NEW WOOD AND METAL BOXES ADDED TO KYLE DESIGN
Colorful wood boxes with glass and metal.
I tease Kyle sometimes because we talk a lot about new ideas she has and then months later I find out she has added it to the website when I see the actual new product come up for me to pack! Or I read about it when I am checking out her blog.
That is what happened when she finalized the new wood boxes with glass and metal overlay. This design allows you to use any of our over 400 designs on our wood boxes. the design is integrated into a metal overlay on a colorful piece of glass and with a flash of our iridescent film under the design.
glass color chart.
There are nine color systems available on the 6.5″ x 6.5″ x 2.5″ high boxes which are made of rosewood stained ash. The boxes are hinged and the bottom of the inside is lined. We can ad an engraving plate to the inside or outside of the box.
A smaller version of the overlay box will soon be
Small box coming soon.
available in black. Hopefully Kyle will let me know when that happens and I can post information on that box! Pictured here ia a sample of that box.
2008 CHRISTMAS SHOPPING TRENDS
Just taking a minute out of our busy day of processing and packing orders to
hourglass timer
mention some of the shopping tends we are seeing.
With the economy in an uproar it was hard to know how people would react and if they would
Big bow Badge Reel
be shopping. We feel that we have the perfect kind of gifts – practical, beautiful and unique. Well, we are happily busy filling orders.
Fibonacci sequence earrings!
We are seeing that our math and science designs are doing well, as is the vampire design – thanks to all the Twilight fans! We are seeing lot’s of sharks and squirrels, too. Things we are getting low on are the stockbroker design, the fashion design and sewing– so people have really been buying based on their hobbies and professions.
Frosty beer pill box.
We have had fun seeing what people have been using the alcohol and caffeine molecular designs for! Our new double designs are becoming popular and it is great fun trying to decipher the meanings – we had one that appears to have been for a DUI attorney!
Sports remain very popular. Lacrosse, rowing and our new athletic shoe are almost as popular as the swimming design. There are also a LOT of ballroom dance fans ordering.
Round interlinking hearts pill box
The one that we have sold out is our interlocking hearts – so Kyle is gearing up and we will have plenty of that design in time for Valentine’s Day!
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HOLIDAY BAKING – COOKIES vs CUPCAKES
Round cupcake pill box.
I was reading in the paper that a cupcake only bakery in LA has been going after other cupcake bakeries for infringing on their name and polka-dot motif – good thing our little cupcake design isn’t all about the sprinkles! Cupcakes are very in. There are cupcake cookbooks, jewelry and giant
Cookie lovers pill box.
cupcake cake molds. which sounds a bit unclear on the concept of a
cupcake!
Lot’s of people love to bake and cupcakes offer up a lot of opportunities for creativity. Plus, who doesn’t love a little portion controlled sweetness?
Fun in the kitchen ornament.
This time of year baking becomes an obsession for many. My daughter is testing cookie recipes for her holiday give-away plates. I have been asked to share a recipe in an online cookie exchange.
I have never been able to master candy making, but I am a cookie making machine during the holidays. this year, though, I may jump into the cupcake frenzy.
Technorati: cupcakes, cupcake, cupcake with frosting, cupcake with sprinkles, cookies, holiday cookies, baking cookies, cooking, cooking ornament, kitchen ornament, pill boxes, pillbox, personalized gifts, custom gifts, tree ornaments
IT’S FALL
Fall leaves decor on dimmer knob.
Our studio is located in a very nice business park. We have lots of big shady trees that are turning color.
A pumpkin or other fall themed night light adds to seasonal decor.
we can look across to hills which are slowly being covered by grape vineyards. When I am driving too and from the studio I go past a field which is planted at various times of the year. Just now they are harvesting pumpkins. Down the road is a very famous corn maze. They usually have pumpkins and farm animals and similar attractions for kids.
A round pillbox with a turkey makes a fun hostess gift.
A couple of years ago we looked out the window to see a flock of turkeys walking down the street. Someone must have called the folks at the corn maze and they rounded them up and took them back, but one turkey had eluded them and lived in the “wild” of the business park for a couple of years. We saw her several times a year strolling around, but she has either been captured or otherwise occupied lately.
The farmer’s market is full of crisp apples and tall sunflowers, but I miss the
Give a sunflower Christmas tree ornament.
strawberries…there are still lots of bright green veggies in the market and last week I still found some fragrant basil. The market gets smaller as the fall goes on. My daughter likes to go with me to get cupcakes and other baked goodies.
Christmas tree ornaments for cheer team.
And there is football, and cheerleaders and Homecoming dances. That is the stuff my daughter is enjoying this fall. My husband and I took a long bike ride Sunday and enjoyed the late blooming roses in the park. A cool wind blew from behind as we took the trail home. Tom thinking of having a beer and me a nice bubble bath.
Technorati: fall, fall decor, night lights, custom night light, custom gifts, fall gifts, ornaments, christmas ornaments, cheer, cheer team, cheerleading, cheer squad, football, beer, bubbles, pill box, turkey gift, hostess gifts, sunflowers, sunflower gifts, apples, pumpkins, pumpkin gifts, farm animal gifts, bike, bicycle gifts, veggies, vegetables, cup cakes, cupcake, strawberry gifts, strawberries, grapes, vinyards grape gifts
SMART GIFT SHOPPING
Bright Christmas Pill Box.
I know that this new round of economic woes has everyone on edge. The concepts are too big to get my head around, except for the old adage of “what goes up, must come down.” All I do know is that it is time to focus on what we need and to spend our money on quality.
To me the best thing about Kyle Design products is that they are lovely pieces of art but useful, too. Functional art is what it is called. The other thing I like is that I work for a woman who has built this business over 25 years. She has weathered these financial storms and kept her business alive and has a real commitment to offering high quality at a moderate price, made in the USA and backed up with good customer service.
The holidays are coming up fast. We have been getting ready for months now because it is our busiest
Click here to see large custom lockets.
time of year. I always start my shopping early because we put in long days at work in November and December. I have a few gifts in my hiding places already, and I have made lists of things to seek out in the next few weeks. Will I cut down this year? Not much. The cuts that could have been made were made in past years. I just try to be smart and look for value
One thing I look at when I am shopping online is the shipping cost. If a site hides the shipping information or pads the cost of shipping, I look elsewhere. I am proud to say we do not charge beyond the actual cost of UPS shipping at Kyle Design. Plus we offer flat rate shipping – so buying multiple items from us is smart.
Click here to purchase money clip with dollar sign.
I think it is smart to shop online, as well. Saving the time and gas and staying away from the crowds is big for me. Kyle Design offers a huge variety of gift options. (We frequently ask Kyle if she has gone crazy because she is always adding new items and our shelves are bending under the weight!) The thing is – last year we didn’t have lockets or long engravable bookmarks, handy boxes and our double design options and now people order them every day! Spend some time looking around our site and you will truly fine a gift for everyone you know.
So, for the holiday gift season coming up, shop smart by spending some time at Kyle Design.
Technorati: value, smart shopping, valie shopping, holiday shopping, holiday gifts, Christmas gifts, value gifts, bookmarsk, lockets, business card cases, handy boxes, custom gifts, afforadable gifts, practical gifts, functional gifts, functional art, flat rate shipping, online shopping, shopping online, e-commerce, economy, economical gifts, customer service, woman owned business, made in USA,
DINNER WITH FRIENDS
We were
invited to dinner at the new home of my old friend and her significant other. They purchased it together and we were their first guests. It is an older ranch house which has been updated beautifully. It sits on a large lot with a terraced garden, large trees and an inviting hot tub. I am looking forward to their house warming party planned later in the spring when the nights will be warm enough to sit outdoors.
He made some potent Margaritas to start us out, she served some tasty guacamole and
we commenced to talking. I am not sure we stopped talking for a minute, even to savor the wonderful dinner. She made some great seviche with scallops and salmon. It was so fresh and spicy that I just had to have another margarita.
Next she grilled some lamb chops which she served over corn pudding with 3 different salsas. The salsas were green, yellow and red, so you can imagine how amazing these plates looked – and the taste was just as good. Yum.
So it was a great evening out with friends. Good food, wonderful company, an inviting setting and an invitation to visit again.
I wrote an article a while back about hostess gifts. When you have received an invitation, take a look and consider taking an out of the ordinary gift!
Technorati: dinner, home, house, garden, margarita, wine, lamb, chili pepper, salsa, dinner party, house warming, pill box, flask, ornament
INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY – MARCH 8 2008
There have been amazing changes in the status of women in the world in my lifetime. The efforts of generations of women to liberate themselves from the restrictions and limitations imposed by government and society were being acted upon and changed in so many ways and have impacted my life, my mother’s life and those of my daughters.
Many from a younger generation feel that ‘all the battles have been won for women’ – -after all, more women than men are attending college and every career appears to be available to all. They are unaware of the longevity and ingrained complexity of patriarchy.
“With more women in the boardroom, greater equality in legislative rights, and an increased critical mass of women’s visibility as impressive role models in every aspect of life, one could think that women have gained true equality. The unfortunate fact is that women are still not paid equally to that of their male counterparts, women still are not present in equal numbers in business or politics, and globally women’s education, health and the violence against them is worse than that of men.” This is reported by the International Women’s Day website.
This celebration of women working for equality in the past, the present and into the future
is marked by activities throughout the world. A women’s art show in California, a demonstration in Stockholm, a benefit to support orphaned children in China and 600 more events around the globe.
While there have been so many positive changes for women, we must not forget that there are societies which still favor the birth of a son over a daughter, rape is used as a weapon of war and terror, women are sold into slavery, trafficked for sex, their sexual organs mutilated and their features shrouded beneath burkas. I would not say that the work has been done.
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GETTING INTO THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT
My daughter is attending school in Philadelphia – far away from our home in California. Maybe if we had traveled east with the kids she wouldn’t have considered it so exciting to go across the country for school, maybe not.
She has found a bus which goes to New York City for a very reasonable rate. I remember when she went for the first time last year that she was very disappointed with Rockefeller Center and how small the skating rink was. She tried to do some of the tourist things, but it was Thanksgiving and crowded. Her friends don’t show any interest in the museums and other cultural sites, so she has not yet seen the places I like to go.
This time she visited the campus a friend will soon attend and did some shopping and eating in around town. She got lost and called her dad to “mapquest” her location and tell her where to go! So high tech. Now she is back at school writing a paper to turn in before going to the home of her friend for the Thanksgiving holiday. I sent an ornament to give
as a hostess gift.
My son is home, he arrived with a car full of dirty laundry (which he plans to wash himself.) He is in the den playing a video game with his little sister.
The centerpiece is made, the cranberry sauce is jelling, the rolls I made yesterday are tucked in the freezer. I have everything ready to brine the turkey and make the dressing on Wednesday night. I think I’m ready for the holiday!
Technorati: brine turkey, Christmas, city lights, city skyline ornament, custom ornament, daughter, holiday, holiday travel, Hostess gift, New York city, pumpkin, pumpkin ornament, school, shopping, son, Thanksgiving, tourist, turkey
My Art Filled Life 