Real Life: Balance

Being a mom & running a business is HARD work. There aren't enough hours in a day to do both as well as I'd like. I admit it. There are days I wish I had my nanny even longer, but then I'd never spend time with my son. It's all about perfecting balance I guess.....& that, I am still working on. Today I looked down at my little guy & he was wearing this t-shirt I designed. Says "mom & dad are my heroes" .... It made me smile. ...that maybe he thought I was doing just great... That in his eyes, I was HIS HERO.  

It made all this hard work today...feel a little better.

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T-shirt from my shop -  Cocoa & Hearts

Hey Moms, Check out the new shop!

Hey everyone! I have been working on some new things theses days, my apologies that I am not on here as much. However, for those not following on social media, you can now see the new Kids shop I've launched!

The t-shirts are for KIDS (boys & girls) 10 styles in the launch collection! We just LAUNCHED today! Shop for your kiddos give them as gifts ...Check them out at Cocoa & Hearts & take advantage of our launch discount code.

-pic by sage and sparkle

Cocoa & Hearts News

Hey everyone! Hope this Monday is going good for you! -  I thought I'd pop in & update you on this NEW Kids t-shirt line we are putting together!!  We are actually re-doing our entire Cocoa & Hearts website + re-branding it.  The Cocoa & Hearts site will no longer be paintings, but you can go to Made By Girl if you're looking to have me paint an original painting for you. Sound good?

The new Cocoa & Hearts logo will look like this (below) & we will be seeking out a few K-I-D-S brand ambassadors. That means.... we will send them a few t-shirts in exchange for some cool pics on social media, tagging us & letting others know where to find the line!  The kids will be carefully selected based on your social media account, follower count etc.  Excited to introduce this to all of you! I know this is a different route and I may have many people un-follow me or stop reading the blog all together...because you you preferred to see home decor....& that's ok. When I first started Made By Girl, I had only 7 followers, so I understand what it's like to be at ZERO pretty much (if I have to be).  BUT, I really hope to have your support through this in any way, especially all YOU moms!

As I mentioned before - we'll be launching about 8-10 t-shirt designs to start with. Can't wait to see which is your favorite.  Sizes will range from 18 Months old - 4 years of age. Please don't forget, if you'd like be notified of the launch date - SIGN UP to our mailer at Cocoa & Hearts.  XO

-post by jen ramos

Revealed: What's Next

Hey guys! I am finally REVEALING the main reason why I haven't been on my blog much.
For those of you who've been with me since the beginning in 2006 - and remember my first post ...it may seem odd that I've been taking such a BIG break from blogging!  But like everything else in life, this too gets a bit boring.  Sometimes we just need a break, a refresher.... to re-think what else we'd like to try & hopefully accomplish in our lives.  So, here's a small look into what I've been working on lately.

Ever since Noah popped into the mix - I've been thinking more & more about clothing for KIDS.  I LOVE TO CREATE.  I love painting, drawing, designing & coming up with new ideas & concepts. In fact, both of my businesses were about ART that I created for people's homes.  So, after contemplating this for quite some time,  I decided to try my hand at a market that is completely saturated & competitive.  I'm talking about kids apparel. 

Trust me, I realize I am taking a BIG risk in jumping into an industry that is already full of wonderful talent. Even with the same hesitation & fear many of you felt at first... I am ready & here I come!

As I said, this is a NEW market for me.  My head keeps going back & forth between fear & excitement.  I had forgotten what this fear felt like after running my previous business, Made By Girl for over 10 years.  Throughout that time, I remember many women emailing me & asking how they could start their own businesses. They always wondered if they would be able to put aside their own fears & introduce their business ideas to the world.  I often wonder what many of those women ended up doing.  Well, here I am, back at the 'starting line' with another adventure ready to be introduced. 

For me, this is yet another medium to express my art.  I am super EXCITED about these hand-drawn designs for kids tees I created.  I really think other moms will love them too!  The t-shirts are all screen-printed & we will be launching ONLY 8-10 designs to start! We will ACTUALLY be RE-branding the Cocoa & Hearts website & launching it into this new brand. Hope it doesn't cause too much confusion! If you want to know the launch date + news updates -  feel free to sign up to the newsletter here.

I hope you will welcome this NEW & fun kids brand we are launching SOON - from one MAMA to another, THANK YOU in advance!!!!

-images & post by jen ramos