It's THAT time of the year!

The time of the year when Holiday Craft Shows/ Bazaars and Festivals are in full swing! And yes, Hart Of Karen Creations is involved in several this season.

We started the season off with the Third Annual show at Portland Christian School in October. It was so much fun! My friend went with me to lend a hand and keep me company. Pretty good traffic for being their third year!

The second event was an HONOR to be a part of. I was invited to be a vendor at the Hwang Martial Arts International Tae Kwan Do Tournament. I was in the company of martial artists from all over the globe! 2,000 - 4,000 people at any given time at the Kentucky International Convention Center. It was AWESOME! I was even blessed to have my husband and mother in law join me! I'm super stoked to get prepared for Extravaganza in March where they raise as much as possible for the Kosair Children's hospital here in Louisville.  But bad me... I didn't get pictures. :(

Third event was this past weekend at Fern Creek High School. This show has been going on for years! It was at three locations, the school, fire department AND church nearby. I was pleased with my spot and a custom order!

How do you like that new banner?? Yep, I love it! Thanks to my super awesome friend, Megean, who does all of my graphic design. Need some? Check her out! The Individuality.

My fourth event is THIS weekend. Saturday 9am - 3pm. I will be at the Chance School Holiday Boutique. There are going to be roughly 50 vendors, so come on out!

Then it's a small break for me until after Thanksgiving.

Ballard Holiday Halls is my next event and I will be partnering with my friend, Kate, for this one and the next one. She does super cute work and we coordinate well! Check her work out at Bity Bundles Of Joy and see what we can do for you!
Ballard is  Saturday and Sunday, December 1st and 2nd.

Our last event of the season will be at J-Town high school on Saturday December 8th. I'll still be accepting custom orders for delivery before Christmas, but no more shows after this one. It'll be our season 'finale'!

So, that's our run down for the season! There are LOTS of others going on around town right up until Christmas. I highly suggest, if you don't find what you're looking for with me, please buy handmade this year! You're helping people support their families and keeping American money IN America!

Hope to see you soon!

Did You?

We live in the greatest nation in the free world. We are very blessed to live in the land of the free, and home of the brave. Many men and women have fought and died for our right to exercise our right to vote in our elected officials.

This is a very important election, on so many levels. I shall keep my personal opinions to myself, but if you know me personally, you know which way I went and pray will happen. This election is keeping me on the edge of my seat as the reports of which state is red or blue.

As much as I want this election to go in the way I want it to, I also believe in the sovereignty of our Lord, Jesus Christ. We will have the same God tomorrow, no matter who is elected and takes office in January, 2013.

Did you do your civic duty as an American?

Battle of The Bows...

Yep, I entered one! Well ok, I THOUGHT I did. Apparently I was 2 hours late getting my photo in... However, I was able to enter it into the auction! This sucker took me more than an hour to make! But it was nice to get to creating again...

You can bid by following this link ~ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=372364632844686&set=a.370523153028834.88078.358183780929438&type=1&theater

Ever have those days??

It's one of THOSE days... I'm stinkin' exhausted! It's been such a busy few weeks for us, I'm just worn down! I've not had time to do much of anything...

Motivation - that's the name of the game... I have none! Oh well, I think it'll pass... just hope sooner rather than later! Ok... pity party over... must do SOMETHING productive!

It's been a while...

Yep, I've neglected my 3 followers... and for that I am very sorry!
Life... it's been INSANE. My family has been dealing with our oldest starting kindergarten. The hubby working 50-80 hours a week, our BABY turning 2 in a few days... craft shows, wholesaling, family... and the list goes on and on and on and on..

So, I look forward to some new activity, as well as some new opportunities! My family is adapting and evolving, and my business is growing! Can't wait to tell you what's happened with it lately!!

Sorry it's been a while!

Busy & HOT!!

My GOODNESS it's been HOT here in Kentucky! My kiddos and I have been hanging out at the pool, at the kiddie pool in our yard and in the house! I just feel bad for my hubby - being a Utility Lineman, he's stuck outside 60+ hours a week.

What have you been doing to beat the heat?

As far as crafting - I've been working on getting my craft room back in order - and I'm almost there! Have to do a little at a time with two little guys under foot all the time! Trying to really organize this time, so maybe... just maybe it can stay that way!

I started making ALL of my own BottleCap images as well... just really working on it and trying to perfect them. Have a  couple of custom orders to finish up this week, then I can work more on stock for the store. Really would like to get some more Tutu choices up!

I've also been honored to host a few buy-ins for craft supplies in a couple of groups on Facebook. Thanks SO much to Mommy Crafts A Lot aka Linda Holland for allowing me to get started with it!

What's been up in your neck of the woods??

Fleur De Lis Art Fair, 2012

Had a show a week & a half ago! It would have been a GREAT day... if it weren't for the amazingly awesome Ohio valley weather!
I watched the weather all week. It was supposed to be SUNNY and around 90 ALL DAY. Not a cloud in the sky.
Set up was supposed to start at 7am - show opening at 9. So... what does it start doing at 6:45am? Yep, YOU guessed it... STORMING!!!!!! It FINALLY stopped about 8:30. So I start setting up... Here's what I ended up with that day...

It spot rained a few times through out the day. Thank goodness I was able to borrow the pop up tent from my friend again! The show was supposed to end at 6. SO... what does it start doing about 4:00??? Yep, you guessed it... STORMING again!!! Bad this time! SUPER loud lightening... Raining so hard that it was collapsing the tent! Thankfully it didn't break it! But ALLLLLLL of my inventory got SOAKED! ALLLLL of my bottlecaps were ruined. Tutus soaked, and ME... yeah, I was soaked to THE BONE.

Needless to say, it would have been an amazing show if the forecast had been CORRECT!

Beginning Of Summer!!

That's right, it's the first day of summer!

So, what are your summer plans? Since the kiddos are out of school...
Our plans are pretty laid back. No summer vacation for us this year. Since the hubby works a LOT, it's mostly just the kids and me. One day last week we spent an afternoon at the pool. Let me tell you, that is NOT easy by yourself with a 5 year old and a 19 month old... I don't advise it! Haha.
But we'll be spending days at home playing around the house, days at the Zoo and pool... just spending time together before my oldest starts school this fall.

BUT... the fun doesn't have to be paused! We are hosting an Auction to celebrate the beginning of summer!!! I'm de-Stashing some older inventory, as well as some newer creations! The album is now open to shop, the rules are simple... comment on the photo with your bid, bid increments will be $.50. Shipping will be $2 plus an additional $.50 per item.

             

Hillview City Fair, 2012

This was my longest event ever! Thursday 6pm - 10pm. Friday 6pm - 11pm and Saturday 11am - 11pm. I was fortunate enough to be joined by a friend, Kate, who is the owner and creator of Bitty Bundles Of Joy. Super Cute appliqued onesies, shirts and OH-so many other things! 

Thursday was a little slow, but was still successful. Friday was even better and Saturday ROCKED! The morning started out with a Dog Show! SOOOO Stinkin Cute!!! I had a couple girls come by to adorn their little babies with Tutus and Bows before the show!

Both of these girls placed! First and Second!!!

Then the rest of the day just took off! Kate joined me later in the afternoon.

Overall it was just a super fun time! Made some new friends, some new possible networks and obviously some awesome sales! It was a huge success!!!

Now it's time to get to work... spending some lost time with my kiddos and replenishing some stock for the Online Store as well as prepare for the Fleur De Lis Art Fair next week!

To, Too, Tutu

I wanted to add more inventory before the city fair I'm going to this weekend... so I made a couple more Tutus! I still want to make a few more to add to the inventory, but it takes time! Why do these kids think they need to eat and be entertained all day? Don't they know Mama wants to be making pretty things ?!? Hahahaha!!

Ok, here's the newest ones! Tell me what you think!

Tag, Tag, Tag!

I just made more than 200 price tags! I haven't been very prepared the last few shows, but for these two I will be!

I use my business cards as my price tags. Saves a step for me and allows for every item that I make to be attached to my logo and contact information... thus Branding myself in every aspect possible!

SO I've punched little butterfly holes, stamped prices and counted more than 200 tags. Now it's time to go attach them!

It's been a LONG Day's night...

Yep, you heard that right.
My husband is a Utility Lineman and heavy machinery operator. He usually goes into work at 6:30 am and gets home when he gets home. It could be anywhere from an 8 hour day to 12-15 hours on average. He has spent time out of town... a LOT of time out of town. The entire first 18 months of our son's life he was gone from 4 days to 2 weeks at a time... and at the end of that he was gone for 3 months straight without a break. That was in 2008 when Hurricane Ike hit, he was in Houston and Galveston for Hurricane Restoration.

Oh yeah... Long day's night...
Well, Yesterday, Thursday, he went to work at the normal time. He calls me at oh... mid-afternoon to check in and I hear "I probably won't be home at all tonight." Yeah... nothing THAT new. I know that usually means I get to put the kiddos to bed myself and I'll likely be in bed before he gets home. Not this night... He didn't get home until nearly 10am Friday morning! A 27 hour work day! What did I do when he was gone? Well, after the kids were in bed of coarse... I crafted! It's my therapy!!!

So he got the call today, which actually woke him up at 4pm. Telling him they needed him again tonight ALL NIGHT. So he left again at 7:30 tonight and there's no end in sight as to when he'll be home. So what did I do tonight? Yep, you guessed it! I made more pretty things!

I can't begin to tell you how much I love my husband. Don't get me wrong... we used to have, um, 'words' about these insane hours. But we were married before he began this line of work nearly a decade ago... so we had an idea of what we signed up for. It just took us both a while to get used to it. I just Praise GOD that my husband has an amazing work ethic. In an economy that has hit the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 20's, my husband is out there working 50-80 hour weeks, doing whatever he has to do to provide for his family. He is great at what he does and I am VERY proud of him.

Ok, rambling over... going to bed now.

From The Heart

 

Dear Reader,

Everyone knows someone who has been affected by heart disease or stroke.  My own grandfather met an early demise when I was only 5 years old with a heart attack.

On September 22, 2012, I’ll be helping the American Heart Association fight the Nation’s No.1 and No.3 causes of death — heart disease and stroke — at the Heart Walk. Funds raised through the Heart Walk support research, community service and public and professional education programs.

My personal goal is to raise $1000.  Your support will help.  Your donation of $500, $250, $100, $50, or whatever you can manage, will help me take a stand against the #1 killer of Americans, including women. Not only will you help me achieve my goal, you’ll also help the American Heart Association make important advances against heart disease and stroke.

**Just complete the information WITHIN THIS LINK  with your donation. Or simply click on the fill-up bar on the right of the page. The Heart Walk is quickly approaching, so please send it as soon as possible.**

Thank you for your support of the Heart Walk. Together we will make a difference!

From the heart,

Tia

What's next?

Yep, my obsession quickly grew... VERY quickly! I had decided that everyone and their mom made hair bows, and honestly, it looked really difficult. So I decided to start doing simple bow holders!
So that's what I did... I started buying ribbon that was cute, different sizes, different colors... just to play around with it. It didn't take long before I started coming up with some original and creative designs. And it wasn't long before people started asking about them!

So yep... bow holders were the second phase of my obsession. And I still do the same basic design for each one to this day!
Here are a few of my newest ones, actually just finished them up today!

http://hartofkaren.storenvy.com/

Why did you start?

So, why did I start making things? I'll tell you!

I'm a SAHM (stay at home mom). This is a choice that my hubby and I made way before we even had children. We were high school sweethearts, got married a year & a half after high school and had our first child, our son, 4 years later. DJ (David Junior) is now 5. My very last day of working outside the home was a week before he was born. We knew that would be the last, so we were prepared. Our daughter, Makenna, was born 3 1/2 years later. Some days it's the BEST 'job' in the world... other days, I want to pull ALL our hair out!

We were SO ready to have our little girl! We were ecstatic for our boy too, but this time we were in our new home, back in Kentucky, just ready for a new start. We decorated her room (not that she would need it for a while!) all by ourselves, re-did dressers, she had a closet full of clothes... and a basket full of headbands and bows/ flowers! They were huge on my little 5lb baby's head!
I got tired of seeing the big Gerber daises. We had one to match every color of outfit, but they just swallowed her head! And they were so impersonal and cheap looking. So I started looking at how they were made and decided I could do that!
SO... I did!! I went to craft stores and dollar stores and bought flowers to take apart and create my own designs and color combos. My dining room got COMPLETELY taken over. My husband said it looked like a craft store 'threw up' in our house.
I definitely got better with time and practice. No glue marks all over, using lined clips eventually... Then I had people start asking about them. Mostly my friends on Cafemom, a forum for moms that I belong to. I had one friend especially take a liking to them and encouraged me to make more. She lived all the way in Alaska! And honestly, she's the one who made me decide to start selling. I could tell there were other moms out there who wanted some variety!

Thus my obsession began!

Here are a few of the first ones I did...

What's In A Name?

Guess now's a good a time as any to say Hi! So... HI!!
My name is Tia Maria. Yep... I'm THAT girl, the one with a rhyming name. It's also Hispanic, yet I have ZERO Latina blood in me. That's ok tho, I've learned to be proud of my name. You see, it was my mother's pen name. What's a pen name, you ask? I'll tell you! It's a 'fake' name poets and novelists often give themselves to protect their 'real' identity. So, Tia Maria was my mother's pen name in high school when she wrote lots of poetry. Some of which I still have!
Why am I proud of it now you ask? Well, that's a long story, but I'll give you the short version. I lost my mom in a very tragic way in 1996. I was just about to turn 14. I'll always remember and love her. So a lot of the things I hated as a child and very young teen, I cherish now.

You're probably wondering why I decided to start writing. Well, I wanted to add another forum and branch of my business. So I thought would tell you in the first post why I chose the business name that I did.

Hart Of Karen Creations.

Most people assume that I am Karen. Well, as you know from reading above, I am  not. However, remember when I told you that my name, Tia Maria, was my mother's pen name? Well, I decided to name my business in honor of her. Yep, her name was Karen Hart. Karen Yvonne Hart to be exact. Even gave my daughter her middle name. But I'll go over all of that another time.
So I want to keep her memory alive in every way I can, So I chose to immortalize her with the business. It's MINE. I could chose any name I wanted. I toyed with a few, but this one just hit me like a punch in the face. And it just flows off the tongue. And my very good friend, a graphic designer, said the typography just fits perfectly as far as my logo goes. It just is perfect. And it isn't item specific. I can keep creating and adding things as often as I want! I'm not limited to a specific audience.

So there it is. My first post, my introduction and a business introduction of sorts all in one!
Here is a photo from 1989. I was 7.

Karen Yvonne Hart ~ August 10, 1956 - March 20, 1996