I know I know I’m terrible about this whole blog thing…. Follow my FB page to see what goes on, new items I post and cat pictures of course 🙂

Ok on to the important stuff. If you’ve been following you might have seen that me and the Hubs have acquired a Christmas Tree Farm (amazing, I KNOW). We’ve hit the ground running even before we moved in. The spring has been a busy one planting trees and starting a giant garden, we have lots of ideas and plans for the future of the farm and most of them include making it a better experience for the customer. I designed a new logo and have been putting it on everything (of course), and a few of you dear friends have made requests to don your own Totoket Tree Farm apparel and who am I to say no to that?! So I put up a new Totoket Tree Farm category on the site for all the apparel I’ve put together. All sales will help us reach our goals, and you get a fancy new shirt! Sweet deal no? Everything is made to order (except for the stickers) so they’ll take a week-ish before shipping. Oh! And Shipping is FREE!

Happy 2016 kittens!

The last few months of 2015 were a real whirlwind for me both business wise and personally. We had a great December full of orders and in even bigger news we bought a house! But not just any house… This house has been a part of history since 1871, and over the years this house has taken many forms, it’s been a diary farm, cattle farm and most recently a Christmas tree farm. We are lucky enough to now call this amazing place our own and cannot wait to continue the farming tradition. We are so excited for all the amazing things we will get in to!

Check out my latest FB post to see what went on behind the screen!

With nearly 15 years in the industry you can count on me to provide you with quality products and services. Ordering online can be difficult and the results may not be what you expected. Trust me with handling your projects and you won’t be disappointed! Send me your custom quote request and I will do my very best to get you exactly what you need.

Let me help your business grow with quality products that stand out! From design and execution to printing with supplied files my knowledge of the industry will guarantee results you will be thrilled with. The possibilities are endless.

Happy Friday kittens! It’s a rainy, dreary day here in CT and I just so happen to be wearing the newest addition to the Cranky Pants line, the Ladies’ Straight Leg Sweats, and figure it’s a good time for a review!

Say hello to comfy! These are 100% cotton, super soft on the inside and have a roomy wide leg as well as a drawstring waist. One thing I love about the drawstring is that there’s so much room for comfort, wear ’em loose, wear ’em snug, either way  you won’t regret it. The Ladies’ Straight Leg Sweats are cut for women so rolling the waist or having to worry about a low crotch aren’t an issue at all.

Pick from your favorite sayings or customize your own!

I really tried to get some good photos for you but it’s difficult with 4 helpers that don’t have opposable thumbs.

It was my 2nd wedding anniversary in June but Hubbs and I didn’t get a chance to celebrate it with a trip until last weekend. I had heard that Howe Caverns opened up a section of the caves that has been closed off for some time {100 years?!} and that they were now doing tours. I thought it sounded pretty darn cool! Get suited up in boots and a helmet and headlamp and explore a cave, yes please! I had been to the Caves as a kid and remembered the experience somewhat so the chance to do this as an adult was super cool.

Our guides were so awesome! Relaxed and incredibly knowledgeable about the caves, they shared so many interesting facts {that I wish I could remember}. We had a small group which made it even better. My husband and I one other tour goer, Tim, and our guides. As far as Cave nerds go we were not.. but listening to the others talk about different caves in the US was really neat, kinda got me thinking that we might have a new hobby on our hands… we’ll see…

It was 50 ish degrees down in the caves and the water was about 42 degrees, it was dark muddy and so much fun. We climbed all over the place, waded through knee-high water and experienced total darkness at one point (we turned off our headlamps  and it was absolute dark). And of course my husband tried to scare me with the tap on the shoulder trick… he’s soooo funny… I am leaving out a wealth of knowledge that the guides provided but hey, you’ll learn when you go! Right?! Tim was loaded with his fancy camera and was kind enough to share these pictures with  me!

It was this time last year that my kitty had his eye surgery and the pirate kitty icon was born! He was a trooper and it seemed like he wasn’t even phased by it, he was trying to play fetch with his cone on the day after I brought him home.

So happy anniversary my pirate kitty! Take 10% off your order with code piratekitty! Valid 5/19-6/19 on orders $15 or more. And don’t forget that a portion of pirate kitty merch will go back to the vet hospital that took such great care of him!

Planning a wedding is hard work! There are so many facets that go in to planning the perfect day. One of the most intimidating aspects is designing the invitations and overall look for your ceremony and reception. There are SO many places to start it can be very overwhelming. I have this great wedding questionnaire that I developed to get yo thinking about all the details that go into the design. With this information I can begin to design your custom, one of a kind invitation! And I don’t stop at invitations, we can also discuss escort cards, table numbers, thank yous, favors and even signs! Wowza!

Here

It’s been four months since I took the leap and quit my job to do this full time and honestly… I couldn’t be happier! Working like this is my dream, I get to focus on jobs that I really care about instead of answering calls and dealing with cryptic work orders. I’ve taken over two of the bedrooms in my house and turned them into my office and stock room… It’s UH-MAZE-ING! I am finally my own boss! And I only have to answer to me… Which is touch and go most days.

I’m getting into a lot this year, expanding and showcasing all of my talents and skills. I have a bunch of events lined up for the next few months. It’s really encouraging me to revamp the whole buyer experience, super excited to showcase it in April!

If you’re local watch my FB page for news on upcoming events!

What I’m really trying to promote more are my wedding services. I can do it all! Well… not all.. but a lot! From save the dates and invitations to custom apparel for the day of and even signage! I can help facilitate these processes and take the confusion and anxiety out of it for you. Have an idea? Let me know!

The wedding shop is coming to the site soon too! Lots of custom tank options. And Glitter! Are you following me on Instagram? You should be! @designsfromjess, get a look at behind the scenes and of course pictures of the kitties!

Well kiddos that all for now! Hope all is well with you and yours!
-Jess

P.S. I promise to be better about these posts…

“What is feminism?” and “How should a feminist act?” Are the questions I want you to ask yourself when seeing this design. There is so much controversy over this word, so much anger and even more confusion that it needs to be talked about often and at length.

To answer the first question: feminism is a movement for gender equality, the belief that women should have all the same rights, opportunities and legal protections of men. Check out the following links to hear more about why feminism is super important and not scary at all.

Watch this.  www.youtube.com/watch?v=EJPT_U97lNs&list=UUJm5yR1KFcysl_0I3x-iReg

and this www.youtube.com/watch?v=UwJRFClybmk&list=UUJm5yR1KFcysl_0I3x-iReg

Act like a feminist! “But how?” you ask. Easy! Treat your fellow humans equally and with respect. One of the biggest ways in which women are disrespected is by catcalling, and catcalling is really just a nicer way of saying harassment. Catcalling threatens women, it shows us that you see us as an object, it’s degrading, and it certainly is not going to work… And it needs to stop. We have to stand up to catcalling!  So… Stand up and act like a feminist!

If you don’t think street harassment isn’t an issue then watch this: www.youtube.com/watch?v=b1XGPvbWn0A

and then this amazing response… http://youtu.be/-HI4DC18wCg

xoxo
– Jess