Teresamia Inspirations

2010-04-27T16:54:00.000-07:00

Sooooo, I was talking to my little sister today and she's throwing a baby shower for a friend of hers. I LOVE baby showers!! I have thrown a few myself and because of my convo with Mina today, I thought I'd post some of my favorite baby shower inspirational sites, ideas and a few pics from my own experience in baby showering!! Enjoy!

This is from http://www.eatdrinkchic.com/ a super cute site with TONS of great ideas, but this inspired me to come up with a "waffle bar" (instead of a make-your-own-sundae bar) for my girlfriend's baby shower. Here are my pics from that baby shower:

Then I did a double baby shower "open house" (sans games) with my friend, Leslie. One of the ladies was having a boy and one was having a girl - it was a second baby for each of them, so we did a blue and pink theme to celebrate both babies/mommies. It turned out cute, take a look:

The last one I have done recently was an under-the-sea theme because that was the nursery theme. We invited a lot of people and I didn't have enough decor to decorate each centerpiece the same ... so I just didn't, but kept it all within the same theme and it worked (i think). I made the stuffed octopus and whale for a few of the centerpieces and gave them to the mom-to-be as a gift from me afterwards.

Just some fun ideas ... and here are my favorite sites to pull ideas from:

For invitations:

http://www.paperculture.com/

http://www.tinyprints.com/

http://www.blonde-designs.com/default.asp and their blog: http://blonde-designs.squarespace.com/

For dessert tables .... my hands-down favorite:

http://amyatlas.com/ and her blog: http://amyatlas.blogspot.com/

Reading Squares

2009-01-27T12:22:00.000-08:00

Well, I have a little boy who is VERY active. I like to have "quiet time" at least once a day and needed a way to get him to stay in one place. I wanted to get a few carpet squares from my local Home Depot, but it turns out they make you pay for carpet squares and I was not about to pay for that ... so ... I took the only thing I already own tons of: fabric and made my own "reading squares".

I just took the fabrics that I had LOTS of and cut out rectangles, put right side together and sewed them almost all the way together, then turned them right sides out and sewed around the edges to finish. And tada! Reading squares! Here they are:

The "Essentials Bag"

2009-01-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

I got this idea from a friend of mine from college, Jennie. One afternoon I was hanging out at Jennie's house and we were getting ready to go somewhere and she pulled out this little, zipper top bag and I asked her what it was. She said she kept all of her essentials (i.e. wallet, chapstick, hair things, etc.) in it and just transferred her essentials bag into whatever cute bag she decided to carry that day - genius! I am always fumbling through 3 different purses trying to find my keys or wallet that I left there and forgot about until I'm ten minutes late and trying to run out the door. I loved the idea and didn't think about it again for another 2 years, when I started Teresamia with my sister. I knew we HAD to have a line of essentials bags because they are .... essential!

So, last week I was putting some stuff in my basement and moving things around and found a box of essentials bags I had made and forgotten about last season and was struck with the cuteness and usefulness of them once again and put them up on the site. Check 'em out here!

Baby Activity Book

2008-11-18T12:20:00.000-08:00

I am going on a long plane ride to visit my family for Thanksgiving and decided I needed some seriously entertaining toys for my two boys. My youngest is 6 months old and wants to grab everything! So, I decided to make something to keep him grabbing at it the entire trip on the plane!!!! It's an activity book or what my sisters and I call a "quiet book" (meaning, we hope it keeps them quiet). Anyway, I already made one for my oldest son, but now I have one for both! Check it out:

This page has ladybugs with bells inside them that tinkle when he grabs at them.

This page has a "rain cloud" on the left that crinkles (I put plastic wrappers from a package of fruit snacks inside) which is kinda like a thundering rain cloud :) And the butterflys are simply squishable and are only sewn down in the middle so the wings can be flapped.

This page is a "scene" with flaps hiding a sun behind a cloud, frogs behind the pond, a car behind the grass and a bird in a birdhouse behind the tree.

This page has hats stuffed in a pocket and connected to the page (so you don't lose the hats) on the left. On the right are the boy and girl that wear the hats. There are velcro on the back of the hats and above the heads to attach them together.

This is just 3 colorful squares that can be moved around on a line ... kind of like you can count each one and move it to one side or the other.

This is totally a doable project (if you like to sew). I did it in one day ... with lots of interruptions from the peanut gallery (my boys :))

We're in a Magazine!

2008-11-18T11:48:00.001-08:00

This is our first feature in a magazine and we wanted to share! The magazine is called Stressfree Living and is distributed mainly in the Twin Cities area. They liked our "mia" bag and decided to feature it in their October issue under the Beauty and Style section. If you want to see the story behind the inspiration of the mia bag, we wrote about it a few months ago, check it out here. And by the way here's the page Stressfree Living did on our bag:

Denial & Ode to Summer

2008-09-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

I think we must seriously be in denial about Fall and Winter coming. We have been putting together the Fall Line for Teresamia and everything just keeps coming out so summery ... we can't stop! Recently, Christina sent me a bunch of drawings for some new bags. One was the inspiration for the "sunshine" bag.

Summer is just too fun: swinging on swings in the park, trips to the zoo, sprinklers, homemade juice popsicles, picnics in the backyard, BBQ-ing, garage sales, family camping trips, lemonade, flip flops and pedicures, beach trips, bonfires, fresh fruit and plaid shorts. Ah! Summer is melting into Fall ...

Nie Recovery

2008-09-15T19:26:00.000-07:00

One of our favorite online companies, Shabby Apple, is hosting an online auction to help the family of plane crash victim, Stephanie Nielson. If you would like to be a part of this check out Shabby Apple's Blog and auction:

http://www.shabbyapple.blogspot.com/

Or directly donate whatever you'd like to the Nie Recovery PayPal account:

I LOVE Halloween

2008-09-15T11:11:00.000-07:00

Halloween is my favorite holiday besides Christmas. Halloween is very close to my birthday so, growing up I had dress up parties. Now I am an adult and still want to dress up, but it looks weird to dress up on Halloween and go grocery shopping or show up trick-o-treating with my 2 year old as a tiger ... people just look at you strangely and it takes all the fun out of wearing a headband with tiger ears on it and a tail ...

Everyone has Christmas parties and December is such a crazy busy month anyway, so that's out. Thanksgiving is not a month to hold parties, cuz everyone travels to be with family and it's more of a family holiday and everyone thinks Halloween is a kid holiday! Nobody thinks of holding a dress up party for adults! I LOVE IT! I always write on my invitations: "costumes are required".

Anyway, so my husband and I decided to start hosting an annual adult Halloween Party. I got the idea from my older sister. I spend months trying to figure out how to transform my home into an evil lair or a haunted old mansion. And picking out the food is as important to me as the decor - it's not fun to go to a party unless there's some awesome treats!!! So I thought I'd pass on a few links to my favorite Halloween ideas and websites ... you should start a tradition too!

Halloween Food
Spooky Tree Centerpiece
Tombstone Brownies
Glitter Tombstones

Of course, Martha Stewart is a bounty of knowledge and ideas ... here are some favs:
Orange Jack-o'-Lanterns with Sorbet
Pumpkin-Gingerbread Ice Cream Sandwiches
Papier-Mache Pumpkins

The year I was pregnant with my first little boy, I had to come up with a Halloween costume and I was almost 8 months pregnant and huge!!! This is what we came up with: 3 Peas in a Pod

frank bag

2008-09-15T10:58:00.000-07:00

So ... I called Christina the other day and said, "I need to come up with a few more Halloween bags, what should I do?" We threw around a few ideas and she asked what cool amterial I had lying around. I pulled out some purple velvet, shimmering silver polyester, lime green, shimmering black, and a bunch of fleece. I don't know how it inspired her, but Christina blurted out "How about Frankenstein?"

I asked how the heck I'd pull that off and she started describing shapes to me, "The hair is like upside down grass, you know, all spikey and the face is like a rounded rectangle ...". I kept her on the phone until I had it all cut out, then hung up and went to work. And we came up with the "frank" bag. I love Halloween!!!

littlemiddlesister

2008-09-05T11:11:00.000-07:00

My friend, Suzanne, has the cutest line of clothing for little girls that she sells on etsy.com, so I thought I'd share it! Suzanne and I are friends from college. She and I sang the lead role for Carmen (the opera) together, except I was her understudy - she is amazing - as a person and as a singer!

She and her husband are in the process of adopting and in an effort to off-set the cost of adopting, she started this etsy shop. It's a worthy cause, supports a wonderful woman and they are the cutest little girl clothes!!! It's really a shame I only have little boys! Maybe someday ... check her out!

mia bag

2008-09-05T10:34:00.000-07:00

So ... I was talking to my husband a few nights ago and asking his opinion of the bags I was making lately. I asked if he had a favorite and he did! He said he really liked "sunset" and suggested I make another one that was the same style. I always ask for my husband's opinion about bags and purses and then I'm always surprised and totally laugh when he actually has input for me.

Anyway, so I found just a little of this flower print cotton left over from a yoga bag I made for my sister, Christina, and I LOVE it, so I used it.

What's funny about this design is that it is the most popular style of bag that Teresamia has ever created, and yet it was a comlplete mistake! I was trying to make a bag with handles as a fluid part of the bag (not sewn on seperately), but it was a hideous mistake and so I just cut the handle parts off and I was left with this very strange, long, shallow purse. I didn't know what to do with the remains, so I started brainstorming. I decided to add a drawstring effect on either side of the bag to make it shorter and added ties to make it cute. Then I put on some handles to cover the stitching left from the scrunchy drawstring portion and viola! Our most popular style was born! The Fall Line has this style bag in three different fabrics - and it always turns out fun and cute with all the ammenities people are looking for (magnetic snap closure, cool, cute and bright fabrics, and a cell phone pocket).

Anyway, thanks for the insight Daniel and here is the "mia" bag!

Colette Kids

2008-09-03T18:16:00.001-07:00

I recently came across the coolest little website for kids' clothing. I loved the simple, cute designs on each tshirt and onesie and to top it off, they are environmetally concious too - made from USDA certified organic cotton in the USA. Anita, the graphic designer/mommy-to-be, and I have shared a few email converstaions and she's cool too - she's from the Bay Area just like Christina and me! Good luck and three cheers for Colette Kids. Check it out!

http://www.colettekids.com/

jane bag

2008-09-03T11:18:00.000-07:00

This little girl bag was inspired by my little neice, Taylor. I made her a bag similar to this one for Christmas last year. Taylor is a total girl! She loves purses and "bling" (jewelry) and dolls.

She was such a cute, chubby infant that we started calling her "Fat Taylor" ... then Christina's little boy tried to say Fat Taylor and it came out as "fat tator", so that's her little nickname. She'll probably hate it when she's 20 and at college and bringing home her first boyfriend to meet her family and we all call her "fat tator". That's not gonna fly. But for now, she's "fat tator" to us and we love her and I miss her - she lives too far away - come visit us again Taylor!! Aunt Fran misses you!

tracie bag

2008-09-03T10:57:00.000-07:00

I was talking to Christina on the phone about a week ago and she was all excited about pleats! We started discussing the design and then I started searching through my fabric to find an interesting fabric that would stand alone with this kind of design. I came across this pink and brown vintage style fabric.

I don't even remember where I picked this fabric up, but it always reminds me of my friend, Tracie. Tracie is the most fashionable woman I have ever met! She was wearing leggings and leopard print heels 2 years ago before anyone else was wearing leggings and I loved it! I loved her funky style - chunky, long necklaces, brooches, orange sweaters, black leggings, polka-dotted galloshes and leopard print heels - so fun!

She used to nanny for an executive that worked for a well known clothing line. The executive loved Tracie's style, as I do, and would sometimes base designs in her professional line off of clothes Tracie wore to nanny in! Tracie and I spent time together at play dates for our kids and then sadly, she moved away about a year ago.

But before she moved, she came over and looked at some of my bags in my studio at home. At the time I was making a large diaper bag out of this same pink and brown vintage style fabric and she fell in love with it and asked for me to let her buy it when I was finished making it. Now, everytime I see this fabric I think of my stylish friend, Tracie and I miss her!

This tracie bag is an ode to her!

Caramel Corn

2008-09-02T13:14:00.000-07:00

My husband and I try to do Family Nights every so often and last Friday we held one. It was a blast! We spread out an old quilt on the front room floor, ordered pizza, made caramel corn and watched "Aristocats" that we borrowed from our local library. But because I am so food-oriented, my favorite part was the caramel corn! My sisters and I share this awesome micrwave recipe for caramel corn and I thought I'd share it with you - enjoy!

CARAMEL POPCORN

4 quarts popcorn (popped)

1/2 c. butter1 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. corn syrup

1/2 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1. Put butter, brown sugar, corn syrup and salt in a saucepan and bring to a boil. Turn off heat and stir in 1/2 tsp. of baking soda.

2. Put popped popcorn in a brown paper bag (grocery store size) - I double bagged it - add the sweet melted syrup from the saucepan into the bag. Shake and put entire bag in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Take out of microwave and shake. Microwave one more time for 1 1/2 minutes. Shake. Pour into a bowl, let it cool and eat!

daniel bag

2008-09-02T12:58:00.001-07:00

I'm all about recycling and re-using, so when my husband, Daniel, decided to downsize his closet full of clothes, I could not just let him toss them in the trash . So we offered the clothes to a few friends and widdled down the pile of clothes to a few shirts and a pair of khakis. It's so sad because the last few shirts left were ones I picked out and bought for Daniel and he hardly wore them and then wanted to throw them out ... oh man .... anyway, I decided to hang on to them and I threw them in with my fabric storage.

I sat down on Monday and had some time to sew and thought I'd like to make another boy bag, so I started rifling through my massive storage of fabric. I came across this blue striped shirt and Daniel's khakis and thought they'd be perfect for boy bags. I wanted to keep some of the elements of the clothes they came from to emphasize the recycling factor, plus it's just cool.

So the blue shirt bag kept the collar buttons and the khaki bag kept the back pocket. I think it gives the bags more character to know they came from someplace other than a simple bolt of fabric, don't you think??

naomi bag

2008-09-02T12:39:00.001-07:00

I was inspired to make this bag from a little girl I saw on Sunday. I teach music on Sundays to kids at church and there in the front row is this adorable girl named Naomi. She was wearing this awesome batik-style dress that was colorful and flowering, it was just so bright and fun.

So on Monday as I was looking through some fabric I saw this fabric I had forgotten about. It is cotton canvas and has the look of hand painted flowers on it. It was so bright and cool and flowerful that it reminded me of Naomi and I thought I'd make a little girl bag from this material I stumbled upon.

I have wanted to do a tie top bag for a while, ever since I saw my friend, Shari, wearing one a few years ago. It looks cute and casual, and adds interest to an otherwise standard looking bag. And that's how this "naomi" bag came about!

The "Boy Bag"

2008-08-29T09:56:00.001-07:00

We've mostly designed for women, mommies, teens, and little girls - but recently we were inspired to add little boys to our list of people with cool bag needs!

Last Christmas, our family exchanged names for Christmas gifts. I got my niece's name to buy for. She is such a beautiful little girl and a definate girly girl, I thought she would love a purse and some fun jewelry. I designed her a little turquoise and white polka dotted bag with a bright red flower on the front with a button center. After I made it, my little boy found it hanging in my studio, shoved all his trucks and cars inside and started toting it around. And that's when I thought, "maybe boys need bags too".

I quickly created a bag for him (khaki colored with a zipper on the front and a velcro closure on top) and he LOVES it! I did this 7 months ago and he uses it almost everyday! We hang it on a peg in his room along with his baseball hats; when we get ready to go run some errands I tell him to go get his hat and without me saying anything about it, he always grabs his bag.

He crams his favorite cars he's been playing with in it and carries it along with us and it keeps him so occupied during our errands that I have come to adore this idea of having a "boy bag". Sometimes he carries his fruit snacks and sippy cup in it, depending on his needs or wants for the outing.

When my mother-in-law came to visit last week she noticed the "boy bag" my little guy toted around with him everywhere we went and she raved about it all week. Everytime we go shopping at kid stores like Pottery Barn Kids or Baby Gap or Gymboree, mommies stop us and comment on my little boy's bag. I told Christina about it and off we went, designing "boy bags". We've started a line of them on our website and hope to spread the word!

My little man with his bag on a few outings ...

Why the name Teresamia??

2008-08-27T14:11:00.000-07:00

We've been asked many times about the name of the company and this being our first post, we thought it would be a good idea to clear that up and introduce ourselves. "Teresamia" is the joining of both our middle names. Francesca TERESA and Christina MIA.

We started designing and making fabric bags when we lived together in the same house with our families in New Jersey. We had both recently had babies (born 8 weeks apart from each other) and were frustrated with the bag options we found. We wanted diaper bags with TONS of pockets and we wanted day bags that were cute and had long straps to wear across the body so we had our hands free. We just got tired of looking at the same stores for our bag needs and never feeling satisfied with our bag purchases.

So, Christina started drawing up designs for bags and Francesca started sewing away and rummaging through our mom's vintage fabrics in her sewing closet. It became a fun creative outlet for both of us to talk about while sitting on the couch side by side nursing our newborns and that was the beginning of Teresamia!

We decided to start this blog and attach a link to our site because so many people want to know why we named certain bags certain names and how we come up with the designs. We are inspired by a variety of things and decided to give people a little background on the bags they buy. Most of the bags are inspired by interesting people or experiences and we thought you'd all like to know the history of your unique bags. So, enjoy!