Recently we highlighted some of our Creative Director Hillary’s favorite personalized baby gifts she’s designed and offered a bit of insight into her design process (read it here), and now we’re turning to Muffin, another one of our fantastic designers. Muffin takes a few minutes out of her busy day juggling being a mommy to two wee ones with designing personalized baby gifts, including the Merry Menagerie Big Brother T shirt and Big Sister Tshirt, as well as the Joyful Elephant, Sweet Fox, and Gentle Giraffe personalized onesies, to answer a few questions.
In general, where do you find design inspiration?
Most of my inspiration comes from raising my two kids. I have a 6 year old daughter and an 8 month old son. I like making designs that are vibrant and fresh and that I think they would like. I often have my daughter come into my office and tell me she likes what I’m drawing on my computer. I also find tons of inspiration from the world around me, the fresh florals and patterns of nature, as well as online from great places like Pinterest.
(Shown: Joyful Elephant, Sweet Fox, and Gentle Giraffe personalized onesies)
What was your inspiration for these particular designs or what do you like most about them?
What I like most about all of these are the simplicity of the shapes and the vibrant colors.
What’s a typical day like, how do you juggle designing, finding inspiration, and being a parent?
I try to have set office hours when I work, and my nanny comes in. But, really I’m always designing and I’m always a parent. I make time for both because both make me so happy. The best part about my job is that I do get to be home with the kids and see them throughout the day even though I’m in my office working. I love it!
What ideas/designs/fonts are you working on developing now?
Right now I’m trying to explore new ways to draw things and develop those into patterns or prints. I’m exploring techniques with different pencils, brushes and markers, and then scanning them in to see what I get. I’m also trying to get better at hand lettering. I love taking online classes to help me learn new skills.
Thanks Muffin, we appreciate this insight and can’t wait to see how your new skills and explorations translate into designs for our personalized baby gifts!
Room Review: Cat from Thrifty Littles
We love finding fantastic nursery designs and then pairing them with a personalized growth chart that truly complements each one, so it’s especially exciting when we see an adorable room that already includes the perfect personalized growth chart in it.
Cat from Thrify Littles, recently posted a look in at her sweet daughter Mae’s nursery on her blog. The space is an upbeat mix of pretty colors with a bit of bling and an overall feminine feel that will easily transition into a big girl room down the road.
And of course, we think Cat made the perfect choice with the Vintage Circus personalized growth chart! We think the whimsical feel and aqua color fits in wonderfully with Mae’s room.
What We Love Now: Green
St. Patrick’s Day is in two weeks and spring is around the corner, so we have the color green on our minds. We love all of the various shades – from rich emerald to soothing Ceylon to hip chartreuse – and love to incorporate the hue into as many of our personalized baby gifts as we can.
A big sister tshirt or big brother t shirt in a shade of green makes an ideal shirt to wear on St. Patrick’s Day. (Shown: Chic Style, Rock On and Something to Say big sister shirts and big brother shirts)
Have a wee one with a March birthday? Green birthday shirts make excellent personalized baby gifts that will be proudly worn on their big day. (Shown: Green Gator, Fun to Be One, and Happy Confetti 1st birthday shirts)
Welcome March babies with personalized onesies in green that highlight their birthdate. (Shown: Stamped Delight, Playful Hello, and Beep Beep personalized onesies)
Green is great, don’t you think?
Spring Runway Trends Meet Big Brother Shirts
Want your little man to be stylish, but still look like the little boy he is? Well we’ve taken some spring menswear trends and found some of our big brother shirts that epitomize the spirit of those trends. Like our previous Spring Runway Trends Meets Big Sister Shirts post, here are some ways to incorporate a few runway worthy spring trends into your wee man’s wardrobe.
Plaids and checks are classic menswear patterns and big for spring, as Giorgio Armani showed on the runway, but they also look great on boys. (Shown: Patterned Delight Big Brother T shirt)
The Color Burst trend, as seen in the Ralph Lauren spring collection, is fun for casual menswear, as well as little boy’s style. (Shown: Stitched Style Big Brother T shirt)
The Color Blocking trend isn’t just for women; it’s also for men, as Lacoste showed on the runway, as well as fun loving boys. (Shown: Taped Up Big Brother T shirt)
The Retro inspired trend, as epitomized by this outfit from J. Crew, are cool for men and of course for little men too. (Shown: Retro Style Big Brother T shirt)
An all-time favorite, the Sporty Fix trend hits big this spring for men, like at DKNY, but realistically always for boys! (Shown: Batter Up Big Brother T shirt)
Which of these menswear styles and big brother shirts is your fave?
Spring Runway Trends Meet Big Sister Shirts
New York fashion week was earlier this month, sending cold weather looks down the runway and identifying new trends we can expect to see this fall. But lucky for us, spring is coming soon with its light and bright feel so we thought we’d have some fun with some of our favorite picks from the spring runways and highlight our big sister shirts in complementary colors and patterns (in age appropriate style for kids of course!).
Nothing says spring like flowers, which makes The Fantastic Floral trend, seen at Thakoon (top) and Stella McCartney (bottom), timeless for adults and kids alike. (Shown: Blooms Big Sister Tshirt and Flower Power Big Sister Tshirt)
The soft and ultra-feminine First Blush trend, like those on the runway at Oscar de la Renta (top) and Burbery Prorsum (bottom), is perfect for little girls as well. (Shown Super and Chic Style big sister shirts)
The super colorful Pop Art trend, like those seen by Chanel (top) and Kenzo (bottom), isn’t just for the runway, it’s totally ideal for little ones too. (Shown: Color It Up Big Sister Tshirt and Something to Say Big Sister Tshirt)
We may not be fashion designers, but little ladies can be in style while wearing our big sister shirts. And for your little man? Check back as we translate men’s style to our big brother shirts.
Design of the Week: Patterned Delight
As you probably know, we recently added some new designs to our collection of big brother tshirts and big sister tees. Patterned Delight is one of the newest designs and we thought we’d give a little love to this tee that is boldly patterned and colorful.
Featuring a large font with polka dots, stripes, and plaids, the Big Brother Tshirt and coordinating Little Brother tee have two color options, while the Big Sister Tshirt and Little Sis tee offer three. All look equally adorable as short sleeve, long sleeve or baseball sleeve tees (and personalized baby onesies too!). There’s really something for everyone in the Patterned Delight tee.
Shown: Patterned Delight Big Sister Tshirt; Big Brother Tshirt; Little Sister Onesie; Little Brother Shirt
Design of the Week: Playful Owls Big Sister Tshirt
In our line of personalized tshirts for kids, we have owls on a few big brother tshirts and big sister tees, as well as personalized baby onesies, but the Playful Owl Big Brother Tshirt and Big Sister Tshirt design has been one of our most popular from the very beginning.
With two owls “perched” on either big brother or big sister text, this tee is just a hoot. Both boy and girl versions have darling stitching on the wings and winking big sibling owls with glasses. Our girl’s version includes an extra little detail on the big sister owl — a flower hair clip.