Hmmmm....TA-DAAAAAAA!!!!!!!

[NOTE: I just finished listing this jumper for sale. CLICK HERE to see more photos of the jumper on Etsy and CLICK HERE for Facebook.]

Okay, I think I've been hinting around that I have been up to something big. Or maybe I've only been hinting around in my own head, which is scary. Anyway, later today I will FINALLY be listing on Etsy and Facebook our FIRST garment for sale in our new line of boutique couture clothing!!!!!

So, without further ado, check out the ADORABLE Tasha modeling our Halloween Patchwork Jumper!!!!! OMG, COULD she be cuter?!Remember that post where I talked about going above and beyond? (If not, CLICK HERE to see a great effort and to contrast that with a POOR effort, CLICK HERE!)

Look at all the different settings, poses and accessories Tasha's mom came up with! She really showcased the versatility of our jumper in both warmer and cooler weather.Check out Tasha's giant purple hair puffs, polka-dotted sandals, cute purple witch hat, striped leggins' and even those zingy orange bows on her sneakers.Her pictures were back lightning fast and mom is a great communicator, too. Tasha has been ill these last couple of days, so mom let me know there would be a slight delay in shooting her pics with a long-sleeved shirt under the jumper.Tasha and her mom obviously take pride in their work. You'd better BELIEVE I'll be booking Miss Tasha again!!!!!!

I am BACK!!!!!!!!!! Did You Miss Me??

Did you even know I was gone?? LOL
We were in Grandbabyland, this time in CT.
Here are just a few proud Nannie pics of Zoey
(can you even believe she is ONE already?!??)
and Avery!!
They were hilarious together. Zoey kept doing things like this,
and like this,
which made Avery look like this.
As a kindergarten teacher,
I can tell you that they BOTH sit for an incredibly long time
when someone reads to them.
I was amazed. I read that book
5 times in a row to Zoey!!
I have K kids who can't sit that long for a story!!

Okay, just three more.
This is a giraffe hat I had custom made for Avery.Zoey got an custom owl hat, but she hates hats,
so this is Avery modeling it.And check out the cute Dora birthday dress
I made Zoey. She has matching bloomers, LOL!

Above and Beyond

I consider myself the type of person who goes above and beyond.
I'm just not satisfied unless I give it my best.

I really do try to live the maxim, "If it's worth doing, it's worth doing well."
Followed closely by, "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."
And sometimes (like at 2:30 AM last night this morning, when I FINALLY finished sewing the garment that I had totally ripped apart at midnight),
"If it were easy, EVERYONE would do it!"
However, not everyone does goes above and beyond. If you remember the Momshots post (if not, click HERE to go read it), those photos were a great example of lack of effort. (And YES, you were all correct! Everyone who voted knew that the "Momshot girl" was the third pic in each set.)

And do you know what the really sad part is about those Momshot pics?
THAT MOM IS A PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER.
Well, guess what?!
Miriam's mom is a PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER, too.
A REAL one.
And just LOOK at how above and beyond she went in the adorable Miriam's photo shoot.Do you notice anything about that pic above?

How about this one? (Here's a hint...look closely at the watering can!)

Hmmm. Do you think Mom just happens to have a watering can with the exact same flower as the Michael Miller fabric I used in Miriam's top??

I think not. I think went above and beyond and PHOTOSHOPPED that flower onto the watering can. Was it mandatory? Heck, no. In fact, I really didn't realize it was even POSSIBLE. But Mom did, and she went ABOVE AND BEYOND to make me happy.
I love Miriam's expression on that one. She is OVER it!! LOL

You better believe I'll be using Miriam again!!!!!!!!

GREAT Pics!!!!

I am SO excited!!!
Check out some of the AWESOME pictures of Madison modeling our
Reversible Tunic, Ruffle Capris, Flutterbye Wand and Ponytail Boppers!!
We have picture shoots scheduled with 3 other little models.
I just LOVE sewing these clothes!!!!
I made the little banner hanging on the tree, too.
Do you love the pics?
Stay tuned!!

These garments are made with top-quality fabrics, including Michael Miller's Ta-Dot, which I just LOVE. Reversible Tunic Top can be ordered in dress length and can later be worn as a top, so it grows with your daughter through a couple of sizes.
It's also adorable over a t-shirt, with different bottoms, etc.

Recent Projects, Day One

Still Here!

It's been crazy busy around here and I have sadly neglected my blog, but I'm going to try to do better. Granted, it may just be pictures or a line or two and it definitely won't be daily, but I'll try to post something fairly regularly. Sometimes I feel like I'm talking to myself (well, it wouldn't be the first time, LOL), so if you have a second, leave a comment once in a while.

So I'm doing these "challenges" on Facebook...if you're on Facebook, it's this group. I've entered two of their challenges and won one category both times, so I guess that's pretty good! Even if I don't win, it's good exposure. I'll be entering another one this week, so I'll try to keep you posted.

Now I know you're not going to last too long without a photo, so HOW ABOUT THIS CUTIE!!!

Her name is Peyton (if you click the pic, you can probably read the embroidery) and she is modeling the Big Sister Dress and matching hairbow I made for her. Yes, I said HAIRBOW. I found a way to tie them that is pretty idiot-proof, so even I was able to tie a cute bow. It has a monogrammed covered button in the center of the bow, and there's a coordinating onesie for her brother-to-be...once I upload the gazillion pics on my camera, I'll post that and also some pics of the pink Big Sister dress I made for the granddaughter of someone at work.

We are watching the Steelers game, so I'm going to publish this and pay attention to the game. Check back tomorrow...I'll try to post some pics of things I've made latelY! Thanks for hanging in there with me!

A Little Love

How about if I lure you in today with a bunch of photos? I'll start with some before-and-after pictures of today's Trash to Treasure project. But first, a little background: I am the original junk picker. As in, I pick up other people's junk that's been kicked to the curb and I bring it home to live in our garage until I figure out what I'm going to do with it. To me, it's kind of like rescuing a stray, except that our strays don't live in the garage. My husband is not a fan of my trash-picking habit.

As I was driving school one day in May, I spied a pitiful, filthy, rickety table upside down at the curb. I was struggling to wrestle it into the bed of my truck by myself when a nice man who walking his fluffy white dog appeared and gave me a hand with it.

Back at home that evening, a leg fell off of the table as we were unloading it. My husband arched an eyebrow and asked what I planned to do with my latest find. I had to admit I had NO IDEA. Into the garage it went.

But today I had an inspiration. I've been needing a little more table space in the dining room my studio. My junk-picked table would be just PERFECT. All it needed was a little love.

The remaining legs were banged up and practically falling off:

The top was gouged:

It was just really pretty nasty:

And now it's NOT!

I reattached the leg and tightened all the bolts, which were all just really loose. That fixed the rickety-ness. I scrubbed the table down, let it dry, sanded it and then waxed it. I had planned to paint the legs, but I wound up liking the distressed look of the white paint after I started sanding, so I just sanded and waxed the legs instead. See, I gave that table a little love and now it's living a very useful second life in my sewing area!

And speaking of a little love, here's Little "A" looking cute modeling my baby dresses:

Little "A" was a blur of motion. I have a new found respect for people who photograph babies for a living :

Seriously cute. Check out the hair thingies!

And finally, here's Little "A" modeling the dress I made for her:

A Little Love, don't you agree?

No, Click HERE Instead, LOL!

OH NO! It has come to my attention (THANKS, NANCY!) that the link to my page on Teaching Tiny Tots is not working!! Yikes!!! Never mind, just click this picture:

Whew! That's better!! And I must say that this blogging stuff has, at the very least, given me a clue about HTML!!

More later, if time...off to SEW!!!!

Vote for Me!

Well, actually, there is no voting involved, I don't think. But...drumroll...

I've been published!

Click HERE to see what I'm talking about!!

Our school librarian made this snack for my students this year. It's the same one I wrote up for our first Fun Day Sunday. Anyway, I pared down that post and submitted it to Teaching Tiny Tots and YAYYYYY, she loved it! If you have a minute, check it out and maaaybe leave a nice comment at the bottom of that page. Yay!

Speaking of comments, thanks to everyone who has emailed or commented about Zoey's Family Tree! I would love to respond to everyone, but if you are set as "no reply", I have no way to get in touch with you. Just know that your comments make my day!

Now, I have to confess to being even more worn out tonight than I was last night. Hmmm, I wonder if going to bed very late and then having this cat

decide I needed to get up very early this morning has something to do with it. Isn't he cute? His name is Foster. That was him on the fourth shelf in our pantry. He's not only athletic, he's extremely helpful as well. But anyway, I digress. I managed to drag the cat out of the sewing machine long enough to whip up this little dress for the daughter of a friend at school. Once again, the color is off and even the magic of Picnik couldn't fix it this time. The bottom band and ties are actually hot pink and I used one of my new embroidery fonts to do the "A". Can't wait to see little "A" wearing it! We'll be taking some photos so I can put them in my Etsy shop as an example of this style of dress.

Hope you like the dress! Don't forget to check out my page on Teaching Tiny Tots if you have time and thanks for stopping by!

10" Dress and Peach-sized Pants!!

First of all, I guess you have to realize that I had BOYS. Two of them. They wore teensy jeans and itty-bitty t-shirts. And I did sew for them...tiny bib overalls, "jams" (I'm showing my age...they were long shorts in case you were not yet born in those days), costumes for things at school and Halloween costumes - LOTS of Halloween costumes.

But there's really nothing to compare with the absolute adorable-ness of a 10" dress!!!!!! I made this for our little granddaughter-to-be and the thought that she will probably swim in it as a newborn is just kind of mind-boggling. This afternoon, I made her a matching diaper cover with a big ol' Z across the nether regions, LOL.

I put a smallish peach in the pic with the pants, just for scale. Wow, and there will be a little human WEARING A DIAPER in there. Just an amazing thought!

I'll be putting those pics in my Etsy store as samples of what will be available. Tomorrow, I'm going to do another diaper cover, but this time, it will have RUFFLES. RUFFLES!!!! I'm so excited!!

Yeah, I loved my boys. But all this girly stuff is FUN!

Oh, and PS, don't forget to enter my bib giveaway if you have not already done so. I'll be closing the giveaway at 3 PM Eastern tomorrow and will announce the winner in tomorrow's post. I wanted to thank everyone who has entered so far...what nice comments I have received. Good luck to all!