Sunday Brunch Special: TADA BABY

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself and your indie business.
I’m a native New Yorker but currently live outside of Boston with my husband, my 3.5 year-old daughter Adelaide, my 8 month-old daughter Georgina and our dog Chewy. I have always enjoyed painting, photography, color…pretty much anything where I can be creative.

TADA BABY gives me the opportunity to do all of this! I create personalized canvas wall art that features babies and big kids. Digital artwork is first created on the computer incorporating the photograph of the child. It is then giclée printed with archival pigment inks on premium artist canvas. I stretch the canvas over a wooden frame and then areas are hand-painted with acrylic paint. The canvas is then sprayed with a finishing gloss to protect it. The result is an original piece of art that children will love as much as their parents do!

2. Where are you located?
Sherborn, MA. It is a small suburb of Boston, MA.

3. How did you come up with your business name?
My 3.5 year-old loves to say Ta-Da! when she does pretty much anything…writes her name, draws a picture, dresses herself, it’s always “Ta-Da! I did it.” When I completed my first canvas I was so excited. It was a realization that I had completed something unique and special…it was a true Ta-Da! moment for me.

When I decided to start selling my canvases and turn this into a business I thought, what could be a more fitting name than TADA BABY? 

I like it because it captures the fun and excitement of kids, which is really what the company is all about.

4. Where do you sell your products?
I sell my work through my website www.tadababy.com. Orders can be emailed to me at orders@tadababy.com. I also have an etsy shop: www.tadababy.etsy.com.

5. Do you belong to any local and/or web groups or affiliations?
I belong to a number of online forums. theswitchboards.com has been a great place to get a wealth of information from seasoned women entrepreneurs. I’m also fond of poshmama.com and belong to the EtsyKids street team.

6. What inspires you?
I have always been inspired by color. Everywhere I look I see blocks and patterns of color. Fabric is also a great inspiration for me as well as wallpaper. They both can have great color combinations and graphic designs.

7. Do you have any quirks or obsessions you care to share?
It’s embarrassing but I have an obsession with all things Star Wars. I don’t know where it comes from, but there you have it. Did I mention that my dog’s name is Chewbacca?

8. What’s your favorite childhood memory?
Climbing trees and swimming at the lake in New York where I used to go to camp every summer. I had the best carefree childhood!

9. What’s your favorite color?
Hot Pink. I can’t help myself!

10. What’s the most difficult aspect of running your biz?
By far the most difficult challenge for me has been balancing family time with the time it takes to run a successful business. I sometimes feel as though I’m spreading myself too thin, but I’m determined to be on more of a schedule and let family time be family time and work time be work time. I learned very quickly that you can’t do both simultaneously!

Ok, now these two are mandatory and I have to ask (this being a diner, after all)

1. What is your favorite meal?
Lobster with more lobster! Thank goodness I live in New England!

2. Do you prefer tea or coffee?
Coffee in any form…iced coffee, black coffee, coffee with steamed milk…I could go on!