august giveaway!

I am so happy and proud to announce that my sister Shelly just opened her own etsy shop - Hairblooms! She is selling these and many other adorable headbands for babies and toddlers. They are so beautiful, yet simple enough to go with any outfit whether fancy or casual.

I'll let her tell you in her own words why she decided to open up shop with this snippet from her etsy profile:

"Hairblooms began as an idea I had one quiet afternoon while I was holding my daughter. She was born with a bright red birthmark, called a hemangioma, on the tip top of her head. And, although everyone who knows her agrees that she is cute as can be with a “cherry on top,” I noticed that sometimes in public people would stare at her birthmark and miss seeing the beautiful girl she is inside and out. So, in thinking of ways I could teach her that she and every little girl are beautiful just the way they are, I came up with the idea to celebrate her beauty by making headbands for her... I decided to name my shop “hairblooms” because I like to think of each of my headbands as a little heirloom I’m giving to my daughter. And what they represent – teaching your little girl that she is beautiful exactly the way she is – is an invaluable gift that I hope can be passed down from every mother to daughter."

To celebrate her grand opening she has offered you a chance to win one of her gorgeous headbands!

You have two chances to win,

1) Just visit her shop and then come back and leave a comment saying which headband you would like if you win!

2) Link to this giveaway on your blog and then come back and let me know!

The giveaway will close on Sunday, August 30th.

Good luck!

happy friday!

I just thought this braid was too cute.

I'm off to shower love and happiness on a very good friend getting married this fall. And the little miss will finally get to meet her little blog friend who shares her name!

I'm planning to sleep-in tomorrow (although that never happens) and watch Coraline (I heard it was good). But I'll probably wake up early and clean the bathroom (where, for lack of a better spot, we now have a litter box).

I'm wishing I had an excuse to take up this amazing offer but, sadly, I can't think of anything that would fly with the husband. No pun intended.

And, lastly, I'm so happy it's Friday!!!

Have a great weekend!

mid-year resolution

Last year for Christmas my mother-in-law gave me a nice calendar in which she had marked all of the important dates for our family with stickers. I was really grateful because, unfortunately, as many of my friends and family know I am horrible at remembering birthdays. Like how earlier this week I forgot to call my oldest sister. You see. I just don't keep track of the date like I should.

So, I think I should keep up the marked calendar tradition and hang it up where I am certain to see it every day. And I really like this fabric calendar from September House where you can embroider fun little designs around the important dates. Maybe if I sat down and did that the dates would finally stick in my mind!

I am making a mid-year resolution to be better!

(via oh so beautiful paper)

summer is not over yet!

I put the last of the summer items for the year in the shop! I just love this adorable purple bird romper. And, check out the 30% off sale section!

I'm working on making some more fall/winter items now. Since I haven't really been sewing a lot lately I'm looking forward to getting back to the machine!

birthday party!

This past Saturday we celebrated the little miss' first birthday with friends and family! It was wonderful to see so many loved ones - thanks to everyone who came!

I decided to try and use supplies and items I already had to decorate. For the banner I printed out big letters onto scrapbook paper I've had for awhile now. I just cut out the letters and taped the silhouettes to the wall. The font I used was Big Top, unfortunately, it was not the most efficient use of ink. If I were ever to do this again I would search for a font that the letters are outlined. I like the use of negative space.

For the garland I used most of the scrap fabric I had lying around. It was so nice to use it up and I'm really happy with the outcome. I'll probably hang some of it in the nursery now that the party is over.

We had sandwiches and salad (I loved the salad and will give you the recipe soon), and two kinds of cupcakes - vanilla and coconut! The coconut ones were my favorite, if you are a coconut fan you should really try making these.


And, as I hinted at earlier when I showed you the invitations, we got the little miss a kitten! She is so sweet and had the time of her life attacking the garland when we put it up. We named her Petunia and she is a great addition to the family!

fabric find { olive manna }

It's been awhile since a fabric collection has caught my eye, but as soon as I saw olive manna's offerings I was pulled out of my fabric slump! It might have something to do with the popular chevron zig design that so many people (including myself) are drooling over these days - they offer it in a lovely sea foam color, one of my faves. And I can just imagine that cute little reader fabric as a nice comfy bean bag in a book corner for the little miss.

(find via papernstitch)

invites

These are the invites I came up with for the little miss (and there is her name in case you've ever wondered, although I think I've mentioned it before).

I needed slightly odd sized envelopes so I decided to make my own out of double-sided scrapbook paper. This also added some much needed color since the invites printed out in more muted tones than I intended. Why don't printers just print the same color you see on the screen? Then I sealed them by sewing around the edges. This threw many people off as I got texts saying, "How do I open it?" Ha ha...

I drew the kitten behind the one. It was inspired by an old children's book I came across the other day. Can you guess what she will be getting for her birthday?!