First Bloglet

Welcome to the LuvUPumkin blog site.

My name is Cathy Frazier and I am the owner and 'CEO' of LuvUPumkin. Basically, that means I am owner, product designer, techie guru, operations manager, accountant, marketer and all around creative force behind LuvUPumkin. And I could not do ALL of this without the loving support of my husband, Joe.

LuvUPumkin is a brand new company. It was founded on October 16, 2006 after I was laid off from a job I loved as Interim Director at Southside Life-Care Center here in Minneapolis, MN. Actually, the idea for the company came to me about two days after I was laid off. The inspiration came while I was taking my prayer time during a Carmelite (I'm a Third/Secular Order Carmelite - it's like a Dominican/Jesuit/Benedictine - except our charism is prayer) Secular Order meeting. Still confused? Here's the best explanation I have found for my vocation. There are usually 3 'parts' of an Order in the Catholic Church: priests, sisters, and lay people. Each of them is a separate entity, but they all work as a whole under their particular Order and the Catholic Church. For instance, there are monasteries for priests. There are also convents for sisters. And then there are the lay people who live out in the 'world' with family, friends, colleagues.

Each of us has the same charism. In the Carmelite Order this charism is prayer. The difference lies in how we live it out. It's all the same Spirit, just manifested in unique and beautiful ways.

Getting back to this new company called LuvUPumkin. Our motto is "Unique Gifts Celebrating Life." Our primary focus is selling unique, beautiful, high-quality baby diaper cakes that help Moms and Dads care for their newborns during the first weeks of life. We offer a standard baby diaper cake which uses our standard baby receiving blanket (either made by Breyla.com or LuvUPumkin) as well as a deluxe line using our premium blanket from Dakotah LuxeTM.

Why Dakotah LuxeTM? These blankets are made from Polarfleece, but are lighter than regular Polarfleece. They are super soft - luxurious! - and warmer than cashmere. They are washable, hypoallergenic and non-pilling. We love them and want to share them with others! Especially to keep little babies nice and warm!

Besides our baby diaper cakes we sell the individual items that make up our baby diaper cakes as we realize sometimes people simply want to give a baby receiving blanket, little plush (a.k.a stuffed animal), or gift for Mom/Dad at a baby shower. For Mom and Dad we offer throws and robes. We are in the process of building our website, which is taking longer than expected, but is coming together nicely.

We are also in the process of adding more gifts to our product line. Specifically:

• Baby Birthday cakes
• Toddler diaper cakes - great for 1st or 2nd birthdays
• Anniversary towel cakes
• Wedding shower towel cakes
• Over the Hill Birthday cakes
• Graduation towel cakes
• Hanukkah diaper cakes
• Christmas and other holiday diaper cakes
• CUSTOMIZED cakes.....

I love doing these cakes and managing this business. Because I believe customer service is the #1 force behind having a great company, we offer a 100% satisfaction 30-day guarantee.

We also believe in giving back to the community. Originally, we wanted to give 10% of our profits to pregnancy resource centers. Unfortunately, 3 weeks after I lost my job, my husband lost his. Since money is very tight for now, instead of cash donations, we can give material donations. If you are a pregnancy resource center which meets the criteria below, we offer baby diaper cakes as a fundraising option. We will donate a 1-tier baby diaper cake towards an auction/fundraiser and your center keeps 100% of the profits. Please contact us at info@luvupumkin.com for more information.

Criteria:

• Counsel for continuation of the pregnancy
• Counsel for healthy lifestyles according to state in life. This means abstinance if single, natural family planning if married.
• Educate on side effects of contraception (pill, vasectomy, etc)- both mental and physical.

I realize that for some people these criteria may sound strict, but please realize that as a person of faith, as a practicing Catholic, these are my values and the values of my family. We believe that every individual is sacred simply because they exist, that all life is sacred from conception to natural death. We also realize that people may disagree with our beliefs. We respect that and ask that if you disagree with our beliefs that you respect us, too.

So, this is the end of our first bloglet. Take care and visit us sometime and/or post a comment.

Our website is luvupumkin.com. And remember...we love customization. So, if you are looking for something particular and we do not have the design or item you would like, let us know. We can work with you. And if our products are too pricey for your budget, let us know. We can usually create a beautiful gift within your price range. We're a small operation so we have flexibility!

Take care and nice blogging with you.

Cathy