Flower girl flowers

spent about $12.oo to make hair accessories for my little girls hair then spent the afternoon sewing ribbons and hot gluing and securing barrettes!
Every little girl deserves to feel beautiful and included. So I have been making sure that my girls are both. My brother is getting married this Saturday. I am using dresses I sewed a couple years ago for Christmas (the little one we are sharing with my niece so she can feel pretty too) and a black dress my mom handed down to my daughter.
Today along with the hair ribbons I purchased shoes and tights to wear with the dresses.
Here are the dresses including the one I made for me peeking in the back.
While analysing the reason I decided to go to this trouble, (we aren't a part of the wedding party) I remembered something. Something big in my 10 year old little girl life.
Years ago my mom's only sister was getting married. Of course my mom was asked to be matron of honor. With her skills she went to work sewing mauve pink chiffon gowns one for herself and one for the flower girl. Now seeing the dress though all the stages of creation I assumed it was for me. My mom even had me try it on with hoop slip underneath. It was so pretty.
Then as the day to go to the wedding came mom said goodbye and went to catch a plane without me (and the rest of the family too). I was devastated! I felt robbed. Even today when I look at pictures from my aunts wedding and see my mom with her rosey mauve chiffon standing next my cousin in a matching rosey chiffon gown with her hooped slip underneath (she lived close by and did not need to travel to be a participant) I have this old dissapointed feeling inside.
Today as this memory came to mind I reallised this is the reason I went to all the trouble to make my girls feel like flower girls even though we aren't part of the wedding party.
Wow! anyways.... Saturday we we will all be beautiful and feel included, special and have a great time. At least that is my hope and plan.

baby blues

Saw this sweater and with its Nordic style sweater from Tea I smiled.

While I probably wouldn't buy it I think I would love to receive it.
Weird of me I know. Very cute and I think a toddler would be adorable in it!

I absolutely love this little romper!
Jack and Teddy Sailboat Romper at Baby Boy Style

Soft Ducky Layette set
found here

This last one is a tee shirt which I usually lean to more tailored look.
Yet the colors of the logo and the bugs on it are so cute!

Birdie card

Just showing off this cute card.

I made it the other day for a lady who wants to give me a shower. I had fun making it. I used Stampin' Up! stamps, ink and paper to create it. I have never sewn on paper until now. I have such a love for sewing that sewing on paper is nearly an abomination in my opinion. It just feels wrong. But I did it and it looks cute.
After reading "a little birdie told me..." the inside says "it's a Boy!" and then the invitation stuff, place, date, time ect.

Baby outfit DOne!

Here is the finished outfit. My hubby commented that a brand new baby will swim in this.
I did sew a 3 to 6 month outfit.
Here is a close up of the applique of the owl on a branch.
Below is the outfit I was inspired to recreate.

This outfit is for sale through Jellybabys which is in the UK. So I made my own version with a knit I purchased from the Fashion Fabrics Club, and small pieces from my stash!

Sock Monkeys

This year for Christmas, I made hand made gifts.
I made my nephews these cute sock monkeys. I am so glad they like them. Aren't they such cute boys!
I followed the traditional pattern included with the socks. On the smaller monkey I trimmed off the toe and reattached it after removing a couple inches. I also made the mouth and the arms smaller to go with the smaller body of the baby monkey. I love how they turned out.
But mostly I love that they love them and my sister loves them too.

Oh are you checking out the super cute quilt with monkeys on it?
My sister put that together and made it for her newest baby boy.

Growing concerns about the new LAW

Photo above is of cute dolls made by Lucky Pebble on Etsy.

As people are worried about breaking the law, many Etsy shops
are frantic to sell off their items before the Febuary 10 deadline.
I know I am!

Because of the new Law about lead in children's toys and clothing, lots of small hand crafting folks are worried. I am one of those worried people.
Please take time to let the country and law makers know your voice.

I recently read an article on CNN called
New law could wipe out handcrafted toy makers
about Lucky Pebble and others who worry for their small business.

I quote from the article:
"The law makes no distinction between large-scale manufacturers, mom-and-pop businesses, and one-man operations. While large corporations may be able to easily absorb the costs of product testing, the price is potentially overwhelming for small businesses.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission - which cannot change the law, only enforce it - is scrambling to clarify certain vague language of the law, and to establish clearer rules for testing. On Tuesday, January 6, the commission voted on certain provisions that may offer relief to some toymakers. However, a second vote - which will not take place until after the law goes into effect - is needed to finalize the rulings."

and quoted again here
"The safety standards are perfectly reasonable, but the testing costs are not sustainable for a micro-business," says Dan Marshall, founder of the Handmade Toy Alliance. Marshall and his wife, Millie Adelsheim, own a St. Paul, Minn., store called Peapods, which specializes in natural, no-frills toys such as wooden blocks and trains, as well as other baby products and clothes.

"There's no sense of scale, no exemptions based on the size of the business," Marshall says. "It doesn't make sense for someone who's knitting kids' hats in their living room to pay hundreds of dollars to test each hat." Members of the alliance - more than 170 retailers, toymakers, and concerned citizens - have inundated the Consumer Product Safety Commission with letters, faxes and e-mails expressing their fears and offering suggestions."

Let your voice be heard and stand up for your freedom to craft and sell it too!

Blue bird of Happiness

Love this mobile from EmilieFriday's Etsy shopThis darling embroidered motif was done by a crafty blogger Creative Little Daisy!

Art Print by Jonty Bloom is simple yet sweet too.

This onsie is really cute with the appliqued birdie from Quilt Baby
.

Love this Aqua Blue bird pillow from Joom Etsy shop

What fun and cute bibs! These I found at The Land of Nod

This stuffed Eastern Bluebird is a must for me. I have another bird in this series and I think this one needs to come home to our new little one. It cheeps when touched making an accurate bird call. It can be ordered from Animal Den. I also think I will get a Blue Jay too, that one is my hubby's favorite.

Childrens Books Ban

I can't believe this has actually passed but it is true!

A Law was passed to in effect ban the sale of Children's books! In the attempt to rid the world of Lead poisoning the people we trust to run our country did not really look at the consequences very closely that come with this law.

Effective February 10th, in the United States, the sale of
all children's books (books intended for children ages 12 and
under) is to be PROHIBITED. Every single book printed prior
to the ruling is affected, whether new or used. New books in
production are required to include a "lead-free" certification
and will be the only books that are legal to offer for sale.
If you break the law there is a $100,000 fine and possible jail time.

Update: Jan 8th the CPSC clarified that the Safety Law for Lead was for Manufacturers, importers amd Retailers. They say quote "The new safety law does not require resellers to test children's products in inventory for compliance with the lead limit before they are sold. However, resellers cannot sell children's products that exceed the lead limit and therefore should avoid products that are likely to have lead content, unless they have testing or other information to indicate the products being sold have less than the new limit. Those resellers that do sell products in violation of the new limits could face civil and/or criminal penalties.While CPSC expects every company to comply fully with the new laws resellers should pay special attention to certain product categories. Among these are recalled children's products, particularly cribs and play yards; children's products that may contain lead, such as children's jewelry and painted wooden or metal toys; flimsily made toys that are easily breakable into small parts; toys that lack the required age warnings; and dolls and stuffed toys that have buttons, eyes, noses or other small parts that are not securely fastened and could present a choking hazard for young children." check out the rest here, at the cpsc.gov site.

It also means hand crafted toys and small shops like mine on Etsy can't sell toys or clothing either because we don't have the toys certified to be "lead free". Really lame huh.
*Note the cpsc claims it will not send out the Toy police, but unless the law is amended the opportunity for lawsuits by those who choose to excersize the full exstent of the law are huge. There in lies the problem in my opinion. I sew a cute stuffed toy and some one buys it and then uses the law to the full exstent where am I now? Broke and in jail? It seems extreme
... but we all know there are people out there who don't care about the other person involved just ect....

It seams crazy that this is a law doesn't it. Reminds me of the book Fahrenheit 451.
This sadly means no more used book sales for children. No more on Ebay they have a notice up.
This means small bookstores are in trouble unless they can somehow prove their books are lead free.

Quick go to goodwill or your favorite used book place and buy all the kids books you can before they are destroyed. I am pretty sure secondhand shops won't want to break the law and would rather throw out all their books than be fined.

There are lots of places to read all about this crazy and stupid law.

We can do something and get our voice heard
1) Email or call the CPSIA - the office of the CPSC ombudsman at
888-531-9070. http://www.cpsc. gov/cgibin/ newleg.aspx

Comments on Component Parts Testing accepted through January 30,
2009. Or email: Sec102ComponentPart sTesting@ cpsc.gov

2) Contact your local representatives. For their contact informa-
tion, just enter your zip code.
http://capwiz. com/americanappa rel/dbq/official s/

3) Make your voice heard by voting on this issue! The top 3 in
each category will be presented to President-elect Obama.
http://change. org/ideas/ view/save_ handmade_ toys_from_ the_cpsia

4) Sign the petition.
http://ipetitions. com/petition/ economicimpactso fCPSIA/index. html

5) Spread the word! Forward this article. Send an email. Write
about this on your blog. Tell others about this issue and
encourage them to do the same.

Most of this information I have posted has been circulating in various posts and emails.
Please don't just read and move on do something.

Looking

Fancy baby room Huh! Check it out!

Cute monkey mobile! Fun.