go me!

don’t know if anyone’s noticed, but the kitsch*n glam website has been frozen in time for about 1.5 years….it’s finally getting updated! and the relaunch could be as early as next week!

no more detail pages of sold out signs…there will be a buffet of options! christmas stockings, totebags, baby bibs, a smorgasborg.

back when i (anna) was a web producer for a luxury car website, i used to get frustrated that my role involved just running around the office getting people to do their job…but i could never point to the finished website and say…i did that! because it was the programmer who wrote the brilliant code, or the art director who designed the pretty pages, the copywriter who crafted the words, or the client who actually makes the products we were working so hard to sell.

now, with my company’s 5 year anniversary rounding the corner in February…i can say i’ve become even more of a swiss army knife.

it’s my products!

i created, retouched, designed over 404 new images to put on this relaunch.

and my brilliant programmers at aydus consulting are bringing my little site circa 2004 into a new world of web capabilities. imagine that! technology has improved in 4 years? wowee zowee.

in the past 2.5 years, i’ve found my soul mate, moved out of state, hired my first employees, set up a real office/warehouse for daily operations, bought and renovated a house, planned a wedding, got married, and now am expecting a baby girl in april.

so when i try to beat myself up for not keeping up with updating my company’s web presence in a timely manner, i realize that it’s because i’ve been living my life, and not just living for my company.

and finding the balance just might bring back the love for what i do again.

Hipcooks!

Monika Reti, owner of Hipcooks in Los Angeles, is featured in SoyJoy promo spots airing this month on HGTV, Food Network and Fine Living Network.

Monika is a longtime Kitsch*n Glam fan. She wears our Ginger Hip Apron and Peacock Halter Apron as she and her sister, Andi Reti, owner of RETIMADE jewelry, plan a party for Andi’s jewelry line. They even decorated the space with our aprons! I saw some “vintage” Kitsch*n Glam aprons (Poppy and Take Out) hanging on the wall! I did say she was a longtime fan!

Congratulations to Monika and Andi!

It looks like a fabulous party!

First Look: Fall/Holiday Catalog

Here’s your first look at our Fall/Holiday Catalog!

It’s taken a little longer than usual, because we have so many new things for Fall, we wanted to make sure the catalog was perfect! If you’re a current customer, you should receive it soon!

This Fall, we’re introducing a new body style (the Sweetheart Halter) shown above in Fiori. Isn’t it beautiful?

And due to popular demand, we are doing our first-ever holiday print! (We do listen to our customers!)

Meet Ornamental above, in the Ruffle body style. The sparkly ornament design is cool and mod. It’s also available in our holiday stockings, of course! Wait ’til you see all the stockings we have this year! Your mantel never looked so good!

One of my new favorites is the Sugarcane Halter Apron above. It looks like a wood block print and makes me think of Cuba. (It was almost called Havana!) It’s a versatile apron, which could be worn in summer or during the holidays.

Our Simple Totes (above) have been so popular, we now have them in 5 prints – including Pimento! Yay!

Sahara is our new leopard print and the tote is so cute! It’s beautifully lined and trimmed in powder pink. Meow!

I’m so excited for you all to see our new collection, I just had to give you a peek!

If you would like a copy of our Fall/Holiday catalog, please email us at customerservice@kitschnglam.com and we will email you one!

By the Fire

Here’s a look at our booth in Atlanta. Doesn’t it look cozy by the (cardboard) fire?

Do Men Even Wear Aprons?

My husband doesn’t wear an apron. Of course, his specialty is Mac and Cheese (from the box). He’s one of those “too cool for an apron” guys. His younger brother, who is quite the cook, won’t wear one, either. He will stand at the stove for hours stirring simmering soup or tend the barbeque grill all afternoon and still won’t wear one!

Luckily, there is hope for the next generation of men in my family. My five-year-old son likes to wear his apron and help out in the kitchen. I asked him why he likes wearing one and he said, “I LOVE wearing aprons, so I don’t get dirt on my clothes.” Five years old and he’s got the apron habit! Good boy.

What’s in a Name?

Naming Season comes twice a year at Kitsch*n Glam. New Catalog+New Products=New Names.

You would think that just giving prints names wouldn’t be hard, but it can be.

We: live with swatches pinned to our bulletin boards, keep lists of ideas, scour the net for inspiration, have discussions and – we even ask people for suggestions.

Yet, sometimes we are stumped.

A name has to: fit the print’s personality, evoke feeling/emotion, be easy to spell/understand and most of all it just has to sound good! We actually do put quite a lot of thought into those names! A lot. Some come easily and others take more effort. Morel, Hawaiiana and Minerva were fairly easy. Lucky Bug was not. You would think a ladybug print would be a no-brainer! There’s really no telling. It just has to fit.

The new catalog – along with 5 new prints (and new bodystyles!) will be available next week. I can’t wait for everyone to see what we’ve been working on, so here’s just a peek! (You’ll just have to wait to find out their names!)

UPDATE: Say hello to Sugarcane, Ornamental, Sahara and Plume below.

No More Morel?

I am… a mushroom; On whom the dew of heaven drops now and then.
-John Ford

It’s always sad when our prints are discontinued. I get attached to them, especially Morel. I love mushrooms! I have them in front of my house – they’re the first thing you see as you come to the door. They’re in my backyard living with the gnomes and scattered throughout the house. So, I guess you could say that I like them!

I used to not even eat them, though. I picked them off my pizza and ate around them in salad. But when I got pregnant with my son, my tastes completely changed and I was cooking a new mushroom recipe every night! I couldn’t get enough of them. Soon, I bought anything with mushrooms on it and I longed for my mother’s orange 70’s mushroom canister set!

I was new at Kitsch*n Glam when we introduced the Morel print. I helped name it, which is harder than you’d think! We even covered my bulletin boards at the office in Morel fabric.

Our Morel Hat, which is now sold out, was even featured alongside our Ginger Totebag in the April 2008 Real Simple Magazine.

Customers always ask me why we discontinue prints. The simple answer is that we have to make room for new ones. We have 5 new prints for Fall and will probably have just as many in 6 more months. If we kept every print, we’d go crazy trying to manage it all!

We do still have a few Morel items left, but not many and when they’re gone, that’s it for Morel. Goodbye, my sweet mushroom friend.