So I haven't heard back from Sarah E. So I will draw another number....
And you will have to believe me that the magic number is 7 because I am having the hardest time getting a screen capture of Random.org and saving it to my computer and then uploading it to Photobucket so insert the picture here. So Lucky #7 is:
Alisa said...Pick Me!!!
My oldest daughter will be starting kindergarten next month. Barely next as its the 31st or 30th, but its coming sooner than I ever thought possible. Wasn't it just a few months ago I brought this bright red squirming bundle who weighed less than a bag of rice home from the hospital?! Now she is big enough for us to be joining in on the back-to-school shopping not just be annoyed by all the pencils and backpacks and notebooks and lunchboxes making it difficult for me to find the dishwasher detergent.
And she is going to a private school which means she is entering the lovely world of uniforms and strict dress codes. That means I am very limited in my bow-making for her school wardrobe. But will I let that hinder the creativity?! No, of course not! I have a few custom orders that I am hoping to have completely finished by the end of next week, some this week. And then I have a whole new line of bows swimming around in my head that are just dying to make their grand debut. Just in time to join the party of back-to-school frenzy!
At the Unique Women in Business website! So exciting!
Check out the interview and leave a comment if you like!
So last night my 4 year old computer started making a random beeping noise. And this morning the beeping has continued and it was finally concluded that the computer has died. There are parts, of course, that can be purchased to revive it. But knowing that I planned on replacing the PC desktop with a MacBook by the end of the summer, it seems silly to buy replacement parts for a computer I don't plan on using after August. But on the otherhand - without my computer, I can't check email. I have an iMac that I can use for internet and keeping up with online orders coming through either my Etsy shop, Diaperswappers, Hyena Cart or Facebook. But I don't have access to my email or Photoshop or Office to create invoices.
Needless to say, Hubby is stepping up to the plate in trying to get me back on-line as soon as possible. Until then I will be able to keep up with stuff - just not as often as before. God-willing, I will have my new laptop by the end of the month.
Its the First Monday of July and that means GIVEAWAY TIME! This month I am giving away an adorable clippie set - perfect for summer. Its a 4 peice set, 4 clippies made with adorable ribbon. These clippies work great to keep bangs out of eyes, add an accent to a cute hairstyle or be the main feature in their hair. 4 different ribbons to match just about any outfit! Apples and Pears, flowers, sunburst and cupcakes - these are just too cute!
and red and orange and blue and purple..... The girls crayons have become such a mess. Half of them are broken and the rest are dull. I hated to just toss out perfectly good crayons even though in their current state, they were unusable by a 4 year old and a 3 year old. So I searched through the vast array of knowledge that google provides and came across several how-to's on recycling or up-cycling crayons! Perfect!
This morning I ran to Michaels and bought myself a mini-muffin tin and a $1 pack of 64 crayons, in case I completely mess things up, the girls will have a back-up. When I get home, I enlist the littles to help me rip off all the paper and group the crayons according to color. Set the oven to 200 degrees, fill the muffin tins and wait. And wait and wait and wait. Most of the websites said 10 minutes, apparently at high altitudes that translates to 30 minutes. And 30 minutes to a 3 year old might as well be 5 years. But the wait was worth it. Aren't they pretty?!
By last Wednesday I was 2 days behind schedule with making the cheer bows. I had 2 migraines and had caught a cold between Friday and last Monday which knocked me completely flat for 2 days. How does one catch back up?! Besides finally making an appointment to get the proper medicine to fight migraines (though my insurance doesn't deem them necessary so I got to pay full price, woohoo!) one needs to have a bow-making party! Invite your friends! Make it a fun evening of ironing and heat-bonding as well as fellowship and emotional-bonding.
Thats what we did. Our dear friends, D & P, had already been invited to have dinner with us on Wednesday and with their permission, we turned our board-game plans into bow-making. After a great dinner of BBQ'd burgers and putting the littles down to bed; we rented a movie on AppleTV and made bows. D and Hubby ironed the layers together - the manly strength was needed to get all 4 layers to bond nicely. P and I marked and pinned the bows to be sewn.
The ribbon for the cheer bows arrived last Thursday. Since then, Hubby and I have cut over 20 yards of Heat-n-Bond into about 325 strips of varying widths and lengths; we have cut 550 yards of ribbon into about 400 strips of varying lengths; and we have cut 10 yards or so of sequined fabric into over 100 strips of varying lengths and widths. I am spending my day ironing the Heat-n-Bond onto the ribbon and am hoping to be back on track with my schedule (I am about a day behind currently due to a migraine on Friday). Here are some pictures of our progress:
I have a beautiful capri set up for auction! It started at just $5 for a flower appliqued top and matching ruffle capris. The auction ends on Monday at noon - less than 2 days left! Grab it at a great price - this set would normally sell for $40 or more in my shop!
I bought a set similar to this one (minus the number fabric, but including a food print fabric) tonight. I won't be able to sew anything for a while as I am currently super busy with my Cheer Bows and will be until July 14th. But its on its way and have several outfits in mind to make with it. Who wouldn't love an outfit for their little one made with The Very Hungry Caterpillar fabric! Its so cute - I can't wait to get it!!!!!
At 5pm PST, the Avant-Garde Congo is having our Grand Opening! There is a ton of stuff in this little "mini-mall". Slings, Mei Tai carriers, fitted cloth diapers, pockets diapers, soft-soled shoes (think Robeez), my hairbows, nursing covers, fleece soakers, hand-made soaps, jewelry and more!
There are penny auctions, lotteries and giveaways! There is a newborn boy gift set that is listed as a lottery for less than half-price! Its a collaboration between 4 different shops - there is an apppliqued onesie, a clutch ball, embellished burp cloths, soft-soled shoes, an embroidered cover and a soft sherpa fitted diaper. All coordinated in a sports theme. Its adorable!
All the designers and artisans are living right here in the Pacific Northwest and all are great ladies to be working with. Check out the shop and anyone who purchases something in this first week is automatically entered into a drawing for a set of brand-new dryer balls. If you don't know what a dryer ball is - its a ball created out of yarn that you put in the dryer. It cuts down on static without you having to use dryer sheets. Good for the environment and good for your wallet.
of ribbon. This is my biggest order yet and I have to be fast! I am making 215 bows for a cheerleading squad in San Ramon. 2 different styles (Game Day and Competition) and in 2 different sizes (small and large!) equals lots and lots of work. And they want the bows in hand by July 17th. That gives me 5 weeks to make 215 bows. I need to make 43 bows each week, 7 bows a day, just to make it on time. Thats if I start tomorrow - but I just got the final numbers tonight which means I just ordered the ribbon tonight. If all goes well, I might get the ribbon in hand by Monday, which means I actually only have 4 weeks to get the bows in the mail. 215 bows in 4 weeks means I need to make 54 bows each week or 8 bows a day. And these are complicated bows. The competition bows are especially complicated. See that sparkle ribbon?! I have to hand-make that ribbon! Its sequined fabric, cut into ribbon widths, then heat-bonded onto other ribbon.
They are beautiful bows though. And this will fund my new MacBook so its well worth it. I can't wait to see pictures of the girls during a game or a competition!
Competition Bows
This is the second giveaway and its open to anyone! This time the prize is this gorgeous necklace by JMJ Creations. You can check out so many other lovely items at her Etsy shop here.
Little girls at least. My girls love to twirl and twirl with dresses on. The bigger the twirl, the better, in their mind. I have made a few dresses that they love and now feel good enough about the pattern to be able to offer custom slots for the dresses.
The Apples & Pears dress is available in my Etsy shop right now and I will be creating a listing as a custom slot soon.
To whet the appetite here are a few pictures of the dresses I have completed. My girls are in love with this style.
We had a much bigger turn out this time! I hope you all come back next month on the first Monday for July's giveaway!
This months winner is.......
Its the first Monday in June - its also the first DAY in June. So its time for another Ellie-Jayne Giveaway! This month I am offering up to the lucky winner a pair of Double-Layer Patriotic Toddler Bows. These have been flying off the shelf in my Etsy shop for the last month, along with the Firecracker Clippie. And since next month is the 4th of July, it seemed an appropriate giveaway.
To enter all you have to do is leave a comment. Want to have two entries? Become a follower of the blog and add a second comment saying so (or if you already are a follower, make a second comment stating that) Want three entries? Sign my guestbook at the bottom of the blog and right a third comment saying that you did!
I will use random.org to choose the lucky winner from the list of comments on Friday, June 5th. Please make sure in the comments you give me a way to contact you - either through your own blog, blogger profile or valid email address.
I joined a congo on Hyena Cart and we are having our Grand Opening on June 15th. Lots of great stuff to see at the Avant-Garde Congo. If you have never been to Hyena Cart - I highly recommend checking out some of the shop. Of course, save your purchasing for June 15th. *wink*wink*
I will be posting sneak-peeks as to what I will be listing as the time gets closer. But you can also check out our blog to find out all kinds of info on the Congo and if you live in the Pacific Northwest and would like to join - you are more than welcome!
My youngest spiked a fever last night - all the way up to 103.4. Praise God for motrin which finally sent the fever packin'. She is mostly fine this morning, the only residual symptom is her voice is gone. Have no idea what she was exposed to that would cause this.
But anyway, when kiddos are sick you are supposed to stick to the B.R.A.T. diet of bread, rice, applesauce and toast (is that right? did I get the acronym right?) Not all of us where sick and I really hate making two different meals. I decided to make a meal surrounding rice - plain white rice and it had to be gluten-free so we could all eat it. What goes good with rice? Chicken! And I happened to have a whole chicken in my fridge, all thawed out and ready to eat.
Here is my favorite recipe for a whole chicken!
Lemon Rosemary Chicken
Ingredients
1 whole chicken
2 lemons
Fresh rosemary (or dried if thats all you have
Pepper
Salt
Directions
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Rinse off whole chicken and discard anything that grosses you out from inside the cavity of said chicken - save and use for later if it doesn't gross you out! Place whole chicken inside a Reynolds Oven Bag (love these things!). Sprinkle with pepper and salt (I don't normally use the salt but some people use it, Lemon Pepper Seasoning also works well). Cut one lemon in half and squeeze juice over chicken, rub all over chicken and place lemon halves inside chicken cavity. Cut second lemon into quarters and place inside bag next to chicken - one in each corner. Snip fresh rosemary and sprinkle tips around chicken, place a few sprigs inside chicken. If you are using dried rosemary, sprinkle on outside and place about 1 tsp inside chicken.
Seal up bag, cutting a few holes to vent. Stick in the meat thermometer and place bag in a roasting pan and then inside a 350 degree oven. Heat until chicken is 160 degrees then remove from oven, let stand until 165 degrees. Remove from bag (keeps the pan nice and clean!) and carve as desired.
Roasting the chicken in the bag keeps it nice and moist and traps all the flavors in. My kiddos devour this chicken, served with white rice and green beans. Even as sick as she was, my youngest managed a few bites.
Enjoy and Happy Wednesday!
Its a beautiful day here and my garden is starting to grow! Though my pumpkins aren't taking well to the current heat wave - I hope the nights are cool enough for them to survive. The girls are loving being able to see the strawberry flowers, watching the carrots and onions start to peek out of the dirt. Hopefully in the next few weeks, we will have a full-blown vegetable garden growing! If anything will be edible is a whole other issue. :-)
I have had several projects going on at once and of course there is never enough time in the day. Even though we have been home for nearly two months now - somehow there are still boxes left to be unpacked. 6 months gone somehow created so much extra stuff that doesn't fit in the house anymore. Unpacked 2 more boxes today - yea for me! Now if I could find someone who was willing to clean my house and cook for me so I could just work on sewing and bows, my life would be so much easier. But as it is, house-cleaning and meal-making and kiddo-wrangling tend to prevent me from getting as much sewing done as I would like. So I don't have much to show for the past few weeks of work.
My sister has some friends who are expecting their first little one in a few weeks. They know its a boy, name yet undecided or at least a secret (always a good idea in my opinion) and the hubby is really into sports. So I have created a cute little appliqued onesie and matching burp cloth. Its made with a super soft and yet fairly thin flannel. I have enough fabric left that I plan on making a similar set to list in my Etsy shop hopefully soon. My sister-in-law is also having a baby boy later this summer - her set will involve frogs. Fabric is on its way!
Another Friday! Yippee! We have Family Date Nights on Fridays which my girls look forward to immensely - it means spending Friday evenings snuggling on the couch after a dinner of comfort-food watching a light-hearted movie. It also means two whole days of "daddy stays" which is also a wonderful thing to look forward too.
Since my girls are the biggest focus of my life lately - we are going back to little girl items for my Friday Favorites. This group of items comes from the EtsyMom Team - to see more items from EtsyMom, feel free to click on the box to the right!
I love doing my girls hair. When I was a little girl, I would spend hours brushing and styling my dolls hair - I even have a book on how to style doll hair. A nice chunk of the blogs to the right are hair-do blogs - I read those every morning to see what to do to my "live dolls" hair. Its because I love doing my girls hair, that I started making hairbows to begin with! This post will be all about hair, more specifically wool-felt hair clips. These are clips that I don't know how to do but boy are they adorable!
First is a lovely Matroyshka hair clip from Neskat. How cute are these?! They come is several colors and the little doll print is just adorable. The hand-stitching around the edges really finish the clip off. Check out the whole shop for so many choices in hair clips, pacifier clips, bracelets and more!
Some of you may know, some of you may not. My 4 year old was diagnosed just after her second birthday with Celiac Disease. At first the thought of completely having to change her diet (and my own to some extent) just terrified me! So much of our diet contains wheat or gluten that I couldn't imagine doing without and then when I would go shopping and would find gluten in the strangest places (watch out for Modified Food Starch and Malted Barley Extract or Malt Flavoring!) that I thought it couldn't be done.
But lo and behold! over the past two years the food industry has really caught up finding ways to appeal to this particular niche market. Even as recently as last month, General Mills finally switched from using Malted Barley Extract to using Molasses so they could market their Rice Chex as Gluten-free. My mother found the greatest cookbook called The Gluten-Free Kitchen by Roben Ryberg and we have used it extensively. So far there hasn't been a recipe in it that I haven't liked and because I don't want to feed my girl anything I wouldn't eat myself - I make sure to eat everything she does at least once.
Todays recipe for Biscuits comes from the Gluten-Free Kitchen. These biscuits are as light and fluffy as you can expect gluten-free breads can be. They are excellent with butter and honey on top or to use to dip into a soup - not a whole lot of flavor to eat by themselves.
Ingrediants
1/3 cup Shortening
1/2 cup Potato Starch
3/4 cup Corn Starch
1 3/4 teaspoonz xanthan gum
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon sugar *I used a smidge more*
3/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Blend all ingrediants. Mix well to remove lumps. Dough will be very soft and sticky.
Roll out dough on a mediumly floured surface - be sure to use corn starch NOT flour! Roll dough to about 1/2 inch thick. Cut out biscuits with 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter. (I used just a decent sized cup turned upside down). Place biscuits on a lightly greased cookie sheet (I used parchment paper).
Bake 12-15 minutes, until lightly browned. Serve warm! Serves not as many as the recipe says which is 6.
I served this last night with some leftover soup. We had 8 normal sized biscuits and 2 shrunken ones that the girls made themselves. Every single biscuit was eaten! It was a hit!
I have a special going on in my shop from now through Memorial Day!
I will be listing a few Patriotic Hairbows over the next few days (you can see the first one is listed in the Etsy Mini to the left). Each bow will ship for FREE with the purchase of any other item in my shop. AND if you spend $25 or more (including a Patriotic Bow) you will get 25% off the entire order!
Get ready for Memorial Day weekend or get a headstart on the 4th of July!
Todays favorites are all going to be geared towards what I would love to get for Mothers Day - hint, hint Hubby, this post if for you! I know its too late to get any of these in time for Sunday, but keep the ideas in mind for next year or actually presents are always welcome, even a few days late for said holiday. Again all my favorites today are from Etsy shops. This group of Etsy shops are new to me and have really caught my eye this week!
Beacuase I can never have too many purses - the first item is a lovely every day purse from Bayan Hippo. The fabric is great and would work in so many ways! It can be dressed up or down depending on what the outfit is. I actually had another bag favorited for this entry - but it has sold already! So if this bag appeals to you - get it while you can as these bags are HOT! Hop to it Hubby!
Isn't it pretty?! You have no idea how much trouble a tiny button can cause - I learned just how much this week!
I entered a giveaway on I Heart Bowheads (a woman after my own heart - who doesn't love bowheads?!?!) Her mom, of Computer Savvy Seniors, offered to make new buttons/banners for the winner. And then offered to make new buttons for all the entrants - little did she know what she was getting into. I think my button aged her twenty years, poor lady. But after much trial and error and frustration on all three ends - the sun shines brightly with my lovely new button that will be used as my avatar on all the websites I belong too now. She is so pretty!
Thank you so much ladies - I am forever in your debt!
Don't forget to enter my May Giveaway for a pair of double-layer toddler bows!!!
I tried this recipe last week and loved it so much that we are having it again for dinner tonight! We are having company over and I hope its as big a hit with them as it was for my family last week.
Soy Ginger Salmon - found at allrecipes.com
There is a great new blog being started for those of us mommy's who have started their own businesses! She features a new person just about every day. Its very interesting to see just how many opportunities there are for moms to start up their own little company's - so much variety! We don't have to only look into Avon or Mary Kay or Party Lites.
Check her out!
Whats-your-mommy-biz
Once a month I will be offering a fabulous GIVEAWAY!!!!
To enter all you have to do is leave a comment. At the end of the week, Friday, May 8th I will reveal the winner.
The prize this month will be 1 (one) free pair of double-layer toddler bows in any color combination which will be shipped for free. A listing will be created in my Etsy shop for the winner which will have pictures of the colors available. The winner will also be given a 20% discount on any other item in my shop. The color possibilities are endless! Pick colors to match your favorite outfit!
Some examples of double layer toddler bows:
I'm also a fan on your facebook!
July 6, 2009 5:45 PM