When she was expecting her first child, Lara Frankovitch searched for the perfect baby book to record her little one’s milestones and stories. Finding none that fit the bill, and being in the nesting phase of pregnancy, Lara decided to create her own way to capture her son’s stories. Using notecards to record the major milestones as well as the little things that make each day special, Tiny Tales was born.

The Baby Tales kit makes it easy to effortlessly capture all of baby’s firsts. The kit includes two pads of 4×6 notecards (25 sheets per pad) categorized by type of story and four dividers to organize by three month increments of baby’s first year. The categories on the notecards include: ‘today i did something… for the first time, hilarious, amazing, so sweet, that embarrassed my parents, maddening, wonderful or other.’ Simply check the type of story and fill in the date and details.

The kit is attractively contained in an acryllic box that fits nicely on the kitchen counter or the bedside table next to the rocker in baby’s room. Clever Tip: file a picture with the story and at the end of the year you have all of the tools to easily create your own baby book!

Maybe you’re super organized already and have your own categories in mind? Let Tiny Tales know and they’ll create a custom Personalized Tales kit with your own specific categories. The kits also come in Toddler Tales, for post-baby stage milestones and story recording.

Watch the Clever Parents TV vidcast feature on Tiny Tales.

Learn more and buy your Baby Tales kit at www.tiny-tales.com

The next time you’re in the market for beautiful invitations, note cards and stationery, visit Posh Peacock, the creation of Christine Koh. In her former life as an academic, Christine spent her time working in stark and sometimes windowless labs. Away from work as a self-taught artist, Christine surrounded herself with colorful art and design projects and beautiful spaces like the ocean. “In the summer of 2006 I finally decided to quit my academic research gig and make style, color, and happiness a part of my daily experience” and her business, Posh Peacock, was born.

The semi-custom ‘mix and match’ line allows shoppers to choose from a variety of elegant images, all designed by Christine, to add personality to each piece. Pick an image and then watch your creation emerge in the form of stationery, invitations, announcements, holiday and thank you cards. “I am especially happy that my collection offers considerable flexibility while still allowing a customer to create a distinct piece,” says Christine.

A few Clever Parents favorites include the Sassy Mama thank you notes (a great gift for a pregnant friend or to buy for yourself), the giraffe stationery set (have your little one’s name monogrammed for a special touch) and the train announcements. Do you have a vision for something you would like to create? Christine is happy to work with you on a custom design to turn your idea into reality.

Learn more at www.poshpeacock.com and also check out Christine’s other venture at www.bostonmamas.com

Babyfaces – Photo of the Week – Who’s baby’s best friend?

Boston Mamas: Cool Doodling The Offi Doodle Desk offers a modern all-in-one desk, seat, and storage unit for little artists.

Classy Mommy: Laurie’s Lagniappe Ink Stamp – We just got this whimsical self inking stamp for Mackenzie. Hand designed just for her with her initial and name as shown on the left. Laurie’s Lagniappe has over 25 classy designs to choose from and the quality of this stamp is top notch. Super sturdy – it looks like it will last for years to come! Classy Mommy approved!

Coochicoos: Europe’s Favorite Quinny Stroller in U.S. – See what the fuss is all about on the new stroller arrival from Europe

MamaPop: Who’s Noggined Out? Desperate Mother of 4 year old Seeks Alternative Entertainment Options… No matter how oddly attractive that Sportacus is, and no matter how many moments you can while away pondering the whole “Why Iceland???” thing, after a while you are simply Noggined and Sprouted out.

MomFinds: On-Line Smack Shopping Event on Monday June 11th 9 PM EST – Score huge savings on the hottest baby and mom products during this exciting, interactive shopping event. Think Bugaboos and Baby Bjorns discounted 46% on average.

One Chic Mama: Beauty Addicts - The new cosmetic line, Beauty Addicts, makes it easy to experiment with new make-up – we love this line!

mod*mom giveaway: boon flair highchair 2007 – boon’s flair pedestal highchair is about to launch + you can win one!

First time around, we had one of those “My First Album” photo album baby toys (Who Loves Baby?). It ended up being one of my now-3-year-old’s favorite toys, he loved looking at pictures of us, himself and other family members. Of course, it got so completely slimed that I ended up having to throw it, and the pictures out once we were done with it.

Fast forward to baby #2, and I was planning on going to Babies R Us for the same toy until I saw some sample cards from Goosie Cards, customized flashcards made for baby and family.

I love these – they are made of laminated, heavy stock paper – substantial enough for little hands to hold and not bend. Plus the lamination is nice because you can wipe them clean from drool and other dirt factors. They’re big too (4.5″ by 7.5″), so they’re easy for little hands to grasp.

You can put whatever photos you’d like on the cards, as well as print wording below. If you don’t want to put your own photos in, or don’t have enough personal photos, they also have a gallery of images you can select from. (Pick a picture of an “apple,” put the word below the picture and use the card in an educational nature)

The cards come in 7-10 days in a nice box. The sets start at $28 each, use coupon code mwsspring07 to receive 15% off your order now through May 31, 2007.

The first step in album making or scrapbooking should not be purchasing an album!

Step 1: Gather all of your pictures into one area.

Step 2: Organize your printed pictures
Either organize the photos in chronological order or by event. Purchase (if you don’t already own) a photo safe (acid free) photo box. Use 4 x 6 index cards and adhesive tabs to create different indexes between the photos. Take your negatives and place in a fire safe box or bank safety deposit box.

Step 3: Organize your digital pictures
As mentioned for the printed pictures, either file your digital photos by chronological order or by event. Keep a separate copy of these pictures: external hard drive, Photo CD’s flash drives, hard disk, or photo storing/sharing websites

Step 4: Organize your keepsakes (paper memorabilia)
Purchase a desktop hanging file folder (if you don’t already have one). Place items that you would like to place into your albums into here. Each file should be designated either with a date or event. You simply want to keep representations. For example, I have a file box for each child. Inside I have a hanging folder which represents each school year. Inside I keep special art projects, report cards, papers, etc. There is no need to keep everything; every piece of paper, etc. You don’t want your good intentions to end up being someone else’s clutter someday.

Step 5: Decide what scrapbooks you would like to start:
Some suggestions:

• Vacation
• Baby
• School memories
• Home Remodeling
• Wedding
• Business
• Recipe (picture of a loved one with a favorite recipe of theirs)
• Christmas
• Family Heirloom

Some additional tips:
Make sure everything you purchase is photos safe and is acid free

• Make sure you can add onto the album (if necessary)
• Don’t overbuy! Purchase for current needs
• Start with an easy project first

• Keep photos in places that are not too hot, cold, or damp

• Keep your scrapbooks upright (not stacked on each other)

• Have a scrapbooking party (invite some friends over and have fun)

Still feeling some anxiety about the whole process? I have found myself feeling simply overwhelmed by this task as well at times. It is important to remember, however, that far more important than making your memories look creative is to create the memories in the first place! Your children hold in their hearts and mind a far more important memory retrieval system.

Have fun creating memories with your children,

Betsy

I have to be one of the uncraftiest Moms I know. Art was definitely not my forte in school, something made only slightly worse by the fact that my grandmother was a talented artist, as is my mother when she actually draws or paints something. So you’d think given the DNA thing, I’d be able to draw a picture of Dora that my child would recognize. Alas, it’s not so, this Mommy got the recessive artistically-challenged trait. And sometimes I see all these other mothers going to A.C. Moore or Michaels and coming up with all sorts of fun rainy day projects and I’m just at a loss.

So when I recently heard from FunWellDone.com, a great little site and service that makes creating projects with your child incredibly easy, I was interested to check them out. They’ve done all the craft store shopping and organization for you. In short, we loved it.

We did this Sticky Foam Collage, which is meant for kids in the age range of 1.5 years to 4. Everything came ready for us – a sticky foam page, ribbons and pom-poms for us to put on the page. We did it one rainy afternoon and it was a big hit here. I literally did not get out a thing – didn’t even have to get a pair of scissors out. A page of instructions is included for those of you who are challenged like me.

They have all sorts of fun projects – and the price is great. $9.99 for most of them, which is much less than you’d spend buying all the supplies at a craft store. And they’re cute! Check out the Bumblebee and the other projects.

In addition, FunWellDone.com sells party favors – one small project, again, no materials needed. We sampled the Funky Penguin and the Fabulous Flower (which makes 3 flowers). We did have a hard time getting the Penguin to stay together (a little too excited with that one) but the flowers were a huge hit – and super easy to put together. I love the idea of these for a party favor – who needs one more party favor from the usual places? And it encourages creativity in your child.

Use coupon code MWS for 15% off your order of anything on the site.

Editor’s Note: Clever Parents loves Fun Well Done. Look for a vidcast coming soon featuring these truly well done craft projects.

Tired of hitting ten in a dozen shops only to find the same toys and gear? Try Chloe in Style, where you can pick up everything from beautiful announcements, stationery and journals, to children’s gear and toys and even maternity wear. With just a few options in each of the store’s sections, you can easily get a sense of everything they carry without being overwhelmed.

A few of our faves include:

* Fun and flirty aprons for hot mama cookin’ in the kitchen. Added bonus: the matching kids versions in the girls apparel section.

* A fabulous bird mask made on recylclable cardboard with an elastic band for tying.

* Handmade ponchos with adorable pom-pom trim.

Shop away at www.chloeinstyle.com

Are you looking for a clever holiday or birthday gift for a loved one? Perhaps you’d like a keepsake for a child’s special birthday that they will cherish for years to come. Part scrapbook, part photo album, and without the mess and hassle of doing it yourself, Pam Turos of Enduring Notions offers beautiful custom digital story books and more.

Pam Turos has always been creative, whether it’s scrapbooking, crafts projects, or even digital design, she’s always challenged herself ‘to create things for less than what I can purchase them in a store.’ Prior to having children, Pam applied her creativity to her job as a social worker helping terminally ill children and cancer survivors “create photo keepsakes to share with those they love and preserve the ’stories’ of their lives.”

After giving birth to her first child, Pam received a number of compliments on the scrapbook pages she made for his baby book. Sensing a business opportunity and wanting to stay at home, Pam took her creative energies and channeled them into a scrapbooking business, Enduring Notions. The cost of the materials and labor intensive nature of custom work made the pricing such that it wasn’t affordable to most of the people interested in the product. So, pregnant with her second child, Pam began to look for an affordable, efficient way to store and display photos while maintaining a creative, personal flair.

Making the move to digital.
After doing some research, Pam determined that, “(d)igital design was the answer! Instead of spending hours and hours on a single scrapbook page, I could now design an entire storybook in just a weekend. And the more I learned about digital design, I began to realize that I could recreate many of the elements I loved most about scrapbooking on the pages of my digital storybooks. By the time my second son was two weeks old, I was able to design a beautiful photo birth announcement, a coordinating storybook AND birth announcement magnets!”

Going digital also gave Pam the flexibility to work around her family life, which was the reason she wanted to work from home to begin with. Now she’s able to work and have time for walks along the Lake Erie shoreline in her neighborhood.

Today, Pam offers clients custom, digital storybooks, annoucements, and invitations. Pam says that clients have often seen a sample of her work and bring their own ideas as to what they want. If they haven’t already seen a sample, Pam shows them a gallery to give them some ideas to start with. While she’ll use existing work as a starting point, “I will never create an exact replica of anything I’ve created – this way each customer is guaranteed a truly unique end product… instead of trying to fit something into a template design that may or may not work with a client’s photo(s).”

Once clients have an idea of what they want, Pam offers storybook clients a one hour consultation to gather information and develop an outline. She then creates a few pages to ensure that she’s captured the client’s vision. At that point she creates the whole book and clients have a final print approval review before it goes to the printer. For clients interested in custom announcements, invitations and holiday cards, Pam provides a low-resolution proof within 48 hours of receiving the order.

Because Pam’s work is custom, her clients come to her for a variety of reasons. Some want storybooks to celebrate milestones like birthdays or to act as a digital babybook. Others use it as a way to remember a loved one. Pam says one of the most unique and touching storybooks she created was for a mother of three young children who lost her husband and wanted a storybook to give to her children on father’s day that celebrated their dad, “She wanted a storybook that captured the essence of her husband, and she planned to give it to them as a gift on their first Father’s Day following his death. The book was called ‘Our Daddy . . .’ and each page was a different characteristic or phrase that described him with coordinating photographs and scanned memorabilia such as letters he had written, etc.. Some of the pages were Our Daddy . . . ‘was a son’,'was a goofball’ or ‘loved our Mommy’ or ‘was a hero’, “told the best bed-time stories,’etc.”

Prices are reasonable and vary based on the complexity and size of the project. See sample baby storybooks here. For more information about announcements and invitations and to order, check out www.enduringnotions.com.

• Big Day Books – Clever Parents Feature Story
• Visit the Big Day Books website.
• Clever Parents Feature Story: How Clever! Remembering the Details During the Baby Daze
• Baby Daze – Clever Parents Column
• Visit the Baby Daze website.
• Visit the Halo SleepSack website.

Download the Quicktime video.
Download the Flash video.
More Clever Parents TV.

Think it’s possible to create a thoughtful, milestone-filled, beautiful baby book for your child in less than an hour? Do you have a baby book box to store photos and scraps of paper with milestones and first words hastily scribbled on them and sitting somewhere nearby, an empty baby book? If you’re a Clever Parent who is short on time and energy, but don’t want your baby book to reflect that then Big Day Books is for you.

By the time Cori Marx and Julie Maasen’s babies were a year old, they found themselves staring into the pages of mostly blank books. As working mothers, they remembered emailing updates to their families over the months when they were at work. “It was so much easier to type messages to people than write things out. Also, our computers were pretty much in front of us most of the time, unlike those empty books.” And with that in mind, Big Day Books was born.

Big Day Books, affectionately dubbed the anti-scrapbook by Cori and Julie, takes all of the stress and time out of creating “the perfect” baby book and does almost all of the work for you. Simply buy one of their beautiful hand-crafted books, record milestones online, print and assemble. You’ll receive monthly email reminders to ensure you’re not struggling to remember what happened months before.

My favorite part? They’ve thought of all of the topics! Everything from how Mom and Dad met, your family tree and about your name to firsts (haircut, bath, slept through the night, snow, visit to the beach, tooth), holidays, and a special set of pages for adopted children (the journey to find you, adoption ceremony, the first time we met). Using their own Big Day Books, Cori and Juli created half of their second children’s baby books in 20 minutes.

We caught up with Cori and Julie last month at the ABC Kids Expo in Vegas to learn more about these fabulous books. (Watch the video.)

Learn more, purchase a book and start recording at www.bigdaybooks.com.

Clever Tip: Register with Big Day Books at www.bigdaybooks.com and receive a 15% discount!

See CleverParents-tv Vidcast #5 featuring Big Day Books founders Cori and Julie.

Expecting a baby or know someone who is? Try spreading the news of your baby’s birth to friends and family online! BabyAnnounce founders Jonathan and Vanessa Hannan, both IT consultants by trade, wanted to create a service for people to be able to quickly announce the news of their new baby to family and friends. Simply go to the site, sign-up and your announcement is immediately available. You can add lots of pictures (there’s room for more than 100), the service automatically resizes your pictures to make them web-friendly (i.e. no technical skills required), and there’s even a cool scrolling image gallery of your pics. Plus, changes can be made at any time and you can easily password-protect the website. Online announcements can be purchased as a gift via an instantly delivered Gift Voucher Code – the cost is 19.99 pounds (or about $37). Announcements stay online for a minimum of six months. Learn more at www.babyannounce.net.BabyAnnounce founders, Jonathan and Vanessa Hannan, live in Norwich, England with their three sons Joshua (11), Samuel (9) and Jacob (5)

Kelly Hughes has wanted to run her own business since she was in high school. “I knew it would be something that would utilize my creativity, but it wasn’t until a year after I was married that I decided upon a card business,” said Kelly. “I was looking for personalized stationery for myself and couldn’t find what I was looking for. It then hit me….I can do this!”

In November 2002, Kelly started her business by designing a small handful of cards. She started by selling to friends and family, then with the help of her brother-in-law, launched her website three years ago.

Clever Parents love Kelly Hughes Designs for personalized vinyl labels, adorable placemats you can wipe clean, and whimsical, but elegant paper products. We caught up with Kelly to talk about creating new designs, balance, and sippy cups.

Clever Parents:What do you like most about running your own business?
Kelly Hughes: I love the excitement of creating new designs, coming up with new ideas and most of all, growing my business. No matter how hard I have to work or how stressful it becomes, I still love what I do. I think that
is the key to having a successful business.

CP: What is the most challenging part about running your own business?
KH: Trying to balance every aspect of the business is a big challenge. I don’t like the accounting, but it has to be done! It is also a challenge to hand off responsibilities to employees as my business grows. However, I have been very lucky to have great employees.

CP: What are your hottest selling items?
KH: The kids line consistently sells well. The Ladybug & Sports Fan note cards are the top sellers. Vinyl labels are also great because they can be used on bottles or sippy cups, or they can be used on birthday gifts! Parents love using them so they don’t have to label bottles and cups every day before day care or school.

CP: What are your favorite items that you sell?
KH: The flat notes are my favorite item. The cards are the base of my line and I just love the clean, fresh look of the flat notes. They are so perfect for gift-giving!

CP: You started selling cards to friends and family when you were young. Do you think that was driven more by your ‘entrepreneur’ or your ‘designer’ side?
KH: Good question! I must say it was probably both. However, I’ve always loved designing and knew that I would have a career that involved designing. I guess it took me a while to figure out that it would be designing cards & invitations!

CP: What’s next for Kelly Hughes Designs?
KH: I am constantly adding and changing my designs. I think it’s important to keep things looking new & fresh. I just added personalized placemats for kids & will be adding notepads to my line next month.

CP: What do you do to create a balance between running a business and being a mom to two children under two years old?
KH: It’s not always easy! I work hard all day and I make sure that I leave my work at the end of the day to spend the evenings with the girls. Running your own business can be an all consuming task. I also am trying really hard to keep my office at my home. I want to be here to know what goes on with them every day and to make sure they know I’m nearby. I would never want my work to get in the way of my time with the girls. They are my first priority. And of course, I could never do it without my husband. He is incredibly patient and helpful.

CP: Any tips for Clever Parents who are thinking of starting a business?
KH: Yes, make sure you do something that you are passionate about. It makes all the difference. If you are passionate about your work, you will be successful.

CP: What are some of your hobbies / outside interests?
KH: Well, with my business and my girls, there is no time left for hobbies! Although, before the girls, I loved to garden and of course, shop!

CP:If you could drop everything for a week and take a vacation, where would you go?
KH: Funny, my husband and I are trying to figure that out right now! We are celebrating our 5 year anniversary this year and are taking a vacation to celebrate. It’s a toss up between a relaxing vacation on the beach in Mexico or a trip to Ireland, our favorite overseas destination!

- Kelly Hughes is a Clever Parent to Molly, 22 months, and Lucy, 8 months, and lives in San Antonio, Texas with her husband, Tom, and her girls. Visit Kelly Hughes Designs at www.kellyhughesdesigns.com.

Rattle-n-Roll makes birth announcements so cool, you’ll want to have more children just to announce them. The brainchild of Ryan and Andrea Loyko, Rattle-n-Roll puts a whole new spin on baby announcements. Imagine Rick Griffin, the late legendary poster artist for the Grateful Dead, Jimi Hendrix and others designing a birth announcement for your little one. Rattle-n-Roll’s announcements, invites and posters are made to look like rock and roll poster art and announce your pride and joy’s “live” show.

The process is very easy: pick a template (there are several to choose from and more on the way); send a photo of your little rocker; then Ryan, co-founder, artist, and former music industry photographer creates a sketch from your favorite photo which is then inserted in the template of your choice; wait 10-12 days to receive your annoucements; send announcements out and your little rocker is immortalized forever.

So, how did Ryan and Andrea come up with the idea? ‘My husband, Ryan, was a photographer in the music business for many years,’ says Andrea. ‘He started doing some posters for some friends bands and I loved them. After the birth of our baby-it just came to me…we had to do an announcement for our son Elijah Cash. The response was really good so we started doing some for our friends’ kids.’

How is Rattle-n-Roll spreading the word? ‘Currently we are strictly on-line although have been contacted about possibly being featured in a retail boutique. As far as marketing, we have been focusing on baby websites that we love, magazines we respect, and the music world.’

About the Loykos:

Favorite Rockers: Johnny Cash, Joe Strummer, Mike Ness, Ian MacKaye, Hank Williams, Jr., Ben Harper, Bob Marley, ‘the list goes on and on… ‘

For Fun: When the Loykos aren’t busy running a business and raising a family, they love farmer’s markets, museums, the zoo, and travel.

So what’s next for Rattle-n-Roll, you ask? In the words of the founders, ‘World domination!’

To buy your announcements and posters, go to www.rattle-n-roll.com. $225 for 2 posters and 50 announcements, $300 for 2 posters and 100 announcements, $175 for 2 posters.

We think you Clever Parents will love Card-Blanc and their beautiful cards where every piece is truly a work of art. After hand-making her son’s birth announcements to rave reviews from family and friends, Kathy Martin decided to make a business of it. Clever Parents caught up with owner, designer and creative mind behind the company and learned about the moms who assemble her cards, what inspires her designs, and how running the business is a lot like raising a child.

Clever Parents: Tell us about your business.
Kathy Martin: Card-Blanc was launched October 2002 in Northern California. That was about a year after my son Christopher was born. I hand-made his birth announcements and first birthday invitations along with annual Christmas cards and ornaments and friends would always tell me I should create a business selling my crafts. I was always hesitant because I didn’t know the first thing about starting a business, but after a friend of mine started a business selling crocheted baby hats I thought, “If she could do it, I can do it.” From then on if I didn’t know something, I asked or researched it and took things one step and one day at a time, learning as I went.
In October 2004 we moved the business to North Carolina, still keeping our retailers in California and continuing to branch out into additional states by exhibiting at gift shows like the National Stationery Show in New York last May.

CP: What inspires your work?
KM: The happiness I see on someones face when opening one of my cards and being able to share my cards with others is what inspires me.
Often while I work on a particular design, say a wedding card for instance, I’ll think of a bride who receives it, maybe from her mom or best friend and what that card will mean to her. Maybe she’ll display it in a frame with some other wedding momentos or perhaps she’ll put it in her scrapbook and have it to look at and read for years to come? It’s fun to imagine where each card will go. I know it sounds kind of corny, but that’s really what goes through my mind.

CP: How did you come up with the idea to find moms to assemble your cards?
KM: Once my business grew to the point where I was no longer able to assemble the cards myself I had to figure out who would make them and I didn’t like the idea of overseas manufacturing. As a stay-at-home, I know there are many of us who would like an opportunity to use our crafting skills to earn extra money without having to compromise on family time. It just seemed like a natural fit and it’s worked out great.
Currently Card-Blanc has four card assemblers, three who are moms. This year we will be hiring another couple people as we add more sales representatives. If someone is interested in a position they can e-mail me at kathy@card-blanc.com.

CP: What does it take to be an assembler?
KM: The perfect candidate to assemble my designs is someone with paper crafting experience, like scrapbooking. Scrapbookers usually work with many types of embellishments and adhesives and enjoy the craft. As far as time commitment, we meet once weekly to exchange finished cards with new “work orders” and materials. I expect the ladies to make a minimum of 100 cards per week, up to about 400. Also, when someone is new, they spend about an hour training on the exchange night learning how to assemble the specific cards they will need to make.
CP: How many retailers offer your cards?
KM: We currently have 195 retailers in the United States and Canada that sell Card-Blanc greetings. On our website, under “retailers” we have a list of the stores that carry our cards. Anyone interested in setting up a wholesale account with Card-Blanc, can fill out the “catalog request” form on the website. We would love to have some North Carolina retailers!

CP: How many sales reps do you have? Are you looking for more? What do you look for in a sales rep?
KM: Currently Card-Blanc is represented by two companies, one in California, the other in Illinois. The California based company has 11 reps who sell in both California and Nevada. The Chicago, Illinois based company has 10 reps whose territory also includes Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Ohio, and Wisconsin.
I always keep an eye out for good representatives, either individuals or companies to fill regions not yet covered. I look for reps with experience, a good relationship with retailers in their region, and their products should compliment my cards.
CP: What is the most challenging part about running your own business?
KM: The biggest challenges to running this business is learning how to grow and how to keep up with the growth. It’s a lot like raising children, there’s no owners manual with all the answers and step-by-step instuctions.

CP: What do you like the most about running your own business?
KM: The freedom to create, make decisions, and make my own schedule. I work a lot of hours, but I can work those hours around my son’s schedule and not miss out on his childhood.

CP: Any tips for other Clever Parents who are thinking about starting a business?
KM: Go for it! Starting a business seems daunting when you have never done so before, but if I can do it, you can too! Expect to work a lot, be challenged and garner big rewards.

CP: What did you do before you started Card-Blanc?
KM: Before Card-Blanc, believe it or not, I worked as an Avian Vet Technician. Talk about a 360 degree turn! I worked at “For the Birds” in Los Gatos California where we treated exotic parrots and helped local wildlife groups treat hawks, owls, geese and other types of birds. We did a lot of parrot rescue as most people have no idea what they get themselves into when they purchase a bird. Many parrots find themselves without a home or bounced from home-to-home after their owners discover they bite and are very loud. I cared for many parrots at my home until they were able to go to a permanent home in Maui, Hawaii funded by an organization called Mended Wings, or we could find them a home with people who understood what these birds are like and what their requirements are. Additionally, I boarded parrots at my home when their owners went out of town. At times I had 20+ birds in my care! It was very rewarding work, but a lot of work, and when my husband and I decided to have a baby, I had always wanted to be a stay-at-home mom.

CP: What are some of your outside activities / hobbies?
KM: I love scrapbooking! I actually got into scrapbooking as a bi-product of Card-Blanc. I subscribe to several scrapbooking magazines to keep abreast of the latest paper craft trends and I was always in awe of the beautiful layouts. It was the journaling that got me hooked because I realized that if I didn’t write down the stories that go along with my pictures, I’d forget most of it by the time my son went off to college!
I’m also a huge fan of hiking so on my days off, I usually can be found trekking in one of the area’s many beautiful parks. Other hobbies and interests include photography, reading, entertaining, and I’ve recently been sucked into the SuDoku craze!
CP: How did you come up with the name Card-Blanc?
KM: One day I was sitting around with a girlfriend trying to come up with a name. She and I just started brain storming and throwing out names. Many were silly and at some point Card-Blanc just rolled off my tongue. I was trying to think of something that sounded chic, like Carte-Blanche. In French, blanc means white and since all of my cards start with a white, column textured card stock, it was perfect. And as they say, “the rest is history.”

You can see more of Card-Blanc cards at www.card-blanc.com where you can also see a list of retailers. Don’t see a retailer in your neck of the woods? Tell your favorite stationery store about these one-of-a-kind pieces.

tobi wood designs produces hand made notebooks, notecards and magnets. Tobi currently has six collections: bulb, garden, leaf, petal, shape and holiday. Her designs have a modern, clean, fun feel. In an age of email, text messaging, and e-cards, Tobi’s work is the perfect solution for the “tactile” person…CP: To start off, tell us a little about tobi wood designs.
Tobi Wood: i have always made cards for friends and family, and on more than one occasion toyed with the idea of starting my own business. the line i was making previous to this one was way too labor intensive, making it difficult to keep up with orders. people loved them, but kept telling me i really should sell some of my graphic work. i love paper. always have. i am a very tactile person. and i guess with my print design background, the paper thing just came naturally. its what i know. (but i do have to confess, i am a fabric freak as well. i can’t even tell you how many swatches of material i have. one day i would love to be able to explore having my designs made in to linens, pillows etc.) anyway, i had just had a baby (last year) and resigned from my job to be a stay at home mom. i had numerous designs on file, so I brought out my best ones and thought, lets give it a shot and print these. so we did. i taught myself (and am still learning) how to make a web site and went from there. fortunately i come from a family where the creative juices run wild

CP: Did you major in art or graphic design?
TW: i did major in art.

CP: Have you always been creative?
TW: i worked in advertising for 12 years, as a graphic designer and art director. my design style is very simple. i like clean lines and i like color. and then i like a little
funkiness on the side.

CP: Wow, I’m jealous. I couldn’t trace my hand and get five fingers. How do you market your designs?
TW: oh you could, you just have to practice. :) everyone has SOME creativity. you just have to find it. as far as marketing goes, i am trying several things. i just sent out my first press release, word of mouth, advertising within the indie community and then trying to get in some retail stores. i would eventually like to go to the national stationery show in nyc. that’s big time! ;)

CP: When you say, advertising in the indie community, do you mean the Creative Loafing publications and that sort of thing?
TW: i guess i mean more through other indie sites more than anything. i did some advertising with a local company that sends out emails to subscribers in your city to let people know whats going on. and i am on trunkt.com. they have been great for me. now if i can just get on daily candy. :)

CP: What’s been the biggest surprise since starting your business?
TW: whats not a surprise? there have been so many things to learn. i certainly didnt go into this thinking i knew what i was doing, but after a year of doing this, i realize how far i have come and just how much i have learned. and still HAVE to learn.

CP: When you aren’t being a mommy and an artist/entrepreneur, what are your outside interests?
TW: oh i like to do lots of things. but if i am not being a mom, wife and a designer, then i like to be gardening. i love gardening. and cooking.

CP: Finish this sentence, my ideal date night is…
TW: ideal date night. hmm. order thai food and curl up on the couch with my hubby and watch a great movie, and listen to the hum of the sound machine in our daughters room thru the monitor. right now, i just dont need anything that fancy.

CP: That’s great, casual and low-key is a fun date night, I agree. I notice that you don’t like capitalizing words, is it intentional grammatical rebellion, or is the Shift key broken on your PC?
TW: funny! nope, its quicker for me not to. i am a terrible typist and if i tried to capitalize and puncutate correctly all the time, i would be here all day.

CP: given your many other talents tobi, we’ll let it slide….

Purchase stationery, notecards, and magnets at www.tobiwooddesigns.com. Tobi donates 75 cents of every purchase to the international waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia (an extremely rare blood cancer) foundation. For more info, check out their site or look them up in our charities Charity section. www.iwmf.com

Spotlight on Monica Lee Studios: Monica Lee (www.monicaleestudios.com) is an illustrator and designer who primarily works in the children’s market (illustrating books) and the gift and licensing industries. Monica’s children’s work includes illustrating The Jumping Hat, by Marilyn Katz about a little boy named Harry and his quest to catch a straw hat that jumped away. In addition to children’s work and other graphic design, Monica designs stamps for Inky Antics (www.inkyantics.com). She is also the designer of the Clever Parents logo, which we hope will make her famous worldwide.
We picked Monica’s brain about starting your own business, balancing work and life, exercising your creative muscle…

Clever Parents: What made you want to start your own business?
ML: I have always wanted to work for myself, even in college. When I was just out of high school, I stumbled into a job decorating a large department store. I realized I was self motivated and I liked the creative challenge.

Monica runs her business out of her home which has its plusses and minuses. The best part? “Not having to drive to work on snowy days!” The worst? “Having work spill over into the weekends.”

Which leads to the question of balance: If you never have to commute to get to work, work is always with you. We asked Monica is she had any tips for other Clever Parents about balancing work and family.

Her advice: invest some time in yourself and don’t feel guilty about it, “It really helps that my family takes what I do seriously even though I have a home office. It took me a while to take myself seriously but I keep regular office hours and have developed an after school routine that lets me get work done even when my son is home. If you are planning a new venture and don’t want to take time away from your small children set up even a few work hours in the week or on the weekend when someone else can watch your children. Don’t run errands, don’t feel guilty. It is ok to have time for your new venture, allow yourself to do it, guilt free. In a couple of years, when your children are grown you will be thankful for investing some time in yourself.”

Working out your creative muscle…
Clever Parents: Have you always been creative?
ML: “You would have to ask my mom, but I do think she really encouraged me in this area. I was shy and quiet and I decided in the third grade that I wanted to be the best artist in my class (maybe I was a bit competitive too).”

Clever Parents: For those of us who aren’t artistically-inclined, how can we inspire creativity in kids?
ML: The first thing you can do is to stop believing you aren’t artistically inclined! You BECOME what you believe. Start telling your kids that creativity applies to every area of their lives, cooking, playtime, gift giving, how you celebrate holidays. Creativity is about HOW YOU THINK, and it is a muscle that can be exercised every day. Tell them you want self-portraits for gifts on your birthday; get them to hand make birthday cards. Take them to craft stores, especially scrap booking stores, have them pick out a few embellishments and then create collages with them and old catalogs. Grandparents love anything homemade. We decorate cookies at Christmas; we all sat down one afternoon and created a portrait of our new puppy. Ask them for specific things if they are a bit lost, but if you have lots of supplies, kids will create! Keep your supplies handy and available so set-up and clean up is not a chore.

Clever Parents: How can we inspire creativity in ourselves?
ML: Frequent places that inspire creativity, whether it is online, in bookstore, fabric stores, cooking stores or craft stores. Just hanging around or being exposed to things that your find different or inspiring helps get your mind going. Get used to thinking that creativity is an asset to every area of your life, your work life and your family life. What ever creative pool you dip your toes into, don’t expect perfection. Have a light heart, a good laugh and a good time.

- Monica Lee lives in New England with her biggest supporters, her son Luke, stepson Connor, and husband Tom.