Now it's Time to Organize!

The entry deadline for the Girl Indie Designer Chick Contest is now closed. Thank you to everyone who entered, we got a bunch of great products and I can't wait to post them all so you can start voting. Voting will start on July 14th so look forward to that soon!

Simplify.. that's my motto now

For the past few weeks my mission has been to simplify life as much as possible. I've been getting caught up on orders (a HUGE weight off my shoulders) and updating both of my websites . I've also been spending much more time with my family. Our weekends have been filled with summer fun! My kids are much happier and I am too.

In my quest to slow down and simplify, I've been looking for fun things that the kids and I can do together. For the longest time I have wanted to try to make lip balm. So, I ordered some supplies and patiently waited for them to arrive. It was like Christmas morning when the box finally arrived. Ever since then, we've been lip balm making fools! Jacob and Sean have a blast helping me. They love picking out the flavors, and it's so much fun to see how many we can make with each batch! It's a great time for us to spend together talking about all sorts of things. Sean told all of his friends that we are making lip balms. Now, I have them lining up at my door! The strawberry cheesecake flavor seems to be everyone's favorite! You can see all the flavors we come up with on cuffies.com.

Simplifying also includes cleaning out my sewing studio :) Good news for all of you! I had a huge stock of tees, tanks and fabric. So, what better way to clear them out than throwing together a small line of tees and tanks! Everything is premade and ready to ship. I also decided (after many requests) that I will be doing cuffies again this year! They won't be ready until this fall. But you can sign up for the mailing list if you want to be notified when they are ready. Just click here to go to the website.

Ok so I figured out the problem...

with Etsy that is. Apparently they recently switched servers and some ISPs haven't updated their DNS so the website won't come up. Well, I have a feeling that Charter (which is who I use and despise) is behind the times and will catch up in a few days. I sure hope so because I miss browsing for my daily finds! Errrrr Here is more info if you are interested.

Some things I forgot....

As I have mentioned in about a million other posts, I often times forget things in my hurried life. Since I have had some time to slow down a bit lately I thought I would share a few pics from the last festival we did for iza bella. I have been meaning to post these and I apologize to everyone who was emailing me reminders to do so. ;)




Have you ever had a fried Oreo? Well let me tell you that they are DELICIOUS...weird but delish none the less!

My son, the tree hugger!

Since this was The Hummingbird Festival they did not disappoint. Xander even won the chance to hold one and let it go. They are so tiny!

We will be doing a huge Summer clearance at our festivals in August and September so I will post that info when I get it. We have some new plans for iza bella come Fall so be on the look out for that! My mom will be taking over everything officially (well, almost!).

Summer Skirt Collection

Since my Etsy is not working, I thought I would browse on over to eBay and see what listing are ending soon. I found these awesome skirt auctions by oh*sew*girly. What is cooler than a skirt and tank during the Summer.....perfect for girls on any age! You can view these fabulous listings HERE. *You have to hurry because these auctions end in about 7 hours!

The new addition...

The Baconator brought home a new little bundle of joy the other day. This was a total shock because he was so against getting a new puppy for the longest time. We named him Scout and he is no bigger than a foot....literally. The lady that was giving them away found them on the side of the road and after hearing that he just broke down and took one home. I can't believe that someone would just dump these cute little things out with nothing.....that's ok because Karma is a..... well, you know! ;)

Oh and I had the funniest picture of Gia in the cage that we bought for Scout. She wanted so badly to stay in this cage, she even cried when we told her she had to get out. I didn't post the picture for obvious reasons....a toddler in a cage may not go over to well with those that don't know me. ;)

And if you are a Sex and the City fan you will recognize the name Scout (Steve and Miranda's dog and the name of Steve's bar). Shhhhh don't tell The Baconator that's where I got it from.

Cook it. Blog It!

Patty (modkid boutique) has come up with a fabulous new cooking and blogging club. All you need to do is COOK IT. SNAP IT. BLOG IT! You can join the cooking club blogroll and check out recipes of fellow members. I would love to join in on this one but since my cooking skills add up to making box mac and cheese, I think I will just sit this one out and take a look at everyone else's yummy delights. Patty has a fabulous new recipe posted on her blog....mmmm I love me some Key Lime Pie!

A little more DIY Love

This time from Chelsea at Pink Fig Patterns (PinkFigFabrics on Etsy). I love all of her boutique-style patterns and they are perfect for a beginning sewer or seasoned pro. :) One of my favorite pieces was the Olivia Top (pictured here). You can view this and all of her other gorgeous patterns HERE.

DIY Love

I am so loving aprons lately and when I saw this pattern from leilaandben on Etsy I knew it would make a great project for all you DIYers out there. I love the sweet style and the fact that it is made for the little ones (2-4 to be exact). You can see the entire listing HERE.

Only a Few More Days....

You only have a few more days to get your entries into the Designer Chick contest! Click the button on the left to learn more about this fab contest for all the designing chicks out there. You could get your hands on some awesome loot! All entries must be received by midnight on June 30, 2008.

Perrrrfectly Cute!

That definitely describes this little set by amazing*grace*inc on eBay. I love the fun colors and applique in this sweet ensemble. You can see the entire listing HERE.

Baby Borsa Giveaway!

I am back and already have a great giveaway to share with you! Baby Borsa is a chic and simple site with some really stylish and innovative products for moms. Founded by Kim Jones in 2006, the Baby Borsa Quick-Change (Diaper Changing System) is perfect for moms on the go. With two inside pockets and attached pad it serves as an all-in-one bag for diapers, wipes, and even a change of clothes. With one hand you can open and close the bag in a matter of seconds! I love the stylish colors that is it available in. Kim's daughter actually helped her to come up with the design and fun prints. In addition to the Quick-Change, they also offer a cute and comfy Snuggles Blanket, combine these two and you have the perfect baby shower gift! As well as being cool gifts (and essentials for mom) they are extremely affordable. They currently only sell wholesale from their website but you can check out the current list of retailers to purchase one.
****GIVEAWAY**** Baby Borsa is giving away a Quick-Change in the Pop Dot Chocolate print (swatch shown above) to one lucky reader! All you have to do is head over to Baby Borsa, take a look around and then come back here and post a lovely comment about their site and/or products. The giveaway will run from now until July 2nd (Wednesday) and the winner will be announced on Thursday. Good luck girls....this is a great gift!

Whew.....I am BACK!

Well, I am officially back and ready to share pics! :) We had a great time at Disney World. I wished we could have stayed longer because we didn't get to see everything it was so huge! The Disney staff was absolutely awesome but I do have to complain that the disney-goers were EXTREMELY rude! I am from the South and we are pretty polite I think. When you walk in front of someone (while almost running into them with the stroller) you would say excuse me. Ummm no, not at Disney. These people were aching to get run over by my stroller! ;) By the end of the week Troy was sure I was going to get into a throw down (or mow down with the stroller) with someone!

All the rudeness aside, I knew Xander would love everything (except the princess stuff) but Gia I wasn't so sure about. She was so overwhelmed with everything most of the time. The first show we went to was the Indiana Jones stunt show at Hollywood Studios. I had Gia in my lap and she was so floored by the loud noise and Indy getting plowed down by the huge boulder she didn't know exactly what to think. By the end of the show she was crying and saying "This is so fun!" Of course The Baconator and I thought it was the funniest thing because she was so overcome with emotion. She wanted to wait and make sure Indiana Jones was ok. So we went down to the stage and she said "I have to give him a kiss and make sure he is ok". Well, when I told him that, she was suddenly his favorite fan. :) He was so nice to let her kiss him on his cheek and he assured her that he was ok.

The rest of the week was pretty much the same, she loved the rides and hated the 3D shows....she just didn't know what to think. Xander's favorite thing was the Go Carts at Tomorrowland. All in all it was a great week and I would love to do it again when Gia is a little older.....oh and when it is NOT Summer, man was it HOT! I took so many pics I didn't want to bombard the blog with all of them so I made a little slideshow. You can get a little peek at some of the sets I made for Gia before we left....hope you enjoy!

Here's another great find from etsy! I have a soft spot in my heart for handmade dolls. I'd rather purchase something that was made with love over a store bought doll anyday! rosieposiedoll is the artisan behind these cute little creations. You can see the entire listing here.

Blooming Letters

Yummy! I am in complete awe of anyone who can paint. These letters are no exception. What a perfect way to dress up an empty wall. You can find them on etsy from seller PoshDots. You HAVE to see her other items... she has lots of different styles. You can see the listing for the letters above here.

Jeweled Clippies

Aren't these fabulous! I found them on etsy (I love that place). The colors are so yummy for summer. They're from etsy seller twolittlewrens. You can see the entire listing here. Make sure to check out her other items. She has some really cute stuff!

Off to the most magical place on earth...

Oh yes we are off to Disney World for the next 6 days! I am so excited and can't wait to get on the airplane to get there. It was a bit of a rush decision so I have been working like mad to catch up with my clients until I return to work on June 23rd. The store will remain open but I won't be able to process any orders until I return. I did manage to make Gia 4 outfits (2 for the Magical Kingdom, 1 for Wild Kingdom & 1 for Hollywood Studios) so I know I will have lots of fun pictures to share when I get back. I went to Disney when I was 13 but I am WAY more excited now because I know the kids (and The Baconator) are going to have a ton of fun! Tell ya all about it when I return. Bobbie will be here holding down the fort. :)

I have lots of giveaways still in store when I return next week so be on the lookout for that!