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Just for Grosgrain, new sponsor Puss Ann will be offering a mother/child giveaway.
The lucky winner will receive their choice of shoes from Puss Ann in one adult and one child size.
The shoes featured, bear whimsical illustrations representing each of the seasons.
Each motif matches in design, each having a radial pattern in the background (sun beams, leaves, star points and flower petals) and a main image in the foreground (a rose, acorn, fox and lady bug). Made with black ink with a solid coordinating color behind the pictures in woodblock style. When worn together, both pairs of shoes made a 'set' .
Hand designed by the artist behind Puss Ann, each shoe bears a unique graphic on the tip. Her storefront has a prolific gallery of designs with new shoe designs updated frequently.
So, if you have an image idea please send them an email or leave a comment in the guestbook (even if it's just to say hi).
Each shoe is unique with various vintage fabrics to compliment and line the sole.
If you're looking to customize here's the scoop. Her sweet and simple shoes come in lots of colors, sizes and designs.
First you can start with a color. With colors in Ruby red, Garbo green, Betty black, Posey pink and Bardot yellow you won't have a problem finding a hue to match any modest frock!Reminiscent of Christopher Robin, Buster Browns and all things soft and vintage. I loved the unadorned look of these shoes paired with an a-line skirt.
On her site you'll find everything you need to customize your own pair. It's easy and fun!
SIZE really is important! these shoes will stretch a bit with wear so they recommend not going any larger than you need. The following is a conversion chart so you can order with confidence!
SIZE 20 = size 5 - 5.5 CHILD SIZDSIZE 25 = size 7 - 7.5 CHILD SIZDSIZE 36 = size 5.5 - 6
SIZE 37 = size 6.5 - 7
SIZE 38 = size 7.5 - 8
SIZE 39 = size 8.5 - 9SIZE 40 = size 9.5 - 10
Happy shopping!
About the photos.....This was a very interesting location. There were so many photo opportunities to be had. I would like to go back sometime in the summer and get some good photos by the scenic pond or lower level where hay bales line the walls.
Molly had a ball running around all the empty space. Our house is small and fairly cluttered with furniture. I think she likes to really stretch out her legs whenever afforded the opportunity.
That or she wanted to get as far away from us as fast as she could:P
While taking the photos we brought along a 'Juno' LP and twirled, marched and danced to....Kimya Dawson & Antsy Pants. I think it's the perfect soundtrack for adults and kids. You know, when your tired of replaying 'The Wheels on the Bus'.
I burned it to a CD and the moment I pressed play Molly began baby dancing, which if you've ever seen, is more adorable than 1000 kittens.
This giveaway is for one week only! So last day for posts is Tuesday 3/03/09. Winner will be announced Thursday!
As usual, if you would like a chance to win these mother/daughter pairs of shoes 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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If you must know, I love Anthropologie. Despite the fact that there is no storefront where I live. Despite the fact that I have yet to purchase one garment from them. If I had a dime for every time I've drooled over their website....I'd have enough to buy a sweater. And hey, if you know Anthropologie that's a lot!
So, when oogling their site I often find myself thinking of ways I can alter my own clothes to look like a piece I have seen. I call it- Anthropolification. Some of them have actually come out fantastic. Some....not so much. But I thought why not share what I have attempted with all of you. This is hopefully the first of many Anthropolification how-to giveaway posts.
Below is the Boyer Cream Cardi. It currently retails at Anthropologie for $118. To the left is my version. It's basically a black button down short sleeved sweater with crochet lace trim in three thick layers.
To recreate this look, I went out to my local department store and bought a plain black cardigan on sale. The only ones I could find at discount were too large and had long sleeves. Not exactly what I wanted. BUT, if you're brave you ignore the obvious errors and take a chance.
I bought the garment and took it home. Once I got it into my sewing room and onto my dress form I pinned the extra fabric on the sides to fit my shape. I then ran it through my sewing machine and used a very tight stitch since I didn't want the sweater material to unravel. I then cut the sleeves to the same length as the Anthropologie sweater and hemmed the cuff.
Later I took a trip down to my local fabric store and bought 9 yards of white crochet lace similar to the ones used by Knitted & Knotted and pinned them to the cardigan in hanging rows. One around the neckline, one from shoulder to shoulder, one around the waist and finally two around the cuffs. My trim was slightly smaller than the Boyer Cardi, so I doubled the flower trim to thicken the look.
Anthropologie pairs it with a pair of Grey Linen Gauchos. I didn't have any of those but I used a pair of dark grey linen pants I bought at Forever 21.
The ear rings I wore matched this sweater perfectly! They are also from Forever 21. They no longer sell them but you can find similar ones at Manic Trout.
The finished sweater is about a size small to extra small.
In all, the total cost to make this sweater was $6. No lie. I'll admit that up close it's not exactly the same. But from a distance I think it came out pretty parallel. And who doesn't like to save $112 dollars?
If anyone has their own Anthropolification request just leave a comment with the name of the Anthropologie garment and I'll see if it's feasible.
Look for more giveaways this week!
Last day for posts is Friday 3/08/09. Winner will be announced Tuesday!
As usual, if you would like a chance to win this sweater 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.
Create a Link
I know a lot of you out there enjoy being crafty as much as I do. Which is why I think you'll be excited to check out Grosgrain's newest sponsor: Fresh Squeezed Fabrics.
Randi Hayden sells the brightest, freshest, most eye catching fabrics as well as darling sewing patterns to use with all your new gorgeous finds. With well over 200 items in stock it's hard not to fall in love with more than just one....or a dozen.
Hayden, a long time textile lover, has been discovering fabric ever since she was a child when every weekend her grandmother would bring her along to the fabric store.
To her, the "fabric closet" was a magical place as she looked through her grandmother's ribbons and buttons dreaming of what those goodies might become.
You'll experience the same feeling looking through her 'fabric closet'. I'm off to find another inspiration!
Would you like to be a Grosgrain Sponsor? Click here for details.
The giveaway is for the pink skirt only. It is made from six yards of nylon chiffon. So fluffy and soft, like butter cream icing on a cupcake. Molly loved to gather the fluff in her hands and run around the room laughing madly. Lily enjoyed twirling. When your little ones are twirling in a nylon chiffon pettiskirt your camera can do no wrong. Seriously. Just point and shoot. The skirt does like 90% of the work.
Last year I fell in love with these skirts. I had wanted to buy one for Lily and one for Molly to wear for their first and fourth birthday party. However, in the end, the price gave me pause. If any of you have seen these before, they are chiffon pettiskirts made famous by the Kaiya Eve line. If you buy them from her or her any of her competitors, they retail for $80-$100 a piece. Although, recently I've seen some on etsy for only $60. Still, sadly out of my price range. Especially seeing as I would be buying dos.
So imagine my surprise when I found a Martha Stewart interview with Kaiya Eve desinger Kandi Lightner who demonstrated how exactly to recreate her gorgeous skirts.
In case you don't win or don't have enough money to buy one online, here are the online instructions to try one yourself.
Here is the video of Kandi and Martha. Although I have to warn you, it's tedious. And the instructions don't tell you everything you need to know.
I'll let you in on some of the little secrets I had to learn the hard way. First, you CAN'T use polyester chiffon. It frays like you'd never believe. AND you can't find nylon chiffon anywhere but online! Here is where I bought mine. Good news, it's only $2.25 a yard, bad news shipping is like $10. UPDATED CHIFFON INFO AT BOTTOM OF POST.
Second you should build it from the bottom up rather than the top down. That way you just sew in a straight line rather than a gathered circle.
Third, you have to know how to 'shirr'. I didn't, and Martha and Kandi didn't let me in on it either. Apparently you need elastic thread which you wind on the bobbin by hand so that it is not stretched tight. Set your stitch to the longest setting and then sew down the middle. This should gather the fabric.
I used that method with the first skirt I attempted- the polyester chiffon mess. With my second attempt I thought I'd outwit Martha and use a 'Gathering Foot'. When I first used it I thought it was the bees knees! That is until I stitched for longer than five minutes.
Maybe I wasn't using it correctly but it kept unscrewing all the screws on the needle and gathered the fabric underneath as well as the fabric on top. In the end I spent all day on something I eventually had to rip apart to start over again. Lesson learned....never undermine Martha. She always knows best.
Lastly, you need to purchase about five yards of fabric to make one skirt. The directions tell you how many pieces and how long and wide but not how much to buy. If you are making a contrasting fluff you should buy equal parts of each color- 2.5 and 2.5.
When I was trying to come up with a name for the skirt I considered something to do with jellyfish. Since the bottom fluff reminded me of the ruffles on their tentacles. In the end, I didn't think taking pictures at an aquarium would yield positive results. The strange thing was that when I asked Lily what she thought the skirts reminded her of she answered....jellyfish. I swear I hadn't said a word about them to her.
We've been meaning to get down to the Baltimore aquarium. I think we just have fish on the brain.
NEW. Fellow blogger Allison, let me in on another site selling nylon chiffon for less money. Here.
I'll be posting frequently this week. So please come back soon to see all Grosgrain's new goodies.
Last day for posts is Friday 3/06/09. Winner will be announced Sunday!
As usual, if you would like a chance to win this pettiskirt 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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I' want to give a warm welcome to my newest sponsor 'Melts my Wax'. Briana is an independent consultant for Scentsy wickless candles. What's so neat about these candles is that they require no flame making them safe and great for homes with kids! And BONUS, no soot damaging your wall.
There are over 40 different styles of warmers to choose from and more than 80 scents along with plug-in's, car candles and room sprays.
And look! They come packaged in these cute little ice cube shaped trays. So good I almost want to eat them!
Would you like to be a Grosgrain Sponsor? Click here for details.
Become a Grosgrain Sponsor.
Grosgrain is a well-established fashion/sewing blog that is read by stylish and crafty women across the globe which yields an average of over 900,000 page views a month (per google analytics) with a constantly growing base.
I started Grosgrain in 2007 as a way to showcase some of the sewing projects I had done for my daughters, later expanding to include frequent giveaways of my own clothing designs as well as sewing tutorials and various other articles about all things that meet at the intersection of fashion and thrift.
The site quickly gained recognition and has rapidly grown since that time, averaging over 900,000 page views per month, along with a listing in Technorati’s top 500 blogs worldwide.
SEE ADVERTISING RATES HERE
If you have any further questions please email me at mytumtumtree@gmail.com
How did you spend your Valentine's Day. As you can see Brian and I spent ours at the Longwood Gardens conservatory. Not that we intended to go on Valentine's Day to take the photos. That was just the way things played out. Unfortunately for us, about 1,000 other people thought a romantic day at Longwood was a good idea too.
I'm an easily embarrassed person. So, posing in front of many passing strangers with clunky camera equipment wasn't exactly what I had envisioned when I suggested that we take Valentine's Day themed photos. I'm fairly certain it wasn't Brian's either.
HOWEVER, after getting past the first 20 minutes of uncomfortable stares we started actually enjoying ourselves. And in the end I left with a sense of satisfaction about the day, albeit with very sore feet and one lost lens cap. Unfortunately for us, we over spent our stay by about an hour and missed our Valentine's reservation at a nearby bed and breakfast we had visited six years ago.
Little did we know that this grave oversight would cost us dearly. On our way back to Lancaster we thought to have dinner at one of the many eating establishments on route 30 in the heart of Amish Country's tourist trap.
As with the gardens, about 50,000 other people had the same idea. To make things worse the only thing I had ate was a packet of cheese and chives crackers. I swear, even the Chinese buffet had a 45 minute wait.
We ended up at a Thai restaurant called Lemongrass and I don't think food has ever tasted so good. I was of course, delirious from starvation but I'll concede that the chef had something to do with it.
In case you might be wondering, the tulip in the photo wasn't pilfered. It was a part of the bouquet Brian sent to me by delivery service on Friday. Sentimentally sweet!
The overcoat is made with a soft linen-like material with a muslin quilted liner sewn into the inside. The front of the jacket bears a heart shaped neckline with a gathered collar on either side. Three-quarter sleeves make this overcoat appropriate for springtime and a pleated empire waisted skirt make it equally feminine.
These photos were the first I've taken with my new 50mm f/1.8 lens. It takes the best, blurriest, most glamorous photos! Speaking of Valentine's day and cameras. While dining at Lemongrass Brian let me open my Valentine's Day gift. I'll give you a clue, it was something that I can share with you!
I let out a happy gasp as I saw the numerical prefix for a speedlite that I have been keeping an eye one for many months. If you haven't heard of a speedlite, it's basically the coolest little accessory any fashionable camera 'must have'.
With my new speedlite I can bounce the flash on the ceiling or the wall and make all my flash photography look so natural and soft. UGH! I can't tell you how much I LOVE IT! I feel like such a professional:)
Brian received a special gift too. You can see it in our photos. Aptly named, the Diana Dreamer camera. It's a reproduction and you can only get it at Urban Outfitters. So retro. So analog. It's been known to take dreamy, etherial photos. It has quite an underground following but you have to use special film and get it developed online.
I haven't gotten film developed film since the 90s. But a part of me is looking forward to opening that package after waiting for a week to send it to the lab.
I bought him two types of film, color and infrared. It's the infrared one I'm especially excited to see him use. It's b&w and supposed to make skies dark and whites glow. Surreal.
Let me end by mentioning that along with the camera, I received another Valentine's day gift that Brian didn't have to spend a dime on and that was the memorable photos we took together. I'm sure it wouldn't have been the first thing he wanted to do, but for me, he did. And it's been solong since we did something like this, I was quietly grateful.
Last day for posts is Friday 2/27/09. Winner will be announced Sunday!As usual, if you would like a chance to win this overcoat 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.
Create a Link
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