SBS: Katie M Berggren

Small Business Spotlight

Katie M Berggren is someone I have blogged about many times in the past.  She is a mother and artist that paints and captures beautiful moments of motherhood.

I was introduced to her when I received a couple of prints as a gift for the holidays one year.  The prints were a perfect gift and I immediately loved them.  I looked her up and loved everything I saw.  From her stunning artwork, to her back story and quotes she shares on Facebook, to her donations to helping people in need.  If you haven't already checked her out, you can find out more about her and her artwork on her website. 

Just like the prints I received, I have given her prints to dear friends that have cherished and displayed these precious moments Katie manages to capture in her artwork.  And I will continue to enjoy and gift these paintings for years to come.  I hope you can enjoy them as much as I have.

© Katie M Berggren

SBS: the vintage pearl

Small Business Spotlight

The Vintage Pearl makes beautiful hand stamped jewelry.  This small business was started in 2007 by a stay at home mom with 4 young children looking for a creative outlet.  Since then they have grown enough to open a retail store in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

They carry a large selection of jewelry that can be customized to reflect your family and sentiment.  This gorgeous jewelry is a great way to celebrate those we love with a beautiful reminder we can bring with us anywhere.  It also makes an amazing gift that is sure to touch their heart.

Find out more about The Vintage Pearl and the products they offer by visiting their website.

SBS: Babywearing

Small Business Spotlight: Babywearing

The babywearing world is FULL of small business.  In fact, most companies that make and sell baby carriers would fall into the small business category.  But for the purpose of this post, I am more interested in focusing on the tiny, micro companies like myself and many other home based businesses.

Since there are so many and I don't want to do post after post, I'm going to limit the babywearing spotlights to this post and list several small babywearing businesses that I love.  These are in no specific order. :)

Sleeping Baby Productions
Jan has been making ring sling since 2001!  Her slings are very affordable and are made to order which allows you to order the exact size and fabric you want.  Jan has TONS of babywearing experience and expertise and is a very respected among the babywearing community.

SweetPea Ring Slings
Making slings since 2006, the owner of SweetPea Ring Slings is a work at home mom with a full crew of active kiddos.  Her slings come in a large variety of options that allow you to have a one of a kind sling.

Kalea Baby
Kalea Baby carries in stock ring slings as well as doing wrap conversion slings and custom orders.  Specializing in linen, Crystal make beautiful ring slings with accented stitching.

Nuzzle Me Creations
Nuzzle Me Creations is actually a work at home dad what makes all their carriers.  Tim designed the UMC: Ultimate Man Carrier (or Mama Carrier) which quickly became popular for all the added features that could be added.  They also carry strap covers and a couple other misc items.

AngelPack
Started in 2005 as Chi-Chi Mio Designs, AngelPack specializes in making buckle carrier.  AngelPack carriers are made in the Dominican Republic, where Nelly was born and raised.  She started a sewing house there to help support the community where she grew up.  Their sewing house not only offers employment to the local community, but it also utilizes renewable energy to help power their facility.

Two Mommas Designs
Two Mommas Designs is known for their mei tai and buckle carriers.  Most orders are custom made and can be customized with a variety of options.  They also make kid carriers and seriously adorable little cloth shoes that can be made from wrap scraps!


There are many, many more awesome small businesses that make and sell baby carriers, like Olives & Applesauce and Wrapsody, and I could go on forever listing them!  It's easy to fall in love with babywearing and want to be a part of it in a bigger way.  I love getting to be a part of so many people's babywearing experiences!  So thank you for your support!

Lenny Lamb Rainbows

Lenny Lamb has some gorgeous rainbow wraps, but it can be hard to tell the sometimes subtle differences from most photos.  So we took some up close and side by side photos to help you compare the colors.

Lenny Lamb rainbows come in four different weft colors: dark blue, green, light yellow, and red.  The weft color in a wrap can drastically change the appearance of the wrap, as is very obvious with the red weft color looking like a completely different rainbow.

The red is the most different, looking like completely different colors, but they are in fact the exact same design.  The green and dark blue are the most subtle of the four, but they do look different.

The dark blue weft color is a tiny bit darker and beeper than the green.  It's colors feel the boldest, but it loses some of the softness you get with the green.  The green weft is available in both 100% cotton and bamboo/cotton blend wraps.  The other rainbows are only available in bamboo/cotton.

Wrap name by weft color:

• Red - Sunset Rainbow
• Light Yellow - Sunrise Rainbow
• Green - Tangata (bamboo) & Gaia (cotton)
• Dark Blue - Paradiso Rainbow

And here are some action shots!  See if you can guess the weft color!

You can find these Lenny Lamb wraps and others at our shop.

SBS: Sarah's Silks

Sarah's Silks is a small business that makes play silks and other great toys that encourage children to use their imagination and creativity.  Play silks are simple pieces of silk that can easily be transformed into a cape, gown, pirate sash, grass to walk on, a pond, or even a fort.  The sky is the limit with these open ended toys.

Sarah's Silks was started 18 years ago by a mother looking for a way to nurture her son's imagination and give him the tools to be anything he could dream up.  Over the years Sarah has continued to grow her business while raising her three boys.

Find our more about Sarah's Silks and the great products they offer by visiting their website.

SBS: Mommy Necklaces

Small Business Spotlight:  Mommy Necklaces

Mommy Necklaces designs beautiful and safe necklaces for moms.  These are perfect for your little one to grab or play with while nursing or babywearing, or if you just have a grabby toddler that likes to yank on sparkly things you have around your neck!  Made from high-quality, USA-manufactured acrylic beads that are lab-tested for safety, these necklaces come with a breakage guarantee.

These are the perfect gift for any mom or a great way to treat yourself!  After all, being a mom is hard work, you deserve it!

Find out more about these awesome products and their company by visiting

www.mommynecklaces.com

Attn Babywearing Groups!

We LOVE local babywearing groups!  I love that groups of people get together to celebrate their love of babywearing.  I love that experienced babywearers go out of their way to offer help and support to people new to the joys of babywearing.  I do my best to support and participate in babywearing groups, but I wanted to do more.

So... I have decided to have a giveaway.  I will be giving away some of our store demo carriers.  These carriers are in excellent condition!  To encourage participation, the more people that enter, the more carriers we will give away!  Plus we'll give you multiple entries, so each person can enter more than once.  How about this:

      1st prize available, BabyHawk MT
      After we reach 100 entries, we'll add a Wrapsody Bali Breeze
      After 200 entries, Hoppediz Ring Sling
      After 300 entries, we'll add a BRAND NEW, in package AngelPack LX!
      If we hit 500 entries, we'll give away a Lenny Lamb woven wrap!

PLUS, as an added bonus, one lucky person will win a free 2013 Babywearing Calendar with art by Katie M Berggren!

AND... the first 30 babywearing groups that participate will receive a FREE Hoppediz Wrap Instruction Book!

Is that enough reasons to enter???  We'll leave the raffle open for the rest of the month.  This should give people lots of time to enter and spread the word to their local babywearing groups.  So enter now and make sure you share!


a Rafflecopter giveaway

SBS: Crayon Rocks

Small Business Spotlight

Crayon Rocks are fun crayons with a unique twist... they are shaped like rocks!  I stumbled across these a few years ago and ordered them.  My kids love their shape and bright colors, but I love them for other reasons.

One of the biggest selling points for me was that these crayons are 100% natural and safe.  Crayon Rocks use US grown and processed soy wax and other organic waxes.  Colorants are derived from minerals and the filler, which gives the crayon its body, is actual ground up rock.  So if my toddler decided to taste them, which was unavoidable, I didn't have to worry about what was going in her mouth.

Perfect for anyone that loves to color, these great crayons are easy for little babies to grip and encourage proper finger placement in older children. They make really fun gifts and you can purchase 6 muslin bags of all eight primary colors for less than $30, including free shipping!  Find out more about these cool crayons at www.crayonrocks.net!

SBS: Rock-a-Thigh Baby

Rock-a-Thigh Baby is a company we just started working with, but one who's products I have used for over a year.  They make really great thigh high socks for babies and children that actually stay up and on!  Their unique functional design is my favorite part about their product, but I also LOVE their cute and fun prints!

I know I loved their socks when I decided to carry their product, but I didn't realize what a totally awesome company they are!  As a company, Rock-a-Thigh Baby has made some pretty big commitments.

The first is that their company is dedicated to supporting the US economy by keeping the jobs created by their products here in the US.  100% of their socks AND packaging are made in the USA.  Their website states:

The knitting mill that produces our socks is an older U.S., small family-owned business. In February 2011, I had the pleasure of meeting the family and touring their facility. They are honest, hard working, wonderful southern folk who employ a single mom. Sure I could have my socks made overseas for a fourth of the cost (and much to my vexation I'm often solicited), but this is non-negotiable. I'm okay with having less money in pocket if it means my company is doing its part to create American jobs.

Another thing I love is their dedication to the environment.  Their socks are woven using 100% "pre-consumer" recycled yard.  This yarn is made from materials left over after making new fabrics, conserving many resources and keeping materials out of land fills.  The dyes they use are completely safe, certified by the OEKO-TEX standard 100 and the nonskid grips are made from soy-based ink.  They use USPS to reduce the amount of energy used during shipping and packaging is minimal and made from recycled materials as well as being recyclable.

And finally, Rock-a-Thigh Baby is passionate about giving back.  They support the local, national and global community by donating 10% of every sale to charity.

When you buy a Rock-a-Thigh Baby product, you are not only getting an awesome product, but you are supporting an amazing company!

Shop for Rock-a-Thigh Baby products directly or find them at Zerberts

Small Business Spotlight

For the month of December, we'll be featuring several blog posts about small businesses.  Another small business owner gave me the idea (thanks Two Mommas Designs), and I LOVED the idea and thought it was a great way to spread the word about some great small businesses you may not know about.  Some of these businesses we work with and some are just cool businesses I have been lucky enough to learn about.  I hope you enjoy hearing about other small businesses and find something you might be interested it.

If you have a small business you would like to nominate, please send me and email and link about the business and I will be happy to look into it! customerservice at shopzerberts dot com

Small Business Spotlight
Rock-a-Thigh Baby
Crayon Rocks
Mommy Necklaces  
Sarah's Silks
Babywearing Businesses
The Vintage Pearl
Katie M Berggren