"Once upon a time there was a girl who liked to design.  When she was small she used glue and paper and flowers and brads. When she grew up, she kept right on designing and making cards and all manner of crafty items. She fell in love and married the man of her dreams and moved far away from 'home' to The Great White North...and she kept on designing. She soon had friends and friends of friends start asking about her wedding and baby books and birth announcements and soon she had a regular little business going. Much to her delight, this business kept growing and growing and now she's one busy girl!"

 Thank you for stopping by to check out the story behind Especially Yours Designs! My name is Tamalee and I am that little girl who grew up to become the creator of the designs you'll find here. My current collection is inspired by nature and whimsy, and includes wedding and baby memory books, invitations, birth announcements, calendars, cards and journals.

I was born and raised in northern California, USA with my mom, dad, three sisters and one brother. In 2007 I made the move to the "Great White North" of Manitoba, Canada to teach school. While teaching, I crossed paths with the man who would later become my husband and we married in 2009.

 We live in a perfectly cozy little house among the birch, poplar and evergreen trees in beautiful southeastern Manitoba. Even though we live close to nature I'm a girly girl! I don't like getting dirty and I love florals and the color pink. Hence you'll see a lot of pink and florals in my designs among my other inspirations which include nature and a healthy dose of cute characters. I love the modern font trends which go hand in hand with muted modern watercolor tones, so I often use those in my work too.

 I enjoy reading, but designing is my favorite way to relax and unwind when I have free time. Designing and creating with paper has been part of my life since I was very young and I kept designing as I got older, gradually moving towards selling my designs and eventually starting a business. For a while my business grew organically and I sold my products mostly to people I knew and their friends. However things began to really move when I put Especially Yours out into the online world. My first step was an Etsy shop which opened in October 2011. Being part of that established selling platform helped me get my feet wet while learning how to run a thriving online business.

 I love the whole design process from beginning to end -- especially seeing the finished product. On top of that, getting positive feedback from customers to tell me that they loved their order absolutely makes my day! I am grateful to all of my customers for making my business a success and for all the positive feedback they gave me which pushed me to keep designing and making improvements to my products and got me to where I am now.

 Due to ongoing health issues related to being diagnosed with Lyme disease, I am not always feeling 100% and I have been sick on and off for a long time. The Lyme disease has some far reaching effects on my health which has meant that my husband and I are working our way through the journey of infertility in addition to other health problems. I am grateful that I have my work to keep my hands and mind occupied during the rough times and I'm sure that having a business to focus on has saved my sanity on more than one occasion!

 If you have any questions about an item, you can get hold of me through my Contact Me page. Additionally, I am able to work on custom designs if you have an idea for something and need help making it a reality. Just head over to my Custom Orders page and fill out the form and I'll get back to you shortly.

 ♡ Tamalee