Happy 4th Birthday, Chesapeake Tides!!!

Chesapeake Tides is 4 years old today!!! You know what that means?!! 

SALE SALE SALE

20% off $10 or more

code: HPYBDY4

sale ends 4/1

Maryland Pride

Since Chesapeake Tides started in Maryland, of course, it LOVES to sport as many Maryland pieces as possible. From bow ties, shirts, key fobs, and pocket squares...Chesapeake Tides covers it all. 

Maryland Flag Bow Tie

Maryland Flag Hair Bow

Maryland Flag Key Fob

Maryland Flag Pocket Square

Black Eyed Susan Bow Tie

Reversible MD Flag & Black Eyed Susan Bow Tie

Blue Crabs & Football, That's What Maryland Does

Go shop the selection of Maryland inspired products now!! 

Down by the Bay

I'm pretty excited to announce this new addition to Chesapeake Tides. I had previously been selling them on Red Bubble but decided that I wanted to make them more personal by adding a monogram onto the front upper left hand corner of the shirt. 

This is a custom designed that features some of the Chesapeake Bay, Maryland and of course Chesapeake Tides iconic symbols! 

Get yours today with or without a monogram! 

Down by the Bay t-shirt with monogram

Summer Sale: Nautical Prints

Nautical Prints are on sale...just in time for summer time!! Sport these ties this summer for the perfect nautical look!

Summer Sale: Spots!

Just in time for Summertime! Spotted Bow Ties only $25

Monogram Add On

Let's face it, monograms make any piece of clothing better! Why not add a monogram to your bow tie or a special something to add to your beaus bow tie?! 

Add the monogram to either the bow of the tie or the neck strap. 

I'm so excited to bring this feature to the Chesapeake Tides bow tie! 

stay hooked, the best is yet to come! 

The Bright Side

While East Coast Spring weather has taken over in Southern California, my heart is happier than ever! Weather in the 60s and 70s is how I like to live my life all year around; as hot as it was in January through February, I'm definitely happy that it's cooled off a little...making it feel like home.

good weather = good mood

good mood = happier Laura

happier Laura = creative juices flowing

"Always look on the bright side of life!" will be my new little motto this Spring/Summer.  I felt like after I graduated from art school last May, my creative juices kind of took a turn for the worst. They stopped flowing. It was tragic. Since the change in weather, my creative have made a come back. 

I can't wait to show and share with everyone what's to come with Chesapeake Tides in the next few weeks. A new product that I've been working on for a few months now is about to come alive. 

Seersucker has Sprung!

Since spring is officially here,well it's been here in Southern California all year long(we didn't get a winter) and even though Maryland just received another blanketing of snow a few days ago, that doesn't mean you can't bring out some of your spring like clothing to be apart of your wardrobe a little at a time. I know on the east coast, in the Carolina's, the Carolina Cup is a pretty big deal for horse racing. Along with the horses, the girls dress up in their Lilly and big hats & the men sport their bow ties and pastel pants/shorts. I have never been but it always seemed like such a wonderful event to attend; I feel like this event is the start of the real spring time fashion coming out, especially the seersucker. 

Seersucker is easy to wear with anything and is light and breezy, making it comfortable for those hot hot hot summer days and nights. Did you know it was originally worn by a "lower" class of people until the 1920s when some undergraduate students decided to make it a "preppy" statement. Crazy right? I have worn seersucker ever since I could remember and still wear it to this day, thank you Lilly Pulitzer! 

Since creating and making bow ties, the seersucker bow tie has always been a winner for Chesapeake Tides. I actually stopped creating them for a while because I wanted to try some other patterns and styles. For the collection this spring/summer 2014, I decided to bring back the classic pieces in a variety of different colors. 

I'm really loving how all these colors look together. It would be so hard to choose which one(s) to pick from to add to a bow tie collection.

Can't choose between one or two colors? How about four?! I love the look of the multicolor bow tie, especially in seersucker. Super preppy & classic...yes? 

Along with the seersucker bow ties that I've been creating, I have also made hair bows(that I can most definitely monogram upon request) in the colored seersucker fabric.

Blue Seersucker

Pink Seersucker

Tan Seersucker

Seersucker has always been in style and it always will because it is such a classic piece of fashion, with history behind it. Even though it's not too popular of a fabric out West, I hope everyone back East will be sporting some kind of seersucker piece of clothing or accessory in their wardrobe this season! 

Happy Maryland Day, Y'all!!!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/chesapeaketides?ref=si_shop

Chesapeake Tides Turns 2!

I seriously can't believe it's been two years since I started my little business of creating bow ties! It all started when my group of guy friends had this phase that, that's all they would wear. After having some background in sewing from taking a class in my sophomore of high school, I decided to purchase a machine and some seersucker and gingham fabrics. One weekend, for hours and hours at a time I didn't stop; I continued to cut of the bow ties from a pattern that I found online, ironed the interfacing, and began sewing.

It was seriously the most exciting most enjoyable thing I could ever do for myself.

After two years I have completed numerous orders of so many different fabrics that I could get my hands on. In late 2012, I asked around...mostly to my friends...what they would like to see! My first response was to make Maryland Flag bow ties and regular ties. What? How the heck was I going to find that? I searched high and low for that fabric and not one person or store sold anything like it. It wasn't until I discovered this online store that could put any design on a piece of fabric that I dreamed of. Before the fabric even came in, I was getting orders. It was so exciting and it made me so happy that people wanted to wear my ties and show off their Maryland Pride! (we're pretty proud of our flag)

In 2013 is when I took my first order for a wedding. When I saw I was super surprised, I mean it. I couldn't believe that some one had found me on Etsy to create the ties the groomsmen would be wearing on the couples special day. After that, I received a few more and feeling even more blessed and excited. At the end of summer, I traveled to Ocean City just to get away, before I moved across the country to California. While in OC I cruised up and down Coastal Highway looking for a place to eat that I had never before. When I discovered this new little shopping center on 67th Street I decided to pop in and check out the new shops. One of the shops was perfect...BEYOND perfect! Summer House Trading Co. had everything I ever wanted! Whether it was something to decorate my house with, or some fun clothing accessory, I wanted it! After seeing what amazing products they had in the store, I knew this was the perfect place to start selling Chesapeake Tides Bow Ties!

To celebrate two successful years I would like to offer a little special!

So many new fabrics, designs, & products are now available on the Etsy shop and I hope you find a special something for yourself or for a friend!

Thank you for all your support these past two years, I can't wait to see what's to come in the future!!!

Started from the Bottom

As 2013 ends & 2014 begins, I cannot wait to start expanding my business to succeed and grow.

I can’t wait to share more with you as new things happen in my life!

Chesapeake Tides Weddings

In early 2013, came a real turning point with Chesapeake Tides; I received my first wedding order! I couldn't believe it! I think it was either in January or February that I had an anonymous guest(yes, I call everyone guests now that I've been working at Disney) message me on Etsy about creating black watch plaid bow ties for wedding that would be in March.
Well that escalated really fast and the wedding orders were coming in like crazy! I have never been so happy that someone would choose to come to me to ask for bow ties for the groomsmen in their wedding. Throughout the year, I have continued to make bow ties for numerous of other brides to be and I can't wait to continue to as 2013 ends and we start a new year of 2014(it's going to be a good one, I can tell!)

My very first wedding order!!

This was a very special order for me because I actually got to meet the bride!! We were running a little sorter on time and she lived pretty close to where I was living in Maryland so we decided that we would meet up and she would hand deliver the fabric herself. Really really loved how these turned out!

Aren't the colors just lovely? 

Really enjoyed receiving this photo of the bride and her father!

(navy blue gingham)

Photography by: Misty Anderson Photography

& of course the Maryland Flag bow ties stole my little Maryland heart. 

Photo credit: Taylor Lord Photography

Navy & White Polka Dot Bow Ties

These bow ties were for the groomsmen of one of my friends from when I went to SCAD. I've loved all the wedding orders that I have done but this one was definitely my favorite. The navy polka dots and being able to create them for a friend! 

I cannot wait to continue to create bow ties for a couples special day in the years to come!!

Throwback Thursday to Chesapeake Tides

In March of 2012 I had this crazy idea to start creating bow ties and sell them on Etsy. Before than, the last time I had ever sewed was back in my Sophomore year of high school when I took my first ever sewing class. I had asked for a sewing machine that year for christmas and started to sew a little bit more. I created tote bags made out of the most ridiculous fabric, fabric purses that were just well…interesting, and pajama shorts that I still have to this day and love them to death. Let's just say my taste in fabrics and clothing choices has changed a lot since then.(thank goodness!)
When I first started creating the ties I picked out the seersuckers and ginghams, ya know something classic that would go with everything and any type of man would possibly want. Well, I learned really fast that gingham doesn't really do that well BUT the light blue seersucker did! A few months later is when I discovered Spoonflower; it had a wide variety of very very unique fabrics and I fell in love. I didn't even know about the option that I could create my own until the Fall of 2012!

Here are some of the photos that were taken of the ties that I actually made into a small book for a photo class that I was taking at the time.

The light blue seersucker that was a total hit!

Purple Gingham

Navy Blue Gingham

Red Gingham

Nautical Signal Flags

Maryland Blue Crab

Yellow Gingham

I was pretty proud of all of them! 

I love how my business has grown so much over the almost 2 years and I can't wait to see what else lies in store for Chesapeake Tides in the years to come!

Nautical Winter

My friend/neighbor/basically little sister called me up asking if she and her friends could have a photo shoot in my front yard and also if they could use one of my bow ties for the shoot, how could I say no? They used this one for the shoot!

So while they were photographing away I decided to get my camera out and photograph as well!