Miscarriage & Infant Loss Rememberance Hand Stamped Necklaces - New to my shop

   

 

      In August of this year, I was so excited and surprised to find out that I was expecting my 4th baby!  By eight weeks along I knew something was wrong, and an ultrasound confirmed my baby died at 6.5 weeks and I miscarried at 10 weeks.  I know a lot of people don't say much about miscarriage or early infant loss but it has hit me hard.  I lost my baby and one of the hardest things is for everything to go on like nothing happened.  Most of all I wanted a "remembrance" of my baby and I designed a couple of necklaces for myself.  I wear one of them almost daily.  I decided to sell these in my etsy shop to bring comfort to other women who have experienced a miscarriage or infant loss.  I added a birthstone to each necklace, for mine, a April birthstone for when my baby was due.   Here is the info about these precious and close to my heart necklaces.  Remembrance Heart Hand Stamped Sterling Silver Necklace (picture 1)  Tiny Feet Heart Hand Stamped Sterling Silver Necklace (picture 2)

Peanut Allergy Necklace for Girls

I have a Little Lady with a Peanut Allergy.  We are a peanut/nut free house but since she's only 2, I knew I needed to either buy or make a peanut allergy medical alert necklace.  So I made these cute bottle cap necklaces, and wanted to make them inexpensive for other Little Ladies with peanut allergies.  They are only $4.50 plus shipping.  They'd make a great gift for any little girl with a peanut allergy.  Check them out at my shop .  

New Items in my Shop!

 

 

 

I've listed some new items in my etsy shop, My Little Lady Designs recently.  They make great gifts for Moms, Grandma, Aunts, Sisters, and Friends!  My necklaces are all sterling silver even down to the jump rings that attach the discs to the necklace.  

 

 

    

Door Hanging Initial Tutorial

    Hi!  I'm a total Pinterest addict!  I love everything from DIY, recipes, crafts, etc.  I also co-lead crafts for our Moms group (like MOPS).  My friend Stacy and I love to come up with fun crafts and Pinterest has made it much easier to get ideas from.  I had pinned this and we thought it would be perfect for our next craft day. It didn't have a tutorial so I came up with my own and want to share it with you!    Things you will need:  A 13 inch mdf or wooden letter  burlap muslin or linen acrylic paint floral berries, flowers, buttons for embellishment hot glue sandpaper

Most of our items were purchased at Hobby Lobby (♥ that store)!  

Take your Letter and paint the front and sides.  I used acrylic paint.

Next, you need to figure out how you want to hang it.  Some letters are easier than others :)  Having a last name with a "J" was a little tricky but I think it turned out nice.  Some letters you can simply wrap the burlap around the top.

 

I folded a piece of burlap and hot glued the ends on the back of my letter.  Then I took a piece of muslin and put it through the loop on top.

Then came the fun part, embellishing! 

I made a simple bow (just tied a knot) with a wide stripe of burlap and then hot glued it to the burlap attached to my letter.

Next, I hot glued some floral berries to the burlap and made sure that my rosettes would cover the bottom of them.

Then I made rosettes and hot glued them on.

I sanded the edges to get a distressed look and then added a few more rosettes to the bottom of the J also.

 

  Here's the finished craft!  

 

Tea Dyeing

I recently saw a new technique on Pinterest. Tea Dyeing fabric and onesies!  As soon as I saw this I knew that I would have to try it!  I love, love onesies, especially creating something cute for baby girls and boys!   I followed the tutorial here and couldn't be happier with the results.  I put a few onesies, muslin, chiffon, lace, and other trims in the tea liquid.  It took a few times in the tea liquid to get the darker color that I wanted.   One of my nieces is expecting her first baby, a baby girl!  I couldn't be at the shower so I wanted to make something really special for her.  Here is what I came up with.  

I started with a heart doily and used some lace trim and sewed it around the heart.  I decided on a fabric in my stash (Amy Butler) and thought it would be perfect with the tea dyeing and made a frayed flower with pearls.   

     I followed this tutorial here to make the adorable ruffled baby legs.    

 

      I made the skirt with a double layer with a chiffon ruffle that peeks out. This skirt is similar to my skirt from my owl onesie outfit. I love all the ruffles!  To finish the ensemble, I also made a matching headband with a similar flower from the onesie and two flower rosettes.           

Owl Onesie & Skirt

                                  I made this cute owl outfit for one of my niece's baby girl.  I decided to make my owl onesie the I sell in my etsy store and made a matching skirt.  I loved how it turned out.  I made the skirt with two layers and added some light pink ruffled chiffon to make it a little more ruffly, fluffy, and girly (just the way I like)!    

 

  

Ballerina Birthday Tea Party

My oldest daughter wanted to have another big birthday party this year. Ella loves to dance and most of her friends are in her dance class as well. 

I love to craft and sew, so I tend to go a little overboard when I throw a party. I make my own decorations, food, cakes which make the party within a reasonable budget. Here is what I made.
For decorations I used pink and pink/white damask tablecloths, I made pink tulle pom-poms and strung them with yarn, a few balloons from the dollar store, dress form necklace holders with hand stamped necklaces (party favor), ballet shoe wall hanging, dress form with a pink tutu, vanity with mirror with a pink tray with lace crowns (party favor), and a cake stand I made from an old chandelier. Here is the tutorial that I followed http://www.iheartnaptime.net/diy-cake-stand/

For the food I made 5 small cakes with pink rosette frosting, pink cake pops, marshmallow wands, and pirouette cookie sticks. It was also a tea party so we had antique teacups and plates, served with pink lemonade. The girls loved it!


Crafts. We had had pink party bags and each girl got to decorate their bag. There was a lot of markers, crayons, stamps, stickers, glue, and glitter! Then we made beaded bracelets with a ballerina tutu charm.

For party favors I made lace crowns and  hand stamped initial necklaces with a pink gem.

A whole lot of pink tutu-ness!

I recently got an international order from Australia!  I'm always excited when I get international  orders. The order was for 11 of My Ballerina Tutu Bun Wraps.  It was for a birthday party and the buyer loved them!  I took a few photos of the completed order.  So much pale pink fluffy tutu-ness!

It was pretty neat that is was an order to Melbourne, Australia.  My college roommate and one of my bffs, Bridgette, and I went to Melbourne on Spring Break while we were in college one year.  We had a fabulous and unforgettable time!  It's neat to think that something I made has made itself back to Australia.  : ) 

Lotus Tunic–Sewing and Finishing

I really love how this tunic/dress came all together but I think next time I will allow myself more time.  : )  My good friend Bridgette from Fancybelle and I had a great time with our sew-a-long. 
The first day I put the darts and zipper in on the back pieces and did the lining at the same time.  The front pieces went together smoothly but I did have to redo the neckline a couple of times.  I’m not used to such a large seam allowance (1/2 inch).  That made it more challenging for me especially around the neckline and sleeves.  I was very happy that everything fit together nicely.  I was a little worried about the puff cap sleeves but they went together pretty smoothly.  









I really wanted to wear this for Mother’s Day, and it was long enough on me to wear it as a dress!  I did take a slip that I had purchased on clearance for $1 and attached some ruffle fabric that matched the colors in my tunic.  It took me a total of about 10 minutes and added a little pop of color and some just a little length for when I sat down.  With my one year old crawling all over my lap, it gave me more coverage!  : ) 
I have a few pictures but didn’t take as many as I wanted.  Most of last week I spent the time from 7pm to 10pm working on this tunic.  I plan on making a much shorter version of this so I can wear it this summer.  I will have to adjust the bodice a little bit so I won’t have to wear a cami under it.  Since it’s fully lined, it would be incredibly hot to wear in the summer with three layers!  : ) 
I would really recommend to other Sewing Lovers to check out Amy Butler patterns.  She does a great job and the finished products is soooo cute and look like I bought it in a department store.  Here is a break down of the cost to make this tunic – $27 Amy Butler fabric, $13 Amy Butler Lotus Tunic pattern, $3 invisible zipper, $8 muslin (for lining) = $51   Sewing is not a cheap hobby, but I love creating, maybe designing someday!
And I also did have to make a matching hair accessory for my tunic!  Hope you enjoy!