The Shop is Closed!

I closed out my last order this morning and The Creative Cupcake is now officially closed for the move. Assuming that everything goes smoothly (ha!) we'll be back up with the new Spring styles on April 15th. Just in time to spend your tax refund!

Newsletter: BIG Sale on Basic Ribbons!

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BIG Sale on Basic Ribbons!

Shop now for up to 40% off your favorite Solid, Polka Dot and Basic Striped ribbon accessories!
Sale ends 2/4/08!

Updating my blogroll

It has come to my attention that my blogroll (hanging out over there, on the right side) is a little, shall we say, lacking. There are lots and lots of fun blogs that I read on a regular basis but I guess I never got around to updating my list here.

Since it's now on my To Do list for this week, leave a comment or email me if you want your blog or site included in my update. Stop by and check it out later this week for some funny/inspiring/educational/nerdy/preppy/celebrity/foodie/business/decorating/crafty reading.

Newsletter: Holiday Shipping & New Gift Boxes

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Diamonds are a girl's best friend

French headbands in our Brown Diamond pattern - $10-$15

This month we're also introducing a brand new pattern to our line of French Damask Headbands. The Diamond collection come in 3 color combinations: Blue & Pink, Brown & Blue and Green & Pink (of course). Additionally, we've added a blue pattern to our Paisley collection. All of our French collection patterns come in our 3 sizes: Small, Medium & Large (Small not available in Scroll collection). Be sure to check them out!

Child Size Headbands

Preppy headbands in our Nantucket print - $8.50-$12.50

We've carried smaller headbands at our shows the past few months and since they've been a big hit with our customers, we are bringing them to our website's permanent collection too. In the past, young girls would wear our medium size and the tips would fall past their ears and irritate the whole area. Just as great as our standard comfort inserts, the newer size is about an inch shorter all around, making them perfect for toddlers and smaller children. You can find them in our newly redesigned Headband Page in the Preppy, French and Velvet styles.

New ribbons!!

Next week I'm going to be adding 25 new ribbons to our choices! Among them are 6 completely new designs (aren't they fabulous?!) and some new sizes for existing design favorites.

This means I have to come up with 6 new names, inspired by some favorite preppy locations. Leave your suggestions in the comments and if I choose to use your name by 8/15, I'll send you a Preppy Ribbon Headband in that style. If that style is not available in the Medium size, I reserve the right to substitute an appropriate item in the same style. You can check out what we're already using here: Ribbon Swatches.

Newsletter: New Vintage Trim Belts

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Get your credit cards ready...

The Creative Cupcake Annual Bake Sale (in honor of ending our 3rd year in business) is almost ready to go! There are just a few last minute things to take care of that I should be able to finish rather quickly. It's also the time of year that I like to "clean house" so I can bring in even more new patterns and styles over the next few months.

I realized that phasing out a lot of the ribbons will leave the swatches a bit outdated, so I spent the better portion of this afternoon with my eyes glued to the Illustrator grid lines. Updated swatch cards are up -- which means these are the ribbons that we are currently keeping in stock and will not be discontinued:

Anything that we have carried in the past but is not shown is either being phased out or we have already sold out of that style/size.

Not much else to report -- just plugging away at getting things squared away. Keep your eyes out for our newsletter with all the details over the next few days.

Happy Wednesday!

Sometimes when creativity hits, I guess you just have to go with it and not question. No doubt my blissful San Diego trip has something to do with my state of mind. Today was a busy day and I got a lot accomplished, which continues my particularly productive week.

Here is the fabric initial letter I talked about yesterday:

I'm not as crazy about this one, even though the font is kind of quirky, but I think it's because of my fabric choice. Right along side it is a pink and green paisley mirror I made and I am IN LOVE! I still need to apply the acrylic sealer to it but it came out even better than I expected, though the picture doesn't quite do it justice. The edges were done with a pink/fuschia pattern that you can't really see at this angle. Crafting is so addictive, I can't wait to see what I do tomorrow!

Tomorrow I should be able to share my last initial (for now--I can't stop!) as long as I can hunt down the right copper colored ribbon.

Over the past month or so I've been spending bits of time re-organizing my studio. I realized I just have WAY too many ribbons. Seriously, I can't even begin to explain the tens of thousands of yards that don't even have the decency to chip in for their share of our rent! So because of that I'm going to be discontinuing some of my patterns (don't worry, there are more fabulous ones on the way for Fall). Bring in my Etsy Store, which I've generally used to sell some of my materials overstock. Today I listed a few sets of headbands (from 2 to 4 per set), all at 25% off what they are usually listed for on the site.

Oh, yes, and I re-did my entire site design! Stop by and check it out when you have a chance. There are still a few minor things I need to work on, but I got the bulk of it done today. When we installed a new shopping cart system last year, I wasn't crazy with the final design. I loved the logo/color scheme and Eva's new preppier outfit but I knew what our limitations were at that point so I tried to learn to love it. That never quite happened. There may be slight tweaks here and there, since I'm sort of learning along with the update process, but I feel 100% better about how it looks today.

I'd love to hear what you think -- what you like, what you don't, what can make it more user friendly: easier to navigate, find what you are looking for, etc.

Newsletter: Free Preppy Key Fobs!!!

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Zinnias are here!

3 days left!

It's almost time to launch our full Spring line!! The past few days have been largely spent glued to my laptop, editing photos and working out final pricing formulas. I am thrilled with what we're coming out with and, most of all, I'm thrilled to almost be done! While I do love designing and sewing up headband after hair clip after belt -- sometimes I like to venture outside of my studio. Maybe into my living room. Maybe, on a really good day, outdoors before 8pm. A girl can dream, can't she?!

We'll be sending an email/newsletter out on Friday to give you the full scoop on our new headband designs (zinnias, scarf styles, wider preppy ribbon) -- you write in, we listen! What else do you have to look forward to this spring?

Customer photo contest * more gift-y items * the beginning peeks into our upcoming baby/toddler products * expanded ribbon choices & our 3 year anniversary sale!

Bad hair days, beware!

While I was setting up a few of my new wide headbands to quickly photograph, I felt a little rush. I've been playing around with different designs for so long that it's almost hard for me to believe that we're almost ready to "officially" launch them in less than 2 weeks. It was so important to me to maintain the ultra comfy fit of the headbands already in my collection. Because of my recent quest to find a new hair stylist in Dallas, I wear a headband nearly every day at some point when I don't feel like fighting with my hair and/or badly overgrown bangs. I am happy to report that I did not have a single headband headache (yippie!) and none of the wide styles slipped back on my head along my straight hair like so many have in the past. I'd wander past a mirror or window and see my chic headband practically falling off the back of my head -- which is quite the opposite of chic, I can assure you.

In addition to the ribbon and trim headbands, we will be introducing my favorite of them all -- scarf headbands! Tying up regular scarfs around my head always prove to be fruitless since they just slip right off my hair. I also apparently happen to have a slightly larger than average head, which makes pulling off the super-wide headbands a little more difficult since a 2" wide band just doesn't cut it. Our version includes a 3.5"-4" wide scarf which is anchored by one of our famously comfortable headbands.
This generous width allows you to customize just how wide you want to go. A vintage print I had in my stash is shown to the right but expect a mix of trendy, modern prints and some preppy favorites.

Over 35 different styles will be available for purchase the first week of April - I can't wait to hear what you think!

Big Spring Ahead Sale!

Take the chance to stock up extra colors of your favorites -- headbands, hair clips and belts -- all for up to 50% off! Crazy, I know... but I am ready for spring to arrive and I know you all are too. Nothing says "spring" better than something new and pink!

Totally Indie is, like, totally cool!

The Creative Cupcake recently participated in a wonderful independent designer and business collective called Totally Indie. 40 of us have created coupon booklets with exclusive discounts to entice you to spend your shopping dollars with indie companies rather than supporting the big guys. The coupon booklets are available exclusively through the 40 designers participating, so look for one next time you place an order with us!

The Year of the Headband: Part III

I am almost done completely re-organizing the headband section of the website. I still have a few last preppy styles to list, basic stripe and preppy icon styles to make, photograph and list, and then I want to work on a new design for the category photos. While I'm not quite done it feels great to have it functioning the way I've envisioned it. With so many styles and designs, I didn't think it would be possible -- and it really is not all that easy, but worth it -- and I love the way it looks and functions. Hopefully my customers will too!

In addition to the new layout, we're adding velvet headbands in 5 fun colors, headbands made from vintage trim and the French silk damask patterns. Here are photos of the final 2 categories:

Coming soon to a website near you!

I've been brainstorming the past few weeks to come up with some wonderful new products and ways to make your shopping at The Creative Cupcake easier. We will be unveiling some fun new accessories over the next several weeks, with the big unveil of our new line of belts coming in early February.

One of our customer's favorite features is our 115 different ribbon colors, sizes and styles that we carry in stock. To make it easier for you to imagine how our headbands will look in your favorite polka dot color or just how that ribbon belt will look in that chic new preppy stripe you have been eyeing, we will be introducing individual product photos for each of our items! It is going to take us a LONG time to photograph (and edit, resize, upload.....) each and every one but it'll be worth the wait! Starting with our popular headbands, we will be working our way through each of our product categories until we're done. Take a look at our Key Fobs to get an idea of what our new layouts will look like!

You've asked. You've begged. You've even tried to bribe. We finally gave in and will be adding these super, top-secret preppy critter headband designs to the site very soon. They will be in limited supply until our latest ribbon shipment comes in and may temporarily sell out, but don't say we didn't warn you!

New: Grosgrain Ribbon for Sale!

Even though we are smack in the middle of the holiday season, I have been spending the better part of the past few weeks finalizing the designs for Spring 2007. I'm trying to think of flowers and balmy weather while my radio plays "O Holy Night", the humor of which is not lost on me. I've decided to completely revamp the belts the design of the belts that we carry, and also take the time to update our ribbon inventories. There are several new grosgrain ribbon designs that I have been itching to carry for our Preppy styles, but that means I need to discontinue some of the current styles.

Sometimes in my business, I may be thinking about 2 completely unrelated things and, all of a sudden, they cross paths. Like today. You see, I often receive questions from customers asking about my ribbons and if I sell them. Well, now I do! Sort of... Seeing as I'm going to be left with thousands of yards of ribbon that I won't be using anymore and need to clear out of my studio, I've decided to sell the overstock and discontinued ribbon along side my accessories. Take a look!