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Amber
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Halloween Sale!
Halloween is literally right around the corner and we have the best Halloween basics for baby! Our black short sleeve onesies are now on sale for only $7.99 just for Halloween! Make sure to grab yours quickly! 
Monday, October 20, 2008
We're featured!
I don't know why I'm just now getting around to posting this, but Dreamscapes Baby Boutique was featured in the online iEmporium magazine!
Now, on to other news. If you have noticed fewer posts it's because I've been dealing with work/occupational hazards i.e. carpal tunnel! I'm resting as much as possible and typing as little as I can. But for now, I will say to check out all the great Halloween items at the boutique and get yourself ready for some upcoming sales! Now is the time to subscribe to our newsletter and be the first to know what's happening at the boutique.
Until I can type again,
Now, on to other news. If you have noticed fewer posts it's because I've been dealing with work/occupational hazards i.e. carpal tunnel! I'm resting as much as possible and typing as little as I can. But for now, I will say to check out all the great Halloween items at the boutique and get yourself ready for some upcoming sales! Now is the time to subscribe to our newsletter and be the first to know what's happening at the boutique.
Until I can type again,
Monday, October 6, 2008
The Designer Vs. The Knockoff
Something recently brought this topic to my attention, and I realized just how passionate I was about it! Let me preface this by saying I like high fashion and the art that goes behind it. I am one of those people that sees designs as living art and I appreciate the talent and creativity involved. The best part is seeing a designer jump out of his comfort zone to create something unique and different. That's true art in the fashion world. I know there's a Devil Wears Prada quote that would fit this theme nicely. :)
If you love Manolos, but don't know much about the history, I would really spend the time Googling it (I'll spare you the history here). Manolo Blahnik was an artist before he created shoes, but it was his shoe art that started him down a path of being known as a true shoe designer and artist. I have complete respect for that. If you truly understand the art behind the shoe, you can respect that the designer created it as a piece of art you can wear. Our guys may not really understand the premise of this concept, but those of us women that love shoes can attest to it!
But this isn't about Manolo.
This is about the complete respect I share for those that saw a need, created a design no one else had created, and became successsful for it. One of my favorite brands is Swankie Blankie. If you haven't yet heard of them, they are a baby blanket and more company that started because a mom saw a need, created something that at the time was uniquely different, and has become successful for it. For all I know, before Susie Grant created Swankie Blankie, no other blankets out there were made using the minky chenille that we all see everywhere now from boutiques to Wal Mart. Hers is just another brand on a long list of brands that I fell in love with while at Neimans. Maybe one day I will just make a list. :)
But again, this isn't about Swankie Blankie either. Dreamscapes Baby is not affiliated in any way with the company and we do not sell their products, but perhaps someday in the future I may think about it. At the current time, they could be considered a direct competitor for my own line of custom minky blankets.
No, this is about the original and the knockoff. As a designer, I know firsthand how important it is to create something new and different. Every piece I create has to be something no one else has. Even clients that send me pictures of items they like are quickly told that we can use the picture for inspiration, but Two Crowns Bedding will not duplicate the item. It's important to me to not ripoff the designer who had the vision to create it in the first place.
Even though our custom baby blankets may look similar to what you see on the market today, the main difference is that we are the ONLY fully custom blanket creator. We aren't going to tell you what goes together, we let you decide. Want black and white zebra with orange satin ruffles? We'll make it! Want your school colors in blue and burgundy? Great! We have it! That's where we have set ourselves apart. While we don't currently offer premade blankets, we are working on creating some. As of right now, your blanket is custom made to order exactly to how you want it. You choose where your monogramming will be, what font you want it in, and what thread color. Who are we to tell you what is and is not a correct color combination? That's why we do what we do!
Again though, this is not how this post began. What started this heated topic is the fact that a business friend of mine found out she was being knocked off by two different stay at home moms starting their own business. One was knocking her designs off without the same quality, and the other was supposed to be an authorized retailer, but was selling the designs as her own. Without her images being watermarked, my friend said these two ladies used the pictures of her items from her page and was using them as their own without giving any credit to the original. That's what blows my mind. On top of that, I was recently shopping at a nearby store and I put my son's BabyLegs on since it was cold, and a lady stopped me and asked if they were BabyLegs. Why yes they are, I said! I absolutely love BabyLegs! Her response to me was this: "Well, I prefer to support the work at home mom who makes them herself." What?? And her reply was said with utmost snobbery at that. Believe me, I'm all about supporting other WAHMs and their businesses, especially when they are doing something new and interesting, but supporting people who have no creativity of their own and instead steal other people's designs is not what I'm about.
Our world is full of knockoffs. People who buy knockoff designer purses to have the "look" and the "name" without the cost are only hurting the people who originally took their time to design something beautiful. That's not admirable. And no, I'm not one that can afford the latest designer bags and clothing, but trust me, I would rather wear Target label clothing for cheap than buy a knockoff designer label. But then again, you also realize that even the cheap authentic was created because something on the runway made it a fashion statement and it trickled down into the department stores and hence, another Devil Wears Prada reference could be stated here.
So maybe you can't always have the original and authentic. Maybe our society will always allow a version of a knockoff. But don't ever forget the originals behind everything we wear and buy. They are the true artists.
And being a true artist is what I aspire to be.
Dreaming Up Originality,
If you love Manolos, but don't know much about the history, I would really spend the time Googling it (I'll spare you the history here). Manolo Blahnik was an artist before he created shoes, but it was his shoe art that started him down a path of being known as a true shoe designer and artist. I have complete respect for that. If you truly understand the art behind the shoe, you can respect that the designer created it as a piece of art you can wear. Our guys may not really understand the premise of this concept, but those of us women that love shoes can attest to it!
But this isn't about Manolo.
This is about the complete respect I share for those that saw a need, created a design no one else had created, and became successsful for it. One of my favorite brands is Swankie Blankie. If you haven't yet heard of them, they are a baby blanket and more company that started because a mom saw a need, created something that at the time was uniquely different, and has become successful for it. For all I know, before Susie Grant created Swankie Blankie, no other blankets out there were made using the minky chenille that we all see everywhere now from boutiques to Wal Mart. Hers is just another brand on a long list of brands that I fell in love with while at Neimans. Maybe one day I will just make a list. :)
But again, this isn't about Swankie Blankie either. Dreamscapes Baby is not affiliated in any way with the company and we do not sell their products, but perhaps someday in the future I may think about it. At the current time, they could be considered a direct competitor for my own line of custom minky blankets.
No, this is about the original and the knockoff. As a designer, I know firsthand how important it is to create something new and different. Every piece I create has to be something no one else has. Even clients that send me pictures of items they like are quickly told that we can use the picture for inspiration, but Two Crowns Bedding will not duplicate the item. It's important to me to not ripoff the designer who had the vision to create it in the first place.
Even though our custom baby blankets may look similar to what you see on the market today, the main difference is that we are the ONLY fully custom blanket creator. We aren't going to tell you what goes together, we let you decide. Want black and white zebra with orange satin ruffles? We'll make it! Want your school colors in blue and burgundy? Great! We have it! That's where we have set ourselves apart. While we don't currently offer premade blankets, we are working on creating some. As of right now, your blanket is custom made to order exactly to how you want it. You choose where your monogramming will be, what font you want it in, and what thread color. Who are we to tell you what is and is not a correct color combination? That's why we do what we do!
Again though, this is not how this post began. What started this heated topic is the fact that a business friend of mine found out she was being knocked off by two different stay at home moms starting their own business. One was knocking her designs off without the same quality, and the other was supposed to be an authorized retailer, but was selling the designs as her own. Without her images being watermarked, my friend said these two ladies used the pictures of her items from her page and was using them as their own without giving any credit to the original. That's what blows my mind. On top of that, I was recently shopping at a nearby store and I put my son's BabyLegs on since it was cold, and a lady stopped me and asked if they were BabyLegs. Why yes they are, I said! I absolutely love BabyLegs! Her response to me was this: "Well, I prefer to support the work at home mom who makes them herself." What?? And her reply was said with utmost snobbery at that. Believe me, I'm all about supporting other WAHMs and their businesses, especially when they are doing something new and interesting, but supporting people who have no creativity of their own and instead steal other people's designs is not what I'm about.
Our world is full of knockoffs. People who buy knockoff designer purses to have the "look" and the "name" without the cost are only hurting the people who originally took their time to design something beautiful. That's not admirable. And no, I'm not one that can afford the latest designer bags and clothing, but trust me, I would rather wear Target label clothing for cheap than buy a knockoff designer label. But then again, you also realize that even the cheap authentic was created because something on the runway made it a fashion statement and it trickled down into the department stores and hence, another Devil Wears Prada reference could be stated here.
So maybe you can't always have the original and authentic. Maybe our society will always allow a version of a knockoff. But don't ever forget the originals behind everything we wear and buy. They are the true artists.
And being a true artist is what I aspire to be.
Dreaming Up Originality,
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
The Latest in Kids Fashion??
I was just watching NBC Today's show and they had a segment on children's fashion today. They featured a little girl wearing a rainbow striped sweater, plaid pleated skirt, brown and pink polka dot leggings and black military style boots. And for some reason the host stated that if parents came dressed like this we would look like we just got out of bed, but for kids it works. Um...I hate to tell you this but NO it doesn't! Who in their right mind would dress their kids like this? It looks like they dressed themselves in the morning and walked out that way. Or that dad dressed them. Just teasing dads!
It gets me to thinking: how often do we look up to designers telling us what is hot for the season? If you haven't noticed, most items fit for the runway are not fit for regular every day people like you and me. They are designed for a particular body style and will only compliment that style and no other.
I leave it up to the every day moms and dads out there to decide what fashion truly is. If no one buys it, then who cares who designed it?
Have you ever walked by a display and all the manequins in the window were layered in what seems to be every item of clothing in the store? And yet, no one ever actually wears the clothing that way? It may be a little known secret that visual merchandisers responsible for the displays in stores layer things to show options and to fit as many items as possible onto one manequin so you can see a larger variety of clothing. However, since real people don't dress that way, it doesn't always work effectively.
There's a story my parents tell that when I was young (about 6 perhaps) I asked if I could do the displays in their store window (my parents owned a retail store in Oklahoma City, OK). I could use whatever I wanted. So, I went about looking for items to dress the display manequins and what I chose were every day items that you would wear by themself, not layered. You can imagine how shocked my parents were when they sold out of those items that same week! Another time, I was an assistant manager at a clothing store in Plano, TX and at one point we didn't have a visual merchandiser to do the displays so I took it upon myself to change them. I used actual matching pieces and accessories, clothing that you could easily see putting together as an outfit and walking out of the store looking great. Perhaps I'm crazy like that, but those particular items were the first to sell in the store. So much so that I had to constantly change our displays because we would sell the outfits right off of the manequins!
And then the corporate office hired a VM and it went back to layers and layers and less and less sales. Sadly, that company soon went out of business. Turns out, not everyone appreciates paying cheaper prices for something that falls apart after one wash. Myself included. But hey, it was a job and a stepping stone for my Neiman Marcus experience.
I guess fashion has always been in my blood, and I know what I like when I see it. That's my hope for the boutique as well, that I can offer the best in children's fashion without sacrificing quality. I won't sell anything that I don't think fits with my goals for the boutique.
And you won't find pictures on the boutique of kids wearing multiple layers. ;)
Dreaming up new ideas daily,
It gets me to thinking: how often do we look up to designers telling us what is hot for the season? If you haven't noticed, most items fit for the runway are not fit for regular every day people like you and me. They are designed for a particular body style and will only compliment that style and no other.
I leave it up to the every day moms and dads out there to decide what fashion truly is. If no one buys it, then who cares who designed it?
Have you ever walked by a display and all the manequins in the window were layered in what seems to be every item of clothing in the store? And yet, no one ever actually wears the clothing that way? It may be a little known secret that visual merchandisers responsible for the displays in stores layer things to show options and to fit as many items as possible onto one manequin so you can see a larger variety of clothing. However, since real people don't dress that way, it doesn't always work effectively.
There's a story my parents tell that when I was young (about 6 perhaps) I asked if I could do the displays in their store window (my parents owned a retail store in Oklahoma City, OK). I could use whatever I wanted. So, I went about looking for items to dress the display manequins and what I chose were every day items that you would wear by themself, not layered. You can imagine how shocked my parents were when they sold out of those items that same week! Another time, I was an assistant manager at a clothing store in Plano, TX and at one point we didn't have a visual merchandiser to do the displays so I took it upon myself to change them. I used actual matching pieces and accessories, clothing that you could easily see putting together as an outfit and walking out of the store looking great. Perhaps I'm crazy like that, but those particular items were the first to sell in the store. So much so that I had to constantly change our displays because we would sell the outfits right off of the manequins!
And then the corporate office hired a VM and it went back to layers and layers and less and less sales. Sadly, that company soon went out of business. Turns out, not everyone appreciates paying cheaper prices for something that falls apart after one wash. Myself included. But hey, it was a job and a stepping stone for my Neiman Marcus experience.
I guess fashion has always been in my blood, and I know what I like when I see it. That's my hope for the boutique as well, that I can offer the best in children's fashion without sacrificing quality. I won't sell anything that I don't think fits with my goals for the boutique.
And you won't find pictures on the boutique of kids wearing multiple layers. ;)
Dreaming up new ideas daily,
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
What Happened to Customer Service?
It's almost that time again! The Christmas shopping rush is about to begin. Stores are already putting out their holiday items and decorations. We've somehow bypassed Halloween and Thanksgiving Day here in the US to target one of the most commercial holidays that exists. The problem I have isn't that stores are rapidly feeding the upcoming frenzy, but the lack of proper customer service that accompanies it. Many of the workers are part time and new to the store and can't answer simple questions. If you have a problem with an item it's hard to get it replaced or your money back. I've eaten at restaurants where my food was cold by the time I got it, my order was messed up entirely, and in one case the waitress actually lost my credit card (thankfully another patron found it and turned it in). And none of those places offered any type of consolation for what happened, just an insincere apology.
Now, we ate at a great restaurant one day in Denton with friends and somehow our order was misplaced and it was an hour before we got to eat! We were enjoying time with friends and chatting but Aidan was getting restless. The waitress brought him out some milk for free, and the manager comped most of our meal...and we never even complained! Talk about service! We weren't upset by it, we weren't complaining about it, and yet they felt the need to be proactive and take care of us. We love this restaurant and of course we'll eat there again. But, the lesson is one about customer service in today's society.
Because it is so important for my customers to have a satisfying shopping experience, I am completely proactive when things don't go as planned. I take pride in the fact that I will do whatever it takes (within reason) to make you happy. You aren't my customers, you're my friends. If you've ever ordered from the boutique, I hope you had an enjoyable experience. We have a guestbook page and we appreciate the wonderful comments we've received. If at any time you are unhappy with your service, please call us directly at 1-888-548-7641 or email daretodream@dreamscapesbaby.com and we'll take care of you. That's our pledge.
Oh! And if you are one of the millions of people who are dreading the crowded shopping malls this holiday season, feel free to stay in your pjs and order from us online or over the phone! We can even box up your gift for you and your shopping is done. Not sure what someone would want? We also carry gift certificates in varying denominations to make the pickiest person happy. Taking care of you is what we do, and it's what we enjoy doing.
Dreaming of a Snow White Holiday,
Now, we ate at a great restaurant one day in Denton with friends and somehow our order was misplaced and it was an hour before we got to eat! We were enjoying time with friends and chatting but Aidan was getting restless. The waitress brought him out some milk for free, and the manager comped most of our meal...and we never even complained! Talk about service! We weren't upset by it, we weren't complaining about it, and yet they felt the need to be proactive and take care of us. We love this restaurant and of course we'll eat there again. But, the lesson is one about customer service in today's society.
Because it is so important for my customers to have a satisfying shopping experience, I am completely proactive when things don't go as planned. I take pride in the fact that I will do whatever it takes (within reason) to make you happy. You aren't my customers, you're my friends. If you've ever ordered from the boutique, I hope you had an enjoyable experience. We have a guestbook page and we appreciate the wonderful comments we've received. If at any time you are unhappy with your service, please call us directly at 1-888-548-7641 or email daretodream@dreamscapesbaby.com and we'll take care of you. That's our pledge.
Oh! And if you are one of the millions of people who are dreading the crowded shopping malls this holiday season, feel free to stay in your pjs and order from us online or over the phone! We can even box up your gift for you and your shopping is done. Not sure what someone would want? We also carry gift certificates in varying denominations to make the pickiest person happy. Taking care of you is what we do, and it's what we enjoy doing.
Dreaming of a Snow White Holiday,
Monday, September 1, 2008
Hello, I'm Amber, and I'm a workaholic...
Now that it's the close of the Labor Day holiday, I am officially back at work doing everything and anything with the store and our upcoming Spring 09 season. That's right people, it's already that time again when we buyers are out there at the markets making our choices on our Spring lineup. And let me tell ya, we have quite a few surprises in store! Unfortunately, those details are first disclosed through the Dreamscapes Baby newsletter. If you haven't joined up yet, go to the Dreamscapes Baby website and on the left side is a newsletter subscription box! Trust me, I won't be spamming your inbox every day. That would take a lot of time and with two kids, time is something I don't fool around with! So right now, we're doing a monthly newsletter and every month is a discount coupon just for you!
You know you love your job when you can't turn your mind off of work. Even though my family spent the holiday at the lake with more family, I was completely at a loss without my cell phone, email, and internet! I guess I have one of those creative minds that just won't turn off and without an outlet, I go crazy!
So what's on my mind? First off, the Appaman Labor Day sale kept me extremely busy! It's already got me thinking about the next sale or promotion. I think it's only fair that we offer something special every once in awhile. On top of that, we just created our own signature giftwrapping! To add to the shopping experience, we want to offer a unique gift wrap option for certain items (unfortunately, we can't do giftwrap on all items...yet). We already wrap our warehouse items in blue and black tissue paper to make it extra special, but our giftwrap will add a black box to the packaging with a beautiful blue satin ribbon. The option for giftwrap will start appearing on special items this week! Perhaps we'll make a list of brands that are included and pricing options on this blog after it's all said and done.
What else? Well, the Spring line of course! I can't wait to reveal the new Spring Appaman, as well as let you in on the new lines we plan to carry!
I'm also enjoying blogging about life and children's fashion, and I hope you enjoy this blog as well. Thanks for recent comments on the PoshMama award! Now I have to live up to the hype!
Off to Dreamland,
You know you love your job when you can't turn your mind off of work. Even though my family spent the holiday at the lake with more family, I was completely at a loss without my cell phone, email, and internet! I guess I have one of those creative minds that just won't turn off and without an outlet, I go crazy!
So what's on my mind? First off, the Appaman Labor Day sale kept me extremely busy! It's already got me thinking about the next sale or promotion. I think it's only fair that we offer something special every once in awhile. On top of that, we just created our own signature giftwrapping! To add to the shopping experience, we want to offer a unique gift wrap option for certain items (unfortunately, we can't do giftwrap on all items...yet). We already wrap our warehouse items in blue and black tissue paper to make it extra special, but our giftwrap will add a black box to the packaging with a beautiful blue satin ribbon. The option for giftwrap will start appearing on special items this week! Perhaps we'll make a list of brands that are included and pricing options on this blog after it's all said and done.
What else? Well, the Spring line of course! I can't wait to reveal the new Spring Appaman, as well as let you in on the new lines we plan to carry!
I'm also enjoying blogging about life and children's fashion, and I hope you enjoy this blog as well. Thanks for recent comments on the PoshMama award! Now I have to live up to the hype!
Off to Dreamland,
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