LadyUmbrella Designer Ladies T-Shirts

I came across LadyUmbrella on Twitter and really wanted to share their awesome t-shirt designs with all of you.  I'm sure you will all be as impressed as I was.  I asked Robert Ryan, co-owner of LadyUmbrella, to give me some background on the company and how they came up with their unique look.  

Here's more about LadyUmbrella in Rob's own words:

There are two of us involved in LadyUmbrella, myself and the co owner and designer, Elena Montes Casado. We set up the company towards the end of 2008 and spent a lot of time researching, developing and designing our brand and t-shirts. We launched on the 20th of January 2010 and have been shipping our t-shirts worldwide since.

The idea for the company and the brand LadyUmbrella came to be when Elena first arrvied in Dublin, Ireland from Madrid, Spain. She was not accustomed to seeing so many umbrellas on the streets (or the amount of nasty rain we get hehe) and this gave rise to the notion of a lady with an umbrella for a head - LadyUmbrella. All of our designs feature our leading lady in a variety of scenes and scenarios and are discharge printed on our custom made 100% combed cotton t-shirts.

So, as I said, we launched the online shop on the 20th of January and so far have been having a really great time with lots of exciting things happening. We've shipped tshirts to Ireland, England, Wales, Scotland, Spain, Italy, Germany, Australia, South Korea and America so far and can't wait to find out which will be the next new territory for us. Our t-shirts are also currently being used in the recording of a new British film called Booked Out which is due for release later this year. Our t-shirts have also been sent to SXSW for some of the performers and our fingers are crossed that some one will actually wear one on stage - time will tell. We have also been nominated for an Irish Blog Award and have our t-shirts stocked in a boutique called EMMA Boutique in Dublin. We've also been mentioned in 2 national newspapers which is really staggering as we're not even open 2 months yet but we are delighted with how things are going.

They are offering a 15% discount code, which can be found at http://bit.ly/lumail

Even though LadyUmbrella is a relatively new company, it's obvious that we will be seeing their designs all over the place very soon.  To learn more about LadyUmbrella and to see more designs please visit their website at www.ladyumbrella.com. 

Inventor Showcase: Esse Reusable Bags

To kick of the Earth Day celebrations Womentorz is proud do be showcasing Esse Reusable Bags.  These are a must have for the next time you go grocery shopping.  I just received the CarryAll Tote and cannot believe all of the innovative elements within the product itself.  You can't appreciate the quality of this invention until you see it in person.  I was truly amazed!!!  There are so many parts of the bag that makes being green convenient and fashionable.  

I have had the best time getting to know all about the inventors of this important product that's cleaning up the Earth one grocery bag at a time.   

Q. How, why and when do you and your partner come up with Esse Reusable Bags?

In 2007, I was standing in line at my local market when I realized that, once again, I had forgot my reusable bag! I thought how great it would be if I had a bag that could be small enough to be stored in my purse. I got home, called Dawn and said "I have an idea..."she said "uh, what's new" (haha) and then, "me too". The following week, not knowing each other's idea, we sat down at my kitchen island and whipped out our prototypes. Hers was a cute version of the cheap, polypropylene grocery bag (the ones with all the advertising on them) and mine was a cut up, taped up version that served as a pathetic starting point for our Everyday Bag. From there, we decided that the next biggest dilemma we had was never having enough reusable bags when shopping for our family... and the CarryAll Tote was born.

Q. How does your product make grocery shopping along with being conscious of the environment easier?

We tried to cover all the bases when designing our line by making them convenient, stylish and hopefully, unforgettable. We chose to use recycled PET (plastic bottles!) material where possible and designed them to be used individually as well as together in the CarryAll Tote or Pak bag. We have one of the first ever complete lines of reusable bags to replace all paper, plastic and the flimsy produce bags at the grocery store.  The Everyday Bag is also the perfect bag for the mall, department store, convenient store... everywhere you shop, every day.
Q. What role does each of you play in the running of the business? Dreamer (me). Doer (Dawn). We really do have a great balance in that Dawn does what I tell her to and she tells me if I can spend money.

Q. What was your experience like in the actual design and manufacturing of your product?

The design part was great. We had a lot of fun and tweaked everything until we were both totally satisfied. Some would say we're still tweaking because one of us in never fully satisfied... but I'm not sayin' who. Choosing the right fabric, colors and patterns is much more difficult than we had ever imagined but thankfully we have similar taste. Manufacturing was even more difficult. We spent over year trying to find a Stateside sewing company but with 7 bags sold together as one set, we found our retail price would exceed $200! We've finally found a trusted vendor and are in full production mode.

Q. Who or what motivates you through challenging moments all businesses have?

Each other, our passion for our product and our husbands wanting to know when they can retire (or at least be "shipping managers"). We have always been recycling, resourceful women with a dream of someday having our own business. Esse is a perfect fit for us both.

Q. What did each of you do prior to your invention?

Dawn was, and still is a part-time business manger for a small courier company. She says that I am an artist (mosaics and interiors). We've both always been pretty involved in our children's school and their many activities and try hard to keep our families as a #1 priority.

Q. What an interesting fact about both of you we wouldn’t know by just talking to you?

Dawn's birthday is 5-5 and mine is 7-7, in the same year. Both our mother's names are Linda. The first time we met each other 17 years ago (right after our 18th birthday...he he) we talked about our desire for owning our own businesses and how cool it would be to do something together, someday. And now, here we are!

You will be able to learn more about Esse Reusable Bags when the new Womentorz site is relaunched on April 1st.  You can purchase this product on their website at www.esselife.com.

Womentorz is Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Earth Day

Earth Day falls on Thursday, April 22, 2010--and it's the 40th Anniversary of the holiday. It's a great time to learn about our planet and how to take care of it!  Womentorz has a number of green products on the site, and with the site's relaunch scheduled for April 1st, what better time to celebrate than showcasing these products as well as ideas on how each one of us can make the planet a little greener.

The entire month of April will be dedicated to this cause with lots of fun events.  To kick the month off, we have a wonderful interview with Holly and Dawn, the inventors of Esse Reusable Bags.  Stay tuned for tomorrow's posting.  Here's to being lean, mean and green machines!!

The Cricket Toy Celebrates that Awkward Moment – Chirp! Chirp!

I believe in supporting all entrepreneurs, both men and women alike, and when I came across the CRICKETtoy™ I just had to share it with all of you.

We’ve all had those awkward moments and wish there was a way to break the ice.  This hilarious device was invented by Jeff Anderson, a father of three, freelance songwriter, composer and producer in Spring Hill (Nashville), TN to celebrate those moments where words just don’t work.

TheCRICKETtoy™ is for any awkward situation. Simply push the button on the CRICKETtoy™ and you’ll hear crickets chirping.  To purchase this device visit www.thecrickettoy.com.  Chirp! Chirp!

Young Goddess Day Twitter Party is a Huge Success!!!

As you've probably noticed, there hasn't been a lot of changes to the blog over the past week so the focus was completely on the Young Goddess Day Twitter Party and all of the fabulous prizes!  The attention to YGD was completely worth it because the party was a huge success.  

We were able to meet a lot of new ladies and celebrate the positive message of honoring the time when young girls become women.  In this day and age this message gets lost in all of the day to day noise. Raecole and the Goddess Box celebrates this time in a girl's life and helps open up the communication between mother and daughter.    

Marianne with Raecole, a member of Womentorz  and dear friend, did such an amazing job hosting the twitter party.  The trivia games were so well thought out and fun for everyone.  To top it off, we were able to give out THE most amazing prizes.  Both Marianne and I feel very fortunate to have had so many generous contributors to the party.  

The party was very fast paced and even ran longer than the scheduled hour, so we wanted to make sure that we list all of the winners along with the fabulous prize they have won:

@Stayingyoung2 – winner of girls Lizzie Lou Flip Flops
@Justicecw – winner of an Opalite and clear quartz bracelet by High Strung Beads
@frugalgirl – winner of an original Reillyland roll ‘em up mat from Spooneez
@missaacmom – winner of a doll backpack by Carry Her
@LittleEsMomma – winner of Grill Charms and Key Chain 4 a Cure
@mmc67 – winner of the Dot Girls First Period Kit
@Ziggywag – winner of an original JoeyFiveCents butterfly necklace
@shawnmn – winner of an Heirloom Bijou Bracelet by Templeton Silver
@Graylee – winner of two sets of Ficklet design eye glass charms
@amberlou24 – winner of a unique baby bowl by Baby Dipper
@gis4girl – winner of 2 Azula pool lounge mats by MyAzula
@shelleyls – winner of Award Winning book Beauty Secrets by Debra Gano
@mommy_to_2_chris – Grand Prize winner of the Goddess Box by RaeCole

We would like to thank everyone who participated and contributed to the YGD twitter party.  It was because of you that it was such an amazing success.  Here's to looking ahead to YGD 2011!!!!

You're Cordially Invited to Celebrate YGD and Win These Amazing Prizes!

Celebrating National Young Goddess Day 

with a Twitter Party and Prizes!!!!
(See Below For Prizes)

We're inviting YOU to join the Young Goddess Day Twitter Party, bound to spark Mothers and Daughters to connect all over the world!

When: Saturday, March 20th
@ 4:00 EST

Where: Twitterville, Online Everywhere!

Why: Thought you'd never ask! 

How to Participate:
First.....comment below with your name and twitter tag in order to be in the running to win a prize even if you've told us you're going to be part of the party.  Contributors to the party don't need to be on the list...obviously you will be there. :  )  THEN, login to Twitter (4pm EST, 3pm Central, 2pm Mountain and 1pm Pacific) and follow the #YoungGoddessDay trend typed like this at the end of your tweet. Here we will post giveaway questions and available prizes for you to win for one full hour!

YGD or Young Goddess Day is a day dedicated to spending good ol' fashioned quality time with your dauther for at least 1 hour on March 20th or any day during March, where you can provide her with full blown, undivided attention; without the distraction of cell phones, video games, ipod, dvd's or anything that would take attention away from her. Can YOU support that?

In order to win, we ask that you stay with us that full hour to Tweet and ReTweet the #YoungGoddessDay trend to answer any questions or stay in the conversation. The more you Tweet #YoungGoddessDay the more you increase your chances of winning one of the amazing prizes below! You'll want to stay the full hour for the Grand Prize Giveaway that just may be for YOU!

Twitter parties are a fast, easy, fun and FREE way to connect with like-minded people all over the world!

Here are the prizes that YOU  could win:

Sippy Straw Cleaner - Value is priceless

Joeyfivecents, One of a kind Jewelry – Butterfly pendant necklace valued at $30.00

High Strung Beads Etc., Quality Handcrafted Treasures – Beaded Bracelet (Style and value may vary)- estimated value at $60.00

Lizzielou Shoes (Style may value may vary) - Value $95 - $117

The Dot Girls First Period Kit – valued at $19.95

Spooneez, Roll Up the Mess – original Reillyland valued at $16

Carry-Her - Valued at $21

Azula - Roll up Summer - Valued at $14.50

Beauty's Secret, A Girls Discovery of Inner Beauty 
Winner of numerous awards, including the Moms Choice Award and
Best Children's Book of the Year (twice!) - Valued at $17.95

Tempelton Silver – Cats Eye Heirloom Bijou Bracelet- Valued at $40

Ficklets -  (2) Childrens Eyewear Charm Huggers (Style and value may vary) - Estimated value $16 

Grill Charmers – grill charm gift set valued at $19.95

Key Chain for a Cure – Priceless

Baby Dipper - Value $12.95

RaeCole – Goddess Box valued at $74.99

Good luck!!!!  These are all great prizes.  

Thank you to our contributors!

Introducing Mommy Perks - An important partner of Womentorz

Womentorz has been working with Mommy Perks since our inception and have been so impressed with the level of professionalism and support received.  Shara Lawrence-Weiss, Owner of Mommy Perks, is an extremely talented writer and entrepreneur providing an array of promotional opportunities for your business with very reasonable PR and advertising packages.

With the relaunch of the site scheduled for April 1st, I really wanted to have a way to get the word out quickly....and what better way than with a big Twitter Party.  Our first Twitter Party was such a huge success that I know how much of an impact this social media tool can be.  I came to Shara to see if she would be interested in providing this service on top of her already popular PR and advertising packages.  I was so pleased that she was up for the challenge.  What she has done already to make the party a success is phenomenal.    


I will be posting more information about the Twitter Party, scheduled for April 15th, but wanted to introduce Mommy Perks and what a special partnership we have created.  For more information about the scheduled Twitter Party please visit: http://www.mommyperks.com/vip/?p=4681

Joining the Mommy Perks Community

On top of all of affordable promotional packages, joining the Mommy Perks community is free.   Here are just some of the "perks" in joining:

• A one-stop shopping experience offering unique and tested products & services
• Free membership to shop the discounts (use code M2005 when shopping unless otherwise noted)
• Free ads for mom's groups and non-profits
• Our popular VIP Blog: free business reviews, giveaways, freebies and more
• Enter to Win contests each month for members
• Informative and content heavy eNewsletters sent just once per month
• Newsletter giveaways exclusive to members
• Periodic email specials/discounts sent on behalf of our partners (advertisers)
• Affordable advertising and PR for any family friendly business or service
• List your family friendly blog graphic on our BLOGS page, no charge

To learn more about Mommy Perks please visit www.mommyperks.com.  They are a partner every business should have!

What retailers want to know about your invention

Written By: Jim DeBetta, Retail Product Placement Specialist

When you call on retail buyers, you must be prepared!  When I started calling on buyers years ago, I had little knowledge about what buyers expected from me and even less knowledge about what could happen when I finally earned a face to face meeting.  I spent many days and lots of dollars flying all over the country to meet with buyers – only to be told to come back when I was properly prepared.  Why go through that when everyday is important to bringing your invention to life!  Here are some of the “checklist” items you need to be aware of BEFORE you make that call:

•    Have retail ready samples to demonstrate and if your product is electronic don’t forget batteries.  A buyer cannot make a final decision to purchase a product that is a rough prototype or is incomplete.

•    Have your pricing prepared – wholesale and suggested retail pricing that allows you and the retailer to earn substantial profits.

•    Make sure you dress well as you can never be overdressed.

•    Be on time for your meeting.  I can’t believe how many people show up late for buyer meetings!

•    Visit one of their stores BEFORE your meeting so you are knowledgeable about their current product assortment and how your product fits in.

•    Know everything about the retailer including store count, who their competitors are, and what their goals are as a company.

•    Be prepared to answer questions about your manufacturing capabilities as buyers must feel confident that you can produce enough product should it sell very well.

•    Buyers simply cannot replace an item that is currently selling well unless you can convince them that your product will earn them more profit margin and provide a faster turn (how quickly the store sells out of the item) so be sure to let them know if you are currently selling your product elsewhere successfully to give them confidence – even if it is on a local level

There are many important steps to consider when preparing for these meetings but being fully prepared is critical to having that opportunity to getting your products placed.

To learn more about Jim DeBetta please visit his website at www.jimdebetta.com

BE A PART OF YOUNG GODDESS DAY - MARCH 20TH

Whether you're a business owner wanting to promote your product or a mother looking for interesting and fun ways to communicate with your daughter about difficult subjects you'll want to be a part of the  Young Goddess Day Twitter Party on March 20th at 4:00 EST!

Here are the ways to participate:

• Send us a picture of you celebrating Young Goddess Day with your daughter to be entered into a drawing to win the Goddess Box.  The winner will be announced during the Twitter Party.  Please email your photo to info@womentorz.com.
  
• Email your logo and and a picture of your product to info@womentorz.com if you would like to offer a giveaway during the Twitter Party. 
  
• Even if you don't have a give away, but would like to be a part of a fun event we would still like to let everyone know about your business and that you will be participating.  Please leave a comment to show your interest.
  
• We would like see who is participating in the Twitter Party in general.  Please leave a comment below with your name and Twitter account.

For the businesses offering a give away, Womentorz and Raecole will be offering a free platform to increase traffic to your site.  Just send us your logo and a picture of your product and we'll link it to your website through our blogs.

We already have quite a few businesses that would like to partner up for this fun event.  We will be announcing some of the great give aways and promotions offered during the YGD Twitter Party shortly. 

Remember, on March 20th at 4:00 EST be sure to tweet #younggoddessday to be a part of the party!

Inventor Showcase: Kt Steppers -Custom & Unique Step Stools for Your Little ‘Stepper’

Kt Steppers, LLC puts step stools into an entirely new realm with custom designed, hand-painted, personalized “steppers” for babies, toddlers, moms and much more!

Katie O’Neill, President and Owner, started her dream business that became a reality in 2008 when Kt Steppers, LLC was formed.   Now it is more of a reality offering online buying capabilities at: www.ktsteppers.com.   

Their ‘Steppers’ are a special, custom and a personal way to say “You’re one of a kind!”  They are a true ‘must-have’ in any household, especially with kids.
 

‘The Steppers’  are:

* Ultra trendy, hip, sophisticated step stools with the attention to detail being the upmost importance.  Each stepper is designed per order and can be matched to any theme, bedding, or décor desired. 

* HUGE hit with baby showers, 1st birthdays, christenings, teacher's gifts, bridal party gifts and so much more. 

*‘Steppers’ are a great way to introduce independence and encourage brushing teeth, washing hands, reaching a toy, and even helping out mom & dad in the kitchen.  They feel proud and like a real ’big kid’ for doing it all on their own!

* The cricket stepper is budget friendly (retails for $49), useful, and practical. They are made from Parawood or ‘rubberwood’.  It is also prized as an “environmentally friendly” wood, as it makes use of plantation grown trees that have been cut down at the end of their latex-producing cycle.  The paints used are completely Non-Toxic and ALL water-based.

Not only has the business blossomed and grown in one year locally in the NY/NJ area, they are being recognized all over the country.  Over the holidays, Kt Steppers made their National TV Debut on E! News with Giuliana Rancic’s Gift Guide segment (http://bit.ly/72VupJ).
Celebrities have also become fans of Kt Steppers and have sent many notes of ‘thanks’ after showing their child their very own custom steppers.  Custom Kt Steppers were made for celebrities such as Alison Sweeney, Tori Spelling, Rhea Wahlberg, Jenna Elfman, Denise Richards, Jennie Garth, Jason & Naomi Priestley, and more.   To see some celeb ‘kudo’s’ click here: http://www.ktsteppers.com/Customer_Celeb_Kudos.html

Kt Steppers hopes to be the preferred online boutique when buying a unique gift for that someone special but we are also are pursuing many other retail outlets to sell our steppers so that you will be able to find them in your local boutiques and specialty gift stores as well.

New products and designs are introduced daily.  We have an ongoing offer: 10% Off your purchase of 2 steppers at a time.  Kt Steppers can be found on facebook as Kt Steppers, friend & fan pages.  You can also follow us on Twitter @ktsteppers.

Promote Your Company During YGD Twitter Party