Merchandise Monday- Starting Up

Welcome to the first installment of Merchandise Monday! I'm really excited to have the opportunity to share my work with you on a personal level. So many of my designs come from very specific inspiration, and lots of them have a back story. That's probably my favorite thing about my product line; each one is so personal. Some of them have been inspired by customer requests, and others by the most random situations.  You just never can tell when a little inspiration will swoop in and take charge! haha!

But before I do that, I guess I should go back to the beginning...

I've had lots of people as me how I came up with this idea. To be honest, I don't know exactly. It all started about a month after my daughter was born. I was home, and she slept most of the time, so I was kinda bored. While I was pregnant I was so busy with my overly elaborate plans for her nursery, and getting ready for her arrival, I was never bored. Plus, I don't know about you other Mommies, but the time between morning sickness and just plain lazy/tired/hugeness didn't seem to last very long, LOL!

Anyway, after she was born I was sort of looking for something to occupy my time with. Hubby and I had already decided that I wouldn't be going back to work (bless him for taking on that burden!!) but I didn't just want to be at home doing dishes and laundry all the livelong day. I'm just not wired that way.

Really, I think it was a combination of my love for fabric, my love for drawing, and my love of creating. None of this came as any surprise to my parents who have been picking paint, beads, pins, charcoal pencil shavings, and other random craft what-have-you's out of their carpet for years. Also, the overall generic selection of baby clothes was just too boring, and I wanted a way to make things for my baby that no one else's baby was going to be wearing. (I so love Carter's but every third baby picture I see on Facebook is of someone's kid wearing identical Carter's outfits. No thanks! LOL!)

And what about "Little Birdie"?? Well that is all thanks to my precious babykins. As you can see in the nursery, there are little touches of birds here and there, and baby LOVES them! There are two birdies on the wall over her changing table, and from day one she has been in love with them. We would be standing there changing her, and she would just be ogling at the birdies on the wall and giggling up a storm. And so was born the "Little Birdie Baby Shop," I can't wait to tell her that story someday. :)

Everything else has just kind of blossomed from there... I am certainly thankful to my amazingly wonderful husband, without whom none of this would have been possible. His support, love, and willingness to let me follow my whims never ceases to amaze me. I'm pretty sure he's my biggest fan. He even physically goes into the bank every single time because all the women in there are dying to see my newest designs for their babies and grand babies, haha!

So now you know all about my little shop! Next week I'll show you the results of my first few attempts (let me just say, fabric dye is incredibly unpredictable), you'll be sure to get a good laugh! Until then...

XOXO