Visting Virginia.....

COUNTING the reasons for CHANGE!

Pumpkin Patch Picking

Plenty of Slides gives us Plenty of Smiles!

Great memories of Cox Farms

Playing Peakaboo

Oh, What a Wonderful Sunny Day!

A Pretty Pink Parcel

I have of always hoped each of the products that we offer would be considered unique, a tiny treasure to be cherished in the eyes of their new owner. Special occasion hair jewels, each tiny face a reflection of the heartfelt joy that it brings me in creating these timeless keepsakes.
It is my pleasure to now offer a "Certificate of Authenticity" with each of my Sweet Bon Bon hairbows. Each certificate lists the items name, the date created, artist signature, and a wax stamped Eclectique Soul "E". Nestled in hot pink paper, and wrapped with a chocolate brown bow these petal pink packages are sure to be a pleasant surprise!

Gobble..Gobble....

Nina & Nathaniel
Maria & Marco

Sneak a Peak at the Holidays

My apologies for the delay.
I am please to introduce Lovely Lila, Dracula Drake & Frakenstein Frances.
Many more holiday friends coming soon.....

Walt Disney World 2008

Plum Tuckered Out!

A Magical Parade

Just one of Julian's Many Favorites

My all time Favorite ride, Very Inspirational

Please Paparazzi! No Pictures! No Pictures!

Safari Mickey


Very, Deep in thought.........


Did someone say Meekrat Manors On?


a Majestic Owl From the Tree of Life


Koda, Kenai and Julian posing for a quick pic......


Julian & Safari Minnie


Up Close & Personal


Which is bigger the cup or Julian......

Two Weeks in Fabulously Fun Florida! The Sunshine State!

Oops! Late July-August not so Sunny, more like the Rainy State. Hurricane Season.

Granted it rained everyday like clock work but we were blessed to have memories to last a lifetime and some not too shabby photos to boot. Lots of great inspiration from the trip, so look for new pieces in the next few weeks and an all New Updated Etsy shop for the fall season!

Shauna: Inspired by the Classics

I can remember the Eighties like it was yesterday.

Banana clips, Neon clothing, Blue eyeshadow, and really big hair! Let us never forget the Oh SOO Fashionable Legwarmer, headband, over-sized-ripped shoulder-sweatshirt trend that took over the country!

Here are a few of MY Favorite Eighties Memories:

Cartoons: "the Care bears", "Danger Mouse" "Scooby-Doo" and a favorite"the Smurfs".

Daytime Shows: "Little House ", "Fraggle Rock", "Facts of Life"and "Silver Spoons".

Evening Shows: "the Muppet Show", " Wild Kingdom", "the Cosby Show" and "Buck Rogers"

How about Movies: "the Dark Crystal", "Purple Rain", "the Goonies" and ahh..."Gremlins"!

On the Radio: Run DMC, New Edition, Michael Jackson vs. Prince .....and the lists can go on forever and ever!

Whatever your fondest memory, the Eighties were a time that none of us will EVER forget :)

Many, Many Thanks...

EclectiQue Soul P&G got its first pieces of "press" this month!

A shout-out by the creative people over at Cuteable. com, and then a generous feature by a wonderful couple over at MommyDaddyblog.com! Words can not express my joy and utter happiness at receiving such kind words and enthusiasm for our products. I am truly over the Moon & Stars!

We also sponsored a giveaway over at Mommy Daddy Blog, with two winners receiving a double scoop of our friend "Cherries Jubilee" hair bows. It was a pleasure to be featured by both sites, and hope this is only a glimpse of many things to come in the future.

Please, stop by the sites to see what else they've got going on!

Julian's Almost Three

So these past few weeks have flown by! One minute it was Memorial Day, the next its Fathers Day, and I've no doubt that if I blink it'll be Christmas!

Now Fathers Day is special for my family, because Julian was born almost three years ago on Fathers Day :) I have fluctuated from day to day on what to do for his "Third" birthday. For the the past few years we've driven to Macon and celebrated with family and friends, swimming, barbecuing and having a merry old time. Well this year, I've been working on the business and so we made plans early in the year to go to Disney later in the summer with the National Urban League conference which will be held in Orlando this year (we've been taking Julian since he was born).

Now all of that does not change the wanting to do something special on the actual day this year. So I've thought about going to see Julians first movie feature "Kung Fu Panda", I've pondered whether I'm up for Chucky Cheese (we've only been once so far) and I've struggled with the possible purchase of a pet. My wonderful husband is into the movie, hesitant on the C.Cheese outing (Pizza Yes!/Other peoples kids, and germs NO!) and definitely not into the pet idea. I'm talking about a little tiny goldfish, maybe two. I agreed when Julian was born that until we got more square footage... No Dogs, No Cats, No Birds, No Bunnies, etc...etc... It seems I've got a bit of a Dr.Doolittle thing :)

That being said my weeks truly have also flown by updating the website, sending out press releases, sample kits and generally handling the "marketing" leg work that goes with starting a business. Thus, my poor blog has suffered a little, but have no fear....I should back into the swing of things in the next few days. I'll update as much as I can, wish me luck :)

Tahirah

Childrens Books

I have long been a huge fan of childrens books, and illustrators. Like most kids I spent a days dreaming of what I'd be when I grew up, maybe illustrate for Disney, design creatures for Jim Hensons Muppet Factory...etc...etc...



Most of all a as I grew up the dream that stuck was that of illustrating children's books. I was familiar with "Toot & Puddle" and Kadir Nelson way before I even had a child of my own. One of my favorite times of day is Bedtime Story with Julian. He loves to pick out his book for the evening and "Read" to us. I'd love to share our favorites with you, and so here is "While Mama had a Quick Little Chat" by Amy Reichert, illustrated by Alexandra Boiger. This is a fanciful tale of a little girls evening of surprises, all while Mama takes a "Quick" phone call. The story is delightful, the pictures are vivid and take you into this wonderful world of Big Bands, Magicians and Party Cakes!

Summertime Designs.. This Week on Esty

Glory-Summer

Available as Invitation Pack or Notecard & Sticker set

Cherries Jubliee Double Scoop

Cherries Jubilee Single Scoop

Starting a Website. Building a Business..

The Early Days.........

Above the make shift Photo area created with a TON of technical savy! Two weeks of Aluminum foil, lampshades, light bulbs, spotlights, laudry baskets, yada...yada...yada..... and Finally Perfection! Lets take a look at the pictures. What do we have? ZIP! No matter how hard we tried the pictures never turned out right. Frustration builds, Days pass, time moves forward and then we decide to go with what we've got. It may not be perfect, but something is better than nothing (not one of my prouder moments). Just as we're about to launch, a ray of sunshine on a cloudy day. The Genius advice to take photos outdoors, using natural light. Oh what a difference! Zippity Do Dah! Yatzee!

Night Owls Early Landing

The PAPER part of Eclectique Soul Paper and Gifts is Finally Availabe on Etsy later today!!!!

Lets keep those fingers crossed, the best is yet to come :)

"Happy Thursdays!"

I'd like to devote Thursdays to the little pieces of happiness I find on the Internet. These treasures excite, inspire and remind me of the possibilities. I'm calling them "Happy Thursdays", just in time for weekend shopping :)

My first selections are........

Ali's Aprons are beautiful gifts just in time for Mothers Day. Designed by a fellow Georgian, it was kismet when I stumbled upon these pearls as I was checking out my local shops. They are just too pretty to even think about using for actual cooking, aptly named "June Cleaver" their perfect for Summer Entertaining!

Etsy:http://alisaprons.etsy.com/

Blog: http://alischeaperbythehalfdozen.blogspot.com/

Brought to you by Red Marionette, a imaginative woman who dreamt up this funky line of whimsical gift card holders, finger puppets and more. Her creatures take me back to some of my favorite caricatures like "The How many licks does it take? Tootsie Roll Owl" and the spunky pink octopus in "Finding Nemo":)

Etsy: http://redmarionette.etsy.com/

Blog: http://redmarionette.blogspot.com/

These adorable magnets were created by Acrylicana, a super company that makes these and a variety of other goodies. You will find everything to be mouth wateringly delicious, but with none of the guilty calories!

Etsy: http://www.acrylicana.etsy.com/

Website: http://acrylicana.com/

A Little bit of Fun......

So last night I decided that the only way to clear the "Voices" from my head was to write everything down on a TO DO LIST! I tried several times to jot down everything on a notepad, but when I found I'd gone through several sheets of paper I decided to go "old school" and type one up an Outline form one instead.

When I finally decided to lay my head on my pillow sometime between 3am and 4am, I could not get the smell of Lysol Cleanser out of my nostrils. Mind you I cleaned the bathroom around noon earlier in the day, SCARY!. Its almost 5am and when I slowly drift to sleep.....

Now any other morning Julian (my almost 3year old) would sleep in a little, but this morning he was bright eyed and bushy tailed. After spending the first half of the day indoors, I could no longer contain him and so I set him free outdoors. I checked on him every few minutes or so and found not long after he'd watered his seeds, rode his tricycle and this beautiful masterpiece all over the balcony.

What I'm Working On........

A Sneak peak:)

So these past few weeks have been hectic!
I've launched a website, created a blog, started selling on etsy and continued designing new items to sell....all while developing a marketing plan, deciding on pakaging ! The world of a Mompreneur is no JOKE. I feel as if April is almost over and that I need to get started on fall!

Allow Me to Introduce Myself......

My name is Tahirah and I just started a niche craft company that designs and creates a host of treasures. Currently I've been dividing my time between a line of hair bows and a line of custom invitations and announcements. I have lived in Georgia about 13 years, and I am originally from NJ. I truly have a passion for creating & designing keepsakes that can be enjoyed by everyone, and Eclectique Soul Paper & Gifts was created with the goal to" Celebrate the Individual in You".

Those are basics, but to get a better picture of the person that I am or as I often like to say the Jeopardy questions. I'll share a few insights.....

1. I am a happily married SAHM with a little boy (he's 2yrs old).

It may seem weird that I love designing new hair bows, but I suppose its the little girl in me.

2. I do the majority of my creating after midnight when every ones sleeping, to the movie "Transformers". Its strange but true, I'm no Science fiction fan (I tend to lean towards musicals and old classics... I find a lot of ideas there), and yet I can watch that movie Over, and Over, and over. For a while there I found myself quoting lines in my everyday life!

3. Some of the best gifts I've ever received from my husband were gift certificates to Joanns and Micheals, two of my favorite stores. It makes it seem like every time I go its Christmas and My Birthday, and theres no credit card bill at the end of the month. Yeah!

4. Ice Cream as I've said on many occasions is in fact a major food group!

I have had people disagree and try and tell me differently. I've met people who have tried to sway me towards cookies, cupcakes, cake or even pie but to their chagrin Ice cream ALWAYS comes out on top. When I had my son, co workers gave me gift certificates to Bruesters Ice Cream. Now it probably didn't help with losing the baby weight, but would I complain? :)

I mean I'll make decisions on where to eat out based on the dessert menu.

5. Coach, Prada, Bottega....not me....... I have carried some type of Hello Kitty purse everyday for the past 9 years. Big, little, pink, blue, long strap, short strap it doesn't matter to me. When I had to upgrade to a "Mommy purse" a few years back. You know, the one that's as big as a backpack, has pockets and "caves" so deep that you could probably loose a small dog in it and weighs as much as a small child. I was able to find a new Hello Kitty purse that met my needs to carry extra bottles, pacifiers, crayons and small toy trains. They make me HAPPY, and keep me young. I generally get them from the local Sanrio store, or as gifts.

Well, that's plenty for now. I hope to continue to share my creations and a little bit of myself as Eclectique Soul continues to grow.

I'd love to hear from you, so drop me a line!