The Holidays Are Coming!

With Halloween over, we have bigger holidays to look forward to. I'm super excited about Christmas. Our daughter was less than a month old last year on Christmas, so she really didn't get anything out of it. But this year, she's at least old enough to understand the concept of new toys to play with!

Sad thing is... Our tree is still up. Yes, you read that right. We really don't have room in our small town home for a full size tree, so we got one of those small trees about 3 feet high, decorated it with lights and small ornaments and then put it on an end table. It's been there ever since. I tried putting it away a few weeks after Christmas. Hailey was still a new born at the time, so I had little time to fuss with things like that. Once I gave in and tried to put it away, I realized I would never get it back in its box the way it came and soon gave up the battle! I guess at least this means less work for this year! (Hey, at least we took down the actual Christmas lights in the window!)

I'm gearing up for the holidays in my store. I'm super excited about it. I already ordered a Christmas shirt I designed for Hailey. I plan on ordering me one as well (or maybe the Definitely Naughty one instead). You check check those out here: Definitely Nice and Definitely Naughty. I love them.. I just haven't decided which one I want!


We're getting Hailey's birthday pictures done in a few weeks, and her Christmas pictures as well. I plan on designing some custom Christmas cards to send out to the family. That way, everyone can get a precious keepsake in the form of a card and everyone can have an updated picture of Hailey. I simply cannot afford to purchase that many pictures and gifts for such a large family! So, this will kill two birds with one stone. If you like this idea, message me at KimisKustoms@yahoo.com and I will be more than happy to design some holiday cards for you - whatever you'd like. I know how tight money gets around the holidays trying to cater to everyone!

What are you doing for the holidays this year? Leave a comment!

Labels: advertising, babies, cafe press, cafepress, christmas, clothes, family, gifts, Hailey, Kimi, marketing, money, parenting, pictures, stores

Back In Business!

The CafePress gods have finally smiled upon us and the Store wide Price changer is FINALLY fixed. It's a little wonky, but as long as it works..I'm THRILLED! I cannot believe how long it took them to fix it. I've been waiting since September 13th! Argh! I can finally start adding to the store again. It just wasn't worth it to do all of that dang work and none of the prices be right.

In light of things finally being fixed, I'm doing some hard core promoting of BOTH stores.

www.kimiskustoms.com
Kimi's Kustoms Family Store
Kimi's Kustoms Adult Store

Here are the cut off dates for ordering your Halloween stuff!


Be sure to check out our great selection of Halloween shirts and especially our tote bags - perfect for your first time trick or treaters!

Labels: advertising, cafe press, cafepress, clothes, commission junction, costumes, first halloween, halloween, holidays, kids, Kimi, marketing, money, Online, shirts, shopping, stores

Prepping for Surgery

I haven't blogged in a few days. My mind seems to be swimming lately and my ADHD is driving me insane. I try so hard to control it, but I'm having a horrible time concentrating on anything. Stress plays a major factor... and with my husband's ankle surgery coming up, I have plenty of that!

I don't even know what time the surgery is for. That's the Army for ya...give you a place and date, but no time! We won't know until tomorrow - which means getting a babysitter is completely out of the question. I have no idea how well Hailey will handle the hospital. I just don't feel right dropping Joe off and telling him to call me when they are ready to send him home. :( But at the same time, I can't spend the whole day at the hospital with her. That's not going to go well at all and will just make the whole situation more stressful.

I think Joe will come home Thursday at the latest. I'm not 100% sure. I just know that he's supposed to stay at least overnight. I'm gonna miss him SO much. Geez.. we've only really been apart for a couple of weeks total - and that was when we first started dating.

We have a lot to do, but Joe is pretty into sleeping and lounging around. I can understand that.. because he must be nervous. Hell..I'm nervous and I'm not getting my ankle cut into. I wanna get downstairs more living friendly. Joe will be sleeping on the pull out bed/couch for a while and I have no idea how in the world we're getting him upstairs to shower. He'll need to shower at least once a dang week or I may need to evict his stinky self. lol

I'll be doing a lot of driving and bill paying myself. Scary. I never pay our bills. Joe always does it. But there is no way he can go out and do those things in a cast. I'm not even sure how long he'll have the cast...but he'll have leave from work for six weeks so he can heal and learn how to walk again.

I was hoping we could borrow some money from someone and simply pay all of the bills way ahead of time so it would be covered, but I guess that isn't going to happen. At least most of them can be paid online.. which helps a bit.

Anyways.. please keep our family in your thoughts on Tuesday. This is the first of what will probably be many surgeries for my husband!

Labels: ankle, ankle surgery, army, blogging, dads, family, fathers, life, military, money

Yuwie.com!

I'm always looking for more ways to network and get the word out about my store. I came across Yuwie.com about a month ago, but didn't really look into it much. I'm not sure how much I'll use it since I'm such a MySpace addict, but it looks promising!

Basically, it's like MySpace, but you get paid for referring people as well as for using the site. I'll be honest... yes, if you join, I'm going to make money. But hey.. you'll make money if a friend joins under you too! You can listen to the little guy chat about all of this by going HERE. He explains everything, from payment to when you get paid..what for and everything you need to know.

I'm excited about it.. and you should be too dangit! I'm always looking for ways to make even a little bit of money. Who knows.. maybe you only make $10/month but it's $10 ya didn't have, right? lol So Sign Up and then tell your friends. Who knows.. we may all make some decent money together. :)

What can you do with Yuwie? Well like I said.. it's pretty much just like MySpace. You have a profile, pictures, blogs and even groups too (although I'll be honest and say that I prefer MySpace for groups, but that's just personal preference). You can leave comments for friends, chat with people through mail, join clubs, etc. You can customize your profile and everything too!

You can check out my Yuwie profile at www.yuwie.com/kimiskustoms if you are interested.

Labels: advertising, affiliates, blogging, cafe press, cafepress, Kimi, money, MySpace, performance, yuwie

Christmas Is Coming!

Can you believe that there are less than 100 days until Christmas!? Geez. This year will mark my daughter's real "first". I mean.. she was SO little last year (she was less than a month old). I doubt she'll get really, really into it, but I'm sure once all of her gifts are open, she'll have a blast!

We're supposed to go up to Connecticut for Christmas to spend it with my husband's family. We couldn't last year - Hailey was so small and Joe was working a weird schedule that couldn't allow for more time off from work (especially after taking 3 weeks paternity leave for the birth of Hailey). We spent it with my parents instead.

Unfortunately, this will be the first time anyone in Joe's family actually gets to see Hailey (aside from Joe's mom, dad and step dad). She'll already be over a year old by then. That makes me sad. Joe's family deserves to get to see her, but it's just impossible to get up there any sooner (although Joe joked about going up there while he's on compensation leave from his ankle surgery.. but I really don't think that's a good idea lol).

I'm really looking forward to going tho. I could use the vacation. I know, I know.. I don't really work - at least not outside of the home. But it's nice to get out and go out of town and have fun for a little while. Plus, I'm totally excited to see SNOW! Oh boy.. do I ever miss snow! And I can't wait to toss Hailey in it and watch her make baby snow angels!

We have so much to buy before our trip there - mostly winter clothes for Hailey and for myself. But we also are wanting to buy one of those storage bin things for the top of our car. I'm sure Hailey will get lots of gifts being the baby of the family (actually..she's the last Tewksbury [as of now anyways lol] so she's definitely the baby!). I know we'll probably stay at least a week, so that's a lot of clothes for the three of us to pack, plus Hailey's toys, bathroom essentials, pack n' play and the like. We have a Subaru Impreza - the hatchback version, and I just don't know how we're going to fit it all! So we definitely need one of those storage bin thingies!

I have no idea what to get her for Christmas. I know she'll get lots of toys from Joe's family... and that's a pretty darn big family. lol So, I know I can't go too overboard because she's already going to end up with enough to play with. lol As silly as it sounds, I'm definitely buying her a few shirts from my own store that I have made up for her. Clothes make a good gift anyways! lol I know I'm getting her the Definitely Nice shirt from my store. I LOVE it and might get myself the Definitely Naughty one to "match". I think that would be so cute!

Speaking of Christmas...

I had intended to write a sort of Family Christmas Letter and send it along with a Christmas card. I suppose we still could for family we may not see this year. But, I know the majority of Joe's family will be around come Christmas so it seems almost redundant since I really could just sit and talk to them. I'm still going to give cards of course. I'd love to buy everyone something, but I don't think I could afford it. :( Bleh.. Maybe I'll just write the letter and everyone can read it anyways, so I don't have to tell the same year long story 100 times! HaHa!

Well, get your lists ready folks. Christmas is coming up FAST! Living on a pretty strict budget, it's something I need to think about and plan for now while I still can!

Labels: cafe press, cafepress, christmas, clothes, family, holidays, kids, money, shirts, shopping, winter

New Store: Kimi's Kustoms - ADULT

How bizarre that I haven't really announced this "officially" yet, and already people are flocking to our new store - Kimi's Kustoms - ADULT

I know what you're thinking... "But Kimi, I thought you weren't going to open that until next year?" Well, I wasn't. But through some poking, prodding, encouragement and some down right begging, I finally caved and said "Oh well..why not?" So, the adult store is open and has gained popularity through very little work.

But what I can't figure out is how search engines have it indexed already. I mean, that usually takes at least a few days, if not longer. I did upload my items to Froogle, but I don't know how people are finding my store so easily. I thought I was looking at the wrong traffic report, but I triple checked (I thought I was losing my mind) and I'm not.

Either way, I'm excited for this stores overnight popularity (wouldn't it have been funny if I managed a sale already? lol). It was much easier to set up than Kimi's Kustoms - FAMILY. Maybe it was because I had a very specific niche in mind that took me ages to figure out with the Family store. Or maybe it's simply because I know what I'm doing this time.

My next step is to somehow integrate the new store into my stand alone site www.kimiskustoms.com although how, I'm not real sure yet. I went in last night and at least linked the two stores together as sister sites, but the main website and blog both need some sort of integrated look. I'm thinking of making a Shop Family / Shop Adult button for my website. I dunno.. we'll see. It'll happen today - and that's all I know!

Labels: adult, advertising, affiliates, cafe press, cafepress, clothes, funny, gifts, goals, kids, life, marketing, money, shopping, stores

Darn Store Price Changer!

For the past two days, the feature on CafePress that lets a shop keeper change their prices store wide, has been broken. This is driving me bonkers. I know they are working on it, but it doesn't look good on my end.

My prices haven't been "sticking" for a week or so now. Instead, I've been putting in the new designs and products and simply hiding the sections until I got the prices fixed - by using the store wide price changer. With that broken, I now have a bunch of hidden sections in my store because the prices are all wrong and it would take me years to change all of that to the correct prices. Bleh.

So now, it seems like I haven't added anything new in the past few days - when I really have. I usually add new stuff every week..at least one new design. I'm trying to finish gearing up for Christmas and have several designs just sitting and waiting to be put on my virtual shelves. And waiting is costing me time..and money. Poo on you CafePress store wide changer thingy ma bob! lol

Labels: blogging, cafe press, cafepress, christmas, commission junction, goals, google, holidays, kids, marketing, money, Online, search engine optimization, shirts, shopping

Still Waiting On My Sticker

I have to say that I'm a bit disappointed in both UPS and USPS. My bumper sticker was shipped out on Saturday, September 8th and I have yet to receive it. I realize that mail doesn't run on Sunday, but my sticker has been sitting in Atlanta, GA for two days now - according to the package tracking anyways. Atlanta is literally 2 hours from here. I could have driven there and picked up the sticker myself by now - and at least used it on the car and gained a bit of "publicity" on the way home.

Since the tracking claimed the sticker was in Atlanta on September 10th, I half expected it to arrive yesterday afternoon. When it did not, I assumed yet again that it would surely come today. Nope. Here I sit... bumper stickerless.

It's in no way CafePress' fault. I realize once it's out of their hands..then it's out of their hands. But the shipping set up they have, to be frank...blows. I'm not sure if this works for all packaging from them, but they hand the package to UPS who in turn, hands it to USPS. I'm not sure why that is, as UPS delivers directly to my home - has been in the year and a half I've lived here.

I had really hoped to update y'all with pictures of the packaging, and to report a better experience...but so much for that. This isn't necessarily a negative experience..I was just hoping for something a little better. Oh well - ya can't win them all. Tomorrow I will hopefully give an update!

Labels: bumper sticker, cafe press, cafepress, Kimi, money, UPS, USPS

Best CafePress Shop?

Do you like our designs, but maybe can't afford to buy anything and support us? Are you looking for a way to help out, and don't know how? That's GREAT, and I have the solution(s) for you!

Here is a list of possible ways to help promote Kimi's Kustoms:

1. Post a link to our website (http://www.kimiskustoms.com) or our store (http://www.cafepress.com/kimiskustoms) on your personal website. You can use Squidoo, LiveJournal, Blogger, MySpace, your own website and more! *Note that when using MySpace, you must use http://www.kimiskustoms.com and you do so at your own risk. Please read the MySpace Terms of Use for more details on advertising.*

2. You can simply post a banner with our store URL on it! You can create your own, or you can use our newest banner. *Please do not hot link! Save it to your computer and host it yourself so that everyone can enjoy the use of the banner!


3. Purchase a Kimi's Kustoms Bumper Sticker for your car!

4. Blog about us! You can include us in any of your blogs. You can even link your favorite designs / products to show off to your friends!

5. Email your family and friends about us!

6. Vote for us Every Day at the following sites:





TopSiteList


Free TopSite

7. Check out our Affiliates page in order to learn how to make money supporting our store!

Labels: advertising, affiliates, bumper sticker, cafe press, cafepress, clothes, commission junction, family, marketing, money, rewards, shopping, squidoo

Squidoo.com

I've been a hardcore blogger for about three years now. I love writing everything down, but cannot stand actually writing! My blogs are all mushed together about different subjects in my life. I usually write about me, my daughter, my husband or my store..so they are all pretty personalized, instead of the whole blog sticking to one subject (What can I say? I'm a diverse person!)

It didn't take long being a CafePress shopkeeper to find out about Squidoo Lenses. It's sort of like a blog, but each topic is called a Lens. In each Lens, you generally talk about one thing (although I suppose you could treat it like a blog if you really wanted to). On top of discussing a subject or telling a story, you can use different modules / widgets to sell items from places like CafePress, EBay, Amazon, etc. And the best part? You can get PAID doing this! How awesome is that!?

I wish I had more time to devote to them. I have a few at the moment and will be writing many more of them. My most popular Squidoo Lens right now is the one I wrote about getting my nipples pierced. Yes, you read that right! You can check that one out here if you are interested Squidoo Lens: Nipple Piercings. Don't open with little eyes around (especially little eyes that can read).

Interested in making a Lens of your own? Great! You can sign up here: Join Squidoo! I promise it's worth your time, and it's fun!

If you would like to check out all of our Lenses, you can go here: Kimi's Kustoms Squidoo Lenses. If you sign up and check these out, please be sure to leave us some comments on your favorite Lenses, and throw us some rating stars! We hope you come to love Squidoo as much as we do!

Labels: advertising, cafe press, cafepress, family, marketing, money, shopping, squidoo, stores