Life around here isn't crazy enough, what the heck, let's do a onesie contest! Sara is busy updating this website to a newer, improved version while nursing a finicky 4 month old. Bodie has been so fussy lately during the day, Sara can hardly put him down. He spends most of his time in her lap on the Boppy pillow, cuddled up to the mammaries. Life is good for him.
I spend most of my free time, which is usually from 3:30 to 6 AM, stocking up for the Christmas flood and filling orders. Lately, even that little bit of free time has been getting cut short. We've got mice in the attic, so I've been trying to humanely catch them and banish them to the countryside. My humane trap has consisted of a 5 gallon bucket with a granola bar at the bottom. I positioned it next to a stack of small boxes so that the mice could climb into the bucket, but not get out. This morning the granola bar was half eaten and there were little mouse poops in the vicinity. Who knew a mouse could jump out of a 5 gallon bucket? Not me. All of my attic shenanigans every morning have made the boys get up earlier and earlier, and when Gavin and Garrett are awake in the house - nothing gets done by me. I try not to get frustrated, that's just how life is right now. They need attention. Someday they'll be self sufficient and I'll miss these days of chaos. I think.
Running a small business like this is a big undertaking, not a leisurely venture. I'm not complaining a bit though, this is a little slice of the American dream for us. We've taken our ideas and made them into something people will buy from us! It just kinda happened by a fluke that Snugfits is doing our first design contest! We've been wanting to do something like this for awhile, we just weren't sure on how to get the ball rolling...
Along comes an awesome company called Brickfish (and a dear friend of Sara's named Karisse Green who worked there) who said "HEY! Lets do a onesie design contest!" With their experience and ridiculously huge network of Brickfish members, soon we will be awarding prizes for the best onesie designs. It'll be really easy for anyone to enter this contest - you don't need a degree in graphic art or have Photoshop expertise. Brickfish has templates on their site for you to use, no special software required. All you need is a unique onesie design (just a good slogan we haven't thought of is dandy) and a desire to win money and prizes!
The Grand Prize winner (selected by us out of the top 200 highest scoring entries) will have a onesie or tee inspired by their design created, featured and sold on Snugfits.com plus a copy for themselves, a $200 shopping spree at Snugfits.com and $300 cash.
Runner Up (selected by us out of the top 200 highest scoring entries) wins a $100 Shopping spree at Snugfits.com and $150 cash.
Most Viral (selected by us out of the top 200 most viral entries) wins a $100 shopping spree at Snugfits.com and $300 cash. Learn about "Most Viral".
Best Surfers Healing Design (selected by us out of all entries that include the Surfer's Healing logo) wins a $100 gift card to Quiksilver.com and a copy of Clay Marzo's DVD "Just Add Water." Also, a onesie or tee inspired by the winner's design will be made and distributed to local surf shops around the country to be sold, with a portion of the proceeds going to Surfers Healing, a Foundation for Autism. We love Surfers Healing - see Gavin's video if you need proof!
Sign-Up Sweepstakes: Six winners who sign up for the Snugfits newsletter will be randomly selected to win a free onesie or tee of their choice from us.
Doesn't this sound like fun? And, if you are clever, the odds of winning are actually pretty good.
See all the details a link to the "official rules" by going here.
Helpful hints from the judges: By reading our blog, you've already got a leg up on the competition. We are going to keep an open mind and welcome any and all creativity, but keep in mind that this design will be added to the Snugfits collection (we allow ourselves the liberty of modifying it in any way we deem necessary for printing purposes and design feel). We want it to fit in and be attractive to the crowd of regulars that dig our modern baby style. If your design is completely different than what we currently offer - that's great! Maybe we can start a new line and collaborate with you. So, good luck Snugfits fans! Make yourself some extra money! You'll need it right after the holidays...
My son is a model in a calendar! He's Mr. October! Sara entered him (Gavin 4yrs) into a contest for the National Autism Association annual calendar and he was picked! I just thought I'd use this little platform to brag a bit. We always knew he was a handsome devil, but wow. And now he's also on their advertisement for the big spring sale email. We had no idea they did that until it just popped in the inbox and whoot, there he is! The picture they used was one from 2 years ago when he was two.
I need to get more shots of him modeling our baby and toddler clothes before age starts taking its toll, right? He likes his black "Future Mac User" shirt quite a bit, so maybe I'll put that on him for the big Easter Egg hunt at the church today. Or maybe it should be the "Junk in the Trunk" shirt? That one probably wouldn't go over well with the older patrons. Well, they probably wouldn't get it, especially since Gavin has zero junk in the trunk. He doesn't have one yet, but I could make him one that says "You're Old" just for fun today. That would be a hoot.
We are planning on expanding our line of designs to more older kid stuff someday anyway. With one more baby on the way, our progression of in house models will grow concurrent with Sara's website. Of course, we welcome any of our customers photos to be entered into the modeling contest. Your baby could win a free Snugfit™ and gain the distinct celebrity of regularly appearing on our website! Check out the home page for more info.
I tell ya, there's nothing more fun and satisfying than sitting down at your computer and putting pictures together with music to make something uncommonly cool. It's even more fulfilling when the pictures are of your own kids! I learned how to use my Mac's "iMovie" program when I made Gavin's Surfers Healing video. It was so easy, even a novice like me figured it out in just a couple hours! You can get to Gavin's video from our home page by clicking the Surfers Healing box. You need to see it because it is really beautiful. Sara found the song and gave me all the pictures, I just put it together.
With that first video under my belt, I felt like I could do anything! I came up with this notion of a quick tempo swingy song playing while our kids dance in different Snugfits shirts. That effort proved futile as our kids' dancing skills haven't even risen to the level of "Amateur Bottom Shaker". It wasn't going to be the iPodesque hip commercial I wanted. I still might do a knock-off of the iPod ad which features the Fratelli's Flathead song with my boys just going berserk. That shouldn't be too hard. Anyhow, we just took a bunch of cute shots of Garrett and Ava (Garrett's cousin) and put them together with the music and BAM! The quick tempo swingy part of my original intention is still there, just without the live action. Check it out below. Feel free to comment! Does it leave you spellbound? Or does it leave you dazed and confused? I sent the video out to our friends and family to get feedback before posting it on YouTube, and the response I received was mostly "It's too fast." So this version is actually much slower and easier to follow.
I'm trying to come up with more ideas for future ads. I like the concept of a giant Garrett in a black onesie (with a skull on it ) stomping on Star Wars figures. Set to some heavy rock music, of course. That would be so much fun. Like a little Godzilla! Or maybe something to do with the election. Garrett at the podium in a "Me For President 2056" shirt, laying out his positions. I'm sure his policies would include a new holiday: Mickey Mouse Day, and another amendment to the constitution: The Right to Bear Stinky Diapers.
If anybody has another idea for a video I'd welcome it. As you can see, I'm really reaching here.
Welcome to our blog! We have just launched our new website for Snugfits™ and could not be more excited about it! After all of our hard work - we finally have something to show for it. We worked for years perfecting our product and now we get to share it with the world instead of just our town. Not to say that we don't appreciate our loyal local customers, because we do... very much. They have given us the confidence to take our business to the next level.
Both my husband and I are also looking forward to the new challenge of blogging. That is, coming up with topics to "blog" about without putting people to sleep! Hopefully we will appeal to parents out there like us, with similar interests and tastes. We both have somewhat different (yet, complimentary) approaches to life, so that should make it interesting. We are planing to talk about just about anything of interest to us. Raising children, pregnancy, cooking, leisure activities, graphic arts, running a home-based business - you name it.
I think I'll start off by telling you a little more about myself. Some things that are not mentioned on our "About Us" page - which I tried to keep more strictly related to the business of selling tees. My husband and I celebrated our 10 year wedding anniversary last August. I am the proud mother of two beautiful little boys. Gavin is my oldest son, who will turn 4 on March 11th. Garrett is my youngest son, who will turn 2 on May 2nd. I am also pregnant with my third child, who is due on August 7th... which is also our anniversary. However, since fewer than 10% of births actually occur on the due date, it will most likely be some other day. But, it's special anyhow. We do not know the sex yet - and we will definitely be finding out, just as we did with the other two. Kind of hoping for a girl - but I love my boys and one more would be just grand. They tell me that this time around I am considered "high risk" for my "advanced age" - which is 37, turing 38 on March 6th. A tad bit depressing! I've always considered 30 something to be fairly young... Also, my husband is approximately 8 years my junior, so he's always kept me youthful in spirit.
Our son Gavin was diagnosed with a developmental delay at 13 months old. He was subsequently diagnosed with Autism at 3 years old. Raising a child with Autism is both trying and rewarding at the same time. Gavin is truly a dear soul underneath all of the difficulties we face daily with his communication and seemingly odd behavior. Parenting any child can be a tough job, though... for sure. We are just starting to experience what it's like to have an authentic "terrible two year old" with Garrett. It will be fun discussing our parenting strategies - unsuccessful more often than not - with all of you! And in return, we hope to gain valuable insight from you on raising children of all abilities.
My goals for the future stretch across several aspects of my life. I hope to expand on the Snugfits™ line, adding designs for older children, pregnant moms and parents. I'd also love to offer my designs that are specifically geared for children with Autism. Although I've had success selling my designs in these areas locally, being able to afford the inventory needed to offer the same color choices that I do for my baby line will take time. On a personal front, I am working towards being able to home school all of my children once they reach elementary school age. It will take a lot of research, planning and networking in order for me to step into that world confidently. I look forward to sharing my life's journey with all of you.
I thank you for taking the time to read this. And, for visiting our store. If you have any questions, comments, constructive criticism or advice - please feel free to contact me. I would love to hear from you!
