Wow! It's been awhile

And I won't be able to write long again as the oldest & youngest are fighting & it's almost lunch time! My 4.5 YO is upset with the 1.5 YO because she keeps walking on his kid k'nex map that has all of the ideas for things that he should build. This thing has so much tape on it from the 1.5 YO and 3.5 YO playing with it, tearing it, destroying it, etc. Oh, life with 3 kids under 5!

Trying to decide what we'll do for the soon-to-be 5 YO's birthday. We've never done a "friends" party - has always been just family - so we feel like it's time. It's just always been so crazy this time of year with all of them having summer birthdays. So we had originally decided to do a bounce house place, but now I'm thinking possibly we should do a gymnastics party. A gym came to school last week & my oldest absolutely loved it - we're going to sign him up for their summer camp. Have also never previously done a summer activity but again, figured it was time. He'll do soccer int he fall for the first time, too. Too hot so they don't have it available in the summer here. Will have to decide between just the bounce place (where several friends & neighbors have had great parties) and the gymnastics place. Will go check it out next week when I sign him up for camp.

As far as the website (Simply Lovely Gifts) I have been especially busy adding new product lines with more to come. I am now designing personalized stationery (brought out the creative side in me :-)), added Chloe Emma's bracelets which I LOVE, also added a couple of Minime BabyGear's products which I also love, added ponytail holder 3-packs from Ladybugs N Butterflies which are adorable and am in discussions with two other vendors potentially. Pretty positive about one, but not the other. Hopeful!! I'm also thinking about some more sterling silver jewelry. Just having lots of fun as I explore my own creativity as well as appreciate everyone else's.

Will try to post more often, but as my own track record is atrocious, I'm not going to make any false commitments.

The littlest one is wanting a hug so need to go for now!

Sidetracked

Okay, so I have been COMPLETELY sidetracked. My two oldest (3 and 4) are back in preschool so my daughter and I spend a lot of quality time in the car. I have completely redesigned the site www.simplylovelygifts.com and am hoping that people like it. Am definitely getting positive feedback. I was also approached by a company that makes adorable hair clips and will be offering those on the site as soon as I receive my first shipment. My daughter has outgrown her first two rounds of clips (she's got a lot of hair on top), so I'm in desperate need of a product like this. Checked out Gymboree, Talbots, baby Gap, Children's Place and a few other stores yesterday and couldn't find anything like these, so I'm super excited to get the shipment in.

Have also been focusing on advertising. I am now listed on www.shopping.com (formerly known as dealtime.com) and got a great review at the Official Guide for Gift Giving. Will be part of something great which I'll write about next time. Need to go process an order for 3 Lulu necklaces for flower girl gifts. Yay!

Promotion Codes

I am currently running two promotion codes

SW5OFF50 (from Swanky Moms) gives you $5 off if you spend $50 in merchandise.

BBB1OFF10 (from Beautiful Brides and Beyond) will give you $1 off for every $10 you spend in merchandise

Both codes expire August 31st

Happy shopping!!

How the gifts are being used

I love when customers tell me how their gifts are being used. One customer bought the 16" Lulu pearl necklace for her daughter's sweet 16. Another customer is getting married, but according to herself, has teeny wrists and couldn't find a pearl bracelet nice enough & small enough to go with her heirloom quality pearl necklace until she found the 6" Lulu. One customer bought the Abigail 14" pink pearl, clear necklace for the flower girl in her wedding. Another customer bought the Polka Dot jewelry box as an anniversary gift for his wife. One customer, a girl after my own heart, bought the 5.5" Lulu for her daughter's 1st birthday (me, too!) And another customer bought 3 bracelets - 2 of the sterling silver heart charm bracelets and 1 of the 4.5 inch Lulus, for her three nieces. She said they went "bonkers" over them :-) Besides just getting to see and deal with these beautiful items, I'm really just enjoying the happiness that they are bringing people.

Sold out of the 4.5" Lulu

Wow! Not a bad problem to have, right? Just placed an order to restock on the Simply Tiffany Taite 4.5" Lulu bracelet. I've sold out of my inventory for that in 3 days. Many of the bracelets & necklaces are doing well in addition to the jewelry boxes (can't seem to keep the Polka Dot jewelry box in stock either). Still can't wait until someone discovers the 4x6 frame - I have no doubt they will love it as much as I do. It's really heavy, great quality, & just gorgeous. Is it obvious that's my favorite piece?

Name dropping :-)

Just to drop a few names - quite a few celebrities have items from Simply Tiffany Taite. Proud owners of the Lulu bracelet are the daughters of Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jennifer Garner, Katie Holmes, Brooke Shields, Christy Turlington, Matt Damon (his younger daughter has it in pink pearls which I'll be receiving in this week's shipment, older daughter has it in white), Courteney Cox-Arquette (who wore it at her christening)

The Simply Tiffany Taite silver tea set also boasts some well-known owners including daughters of Jennifer Garner, Katie Holmes, Julia Roberts, Gwyneth Paltrow and Courteney-Cox Arquette.

These items are truly beautiful!

Expansion into the "older crowd"

So I have decided that in addition to focusing on Simply Tiffany Taite jewelry for girls aged 0-8 (primarily size 5.5 & 6 inch) , I'm going to expand into the 7" realm for a couple of the bracelet styles. I've chosen the two styles that I think would appeal to the "older" crowd of pre-teens, teenagers, and women - Simply Tiffany Taite's Amber bracelet, which is a platinum chain with three sections of white pearls & pink crystals and then the Isabella bracelet which is a white pearl bracelet with accents of pewter, Swarovski crystals, and sterling silver. The Isabella also has a pewter toggle clasp which is just gorgeous. And then for my final initial entry (beyond the Lulu of course) into the "older" crowd, I chose Simply Tiffany Taite's Lacy necklace. It is a beautiful platinum chain with individual pearls spaced approximately every 1.5-2 inches. The 14" has 7 pearls, so I can't wait to see the 16". I'm expecting the shipment to come in next Wednesday or Thursday, so these should be available at Simply Lovely Gifts at http://www.simplylovelygifts.com as soon as I receive them. How exciting!!

Something new to try

Hi! Someone recommended that I start a blog - so here goes :-) I'm at stay-at-home Mom to three young kids. My oldest boy just turned 4 this summer, my middle son will turn 3 this month, and my youngest (who's a girl) turned 1 this summer. Life is a bit crazy, but it's fun. This summer while searching for my daughter's 1st birthday present, I came across the Lulu bracelet by Simply Tiffany Taite. I was wanting to get her something special/of sentimental value and asked all of my friends what I should get. The overwhelming response was jewelry. So anyway, I found the Lulu bracelet & fell in love with it. It's got gorgeous genuine pearls & they're hand knotted between each pearl - just beautiful. So I bought her the bracelet (it was a big hit, BTW) and got curious to see what else Simply Tiffany Taite offered. I checked out their website - they're a wholesaler & previously only worked with boutiques, Neimans & Nordstrom. They had this frame that I thought was just stunning - 4x6 creamy white (they call it "pearlized") frame that has pearls outlined by silver scattered all over it. Just incredible! So I looked online & tried to find it and nobody was carrying it. It's virtually impossible for me to get out & shop with my young crew, so I started thinking - if I'm having this much trouble finding this product, I wonder if other people are in my situation. So then the wheels started churning & after several days of deliberation I decided to approach the company & see if I could be a retailer for them exclusively online. I had prviously had ZERO intention of starting my own business, but sometimes things just stick & this was one of those. I decided to use eBay because 1) I'm a huge eBayer myself and 2) I didn't have the budget/knowledge to build & manage a website on my own & I wanted to see if other people would be interested. So now, about 1.5 months later I've got an eBay store called Simply Lovely Gifts at www.simplylovelygifts.com and have lots of gorgeous stuff. The bracelets, necklaces, jewelry boxes & rattles are all doing great. I'm still waiting for someone to take interest in & buy the frame that got this all started. My friend has already told me she's buying herself one for Christmas :-) Can't wait until someone finally orders that and I get their reaction. And I'll be getting one for my daughter or maybe myself, too!! So now in addition to taking care of my 3 wonderful kids, I'm a WAHM! Wow!!! This will hopefully be a fun adventure!