Prepping for a Party

You'll have to excuse me. I'm taking this weekend "off" again. Not only is it Memorial Day Weekend, and coming from a very military family I take that very seriously. But, today is my 11th anniversary to my incredible husband. And last year, our 10 year present to each other, given two days after our anniversary was this little bundle:

So Sunday is her first birthday. I can't even believe it. We're having a little party for her, so this weekend, I'm going to be a little busy getting ready and celebrating my family.

I hope you all have as wonderful and family filled a weekend and I intend to.!

Another Pretty Little Something

So, I've told you before about my husband's talented and incredible cousin, Lauren. You remember her from this post. I have really been enjoying getting to know her better long distance via Facebook and I look forward to the next time we get to see each other face to face and really actually talk to each other.

In the meantime, she asked me recently to design her a bracelet that was "her". Something dramatic, dark and interesting. (Those are my words, not hers. They just happen to fit her.) She showed me several items online that were almost what she wanted, but just not completely it.

While I was working one night, I came across a leather scrap and started playing with it a bit. I liked the shape of it. And then it hit me. Lauren's design. It was perfect and I couldn't wait to get it done and show her.

Pretty right? But wait! Lauren isn't one dimensional. No. She has many sides. She can be sweet and romantic like this, sure.

But, she also has a modern edge to her. So let's lose the flower shall we? Go for something clean lined and asymmetrical shall we?

Nice! I love this bracelet. It's so versatile. I've said it before, I love accessories that do double duty. In this case it does even more than that.

See there? The flower has a pin backing so she can pin it on a dress, or put it on a necklace. And it just threads on to the bracelet, so there's no puncturing the leather.

It's on its way to her and I can't wait for her to have it. After all it was made especially for her.

I'm Loving the Tweed

I have a wonderful customer who is so encouraging. She is a huge supporter and I have never even met her. She always has kind words to say and the day she received her first order she promptly placed another. It's wonderful to have happy customers!

This is the design that we came up with for her this time around.

They are a totally different vibe from her black shoes with the red bows that I made for her last time. Those were bold and sophisticated. These are soft and sweet.

I know there will be lots more tweed shoes in my future. I know this because when I was at the thrift store the other night, I bought two tweed items to make shoes from.

She also wanted some rosette hair clips that matched her daughters' shoes. I hope they like them.

Now it's on to making her son a pair. Yes, I am working on a boy design. But, these things take time.

I also have a new bracelet to show you, but that will have to wait till next time. Even though I am in love with it. Off to sew!

Princess Shoes

When I was a girl, I loved dresses that made me feel like I belonged in a fairy tale. Sometimes I would even layer skirt upon dress upon skirt just to get the fullness I was looking for. I'd even enlist the aid of blankets wrapped around my waist to create a train. I know I'm not alone in this.

My first custom order from Etsy came from a mom who wanted to give her daughter the dream dress for such a little girl. It's Silk dupioni, it's layers of ruffles, it's romantic and just pure fantasy. It from The Handmaiden's Cottage.

Source: The Handmaiden's Cottage

See what I mean? I was in charge of making shoes that would live up to such a degree of girlish imagination and beauty. Tall order. But, I think I came close. I just happened to have a little bit of cream colored silk dupioni. Obviously, it was meant to be.

And obviously, it needed a little pink.

Hopefully when she slips these little slippers on, she'll feel like a princess.

And with these shoes came yet another improvement. I have added firmness to my insoles so that they protect better and yet are still very comfortable and soft enough for early walkers. I'm pretty excited about this new development. And the best part is that, this improvement is so inexpensive it won't affect the price at all. Yay!

A Word About Pricing...

Yes, the dreaded P-word. I can't tell you how much stress that little word has caused me in recent months. I'm way more comfortable giving things away than I am telling you what something is worth. Especially, when it comes to something that I made. The pressure. I mean, it just boggled my mind in the first place that people would be willing to pay for something I made. Then there's the question of what would other people consider it worth? What's too much? What's not enough? Seriously, it's a lot of pressure.

That said I have tried my hardest to price my shoes reasonably. I use re-purposed and thrifted materials whenever I can, making a silk shoe the same cost as a cotton one. Since I started making them, however, some things have changed, for the better of course. I have learned a ton thanks to my wonderful customers granting me the ability to make so many shoes. And I have added layers to my shoes to make them even better. With that, though, comes a longer time to make them (it usually takes me three nights' worth of work to finish one order) and added cost. That in addition to prices going up for the other items I use means I am going to have to raise my prices just a little bit. Baby and children's shoes will be $30 and women's sizes will be $40. Baby boots will be $35-$40.  All shipping will be $5 unless shipped with another item.  I do reserve the right to price particular designs differently depending upon the material used.

All current orders will remain at the same price. This increase only applies to future orders. I hope that you all will continue to think that these Little Things are worth it. And thank you so much for your support and encouragement in this endeavor. I honestly couldn't do this without you all!

Improving Cozette

This is one popular little design. And in truth it really is my favorite as well. I just love the romantic nature of them. I love the fact that a utility fabric can be made into something so sweet and pretty.

These were for my first order from Busy Bees. And the delightful customer who ordered them wanted to know if I would make a matching sash to go with the dress they were meant for. I always love a challenge.

Since the dress has flowers at the shoulder and the shoes have flowers on the toes, I thought that another one on the sash would be overkill. So I went instead with a sweet ruffle embellishment.

The more I make of this design though, the shabbier Em's are looking. I may need to squeeze in a new pair for her.

In the meantime, I hope this little girl enjoys her Cozette set.

And the Bows Have It...

It was very close. But weighting the outcome was the fact that my husband strongly favored the bows. And she already has flower shoes seen here. So it seemed a good idea to add variety to her shoe collection.

How is she one already?

As you can see in these pics, it was definitely the right decision.

My little beauty.