{Photography} TomKat = Tommy + Kate

Just a little peek from our recent family photo shoot
with Vicki Lynn Photography.....
stay tuned....

{dress by chic by sha, hair accessory by gracylu originals}

{Good Books} Kids Parties by Lisa Atwood

A few months ago, I mentioned a fabulous book that Jordan at Polka Dot Prints recommended to me. The minute she sent the link, I ordered it! Kid's Parties by Lisa Atwoodis a gem! I poured over the pages when it arrived and just realized that I never told you all about it!

This book is full of eye candy. Every page is absolutely gorgeous! I dream of creating a book similar to this one day....fabulous styling, recipes, ideas and photography!

Click here to order your copy!

The TomKat Studio is now an affiliate of Amazon.com!
If you decide to purchase any of our recommended reads, please use the links in the post to support our blog!

Cupcake Monday: Sweet Cupcake Tower for Your Sweetest Little Cupcakes!

My favorite blog stalker, Mandy (you know I love you!) sent me the link to this ADORABLE cupcake stand toy for your little princesses that love cupcakes! I'm thinking Kate would LOVE this for Christmas...I better tell Santa!

Find it HERE!

Have a fabulous week!!

Be sure to check out my new MODERN HOLIDAY printable collection!
More holiday designs coming this week!

Back to School: DIY Printable Thank You Cards ~ Perfect for Teachers!

It's BACK-TO-SCHOOL time, and what a great way to start off on the right foot with your children's teachers....

Give him/her a set of these adorable thank you notes!

I just created this new apple design, and you can print as many as you would like HERE for free!

{Instructions}

1. Print PDF file on bright white cardstock
2. Cut page in half (dotted line)
3. Fold in half, or score/fold (I use a bone folder)
4. These notecards fit in standard A2 envelopes.
5. Tie with a cute ribbon or package in a cellophane bag and tie with ribbon!
6. Give to your favorite teacher!

If you would like to personalize these with a name,
email me at kim@thetomkatstudio.com
and for a small design fee,
I will create a custom file for you!

If you are interested in additional printable items with this theme (tags, labels, etc), let me know!

Enjoy!

Apple illustraton & card designed by The TomKat Studio.

© The TomKat Studio ~ For personal use only.

Birthday Parties: Captain Jack's Pirate Party!

My nephew, Jack just turned 5 and had a fabulous pirate birthday party! My sister-in-law, Nicollette is very creative and loves invitations and parties as much as I do. She designed amazing pirate invitations and decor! Of course, I helped out with baking and decorating the cupcakes with toppers that matched the invitations! (notice my new fancy frosting technique!)Here are some pictures I took at the party!

This was a menu Nic designed and displayed to match the invitation!

The cupcake stand, making yet another appearance! Boy, this thing has gotten so much use since I bought it in March for Kate's birthday!

Nic did adorable treasure chest favors filled with chocolate gold coins & pirate bouncy balls! I love the silver satin ribbon and tags she made!

Here are the cute pinata loot bags that she made! She decorated with a few "Captain Jack" signs around the house! I made a quick gift tag for our gift to match the party decor!

Arrgh! It was great party! Everyone had a fabulous time!

Happy Birthday, Jack!

Invitations: Double Scoop Ice Cream Party!

Okay, so my design is actually a triple scoop, but this party is going to be DOUBLE the fun for these little kiddos turning TWO! Brinkley belongs to my good friend, Taryn and Jordan is my other good friend, Stef's little guy! Their birthdays are close together, and they are neighbors so they decided to throw a joint ice cream social! Fun! Fun!

Invitations: I love to Color!

I recently created these invitations and other party items for Vivienne's upcoming birthday! Her mom's request was for a coloring themed party! She mentioned she would like a variety of rainbow colors, but that the ladies of the house LOVE pink! I incorporated bright, fun colors with a touch of pink!

Have a fabulous party Miss Vivienne! We'd love to see photos from the crayon party!

Cupcake Toppers: What's Your Name Again?

One of my customers requested that the cupcake toppers she ordered from my Lollipop Party Collection be customized with each child's name who was attending the party. I LOVE this idea! How cute would it be if you had tables set up for the kids and at each place setting, put a cupcake with their personalized "topper" in it, so they would know where to sit! Aren't they fun?

Birthday Parties: My Little Beach Boy!

My little Tommy turned four a few weeks ago, and everyone had a great time at his "Beach Boy" Party! Having a birthday party in June in Arizona means an indoor party or a swim party! Every year we end up doing a big summer splash party for his birthday. This year, I decided on a palm tree/beach theme! I was quite busy with Etsy orders, but of course I made time to make create some goodies for Tommy's party!

You won't be surprised that I pulled out my favorite cupcake stand, yet again! I made cupcake toppers with the colors, font and palm tree graphic I created from the invitation! I baked white & devils food cupcakes and topped with my favorite whipped white frosting. I bought blue & green sugar sprinkles to match the rest of the party decor! I placed a couple of leis around the base of the stand to add to the tropical feel. I found the cute blue/green luau plates, napkins & lanterns at Michaels.
For party favors, I purchased beach toy baskets and created personalized tags for each party guest! I made the "Happy Birthday" banner with a Cricut machine, and handcut the palm trees on the ends! I found the perfect Palm Tree pinata at Walmart, and made personalized stickers for the candy bags!

My friend, Tina from Live.Love. Photography took amazing photos of all the fun and party decor! As you can see, the kids had a great time!

CLICK HERE TO VIEW SLIDESHOW!

Tommy's Beach Boy Party - Sneak Peek!

Our little kahuna's 4th birthday party was this past weekend! Everyone had a great time! Lots of fun, swimming, sliding & treats! Enjoy this sneak peek photo of my infamous cupcake stand, decked out in a tropical theme! Lots more photos to follow!

{photo by live.love photography}

Sweet Customers: Caden's Cupcake 1st Birthday Party!

Amy contacted me though Etsy to create her son, Caden's first birthday party package! She loved my Sweet Cupcake collection, but needed it in boy colors! I also created coordinating custom cd labels, for the party favors! It looks like the party turned out great! Caden's cupcake birthday outfit was adorable! What a cute family!

I must say I am so pleased with the items you made for Caden's birthday. They are so perfect and I have gotten so many compliments already on the invitations. I just cant wait to show off the rest of it on the big day. Thanks so much for your attention to detail and incredible creativity. I will definitely be using you in the future! And I'll keep up with all your new stuff on your blog. Thanks Kim! You're AWESOME!!!! ~ Amy

See my CUPCAKE COLLECTION for boys here!

Happy Birthday Tommy!

Four years ago today, a little angel entered the world and my life was changed forever. My, how time flies. Happy Birthday to my sweet boy! I love you with all of my heart.

Crafty Diva: Yo Gabba Gabba Birthday Party!

My friend, Thuy recently hosted this fabulous 1st birthday party for her son, Parker! Though I am not big on character parties (or clothing for that matter! ;), she really shows that it can be done in a classy, creative fashion!

Thuy is one of the craftiest girls I know! She is the one who made Kate's fab memo board, along with all sorts of other handmade items whenever anyone has a birthday or baby shower! Thuy also came to the rescue when my Etsy orders went crazy last month and assembled 100+ lollipop invitations for me! She's thinking about launching her own Etsy shop now, and I can wait to see what she offers!

She really did an amazing job with all of the details for Parker's party! Of course, my favorite was the decorated cupcake stand, and I have to claim that I inspired that one! (See HERE) The actual cupcakes were so perfectly decorated as the characters from the show. (Kate really enjoyed them....see above!) Thuy also decorated bags for each party guest, and inside was a custom made t-shirt/tank with a Yo Gabba Gabba character ironed on. (I wish I had a picture to show you!) She knew I wouldn't be too excited for a huge Foofa on Kate, so she put a little one on the ruffled neckline of a tank and it's super cute! On the first collage, I made the gift card with Muno & "Parker" and attached it to his gift bag!

She made a really cute Muno cake for the birthday boy to dive into! Although we left before the "Pin the Eyeball on Muno", what a cute idea! Right? For the invitations, she used 12 photos, one from each month of the birthday boy's first year!

These fabulous photos were taken by her sister, my friend, Tina with Live.Love. Photography. Tina also took pictures at Tommy's beach party this weekend....and I am anxiously waiting to see how they turned out!

Invitations: Retro Stripes Birthday!

I recently created these invitations for my friend, Shannon for her son's upcoming 2nd birthday party! She's easy....she sent me the photo and told me to come up with something cute! Originally she was thinking primary colors, but with colored stripes in his shirt, I tried out one of my latest favorite color schemes: orange, blue, green & brown. (I used these colors in Tommy's Beach Boy invitation, too!) I think turned out cute, and so did she!

The number "2" in the circle, is actually printed separately and "pops" off the page with a foam circle. Giving it a little more custom, crafty feel!

We're looking forward to your party, Dylan!

Retro Stripe Birthday Invitations are available in MY SHOP!

Birthday Invitations: My Beach Boy!

{sample invitation from etsy shown, not the actual}

{however, the photo IS my beach boy by livelovephotography}

Tommy is turning FOUR next month, and in June in Arizona, if you're hosting a party...it should involve water or be indoors! We like to go the water route every year with a swim party! Last year, we did a "TAS Sports Tournament" (my son's initials) theme and my hubby set up an obstacle course in our backyard including a race, balloon tosses and games, crawling through a mesh tunnel, hitting a target with water balloons and then a team slide down the huge waterslide we rented! It was so much fun and everyone (including adults) got really competitive!

This year, we are renting a huge waterslide again in the hopes that Tommy will actually enjoy it. He says he's ready this year, but we'll see! I had tons of ideas for a GOLF themed party, but I just can't picture the 4-year olds in their plaid sweater vests in the heat of the summer. So, palm trees, tiki huts, swimming, sliding....it is!

BEACH BOY invites now available in MY SHOP!

Custom ADDRESS LABELS also available!

Fashion Shoot: Garden Party for Go Gilbert Magazine!

As you have probably read, I am featured on the cover of Go Gilbert magazine this month! The article is about moms who run businesses out of their homes, while raising babies! When I met with the editor for the interview in my home studio, she came up with the idea of having me stage a children's Garden Party for the fashion spread of the same issue. Since the photographer, Paul Sebring, would already be at my house for the Mama article, we figured my backyard would be perfect for the shoot, and we could do it all in one day! It was a FABULOUS experience! There were people buzzing all around my house...hair, makeup, wardrobe...very exciting! I loved it!

The opening spread is my favorite (above)! I could tell this was going to be gorgeous! I created the "Garden Party" banner, set the table with the floral tablecloth (Target), pink tulips from AJ's, and lemonade with fresh lemons from my backyard! The children in the photos are these gorgeous girls' own! Can you imagine looking like that with a newborn?!
I designed the children's tablescape with placemats (Target), green/white square flower paper plates (Ikea), pink round plates (Walmart), and made the monogram placecards and paper butterflies with Amy Butler scrapbook paper! The cupcake stand is my own, and I made the cupcakes, and of course, the flower cupcake toppers!




There are my cupcakes again! The editor was quite impressed with my cupcakes and said I should open a shop! Wouldn't that be fun!? A shop for cupcakes & all my party goodies? Someday...you never know! My almost 4-year old, Tommy (on the right) was so excited to be in this photo. He is in love with this model and keeps ripping out this page from all of my copies of the magazine!

There is one of my lemon trees! The cute blanket was given to me by my friend, Meredith a few years ago! It was perfect colors for the shoot!
There are my favorite pink Martha pompoms again! They were adorable hanging from the tree over the table!

Thank you for a wonderful experience, Go Gilbert Magazine!

VIEW THE MAGAZINE ONLINE HERE!

Party Collections: Cupcake Birthday Party for Boys!

I just did a custom order for a Cupcake Birthday Collection, however this time it was for a BOY! The customer, Amy loved the Sweet Cupcake Collection but obviously couldn't go with that for her SON, Caden's upcoming 1st birthday party!

So with a few color changes, voila...introducing the Cupcake Collection for Boys! Now Available in MY ETSY SHOP!

Invitations: Briar's Jungle Birthday Party!

I thought it was about time to show you what I've been doing lately that has kept me too busy to blog! This was a custom invitation I just did for my friend Taryn's son's upcoming Jungle party! The monkey design was inspired from my son's 1st birthday party a few years ago, which was inspired by a monkey birthday party on Martha Stewart!

Taryn is one amazing chic. By day she is a pharm rep, by every other moment she is running a successful wedding videography business, all while being a fabulous mommy to her two little ones. Check out her & her husband's amazing work HERE.

Briar is one of my son's best friends and Tommy can't wait to go to his jungle party!

FIND THESE IN MY SHOP HERE

Sweet Customers: Bella's Lollipop Birthday Party!

Thank you so much to Adelina, who just sent me the photos from her daughter, Bella's lollipop party! Adelina was my first Yummy Lollipop party package order on Etsy after I posted it from Kate's party! I am so impressed with her setup and creativity! I LOVE that she used the labels on the glass jars, wrapped with ribbon! And that canopy?! So cute! How about the gumball machine favors tied with my favor tags? Perfect!

Thank you for sharing, Adelina!

I'm so happy Bella had a "sweet" party!

Here's the sweet feedback Adelina left on my Etsy shop:

Kim, you are the BEST! When I think of you, Sophisticated Cuteness comes to mind! I SCREAMED when you sent me the proofs and when I received my pkg on Friday I had a HUGE smile looking at everything! I LOVED your packaging, EVERYTHING!!! I'm hiding it all from Bella in a drawer and I find myself sneeking in there regularly just to "look" at everything again! I LOVE ALL OF IT!!! My BFF received her invite yesterday and LOVED it!! I can't wait for the rest of our family to begin receiving the invites - the calls will be pouring in over those!! I will definitely be using you for ALL of my future parties! I'm soooo BLESSED to have found you!!! MUAHHHHH!!! ~ Adelina

MUAHHH, back to you, Adelina!

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!