Two Crazy Girls (and their mothers)

 

 

 

Oh these girls. 

Every day that we work on jewelry is a gamble- will these two cousins be best friends or worst enemies?

Today, they were best friends. 

They are cousins, but act like sisters.

When you only have one pair of "princess" high heels and one Snow White dress, sometimes physical fights will ensue. 

Twice this week, after Harper (on the right) has walked out the door to go home, Delaney has crawled in my lap and said "I wanna take a nap". 

Got it. 

 

They exhaust each other as much as they exhaust their mommas. 

They are crazy, energetic, and usually both staticy and sweaty. 

Harper is 8 months older than Delaney, so she takes charge. 

If Harper wants to build a "piwwo pio" (pillow pile), then they are building a pillow pile, and Delaney immediately jumps on board. 

 

Today they both were playing in a tent in Delaney's bedroom.  I walked in to check on them and saw just their heads under the tent, but their bodies were laying out in full view. I immediately smelled Delaney (we are working on potty training, but we are not there yet).

 

I immediately asked "whew, Delaney, do we need to change your diaper"?

They were very still and I heard Harper's small voice say

"Shhh...She can't see you." 

 

I love their relationship.

 

OUR NEW LOGO!!!



We have a new logo!!  I am so excited about it! Do you like it???  So, I started thinking about the look of Tag...You're It Jewelry and the many looks we have had.  It is hard enough to have one hundred different ideas of how you want to "brand" your business, but then your ideas have to match your business partners ideas too.  It is probably easier that we are sisters and have pretty much the same style.  However, in the 3+ years we have been a business, we have changed our business card and logo numerous times.  Here are some looks down the TYI Memory Lane...

This was our FIRST business card.  Gulp.  At the time, we loved it and loved the pinwheel...We wanted it to feel fun.  Evidently we didn't have a color scheme yet though, because I don't know how we agreed on tan, burgundy, and hot pink.  

Moving on...

 

I completely forgot about "this" look until I found it in our VistaPrint account.  I think these cards lasted a minute or less...We wanted our new look to be polk dots though.  I like how you really have no idea what we are selling and there is no contact information and a huge void in the center.  So, we used these for a while and then got bored...

 

At this point we were getting closer...They were at least front and back and there were some jewelry pics on the back of the card.  Our color scheme was a bit more neutral, but we still hadn't created an actual logo and were still just looking for our "look".  We finally found a great graphic designer on etsy and she created our first Tag...You're It "logo" (minus the pink stitched lines because this was a preview image)...

 

 

We finally found a look we loved and we kept that look for two years, just tweaking the background images sometimes...

 

I honestly still loved our old logo design.  However, we have had some issues over time, such as the font being too thin to show up over certain backgrounds, the tree and the loops taking up to much space, and not being able to make it small, but still legible.  So, as much as I loved our old logo, it is time for a new look!

 

InstaFriday LinkUp Party!

So, with the expection of picture #1, most of these pictures are from December.  I haven't blogged since November though, so they are "new to the blog". 

It's allowed.

#1- I went to Target with my mom this week and ended up with some serious purchases from the Dollar Bin, including some Valentines decorations.  I also decided to buy a pretty $4 notebook for jewelry orders, instead of an 80 cent ugly one.  I splurged.

#2- This was our LAST shipment of holiday orders that went to the post office.  What. a. relief.

#3- Christmas morning and my girl is giving me orders about how to use her new art easel.

#4- Our new weekend hangout is McDonalds.  Because they have a new Playscape, so it hasn't built up years of germs yet.  In the middle of Indiana, this is what we do--> pump kids with french fries and then let them exercise.

#5- My favorite holiday picture of my girl- she LOVED the little tree with the individual lights.

A NEW Year for Tag...You're It Jewelry!

It's been a long time since I blogged.  I was on a bit of a vacation, a hiatus, I suppose.  This November, Christmas orders were  

C-R-A-Z-Y. 

It was a month that I wasn't sure I would survive, but we made it and are ready for the new year.  We knew that the holidays would be a busy time- personalized items are a great gift, but I don't think we had any idea how busy it would be for us.  I get stressed. Easily.  I am a crazy over stressor, and I try to keep calm and carry on, but it is just not my specialty. 

 

However, we did have more help this year.  My dad is now an "employee" and became a vital asset to the jewelry team.  I know his dream in life was to retire early and get a job working for his daughters' jewelry business, so I am glad we were able to fulfill that dream.  My mother-in-law was also a huge help- she took Delaney EVERY day for me.  My mom or grandma was usually able to take Brodi's daughter, so we had free childcare for the month of November. 

Our last day to take orders was December 1st, which meant we needed to have all of the orders shipped by December 15th.  We pretty much worked day and night to meet our deadline, and I think I stamped in my sleep.  I did realize that we need to expand our men's line because wives love to shop for the husbands, much more than husbands love to shop for their wives!

On December 16th we were ready for a break.  That is what is so incredible about our jobs and our business- we can close when we need a break.  We can decide when to reopen and set our own schedule.  During the Christmas season, we went to the Children's Museum and saw Santa, we made Christmas cookies, did some shopping, watched movies, and had a great break. 

But now it's time for jewelry again.  It is great having an extra hand now because we can get more done in less time.  We have a lot to be excited about:

-One of our necklaces will be worn by Elena on The Vampire Diaries Episode 412.  It will either air in late January or early February, and I cannot WAIT to get some still images! 

-We have some new ideas in the works and have TWO new fonts on the way, and they are both beautiful.  I'm sure we will need some names to design some new necklaces with our new fonts! 

-We also have an entirely new fine silver and bronze collection available very soon, which will be completely unlike anything we have ever done (HINT: You will be the designer!). 

I'm rested and ready to make some more jewelry.  I look forward to another year of what this business will bring...