My tutu was on The View!!!

How totally exciting was that???!!! I've been bursting at the buttons to tell the entire world BUT I did not know for sure until today if it would make it on the air or not.

Basically I was contacted through Etsy from a wonderful woman, Tory Johnson ( Feel free to stop by her website http://www.womenforhire.com/). She is a contributor as well for ABC News and was asked to do a segment for The View for their show about How to Get a Job that aired today 4/14/2009. She has done segments and talked about Etsy before so it was totally fantastic that she thought to use Etsy as a topic on The View-the more Etsy love the better right?!

So, after some corresponding via email (nothing extensive just answered some questions) I shipped some items up to NYC. I was THRILLED when she let me know the producers wanted matching shirts as this gave me the chance to include Lisa Ward http://www.isabellaboo.etsy.com/ because we just recently started working together to make matching sets between our two stores.

I was told last night that everything was set to air but to keep in mind that things could change last minute and get bumped so I was anxiously waiting for air time today. Now, it was brief, but my tutu was shown! I could see it better when I watched the episode online this evening so maybe I was just blind by excitement this morning! It was at the very end of the episode when Tory spoke of how Etsy is a place you can "make money" and she didn't have time to give a shout out to all the great stores she had items from but hey she did say, " There is a lady that makes tutus." That's me! It was funny she said it that way because people in my life call me the tutu lady all the time ;-). Etsy even featured a treasury Tory compiled on the front page this morning before the show aired so that was fantastic too!

So, some background on my store-I opened at the end of July 08. I can't honestly tell you it was a huge dream of mine then as it wasn't . I started on a whim. I had made some items and shown some friends online and they wanted to order. So after a couple of weeks I thought well maybe I should set something up to make it easier for them. At the time, starting my own website wasn't worth it, and I recalled stumbling upon Etsy the previous winter. I listed some items and BOOM, sold something pretty quickly. Over time, the orders kept coming so I had to get organized quickly. A studio was built in the basement with custom work tables and cutting tables to fit my short height and I was off and running. By Halloween time, I was so busy, my 18 hours a day work days began. 18 hours a day seems a bit excessive but it's simple to see how it happens when everything is broken down. For instance, each piece I make takes around 2 hours from start, to the finishing touch of packaging. Each strand of tulle is cut by hand with a rotary blade, then each one is attached to the band, then sewn, then the added touches put on. It's a slow process:) In between making them, I have to correspond with customers A LOT, do my advertising and promoting efforts and order all of my supplies. I finish off each night by printing all my postage and lugging the boxes out for the mailman to pick up the next day. I'm in bed usually around 2am. Keep in mind, in between all of this, I have to cook dinner and spend time with the family. SO, to make it a bit easier, a playroom was built off of the studio in the basement so now we can ALL be together down there in my little tutu village. SO for those of you thinking of selling on etsy keep in mind it is work, HARD work. It does pay off however as I get to work in Pjs every day! YEAH! What can beat that?!

It has been fantastic so far and I have had some of the most wonderful customers ever! I work with great photographers and make little girls happy and colorful.

For more information on The View's website you can follow this link:

http://abc.go.com/daytime/theview/info?pn=botvmomjobs

You can also view the full episode here

http://fep.abc.go.com/fep/player?src=abccomjs&show=167365&pn=index&showId=167365

click on 4/14

The segment isn't until the VERY end of the show

These listings are for the items that were on the show

Rainbow Sprite Tutu

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23254995

And a matching beanie hat

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=23018170

It was a good day!

More Photos from Letisha-Punk Rock Tutu

The photographs are property of and were shot by the Talented Miss Letisha of Intrigue Photography. If you're interested in seeing more of her wonderful work please stop by her site at http://intriguephotography.blogspot.com/
And if you're in luck and live near Ingersoll Ontario, contact her for all of your photograhy needs!



I can not say enough fantastic things about Letisha as a customer and a photographer. She is such a joy to work with in every way and please please stop by her website to see more of her work. She's super talented and has a wonderful personality to boot!








Here are some more photographs she has shot-Enjoy!

Order A Matching Set-custom Tutu and onesie for birthdays, photographs and much more!

I'm pleased to announce a partnership with Lisa from http://www.isabellaboo.com/ . She offers the cutest onesies and Tees that are quality made-they ARE NOT iron on appliques and she is a total joy to work with. We'd be more than happy to work together to design a matching set just for your special little one!

Stop by our stores to find out more!

http://www.mom2twogals.etsy.com/

http://www.isabellaboo.com/

Order your Tutus now before I leave!

Okay okay not for good! But I have about one week left to take orders before I jet off for vacation. It has been a LONG time since I saw sunshine as it's been a horid winter in Ohio this year so I am looking forward to squinting for a while and relaxing around the ocean. My mother surprised me with a cruise for my birthday gift so we'll see how much I enjoy a big boat! I prefer land but she insists it will be a hit!

So, get your orders in if you need them before the end of March. Stop by my store and check out the goodies! I now carry matching beanie hats and plan on included more add ons after my trip.

Custom Tutu Heaven-and the illnesses that ruin my sunshine

Wow have I lost contact with the outside world! I've been hiding behind the sewing machine like a mad woman, schelping up to bed everything to wake in the morning and find thread, and tulle stuck to my slippers sigh. It's been a whirlwind and fun and exhausting all at the same time. Illness in this house has rained on my parade though, making production time difficult. I swear my kids have been sick with one thing or another since October-yes October. How I wish I kept track of how many boxes of Kleenex we've went through or how many trips to the doctors, multiple ERS and stat care we've penciled in. March is nearing and I thought for sure that meant it was all over. WRONG. Saturday Trinity was diagnosed with pneumonia AGAIN and well Sunday Caitlin was told at the ER it was indeed Strep Throat AGAIN. The ironic thing-the last time Trin had pneumonia Cait had strep, odd! So we play the game of charting medicine dosages so I don't confuse who had tylenol and who had their antibiotics yet. Caitlin is feeling better but Trinity is coughing along without missing a beat. She is so grouchy, it has been three days of a lot of fussing. Yesterday she cried for three hours straight as I tried to work while dad chased her around. I was never so happy to go grocery shopping Sunday before, I needed to get away from the noise. Now i'm REALLY looking forward to my cruise in a couple of weeks-if I can only pencil in time to pack! RIGHT after I finish my tutus:)

I wanted to share some photographs from a wonderful Canadian Photographer. Please feel free to stop by her blog and see her other fantastic work! Every night when I go to bed aching and tired I smile and remember I do this because of my customers such as her. Reading the feedback from the people that buy from my store is the highlight throughout my day and keeps me sitting at that sewing machine and standing over my cutting table as long as my almost 31 year old body can take it!

The first two photographs are property of and were shot by the Talented Miss Letisha of Intrigue Photography. If you're interested in seeing more of her wonderful work please stop by her site at http://intriguephotography.blogspot.com/And if you're in luck and live near Ingersoll Ontario, contact her for all of your photograhy needs!

Almost vacation time-free headband with custom tutu purchase ending soon!

It has been a LONG cold Ohio winter. Years have passed without having this much snow, ice and cold so mother nature sure socked it to us this year. I don't remember what sunlight looks like *sigh*. The power has gone on and off for the past month due to ice storms and go figure, wind storms too! You'd think by the sounds of it, I lived near Lake Erie but the truth is I live nowhere even close to deal with lake effect weather. Needing a break from this lovely weather, my mother and I will soon be leaving to board our cruise ship to sunshine. Yup, bye bye Ohio, hello Carribean! I can not WAIT to sink my feet in the sand and soak up some of that sun as we enjoy some yumppy tropical drinks with nothing better to do than waste the day swimming and shopping. As long as I remember to take my sea sick pills, we'll be all set:) So, no tulle, no tutus, no nothing for days! I can't even call my kids, at nearly $10 per minute, I think I'll use email instead! It's my birthday present from mom and I plan on enjoying it as it's a celebration of me turning 30. Funny thing is, I turned 30 last year and she is just now getting around to celebrating a week before I turn 31 hahaha. If going on vacatin becomes the way to turn 30, I'll be 3o every year!

Before I leave, I've been busy putting up some new tutu designs and working on getting all of my orders sent out in the mail. I've so enjoyed each of my customers that I won't know what to do not being able to talk to them and well everyone else! Be sure to stop by the store as my free headband giveaway will be ending soon!

www.mom2twogals.etsy.com

Birthday's Are so much fun when you add a tutu!

I have enjoyed working with my customers so much the last six months. Some days, I'm not sure what I would do without them. I imagine i'd be forced to REALLY clean my house!

I love hearing from previous customers. First birthdays are always special to me and are the one event I get so happy to make tutus for. Today in my in box I received this adorable photograph from a customer and I just had to smile. So THANK YOU to all of you for keeping my smiling into this new year!

So if you need a special tutu for photographs or for those wonderful birthday memories be sure to vist my store www.mom2twogals.etsy.com and I can custom design one to match your theme.

Enter the Circus-CPSIA BLOG IN BABY! Don't know what the CPSIA is, step inside....

This adorable CPSIA toy police is made by Minimonsters shop which can be found by clicking on he photo:)

As parents and concerned citizens I’m sure most of us at one time or another have been confronted with the question of lead poisoning. But have you asked yourself what your government is doing to protect your children from lead contained in toys? The answer? They're banning toys, taking books from schools and libraries, hurting low income families, killing entrepreneurial spirit and risking putting the economy in an even greater depression than we've seen in decades. I'd like to introduce you to their solution: the CPSIA.Do you know about the CPSIA? No? Then I ask you to take a few minutes to find out about it.The CPSIA stands for Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, a new set of laws that will come into effect on 10 February, 2009 and will impact many, many people in a negative way. Make no mistake, this is very real. View it for yourself. If Forbes, the American Library Association and numerous other media are paying attention, perhaps you should too. How will these new laws affect you? Well, here are a few examples:


To the Parents of Young Students:Due to the new law, expect to see the cost of school supplies sky rocket. While those paper clips weren't originally intended for your student to use, they will need to be tested now that your 11-year-old needs them for his school project. This law applies to any and all school supplies (textbooks, pencils, crayons, paper, etc.) being used by children under 12.


To the Avid Reader:Due to the new law, all children's books will be pulled from library and school shelves, as there is no exemption for them. That’s okay though, there's always television. Our children don’t need to learn the love of reading after all.Article from the American Library Association http://www.wo.ala.org/districtdispatch/?p=1322





To the Lover of All Things Handmade:Due to the new law, you will now be given a cotton ball and an instruction manual so you can make it yourself since that blanket you originally had your eye on for $50 will now cost you around $1,000 after it's passed testing. It won't even be the one-of-a-kind blanket you were hoping for. Items are destroyed in the testing process making one-of-a-kind items virtually impossible. So that gorgeous hand-knit hat you bought your child this past winter won’t be available next winter.To the Environmentalist:Due to the new law, all items in non-compliance will now be dumped into our already overflowing landfills. Imagine not just products from the small business owners, but the Big Box Stores as well. You can't sell it so you must toss it. Or be potentially sued for selling it. You can't even give them away. If you are caught, it is still a violation.To the Second-Hand Shopper:Due to the new law, you will now need to spend $20 for that brand new pair of jeans for your 2-year old, rather than shop at the Goodwill for second hand. Many resale shops are eliminating children's items all together to avoid future lawsuits.To the Entrepreneur:Due to this new law, you will be forced to adhere to strict testing of your unique products or discontinue to make and/or sell them. Small businesses will be likely to be unable to afford the cost of testing and be forced to close up shop. Due to the current economic state, you'll have to hope for the best when it comes to finding a new job in Corporate America. To the Antique Toy Collector:Due to the new law, you'd better start buying now because it's all going to private collection and will no longer be available to purchase. “Because the new rules apply retroactively, toys and clothes already on the shelf will have to be thrown out if they aren't certified as safe.” http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123189645948879745.html





To the American Economy:Already struggling under an economy that hasn’t been this weak in decades, the American economy will be hit harder with the inevitable loss of jobs and revenues from suppliers, small businesses and consumers. The required testing is far too costly and restrictive for small businesses or individuals to undertake. To the Worldwide Economy:Due to this new law, many foreign manufacturers have already pulled out of the US market. You can imagine the impact of this on their businesses. If you think this is exaggerating, here is a recent article from Forbes http://www.forbes.com/2009/01/16/cpsia-safety-toys-oped-cx_wo_0116olson.html


And for those of you prepared to be stupefied and boggled, The New Law http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/cpsia.htm


Did you know? If this upsets or alarms you, please react.





Write to your state congressmen-hit up those respresentatives and ask them to PLEASE help push for a committee hearing about this law.

AMMEND THE CPSIA-check out the listings!

To further spread the word about how the law laid out and passed by the CPSIA will affect us all, myself and many other etsians have taken it upon ourselves to use this effective method to show just how terrible the law will be for us all. If you have children, buy anything for children, nieces, nephews, grandchildren and so forth-this law will affect YOU! The small businesses will close up shop, buckling under the cost of testing fees and the big dogs will run a monopoly on the market and pass their testing costs onto-you, the consumer. Here is my listing

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=19132270

Check it out to see how the costs of testing are broken down.

Also, stop by this thead in the etsy forums to see how all the artisans are coming together to be heard. Help us fight for our rights!!

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=6002119

Twitter the links, blog the links, read read, and send the message along to anyone and EVERYONE!

Please help save handmade small businesses-VOTE NOW

Today is the LAST day to vote

http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia

For those of you who don't know about this law please take the time to read about it, or watch the youtube video clip on the right hand side of my blog....this WILL affect us all, any consumer who buys items for children under the age of 12. The impact will be HUGE.

All of us should support each other and stand united to get exclusions or amendments or extensions for compliance referencing USA handmade products and small batch items to this new law by writing to our public officials. Even if none of your items are made directly for children ... Can you imagine an ETSY, FireArt, 1000 Markets, a local craft show or eBay without any children's items in it?This is effectively THE WORLD'S LARGEST CHILDREN'S PRODUCT RECALL ever imagined. But without the option of returning the items for refund or replacement.THIS NEW CPSIA WILL EFFECT ALL OF US that sell ANY products that can be consider for children. Not just toys and jewelry, but CLOTHING, ROOM DECOR, SCHOOL SUPPLIES, EDUCATIONAL AIDS, ART WORK, ART SUPPLIES, PILLOWS, HAIR BOWS so on & etc. if it is made for someone 12 & under to use it will be subject to the certified testing. Even HAND-ME-DOWNS as resales or vintage items will be subject to the testing. To read the whole "brief", 67 pages long, requires some basic law education but you can get the gist of it in the CPSIA's FAQ section http://www.cpsc.gov/about/cpsia/faq/faq.html#educationalThis new law is blindsiding us by giving very little notice to comply to it, if we're even able to provide the proofs the the CPSC wants. It's been so under the radar the ETSY doesn't have a STORQUE article on it yet. Niether has eBay or most of the other online seller's outlets even mention the new law. I think there waiting for after the holidays to tells us that lots of the items we bought are now effectively illegal and that we should of never given them to our children in the first place. There should be some type of grandfathering clause included that parents shouldn't have to shell out more good money if they feel their child is in danger just because the government said the product is not longer safe.This will put quite a few of us out of business. Even larger companies are having problems complying with the deadline or the batch material testing requirements. Here a set of excerpts from a recent CPSIA hearing http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bUlY6zOMPqQ, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AlMh7MJiodY&feature=related, & http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bk0Vr0yDrXc&feature=related.Don't just believe that the legislation will change on it's own, do something to let your voice be heard. Write a congressperson, tell ETSY what you feel about this law, blog about it, just get your voice heard by CPSIA that the law is impractical and bias towards small & cottage industries. People for a Greener Earth should also take up this issue since it will put an end to reusing durable children's products outside of the immediate hand me down process, sending tons of good resalable items to landfills.Many items that were legal this holiday season will be banned come Feb. 10, 2009 regardless of if the child's product was a handheld video game by a super multinational corporation, a made in the USA pair of jeans from a local mom & pop retailer, or one of the fantastic wooden toys available at ETSY shops because it failed testing & needs to be reworked or wasn't tested yet. This means it would even be illegal and punishable by fines and jail time to resell or reuse, outside your own home, those items in anything that that would be for a child unless they were previously tested. So no one, even a consumer looking to green up the Earth a little, could list a child's items as vintage piece at ETSY or a sell it as used on eBay or at a garage sale without it having the the testing done.Generals threads for any one :http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5938698http://www.ipetitions.com/http://forums.ebay.com/db1/thread.jspa?messageID=511163411&forumID=124&x#511163411for toy makers :http://www.handmadetoyalliance.org/http://grecowoodcrafting.wordpress.com/for children's clothing, doll clothes, hair bows, and accessory makers :http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5935443http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/

SPRING tutu GIVEAWAY

This giveaway will be for one Lavender Crush Tutu from my store.

All you have to do to enter is visit my store at http://www.mom2twogals.etsy.com/ and decide which item in store is your favorite. Then leave a comment in this blog stating which it is and your contact information! The winner will be randomly selected on Feb. 8th, 2009

Good luck and have fun!

Construction and Punk Rock Tutus

Right now my studio is in complete distress. My husband took it upon himself to build a play room next to my studio and remodeling the ENTIRE space. That means, my area is cut in half and right now is filled with lumber, saws and drills. Oh, and my FAVORITE nail gun. I once thought the sound of the sewing machine at 1 am while working on a piece could be enough to drive one silly until the nail gun came into my studio. He means well, and i'm sure when it's done and all of my goodies are back where they belong it will be FABULOUS. But for the time being it is annoying and one big mess!

On a good note, finished-well almsot finished a complicated piece. The customer wants more lace but other than that the tutu is done. She wanted mutilayered, pixiecut, feather boa trimmed, rockin' skully goodness. If you want a custom piece, just let me know! I'd be glad to design something just for you!

Spring is coming! Or maybe it's wishful thinking! Spring Tutus in my store

It's cold-very cold here in Ohio. I never was a big fan of winter, heavy coats and snow so naturally I am dreaming of spring time! I was thrilled to find some spring silk flowers back on store shelves so it has me geared up and rolling out some spring tutus for photographs, dress up fun, and well just because little girls love to twirl in a fluffy new tutu!

I'm still offering a free matching hair clip with each piece so stop on by and take a look around as i'm adding new items often.

I hope everyone had a great start into their new year and are staying warm and cozy with their families.

www.mom2twogals.etsy.com