New Year's Eve Sweater and Skirt GIVEAWAY!!!! CLOSED.

Yes, I know New Year's Eve was 22 days ago BUT I had been working on this in December when I got sidetracked. I hope you'll understand.

These photos were taken with my BRAND NEW used digital SLR. Oh, you don't know HOW long I've been wanting one of these. Probably before they were even invented. And now, I finally have one!

But is it everything it promised to be?

Yes....and more! Oh, so much more.

Taking photos of Lily has never been easier! Oh, did I just give away the surprise? Yes, it's Lily behind the silver balloon. And boy, she goes a mile a minute. There's no stopping her somedays. Keeping her from becoming a long blur in photos has been a painfully frustrating challenge. Now, with shutter speeds of 1/350 of a second (indoor shots) she's as frozen as the ice on the windshield of my car.

Did I mention it's freakin' cold here?


But I digress, the sweater....

I saw a post on Oh Happy Day about a j.crew sweater that a fellow blogger had tried to replicate. I too fell in love and attempted my own version. I have to admit, though simple, the time it took to make each of the flowers was terribly tedious. I wouldn't want to make another one every again.
To make each flower just cut about 35 petals in varying sizes with a silk or silk-like material. Take each one and fold it in half. Thread each folded petal on a string. When all petals are on, tie the end of the string to the beginning and voila! You have a lovely floppy flower. I'd recommend cutting the petals all together. I took five pieces of fabric and cut seven varying petals at once. It still takes what seems like an eternity to complete.

The skirt was a little easier. I used a shimmery duponi silk. I cut the fabric to hang to lily's ankles for a more formal look.

To be honest I wish I had one for myself.

When I'm holding my new camera I feel just like a real professional:) It's heavy and feels important in my hands. I imagine my camera laments over having such an amateur owner. Maybe that's because when we're in public it tries to pretend we're not together. What's that all about?

There was one disappointing drawback that I wasn't aware of. That being, only newer digital SLRs have live view. Something about mirrors and sensors. Was I the only one who didn't know that? It's taken some adjusting but I think I've gotten the hang of it.

Now, I'm thinking about all the cool extras I need. That is, a cool remote control for taking photos in front of the camera. A cool telephoto lens for taking extra blurry photos. A super cool speedlite, so my pictures don't look as if a nuclear bomb just exploded in our faces.


Needless to say, we had a fun photo shoot. Lily desperately wanted to help decorate. So I allowed her to punch the holes in the stars. Her favorite part was running through the silvery wonderland. And with my super cool camera I have about a hundred more photos of her mid-dance.

I would say that this outfit would fit a 3T-5T:)






Last day for posts is Monday 2/2/09 Winner will be announced Wednesday!

As usual, if you would like a chance to win this dress just link back to this post. If you have any questions see the "questions and answers" link to the right. If you use blogger just use the "create a link" link at the bottom of this post. If you don't use blogger, that's fine too. Just create a link on your page as you normally would and I will see it using Technorati.

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The Lunch Date Blouse GIVEAWAY!!!! CLOSED.

I know it's been a while. Thank you for all your kind words about my grandmother. It's helpful to hear that I'm not the only one who has felt those same things.

I hope to be updating this blog as I usually had. It seems so many things had kept me from sewing for one reason or another. I've had so many ideas sitting on the backburner it's literally kept me up at nights.

First things first, as you can see, this isn't a 'Lily' post. Occasionally I have ideas for myself that never come to fruition because I'm too busy sewing for Lily. And I've had a few people ask me if I could make adult sized versions of a few of my posts.

Don't worry. I still have a million child sized ideas but every once in a while I might sprinkle a mommy sized piece to mix things up:)

This is my FIRST adult sized giveaway. Most of the time my ideas result from being unable to find a look I've seen in a magazine or television.




I had seen a similar blouse worn by another 'Lily' that is the character Lily on 'How I met your Mother'. She always wears the coolest things! Then again, she is supposed to be a shopaholic. I couldn't even find a similar look at Anthropologie (not that I would have been able to afford it anyway). So I got out my scissors, measuring tape and pins to make my first 'adult' piece in almost a year!

I thought this blouse would be perfect to wear on a casual first date perhaps at a coffee shop, restaurant/bar or park. Or even a quick lunch date with your husband. It's dressy enough to look special but still has a casual feel.

The giveaway is for the blouse only. But if the winning blog also leaves a comment I will include the twin bird headband worn in the photographs as well!




It bears an embroidered daisy chain trim that lines each of the ruffled tiers. Each tier starts high on the chest and then dips down along my waist giving the blouse a full look in front and straight look in back.

The collar stands tall instead of folding over giving the blouse a vintage feel. It looks good with a hairdo that's pulled up since it hugs the nape of the neck.

This blouse also looks good with a skinny jean. I bought the ones in the photographs at Forever 21 for only $12! You can't beat that.

Oh but what I really believe completed this look were the cowboy boots. They are about one size too small but they are so chic that I'll put up with the pain. They were given to me by a friend of mine whose grandmother had to enter a nursing home. Yes, they were worn by a 80-something year old woman! Bravo! I have to admit, I felt a bit nervous in them myself!




The blouse is made of a cottony material with a linen feel to it. It turned out to be a bit small on me so I would say that this would fit a person who has a small frame. Although I do have a large bust line so that might have contributed to the tightness.

Here's a rundown of the other pieces in the photos in case you had an interest.

Jeans: Forever 21
Boots: Estate Sale
Cami: Old Navy
Necklace: Forever 21
Earrings: Manic Trout

I also have to give a BIG thanks to Brian for taking the photographs, putting up with my constant criticism, aggressive suggestions.......and treating me to a yummy Caeser salad:) Not to mention using his lunch hour. I'm just not used to being the one in the front of the camera:) I think he understands. Of course he also said that the last picture makes me look goofy, so I guess we're even:)




Last day for posts is Wednesday 1/25/09. Winner will be announced Tuesday!

As usual, if you would like a chance to win this blouse just link back to this post. If you have any questions see the "questions and answers" link to the right. If you use blogger just use the "create a link" link at the bottom of this post. If you don't use blogger, that's fine too. Just create a link on your page as you normally would and I will see it using Technorati.

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Hello...and goodbye.

Don't contact the police. No, I haven't died, been abducted or fallen off the face of the earth. A number of events have come up that have caused me to take some time off from blogging.

I'll start off by quickly mentioning that I've been sick since Christmas. Back in October I developed what I thought was a UTI which hasn't subsided. No antibiotics will help and none of my doctors can figure out what is wrong. Interstitial Cystits perhaps? I'm scheduled to have a cystoscopy later. On Christmas I started feeling nauseous and fatigued with headaches (no, I'm not pregnant:). I don't know if these two things are related but it's caused me to become very weak and run down putting a nix on my sewing spree....temporarily.

Then sadly, my grandmother passed away early Wednesday morning. She had been in a nursing home for some time and on Tuesday we received a call that she would not make it through the night. My sister and I drove up to Wilkesbarre to see her and say goodbye.

Here she is above with my sister and dad. To the right she is pictured with my uncle and father (middle). I think she was quite beautiful as a young mother.

I had never been to see her in the nursing home before Tuesday. When we sat down next to her bed my father handed me some pictures she kept in a frame on her dresser. They were of my daughters, myself and sister, happy, smiling. It was then that I felt my heart break for the fact that I hadn't come until now, until her passing. She was heavily sedated and in a great deal of pain. It was very questionable as to whether she was aware of our presence. In those few moments I wanted the chance to be alone with her to remind her of all the memories she had made in my life and let her know that she had been loved by me. But I didn't have the courage. I hope that in death she can know that although I am not a person comfortable with exposing emotions, I loved her dearly.

During the funeral service my uncle joked that my grandfather was probably celebrating one crazy New Year's party and told her to come on up. I thought that was funny and sad and sweet. I think she would have agreed.