To market, to market to buy a fat hen....

All day Saturday was spent at the San Francisco Trade Show! All day!!! Come 8:30 we had loaded up in Kayse's car (myself, my mom and Kayse) and headed down to see what new items we could bring into the store.

We found some great stuff. Aisle after aisle we browsed and decided and purchased or moved on. We were able to get inspired by a few items and others we put in reorders for items we had sold out of.

We found the cutest new line that we will be carrying called Baby Steps. It is this great gift idea where you can stamp your new babies feet on a framed wall hanging. We loved it and know you will too!

We also found this wonderful new line of diaper bags that we are giddy about, you will never have seen them before and we know you will be dying to carry one on your shoulder now an even after your baby outgrows a diaper bag. They are beautiful purses that you will not want to leave home without! A bit like Mary Poppins quilt bag.....just a spoonful of sugar..lada da da da...

So shopping, browsing and more shopping...then lunch came and after putting in a few orders while stuffing in a bit of protein it was back to shopping.

We will be bringing back in the Nowali slippers, as well as more Goody Goody slippers both in the satin and now in the leather.

Oh and I can't wait for you to see our new Mushroom Table and mushroom toadstools that we will be getting in. Fairyland here we come!

So starting next week it will be raining boxes on our store...all for you! Come check out I'm a Little Teapot and see what new, exciting and wonderful items we found at our 12 hour day at Market!

Surprise Surprise...we are going high tec...Online Shopping here we come!

Okay everybody, ready 1,2,3..SURPRISE! We are opening up an online store!!! Yeah!!! Its true, really we are doing it. It is almost done and we are so excited to offer this to you all, those people that have called from so far away asking us to ship items they can't find anywhere else. Well, just for you, we will! So shop away, we will ship away, and when we get new items in, we will be able to offer you a reserve so you can buy them before they sell out.

Its a bit scary creating an online store. Scary and frustrating as Kayse has found out. Scary because that means that not only will we be running this store, but will now have to ship everyday, be in contact with customers everyday and really run 2 stores in one...oh boy, I am excited but nervous! Frustrating because, as we have come to find out, nobody can go into your brain and really know exactly what you want your webpage to look like. And, even when you tell them the look you are going for, well, they don't quite get it. And then the whole money thing...jeez, why does all this fun stuff have to cost so much money???

To my dear friend Alex on the east coast, here you go! You have been asking and asking when we were going to get an online store...well...are you happy ;0) We will be getting in more fireman rain jackets so you can tell ALL your friends where they can buy one and if they want to buy something else, all the better....he he...

So check back soon and shop away~ We look forward to shipping you a bit of inspiration.

~Ashley and Kayse

What Fun, a New Window

Yesterday Kayse, my mom and myself spent all morning and afternoon putting in a new window. This is the part I love the most about our store. The creativity! Coming up with new ideas that wont be seen other places, trying to figure out how to make them come alive, and then actually doing the work.

If you are like my sister and I, you are probably inspired by Anthropology's windows. Every month or so they change their windows and every time I am blown away by how amazing it makes me feel. The textures they put together, the ideas that just amaze me, everything is just so darn cool! So walking away from that store with these feelings, Kayse and I decided we would want to give that feeling to our customers.

Come stop by and let us know what you think.... last time the teacup ladder waterfall, this month the swinging girls under a rain shower of funky leaves...next time... oh what fun~

Moving in...a New adventure...

So much to do, so little time!




So... here we go, we got a new place!! We got our dream place! Now comes the fun part..not really..the moving. So with the help of Kayse's husband, Nick, we loaded up a truck and spent an afternoon moving. Kayse was not much help with the lifting, being pregnant and all, but she sure was able to organize! 

So here we are with all this space and we have 4 days to get it u

p and running..my oh my how the clock is ticking! 

Such a list of things to do: find something to hang all our things, make something to hang all our things...figure out window display..find a cash register...clean...let people know we moved...figure out our new hours...have a sign made...find something to do with our kids while we do all this...yikes! 

Our first window display...better be good! This was our chance to shine!

Finally with some quick thinking and a lot of moving here and moving there and then back to here, we got I'm a Little Teapot able to open her doors! It really was wonderful, to walk into our new store and see what we had accomplished. I felt so professional. I couldn't believe that we did this, that we had created such a real professional store...I was amazed! 

My oh my did people respond. They loved it! They really loved it!! The smiles on Kayse and my faces beamed. The response was overwhelming. Our windows were loved, our set up was enjoyed and the parties were a hit. People were busy buying! Yeah, this was going to work.....

What more could we ask? 

Managing Motherhood and the rest of life, can it be done?

So here we are, working mothers! I am sure that most most of you moms can relate to that swirling question of "how do I balance being a good mother and working?" Well I have not come up with the answers, not even close. But I am here to support you in all your efforts.

As Kayse and I have figured out, it takes a village to raise children and thank god we have our family.

Those days are plenty where we are at work with our girls, busily messing up the store and re-arranging! Thanks girls but I just don't think the pinwheels need to be in every section of every inch of the store. It is frustrating and tiring bringing our kids to work with us. But it is a reality much of the time. So with many laughs and more bottles of wine, I raise my glass to you all! And to those of you who happen to be shopping when our children are there...thanks for understanding! 

What is I'm a Little Teapot anyways???

I’m a Little Teapot- Finally a place to get excited about!

If you have a child then you know that daunting task that rears it’s head ..the same time every year….your child’s Birthday Party! This panic arrives when you realize that for the past few years you have done the same thing over and over and now your child is asking for something different, something special. And quite honestly, you are hoping for the same thing. Something different! The very idea of planning a party, figuring out where to buy your cake, where you are going to hold this event and then, the very last straw, chasing after your child’s friends, at the party, for hours on end, completely forgetting why you are even having this celebration in the first place. By the end of the day you are exhausted, poor, and really wishing your child was born on a leap year so that you could just rest one year and try it again the next.

Well, dear exhausted parent, I have your solution. I’m A Little Teapot has opened it’s doors just for you! We are your wish come true. We listened and we understand and now we are here to help. We are an all inclusive party destination that takes the joy of your child’s day and brings it back to enjoyment. We provide you with invitations, a host, games, food and a craft. You are finally invited to be a guest at your own party. Why not come and sip tea and eat scones while your child’s enjoys his or her very special day. Leave all the party planning to us this year and relax.

I’m a Little Teapot was started by two sisters. Because we are mothers ourselves, we knew what fellow parents were looking for. We want you to enjoy the moments that pass by so quickly in your child’s life. We have created a boutique where you can fill out a wish list, send in your party goers and leave the rest to us. We even can have grandma call in, purchase a gift for your child and have it wrapped and waiting for that special day. And….we have compared the costs of a party and can bring this to you for very close to what you would spend if you did it yourself!

Ashley and Kayse do not want you… as a parent and shopper… to be overwhelmed when you step into their store. They want you to feel inspired, refreshed and excited about what the world offers you and your children. Personally inspired by Anthropology and European designs, Ashley and Kayse set out to create a unique boutique that pulls the shopper into a magical experience. With clothing and gifts from newborn to 8 years old, we have been inspired by the past and try to re-create that charm, along with bringing in the new.

We welcome you to step into our imagination, and come experience what I’m a Little Teapot has to offer.We know you will be as inspired as we are, and we look forward to sharing the dreams and magic that are, not only within your child, but also live within your heart.Ashley and Kayse

Looking back over year.....

I'm
a Little Teapot.. how our vision, our dream...became a reality! It has been just about a year now since my sister and my dream became a reality. It all started as some idle conversation a few years ago. Both of us admitting that we would love to run a store, be able to travel, shop, cloth our children and show our finds to people that cared.Well... if you believe in the Law of attraction at all then you know that once you put out a desire, and you allow yourself to receive it, YOU GET IT!I had just moved up to Sebastopol from southern California when our idea brought us to a building off of the Gravenstein Hwy outside of Sebastopol. There we were, singing our first lease with a landlord that believed in our dream. She was wonderful, she could see the excitement in our eyes and the drive in our desire. She took a huge chance on us and we were thrilled. Now, here we were with a space, a HUGE space and it needed to be filled. Originally, we had wanted to provide for others, what we felt we couldn't find. A place to hold birthday parties that didn't have huge dancing scary stuffed animal, where pizza wasn't the only source of nourishment, and where you could come to people that understood what you were going through as a parent. But then with all this space we needed to fill it.
Let me just say, on a side note...Kayse and I had no idea what we were doing. Neither of us had ever run a store before. We didn't know where to start. All we knew is that we needed to buy things that people would, in turn, want to buy. So, here we are, needing to fill the space and the most important thing, we needed to get money to do make this happen. Because I had just sold my house I decided that we would take a loan from my house money and figuring out how much we needed on a lunch napkin, we started down that road of shop owner. Quickly we booked flights to different trade shows. Because we had been raised by an artist (http://wwwmarilynradzat.blogspot.com/), we at least knew what a trade show was. Bags packed, a new business Amex in hand, we flew to Seattle, Las Vegas and drove to San Francisco. Running from stall to stall trying to get it all in, we pointed and purchased what we thought would be wonderful. We wanted something that was different, something that nobody else would sell, something that we would never cause us to be in competition with Target.
Now, with merchandise coming in, we had to have to place to put all this merchandise. The floor, unfortunately, would just not do. So off to the Alameda swap meet. We arrived with an empty truck and sleepy eyes. 6am, shopping begin! After a successful day and a now very full truck we brought our finds back to our store and began placing and moving and re-moving.
All this as well as figure out how to tell people we even existed...business cards, advertising...SIGNS! The wave of exhaustion swept over Kayse and I, but along we trotted. Finally, boxes started to arrive. It was like Christmas, everyday..opening what we ordered and pricing it and placing it and standing back and admiring the shear joy of the process!
Soon opening day came! We were ready, we were going to allow others to come into our store and we were going to cross our fingers that they would love what we created and want to buy something... EVERYTHING..anything???... we really needed to book parties and we really
needed to make some money. This whole buying thing sure does put a damper on the wallet.
Opening day...not one person came :( But that's okay, we didn't expect much, we were still swimming in excitement and we were very hopeful. Soon people started to come. People loved what we had created. They actually bought things. They raved, they stood in awh.. they made us smile
because they were able to appreciate what we had created. Soon parties were being booked and the time came when we need to re-order items. We were selling out! Thinking we could save money if we made our own cakes and scones we decided to put in a small commercial kitchen. What a nightmare! In the end it was a very costly mistake, but my oh my did we learn a lot from that process!
Well...time sure does fly when your having fun! Our lease was coming to an end and we had to decided first of all if we were going to continue this adventure and second if we were going to stay in this location. Being in the location that we were in, we decided that we needed foot traffic, we needed more people coming in and we needed an over all better location. We were doing well with the birthday parties but not for our boutique.

So it was decided, we would move. When we first wanted to start our store we looked in Santa Rosa, and found our dream location..RAILROAD SQUARE. There was this one store that was exactly what we wanted, but we couldn't afford the rent and knew it deserved what they were asking. Now on our trek to find our new location we found ourselves standing in front of the very store we had wanted originally. We took a chance, called the landlord and told her what we had, and what we could pay. She must had been waiting for us because she let us in! Our vision had come true!! We were the proud owners of a boutique now located Historic Railroad Sq. We were big time now baby! He he...