Keep Calm, and Carry On....

Check out this give-away at "Pastor Girl's Ponderings"....very, very cool!  I hope I win! ;)

Lovely in Lilly

I just received Lilly Pulitzer fabric the other day and have had soooo much fun creating with these oh, so divine prints!  So far, just hair pins, but more to come, for sure!  If you want to check out more, visit http://www.brookiecookiesbows.etsy.com/

xoxoxo,

Liz ;)

My Little Sunshine!

Sometimes I can get her to pose for me...though it's rare! ;)

A Treasury

There is a feature on etsy called "Treasury East".....oh my goodness...I have waaay too much fun with this.  I adore curation, and this feature allows you to "curate" collections of items by etsy artists.  What an awesome way to be creative and promote etsy sellers at the same time.  If you're a member of etsy and haven't put together a treasury yet, try it....you'll love it! ;)

Here's my latest:  http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4bf68e70afe66d91ee0271db/after-the-rain

More to come...I have so much to blog about, but lack of sleep is making my brain fuuuuzzzzy right now! ;) 

Happy Friday!

Liz ;)

Kamboja Jewel

I received an order on my etsy site a couple of weeks ago from a lovely woman in Hong Kong!  She ordered one of my bib necklaces, and wrote the sweetest message with her order.  Her necklace finally arrived yesterday (the USPS said it would be 10 days--apparently, they were right on target ;), and sent me the sweetest note with a link to a blog post she wrote.

My initial reaction to this awesome gesture was to be so very appreciative and extremely grateful beyond words for her kindness...really, just genuinely sweet.  And then, I started exploring her blog!  Oh my goodness--how silly did I feel that SHE bought a necklace from ME?  This dear woman is AMAZING!  She makes the most beautiful, one of a kind pieces of jewelry...stunning!  If you get a moment, check out her blog, and let me know what you think.

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My parents picked up the kiddos for THE NIGHT....WAHOO!!!  Thanks Mom and Dad! ;)  Just waiting for my counter-part to get home so we can decide what to do tonight....yayyy!!!!  I see some late-night crafting in my future, after dinner and wine, of course.... (and sleeping past 6:30 tomorrow morning)...God is GOOD!

Have an awesome Saturday night!!!!

I Heart Ribbon

I am a little addicted to ribbon, at this point in my life.  I love it...I get really excited about it...and I loooove to make things with it. I  found new ribbon, and it's been tested and declared SAFE for children...and, it's adorable. I'm so excited!  I've been busy crafting for my etsy shop.....busy, busy, busy.

The other night, my wonderful husband commented that he wished I was as excited about him as I am about my ribbon.  I laughed it off...told my mom, and we laughed together.  I felt a little bit guilty though, as I have been burning the candle at both ends again, meaning that we don't have a lot of quality time together, as of late.

My mom so lovingly confronted me this morning, and gave me a gentle reminder that even though it is funny that my husband could be a little jealous of my ribbon addiction...it's very important that I make him my first priority, and make sure I do get just as excited about him, as I do about ribbon.  How right she is....

I'm so blessed, and I'm so thankful that I'm passionate about so many things in life! But, I'm praying that I ALWAYS remember to put my family first....no matter how much I heart ribbon...and I really do love it...a lot! ;)

BIB NECKLACE TUTORIAL--FINALLY!!! ;)

Finally, the tutorial!!!  ;)

First, go to your closet, your husband's closet, your kids' closets, or your scrap fabric pile.  Raid for knits and fabrics that you can upcycle, or re-use!  Nothing is safe in our house!  Ha!  If you're using clothing, cut or tear your clothing into strips, 1-1 1/2" wide.  They can vary in length, as you will use these to make your rosettes, and you'll want different sizes.  Plug in your glue gun!

Step 1.  Select a strip of fabric to form your rosette

Step 2. Fold your fabric

Step 3.  Fold it again

Step 4.  Fold it again, so you have a nice taut center

Step 5.  Use this as your center and start rolling the rest of the fabric strip around the center.

Step 6.  Very, ver carefully take your glue gun and add a fine strip of glue to the bottom of your rosette where you are rolling it.  The best way to do this is to use a fine tip glue gun.  Add a little glue, roll and twist your fabric in that area, and repeat.

Step 7.  This is the fun part!  Continue rolling and twisting and gluing your fabric while you watch your rosette form.  Play with it and be creative.  Here is where you can decide how much torn fabric you want to have showing. etc.  When you come to the end of your strip, glue the excess fabric to the back of the rosette.

Step 8.  Repeat this process until you have 6, 7, 8 rosettes...you'll want enough so that you can play with the layout of your necklace.

Step 9. Embellish one, or a few of your rosettes.  You can use anything fun you already have--buttons, crystals, parts from old pieces of jewelry.  This contains parts of my wedding tiara that were loose or falling off! :)  Remember, this necklace should be made for adults and children over 12 only--especially after you add embellishments.  I am struggling through all of the CPSIA laws at the moment, and want to be clear on this!

Step 10. Lay out your rosettes, and glue together.  Be careful when gluing--use only what you need so this doesn't turn into a "hot mess"! ;)

Step 11.  Add your ribbon.  Select a high quality grosgrain ribbon in a coordinating color.  You will need four pieces total.  Two shorter, and two longer.

Step. 12  Measure and cut a piece of ribbon to the length of one side of your necklace.  Cut and glue to the back of your rosettes.  You may heat seal the edges of the ribbon if you have a tool. You will also want to cut the edges at an angle.  Do the same to the other side.

Step 13.  Now for your long ribbon.  This will tie around your neck.  Cut two pieces, about 10" or so...this can be however long you want, as you can adjust the length when you tie it.  Again, cut edges at an angle and heat seal them if you wish.

Step 14.  Glue the long ribbons to either side.  If you're able to cut each piece at an angle, so that it lines up nicely with your short pieces, this will look best, aesthetically.  Make sure you use enough glue that your ribbon is secure!

And now, finally, you have your finished product!  Check all areas to make sure that your necklace is secure!  Remove any left-over gluey strings, and wear proudly!!!  Congrats to Monica--here is your necklace!  It will ship out today! :)

AND, THE WINNER IS.......

#7...MONICA FERNAAYS

The order of comments as they appeared in the original post:
 
1. Alison B.
2. Entertaining Mom
3. I Heart
4. Ringo's Girl
5. Margaret
6. La Familia Garcia
7. Monica Fernaays
8. Lyndsay
 
(I deleted my comment, since I obviously don't want to win ;) to assign these numbers)....
 
Sooooo....according to this RANDOM WIDGET, the winner is.................
 
 
MONICA FERNAAYS!!!!!!!!!!
 
Monica, email me at brookiecookiesbows@yahoo.com with your contact info., and I will send you your custom-made necklace!
 
For all of my other awesome entrants, I will post the tutorial for this custom-made necklace, Thursday, so you can ALL make one! ;)
 
xoxo and THANK YOU for entering!!!!!!!