Tanya Whelan is all kinds of awesome

The average person might respond, "and who exactly is that?" Well, in my world, she happens to be the brains behind the fabric designs that are always amongst my faves when choosing! I submitted some of my designs using her latest collection and she's got them up on her blog right now, check 'em out HERE. It was a great feeling to see the girls and my designs on her page. I truly love what I do, now just crossing my fingers the CPSIA doesn't mess it all up. If you haven't heard of the new legislation. I won't bore you with details. You can click and read if ya like and even go one step further and complain to your congressman like I and millions of others have!

I am just focusing on today for now. It's all that's within my control and accepting orders as they come in. I did a different version for a customer the other day in Tanya's fabric. I adore how it came out, take a peek HERE. This little girl who will get this set turns 2 on Valentine's Day. Her mom and Dad decided on a set I've made but we did it in blue. I can't wait to see her wearing it! I love when you send me your ideas and we get to collaborate on an outfit. It makes it that much more fun! If you'd like to join my mailing list, you can find it in the right hand column of my blog. Join today and I will maintain contact with my list members moving forward. Bravenet will send you a confirmation email to ensure you haven't been randomly added to the list. You MUST click this or you have not joined. Don't see it? check your spam folder, it's probably there. I've even got a little incentive, a GIVEAWAY! My dear friend Amy of Hill Country Charm on Etsy makes these gorgeous necklaces. The kind that are special and always have people stop and ask you about it. Yep, we're gonna give one away so sign up :) I've got more giveaways planned down the road as well so stay tuned!

It really does take a village

and with tremendous support from my family and friends, 2009 is off to a fantastic start. I have to say a big thank you to all those around who have let me borrow their little girls. They are a super fun crowd to work with whose energy I'm envious of! I've got lots of new things being sent to my Etsy store and staying busy busy busy. Good busy though, like adrenaline, heart pumping busy! I love when you all share photographs of your little ones. Keep 'em coming, they make my day! It's amazing to see your portraits, your vacations or just plain ole candids wearing something I've made. I had a super experience a few weeks ago working with Scott from Scott Stater Photography Scott is a photographer here in Austin in the same Steiner Ranch area that we live in. Check him out. He tackled taking photos of a few pieces from my Spring line with the pint sized crowd. Their collective ages were under 21 so you can imagine the fun herding this crew. They were all phenomenal and all tolerated the high winds we were given that day. These little beauties have to try hard to take a bad photo and even then, I don't think you could find one! The pictures you see here are from my Spring MACY collection of mix and match pieces.

The #1 question I get from people is "How does your sizing run?" To answer that, that's the best part of custom clothing. For example, if you purchase something and let me know that your daughter is a 5 in length but teeny tiny through her waist, we can make something the length of a 5 but size it slimmer through the waist. If you have a child who has shorty pie legs and you know where you prefer their capris to hit, we can always modify the lengths to your preferences! My pieces generally come as one size fits most but we can tweak things here and there for you! Click on any photo to enlarge. I have them come and go from my Etsy store. As items get purchased, I will attempt to add them back when time permits. This might be my favorite line of fabrics I've ever used. It has such a feminine feel with floral prints that remind me of the days gone by, a simpler world, and a place I'd like to be :)

What a wonderful day

How on earth do these photos relate? They could be the start of a story board for my day. Yesterday was a day where I didn't complete a single task. Just spent the entire day enjoying all the folks I have the pleasure of interacting with on a near day to day basis! I had a birthday and started the last year of my 30's. oh boy⁄!! It was certainly a day to remember. I started the day connecting up with my coffee Moms. To my surprise, they got crafty on me and greeted me with t-shirts that read Debbie Rocks and a big ole birthday cake. Now tell me that doesn't feel awesome! Stayed for some cake, coffee, chatter and even Happy Birthday in Spanish by little Trey. priceless! Scooted out later that same day to meet my neighbors for lunch. The schemed a covert operation and got in touch with some other friends and we had a great group for lunch. Mother nature was on our side and we had 80 degrees in January. It called for Mexican food and Mojitos at noon coupled with more girl chatter and that ain't too shabby either! My spouse is out of town for work so I figure the fun is gonna end there, and that's fair enough, it's been an awesome day. My kids come home and my girls had both made me cards and my younger daughter had her whole class sign it. Very special! I have the pleasure of reading with them each week, have slowly gotten to know them. They are all just adorable. They ended dinner by scooting me out of the kitchen and told me to wait as they wanted to make me dessert. They piled in the ice cream, the chocolate syrup along with a skinny cow! Almost seems like ordering the diet coke with your Big Mac and fries! They sang Happy Birthday as well and it was just the perfect ending to the day. You just can't beat having great girlfriends and kids! The bonus part is the hubby was out of town so he gets to celebrate it with me all over again this weekend. No cooking for this gal :)

There's more than one way to skin a cat!

...but I'm not really talking about cats. I'm talking about the sewing world! There are often several ways to construct the same garment and we all have our preferences. I'm trying to put my own thoughts on paper. I've been asked several times by folks, "Hey, I'd love to learn to sew" Problem is, you buy those patterns that say, It's SEW Easy, you get home, but you still feel a bit dumbfounded after unfolding all of those pages and scanning through the instructions. Well, I've decided I'd take a stab at adding author to my name! I'm laughing just typing that as I'm the most grammatically incorrect writer there is so just take with a grain of salt that author is a generous term! I've started writing an electronic book with easy to follow instructions along with lots of color photographs embedded into the book that will hopefully jumpstart any newbie into their first project. I took the step by step pictures close to a year ago, started writing this and have vowed that when 2009 started, I'd actually complete this item on my to do list. I'm finishing up the final touches on a 3 tiered skirt e-book. These are so versatile in the possibilities and they are fun to wear. What little girl doesn't love to twirl when she's got something fun like that on.

They've overtaken my Mac

my kids that is!!! I never realized how much I get on and off the computer all day until I'm moving my kids out of the way all the time asking to have my spot back. Their latest obsession?????? Photo Booth on the Mac and I must admit, it cracks me up. It's like having your own fun house right here under your own roof. I'm amazed how long my kiddos will sit in front of this screen making funny faces and snapping pics of themselves with the built-in camera. My favorite kind of entertainment for them? the free kind.........so have at it kiddos! It entertains me too and who can't use a good laugh :) Hope it made you laugh. I did a few of myself while messing around with it alongside them, you will not see me posting those!

Life can be "Shabby-licious"

I'm allowed to make up words right???? Shabby-licious it is! I instantly fell in love with this fabric when I saw the collection debut. I love the romantic and old fashioned feel but with a child-like light mood to it. Little girls don't have to wear drab and serious looking clothing but things that are fresh and reflect their spunk!! Little 4 yr old Brookelyn certainly has spunk and I got in an extra workout chasing her around and snapping some photos. Oh to be 4 again with endless energy and without a care in the world! The pants are also available in the same print but with a sky blue background which we also photo'd on my daughter. We know that one size doesn't suit all so wanted to offer another color option. Click on any photos to enlarge them and get a better view. More photos shown with the actual listing. I've got a few new listings up on ebay and will be plugging away with more between my ebay store and etsy as the weeks and months progress.

Hey you over there in that dress, we coordinate!!

I've been playing around this season with some coordinated pieces for sisters that are at ages where they don't like to match entirely. Taking that thought just a step further, many of the styles just don't always translate well for the older ones. I've finally accepted this and have said my goodbyes to those super fun days of dressing my girls as they continue to age on me and flex their fashion independence. They do love twirly skirts and so do I! These never seem to go out of fashion for us and this one coordinates to the Olivia knot dress that I'll be adding to my etsy store soon! I'm so excited for the Spring season and hope everyone else is equally ready for some "funshine" and all the clothing that goes along with it. I have plenty of new goodies! We are having some wonderful weather lately and hit 78 today so grabbed the camera and took a few photos of new pieces. Happy New Year to everyone!

Valentine's Day......it's coming up!

Well, my design group is already thinking about Valentine's Day so look for some new things to be launched pretty soon. I really hope we'll get some decent weather soon and be able to snap some real photo's. Here's a little glimpse of what I'll be listing. Very girly, some shabby florals with some hearts thrown in!