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Mothers Day Statistics
May 7, 2010
So 2 things. We recently sent our a press release titled: Last Minute Mother’s Day Gifts for Soon-to-Be Moms. It went out over PRNewswire and was distributed by all the major outlets. A good release that helps get the word out! Take a look at it by clicking the above link.
But way more interesting than that, look at these numbers – cited from
More being spent on mothers this year
BY THE NUMBERS
$126.90
Average amount consumers nationwide will spend this year on Mother’s Day. That’s up 2 percent from last year’s $123.89.
$2.5 billion
The amount Mother’s Day shoppers nationwide will spend this year on jewelry, compared to $2.3 billion last year.
30.6 percent
The percentage of people who will shop at a department store. That’s up from 27.2 percent last year. Discount stores will get 30.4 percent of shoppers, about the same as last year. And specialty stores, such as florists and jewelers, will see 33.6 percent, slightly more than last year.
“Mom to Be” contest by MothersClick
March 26, 2010
Enter the “Mom To Be” Giveaway Sponsored by Art Bellies and Wee Organics -
News from Oompa
March 26, 2010
This is a re-post from the Oompa toys website:
http://www.oompa.com/blog/?p=283
Oompa at the It’s a Baby Expo!
This past weekend in Boston, mothers and mommies-to-be flocked to the It’s a Baby and Family Expo to see the latest gear and care products for new moms. There were also lots of fun games and prizes throughout the weekend, including The Art Bellies Raffle!
Kate, the winner of the Art Bellies Raffle, went home with Bajo Wardrobe Pegs from Oompa, A Spa Baby Tub, a What to Expect book, and an Art Bellies pregnancy art kit! Not bad for a weekend.
Baby expos are a great way to get ideas for your baby registry, and try new products out before you buy them. If you missed the Expo, don’t worry! It’s a Baby and Family Expos are held all over the country at different times of the year. To see if there’s one coming to your area, check out their schedule: It’s a Baby and Family Expo Schedule
Pregnancy Awareness Month is around the Corner
March 16, 2010
Spring is sneaking through the snow and that means that Pregnancy Awareness Month is just around the corner.
The goal of the month is awarenss and to call attention to the four key initiatives – education, exercise, nutrition & wellness and nurture – and to show expecting moms how easy it can be to make healthy changes in their lives, for themselves, and their children.
How will you be involved?
Art Bellies and What to Expect!
March 9, 2010
We were contacted by What to Expect a few weeks ago. They saw what we were doing and wanted to let us know that they really liked it and that they wanted to start working together on a few marketing initiatives. You may see one of our banners on their site from time to time – and right now – you can win an Art Bellies pregnancy art kit by playing along in their latest game:
Click here for all the details:
Thanks
Toni Rakestraw of Organic Birth, The Voice of Homebirth, just finished reviewing an Art Bellies pregnancy art kit. It was a fantastic write up and she made beautiful art – she really captured the spirit of what we are offering. I love this image.
Here are some highlights from the review:
Art Bellies has given families a new way to commemorate the joy of their pregnancies. It was a fun project that I highly recommend.
This project is easy enough for anyone to do, whether they have art experience or not.
Make Art!
What a week!
February 18, 2010
It has been a busy week. We had an ad in Pregnancy Magazine and that hit the newstands on Monday and today our press release went over the national wire. It has been reprinted in Forbes, Yahoo, Google and many more. Here is a copy of the release:
Unexpected Pregnancy Turns Into a Creative New Business for Soon-to-Be-Moms
Pregnancy art kits let expecting families record their pregnancy through art
HANCOCK, N.H., Feb. 18 /PRNewswire/ — Art Bellies is a small new company with one huge goal: to make pregnant women feel bold, beautiful and creative by helping them turn their growing bellies into one-of-a-kind works of art. Using only the silhouette of their pregnant bodies and an Art Bellies kit, soon-to-be moms can create vibrant paintings worthy of being displayed in the living room, nursery, office or even the local art gallery.
Being pregnant can be a natural time of creativity. The body is busy creating life – the most magical and mysterious creation of all. But it is easy to get caught up in the daily grind and nine months pass quickly. Art Bellies pregnancy art kits help busy moms-to-be slow down and get in touch with their creative energies.
“Pregnancy is a time of beauty and our easy-to-use art kits let expecting families capture this precious moment in a truly novel way,” said Paola Dias, owner of Art Bellies.
Paola didn’t plan on starting a new company; the birth of Art Bellies was an accident. Excited about her new pregnancy, her husband Michael Dias began to trace her growing belly against the wall to visually track the changes. They then started experimenting with different canvases, brushes, inks and paints and eventually hit upon a combination that made their jaws drop. Their pregnancy doodles began to look like fine works of art.
Paola and Michael made a few kits for baby shower gifts but they were not ready for the reaction. Friends of friends and complete strangers started calling looking for pregnancy art kits.
“We certainly didn’t set off to create a business – especially in this economic climate – but things grew organically and we truly love and believe in what we offer to new families,” said Michael. “There are no words to describe the joy of seeing your partner and your little baby turned into a unique work of art.”
Art Bellies pregnancy art kits are easy to use and require no special skills or artistic background. Each kit contains three sheets of handmade paper which serve as the canvases, 6 sheets of practice paper, a one ounce bottle of earth-friendly Japanese calligraphy ink, 2 high-quality sheep hair calligraphy brushes, natural earthen dyes and a full instruction booklet that guides the process step by step. The results are nearly foolproof – high-quality tools and materials translate into high-quality art.
Each pregnancy art kit will create at least three different types of pregnancy portraits. Make a bold Asian-inspired Zen-like outline that depicts the pregnant silhouette. Play with colors for a two-tone print or creatively track the pregnancy by tracing the belly every few weeks.
CONTACT:
Website: http://www.artbellies.com
Electronic Press Kit: http://epkartbellies.blogspot.com
Body of Art – a new Art Bellies feature
February 10, 2010
The Monadnock Ledger just published a great feature on the business aspects of Art Bellies. The article was titled Body of Art and can be viewed here.
Here is a quick excerpt:
An unexpected pregnancy isn’t a common source of inspiration for a business idea, but that’s exactly what led Michael and Paola Dias of Hancock to create Art Bellies.
“We decided one day, as my belly started getting bigger, to try tracking it against the wall, like you might track the height of your child on the wall as the years go by. So, we put paper on the wall and traced my silhouette with watercolors,” Paola said.
I wasn’t long before the two started experimenting with different paints, dyes, calligraphy brushes and higher quality paper.
“We wanted something that was more subtle than other things we’ve seen. When you look at it, you don’t see, ‘This is my pregnancy,’ you see ‘This is art, but it is art with a deeper meaning,’” she said.
The simple yet elegant designs they created impressed them. They weren’t thinking about turning their new hobby into a business until their friends and family starting asking for materials and instructions to create their own. Completed prints were especially in demand from prospective grandparents, they said.
So, facing a tough economy, and with no real prospects for a better job, they decided they had nothing to lose.
