My Story

For the Love of Family, Paper & All Things Organization!

The photo above is one I treasure. A priceless moment of my family walking together following Easter service this past April. Nobody is looking at the camera and I capture the moment exactly as it happened. No silly grins, no posing, no whining .... just a peaceful walk to the car. I just love moments such as this!

I came to treasure these moments even more (and I promised myself never to take them for granted) after I experienced a medical trauma in 2004. Five days following the birth of my son (now 5), I was sent back to the hospital for nearly a week. I had unknowingly torn a major artery and was in serious condition. Following surgery and a significant transfusion, I was strong enough to return home but still too weak to care for my family.

My well intended care givers (mother, mother in law, husband, babysitters, neighbors) all desperately wanted to help me. I had a 2 year old and she needed constant supervision, a newborn son, and I was silently grieving the traumatic experience I had been through.

I had thought of it all. Emergency numbers were taped to the inside of my pantry, the extra insurance card was tucked away on my memo board, the daycare phone number was taped to the fridge! Wasn't this all someone would need to understand how to help in an emergency? The short answer was, no.

I found out the hard way that this was not a good way to communicate my daily "mom life" to others. I could understand someone needing to ask me about the details, but the big picture of my daily routine was not mapped out anywhere. My husband even had to ask me which day to put the trash out. Not his fault - I just always took care of it.

After recovery, I decided to never put myself in that position again. I started working on my first "Martin Family Handbook." My husband jokingly called it my "dork book," and yes, I had to agree. I became passionate about chronicling my children's schedules, doctors, medical chart numbers, the foods they liked & didn't like, the babysitter contacts, the air conditioner repair man etc.! Every piece of information I used to run my daily "mommy job" was documented. It was essentially a living & breathing document for our family and served as "command central."

Fast forward to today ... I definitely don't live my life anticipating another emergency, but what I have discovered is that having all of this critical information in a single place has been a wonderful blessing to my family. I literally use my handbook every day and I take a smaller version (the "on the go" book) with me everywhere.

Last year, we were on vacation and my 7 year old cut her leg on a sharp shell at the beach. I had packed my handbook in my suitcase. When we went to urgent care, the doctors had ALL of the information they needed (shot records, pediatricians address & phone, insurance information, claims address, even the dentist address). I happened to be traveling with a physician (a dear friend of mine) and she said, "I can not believe you travel with your kids shot records!" The truth of the matter was that I didn't even have to think about it. They were just with me in my "handbook."

I founded The Purple Martin & Co. on the single principle that an organized, regularly updated, family handbook should be a staple in each household. Paper is truly the only shareable resource around. My mother could not reference a blackberry or my computer, she could not interpret which babysitter to call from my address book and she definitely would not know the chart number and my daughters favorite "back-up" pediatrician!

If you have a love of decorative paper, a need for organizing "command central" and a desire to put your family's critical information in a user friendly format (not just for the "one off emergency" but for peace of mind in running your daily routine) please give me a call.

I would love to help!

Stylish Coupon Organizer

Because keeping coupons organized is the key to a successful "savings" trip to the store.

In today's economy, "Strategic Shopping" has BIG perks! The key to realizing your potential savings is having your coupons organized and keeping them with you at all times (in the car) so that you have them when you need them.

Pricing for coupon organizers is provided upon request. All projects are customized to meet each client's budget and design requests.

New Mommy Handbook

Wish your sweet baby came with an instruction manual?

This is your opportunity to provide one for the new mommy.

Everything she needs to chronicle the baby's emergency information, shot records, important contacts, insurance information, routines, preferences and MUCH more!

A 100% customized product from cover to cover. Pricing Upon Request.

Professional Notebooks

Front Cover ~ "Reverse" Skincare Line





Back Cover ~ "Reverse" Skincare Line



Front Cover ~ "Soothe" Skincare Line



Back Cover ~ "Soothe" Skincare Line





Front Cover ~ "Unblemish" Skincare Line



Back Cover ~ "Unblemish" Skincare Line




Front Cover ~ "Anti Age" Skincare Line



Back Cover ~ "Anti Age" Skincare Line



Front Cover ~ "Consultant" Notebook



Back Cover ~ "Consultant" Notebook

Children's Memory Books ~ From Babies to Elementary School, These are a Great Way to Store & Honor Paper Keepsakes

Baby Girl Memory Book ~ Elephant



Baby Girl 18 Month Calendar to Chronicle Milestones




Baby Boy Memory Book ~ Goldfish



Baby Boy 18 Month Calendar to Chronicle Milestones





Disney Memory Books





Preschool Memory Book ~ Giraffe



Elementary School Memory Book ~ Shark

The Art of Moving ... 3 Kids, 4 Frogs, 1 Fish & a Dog

This past week our family of 5 (2 adults, 3 children and all 6 pets) moved ~ we sold our home and are off to new adventures. We were fortunate to spend Christmas in our “old home” but as soon as the packages were unwrapped and the guests hit the road, we were taking down the tree and packing, packing & packing.

I have to admit that “Mrs. Clause” was extremely tired post Christmas and with packing for the big move on the horizon, I had to wave my white flag of surrender and ask for help. I needed this transition to a new home to be as smooth as possible. Thankfully I had worked alongside a wonderful organizational “whiz” and friend for the past 2 years and knew immediately I needed her assistance.

Laurie Martin, the new owner of Simplicity ~ Charlotte’s premiere organizational company, came to my rescue. With very little notice, Laurie came over to listen to what I “thought” my needs were. In my opinion, organizers need to be professional listeners too ~ and she has that talent mastered! She listened intently to me as I described my packing needs room by room, what we should take to the rental home, and what we should unpack once we got there etc.

When the day came for Laurie and her team to come over to help me “organize” before the packers arrived ~ I was in near panic mode. That “elephant on the chest” feeling was really bugging me. I had never moved 3 kids, 4 frogs, 1 fish and a dog ~ let alone ALL of the “stuff” that comes along with our family of 5 + pets. True I had moved across the ocean to London & back (but that was just my husband and I over 9 years ago). The amount of “stuff” in our house 9 years later started to overwhelm me and I did not even know where to begin packing.

Thankfully, Laurie spent 3 hours with me during that near “packing panic attack” and helped me sort, label, purge, and organize in preparation for packing the next day. While I was on hand to answer any questions they had, Laurie and her colleague worked seamlessly to provide order to my complete chaos.

What did I learn that day?
1. You don’t want to move trash ~ literally, if you have not emptied your waste cans on packing day, the packers will pack your garbage!

2. When you are moving to a rental home, you don’t want to unpack everything ~ organize items into “pack and store” piles versus high frequency essentials you must “pack and open” in the rental home.

3. Purge before you pack ~ if you haven’t used an item in the time you have lived in your “old” home, chances are you will not use it in the “new” home. Save money by purging before you pay the packers by the hour ~ or before you take the time to pack it yourself ~ those boxes are expensive!

On moving day, my house of boxes was loaded onto the moving truck one at a time and four hours later we were unloading the truck at the rental house. As the boxes came pouring into the new home, Laurie and her team arrived right on schedule to help turn the sea of “chaos” into organized bliss one box at a time.

Here’s how it went …..
~ Boxes were packed and labeled based on Laurie’s “pre packing” assistance (labeling and sorting).
~ As each box came off the truck it went to the room it was labeled for ~ i.e. master bedroom, laundry room etc.
~ Once the boxes for a particular room were unpacked, Laurie’s team swooped in to literally put the ENTIRE room’s contents away in a SUPER organized manner!

We’re talking bathroom drawers lined, socks put in the appropriate sock drawer, towels folded and placed with care in the linen closet, beds made, books organized on the bookshelves, clothes hung in the closet, shoes placed neatly on racks and much more!

The BIGGEST help was in the kitchen! While I would have spent an entire week figuring out where to put the plates versus the Tupperware, Laurie’s team has done this so many times that in the matter of an hour, my entire kitchen & pantry was organized better than I would have EVER done it myself!

I have to tell you the entire “move-in” went flawlessly! By 9pm (remember the move day started at 8am) my children were sleeping in their MADE beds (dust ruffles on!) with the entire contents of their rooms organized and put away (clothes, toys, books, toothbrushes!!), my husband and I were relaxing on the sofa and the entire HOUSE full of boxes had been unpacked and properly put in its new home (unless it had been labeled storage and we had it stacked in the garage for the next move).

Laurie’s team even left flowers in the middle of the kitchen table for us to enjoy. The icing on the cake was a walk through the next day of where everything was located. I was way to tired to do this the night before so Laurie arranged to come over at a time when my eyelids were not drooping to show me how everything was organized and explained why certain items landed in certain places. Her logic was flawless and her execution was perfect!

The biggest compliment I can give is that this entire experience was worth every penny and the Simplicity Team was EXCELLENT. Thanks to Laurie and her team, our move went flawlessly.

Customize Your Holiday Planning Handbook

The Purple Martin & Co.
Lori Martin, Founder & Chief Operating Mom

“Sleigh Bells Ringing Before Thanksgiving?”
The holiday catalogues have started to arrive and my children are blissfully adding to their “Santa Lists” before Thanksgiving. Truthfully, I am enjoying the “one liner” I truly can’t use in July when my children are with me in the mall and start to have a dreadful case of the “Gimmies” … “Tell Santa,” I say with a smile on my face. Since it is November, they actually do add it to their list and stop giving me a hard time about the plastic impulse purchase of choice they want at that particular moment.

While I certainly don’t “feel” like buying winter gloves & hats, stocking stuffers or holiday gift wrap quite yet, it isn’t too early to start thinking about Christmas ~ let alone getting organized for it.

One of the most stressful parts of the holiday season is the additional amount of “information” we are responsible for on top of our daily routine. This additional coordination can feel like piling another “full time job” on top of our existing “full time job” and we simply don’t have the additional hours in the day to keep up.

Keeping track of all of this additional information in an organized manner is THE KEY to maintaining a sense of “peace and calm” in this season of “hustle and bustle.” One way to keep all of this pulled together is in a “Holiday Planning Handbook.”


Holiday handbooks are customized to meet your specific planning needs, decorated with gorgeous specialty paper, and personalized with a name or monogram of your choice. After all, it is impossible to stay on budget or keep track of what we have already done in our holiday planning, let alone remember whom we have already purchased gifts for, if we don’t keep our holiday information organized.

A plan of action before each holiday season does take some effort, but organizing your “plans & ideas” will have the payoff of a much smoother season, a well balanced budget and the ability to know where you left off for next year!

What’s in my “Holiday Planning Handbook?” ~ (Yours can be customized to meet your specific planning needs) …
• A family needs assessment
• A detailed budget (groceries, family gifts, teacher gifts, neighbors & friends)
• A detailed gift list (I shop for impact, think local & stay In budget)
• Meal plans for family gathering & A pre-planned grocery list
• Contacts for my holiday card list
• Magazine clippings for gift & decorating ideas
• A record of all receipts to accurately track against my budget & keep for returns
• A gift log so I can avoid repeats next year & add to collections I have started
• A section for Christmas morning to store user manuals for the “new gifts & toys”
• Packing lists for holiday travel
• I also savor the memories by keeping one holiday card I have sent throughout the years plus one photo of the children with Santa and store it in my binder to cherish for years to come.

For your “Holiday Planning Handbook” contact us at (704) 724-9108 or thepurplemartin@bellsouth.net.

Warmly,
Lori Martin
Founder & Chief Operating Mom