This is one of those instances when I’m a little starstruck. That might sound silly, but I am just in awe of Kim, the uber-talented woman behind The TomKat Studio. I’ve followed her blog and admired her Etsy shop for months so it’s really, really fun to learn more about her. Once you get to know Kim and her amazing designs I think you’ll be a fan, too.

The Shopping Mama: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Kim: Hello! My name is Kim and I am the owner/creator of The TomKat Studio. I live in Chandler, Arizona.

TSM: When did you start The TomKat Studio and why?
Kim: Up until about a year ago, my career was in residential real estate. With the downturn in the market, and realizing that my little ones were growing up so fast, I decided to stay home with them. At that time, I had discovered a few blogs and started reading others’ blogs regularly. I decided to start my own to share creative projects and random thoughts & ideas I was having. I called it “The TomKat Studio” after my children, Tommy & Kate. When I decided to stay home, we even designated a spare room in our home “The TomKat Studio” where I set up all my crafty supplies.
TSM: I can’t believe you’ve only been doing this a year! That’s amazing.

Kim: One of the first blogs that I followed was Project Nursery. I have a passion for all things pretty, including parties, paper & home decorating. After a couple of months of posting on my own blog, I was honored to become a contributor for Project Nursery. Being an entrepreneur, I thought with all of the extra exposure, maybe I should open a shop to sell some of my crafty wares. Why not try to make a little side money since I was spending more and more time blogging?
TSM: I think it’s really cool that you had a blog first and that your Etsy evolved out of that.

I started my Etsy shop with my signature frames, and quickly couldn’t keep up with the demand. After posting my daughter’s lollipop birthday party on The TomKat Studio, it was picked up on tons of fabulous blogs including Hostess with the Mostess (my fave!). The additional exposure created an overwhelming response for the paper items I created for her party (invitations, favor tags, cupcake toppers, etc). I decided to add party designs to my shop.

After several months of very, very long nights, I decided it was time to regroup. I was getting burnt out and overwhelmed. My family was getting neglected. It’s always hard to find a balance, but you have to keep coming up with new ideas to make it work, especially when you are doing what you love. I decided to go digital and offer my party designs as printables. The printables have been such a success! Much less work for me and more affordable for the customers. Not to mention, who doesn’t love saying “I made it!” I have such a passion for what I am doing now, it feels absolutely amazing.

TSM: What is your favorite item to make or sell?
Kim: I love designing new party collections. I love creating the designs, printing and assembling the sample items and then staging and photographing them. I could do this all day and all night long. It’s not work for me at all, it’s fun.

TSM: What is your inspiration?
Kim: This is such a cliche, but I find it everywhere. It’s actually annoying. I can’t look at a magazine without ripping out pages that inspire a new design. I watch cartoons with my kids and see a cute balloon or flower and want to create a party around it. I just wish I had more time to explore all of the ideas floating in my mind, as well all of the custom ideas my customers request.

TSM: Do you have any plans for new, additional products or business expansion?
Kim: I do! Right now, I only have my Lollipop Collection in the shop, because it is all I can handle by myself. I recently made the decision to hire an assistant to help fulfill my orders! This way, I can focus on getting all my designs into the shop and work on new designs and products. I hope to start offering the fully printed/assembled items, as well again.
TSM: If you’re interested in working with Kim, check out this post on The TomKat blog about hiring a Virtual Assistant.

TSM: If money were no object what is one thing you would buy right now?
Kim: A warehouse, commercial printers & a team of fabulous people to help me bring all of my ideas to fruition!

TSM: What are some of your favorite online boutiques or Etsy shops?
Kim: Oh boy…there are many! Here are a few of my favorites. Not only great shops, but great girls: Pink Taffy Designs, True Love Found (Crowns), Friller Up Couture (Tutus), Le Papier Studio (Silhouettes) ~ here’s my kids silhouette, Dolce Vita Mia
(Headbands/Clips).
TSM: I die over those silhouettes! They are adorable and surprisingly affordable. Your kids’ silhouette is just darling.

Connect! Keep up with Kim on the awesome TomKat Studio blog. It’s absolute eye candy full of beautiful parties and DIY inspiration. Not to mention, every month she provides a super cute printable calendar. You can also follow The TomKat Studio on Twitter and Fan The TomKat Studio on Facebook.

Shop! Visit The TomKat Studio on Etsy – it’s the best place for printable party projects. Because you print and assemble on your own, everything is ridiculously affordable – but still custom made for you. Make sure you check out the Valentine printables collection!

Win! Check out The TomKat Studio giveaway on The Shopping Mama.

The Preppy Poppy is the an adorable online boutique specializing in personalized items. A girl after my own heart, Angela Parks loves monograms and personalized goodies and puts her passion into the fabulous finds at The Pretty Poppy.

The Shopping Mama: Tell us a little bit about yourself.
Angela: I currently live in South Texas. My Husband is a F-18 pilot in the Navy. Right now he is on a shore tour and is a jet flight instructor. I grew up in Los Angeles, CA. and went to college in AR. After school, I fell into Human Resources and worked as a corporate recruiter for several years before meeting my husband in Jamaica, while on girls getaway. I have a passion for figure skating (and there are no ice skating rinks in this city!!). I’m addicted to the internet. I have two beautiful daughters, Emma (6) and Olivia (2). I live to shop. Silly fact – I adore cocktail dresses. I have an entire closet full and have maybe worn 1% of them!

Monogrammed Onesie

TSM: I must say a cocktail dress addiction sounds very glamorous and fun. Surely you can wear one when you are working or taking care of the kids?
So, when did you start The Preppy Poppy and why?
A: I started The Preppy Poppy a year ago, and instantly found myself very busy. I am so grateful for the positive response. I have an obsession with personalized items, monogrammed items in particular. Being a military wife, I needed to have a career that could move with me. With the frequent moves, obviously a conventional career was out of the question. Plus, I wanted to raise my children and be home for them. With that said, I live to work, and quickly found that I’m no June Cleaver. I love staying at home with my children, but I needed more. So I created The Preppy Poppy and now I have the best of both worlds. I can still care for my children and contribute to the household financially. Actually, I think my supplemental income goes to feed my shopping addiction (I have to be honest). ha!

Boutique Burp Cloth

TSM: Oh, I am right there with you. The (very little) money that I make from the blog is my Etsy fund. What is your favorite item to make or sell?
A: I love creating all of my products, but I get a real thrill out of custom orders. I love when a customer says “Surprise Me.” The tutu outfits are always a joy to make (not to mention all of my customers send me photos of their children wearing them) and I love my unique boutique burp cloths. The entire burp cloth is lined in grosgrain ribbon and I use designer fabric.

Some customer favorites are: The Tutu Outfits, Eco-friendly Lunch Sacks (alternative to the brown paper bag), the Grosgrain Bow Lunch Totes (they make great teacher gifts), the Affordable Personalized Infant Outfits, and the Personalized Travel Mugs. Military folks love the personalized coffee travel mugs.

TSM: Note to self, “Remember The Preppy Poppy coffee travel mug for Father’s Day.”
What is your inspiration?
A: My inspiration (without sounding like a cliche) are my children. I often ask my oldest daughter to test a product. I value her opinion. She is a kid, and knows what other kids would like. I would love nothing more than to pass The Preppy Poppy onto them one day (should they want it).

TSM: Do you have any plans for new, additional products or business expansion?
A: I have a “bucket list” for The Preppy Poppy. Currently, I am focusing on the quickly approaching Valentines Day. I have beautiful personalized tutu outfits, onesies and shirts that I will be putting on the site this week. In addition, I will be placing new personalized Easter/Spring/Summer items by the end of the month. Ideally, I would like to start a Preppy Poppy line of children’s clothing. The wheels are in motion and I hope to make this a possibility in the near future! In addition, once we are settled and my husband is retired from the Navy, I would like to open a children’s boutique.

Personalized Tutu Set

TSM: If money were no object what is one thing you would buy right now?
A: If money were no object – well you may have stumped me. To be honest, I am pretty content. We are blessed to have a beautiful home, healthy children, my husband and I both love our careers and overall life is good! BUT, If I had to choose something, I have always dreamed of having two family vacation properties. One home some place tropical (ocean front) and the other in the mountains (with excellent skiing). I love the idea of annual trips and creating family traditions. The idea of passing these vacation homes down through generations is something that I hope to make a reality one day. :-)

TSM: What are some of your favorite online boutiques or Etsy shops?
A: I have so many favorites! As for Etsy, I adore these stores: Quiltish by Allisa Jacobs (she makes beautifully sewn products from costmetic bags to baby bibs/burp cloths and pillows), Lookout Studios by Patricia Baker (we have several of her vibrant paintings in our home), Little Pea Boutique has adorable and affordable handmade barrettes and hair accessories, Bloomz also had adorable felt barrettes, Studio K by Kailey Hawthorn has damask painted letters that are to die for (perfect for a home office), Rowan’s Room (hand crafted chalk boards and mirrors made of recycled antique material with a very vintage feel – I love it!)

Connect! Keep up to date on all the latest personalized products when you follow The Preppy Poppy on Twitter and Facebook.

Shop! Browse and shop for great gifts at The Preppy Poppy. The Boutique Burp Clothes are $16 and Personalized Tutu Sets are $35 to $42 for shirt, tutu and bow.

If your holiday shopping list includes a stylish woman with a keen eye for detail, look no further than the beautiful jewelry of Kensington Supply Co. Designed and created by Laura Tepper in Philadelphia, Kensington Supply Co.’s beaded necklaces strike a delicate balance and achieve a modern sensibility with a vintage feel. The pieces are bold and big on style without being overbearing or intimidating.

The Shopping Mama: Tell us a little about yourself.
Laura: I live in Philadelphia with my husband, our dog, and three cats. I consider myself a “lawyer in recovery,” as I just made the career change from practicing attorney to educational fundraiser.

TSM: Is there a “lawyer in recovery” support group? If so, how do I sign up and will you be my sponsor? When did you start making and selling your necklaces? Is this your full time work or do you have a “day job”?
L: My main hobby has been knitting, ever since my group of college friends started the tradition of knitting each other wedding blankets, about five years ago. I didn’t even start making jewelry until July, when I was unemployed and going stir-crazy. It was too hot to knit, and jewelry was quick and easy. I made a few pieces and a friend said I should sell them at a neighborhood craft fair, and Kensington Supply Co. was born! Over the months, my pieces have become more involved and this new hobby has become a side-business that I love! My full-time position as a fundraiser at Penn Law school takes up alot of my time, but making jewelry and managing my Etsy shop feels less like a chore and more like something fun and rewarding that I’m doing just for me.

TSM: What is your favorite item to make or sell?
L: I love every necklace that I make, but these days, my favorite is definitely the “Ariba Senorita!“. It embodies all of the things I love about the jewelry that I like to wear. It’s simple, but colorful, and has a vintage feel.

TSM: What is your inspiration?
L: My main inspiration is my memories of my mother and grandmother. They were both very stylish, but had very different ideas about fashion. My grandmother liked to pick bold colors and large pieces, while my mother’s jewelry was more subdued. But both of them embodied a very classic style that I’ve tried to follow in my own fashion adventures. They taught me to make a statement, while keeping it classy. I model all of my pieces on this theory and then add a touch of fun and modernity, so that each piece has a bit of each of us in it.

TSM: Exactly! I think you strike that balance very well. (And, for the record, I wrote the intro to this interview before reading this response.) Do you have any plans for new, additional products or business expansion?
L: I would like to add some knits to my business, but it’s hard to design and make them all myself. So I’m working on that! My current plan for expansion is to get my stuff in some stores outside of Philly. (I am currently on the shelves at All by Hand in Philly and Hello Bluebird in West Reading.) I’d really like to see my stuff for sale at some boutiques in Brooklyn. I lived there for five years and credit it as the place where I found my “fashion voice.”

TSM: If money were no object what is one thing you would buy right now?
L: A brownstone in Brooklyn, with original woodwork and details that I could both restore and modernize. Think original-style chandeliers next to tangerine walls!

TSM: What’s your favorite Kensington Supply Co. for gift giving this season?
L: Not to harp on the “Ariba Senorita!” but I’d have to say that’s my number one because I can make it in so many colors. But I also love “On the Heath” because it’s made almost entirely out of vintage pieces and I make every plaid bead by hand, so you know it was made with love!

TSM: What are some of your favorite Etsy shops or online boutiques?
L: I have so many! I usually troll Etsy for jewelry-making supplies, but if I’m shopping for myself, I love the printed dresses at Betterthanjam, the cool miniature look-alikes of Philly buildings at Daymaker, the awesome book-related stuff at leahmackindotcom, and the beautifully simple jewelry that my college friend Pam makes at tartanbean.

Connect! Be the first to learn about new products and crafty news out of Philly, follow Kensington Supply Co on Twitter and Fan Kensington on Facebook.

Shop! Check out all of Laura’s designs at Kensington Supply Co. “Ariba Senorita” is  $42 and “On the Heath” is $64. And my favorite, “First Friday Night Special Fuschia” (you know, just in case anyone’s taking notes) is $48.

You can’t go wrong following The Thrifty Divas. The blog works to saves moms time and money by sharing great deals and coupons. Elizabeth took some time so we can get to know her and her blog.

* Ebay – when I need great stuff for cheap prices! I buy kids clothing quite a bit. I also love selling on Ebay.
* Amazon.com – when I need the hottest or new items. I always take advantage of cheap shipping.
* The Children’s Place – when they have great sales and I am shopping ahead for next year.
* Ulta – when I need my beauty supplies and don’t have time to run to the store 25 miles away.
TSM: I love me some Ulta! I could spend all day and all kind of money in there.

Product Reviewing: What Is It and What To Expect?

Product Reviewing: The Big List of Places to Sign Up

Product Reviewing: How To Get Chosen and What Products Are Available To Review?

Product Reviewing: How To Conduct A Campaign

TSM: What a great resource! Thanks for sharing all that information.

If you write a blog and you’d like to be featured on the Sunday Blogger Spotlight, email me!