I was first introduced to KB Cute Designs at Phoenix Flea, a local market for vintage goods, arts & crafts and fashion, in November 2014 when I was pregnant with Lawson. I picked up one of their boppy covers in a deer antler print. It was one of the first items I purchased for him! Since then I’ve seen the owner of KB Cute Designs, Kerri, at several local markets. And each time I manage to make another purchase. :) I’m so excited to feature Kerri, and KB Cute Designs, as the next installment of my spotlight on local creatives series!
It’s no secret I’m obsessed with their baby beanies! Yes, these are all mine. To be fair, I bought a couple of them as gifts and then I found out I was pregnant again. And now I can’t bear to part with any! In addition to beanies and boppy covers, KB Cute Designs also has crib and pack ‘n play sheets (I have this cactus one), changing pad covers, headbands, swaddles and quilts.
Read on for a little Q&A with Kerri and more photos of her adorable products!
Me: What was the first product you started making? How did you get started?
Kerri: The first product I made was a green and white plus quilt using my sister in law’s grandad’s t-shirts for the back.
Me: Is KB Cute Designs your full-time gig?
Kerri: Being a mom is my first full time gig. But KB Cute comes in a close second place.
Me: What is a typical day like for you?
Kerri: Weekdays are pretty much all pretty similar. I walk my oldest daughter to school in the morning and get in a quick run. Then get home to my other kids and try and balance sewing and packaging and not sticking my kids in front of the TV too much. I package more on preschool days than non-preschool days. My husband usually gets home from work around 5:30 or 6 and we sit down for family dinner (even if it is mac-n-cheese again) and go over all of our “highs and lows” of the day. We do the bedtime routine together and then I sit myself down in the studio until about 1 or 2 in the morning and sew some more. It really is a glamorous life :)
Me: The fabrics you choose are so darling! How do you find them and decide what you want to use?
Kerri: I have a love/hate with choosing fabrics. There is an absolute limitless supply of absolutely darling fabric. I act like a crazy person with fabric. I have literally been in tears when I don’t buy what I love in time and it sells out or I can’t get more of a fabric I have had. My husband thinks I’m super special. I buy all of my cotton fabrics online but knits are a hit or miss because I can’t feel the fabric. I have spent way too much money on sending fabrics back because I am very particular about the 4 way stretch and the composition of the fabric.
Me: What’s next for KB Cute?
Kerri: We have some fun things in the works for KB Cute that involves a lot of collaborations making one of a kind fabric prints. It has been a long time in the works and we are getting close to rolling it out.
Me: Do you have a personal favorite product or design?
Kerri: I always think I have a favorite fabric but then I will get a new one in and have a “new favorite” and it’s a never ending cycle of new favorites. I absolutely love our new throws, but I am a sucker for a newborn beanie. I love the swaddles when you can see the print in its entirety but I just love seeing these tiny little beanies and knowing that each one will be placed on a babies sweet head. I have to say the beanies are my favorite.
(This beanie is the first item I purchased for our little girl…I can’t get enough)
Me: What’s the biggest challenge of running your own business?
Kerri: There are a lot of challenges in running your own business. The biggest challenge for me (and I’m sure for so many others) is balancing time. Time working vs. time with the littles. Time used to sew vs. time at social events networking.
Me: Where can we find KB Cute products?
Kerri: Right now the best place to find our products is in our online shop at kbcute.com. We are working on a new website that will launch before the fall. We also have our product in the Jaxn Blvd store in Mesa and will have product in the Petite Party Studio in Gilbert soon. Getting our product into local boutiques is also the next thing we will be pushing.
Me: What’s the best advice you’ve been given?
Kerri: The best advice I have been given especially lately is to “Keep your head up and be true to who you are. And remember that competition is not a bad thing”
Me: Your Instagram is addicting, so many cute little babies! You have a contest each week for pictures that include your products. How does someone enter? How do you pick a winner?
Kerri: Each week we have a “happy mail” giveaway. To enter it all you have to do is tag us in your picture and use #kbcute in the caption somewhere. It is always hard to pick a winner because there are SO many darling babies so I basically pull up all the #kbcute pics for the week and close my eyes and scroll until I decide to stop. I always check to make sure that the winner isn’t a blogger or another shop owner that we are working with.
Me: Last question…You were recently in Thailand. It looked like such a fun trip! What’s your favorite memory from your vacation?
Kerri: We were in Thailand for two weeks for fun and got to stop over in China for a couple days for business and it was absolutely amazing! My favorite memory from the trip was sea kayaking with the John Gray Sea Tours. It was half a day long tour with lunch and dinner, the most amazing views that started with these caves on the side of a mountain that we literally had to deflate our kayaks to get through and opened up into these amazingly stunning “hongs” basically the opposite of an island where there was a circle of water surrounded by the tallest cliff mountains. Amazing really doesn’t do it justice. It was absolutely beautiful!
Thank you Kerri for being a part of the Spotlight On series (and some of my favorite moments with my little one)!
Connect with KB Cute Designs at Instagram | Facebook | Etsy