and my assistant, Toni who wouldn't let me give up on the effort to go! Thank you also to my friend, Jess who predicted
"the stars will align"
for this...and I think they just did!

Did I mention AMY ATLAS will be there? I'm giddy.
Catch you later..I need to start packing!

Please Welcome....Toni Chase to The TomKat Studio!

The TomKat Studio is growing again! A couple of weeks ago, I was chatting on Facebook with Toni, one of my loyal readers and customers. I ended our chat by saying I needed to start answering the 70+ Etsy conversations waiting for me. Trust me, I'm not proud of that fact, but I just can't get to everything these days! Andrea is doing an AMAZING job, handling orders and sales continue to grow month after month. This wouldn't have been possible without her. But it's time to add another member to our team!

Toni emailed me a couple days later and just wanted to toss out the idea that she was available to help if I ever decided to hire another person. Her email was SO enthuastic about The TomKat Studio (it gave me the goosebumps) and her passion was apparent for parties and all things pretty. She is stay-at-home mom to twins (12) and another daughter (11). You may remember her from the 40th NYC birthday party I featured! After her reading her email, I just had a very strong feeling that she would be perfect to help me...starting immediately! We met for coffee (she's local, too!) and voila...she's hit the ground running!

Toni LOVES New York City, Andre Agassi & hosting fabulous parties! You can learn more about her here on her blog! Toni will be handling customer inquiries, featuring your fabulous parties, coordinating giveaways and whatever else I throw her way! In the week she has been working, she has been amazing! I'm thrilled to have her on board!
Welcome to the TomKat team, Toni!

{Blogging} Bloggy Bootcamp Phoenix 2010!

You may have read on Facebook that I attended Bloggy Bootcamp in Scottsdale over the weekend! The energy of the event was unbelievable! Just thinking about it and all of the fabulous girls that I met makes me so excited!
Andrea {my amazing assistant} and I headed out bright and early to the event. It was held at the XONA Resort, which was lovely. We signed up for the Mompreneur session, where several fabulous women, including Laurie {Tip Junkie}, Lisa {Lisa Leonard Designs} and Marlynn {The Power Mob} spoke about business and social networking. It was a very informative session and I love what the ladies had to share!
Here I am with my new friend Julie {AngryJulieMonday} the photographer of the event and Laurie from Tip Junkie! I was thrilled to meet Laurie, as we have connected online many times! Julie sure didn't seem angry to me....she was sweet as pie!
Here we are...soaking it all in.... After the session, we had a delightful lunch poolside! I was quite lucky to be sandwiched in between Tiffany from SITS, the mastermind of Bloggy Bootcamp, and the multi-tasking Marlynn (mentioned earlier). I quickly learned that I had lucked out being placed at Table #7, which was full of talent. Jyl from Mom it Forward and Girl's Night Out twitter parties was talking about brands and how she has connected with them as sponsors. Tiffany introduced me to her childhood friend, Kim Boyce who recently published a cookbook and many other fabulous women full of energy and ideas!
Speaking of energy and ideas, here's Laurie again {with her fabulous pink handbag}! If you aren't following her, you should be! She is a savvy business women with amazing plans and ideas...watch out, she's going to take over the world. (or at least the blogging world)I had the pleasure of meeting Shey, the local twitter-loving creative genius behind Shey B Designs, the most gorgeous camera straps ever! I bought my own green/brown damask strap from her a few months ago! I loved checking out all of her new fabrics...and swooned over her new couture line! I will be hosting a giveaway next week for one of her fabulous straps....stay tuned! When I met this women, I nearly bowed at her feet. This is Kim of Today's Creative Blog. You may remember a "little" feature she did on me a couple of months ago? Did I mention that my blog traffic nearly DOUBLED that day? I guarantee many of you are reading this right now because of this wonderful woman. Thanks again, Kim....it was a pleasure to meet you in person! Two Kats....MamaKat and TomKat. Destined to be friends. One will be on Ellen someday, the other on Martha. We dream, together. At the event, there was an opportunity to display/sell products during a break! Andrea & I whipped up a little sampling of TomKat designs! What's a TomKat Studio display without cupcakes? I asked Dana from Simply Sweets in Scottsdale {who also attended the conference} to make me some pretty cupcakes to display along with my cupcake toppers! Aren't they so cute? This is Dana....she is a talented cake artist and also sells fabulous baking supplies!After the learning sessions, there was a short break and Andrea and I grabbed a coffee. We had a great talk about the business and how great it is to find a balance with working from home while being a mommy. I am very lucky to have her. We came back to the resort, and did a wardrobe change for the cocktail party! We spent the better part of the evening cuddling on this couch with two fantastic ladies, Kim Boyce and Liz of Whining and Dining. Kim was one of the speakers in the afternoon session, where she talked about the process of getting a book published. She recently authored the cookbook, Good to the Grain. She was kind enough to fill me in on the details of the process and how it all went for her. {I asked a million questions} One of my long term goals is to publish a book. I'm not really a writer, but the thought of creating a book makes me giddy.....the ideas, staging, photography......a girl can dream, right?

After attending this conference, things like publishing a book, having sponsors, working with brands, doesn't seem so out of reach! With a network of amazing women like this....who knows where we can go?

A huge thank you to Tiffany and Heather, and to all of the women who put this amazing event together! If you have a Bloggy Bootcamp coming to your area, I highly recommend you attend!
I can still feel the excitement and the energy........

{photos courtesy of TomKat Studio, AngryJulieMonday & Bloggy Bootcamp Flickr Pool}

{Fabulous Feature} TomKat Studio Sweet Love Valentine's Day Collection on Amy Atlas!

Today is one of those days for a HAPPY dance! As you all know, I am a huge fan of Amy Atlas. Her work is breathtaking and totally inspiring! I just received an email from a reader letting me know that my Valentine's printables are featured on Amy's blog today!

One of my loyal reader/followers, Stefanie purchased my printable Sweet Love invitation & party collection and did a fabulous job using them throughout her 1st Annual Sweet Soiree!

Amy featured my Lollipop Invitations last summer and I will never forget the excitement I felt that morning when I heard the news! Read about it HERE!

A huge thank you to Amy & Stefanie!
Read Amy's post HERE
and Stefanie's party post HERE!

Spread the LOVE and Get a Free Printable Collection for Valentine's Day!

I just added the ability for my readers to grab a button for The TomKat Studio!
(See left sidebar!)

To reward you for spreading the TomKat love, I am offering a FREE printable Valentine's Day Collection of your choice to anyone who adds my button to their own blog!

Please EMAIL me with a link to show me where it is,
along with your choice of printable collection:

1. French Kiss Valentine's Day Collection {2 files: party circles & mini notes}
2. Sweet Love Valentine's Day Collection {6 files: party circles, labels, mini notes & more}

These printable files can also be purchased in MY SHOP!

XOXO, Kim

{Help Wanted} The TomKat Studio is Hiring an Assistant! Apply Now!

2010 is going to be a very exciting year for The TomKat Studio! After a year of blogging and starting my Etsy shop, I've decided it's time that I need to hire some help! I'm ready to grow my business and get better organized!

I am looking for a part-time virtual (you don't need to live in Phoenix, if you do, that's a plus!) assistant to handle fulfilling my digital file orders, along with tracking sales and answering inquiries. The time requirement would likely start at about 2 hours a day (5 days/week), but hopefully grow to much more, as I am able to work on getting all of my designs up in the shop and my order volume grows!

Requirements:

• Advanced knowledge of Microsoft Publisher & Excel
• Experience with Photoshop, a plus but not required
• A Great Eye for Detail and Layout (Perfectionists Welcome)
• Experience/Interest in Blogging
• Must be Obsessed with Pretty Parties & Paper

Duties:

• Field potential customer inquiries
• Track/Log Orders
• Format text/photos on existing layouts
• Create/Email PDF files to customers

Ideal candidate would be available throughout the day to check for inquiries/orders.
Candidate must not operate a competing shop.

If you are interested in this position, please email me and tell me about yourself.
Attach your resume, and include any links you would like me to see of your work or blog!
kim@thetomkatstudio.com

{Featured} Today's Creative Blog: The Sweetest Post EVER about TomKat Studio

I woke up this morning to an email from one of my lovely followers, congratulating me on being featured on Today's Creative Blog! I'm going to admit, that although I haven't been to this site before, I will be visiting frequently now! I have never felt so much blog love EVER. I am so flattered by this post. Seriously.

I am so passionate about my readers and sharing my ideas and experiences. I am so thankful to have a creative outlet and I love receiving your feedback. Posts like this one remind me that even though sometimes it's tough to balance everything, my blog is appreciated!

Thank you for your kindness, Kim at Today's Creative Blog,

you just made my day!

READ THE POST HERE!

Countdown to a Fabulous New Year!

{via martha}

Good morning!
I'm apologize for neglecting my blog lately, but with the craziness of the holidays and moving, things have been quite hectic! I'm happy to say that we are getting settled in our house and the fun part has begun....decorating! I have so much to share with you and I want to thank you for reading my blog, giving me advice and sharing in my passion for all things pretty this year!

I'm looking forward to next year, connecting with you all, sharing parties, decorating ideas and new products! If you have ideas of what you would like to see more of here at The TomKat Studio, please comment or email me your thoughts and feedback! I would love to hear from you!

Have a fabulous time tonight!

Here's hoping that all of your dreams come true in 2010...

XOXO,
Kim

Hello! I'm Here and Celebrating!

{photo via vicki lynn photography}

I've missed you, my dear blog reading friends! Amidst the moving, unpacking, decorating and Christmas-preparing, I just realized that today is my blog's 1st birthday!
My very first post was today last year!
Where did the year go?!

I have had such a wonderful time "meeting" and connecting with you all. I love blogging and thank you for all of the support you have given me. Without your comments, I wouldn't continue to write and post all the pretty things I see and create! I feel that I have found my own little "place" for sharing creativity, and I want to thank you for visiting this little "place"!


{sneak peek of our family photos via live love photography}

I look forward to another year of sharing many more "pretty" things with you!

XOXO,
Kim

Best Crafty Mommy Blogger FINALIST!

I'm so excited to be a finalist for The Bump's Mommy Blogger Awards!
I am nominated in the category, "Best Crafty Mommy Blog" and
I would love win!
Please VOTE as many times as you can!
It's super easy, no registration or anything!
You can just refresh the page after voting, and it will allow you to vote again!
I'm in the lead now, after my Facebook & Twitter campaigning,
but I will need more votes to keep my lead!
The competition is stiff ladies, and I need your help!

The Bump is from the creators of The Knot, a fabulous wedding site that I'm sure you have all heard of! I still have my wedding planning binder that The Knot sent me when I was planning my own wedding 8 years ago! I was impressed with the company then, and even more so now with the addition of The Bump and The Nest!

Thank you in advance for all of your support and taking the time to vote!
I could win a gift certificate to Pottery Barn Kids,
or even the grand prize of $1,000...
but most importantly the AWARD voted on by you, my loyal readers!
XOXO, Kim

VOTE HERE!