Getting closer...

Christmas is nearly in our reach. In just over 35 days it will be time to celebrate and exchange gifts. I want to help you out with a little bit of your shopping! My shirts make great gifts and come packaged all pretty.

And of course you know that I can make adorable tote bags to match any of my tops.

So here's the deal... Purchase any two shirts for just $40! This is a fantastic savings and will only be available for a short time.

During checkout in the the notes to seller - you must enter the code BR2440. This offer will expire on November 30th, 2008. Start shopping! Click here to visit Alayna's Closet.

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.

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!!!

Witch City...

I am being overrun by witches!

I am so glad that my little witch shirt is so popular! Better order yours today before they all fly away!

I'm Cuteable!

Well atleast my boy's dinosaur shirt is anyways!

I received an email this morning from Lynsey at Cuteable that she picked my boys dino tee to be featured on her blog. He is one of my favorites so I was really happy to see him there. And Cuteable is a really fantastic blog to be seen at so I am thrilled at the chance!

The timing is actually really good. Just last night I finished my darling dino tee for girls. What do you think?

I finally made it to the front page!

Doing the happy dance!! I really didn't think it was a very big deal until it actually happened to me! My wonderful Etsy friend Lisa sent me a message this morning that one of my shirts was in a treasury on the front page.

Thank you to Lisa for sending me this screen shot and to Etsy seller StaceyDawn for picking my Pretty Paisley Flower shirt. : )

The witch has been picked...Again!

I was so happy to open up a message from Sarah of Cool Midwest Mom. She wanted to let me know that she was featuring my witch tutu shirt in her blog.

Thank you Sarah! : )

Mummy's Home!

Now available in Alayna's Closet!

Back to School Special!

For all you mom's out there trying to get your kids new clothes for school, I've got a deal for you! Pick them up something that will stand out. A shirt that not everyone has. Buy a stylish top for your tot from Alayna's Closet.

From Thursday August 7th - Sunday August 10th receive free shipping on your order within the US. In order to to be eligible you need to type in the following code in notes to seller during checkout - BLOGREADER08.

Impersonations...

I decided to try and expand my tutu shirt collection in Alayna's Closet. They are the first thing that I did and the whole reason I started selling on Etsy. So last night I took the witch shirt I already made and added the ribbon and tulle - making one very cute tutu shirt.

Here is Alayna giving her best wicked witch look.

This cute tutu shirt is now available in my shop. Did you know??? Any of my girls applique tees can be turned into a playful and cute tutu shirt? You can even pick the ribbon and tulle color. Your little girl can build the shirt of her dreams!

New shoes...

Now is the time I start buying Fall clothes for Alayna. You see warmer colors and sweaters and pants start to crop up in the store displays. And that of course means buying new shoes. Alayna has already outgrown her first couple of pairs of sandals that I bought in the Spring. It always makes me sad knowing I have to buy her new ones. Not because I have to spend money on getting some more - but because it means she is growing up.

One of the brands that I love for her are Converse. They are supportive, stylish, and have a flexible sole. I love that they are fairly inexpensive at $20 for the traditional colors. She is wearing these chocolate brown ones today. I usually buy them from Piperlime. They have free shipping both ways which is very convenient. And they always have loads of styles in stock.

With her brown Converse she is wearing one of the new shirts from my shop, Alayna's Closet. There are 3 of them which I call the Pretty Paisley Flower Collection. You can check them out by clicking on the link above.

It's coming...

That wonderful time of year called Autumn. I even love the word - Autumn. It is my favorite time of year - the time when my baby girl's birthday comes around, the hot, humid weather turns crisp, decorating outside with pumpkins, mums, and scarecrows, local fairs, hot apple cider, hayrides. Love it all!

In autumn when the trees are brown

The little leaves come tumbling down

They do not make the slightest sound

But lie so quietly on the ground

Until the wind comes puffing by

And blows them off towards the sky.

(author unknown)

And I finally succumbed and made my first "holiday" themed shirt. I woke up this morning thinking about a witch. Nobody in particular, just a green little Halloween witch. : ) Here is how she turned out.

I will soon be adding to my Halloween family. I would like to do a Frankenstein, ghost, mummy, pumpkin, and maybe a dracula if he's not too scary. And I have lots of tote bags in stock that I will make to match and they will be perfect for trick or treating!

Make sure you keep checking Alayna's Closet for the newest additions!!

Do you know a Guitar Hero?

Well if he is less than a year old I have got the cutest outfit for you!

Click Here to read more about it.

New item added...

I have completed my first infant boys outfit! I am so excited! I love everything about my new line that I will be doing and this set exemplifies a modern posh tot! Click HERE to read more about it.

As you may have noticed there are dots everywhere! I am changing up my graphics and ads. I want it to encompass both boys and girls and the new colors really do that. The new look is more clean, stylish, and has a more boutique feel to it.

Can you believe I did it all myself?! But it is not done yet. My wonderful friend Anita is a savvy graphic designer and she is going to jazz it up a little bit. So be on the lookout. Please check out her shop on Etsy - she does fantastic work! It is called iGraphicus. *new banner has been added! 7/14 *

Do you prefer...

My shirts on a real live kid - or on the dress form?

I am working on my photography skills and I don't always catch a great picture when I have to contend with an active 21 mth old running around. So I do enjoy being able to take my time and try to get the best picture on the dress form. But what showcases my product better?

Post a comment - I want to know what you think!

A new addition...

I decided to try out an infant line to my Etsy shop, Alayna's Closet. The only infant that I know right now is my husband's cousin's daughter (you with me?), Kaylee. We haven't had the pleasure of meeting her yet but she is nearing 3 months old.

Tonight I finished the appliques on a onesie/pant set (Carter's). I love this bright paisley fabric and it definitely is not your normal cutesy baby print.

I really like how it turned out but unfortunately my dress form is too big so the outfit looks kinda wonky stretched out on it. Maybe if I strapped a diaper on it would fill out the pants better?!

What do you think?

I do have plans for more colors of girls bottoms and boys sets as well. I also found some gorgeous colors in little boy onesies that I can't wait to do up. Sadly, I was only able to buy what they had and that was a couple of each size.

P.S. Don't forget to vote in my poll and to enter in my giveaway. They are both ending soon!

Saturday Giveaway - Alayna's Closet & Goldilocks Boutique

Thank you so much to everyone for making last weeks giveaway so successful! I hope that you will all like this weeks free gift just as much!

But first - the winner of the sterling silver and pearl earrings is... Kasey!

Congratulations! We hope you wear them in good health! And I would also like to thank Emily for her very generous prize and participation in my first giveaway.



On to this weeks wonderful prize. I hope you all have had a chance to check out my shop -Alayna's Closet, if not, this is your opportunity! I am giving away one extra cute and of course free personalized girls shirt in aqua with a handmade applique and a matching headband too! My co host of this giveaway is Lisa of Goldilocks Boutique. Please be sure to visit her shop for many other adorable accessories!

You can win these two adorable items - all you have to do is the following:

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

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

* Only one entry per person

Please note that this shirt is only available in the following girls sizes: 2T, 3T, 4T, 5T, 6, and 6X. All letters of the alphabet available.

The fine print... This giveaway will be held from Saturday, July 5th - Friday, July11th. 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!

Rain, rain go away...

This is a picture I snapped while standing in our breezeway today. In the far center of the picture is our apple orchard. In the early mornings and early evenings you can usually find wild turkeys and deer. They also munch on the blueberry bushes behind the orchard. It has rained so much the last 3 days our pool is overflowing - but the garden is getting some much needed watering.

So I was standing there trying to get Hannah and Buttercup (our dogs) to go potty. I'm not sure why I always try to get them to go out when it is raining cats and dogs. I pretend I am going to run out and Hannah usually jumps out because she thinks I'm going too. Ahh, good times.

Today I made a couple of small steps on the business front. I have a box of 100 wooden hangers in the closet of my studio that have been sitting there for awhile. I plan to start carrying them to match the shirts in my shop. I think they will make for cute gift sets. So I have a few ideas in my head how I want them to turn out and today I finally started. I am painting this one the same color of pink as my girl's electric guitar shirt. I haven't quite decided how I will embellish it yet, but I will share the finished product soon.

Hope you have all had a great first day of the week!

Matchy matchy...

As I have previously mentioned, I am an avid shopper of hairclips for Alayna. There are a couple shops on Etsy that I love and will introduce to you, but tonight I would like to talk about CutesieClips.





Jennifer and I started collaborating with my bubblegum machine shirt. She made the cutest hairclip to match it, right down to the button "gumballs".

Something else that makes a perfect pair - is my girls electric guitar shirt and Jennifer's pink and black skull clip. So sweet, so tough, yet so girly. Don't you agree?

I am sure we will team up again in the future. But until then, why don't you check out her shop, CutesieClips, and see what else you find!

This is where I create...

I would like to invite you into Alayna's Closet. Not literally of course, but where I create everything you see in my Etsy shop and more! I have temporarily taken over my daughter's playroom while my attic studio renovations are on hold. Luckily the nice bright colors I painted are lively and fresh for my shop also.

As you are standing in the doorway you face my shipping table. A gorgeous thing I found at my local HomeGoods. I keep my mailing envelopes, labels, tape and other supplies here. Also you can see my fabric stash in the clear containers.

To the left of that is my ironing board where all the magic happens. I cut out all of my designs here. On the tall bookcase is various bins for scraps and receipts and folders for my patterns and invoices. In the photoboxes towards the bottom is my grosgrain ribbon collection. And of course my little radio. I jam out to 93.7 Mike FM in Boston while I work.

Next up is my comfy leather chair where I stitch all my shirts and totes. It does double duty as a reading chair before Alayna's bedtime. We both enjoy a good Dr. Seuss book.

This storage unit was actually in my kitchen for the last 4 years. I used the towers in a craft show I did about a month ago and decided to use it in my room upstairs. It does a great job of holding all of the plastic bins that I keep my shirt inventory in. I have a wide range of sizes for both boys and girls and many colors to choose from. Right now I probably have about 150 shirts in stock. But you can see I still have a couple open spots - so I will keep an eye out for more cute styles!

And finally a little space that isn't filled with something that I use as a back drop for my product photos. I recently ordered a pinnable mannequin and a plastic half form that I love! They defintely help to show my items better and they don't run away like Alayna does when I try to take a picture. : )

And that closed door you see is the stairway up to my in the future studio. Can't wait!

Thanks for joining me in my little space of creating heaven!