Real Life: Balance

Being a mom & running a business is HARD work. There aren't enough hours in a day to do both as well as I'd like. I admit it. There are days I wish I had my nanny even longer, but then I'd never spend time with my son. It's all about perfecting balance I guess.....& that, I am still working on. Today I looked down at my little guy & he was wearing this t-shirt I designed. Says "mom & dad are my heroes" .... It made me smile. ...that maybe he thought I was doing just great... That in his eyes, I was HIS HERO.  

It made all this hard work today...feel a little better.

Follow more on my instagram.

T-shirt from my shop -  Cocoa & Hearts

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Hey Moms, Check out the new shop!

Hey everyone! I have been working on some new things theses days, my apologies that I am not on here as much. However, for those not following on social media, you can now see the new Kids shop I've launched!

The t-shirts are for KIDS (boys & girls) 10 styles in the launch collection! We just LAUNCHED today! Shop for your kiddos give them as gifts ...Check them out at Cocoa & Hearts & take advantage of our launch discount code.

-pic by sage and sparkle

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Cocoa & Hearts News

Hey everyone! Hope this Monday is going good for you! -  I thought I'd pop in & update you on this NEW Kids t-shirt line we are putting together!!  We are actually re-doing our entire Cocoa & Hearts website + re-branding it.  The Cocoa & Hearts site will no longer be paintings, but you can go to Made By Girl if you're looking to have me paint an original painting for you. Sound good?

The new Cocoa & Hearts logo will look like this (below) & we will be seeking out a few K-I-D-S brand ambassadors. That means.... we will send them a few t-shirts in exchange for some cool pics on social media, tagging us & letting others know where to find the line!  The kids will be carefully selected based on your social media account, follower count etc.  Excited to introduce this to all of you! I know this is a different route and I may have many people un-follow me or stop reading the blog all together...because you you preferred to see home decor....& that's ok. When I first started Made By Girl, I had only 7 followers, so I understand what it's like to be at ZERO pretty much (if I have to be).  BUT, I really hope to have your support through this in any way, especially all YOU moms!

As I mentioned before - we'll be launching about 8-10 t-shirt designs to start with. Can't wait to see which is your favorite.  Sizes will range from 18 Months old - 4 years of age. Please don't forget, if you'd like be notified of the launch date - SIGN UP to our mailer at Cocoa & Hearts.  XO

-post by jen ramos

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Revealed: What's Next

Hey guys! I am finally REVEALING the main reason why I haven't been on my blog much.
For those of you who've been with me since the beginning in 2006 - and remember my first post ...it may seem odd that I've been taking such a BIG break from blogging!  But like everything else in life, this too gets a bit boring.  Sometimes we just need a break, a refresher.... to re-think what else we'd like to try & hopefully accomplish in our lives.  So, here's a small look into what I've been working on lately.

Ever since Noah popped into the mix - I've been thinking more & more about clothing for KIDS.  I LOVE TO CREATE.  I love painting, drawing, designing & coming up with new ideas & concepts. In fact, both of my businesses were about ART that I created for people's homes.  So, after contemplating this for quite some time,  I decided to try my hand at a market that is completely saturated & competitive.  I'm talking about kids apparel. 

Trust me, I realize I am taking a BIG risk in jumping into an industry that is already full of wonderful talent. Even with the same hesitation & fear many of you felt at first... I am ready & here I come!

As I said, this is a NEW market for me.  My head keeps going back & forth between fear & excitement.  I had forgotten what this fear felt like after running my previous business, Made By Girl for over 10 years.  Throughout that time, I remember many women emailing me & asking how they could start their own businesses. They always wondered if they would be able to put aside their own fears & introduce their business ideas to the world.  I often wonder what many of those women ended up doing.  Well, here I am, back at the 'starting line' with another adventure ready to be introduced. 

For me, this is yet another medium to express my art.  I am super EXCITED about these hand-drawn designs for kids tees I created.  I really think other moms will love them too!  The t-shirts are all screen-printed & we will be launching ONLY 8-10 designs to start! We will ACTUALLY be RE-branding the Cocoa & Hearts website & launching it into this new brand. Hope it doesn't cause too much confusion! If you want to know the launch date + news updates -  feel free to sign up to the newsletter here.

I hope you will welcome this NEW & fun kids brand we are launching SOON - from one MAMA to another, THANK YOU in advance!!!!

-images & post by jen ramos

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pRAISE Clothing

I'm always impressed by women entrepreneurs - their drive, ambition & their struggles to make it. I know so many women like myself who decided to take a risk & go after what they were passionate about. Perhaps it's a God-given gift they've had & never really touched upon until recently & then BAM! Their ideas & creations were realized & seen by the world. My story is very similar in the sense, that I always had passion, drive & talents I never explored. However, today, I'm experiencing the fruit of those talents which I feel are gifts from God. 

With that said, I wanted to share a different type of post & introduce you to a woman who has inspired me with her business & her boldness in her faith. Alma Meza is the founder behind the fashionable t-shirt line called pRAISE.  She believed that fashion lacked support for those who loved God (& wanted to show it). 

She has a great testimony on how she started her clothing line & it's pretty interesting- I'll let her tell you in her own words, so sit back, enjoy & grab a snack.

Below: Here I am sporting a few Alma's T-shirts from pRAISE clothing - love them! You can get 10% off your purchase, just insert the CODE: MADEBYGRL
at checkout! Good until April 30th.
 

My name is Alma Meza and I am 27 years old from Los Angeles, California. I recently re-entered the fashion world after having gone through some pretty nasty things that ultimately made me despise the fashion industry. I was forced to depart from the clothing company I built for 6 years with a partner who later betrayed me in late 2011. I was pretty lost in regards to a career path. During this time, so many other things in my life were crumbling- one of the most significant events was the death of my nephew, Sebastian. 

It seemed like it was all happening at once. I was overwhelmed, but felt God tugging at me and so I wholeheartedly turned to Him.  God revealed to me that I couldn't continue to coast through life with a casual,  superficial relationship with Him. I took a little over a year to be still, as The Lord encourages us to do. I maintained a corporate job that was stable financially, but spiritually draining. 

I started to feel that nonprofit work or speech pathology might be my next move and I began to take baby steps toward exploring each. Around this time, I started having dreams and visions about designing again, only this time the garments were showcasing either scriptures or faith related graphics. God was gently nudging me to come back to fashion, only this time with renewed purpose. That is how the idea for pRAISE was conceived. This was a result of diligent prayer and increased intimacy with God. The more I contemplated on this, the more I was being flooded by ideas and designs. I loved it all, but I was simultaneously starting to be crippled by fear. How will this be received? How can I do this all by myself this time around? Do I really want to return to this shady industry? 

All of these questions took over my thoughts for weeks until I finally realized this may very well be my calling. I decided that these concerns and doubts are silly compared to what God is able to do in and through me. I started to proceed with more conviction. 

Once I completed my designs for a collection, I was very emotional. Excited, in awe, and humbled best describes what I felt. Meanwhile, I was still working full time for a company that was starting to lose its ethical foundation. It took so much time away from my day and I was miserable there. In October of 2012, I built up the courage to step out on faith and resign from my position. I broke down in tears and utter fear. How will I support myself without income?
  
I prayed for provision and decided no matter what, I had to see this through. On January 12th, 2013, I launched pRAISE- All glory to God. My brand encompasses many of the values that are near and dear to my heart- using eco-friendly material, helping impoverished children around the world by donating a portion of the proceeds to Compassion International, and spreading God's love through fashion. This endeavor has been nothing short of incredible thus far. I've been blessed to connect with so many beautiful believers that have even thanked me for introducing this type of brand to an industry that is exceedingly being filled with dark imagery and immorality. I never imagined doing anything remotely close to pRAISE. I am publicly promoting my faith through fashion. 

I still become a bit intimidated at the thought alone, but I am reminded that I can do all things through Christ. God's ways are not our ways. I know that He is orchestrating beautiful things for my life. He took me out of darkness and blessed me with pRAISE. I am looking forward to His promises and not being jaded by yesterday's heartaches. I'm blessed and honored to be designing for His glory. When you place God FIRST in your life, there's no need to look back because you are looking forward, looking to the Alpha and Omega...and trusting in the ultimate Navigator. So here I am, allowing God to use me as I realize this Divinely-inspired dream.

Do you have a gift that you feel you need to act on??

 
 

-top 3 images by jen ramos

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Blog Couture....(Via Made By Girl)

Gabby over at Gypsy Diaries Blog just launched a shop called Blog Couture. I thought all you bloggers out there would get a kick out of some of these cute tees! My fave is the "Bloggers have More Fun" - and your fave??

images via gypsy diaries

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