One Little, Two Little, Three Little Hedgehogs...

Hedgehog hoodies in sizes 4T, 3T and 2T
4-Day Weekend

It was a busy one for sure. In addition to Thanksgiving dinner with Jon's family (no, I did not take any pictures... bad, bad me!) we also had 3 other fun-filled days in Chicago. On Black Friday, we ate at Greek Islands (YUM!) and then braved the manic crowds at the American Girl Place. OMG, was it crazy!!! I had promised Sophie that she could get her first AG doll on her 6th birthday, so... since her b-day is next week, I had to pay up now or hear her whine non-stop until we dragged our sorry butts back up to Chicago.


Up there at the top is a picture of Sophie, Sydney and I in front of the AG store (that white-haired woman behind us that looks like she wants to cast an evil spell on us with her death stare is NOT related to us. LOL!)

Here, on the left, my girls pose in font of the store with my brother-in-law's fiancée, Alicia.

Sophie had a great time picking out her doll, although at times she seemed a bit overwhelmed by the options (and the large crowds). She found her "Just Like Me" doll (sans the freckles) and picked out a couple of extra outfits. Here she is posing with her new doll, who she named "Sophia."



The following morning, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting two of my favorite boutique ladies... Ash, from in.full.bloom, and Judy, from willarie. We had coffee and chatted for a while at this quaint little coffee shop in Schaumburg and then Ash had to leave for a long road trip back to her home town of Memphis, TN.

Judy, Patty & Ash at Caribou Coffee, 11/24/07

Judy and I drove to Vogue Fabrics in Evanston and spent a couple of hours browsing over there. I picked up a few things that I hope to use in the coming weeks. :) Time sure does fly when you are having fun! Our stomachs started to growl and we realized it was near 12:30 pm so we headed for a bite to eat and then back home. It was a blast gong fabric shopping with one of my favorite eBay/Etsy designers!!! Thanks, Judy! Hope we can do it again soon. :)



That afternoon we embarked on a short road trip to a tree farm in the North-West part of Illinois where my brother-in-law, Sean and his fiancée, Alicia, picked out a fresh tree and actually chopped it down themselves!!! Here they are, sawing the trunk of their new Christmas tree. Back in the cabin, Sydney got to meet Lumberjack Santa and tell him what she wanted for X-Mas... "Barbie Car" she said in her sweet little voice as he nodded and said "Uh-huh" with his nasty tobacco breath! LOL! Sophie refused to go anywhere near him... smart girl! ;)



On Sunday, Sophie & Sydney took a cooking class for kids at The Chopping Block. They absolutely LOVED this activity and I would strongly recommend it for any kid who loves to help out in the kitchen, like mine do. They got to make crackers, chicken & rice soup and finally decorate sugar cookies with icing & sprinkles (their favorite part!).





After a hearty lunch at a nearby German restaurant and a quick trip to IKEA, we headed home, late Sunday afternoon. It was a great 4-day weekend!
Foot Fetish?

I dunno... you tell me. I'm beginning to see a pattern though...










Nah... I think it's more of a "shoe fetish" ;) Regardless, I find myself being drawn to this worm's eye view more and more every time I pick up my camera... (well, some are more wormy than others)
SNOW PRINCESS

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend!! I just listed an OOAK Holiday set... my first (and probably last) X-Mas themed set! LOL! This one has a BIN option, in case you need it right away, and it is ready-made and ready-to-ship in size 3T (but could also fit a large 2 or a slim 4) :)

Three pieces, featuring the lovely "Snow Princess"... check it out!:



Click HERE to visit this auction.

And don't forget to check out my custom, two-of-a-kind Hedgehog set, which ends in a few hours!!:



Click HERE to visit this auction.

As for my SAMPLE SALE... one is gone and there is still one left. :)

Later!

Sophie's World

Standing in line to pay at Joann Fabrics...

Sophie: "Mama, maybe you should — like — just save your money..."

Me: "Oh, yeah?"

Sophie: "Yeah. And when you have — like — a lot of money saved you can — like — buy something big and cool"

Me: "Yeah? Like what?"

Sophie: "I dunno — like — something big — like — a cool toy or something"

(2 second pause followed by a pronounced frown on Sophie's face)

Sophie: "Ugh! Never mind. You'd probably just spend it on more fabric."

SAMPLE SALE!!!

I just listed 2 Sample Sets on eBay. These are ready-made & ready-to-ship and both PERFECT for the Holiday season and chilly weather! :)

The "Owl Sophisticate" set is a tad larger than the "Punky Valentine" one so I have sized it as a 3t/4T, while the V-Day one is more like a 2T/3T size. Measurements are listed under "Description"... but please feel free to email me if you have any questions regarding size or fit.

Oh... and I have added a "Best Offer" option to these auctions... no reasonable offer will be declined! ;)

Click HERE to see my auctions.



***UPDATE*** The "Owl Sophisticate" set has SOLD! :)

***UPDATE*** The "Punky Valentine" set has SOLD too! :) 12/08/07
Everything you ever wanted to know
(or didn't) about me


I was recently tagged by the sweet Michelle of the Boutique Buyer's Blog and the lovely Gazza Girls of Ragazza Bella to share 7 useless facts about myself ... some random, some weird. I found this rather amusing because I have been tagged before several times for this same kind of thing. Let's see... in this post I shared 7 random facts, and then I was tagged to share 8 useless facts about myself HERE. Oh, and even going back to my very first post on this dear blog... yep, you guessed it! ... it was a "sharing useless info about myself" kind of post.

So I think, after I get done with this one there will be nothing left to share... you all will know every random, useless and weird thing there is to know about yours truly! Now, these are gonna be very random... I had to make sure not to double up on the previous ones.

1. I prefer COKE over PEPSI. Actually, that is a major understatement. I adore Coke and I think Pepsi is utterly undrinkable.

2. I am on my second (and hopefully last) marriage. Yep, I was married once before Jon, briefly, when I was young and stupid (or younger and stupider) and thankfully, the marriage ended quickly and painlessly and I thank my lucky stars every day that it did not produce any offspring (not even a pet to battle over!) ;)

3. I had induced labor with both of my girls and was fully medicated through the entire process. As a matter of fact, if I had had the option of getting my epidural 9 months earlier at the onset of pregnancy, I would have gladly taken it! LOL! I guess you can say I don't like unnecessary pain. Or maybe I'm just a wimp. hee hee. But regardless, both of my childbirth experiences were painless, fun and enjoyable. :)

4. I have very recently started collecting Pullips dolls. I actually only have one... Papin ... but I adore her! I have not taken any pictures of her yet (that is just a stock photo), but I plan to do so very, very soon! Oh, and I also have a mini Pullip, or I think they like to be called little Pullips, LOL! You can see pictures of here in my Flickr. (is two even considered a collection? probably not)

5. I am a beer and chocolate snob. I prefer the imported brands of both of those over the domestic ones. Belgian ones are my favorite. I absolutely drool over Belgian chocolate! YUM YUM YUM And as for beer, the Belgian brews are far, far superior in taste, smoothness and consistency over any domestic brew I have ever tasted. My favorites are Lindeman's Lambic, Sterkens White Ale and Hoegaarden. OK... now I'm salivating. LOL!

6. I think I may also be a thread & fabric snob. LOL! I only use Gutterman or Mettler thread and lately I have been so infatuated with imported fabrics (esp. the Japanese imports and European... Stenzo, etc. fabrics) that I cannot even look at anything else. UGH! My paypal account is suffering big time. :(

7. I left this one for last because it is the most meaningful one: I have recently started working on some graphics that I hope to sometime in the future turn into textile designs. My friend, Sandi, strongly encouraged me to pursue this a while back and I was hesitant at first, but I have decided to just give it a go. With my graphic design background, I think it will come as a natural progression for me and the worse thing that could happen is that I get turned down, but at least I get a fun trip to Market out of it! ;) Thanks, Sandi, for giving me the push I needed. If all goes well, I'll be seeing you in Portland next May!! :)

OK... PHEW! That was a lot of random stuff, but I tell ya, I had to. After all the similar tags I have done in the past, it was slim pickins'
Hedgehog FRIENDS

I had the absolute pleasure of collaborating with the amazing Susan of Little*Moonkey and Meli of Jam*Clothing*Co, both from Ivylane, on this sweet hedgehog-inspired launch. We purchased what seemed like the last bit of this very-hard-to-find Japanese import fabric about 6 weeks ago and went to town designing some very unique sets! It was a blast getting to know these ladies better.



My contribution to this mini-launch is this totally custom 3-piece set, complete with 3-D appliques, pockets, pouches and details galore...

Due to the fact that I only have 1 yard of this rare Japanese fabric -- and cannot find anymore ANYWHERE! -- this sweet set will only be recreated ONCE in you choice of sizes from 12M to 5T (sorry, I don't think I can get a larger size than 5 out of what's left of the fabric.)

Please check it out:



Click HERE to visit my auction.

If you'd like to visit little*moonkey's adorable auction, click HERE.
JAM's auction will be listed tomorrow. :)
Nocturnal
  • Cats
  • Bats
  • Owls
  • Hedgehogs
  • Cockroaches
  • ME
What do all those things have in common? They are all "Nocturnal Creatures." Oh, and PUNKS of course! Punks are nocturnal... and I outta know cuz I used to be one back in the day... PUNKS ALWAYS COME OUT AT NIGHT!

Nocturnal is the theme for LimeVine's new launch on eBay, and my contribution to this cool event is this awesome "My Punky Valentine" set which will be recreated only once at this time for punky sweeties aged 12 months - 7 years!



Click HERE to view this auction.

Oh, and if you're into PUNK (and who isn't? LOL!) and you have a BOY, you gotta check out my friend, Chrsistina's (abby*lane), PUNK set as part of this launch! It is way cool!!!

And one last thing... please stay tuned, because tomorrow I will be listing a super cute Hedgehog set as part of a sweet collaboration with some talented ladies from Ivylane. Oh, and Hedgehogs happen to be nocturnal too, so sa-weeeeeeeet! ;)
PHEW... October's finally OVER!!

This morning I was blessed with an extra hour. I'm sure the rest of the country was perfectly aware that it was daylight savings time, but I had somehow managed to forget. I realized it when I rolled out of bed, still half-asleep, and was shocked to see that Jon was still home. The realization finally struck me: "OHMYGOSH! I have an extra hour! What should I do? Should I go back to bed? An extra hour of sleep would be heavenly! Should I take a shower?" (I usually don't get to until later into the day because my mornings are always so hectic getting the kids up, dressed, fed, etc.) "Or, should I do some work?" I opted for a little bit of everything. I slept (or mostly just closed my eyes & rested) for 20 minutes. Then I took a long, hot shower (AHHHHH!), and finally I came downstairs to check email and started drafting this blog posting before I even got Sophie out of bed. :)

That extra hour this morning was extra special to me because lately it had seemed like ME time was a luxury that I could not afford. There had been NO extra minutes in the day for all of October and I was beginning to go insane...

Hmm... let's see. Let's take a quick trip down memory lane and see what all happened last month: First, we had Sydney's 3rd Birthday. We went to St. Louis that prior weekend, which was FUN but utterly exhausting, since it required a 6-hr. travel time. Next followed a little blog contest I did to celebrate my 100th posting. Again, super fun! That week I prepared my set for LimeVine's WRAPPED UP launch, cleaned the house in preparation for out-of-town visitors and began planning for Sydney's Party. The blog contest ended on Monday, the 15th and Jodi of Ruggi28, was the lucky winner. The launch was on the 16th. Out-of-town guests began to arrive on the 18th. By Saturday, the 20th (the day of the party) I had 5 out-of-town guests and about 30 or so party guests. It was a blast, but exhausting. My mom stayed in town until the following Saturday, the 27th.

The following week, I worked on some new designs, plus some things I had on my to-do list. I designed a cool tee for Jodi, my contest winner, and was so excited with the way it turned out! Jodi, if you are reading this, check out the top that went in the mail to you late last week. I hope you like it!!

I also worked on a custom design for one of my favorite customers. She picked the fabric combo and "designed" this top for her lovely daughter, Abigail. It was a combination of this top and this top from last year's Fall line but with a couple of new twists and I am so pleased with how it turned out! Christy, if you are reading this, your new top will be on its way to you today! :)

Oh, and let's not forget HALLOWEEN! I volunteered at Sophie's kindergarten class that day... helped the kids with some crafts and a costume parade at school. Then went trick-or-treating for a couple of hours with my girls and the neighborhood kids.


To celebrate the end of a crazy, crazy month, I got a haircut! And I decided to do something totally different... It was supposed to be somewhat inspired by Victoria Beckham's do, but since my hair's color/texture is NOTHING like Posh Spice's lovely locks, it kinda turned out like its own thing. But, I like it anyway. What do you think??


Finally, I got around to listing one more thing before all my design launches start again. This cute little dress is for the big girls. I know some of you have girls the same age/size as my Sophie, so if you do, check this out. This is ready-made and ready-to-ship in size 5/6/7. Sophie is currently wearing 6/7s for size reference. A low starting bid with no reserve and a low B.I.N. make this funky Euro dress and excellent deal. Check it out!



Oh, and sometime today, if I have some time, I will be listing some of my mom's purses under her id marielizcreations. She's got some lovely, lovely new designs using the fabulous Nigella fabrics and some gorgeous new Asian fabrics she picked up recently. Click HERE to see all her auctions (if the link doesn't work right away it's because I haven't gotten around to it yet, but please keep checking!) ;)

HAPPY NOVEMBER EVERYONE!! :)

PS... I haven't forgotten about a tag from the lovely Michelle. It's coming... probably next week! This week I have to get ready for 2 design launches that start on Thursday.
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