Finally!

The website is up! www.crazydaisybabyboutique.com

I labored all weekend on it - practically didn't do anything but work on it. I say "practically" because I did take time out last night for some of the biggest margarita's I've ever seen before in my life - and they were the medium sized ones! It was a much needed break and as soon as I got home I spent the rest of the night writing descriptions and editing photos.

But the hard work paid off - because I'm done (for the most part)! I apologize for the lack of cart and the fact that you can only use PayPal. The hubs is working on a solution that won't cost me both of my arms, a leg, and my first born child (though these days I will gladly give him away). He seems to think he's on to something, so hopefully we can work those bugs out very soon!

So, because I've been working on the website, I haven't gotten much sewing done over the weekend. So, sadly, there will be no new outfit to debut. But that's okay because you can now look at all of them at once! Instead of posting a cute outfit, I'll just post a cute girl in a cute hat. I'll start working on a new outfit starting tomorrow, but in the meantime feel free to take a look at the Daisy Duds and please give me feedback here! Thanks!

You are cordially invited...

To Olivia's Teaparty!!! These little aproned darlings are perfect for...well, just about anything from serving tea in the garden to running errands with mom. It's been twirl tested and approved by a certified spinner!

This design comes in two colors; sage and peppermint. Both will inspire childhood memories of warm summers with jump roping and lemonade stands.

Sorry for the short blog...it's almost 12:30 am and I've been working at my "real" job as well as getting my website set up. It'll be up very soon!

Gratitude

One day I was doing the dishes and the secret of happiness dawned on me. Hit me right upside the head, really. Oddly enough, I wasn't even pondering my level of happiness at the moment. I was simply scrubbing dishes because my dishwasher leaves much to be desired when it comes to clean dishes.

Anywho, I realized that day that the secret of happiness is gratefulness. As long as you are truly grateful for what you do have you will always be happy. The very second that you lose sight of what you have and how you are blessed then you are opening yourself up to disappointment and sadness.

When we first moved to Colorado we were in awe of the glorious mountain scenery and amazing wildlife. We built our home on top of a mountain and for months we took in the incredible views as we drove home from town. I don't know when it was, but one day we stopped noticing. We began to take it all for granted.

I bring this up because today was the photoshoot. Rose dragged us all over the Northern Colorado mountains, into areas I probably never would have otherwise gone. It was a beautiful day - so nice that sunburns were a problem! I looked around the stunning countryside and was struck by how grateful I was to live in such a beautiful state. Where else can you drive along next to Longs Peak with snow piled high on both sides of the road and your windows down because it's 75 degrees outside? Where your excuse for running late for an appointment is: "I had to wait for the elk herd to cross the road again." Even I was excited to see some bighorn sheep grazing next to the road in Estes Park today.

In this theme of gratitude, I'd like to thank Rose for her patience, persistence, and incredible eye for beauty. I'd also like to thank my little model for being such a good sport with outfit changes, especially since she was the only one who was able to make today's photoshoot. And I'd like to give a shout-out to my oldest daughter and Rose's two boys for being unnaturally well-behaved and not making us fish them out of any rivers or lakes. We came close once or twice but it all worked out in the end!

And now...this dress is called Candy Lane. I took this picture yesterday, before I really "finished" the outfit. The dress will be sold as a 3 piece set - dress, bloomers and matching hair bow. It features a smocked halter top bodice, a cute bottom ruffle, and a wide striped sash. This ensemble is so much fun! When I first put it together I pictured a little girl blowing out birthday candles, with presents piled up around her...but what the heck do I know (besides the secret of happiness, that is...)? I could just as easily take her shopping in this outfit.

I'll make sure I get some pictures of the "finished" product soon. But for now, here it is!

Huckleberry Halter

Super busy day today - tomorrow is photoshoot day!!! I have no idea where or what Rose has in mind but she's been on the lookout for the "perfect" place for weeks now. The sad fact about Colorado, though, is that it is green for only a short period - which happens to be in a few weeks. The rest of the year is either white or brown, unless you happen to be shooting in Rocky Mountain National Park...and this time of year it's still covered in snow! So I'm curious to see where she'll be taking us tomorrow!

Today's outfit it the Huckleberry Halter top with matching ruffle pants. They will be sold separately, and are adorable paired up together or not. This is one of my favorite outfits! When I see her walk around in it my heart skips a few beats. She cried when I took it off of her so I know it was a hit!

It's beginning to look like Christmas...but it's April.

Wow - what an adventure! We ended up getting about five feet of snow when all was said and done. The power went out Friday morning and we only just got it back late last night! We finally dug our way out. It only took two four-wheelers with snowplows, a snowblower and a Bobcat. It felt so good to finally leave the house but it felt even better to come home to the house all lit up with electricity! As rough as it was to go without power for three days, it had its fun moments. We all cuddled in front of the fireplace every night to keep warm and we stayed busy reading stories and spending time together.

I considered debuting two outfits today, since I missed out on the entire weekend, but unfortunately my models weren't having any of it. Luckily, I was able to get one outfit photo'd!

This outfit, called Miss Mamie, was inspired by a friend who saw the last couple outfits shown on this blog and thought they would look cute if I smooshed them together. I had to agree! There will be two versions - this is the pants version. The other will be cropped a bit shorter and will tie at the shoulders.





Don't worry about my little model in the snow! It's actually a very sunny 65 degrees outside and that's only half of the snow that was there before!

Calgon...

Do they even still make Calgon? How many of us actually still remember those commercials? Am I showing my age here? haha

I stayed up all night working on the cutest little dress only for it to bomb out in the end. I hate it. Completely detest it. As soon as the snow subsides I'm bee-lining it to the fabric store to pick up some comparable fabric so that I can transform it into something else since I still love the bodice. Hopefully I can still salvage it...

Today I worked on shirts. Lots and lots of shirts. And while I was typing this I suddenly had an outfit epiphany and must start work on it immediately following this post.

But before I get back to the grind, I will unveil today's outfit. I just finished the shirt today and I have to say that it's downright magical! It has a fraternal twin - the straps are a bit different and there is shirring at the bottom as well as the top. Both are super versatile and will go with almost every pair of pants, capris or skirt you can pull out of the drawer. Plus, it's super lightweight so it'll handle anything the summer can throw your way (not that I would know anything about that right now). I made a couple in ivory and a few in a light pink floral print - some in 18-24 months and a couple in 4-5T.

Bye Bye Sunshine :(

Looks like I'm in for a long weekend of sewing. According to the weather reports we're gearing up for 36 inches of heavy wet snow. Springtime is such a tease here in Colorado. It's warm and sunny and you might actually start to believe that it's going to stay that way. Then Mother Nature thumbs her nose and laughs at you while dumping 36 inches on you. She's lucky she'll never have to come face to face with me or we'd go a few rounds.

Today was very nice - but I pretty much stayed inside all day long. Why do I do that to myself?

As promised, here is another toot little outfit. This one is a pair of romper shorts. It looks so comfortable that if I could get away with wearing them I would sew me a pair in a heartbeat. Something tells me that it wouldn't look quite as cute on me, though. I just love the way her big belly and diapered bum looks when she waddles around. This particular outfit comes in two styles - with a ruffle and without. The one in the picture is obviously without the ruffle. I have several of these little rompers in a couple different sizes. I have one that's 9-12, two that are 12-18 months with ruffles, and a few different colored ones that are 12-18 with ruffles. All are to-die-for cute, if I do say so myself, but it could just be the way my heart thrums when I watch my little cutie pie walk around in them.





This polkadot striped halter dress doesn't happen to be going on my website. I made this specifically for my daughter, but I'm posting pictures anyway because 1) she looks darling in it, and 2) I plan to make similar ones for the website so you can get the idea of what I'm putting out here!

Now this patchwork skirt (not the shirt) will be on the website. Forgive my lack of photography skills (not to mention my unambitious model), but what you can't see is that the skirt has a bit of a flare at the bottom with a rolled hem - I love it because it's so fresh and girlie. I'm working on different shirts that will match it (though I am quite happy with the one I picked up from Target for $4 that she's wearing with it :P).

It almost felt like Spring...

To some 65 F degrees sounds like parka and down underwear weather. Today we went to the zoo and I decked my daughter out in her summer Daisy Duds and we were actually HOT. That's what six months holed up on top of a mountain with sub-zero weather and high winds will do to you (as well as cause you to require significantly less oxygen than most). It was so nice that it almost felt like Spring! If only I could ignore the weather report that calls for snow for the next week. :(

So I'm debuting the new Pink Punkle Pants. I've actually had them made for weeks now, I was just waiting for a nice enough day to make my poor baby model them on the deck. As soon as it hit 50 F outside we went. She was happy until she stepped on a few leftover pockets of snow and suddenly it wasn't fun anymore.

I managed to take a couple pictures of her in her Daisy Duds that she wore to the zoo today, too. Of course, that wasn't until I moved our laugh of a photoshoot indoors.

It's supposed to be quasi-nice outside tomorrow as well. I think I'll debut another fancy shmancy outfit. We discussed the "real" photoshoot and it's going to take place next week! Then I'll be able to get everything loaded onto the website and we'll see what happens from there...! Yay!

Withdrawals

Today I learned something about myself. If I go more than 24 hours without sewing I get the shakes. Who knew that it was so addictive?

Most anybody who actually bothers to read this blog knows that I have a full-time job, four children (two teenagers and two toddlers!), and my Crazy Daisy website. I'm also an internet junkie and I spend the vast majority of any free time (ha!) chatting with my friends on MSN, surfing my private boards, or scouting out new styles of fabrics. It's amazing how much time I can kill on Fabric.com.

Have I mentioned how much I love to multi-task? This week I discovered a love for Skype. I am able to chat with my buds while sewing at the same time! I made this last night. Isn't it sweet?

Well, let's get this show on the road!

My first blog. Well, not if you want to count MySpace, I guess.

Lemme see...where do I start. How about at the beginning?

Some of my earliest memories are of my mom on her sewing machine. I remember falling asleep to the sound of chuggu-chuggu-chugga all night long. She made me and my sister's (and some of our friends) Easter dresses every single year. I remember sitting at her machine just dying to get my grubby fingers on it, but of course that was the number one rule in our house - NOBODY touched mom's sewing machine by penalty of death.

I got married young (and when I say young I mean really young!) and I had two boys. I love my boys dearly, but I always dreamed of little girls. I wanted to make cute little outfits for them! Not knocking boys, and maybe it's my own lack of vision, but I just don't have dreams about sewing cute little boy clothes. I'm sincerely hoping that some day I do, though, because it is really an untapped market and I hate to see the little guys left out!

Years later, I finally got what I always wanted: two little girls. And not just any little girls either - the cutest ones I've ever laid eyes on. Okay, I might be just a little biased...but only a little. As soon as my first daughter was born my inner sewing nerd came alive! I started making her blankets and simple clothes from simple patterns. Soon I got bored and started making my own patterns, trying to capture the image in my head and make it into something beautiful. Turns out I was pretty good at this!

People started noticing my daughters' clothes. I started getting the "You should really sell these" comments. At first I said no way, Jose! They eventually wore me down, and here I am, spilling out my life story in my first, erm, second blog ever.

Here's a small sample of what I've put together so far...pardon the amateur photography and not always cooperative subject. We're just getting going here!


















Please note that most of these items are not for sale yet. Some of them are demos I made for the girls. I've got a whole load of cute little dresses, shirts, pants, capris and other stuff hanging around in my sewing room just waiting for our big photoshoot with - get this - a REAL photographer. Okay, she's my friend Rose, but she is the real deal! I even have tiny little models set up and eager to earn their new ruffles. Now I just need for the snow to subside so we can do it...

Come along for the ride! I have a feeling it's gonna be a little bumpy...