Made by Mom Gift Guide: Vibrantly Blue owner creates embroidered dish towels, placements while building family business

"Vibrantly Blue is a great way for me to mix my knowledge of internet marketing with a product line of my own," London tells me.

With three kids, I *need * placemats. I want them to look fresh and bright, but I couldn’t find any designs I could picture on my dining room table. I fixed the problem by teaching myself how to make these things so that we could enjoy them – and others could too!

I tell customers that I have the best Research and Development team in the industry. Everything I sell is something that we use in our family on a daily basis. With three kids, I can tell each customer that the item they have bought from me will last. Our placemats are reversible because I’ve never had a dinner without something being spilled mid-meal. Our dish towels can be spot-bleached because I don’t know how something purple got on the white towel, but it will come out! My products have been thoroughly tested by three kids of three very different ages and they still look great.

The second part I love is hearing the stories about where the items are going. Customers will tell me their plans for the items – new homes where the placemats will be “perfect," sisters who love Snoopy and will be so excited to have it in a towel design, favorite teachers who love the smell of peppermint with the soap packages. My motivation for starting the business was for other people to enjoy these items as much as we do in our home, so the stories bring each purchase to life.

When customers return to tell me about their friend’s reaction to the gift, it really is the best part of my day. It’s an incredibly rewarding moment for me!

We’ve done enough shows now to have our Checklist to Pack, but learning how to sell your items in person and where to sell them has been a learning curve for me. Some craft show attendees are just not interested in what I have to offer, while other shows are nonstop business. There has been a huge influx of craft shows in the Raleigh and Durham area, and learning which shows to attend has been a new education for me.

I love the idea of my family continuing to work on this business together over the years. Each time we go to a show, my children are learning something about running a business, interacting with other people of all ages, designing something that others will enjoy. We all work on this business together and it’s hard work – and that is a great lesson to be able to show your kids in real time.