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!

Please Welcome.....Andrea Alley to The TomKat Studio!

{art print via the love shop}

First, I want to say THANK YOU to all who showed tremendous interest in working with me on The TomKat Studio. Your emails, resumes, power point presentations and recommendations were amazing. I am so flattered by all of your sweet words and how inspired you are by my blog and work. I received over 70 submissions! I want you to know that I went through EVERY email, clicked every link and spent quality time with each of you to make this very important decision. The wealth of talented, creative, ready-to-work women is so inspiring...and I wish I could hire you all!

I apologize that I have not responded personally to each of you yet, and if you are reading this here first. It was a tough decision, and spent hours pouring over your blogs and creative work! This process was so different than a regular interview/application because I was able to peek into many of your lives via your blogs and I thank you for sharing with me!

{photos courtesy of session nine photography}

I am OVERJOYED to announce that Andrea Alley has joined The TomKat Studio! Everything about Andrea's submission was perfection. Her email was just the right mix of professional, yet so friendly and honest. Andrea recently gave birth to her first child, a beautiful daughter. In the Fall before the baby was born, she started a Virtual Assistant company to be able to work from home and strive for that ever challenging balance of having a career, along with motherhood. She has documented her journey through pregnancy on her blog, Baby Steps to Mom. Her blog is real, it's honest and it's just sweet (her maternity photos are adorable of her & her husband...and her hospital photos gave me the goosebumps!). I feel like I know her already. She has all of the required skills, plus what I predict to be exemplary organizational skills (since she is running a VA business!) that will greatly benefit my business.

BONUS! She's local! I really didn't think that I had a preference of having someone close or in another state, but the more I thought about it, I realized how convenient it may be in the future. As the company grows, her roll may grow and it will be great to be able to meet to make plans, discuss ideas and get to know each other in person! This way, we can fly together to NYC when we appear on the Martha Stewart show! (kidding....just a little dream of mine! :)

In all seriousness, I am THRILLED to introduce you to her and I can't wait for her to get started!

So, my dear readers, please WELCOME ANDREA by leaving her a little comment here to show her a little piece of the amazing LOVE you so willingly give me everyday!!

The TomKat Studio: DIY (Do It Yourself, Please!)

I am excited to tell you that the DIY kits are in production for my frames! I am quickly figuring out that I cannot keep up with demand for everything I make, so it's time to put YOU to work!
{small custom frame I made recently}
The frame kits will include a 12x12 frame (custom made locally for my shop!), hardware, instructions, and possibly paper and flower options to choose from. Adding rhinestones will also be an option. Certain papers work better (bubbling can be an issue) and I would offer papers that I have the best success with. What are your thoughts? Would you just want the frames/hardware/instructions, or the decorative options, too?

{custom frame made for heather}
You may have noticed that my Etsy shop continues to be "on vacation". Trust me, I am not on vacation. Things were just getting too busy and stressful that I decided to take a break, re-evaluate and figure out the best way to move forward! I have so many ideas but really need to take time to figure out what makes the most sense on my limited time schedule. Thank you for your patience if you've tried to email/convo me and I haven't replied yet!

Other exciting news about the DIY branch of The TomKat Studio....

I am starting to work on PRINTABLE invitation designs and party supplies! I can't seem to find the time to design/print/cut/fold/assemble/package/ship all of my orders, so I'm ready for you to Do-It-Yourself! I design, you print & assemble?

What do you say? Are you up for it?

Get ready to get your craft on!

Press: Go Gilbert Magazine - The TomKat Studio

Here is the full article from this month's issue of Go Gilbert magazine!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW MAGAZINE ONLINE!

Introducing Vicki Lynn Photography!

Vicki Lynn is officially in business! Miss Vicki, one of my best friends since I can remember, has launched her new photography company! Her website just went live and looks fabulous! Her logo was created by yours truly, and I think it completely exemplifies her personality. Simple, bright and lovely. Everyone who meets Vicki LOVES her, and if you hire her for pictures, you will too! (Read more about her HERE, under the tab "Vicki Lynn Photography") If you are looking for a family photographer, she is amazing! She has three adorable children of her own, and therefore knows how to make your children comfortable and capture their personalities perfectly. She also specializes in maternity, newborn photos & engagement sessions!

Vicki did a shoot a few months ago with my kids and I, for my contributor photo for Project Nursery! We went to a local park and spent a little while playing around. I was quite impressed with the results! Here are few:

View more of her work at her WEBSITE and BLOG!

Congratulations Vicki! I look forward to watching your business grow!

Help Wanted!

{print via jennysbakeshop}
I'm getting busy...really busy. I think if I had someone to help with the kids/house and perhaps help with some of the admin/crafting for the TomKat Studio, I would have this under more control.

If you know anyone who would be interested, please have them email me! I would be fine with a stay at home mom, who could bring her own child (or two) with her and entertain my kids for a few hours, a few days a week!

In the meantime, I'll be having lots of cupcakes! :)

Thanks ~ Kim

PS. Molly - I think I'll be keeping you busy this summer!

TomKat Studio Photo Frames: Dottie

Hello Dottie! In case you are new to my blog, I am featuring new frames that I am creating for my Etsy shop launch! I have decided to give them "names" to help identify them and give them a little personality!

Dottie was made using my favorite square 12x12 frame. Dottie is wearing a black and cream polka dots, and she is topped with a little bling around her middle 4x4 frame (a bit hard to see in the photos since they are on top of dots). I always use genuine Swarvoski crystals on the frames as well as the sprinkled on the flowers. Who doesn't like a little sparkle?!

I am excited to announce some BIG news for TomKat Studio frames! My best friend, Kristi is going to start working on the frames as well so that we can build up our stock and start selling them! She has great style and ideas, so together, we hope to create some fabulous items! We figure, what the heck?..Let's give it go and see what happens! I will be featuring some of her designs soon!

Heather Bailey - Creative Genius Among Us

Do you ever feel like the world is so small? When I was on my quest for decorating ideas for the TomKat Studio, I was searching "craft room" photos on Google & Flickr. Mostly I saw cluttered, messy craft rooms with the exception of one perfectly bright, lovely space. From my search, I saved ONE photo. This was it....

So as many of you know, my room doesn't look anything like this, but this one sure makes me drool. Fast forward a couple months, and I'm on Facebook chatting with Sondra Barr, the editor of Go Gilbert! magazine and notice that the publication has finally gone online. Sondra & I "met" last year when my last house in Gilbert was featured in the publication. Since I live in Chandler now, I miss Go Gilbert! and decided to see what was new. To my amazement, one of the recent covers of the magazine features a trendy-looking mom, Heather Bailey and her two kids in THAT craft room!

Weird...this amazing girl with this amazing room happens to live practically next door! What are the chances? So, I visited her website, read about her many experiences on her path of success, and drooled (some more) over EVERYTHING that she creates. (fabric, scrapbook supplies, hair "trash ties", ....you name it) She is a creative genius! And lucky for her, her husband is an amazing photographer that documents all of her fabulous projects.

I'd think we could be friends....although I might get REALLY jealous of her, because I already am! Congratulations Heather on your creative success! And thank you for being an inspiration!

Eye Candy: Blu Domain - Websites for Creative Professionals

Awhile back, my friend, Taryn told me about an amazing website company called Bludomain, which she used to launch her videography company. They offer beautiful, simple website templates, mainly intended for photographers at a very affordable price ($100-$400 setup, plus $100/year for hosting). After exploring their site a few times over the last few months (most recently to help my other friend, Vicki select one for her new photography business), I think these templates could be used for so many businesses, not just photographers. Images evoke such feeling, that if you have a product or service that you can show by using engaging photography, these template sites could work for you. Bludomain shows a couple examples of the types of businesses that could use their templates, including a florist. You can also add music to your site, which can really set the tone and help sell your product or service. These sites are easily customizable to show pricing, information, hours if it is a retail business, etc. They even offer a shopping cart, if you are selling a product. You have control of backend of the website, so you have the ability to make changes whenever you feel the need.

One concern is that they are flash based (photo slideshows), which do not offer much in terms of search engine optimization (being found on the internet). Search engines (google) cannot read images or videos (yet!). One way to combat this is to also create and use a blog in conjunction with your beautiful Bludomain site, where you are constantly updating and adding content about your business and industry and linking back to your main website. This is obviously a very popular company, as they are launching hundreds of new clients a month! Check them out here!