Drama, Drama, Drama

I have a new found appreciation for photographers. Anyone that can photograph young children... particularly between the ages of 12 months and 2.5 years, earns a reward!  I was completely exasperated after yesterday mornings photo shoot with my kids.  My son, who will be 3 on Sunday (how did that happen), has finally come full circle in the past few months, and enjoys being my model once again. Yay!  Unfortunately, my precious daughter, who couldn't even sit on her own, let alone wiggle away, when I first opened The Blue Ladybug, is now absolutely impossible to photograph.  Oh you don't believe me....

Well here's some proof....

 I just love the look on Cameron's face here.  He just doesn't understand what her melt down is about.  Hahaha!

Oh yes, it was that traumatic.  After this photo was snapped, I shut down the whole operation, and called it a day.  Whew.  

It was silliness at first....until she realized I wasn't going to let her indulge in her new found mobile skills.  I wanted her to hold still so I could take a million photos of her and her brother.  Her good mood quickly turned to revolt with each time I placed her back in her spot after she had madly escaped.  

I eventually tried cheerios to keep in her place, but her pile was gone before I could focus the camera.  Sheesh, you'd think I didn't feed the girl.  Then I attempted distraction with a favorite toy.  That lasted a milla-second.  So I got really creative and pulled out Miss Pussy Cat and Ally the Alligator puppets.  I went all out with the crazy voices and everything.  I received blank stares from the peanut gallery...and then she wanted to hold them.  Of course.  It just went all down hill from there.

So glad we were able to get a few good photos from the morning.  My favorite being this silly one of her.

This is classic Elissa "cheesin" face.  The squinty eyes, arched eyebrows and extra wide smile.  I LOVE it!  So glad I was able to capture that "look" of hers.

Hope you're all enjoying the new 'goods' in the store.  I'm always giddy the week that reveal new things.  And we have soooo many things in store for this spring and summer.  It makes me a very giddy girl.

New Excitement!!!

So many new and exciting things have been happening at The Blue Ladybug lately.  I hope you've had a chance to keep up with some of our news.  If not, I'll do a quick update.  And then I can reveal some newness to you all!

Just two short weeks ago, we opened a new store!   And then we got our very. own. domain name!!!!  Wowzers!  I still can hardly believe it when I say.....www.theblueladybug.com!!!!  And it's ours!  Like, a for real website!  And we've got lots of designing to do on our site there, linking in our facebook and this blog, all to keep you updated on new products and sales and giveaways!  We are greatly appreciative for the help MaryBeth's hubby has given us over the past few weeks.  He's been doing lots of custom designing work for us, and you can see that right here on  our blog even.  Don't you just love those pretty buttons on the side over there.  Yup, he did that!  And that's part of the other big news, our new blog name, www.blueladybugmamas.blogspot.com.  We wanted our blog to be a bit more about us and our passion and lives with the opportunity to share what's going on in our business with you.

And we've been telling you that some of our Spring stuff is on it's way into the shop.  And after a long morning photo shoot, which I'm sure I'll share all the gruesome details with you later, I'm excited to introduce to you the first round of Spring items to hit our store.  Are you ready for this!?!?

The Morning Glory Brother Sister Set

 I love this set!  It's so bright and cheery!

Cherry Dot Tie Shirt

The Morning Glory Pillowcase Dress

Lacework Brother Sister Set

 But this set is so stinkin' adorable as well.

Lacework Pillowcase Dress

Lime Dot Tie Shirt

 One of my favorite things about this set, is that you have a choice of TIES!  You can be really "matchy" and do the dots, or if you like the colors to be the same, but be a little different, you can go for the stripe.  And if you have two boys, they could each have a different one, but still match!  How cool is that!

Lime Stripe Tie shirt

 And how fabulous are these cotton ruffled pants!  I just love them under the pillowcase dresses.  Or order one our cute shirts to go with the pants!  (Which you'll be seeing a lot more of those soon). Yippee!!!

Cherry Dot Ruffle Pants

Lime Dot Ruffle Pants

And did you know that if you want a pillowcase top, instead of dress, you can always order your dress in a size or two smaller!  How perfect for spring!

So zip on over and check out the new shop and tell us what you think of our new items!  Leave us a comment here on the blog and we'll draw a winner for a little prize from the comments!

P.S. All of our newest items are only available at www.theblueladybug.com and are currently not on Etsy.

Snow Fun; Spring Dreams

It's been snowing and snowing and snowing some more, here in Michigan.  I hear it's been snowing everywhere lately!   We've been having some fun out in the snow.  Cameron is of the age where he regularly begs to go out and play in the snowy cold white stuff.  It's a party every time he looks out the window and sees the snow falling.  We all ventured out the other day for some sledding.  The above pictures are from playing out in our yard.  We pulled the kids around in the sleds for a while, and Cameron gave a turn at pulling Elissa around.  So cute.  The sled Elissa is riding in was my sled as a baby.  So  fun to look at her in there and think that was me at one time.
I've lived in a snowy climate my whole life and it doesn't bother me much.  Although, I won't lie, spring is always a welcomed sight.  And around here, at The Blue Ladybug, we are gearing up for spring.  New tie shirts,  new dresses,  new prints,  new brother sister sets, new designs and even some brand new items!

Gray Argyle Tie Shirt

Orange Plaid Tie Shirt

The Lorraine Top and Bliss Skirt

This is just a small sampling of all the cuteness that on it's way into the The Blue Ladybug shop!

Pattern Weight Tutorial

The other day I was in search of pattern weights, as I had been hearing how much easier they were for tracing and cutting patterns, rather than pinning.  I found these wonderful weights at the fabric store.

Photo Credit

4 nicely covered weights for...$10!!!  Ummmm.....no thank you.  I can buy a yard or two of fabric for that price.  So I left empty handed, with a mission to make my own weights.

So here is my version of  pretty pattern weights.  You'll need:

-Mod Podge

-Hex Nuts (mine are 3/4") I got a bag of 10 for less than $2

-Brush

-Scrap fabric

-A small cap (I started with a pop bottle cap, but it was a bit large so I rummaged through my spice cabinet and ended up using the cap from my Almond Extract bottle).

-Polyester fiberfill stuffing

-Scissors, pen, etc.

Step 1: Use your cap to trace 2 circles for each hex nut, onto your fabric and cut out.  Lay those aside.

Step 2: Cut a strip of fabric about 1.75" x 5".  This size worked well for the hardware I was using.  Adjust your measurements if you're using a different sized nut or washer.

Step 3: Now get ready to get sticky.  Open up your Mod Podge and using the paintbrush spread it on the wrong side of the fabric.  Use it generously. And don't be shy about slopping it around abit.  You'll be putting Mod Podge on the outside of your fabric later anyways.

Step 4: Roll up the hex nut along the flat sides.

Step 5: When you get to the end of the strip of fabric, fold over about 1/4" to tuck under the raw edge.  Dab on a little more Mod Podge to glue that end down.

Step 6:  Once you've rolled the fabric around the nut, it should look like this, with a about a half inch (give or take) of fabric left on each side.

Step 7: Tuck the edges of the fabric into the center of the hex nut.  You'll find that it doesn't want to stick very well to the inside of the hex nut at first.  As it's drying, and everything is getting tacky, you can reach in and push in back down then.

Step 8:  Wait patiently for it dry for a good half hour or so.  Then take a small amount of Poly-fill and stuff into the center of the hex nut.

 Step 9: Take your small circle cut-outs and use the Mod Podge to glue one to each end of the hex nut, covering the poly-fill you just stuffed inside.  You'll have to do one end and wait until it's good and dry before you flip it over to do the other end.  Be sure to cover the whole fabric covered hex nut with Mod Podge afterwards, to give it a nice seal.

Ta Da! You have some fabulously pretty, cheap and useful pattern weights.

A Handmade Christmas

I know Christmas was a week and a half ago, but we just celebrated Christmas with my husband's side of the family on New Years day.  I have anxiously been waiting to share with you what I created for everyone for Christmas. I couldn't post before the parties, since I know some of our family members read this blog.  Marybeth and I both committed to making handmade gifts for our family and friends this year.  A year ago, I would have chuckled at the suggestion of "making" gifts for everyone.  I wouldn't have had the foggiest idea of what to make anyone.  But the craft/sewing blogging community has so graciously shared their tips and tricks and instructions on how to make the coolest things.  I have a whole Favorites folder full things to make.   So here are my handmade Christmas gifts.

Most of the men on my list received this Hot/Cold Rice Bag.

This particular one was for my brother in law.  He's a sports fan!  The other men received a camouflage/fleece rice bag, since they're into hunting.  I found the tutorial for this amazing gift at Make It and Love It.

I'm thinking I need one of these for my shoulders, while I'm sewing. 

I made these rolled rosette napkin rings and napkins for sister in law.  

Their house has this charming, almost victorian feel to it.  They're refinishing a table that will add to that decor.  So when I saw this fabric, I knew it would be the perfect napkins for her new dining room. Did I mention that she LOVES blue.   I cut the napkins into 16" squares and used my serger to finish the edges with a beautiful rolled hem.  I found a great tutorial for the rolled rosettes on Little Birdie Secrets.

My other sister in law and sister both received this iPod Touch case.

I found a great tutorial for these here.  I may or may not have made one for myself too.  Wink wink.

I had alot of fun making the gift for my youngest sister in law, who is 4 years old.  

I made her a dolly diaper bag with a few cloth diapers and cloth wipes inside.

I found a great tute for the diapers, with a pattern here.  The wipes and wipes case here.  The diaper bag is my own design.  I used the super cute fabric from our "Let's Go to the Zoo" pillowcase dress.

I made my nephew a car caddy from the ever popular Homemade by Jill.  I love her 'boy' ideas.

This photo is actually of the one I made for my son this past summer.  He absolutely LOVES his car caddy.  It has been a lifesaver waiting at the doctors office or in a restaurant.  I try to keep it in the diaper bag, but he often pulls it out to play with it at home too.

I used a combination of Jill's tutorial and this tutorial here, for the inspiration for the inside of Cameron's car caddy.

He loves filling up the cars with gas at the gas station and driving them through the car wash.

Then I decided to make my mother in law this hot pad and oven mitt.

It was TONS of fun making these.  Although my husband may say her heard different, since I did do a lot of muttering under my breath while putting these together.  It was my first experience using batting, doing some quilting with my walking foot (which is amazing by the way), and using bias tape in this fashion.  I can't wait to make my self a set now.   The oven mitt tutorial was at Skip to My Lou and the hot pad was at Prudent Baby with a cute new variation just posted here today.  Can't wait to try that one.

Overall, I had a blast making Christmas gifts for everyone.  I hope some of these ideas and links to the great blogs help inspire you to create handmade gifts for birthdays, appreciation gifts, or maybe even Christmas next year. 

Starting off the New Year with New Things

Marybeth and I had a business meeting yesterday!  I love getting to discuss things we've accomplished with The Blue Ladybug.  But my favorite part is brainstorming new things for our shops!  Yesterday we implemented some of the ideas we've been dreaming about.  I'm so excited to get to share them with you today.

1.) Blog makeover + new blog name = Woot! Woot!
We've had some fantastic help getting some our blog design to look more like what we were originally dreaming.  We hope it will be more fun for you navigate around in.  We also decided to change the name of the blog.  Instead of using the shop name, The Blue Ladybug Children's Boutique, we changed it to Blue Ladybug Mamas.      We hope to make the blog a little more about us, our lives and our passion for crafting and sewing.  Of course you'll still hear lots of great info and enjoy giveaways from The Blue Ladybug Children's Boutique on here as well. 

And even more exciting news.... The Blue Ladybug has a second home!  You can find us at www.theblueladybug.bigcartel.com  now as well.  Over the next week or two we'll be adding items, and all of our new spring items will be there as well.  We'd love for you all do your shopping in the new store now!

So keep your eyes peeled for lots of new, fun things hitting the shelves!

Long time no see...

Did you think we disappeared?
It's been awhile since we've posted on here.  My family has been battling sinus infections, and ear infections, and stomach flus.  You know, all the wonderful illnesses that come with the cold weather.   It's been quite a holiday season for us.  It was a challenge to finish Christmas orders and complete all my handmade gifts.  But we are finally feeling better this week.  Hooray!  So my New Years Resolution is to really get into the blog here.  I love sharing projects, ideas, funny stories and other thoughts.  I'm looking forward to lots of new and fun things with you all in 2011.  Marybeth and I are dividing and conquering in the business world here a bit.  I (Laura) will be taking on most of the blogging, with occasional posts from Marybeth.  And Marybeth has taken on our new newsletter.  Which, you will definitely want to receive, because there is a 10% coupon code inside for your next order from The Blue Ladybug or the Bowtique.  Just send us an email to blueladybugboutique@gmail.com.  

So now I've been anxiously waiting to share with you our newest addition to the Brother Sister Sets.  You've seen our Black and White Damask Pillowcase dress, right?  Well we had quite a few customer order requests for a matching tie for this dress, so we decided it was time to make it part of the family.  Meet the classy and sophisticated Black and White Damask Brother Sister Set!

I love how the two black and white fabrics are different but look so great together!

And of course there is a matching bow!

Be watching for this brand new set to be listed on January 1st!!!  Be sure to sign up for our newsletter at blueladybugboutique@gmail.com and get 10% off on this newest set!

Be watching in the following weeks, as we've got some new fabrics coming our way to introduce to you this winter.