{ Brightest Crayons } What you wear = who you are

Remember a few years ago when you walked into a store in the mall, like say. . . American Eagle, or Aeropostale, and all of their graphic tees had some type of beer, drug, or strip club reference?
I do.
Yuck!

I am happy to report that many, many of those derogatory tees are being replaced by real art and humor.

I know that these stores I listed are for teenagers/adults but I still don't agree with 14 year old's walking around in Jack Daniels t-shirts or "Bobby Joe's Gentleman's Club" tees. Thank you to all of the graphic designers/screenprinters that decided that these shirts are distasteful!

How can our children feel good about themselves when they are dressed in clothing with rude comments or other all-around bad messages?

What you wear reflects how you feel about yourself. We, as parents, know this.
I strive to stay away from the morally questionable whenever I create any of our t-shirt designs. But I have to say that it is easy when it comes to dressing cute little preschoolers, toddlers and babies! 

One of the designs my boys get the most compliments on is our "Brightest Crayon in the Box" tee.

This is one of the first Cantaloupe Corner designs every made. I loved that the message is uplifting and makes my son feel "bright". I think he is such a smart boy and it was so fun to create a shirt to let him know how I feel about him.

We need to let our kids know that we think they are cute, smart, funny, clever, and so much fun! As their parents, we need to help them develop a love for themselves. That is why I try so hard to keep our t-shirt messages upbeat, fun, and uplifting.

You child can be a Super Hero, a Monkey, a Train Engineer (my son's favorite), or a handsome Little Mister.

I believe that what your child wears reflects how you feel about them. You dressed them, right?  (OK, not always, my youngest insists that he wears the same 3 shirts every day. But I buy/make those shirts for him.)

Keep it fun. Keep it clever. And Always keep it on the "bright" side.

Chocolate Chip TOUGH!

Today feels like a chocolate-licious day. It's Valentines Day, a day of flowers and chocolates and treats of all kinds. I'm very partial to chocolate.
In fact, our house smells like chocolate cookies, mmmm. We are cooking up goodies for our Valentines.

Today just feels like the right day to introduce our rich, chocolate brown t-shirts with a new design!

Chocolate chip cookie anyone?



Tough Cookie



Here is the inspiration for this design:

My fearless 2-year-old. Nothing crumbles this cookie. He is rough and tough! Bumps and bruises don't even phase him. I am sure that most of this comes with being the second child and having to fight big brother for everything.

Whatever the reason, he really is one "Tough Cookie".

The Tough Cookie shirt is now available in our Etsy Shop. And now you can get it on yummy, kid friendly, chocolate brown.

New Colors!

 I am happy to post that we are adding some more color to our line!

Yes sir-ee, we love our boy's tees and we wanted to bring in a new boy color!
I just barely got our new shipment of BROWN toddler t-shirts!!    Excited??   Me too!!!

My 4 year old has made this "I Heart Trains" shirt his new favorite. He wears it every time it is clean.

 And the best part is that it takes a lot to make a brown shirt look dirty, and that means a lot to mother of 2 (almost 3) little boys.  Definitely mother approved.

As of today, all of our boy's tee designs are now available on brown shirts.


And if that isn't enough excitement for today, we have a new onesie color too!

Watch for our new NAVY BLUE onesies, popping up at Cantaloupe Corner.

We're Open!

Our Shop is officially open for business! Check out all of our ink-free Cantaloupe Corner designs at http://www.cantaloupecorner.etsy.com/

Here's a new tee to celebrate!

Bubble Dots - First Birthday Shirt

 Simple, fun, and bubbly!  Perfect for pictures and parties.
Find this new design here.

Personalize your shirt by adding your the birthday kid's name on the back. Add this item to your cart with your shirt.

Happy Grand Re-Opening.

Watch for sales coming today and yet another new design coming next week!

Yipee!

Countdown. 5. . .4. . .3. . .2. . .1. . .

Tomorrow is the big day!  Our Grand re-opening!

Our shop doors open tomorrow and they will stay open from February to April!!!

(eeee! I'm so excited!!!)



Watch for weekly deals and stock up on quality tees for summer.

And. . .

to make it even more fun. . .


We have NEW DESIGNS!!!

Aw yeah!!



Do you have a SUPER HERO living at your house?


I do.

2 of them.

Villians beware!

If your kid likes to beat up bad guys in the name of justice, you can get him his own Super Hero tee!


We also will be introducing a new birthday shirt tomorrow!

Stay tuned for more action!

Mission Organization

It looks like pack-rat city here in my house. I am a stuff collector, and sadly it is starting to show.

Every corner is cluttered, every cupboard is filled.



I make up excuses daily to myself on why I need to keep things:

" I need the extra tote full of fabric because if my hubby loses his job and we are poor I can make my kids clothes out of it!"

(Except that the extra fabric is made up of hideous polyester, and 1970's plaids, mixed with baby fabrics that have gone out of style long long ago.
I would hand wash my kids jeans and t-shirts every day before making them wear anything made out of that scratchy stuff.)



"I need 15 wooden spoons because we have a lot of company and extra serving spoons are always handy to have."

(Ok, I only have 6, but you get the picture. They are superfluous, and I need space more than I need extra spoons. )



"I need to keep 20 train drawings from my 4 year old that all look the same."

(Why? I don't know.)


So. . .

My mission for 2011 is to SIMPLIFY!

Life is going to get WAY more complicated this May when baby #3 comes so I'm starting right now to cut the clutter out of my life.

So far I have said goodbye to an SUV full of stuff. I had it packed to the brim with everything, clothes, toys, paintings, magazines, electronics, and furniture! I sent it all off to Deseret Industries, a local Thrift Store.
My boys were so willing to give away old toys when I told them that we were giving them away so another little boy play with them.

I also gave away my beloved elliptical trainer. You know, the one I promised I would run on every day. . . and it got used for. . . um. . . 2 months.  *tear* I will miss you.

And I am gutting out my office/studio to make room for the new kid. I can't wait to decorate. The orange walls are going to be a blast to work with!

I didn't realize just how much space Cantaloupe Corner takes up in my house until I took on the project of re-organizing it all, and moving most of it out of the office. Whew, I really am a pack-rat.



Anyways, after all of that rambling, I want to invite you to join me in my 2011 goal to simplify. Start with the physical things. Clean out the clutter in our homes and then we can move on to de-cluttering our time.

I can't wait to find myself under all of this stuff! I feel a thousand pounds lighter already!

nifty gifts

Just to prove I haven't been a lazy bum, I have some projects to share that I made for my family members for Christmas!

 A frilly box of friendly flowers for a few of my favorite females.

This apron I created for my niece who is budding pastry chef. I even created my own pattern. I love how it turned out, especially the cute fabrics! I think I may have to make a bigger one for me!

I am so happy to have little girls to sew for since I am going to be even more outnumbered by boys soon.

This was my favorite project. I adore my craft cutter and I get muy excited when I get to break it out and use it for vinyl. (It usually gets used for cutting t-shirt stencils.)  Monograms are everywhere right now, why not on a cookie jar?
mmmm, chocolate.

The rest of my projects somehow escaped my bad photography skills before they were wrapped up and sent off. I also made some cute tees for my teenage niece as well as a FAT stuffed elf shelf-sitter for my Mother-in-Law.

I love the holidays but I am so glad that they are over. I am pooped.


Next project:  turning my office/studio into an office/baby boy's room.
Wish me luck.
I'm already in over my head.

It's a. . . .

Christmas is over, the New Year has arrived and I am super psyched about 2011!

The most amazing thing has happened this past couple of weeks. With my extra time usually used on the computer or printing and packing orders I have actually been able to clean my house! And even better than that, I have been able to hang out with my sweet little munchkins! Oh, lucky LUCKY ME!!!!

We have 2 fun, rambunctious little boys, ages 4 and 2. And as many of you know, we have a baby on the way too! Yesterday was the all important ultrasound to find out the gender of our next little sweetheart.

We are having a. . . . .



BOY!!!!



Ha haha hahaha. If I wasn't already laying down I would have fallen over when they told me. I was absolutely convinced that this was a girl.
I was dreaming about making hair bows, tutus, fluffy dresses, and all the other girly stuff. I was soooo ready for a girl. *sigh*

But. . .
I'm not in charge.

I must be doing an OK job raising my boys because God is trusting me with another son! After a few ours of complete shock, (but only a few minutes of dissapointment) I am so excited about our little boy!

I am packing, moving, shuffling all of my shop supplies and furniture to make room for our baby. He will be residing in my office.  Once the dust settles and I figure out where I'm going to put everything I will re-open once more before my new baby boy arrives!!

Blessings come in all shapes and sizes and my greatest blessing for 2011 will be here in May!



Happy New Year everyone! I hope your year is filled with love and joy!

Date Changes

I'm changing our closing date for Christmas break.

I originally was going to close up shop on the 15th but now the last day I am taking new orders will be on Dec. 12th.  

At this wonderful time of the year, I have a sister getting married next weekend (yeah!) and a list of a zillion presents I get to make (or buy) for Christmas.

Also, my new bedtime has become 8:00, since I fall asleep on the couch at that time every night. And now my few precious hours of work time while the kids are alseep are gone.

 So, rather than over-stress myself, which is easy to do when I'm prego, I decided to close up early.

I am planning on opening the Cantaloupe Corner Etsy shop again the beginning of February. 

I will still be available for occasional custom orders via email.

I hope everyone has their Christmas shopping almost wrapped up (bad pun, I know).  And for those of you that still need something for those cute little toddlers and preschoolers on your list, stop by our shop today through Monday and use code THANKU10 for 10% off your order!!

I hope you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! 

Preggers Christmas Wishes

Sing it with me! 
"It's the most wonderful time of the year!"

That was lovely!

I feel like a lucky duck being pregnant at this most festive time. I get to indulge in all of the yummy treats and goodies I want because if the baby wants it, who am I to stand in the way? Right?

I also found some other non-edible goodies that I have added to this years preggers wish list. 


#1:

 An adorable tee from KSS Maternity

And BTW this is only one of my favorites. They have a mother-load of funny and sweet maternity tees and funny daddy-to-be tees too!

#2:

This sweet birds nest necklace by one of my favorite Etsy sellers: Jacaranda Designs

It says "I'm a mom" in a sophisticated way, without screaming it.

 And I love that there are three "eggs" since this will be my third child.

#3:

Growing Belly Rub by Wild Root Botanicals

'nuff said.

#4:

Cute Cardigan to keep me and baby warm during these chilly months. This one is by Old Navy.

#5:

Holiday OPI nail polish to spiff up my tired tooties. A little bit of glitter can lift a girls spirits.

#6: 

 Hair Cut!

This is me.

ok, this is what I feel like. I have unruly curly hair that could use some taming.  Thinning shears please?!

#7:

And the last thing on my prego Christmas list is FOOD, and LOTS of it!

This weeks cravings include:  lemons, limes, Chili Lime Ramen noodles, hot chocolate, Marshmallow Mateys, green grapes, and hawaiian pizza.  mmmm.

(most of these I ONLY eat when prego. I mean, Ramon noodles? ewww! On a normal day that would make me gag. but today. . . .mmmm.)

If you brought me any of the above listed items today, you would be my best friend. seriously.