Mother's Day Measuring Cups

Thank you to all of you who shared those special names for your Mothers and Grandmothers. It was wonderful to read your touching stories.  The winners of the Free Measuring Cups will be announced once the Collection is finished. (Until then, I won't know how many of the names I will be able to incorporate into the pattern.) Although I started this Collection last month, I have been waiting for YOUR input to finish them off. It should be fun! And the plan is to have them done in time for Mother's Day - of course!





Speaking of mothers - and daughters - I would like to introduce you to Evelyn, the newest little member of our Crosby & Taylor family, who will be 3 months old on Monday. Since Evelyn is a good little sleeper, Nancy (our manger of 10 years)  is able to accomplish a lot during nap time. Evelyn's big brother came to work with Nancy for nearly 3 years. We still get to see him several times a week when he and his Dad come to pick up Evelyn. A happy family!

Free Measuring Cups for Mom!

Mother's Day is just around the corner and we will be giving away Measuring Cups!
We are in the process of designing a new Collection of products which will incorporate nicknames and terms of endearment for Mothers and Grandmothers. Please let us know what you call (or called) these special women in your life. If your word is used in our new design, we will give you a free set of Measuring Cups in time for Mother's Day! (Note: In the case of duplicate submissions, winning cups will only be given to the first submission.)
Please post your comments on our Facebook page!

Share Your Feedback About Our New Jewelry Collection for a Free Pewter Necklace With Purchase!

As I mentioned last week, we are giving away a free "Alice" Necklace ($17.50 value) with the purchase of one of our pieces from our new Jewelry Collection when you leave your feedback and use our coupon code: "freealice" upon checkout.  This offer is good through March 5th.

In case you are wondering why it's an "Alice" necklace, I just decided to give girls' names to all of our pieces.  A number of years ago, we named our Tooth Fairy kits "Rosella" (after our youngest daughter), "Priscilla" (after my grandmother) and "Lily" (after our sweet neighbor girl). This time around, I can't say that the pendants are named after specific girls. But I did have a lot of fun going through lists of Baby Names!

We have already received some great feedback on our Crosby & Taylor Facebook Page and in the comments section of our blog- here are just a couple!
So very cute! I like the chains used on them!

I absolutely adore C&T products and the new jewelry line is no exception...my only suggestion would be to offer longer chain lengths. I love longer necklaces (like 24+ inches) so I was hoping to see that as an option. Keep up the great work!!

I too would like to see longer chains offered. I love the heart clasps. My favorite necklace is Ava but I wish the circle at the top was a little bit smaller, kind of takes away from the beautiful heart. Since I don't wear large jewelry, I wouldn't mind seeing more smaller pieces like the petite necklace. Have you thought of making key chains too? Or a charm to clip on to a purse? I would totally buy something like that. Love your pewter!

Thanks everyone for your feedback!   Great ideas!  We are listening to your suggestions and will be taking them into consideration as we move forward with our new designs and products!

Learn how you can get a free Pewter Necklace!

Receive a Free Alice Necklace With a Jewelry Collection Purchase!
We were so thrilled to announce our Sweepstakes Winner yesterday!   But we would like everyone to feel like a winner - so here is what we have going....

We hope you will visit our online store, check out our new Jewelry Collection, and give us your feedback!

Just leave us your feedback in the comments section of this post or on our  Facebook page and then you can use the following coupon code: freealice to receive a FREE "Alice" necklace (Pictured on the left- a $17.50 value) with the purchase of any other full-priced necklace (studio sale necklaces excluded). Our necklaces range from $17.50 to $79. Offer expires March 5th.

We are just getting started with our Jewelry but before we add too many more pieces, we would like to hear from you. Let us know what you would change - what you would like to see - what you like (and - yikes! - what you don't like).

Here are are couple of examples  of the pieces for you to choose from.  Click here to see the full jewelry collection:

Announcing our Heart-to-Heart Sweepstakes Winner!

Drum roll please..........We are so very happy to announce that Marilyn Lewis, of Atlanta, Georgia (that's Paula Deen country!) is the winner of our first ever Heart-to-Heart Sweepstakes!

Marilyn wins a set of Heart to Heart Measuring Cups and 2 sets of Heart to Heart Measuring Spoons! One set is for Marilyn,  and the other is for her to give to someone close to her own heart. (Total value $337)

Congratulations, Marilyn! When we let Marilyn know that she was our winner, she wrote back: "Wow,this is truly awesome...I haven't decided yet where I want them to go but I'll make sure it's where everyone can see them!!! I'm moving into a new place in a few days and I bet these would look great in my new kitchen!"

Valentines Day may have come and gone...but the message behind our Heart to Heart Collection is timeless.  We hope that Marilyn will enjoy them.

Keep posted for our next Sweepstakes in March!

Working Hands

The other day I was up in Portland (a couple hours north of Eugene) and was invited to a luncheon, hosted by my daughter's boyfriend's grandmother. (That's a mouthful!) I had spent the night before just hanging out with a friend and her son, who was having some medical treatments. I was completely under-dressed for this luncheon. If it's ever happened to you, you know how it feels!

Not only was I under-dressed, I was uncomfortably aware of how terrible my hands looked! The other 4 women had elegant hands with gorgeous, painted nails. I usually don't think about my hands. But in this setting, I was drawn to them. I found myself trying to keep them hidden under the table.

Jim gives me an anniversary ring each year. After 28 years, you can imagine that I have to wear them in rotation. My fingers are not long enough to proudly display 28 years of marriage. So, yes, I have beautiful rings.

But that is where the beautiful begins and ends. My hands are nicked and bruised. I never have nice nails. The tips get sanded off or worn off or drilled off. If you work with your hands, you know what I am talking about.

It seems so ironic that, to create lovely things, I have to de-lovely my hands. His mother told me that she loves her Fleur de Lys Measuring Spoons, which Rosella gave her for Christmas. She is just the sweetest person so I am going to trust that she will see past my pewter-worn hands!

Her sisters and mother seemed just as sweet. It was a lovely lunch and, looking back, I am going to bet that they saw past my hands, as well. :)

New Heart to Heart Spoons and Cups off to Paula Deen!

All of a sudden, I realized that we hadn't sent our new Heart to Heart Measuring Spoons and Cups to Paula! Oops! How will she be able to use them on her show if she doesn't even know about them?!

We always try to do something fun with the packaging when we send gifts to Paula.

This time, since it's just about Valentine's Day, I figured I would use those little Conversation Heart candies - you know? the ones with the fun words on them - like "cute boy", "call me" and such. We hope that Paula will fall in love with these - as much as she has with our other designs. Then, one day, you will be watching Paula's Home Cooking - and you will exclaim - OH my gosh! There's Paula with her new Heart to Hearts!

If you aren't Paula, you can find these new Spoons and Cups on our website, of course.  You can also get a free gift or two if you order them by Valentine's Day.

Use this coupon code: H2H2011 to get a Free packet of Raspberry Flavored Sugar ($3.50 value) with any $25 order   or

Use this coupon code:  H2HSALT to get a  Free Heart Salt Cellar ($19 value) with a $100 order

Food Blogger Hosting Crosby & Taylor Petite Salt Pot Giveaway!

Enter the All Day I Dream About Food Giveaway for a Chance to Win a Petite Salt Pot Before February 4th!
Last month I introduced you to Carolyn, a health conscious mom and food lover who manages the site: All Day I Dream About Food in my post: Lucky Food Blogger Wins Crosby and Taylor Measuring Spoons in Dine & Dish Giveaway . Carolyn entered the December 2010 Dine And Dish Giveaway and won a set of our Pewter Measuring Spoons!

So to pay it forward, Carolyn is now doing a giveaway of her own!

We hope you will enter the All Day I Dream About Food Giveaway for a chance to win a pair of Crosby & Taylor Petite Salt Pots- one of our most beautiful and cherished products!

Carolyn will be giving away a Vineyard Ceramic Petite Salt Pot in Pistachio to one lucky winner and (just in time for Valentines Day),  a Heart Ceramic Petite Salt Pot in Butter Pecan to another lucky winner (2 winners in all).

Hurry!  Contest Ends February 4th at Midnight!

An Herbal Bedfellow Blog Giveaway

Even before we started our Giveaways, there was Jane Marie (pictured), who started writing about us last year in her blog An Herbal Bedfellow.   Since she has owned our products for many years, she is able to write with such ease about us:

You are in for something good!!! Who doesn't love beauty as well as function in the kitchen? And when it comes to beauty, Crosby & Taylor always delivers. I personally now own the Fleur de Lis Measuring Spoon Set and Measuring Cup Set. I also have the Dragonfly Coffee Measure. I've had these for a few years now, and after using them almost daily, they still look like brand new!

This month she is giving away one of our Bird Spoon Rests along with a matching Petite Salt Pot. She has been doing giveaways for a lot longer than us, so she really knows how to make it easy.  Be sure to visit her blog - but quick! (because the giveaway ends Feb. 1 at midnight!) and read Crosby & Taylor Giveaway to learn how how to enter- and to follow her blogs. Somehow she manages to write 5 different blogs! You should check them out since she does a lot of fun giveaways!

Thank you, Jane Marie, for all of your kind words about us!

Notes from the Shop: Fine Tuning the Jewelry Collection!

Back to the land of the living!
After 3 days at home nursing a bad cold, I am so happy to be back at the shop! Unless I am really, really under the weather I am lucky in that I can get a lot of work done from home.  This is either design work or computer work - like blogging, writing press releases, working on our new sweepstake, and such. Thinking kind of work, mostly.

But today, when I got back into the shop - I mean, the shop shop - where we actually make our products, I couldn't believe how good it felt. Admittedly, I have an incredible crew that runs our production here. But I jump in here and there - like right now while we are still adding to our new Jewelry Collection.

It's crazy but even after 25 years, I still get a thrill from working with pewter. The molten pewter is eternally fascinating. Really cool stuff. And drilling through pewter is pretty cool, too. It's a soft, friendly metal that just loves to be bent and shaped and drilled. I have heard of pewter companies where the owner is a business person and hires designers to make products. I can't even imagine not being an owner/designer! Although I do get overwhelmed with the number of hats I have to sometimes wear, I can't imagine giving up working with the actual metal to just be "an owner".

My kids don't get it. But, all I can say is, I hope that all of them can find the same passion in their work, as I have. I'm a lucky, lucky gal.

Enter the Heart to Heart Measuring Cups & Spoons Giveaway

We Are Celebrating Valentine's Day With Our Biggest Crosby & Taylor Prize Giveaway Yet!


At last our Giveaways are back!  Last fall, we launched "Free & Fabulous Facebook Friday" and awarded a prize to someone who "Liked" Crosby & Taylor on Facebook each Friday. We had no idea Facebook Friday would become so popular!

Facebook has changed the rules about giveaways and is now requiring us to use a "Sweepstakes" format, with the winner being selected at random.  The only difference for you is that you now need to click on a link to enter. It's still us - Crosby & Taylor - and still our products - just a different way to enter.

We are so thrilled with our new Heart to Heart Collection; we would like YOU to be a part of our celebration by entering our biggest giveaway ever: The Heart to Heart Valentine's Day Giveaway!

Enter anytime between now and February 14 at 12pm EST and you could be the Grand Prize Winner of:

1) A Set of Heart to Heart Measuring Cups on Pewter Post ($179 value)
2) A Set of Heart Measuring Spoons on Pewter Post ($79 value)
3) Invite your friends to enter and you will receive a 2nd Set of Crosby & Taylor Heart to Heart Measuring Spoons on Pewter Post to give to a loved one!

There are several ways you can enter:

1).  Via the Crosby & Taylor Facebook Page (don't forget to  "Like" our page and invite your friends to enter);

2)  Or you can "Tweet" your way to enter via Twitter;

3).  Or click on the Orange Banner at the bottom of this page and enter!

Only persons residing in United States who are at least 18 years of age can enter..  The winner will be selected at random and announced on our blog and Facebook Page on Valentines Day.  We will also notify the winner by email.

New Valentines Day Additions to our Pewter Measuring Spoons Collection

Measure Your Love with Crosby & Taylor Heart to Heart Measuring Spoons
Ok, I guess you can't really measure love. However, you can measure with our new love-themed Measuring Spoons and Measuring Cups! Last week we finished up our newest Spoon and Cup design! One of my first thoughts after becoming a pewtersmith - 25 years ago - was to make spoons in the shape of hearts. But, one thing led to another, and I just never seemed to have time to develop this idea.

Finally, we have heart-shaped spoons! And I do feel that they were worth the wait. I hope that you will agree. Both the Spoons and Cups have their own matching storage posts. No rummaging through drawers when it is time to measure. They will be right at hand, on your counter.

Crosby & Taylor Jewelry Collection “Sneak Preview”

Tomorrow we will be sending off our first jewelry pieces to be photographed. It seems like forever since we decided to offer a line of jewelry - just in time for Valentine's Day! Finally - we are less than a week away. It is always exciting when new products head to the photographer. I finally have the feeling that progress is really being made. I feel pretty confident that they will be up on our site within a week.



I know I know. It's not exactly like the Red Carpet walk in Hollywood. But, new pieces are OUR world. So we do tend to get a bit excited. Thank goodness for cameras on smart phones - so I can give an updated Sneak Preview! (You may notice that the larger heart pendant is sitting in one of our new tiny white porcelain jewelry bowls. More to come on those soon....)

Jewelry!

Some people might be all neat and tidy in their design studios. I am definitely not one of those people. When I am sewing, the floor is littered with fabric scraps, thread, ribbon, and (I hate to admit it!) pins. Right now, as we get closer to releasing our new Jewelry Collection, my studio is a disaster. Vintage scraps of metal door plates, pieces of clay, bits of pewter, measuring spoons and cups, clay tools....they all litter my desk. I know, I know. It looks crazy. But, hopefully, soon, it will all be tidied up and we will have some wonderful pieces of Jewelry to show for this chaos. Target release date is January 21st!

Go Ducks!

We have just two words for today - GO DUCKS! Yes, yes, there are a few other words being exchanged today - about designing, casting, sanding, welding, processing, assembling, shipping.....and so forth. But mostly it's just - GO DUCKS!

Lucky Food Blogger Wins Crosby and Taylor Measuring Spoons in Dine & Dish Giveaway

Oh my goodness! We are on a roll. I have discovered another dreaming blogger! Earlier in the week, I discovered The Confused Homemaker, who was dreaming about our Measuring Spoons and baking with them.

And on Tuesday, I came across All Day I Dream About Food; a site managed by Carolyn, a health conscious mom and food lover who has lots of great low carb recipes and tips to share.  Carolyn has recently become diabetic and many of her posts are about converting traditional recipes to healthier versions with an occasional indulgence (like  the Peppermint-Filled Brownies with Chocolate Mint Ganache screaming my name!)

Carolyn entered the December 2010 Dine And Dish Giveaway and won a set of our Pewter Measuring Spoons- and was kind enough to give us a "shout-out" on her blog!   I would say she had a pretty good month;  she also won prizes from other giveaways including The Enchanted Cook and Claire Cooks.

Kudos to Carolyn for sharing her passion for good food and good health. We wish you well and look forward to hearing about your amazing creations you will make with your new measuring spoons!  Congrats!

"The Confused Homemaker" Dreaming of Pewter Measuring Spoons!

It's pretty fun to wake up one morning to hear that someone out there has been dreaming of baking with our Pewter Measuring Spoons - and not only that - but blogging about us, as well.



This is what happened to me the other day. I found out that Beth, who calls herself "The Confused Homemaker", has been having trouble getting a good night's sleep since she has been obsessing about our products and what she could be baking with them.

I immediately checked out her blog and now I might be losing sleep wondering which of her recipes I should try first. Too many great ideas! Fortunately, I have a couple of daughters who love to bake, as well, so maybe we'll make some choices together

Until then, a big shout-out to Beth for noticing us. I wonder if I should send her a set of Fleur Measuring Spoons or Fish? This attention just can't go unrewarded!

Please be sure and check her out- click on the image below:

Back home!

After 2986 miles on the road, Lea and I made it to the Atlantic Ocean for New Year's Eve! It was an incredibly scenic (but much too fast) all-American road trip! We saw the incredible mesas of Arizona, the beautiful architecture of Santa Fe, the lovely, rolling hills of Texas, the memorable Super Dome in New Orleans, and finally, the beaches of Florida!

We passed up a chance to stay in the Wigwam Motel along Route 66 (Actually, I think it was closed!). But, other than that, we did all that we could do in a short 6 days.







It was a wonderful trip and the only thing it lacked was enough thinking and planning time for myself. I usually find that road trips are like brain food. But this one was a little too intense.

So, now here I am, playing catch-up. Valentine's Day is just around the corner...but we will be ready! Stay posted...

I hope that this New Year brings health, wealth, and happiness to each one of you.