Hey, hey what do ya say?

I say...
More free loot!

Right now until Saturday you have the chance to win one of my popular girls Patchwork Pumpkin shirts and and adorable leaf tote bag embellished with glass beads and ribbon trimmed handles. Head on over to Simply Sentimental the Blog and enter now.

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And thank you to everyone for your positive words! I read all comments and appreciate every one of them. My husband's transplant was done over the weekend and so far he is doing great. He now faces 3-4 weeks of recovery in the hospital. We continue to hope and pray for minimal side effects.

We have a winner!

Congratulations to Teresa!
She is the lucky winner of the $10 store credit the fabulous Etsy shop, So So Rosey. Thank you so much to Jennie for participating in this giveaway and for such a lovely prize! You can visit Jennie's shop by clicking on any of the pictures in her Etsy mini on my right sidebar. You can also view the shops of previous participants and preview upcoming shops that will be offering more fabulous giveaways!

I will be back very soon with more riveting posts and more excellent giveaways! : ) Stay tuned!

I'll be back...

I hope I still have some readers left!

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I know I haven't posted in awhile but I am very occupied in my real life. My husband has Leukemia and has been in the hospital for the past week. He will be undergoing a bone marrow transplant in the coming days. After that we hope and pray he will be on the road to recovery and back to his normal self soon.

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In the meantime I still have a giveaway going. Enter for your chance to win!

Saturday Giveaway - So So Rosey

Congratulations to Janet, Judy, and Miranda!
They are the lucky winners of the tote bags from my Etsy shop, Alayna's Closet.

This week Jen from the wonderful Etsy shop So So Rosey is really going to make one winner very happy. She is offering $10 to spend in her shop in whichever way you choose! There are dozens of items within that price point so you will surely find something you love! And of course she is so graciously going to cover the shipping to get your little treat out to you.

Here are a couple of my favorites from her shop that are ten dollars.

I love the soft color of these napking rings and the pretty shell button!

And this coaster/trivet would brighten up any kitchen!

How can this be yours you ask?

* Click HERE to visit Jen's shop, then return to this post to let us know your favorite item.

* Make sure you leave your email address so that I may contact you if you are the winner.

* Only one entry per person

The fine print... This giveaway will be held from Saturday, September 19th - Friday, September 26th. The drawing will close at 10pm EST. The winner will be randomly picked and announced in next Saturday's Giveaway thread. This drawing is open to anyone, I am willing to ship worldwide.
Good Luck!

And please check out the rest of my blog - there is much to see!

Have you ever seen???

A movie called The Warriors?

I was forced to watch it some time ago by my husband. The first time I just thought what a cheesy, campy movie. And it is! But now I like seeing it. I find myself repeating lines of the movie all the time.

*** Warriors... Come out and play ***

Here's a little tidbit. My sister works for St. Joseph Hospital and has worked with Dr. Remar, his brother is James Remar. He is in The Warriors and more currently played Richard on Sex and the City. Speaking of which - am I still the only person who has not seen the SatC movie?! I can't wait for the dvd to come out next week!

Is one yours??

It very well could be! All you have to do is enter!

They are all packaged and ready to go to their new home.

Thinking of taking the plunge...

I have been sewing more often lately than I have before, mostly my tutu shirts for Alayna's Closet. But my sewing maching doesn't have a real home in my smallish studio. What I have been using is my daughter's play table and chair. Probably meant more for a 2 year old as opposed to a 30 year old! Needless to say - I want a new sewing table.

I have heard time and time again - go to Ikea.

I have actually never been to one before. Not too long ago they opened up the first store in Massachusetts. Stoughton isn't exactly close - about 2 hours away. But I have been told they could have almost anything I am looking for - even lunch. So I thought I could make a day of it. And hopefully find a new home for my sewing machine.

A new arrival...

Well I finally found some long sleeve shirts for boys that I love and gave one of my dinosaurs a new home! I will have more colors and designs coming shortly.

Saturday Giveaway - Alayna's Closet

Congratulations to Jenn!

She is the lucky winner of the set of cards from the fabulous Etsy shop, Simply Sentimental. Thank you so much to Sydnei for participating in this giveaway and for such a lovely prize! You can visit Sydnei's shop by clicking on any of the pictures in her Etsy mini on my right sidebar. You can also view the shops of previous participants and preview upcoming shops that will be offering more fabulous giveaways!

This week I will be mixing it up a bit and offering 3 of my tote bags from my shop, Alayna's Closet. And this week there will be 3 lucky winners! The first winner chosen will have their choice of the bags and so on. Here are the bags up for grabs!

All of these tote bags are my medium size, the measurements are: 11w x 9h x 3d

How can all of these be yours you ask?

* Click HERE to visit my shop, then return to this post to let us know your favorite item.

* Make sure you leave your email address so that I may contact you if you are the winner.

* Only one entry per person

The fine print... This giveaway will be held from Saturday, September 13th - Thursday, September 18th. The drawing will close at 10pm EST. The winner will be randomly picked and announced in next Saturday's Giveaway thread. This drawing is open to anyone, I am willing to ship worldwide.

Good Luck!
And please check out the rest of my blog - there is much to see!

Never Forget...

Blog Feature

I got a very nice email from Emily of Gems by Em. It was her birthday yesterday and she picked a couple of birthday items to feature on her blog. She picked one of my shirts!

Thank you Emily - and a very Happy Birthday to you!

Buy Something New Today - Oak Trees!

So you have heard it all before! I love Fall! And that includes the beautiful trees changing colors. Before the not so fun part of raking them up comes seeing them float to the ground, stomping aroung in them, hearing them crackle under your feet. So how many things do you think you can find on Etsy relating to oak trees? Atleast 451 items. Here are 3 of my favorite.

O A K

T R E E S

First from the wonderful shop - Cutesie Clips - is this gorgeous assortment of hair clips for your little girls hair. I haven't ordered my set yet - but know that I will! And they will be perfect just like all the other clips I have ordered from Jennifer.

From Sweet B Studio is this too cute print of an oak tree, complete with leaves and acorns. From their original drawing this print can be personalized and your info will be "carved" into the tree. What a sweet gift for a wedding or anniversary.

And lastly, I love this little felt tree. It just makes me smile. Actually all of the things in the Hi Tree shop do. This is the littlest of the oak trees available but there are also sequoias and cypress trees.

If you want to read more on these items just click on the picture and you will be taken straight to the listing!

Once again...

Thank you Sydnei of Simply Sentimental! She has picked one of my personalized girls shirts to be in her very nice treasury that she created. You can view it here.

ok - so it appears I have been too slow in posting this. The treasury has expired but I still want to thank Sydnei! Alayna is modeling the shirt that was chosen for her treasury.

I also want to remind everyone to enter in my current giveaway featuring 5 very sweet cards from Sydnei's shop - Simply Sentimental! The drawing will be held tomorrow evening (EST) at 10pm.

Wordless Wednesday...

Just have to share...

I have reached a milestone - 100 sales!

I am so excited - but busy!! Ok - back to work now. : )

Home cookin'

I know I already said goodbye to summer, but...

I am so sorry I haven't had an update on Try Something New Today. I actually haven't been cooking too much lately. My mom is visiting so we have all enjoyed her home cooking. Tonight was red chile enchiladas! drool...

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Although, I do have something to share. It is still in the beginning stages but in a few months I hope to have some homemade vanilla extract. It is super easy! All you need is some sort of seal able bottle, vodka, and Madagascar vanilla beans. I purchased my beans through this Ebay shop. You can buy the bottles here or here or here. The vodka doesn't need to be any kind of fancy brand. At my local liquor shop they have lower shelf vodkas and then top shelf vodkas. Grab something in the middle. Slice the vanilla beans in the middle lenghtwise and put into the bottle. Fill with vodka. Done! For the large bottle that I had I put in 8 vanilla beans. You need to store it in a cool, dark place for up to 4 months. Every once in a while invert the bottle to let it mix.

Here is a really great site with more information all about vanilla!

Saturday Giveaway - Simply Sentimental

Congratulations to Paula!
She is the lucky winner of the picture frame from the fabulous Etsy shop, Onkie Bazoobie. Thank you so much to Danielle for participating in this giveaway and for such a lovely prize! You can visit Danielle's shop by clicking on any of the pictures in her Etsy mini on my right sidebar. You can also view the shops of previous participants and preview upcoming shops that will be offering more fabulous giveaways!

This week Sydnei from the fabulous Etsy shop, Simply Sentimental, is offering a total of 5 of her totally cute handmade cards!

Just in time for the Fall season and Halloween!

Feast your eyes on the amazing details that this talented paper artist creates! All of these cards have been left blank inside for you to personalize. Click on the pictures for more information. And for those of you who can't wait to make a purchase - Sydnei has so graciously offered FREE SHIPPING from 9/6 - 9/12 throughout her entire shop to my blog readers. Just enter the code "CLOSET" during checkout. So go crazy buying - now you have an excuse! :)

And who wouldn't love to receive one of these in the mail?!

How can all of these be yours you ask?

* Click HERE to visit Sydnei's shop, then return to this post to let us know your favorite item.

* Make sure you leave your email address so that I may contact you if you are the winner.

* Only one entry per person

The fine print... This giveaway will be held from Saturday, Septmeber 6th - Friday, September 12th. The drawing will close at 10pm EST. The winner will be randomly picked and announced in next Saturday's Giveaway thread. This drawing is open to anyone, Sydnei is willing to ship worldwide.

Good Luck!

And please check out the rest of my blog - there is much to see!

What took so long?!

So I have finally been clued in on how to check if I have been included in treasuries on Etsy. So I decide to go trolling and looking for a gold star. I found one! :)

Thank you to Scribble and Script for picking me!

You can view my oh so uber popular witch shirt in the treasury here.

A shout out to Sydnei of Simply Sentimental for this screen shot of my treasury!!!

Buy Something New Today - For the Girls!

Today's selection of must have items from Etsy are things I found while browsing through the hundreds of thousands of handmade goodies. I am window shopping while trying to find things for my daughter's upcoming 2nd birthday. Of course I may have found a couple things for myself too! Click on any of the pictures for more information on the featured item.

G I R L S

I had always thought of these silhouettes as old fashioned. But I love the updated twist with the girly pink! Sold from BabyCakes Art as a set of notecards with matching seals, it can be personalized to reflect your little beauty(ies)!

From a talented jewelry artist, RHB Designs, is this gorgeous copper disc pendant accented with a sterling heart charm. It is then stamped with the name of your choice. It is truly simple but a piece anyone girl would love.

Last we have this big, beautiful letter of your choice from Kiss Me Kate. The painting and embellishments look so great together and would be a fantastic gift. There are several sizes and fonts available so be sure to check them all out!

Signs of Fall

I need to go out and start buying my Fall stuff for outside. I go crazy with cornstalks and scarecrows, mums, and of course pumpkins. When we bring in the new stuff - that means that other things must be put away in the barn until next year.

Our little bear steps off of his rock perch and goes into hibernation until next Spring.

And our star plaque will be replaced with a gorgeous autumn wreath.

But one of the things I love the most - is all of the apples that have fallen off the trees in our orchard. Some are half eaten by the deer and other's look almost perfect, but soft. It is the smell... My husband cuts the grass on the lawn tractor and runs over all the apples. It smells like fresh apple cider right in my backyard. Love that!

Alayna's Closet Giveaway!

How would you like your very own Alayna's Closet original dino shirt? If you head on over to Maternal Spark you can enter to win your choice of a girls or boys dino tee.