Sticks-n-Stones: Making Personal Statements in Style

In a market full of t-shirts with sayings of the week, Sticks-n-Stones has taken the best of that idea — making a personal statement — and added style, fun and a way to show off your kids… better yet, it’s not just for t-shirts. Sticks-n-Stones is the brainchild of two stylish and creative moms, Kelly Trujillo and Michele Taylor-Bible.

Have two boys and one girl? Buy three stick figures from Sticks-n-Stones (made from genuine and beautiful Swarovski crystals) and they will ship them to you ready to iron onto any flat cotton surface - shirts, your coolest pair of jeans, totes, whatever. Iron-challenged? No worries, for a few extra bucks they’ll do it for you.

After meeting as a result of Kelly looking for someone to pick up her son from kindergarten, Michele and Kelly quickly recognized they had similar design interests and were looking for a creative outlet. ‘We put some different ideas together and presented them to our group of friends for honest feedback,’ said Kelly. ‘Out of all our ideas, the group gave a thumbs up for the Sticks ‘n Stones line. We went directly to Swarovski for the crystal manufacturing since we want only quality products to be used.’

Armed with that feedback, the two then launched the business and website in 2004. Their hottest selling product? ‘That would have to be our boy and girl stick figures,’ said Kelly. ‘They are the basis for the whole line and continue to be popular with gifts and repeat business.’

Some people get creative with the designs. One mother of three girls looked past the stick figures and chose three ballerina figures to add to her shirt.

What’s next for Sticks-n-Stones? ‘Our primary customers are moms who are looking for style but not at the sacrifice of great fit,’ said Kelly. ‘We constantly hear compliments of our favorite tee fitting so well so we are planning on designing some type of clothing line (with our without embellishments). We will always have the mom in mind.’

‘We also love working with charities and other organizations in producing custom crystal designs. We have done custom shirts for the HollyRod Foundation (with actress Holly Robinson Peete), the Tiger Woods Learning Center, Variety Club Children’s Charity and shirts that said, “nominee” for the Emmy nominees last September. We hope to continue supporting charities in this way.’

Go to www.sticksnstones-store.com to create your family tree.
- Kelly (pictured left) is a Clever Parent to Anthony, 9 1/2, and Austin, 7 1/2
- Michele is a Clever Parent to Zachary, 7 1/2 and Seth, 5.

When they’re not running a business and raising a family, Kelly ‘practically lives on the baseball field right now, but when we get a break, we all love to ski.’ Michele’s life beyond Sticks N’ Stones is also baseball until May. ‘I also am working on the opening of a Farmers’ Market for the area we live in. It has been a 2 1/2 year project. We love to travel as a family and we are planning our summer trip to Moscow, St. Petersburg, Budapest, Vienna, Salzburg, and Brussels (where Zachary will spend his 8th birthday).’