A February Spring

What's up with the weather!? So here in West Michigan, we've been enjoying some unseasonably warm temps! Winter just can't seem to stick around! We've only had a few snowfalls and the temps can't seem to make up its mind! I was going to call this post A January Spring, but I realized that today was February... :)


Even though The Blue Ladybug shop is currently on vacation still, that doesn't mean that we're not planning future Blue Ladybug goodies! In fact, yesterday Laura and I went shopping for some spring fabrics!  We loaded the kids up in the minivans in upper 40s temps! Honestly it already feels like Spring is around the corner even though Winter is only half over! This mild winter/early spring (can I call it that yet?) has already gotten us so inspired for Spring, we're already planning for our new fabrics and NEW products! We can't wait to reveal them all to you! Believe me, you are going to LOVE what we've got coming!

What's the weather like where you live?


Are you thinking Spring a little earlier this year?

Birthday Weekend + a big SALE

So our babies, the inspiration for our business, are turning 2 this weekend!
It's hard to believe they can be that old already! Titus and Elissa have brought Laura and I so much joy as moms, and they are going to be a great big brother and big sister to each of their siblings on the way! :) Here's a few pictures and memories from the past two years... {Plus scroll all the way down for a 20% off coupon code to our shop!}

Titus was born on Nov 4 and Elissa was born on Nov 5! Laura and I were only acquaintances at the time, but had a mutual friend that kept us up on each others' pregnancies! Laura had a difficult pregnancy and went overdue with Elissa. I remember feeling bad that I'd had Titus so early when she was struggling so much! She remembers being a little jealous! :) Once our babies were born, we both started sewing and crafting for our little bundles of joy, and about 6 months later Laura started The Blue Ladybug, then I quickly joined her, and the rest is history!

Elissa Lorraine

Titus Remington

9 months old- at the zoo!


 It's been exciting to see both kids grow these past 2 years! They have embraced toddlerhood to the fullest- including all that attitude! :) It’s amazing to see how much they’ve changed in the past year! They’re so much more fun, even despite all the tantrums! :) I’m planning a Cars themed party this weekend for Titus with our family, and I believe Laura will be throwing a Cinderella party for one excited little girl! We’ll be sure to post pictures!

Elissa turns 1!





Titus turns 1!

Want to read about how The Blue Ladybug began?

{Read Mary Beth's story here, and Laura's story here}

Also, you can read more about Titus and Elissa here!

So to celebrate our babies' 2nd birthdays, we are having a BIG weekend sale!

Enter birthday20 for a whopping 20% off everything in the shop!

This is a great chance to pick up some last minute Fall outfits, or get Christmas outfits for those family photos at an all-time low price!

Also, it's a perfect time to work on some Christmas shopping!

The sale starts tomorrow morning bright and early (6am EST) and will run through midnight on Sunday.

Head over to the shop today to browse what you might want to use the coupon code for!

Shop: http://www.theblueladybug.com/

Let me also encourage you to

SHOP LOCAL*SHOP HANDMADE

this Holiday season!

Happy Birthday, Titus & Elissa!

Fall Products for Boys!

 We know our blogging has been all about our new products lately, but this isn't the norm so hopefully you'll just drool over the pictures and enjoy the new stuff with us! We'll be getting back to regular blogging soon! :)

So we have LOTS of cute options for boys not just for Fall, but all the time!

We don't take enough time to show all the features that our products have and what makes them so special! So we want to devote a whole blog post to showing you what we have in the shop for little men!

We have so many options in our Classic Tie Shirts! Did you know that even though a tie shirt is featured with a dress in our popular Brother Sister Sets, it can be purchased on its own? We pick out fabrics so that the ties will look great even if they aren't paired with the coordinating dress! But we also have some super cute fabrics picked out especially for ties!

Here are some fun facts about our tie shirts!

• Each tie is hand-formed and machine-sewn in place, so there are no raw edges here, which means no fraying!
• Tie shirts are perfect because they give a dressy, yet playful appearance to an otherwise casual look.
• They are so comfortable for active little guys, yet easy to dress and care for by moms!

Another cute, yet practical product we have for boys is our Big Boy Belts! Have you seen them? Even boys need fun and cute accessories- not just girls! You can choose your fabric, which means it makes it to easy to match up to any of our tie fabrics!

I love putting my son in his belt! He's so long and skinny that I have trouble keeping a lot of pants on him! He's been wearing the same size belt in our Brown Argyle fabric for several months because the velcro closure makes the belt size semi-adjustable PLUS it makes it potty-training friendly which I'm appreciating as we begin the potty training phase! Each little boy can un-do the belt himself as he's running to the potty! :)

Little Guy Ties

Now for a big announcement! I've had so many requests in the past year and a half since we've opened our shop for "real" ties for little boys! NOW I'm excited to say that we finally offer Little Guy Ties that velcro around the neck and hang free just like Daddy's ties! I just made a couple for a lady and they turned out so great, I wanted to offer them to everyone!

 As you can can see, these make for really adorable photos! It was so fun to do with little photo shoot with my son before I shipped this tie out! He just ran around the yard having a blast and looking so great doing it! And I LOVED the faces he was making! Here's my favorite one-

Hee Hee! Not really sure what's going on here but I laugh out loud every time I see this picture!

These ties involve alot of hand stitching which I haven't done alot of before, but I ended up enjoying. It was nice to sit at on the couch and watch a movie while I sewed away, rather than always being stuck behind the machine! 

I think hand stitching = more love being sewn into each tie!

You can purchase our Little Guy Ties in the shop right now! It's currently available in the Gray Argyle pictured here, but any of our fabrics can be used! Just message me for a custom order! This is the time to start thinking Fall photos and holiday gatherings!

Who's the most special little guy in your life?

{Comment below}

view our new Fall Collection

{Ladies...3 stylish new products in the shop for you! }

Fall is almost here, believe it or not, and we are busy blue ladybug mamas creating lots of new products to add to our shop! {They're all in our Fall Collection shop section} We've already shown you our Meadowsweet Set, our adorable Seashore Set, and super fun Splendid Set- all with so many clothing options for kids! Then we have our Fall featured tie shirts- Oxford Stripe, the Autumn Stripe, and the Orange Plaid- that are super comfortable for active little guys.

What I've been most anticipating, is the new products we've been working on for our Mama*Style line- what we call our products for ladies!

Our wristlets have become very popular items! What makes them so appealing, besides the sheer cuteness of them, is that they are so convenient for on-the-go moms. No more taking a second bag/purse with you when you go out- simply throw it in the diaper bag! It holds all your necessities- wallet, phone, lipgloss, keys, etc... My cousin recently said it was the best purchase she's made as a mom! Wow! So we've come up with two more lovely options:

Pink Lemonade 

An elegant yellow paisley with a pink ruffle

Turquoise Floral

This bright and fun turquoise fabric features a beautiful floral print with a pink ruffle, and my favorite feature, a pink zipper! :)

Ruffled Scarf in Mustard

Our next new product is something that I created last weekend and received such great feedback on that I decided to add it to the shop pretty quickly! I sewed up this ruffled jersey knit scarf as the perfect accessory for the Fall! I LOVE the Mustard shade, which is a very trendy color right now, and hope to find a cute gray top to compliment it!

Don't you just love the playful, yet feminine ruffles? They add sophistication and style to any outfit! I can't wait for the weather to get a little cooler now, so that I can start wearing these ruffles around my neck! Well, maybe I'm not quite ready for cooler weather, but it's nice to know that I have this little accessory waiting for me! :)

These ruffles are long enough to wrap loosely around your neck a couple times, and it's super soft because of the jersey cotton knit fabric! How can you resist!? :P

{For this next week, all these three new products will be on SALE!}

Head over to the shop to pick these up at a discounted price!

And be sure to check out all the other products in our brand new Fall Collection!

So I'm dying to know... which one of these do you like the best??

Fall Collections

It's that time of year again.  The days are getting shorter, the air is cooling down, fall is in the air.

I must admit, I am not ready to see the lazy days and warm sun of summer leave us just yet.  BUT, I do love fall.   I love the colors, the cool, crisp air, and my fall clothes.  Something is so comforting about being just cold enough to pull that sweater on and snuggle under your blanket on a cool evening.   I'm looking forward to fall harvest, trips to apple orchards and pumpkin farms.  And for some reason, fall causes to me to cook and bake more. Yum!

The deep, rich colors of fall have been our inspiration for this season, and ofcourse the fun fall holidays and traditions.  Over the next few weeks we'll be releasing our fall collections.

So today, we begin with one of our very favorite fall fabrics from last year, the Meadowsweet!  The colors and combinations of this fabric are gorgeous and it was certainly a favorite of last year. In fact we ran out of fabric early last year, so we've stocked up this year.

Matching Brother Sister Set in Meadowsweet

It's picture perfect for fall.  And don't forget how easy our pillowcase dresses are to layer!  They look great over a long sleeved top, leggings, or jeans!  

 It's not often that we offer a colored tie shirt.  The brown  tie shirt looks so great in this set!

Apron Knot Dress in Meadowsweet.  I love the ruffle on the apron.  And ofcourse you could make this a Matching Brother Sister Set as well, by purchasing the Tie shirt.

Matching Double Ruffled Meadowsweet Pants

They look so great with the apron knot dress or the pillowcase dress!

And if you're looking for something more versatile but stylish for fall, then you need our Every Day Ruffled Denim Jeans!   

The muted colors in this boys Oxford Stripe Tie are so perfect for fall, and your stylish little guy.

We're also bringing back out popular Autumn Stripe fabric for this tie shirt in the colors of Fall!

This shirt is perfect for layering!

Be watching for many more new items coming to the shop over the next few weeks!  We are so excited for all the beautiful things we have to show you!

Christmas in July Sale

Merry Christmas in July! 

We thought a little sale to wrap up the month would help us all beat the heat!  

This is a HUGE sale with all of our spring and summer outfits marked WAY down.
We even created a whole new shop section for it marked {SALE} so all the items will be easy to find!

Lacework Brother Sister Set with Every Day Big Dot  Ruffle Pants

Tumbled Roses Brother Sister Set

  And we've brought out some of last years Christmas inventory at a remarkable price, if you're the type to plan ahead.  You remember some of these cuties, right?

Let It Snow Bro/Sis Set

Gingerbread Man Bro/Sis Set

We're clearing out our older inventory to make room for fall/winter inventory!   So this may be your last chance to grab some of your favorite summer outfits or prepare for the holidays with prices this great!

So hurry over to the shop to scoop up your favorite before it's gone. This sale ends Sunday, July 31st at 10pm, est.

New Mama*Style products in the shop + a GIVEAWAY!

***This giveaway is now closed!!! Winner will  be announced Saturday, 7/2. Thanks for playing, everybody!***

Okay, Moms (and any non-moms too!), we have some beautiful new products in the shop just for you! Forget about the kids stuff right now, we're so excited to show you the additions we've just made this week just for you to our Mama*Style line! 

 Even though we began sewing for our kids, we're enjoying more and more making beautiful things for ourselves! And we want to give you the chance to wear our handmade line for women as well! We brought you the flirty and fun Lucy Skirt in March for our birthday celebration, but now we have a few accessories to add! (read all the way to the bottom for a surprise!)

Turquoise Knot Necklace

I am so in love with this necklace! I want to make more in every girly fabric I own! If you're looking for a beautiful and fun new accessory to compliment your wardrobe, this approximately 30", knotted-style necklace is perfect! It features a gorgeous turquoise fabric with a floral pattern. With lots of fun colors, it's sure to look amazing with many different tops and dresses! We hope to bring many more fabric options to this necklace soon!

Wristlet Clutches

These beautiful wristlet clutches are perfect for every on-the-go mom! They have already been so popular as a custom item before they were even listed! I first created this little bag for myself as an alternative to carrying around a purse, in addition to a diaper bag. This has made nursery/childcare transition so much easier too! I just grab my wristlet from out of the diaper bag when I drop my son off- no more digging for my wallet, cell phone, keys, sunglasses, etc and no more carrying two bags! I never go anywhere without my wristlet anymore! It holds just about everything I need when I go out! (It currently holds my wallet, cell phone, checkbook, lipgloss, ipod, etc.) We have a variety of fabric choices, and an option to add a ruffle! :)

Pom Pom Elastic Headband {in fuchsia}

Remember the Pom Pom Bib Necklace for our first Naptime Craft-Along? Well this is a variation of that project! Since I got my short summer haircut, I've been looking for new things to do (and put in!) my hair! Headbands are the perfect accessory, especially for short hair! You can either go elegant and vintage, or fun and quirky! :) As with my pom pom necklaces (I now have many!), I love to wear this headband for a splash of color with a simple outfit of solid colors! But you could just as easily add it to bright, bold patterns- wouldn't it look stunning with a flowery summer dress!? Pom poms have become my new favorite accessory and I know you'll love them too, especially with all the compliments you'll get wearing them! :) And the best thing is, you can even order a matching version for your little girls!!!

And don't forget that all these accessories make amazing gifts for your moms, sisters, friends, etc! Believe me, every woman loves a beautifully unique, handmade accessory!

Okay, now check out all these fun new Mama*Style accesories in the shops!!!

http://www.theblueladybug.com/

http://www.theblueladybug.etsy.com/

Comment below on which new Mama*Style product you like best and be entered to win your choice of one of these three new products!!! 

For extra entries, (1) share this post on your facebook, (2) blog about our giveaway (post the link)

Giveaway open until Friday 11pm EST. Winner will be announced Saturday. US entries only.

{GOOD LUCK!}

Friday Giveaway - The Lucy Skirt!

{This Giveaway is now closed. Thanks for all the entries! The winner will be announced sometime on Saturday 3/26. Good luck!}

I have been dying to show this to you.  I've literally had sleepless nights and been quite distracted all week long.  You know that The Blue Ladybug Children's Boutique carries the cutest clothes for your babies and toddlers.  We love the Brother Sister Sets for those special occasions, portraits and just everyday cuteness.  We've got accessories for sister's hair.  You can even match your dolly now.  And this week, we've got some stylin' new necessities for the babies in your life (since they wear a lot of bibs and you wear a lot of burp cloths those first, few adorable months).  But one thing that we've noticed as we've been sewing up all those adorable handmade items for our kids and yours, is that we...the moms....need a little handmade style as well.  Because we matter too.   Yes, the kids are most important, but they can look adorable with peanut butter and jelly smeared across their faces.   Moms, you need to feel beautiful on those days when you didn't get to shower, or there's spit up running down your shoulder.   Just because you became a mom, doesn't mean you lost your style.  You get to take on a whole new style.  And who better to understand what moms need than two moms? So brace yourselves, The Blue Ladybug is going to be offering a whole line of style for moms!!!!!


Are you jumping up and down yet???  Cause I am!  So the very first thing that we're bringing to our storefront for the moms is, The Lucy Skirt!   I love it!  It's relaxed, it's casual, it has these great and trendy little pockets to stash those hairbows, pacifiers, cars and bribery candy.  It's forgiving and twirly.  It's sweet and sassy.  And it flatters all styles.  Because we know that having babies = changing body shape, so our skirt is made with an elastic waist, to always fit you perfectly.   And the best part is, they match our brother sister sets! I love it!  You can always request a custom order if you have another of our dresses or shirts that you'd like to match. Be thinking Mother's Day, which isn't that far away! There isn't a more perfect time to wear these matching outfits with your kids!




The Lucy Skirt {for Mamas} in Bliss





The Lucy Skirt {for Mamas} in Roses 'n Cream



And to end our Birthday week, we're giving away a Lucy Skirt to one lucky mama!!!!  

To enter this giveaway, leave a comment below stating what your favorite part of being a mom is.

Remember only one entry for this item.  

All giveaways this week will be open until midnight on Friday (tonight!). The winners will be announced on Saturday (tomorrow). US & Canada entries only.

If you haven't entered the other giveaways this week, today is your last chance! Here are the links to each one...

Monday- Birthday Cake Hairbow

Tuesday- Burp Cloth/Bib Set

Wednesday- Matching Doll Dress

Thursday- Easter Bunny Hairbow

For some extra birthday fun, enter the coupon code Birthday10 at checkout in our shop for 10% off your entire purchase- offer ends Saturday 3/26 at midnight.

Wednesday Giveaway - Matching Doll Dress

{This Giveaway is now closed. Thanks for all the entries! The winner will be announced sometime on Saturday 3/26. Good luck!}

It's time for the Wednesday giveaway!!!! Yippee!!!  Today we are giving away ANOTHER brand new item to our shop - a Matching Doll Pillowcase Dress for your baby doll or American Girl doll.

The Doll Pillowcase Dress can be made to match a girl's pillowcase dress.  How darling is that.  This dress fits most 15-18" dolls.  All seams are professionally serged and topstitched, so you get the same great lasting quality that you get in the girl's dresses.

Wouldn't that be the sweetest gift to give your daughter on Easter; a matching doll dress for her Easter dress?!

To win a matching doll dress of your choice, visit our shop and look at all the pretty dresses and Brother Sister Sets.  Then return here and  leave a comment below stating which dress you would choose for both girl and doll.

Remember only one entry for this item.  You can still enter for the other giveaways here and here.  And don't forget to come back tomorrow for another giveaway!

All giveaways this week will be open until midnight on Friday. The winners will be announced on Saturday. US & Canada entries only.

For some extra birthday fun, enter the coupon code Birthday10 at checkout in our shop for 10% off your entire purchase- offer ends Saturday 3/26 at midnight

Need Easter outfits? {our spring clothing line + a coupon code}

Spring is almost here! (three more weeks! yay) But then, so is Easter! It's falls later this year than normal which gives us all more time to plan what special outfit for ourselves and our kiddos! It also means that it will (hopefully) be a bit warmer, so we won't have to worry quite so much about covering our colorful spring outfits with winter jackets! We are both dreaming of what to make for our kids, and are ready to be busy making YOUR kids' beautiful Easter outfits! Take a peek at our Spring line below (available now in our shop), and let us know if there's something we can customize for you! But the last day to place Easter orders is April 1 (no fooling!). It's been a long winter, and working with all our colorful fabric has kept us hopeful and anxious for Spring! Enjoy!

{Click on each graphic below to visit that specific shop section}

{Reminder: The last day to place Easter orders is April 1- no fooling!} ;)

For some help getting started with your Easter shopping, here's a coupon code for you- Enter Easter10 at checkout for 10% off your total purchase!

<SHOP NOW>

 

NOTE: {Today is the last day to enter the super-amazing giveaway over at Gussy Sews! Click here to enter to win some Blue Ladybug shop credit as well as lots of other handmade goodness!!}