Shop Spotlight & Giveaway ♥ Whimsey & Co.

I have been friends with Amber for a really long time now (are we seriously going on 15 years?!!) She is such a sweet girl, and has a beautiful family too!

I have recently been impressed with the quality of her work. Through the shop name Whimsey & Co. she sews diaper bags with names embroidered on them, along with embellished dish towels and gorgeous aprons for the hostess. In fact, some of the diaper bags she makes are for the newest babies at the hospital (she has an inside scoop!), and others made as gifts for her church friends; what a kind heart!

Her shop design [on flickr] was one of the first full graphic branding jobs I have done. She originally ordered the banner, avatar, and logo designs; but has since ordered paper labels, waterproof labels, business cards, and more! I love to see a mommy-friend running a successful business!

The Giveaway!!
The giveaway starts today and I will be picking a winner using Random.org on Friday.To register you will have to check-out her Etsy shop and let us know what item is a must-have for your home by leaving a comment below this post.The winner drawn will recieve an embellished towel for your kitchen. You do not have to choose the pictured item, she even offered to make a custom one to match the kitchen of the winner!

As always... if you want to get an extra registration there are three options: 1. Become a Follower! ♥ 2. You can grab the MyTwoBabes button in the right column and add it to your blog, or 3. Post a note on your blog about this post, linking back to MyTwoBabes. Just make sure you leave another comment to let us know you did any of these!

A Pillow Dilemma...

I was so excited to 'win' these pillows on the Repocast.com auction last week. Actually, the lot was huge, I 'won' (well... 'bought' since I did have to pay for them!) a total of 16 pillows. Some were with the cover and some are blank white inserts. I have full intentions of covering these myself and selling them online. I definitely think I got a STEAL! All of the items are from HOME fabrics and furniture, a Michigan store that recently went out of business. Most of them still had the tags on. Also included was some home decor that I love. Though, I may not keep it all...
For example, the 2-raven & 1-crown pillows shown here are priced at $104 (!!!) each. I looked up the company online and it is a small shop in New York called PATCH NYC. To put this in perspective, I paid less than $100 for the whole lot! So I went ahead and added up everything that had a price tag on it... grand total: $1,121.00! Amazing what you can 'win' on auction!
You might think that since I work at MAI, I would get a discount... nope! I had to bid and pay just like the rest of you! The different divisions of Miedema Auctioneering all run like separate businesses, so there really is no benefit to purchasing other than getting to look at all the items whenever I go in to the office. I'm glad I looked last week!
Here's the dilemma... I am not sure what to do with these $104 pillows (or the others for that matter). If I was to sell them I would only ask about $15 each... I might try Craigslist, or maybe I should contact PATCH NYC... perhaps they want their goods back? Anyone have any suggestions on the best way to go about this? Or should I go with my original plan to take the covers off and just use the insert for a new pillow... I hate to destroy someone else's art!

A Winner! GirlyBowtique Giveaway

Congrats to Becky DeVries winner of this week's giveaway!

Hope you find a thing (or two) for sweet little Tressa in Kelly's shop!

Stay tuned... next week's giveaway: Whimsey & Co.

Spoonflower :: What a great concept!

I discovered Spoonflower a couple months ago and think it is such a great concept. You can design your own fabric graphic, they in-turn print your image on Moda cotton fabric in a full color print. It looks & feels like fine cotton fabric you can get at your local Field's Fabrics!

I had a few prints made, but the top fabric is definately my favorite. Technically the background was designed as a pale sky blue, but was actually printed as white, the brown tones should have been darker as well. So it is not exactly as designed, but that can be tweaked later I suppose.

I made this little key fob with the fabric, and really like how the flowers fit perfectly on the 1.25" cotton webbing. I might give it to my mom, it kinda reminds me of her.

Do you have suggestions for other designs? I'd love to make some custom fabric designs just for you! Hmmm... maybe this is leading to a future giveaway? ♥

I'm in an Etsy Treasury!

It's 11:45pm... it's not too late to do my Wednesday post is it?!! I almost forgot!

I made it into an Etsy Treasury this week! I am so excited! This is my fourth treasury, and I am seriously honored to be included with this bunch of products to benefit a wonderful cause! {My photo of the Pink Blush Peony is in the bottom left corner}

Think Pink and cancer research is very dear to me. I lost a great friend from what began as breast cancer, and recently found out that both of my maternal grandparents have cancer as well. This is not to mention the countless other ways this disease has effected my life, family, and friends.

May God bless the dear souls that have to deal with this, and grant them the patience to take each day at a time. They are in my prayers always!

Shop Spotlight & Giveaway ♥ GirlyBowtique

A while back I made this cute banner for Kelly over at Girly Bowtique. I have to say, I think her bows are just the cutest! There is one for every occation, you know Easter is coming fast! ♥
She also makes these adorable flip-flops!! They remind me of a 'wild' Minnie Mouse! If only they came in a size 4-5 for my girls!
She has been wonderful to work with, and I look forward to doing more business in the future.
Thanks Kelly!

The Giveaway!!

The giveaway starts today and I will be picking a winner using Random.org on Friday.To register you will have to check-out her Etsy shop and let us know what item is a must-have for your girly-girl by leaving a comment below this post.
The winner drawn will recieve a $5.00 Gift Certificate to the GirlyBowtique shop on Etsy. She has many items $5 and under for your shopping pleasure!
If you want to get an extra registration there are three options: 1. Become a Follower! ♥ 2. You can grab the MyTwoBabes button in the right column and add it to your blog, or 3. Post a note on your blog about this post, linking back to MyTwoBabes. Just make sure you leave another comment to let us know you did any of these!

Too easy! This may be another addiction!

This weekend I went on another sewing binge. I love learning how to do something new, but it may just lead to another addiction. Like I have time for more things to do!

Becky was telling me how easy these socks were to make, so I had to try it myself. With Easter coming up, I may just have to make a few more pairs to match the girl's new outfits! My pleasure!

{ click on the picture to see some of the other projects I worked on this weekend! }

A Winner! Angel Accents Giveaway

Congrats to Miriam, winner of this week's giveaway!
Hope you find a thing (or two) for your cutie twins in Amy's shop!
Happy Shopping!

Stay tuned... next week's giveaway: GirlyBowtique

New "Spring Fling" Background - Free for you!

I have been wanting to design a new background for my blog for a while now. You know me, not ever happy with what just everyone can get for free online! I was first inspired by The Cutest Blog on the Block and yesterday ran across Aqua Poppy Designs which helped me generate my own HTML for the background. I use Corel Draw X3 for designing everything, and it worked great for this as well!

I am offering this "Spring Fling" background free to you, all I ask is that if you use it, please leave a comment on this post. I would love to see it out in blog-world on your site!

How to Install:

PLEASE READ INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY

1. Your blog should be in the white 'MINIMA template for the html to work. Don't worry, you won't loose your page elements by changing it! ♥

* To do this go to "Customize" or "Layout" on the top of your blog home page. Click the tab for "Pick New Template". Select the white "MINIMA" template (this was the first one for me), click "Save" and you're ready to change the background.

2. Click "Customize" or "Layout" again.

3. Click "Add a Page Element" or "Add a Gadget"

4. Find "HTML/Java Script" and click "Add to Blog"

5. On the screen that opens, click in the large white "content" box. Paste the following HTML code from MyTwoBabes there.

* If you keep a seperate window open to this blog post, you can just toggle between the two screens to copy/paste the HTML text.

* To copy HTML, you can highlight all words and hold down the keys "Ctrl + C" or just right click and hit 'copy'.

<style type="text/css">body {background-image:url("<a href="http://i435.photobucket.com/albums/qq76/kristinbley/springfling.jpg">http://i435.photobucket.com/albums/qq76/kristinbley/springfling.jpg</a> "); background-position: center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: fixed; }</style><div id="tag" style="position:absolute; left:0px; top:30px; z-index:50; width:100px; height:47px;"><a href="http://mytwobabesdesigns.blogspot.com/2009/03/new-spring-fling-background-free-for.html" target="_blank"><img border="0" src=" <a href=" />http://i435.photobucket.com/albums/qq76/kristinbley/m2bbling.jpg</a> "/></a></div>

6. Click "Save" and you are all done! Don't forget to leave a comment to let me know what blog you used this for! Thanks!

Also... For only $14.00 I can design your blog background to match your shop design, just let me know if you are interested by shooting an email to me at kristinbley@gmail.com.

Happy Etsiversary!!

Last week marked one year since I opened my Etsy shop (March 8th, 2008). I was pleasantly surprised to have my most orders in one week to date! MyTwoBabes received orders for 34 different sets of labels!!
Thank You!
Now I have the wonderful task of preparing all of them with the cute packaging, and hand-written thank-you notes. It may take a while, but well worth the time!
This little hobby might just work out after all! ♥

Shop Spotlight & Giveaway ♥ AngelAccents

This is one of my favorite Etsy shops. I just love the creations by Amy at Angel Accents, not to mention her girls are so adorable! Everytime I checkout her blog, I get drawn more into her world. Such a great Christian family, with a fun adventure each day!

I first purchased her items about a year ago when I "needed" these bloomers for Easter. Of course, they wore them for the rest of the year, and I think they still fit (though not so 'cute' on a two-year-old!) She also made the cups with my girls names on that I mentioned here a short while ago. I just think personalization is so addicting... am I the only one that is fighting this addiction?!

Before I forget... I had the privilege of designing her shop graphics and the banner used on her business blog. Again... those adorable girls make the designs that much better!

The Giveaway!!

The giveaway starts today and I will be picking a winner using Random.org on Friday.To register you will have to check-out her Etsy shop and let us know what item is a must-have for your little one by leaving a comment below this post.

The winner drawn will recieve a $5.00 Gift Certificate to the Angel Accents shop on Etsy.

If you want to get an extra registration there are three options: 1. Become a Follower! ♥ 2. You can grab the MyTwoBabes button in the right column and add it to your blog, or 3. Post a note on your blog about this post, linking back to MyTwoBabes. Just make sure you leave another comment to let us know you did any of these!

A secret for my pal...

At our church we have a group of gals that exchanges names at the 'Secret Pal' party each year. Throughout the year we gift items to our pal and at the end reveal who we are. I just love to do it, and love getting to know the gal I have better with each month. I try to watch their taste, and surprize them with something special that is only for them. Of course, it's always fun being on the recieving end too!

This past year Sara was my pal. She has three rowdy boys and a sweet little girl, so at the reveal, I decided to make her a cute purse with only her in mind! I made the handles extra durable so those boys couldn't 'hurt' it, and added a couple flashes of pink on the front for Sara and Kimberly. The purse was made from a cute placemat I got at Hobby Lobby, and the flowers were hand crocheted by Brenda Bleyenberg of CrochetforBaby.

I got a wonderful surprize at the reveal as well... my friend Ruth was my secret pal! Thanks for a great year, I had absolutely NO idea! All the gifts were great!

A Winner! MyTwoBabes Labels

Congrats to Heather Veldman! You have won a wonderful set of labels for your household! Sounds like you would like the kitchenette set?

Please let me know your contact (email) information and we can get this order in on next week's production schedule!

Thanks for registering ~ Next week's giveaway: AngelAccents (I wish I could register too!!!)

I love my job!

I recently picked up a job under the 'custom' request listings on Etsy but, I didn't realize I had already done work for this gal until I had submitted the bid! About a year ago I printed her business cards, and now she was looking for a .pdf pattern design to sell in her shop. Well not only did I get the privilege of digitizing her hand-drawn "Fat Clutch" pattern, I got to test it too! You can check-out other clutches, purses, bags and more by going to http://www.sewtrendy.etsy.com/. She is from the East side of Michigan, so any business we can keep here is always welcome. The economy is killing us in Michigan!

I love Craigslist...

I have a bunch of stuff on Craigslist so that makes things pretty crazy during the day, I love the traffic though! If you are interested, go to Craigslist and search for MYTWOBABES to see what all is out there. I sure like meeting all the nice local people too! It's always funny when your friends or family (SARA!) send you a reply to a listing!

Shop Spotlight & Giveaway ♥ MyTwoBabes

I was planning on spotlighting one of my customers each week, but the schedule I planned didn't work for TheBeeKnees shop by Heather, so I am going to do this weeks giveaway from my own shop, MyTwoBabes. Sound good? ♥

The winner drawn will recieve a set of 10 labels in the large size (approx. 2" around) for their little one, or a set of the kitchenette labels for their tupperware, pyrex, etc... The above images are samples of the girl and boy labels available.

As always, these are waterproof and dishwasher safe. Perfect for making sure the things that go visiting with you, also come back home! :) We all know how frustrating it is when you get home and think, "now where is that pan I brought the brownies in?!!" ♥ That is implying you make brownies, which I have not been known to do! {love the cooking, not so much the baking!}

The Giveaway!! The giveaway starts today and I will be picking a winner using Random.org on Friday.To register you will have to check-out my Etsy shop and let us know what item is a must-have for your household by leaving a comment below this post.

If you want to get an extra registration there are three options: 1. Become a Follower! ♥ 2. You can grab the MyTwoBabes button in the right column and add it to your blog, or 3. Post a note on your blog about this post, linking back to MyTwoBabes. Just make sure you leave another comment to let us know you did any of these!

I sold my car... *sigh*

I sold my car this weekend... *sigh*

I guess I am on to the next chapter in my life. You know I thought I was kinda a cool mom getting groceries in my hot-rod, but really, it's just a car, right?!!

I'm not quite sure what comes next. We are definately looking for a larger vehicle, maybe an SUV, the GMC Envoy looks nice.

Or maybe a van?!!! {gasp} ♥ I have heard so much good stuff from all my mommy friends that have vans, they just love theirs. Plus, you can get so much more stuff when you go shopping, right?!! definately a bonus... those slider doors are sweet too... hmmm...

You ladies have any thoughts on this? I'd love to hear the two sides of SUV vs. VAN.

Vintage Fresh Soap - Giveaway Winner!

Well you ladies are in luck this week! Since there were only 5 registrants, there was a pretty good chance of winning the great prize from Vintage Fresh Soap!

Congratulations, Teresa R. - Heidi will be contacting you about recieving the $5.00 gift certificate! Thanks so much for checking out my blog too!

On another note...

My little Britney is doing well. We are still at the hospital today, but she in steadily improving and should be able to go home later this afternoon. God is Good!

A blessing in healthy days!

At this very moment I am sitting in the ER with my little one. Her cold from yesterday turned into extreme respiratory congestion overnight. She is on oxygen, and they are monitoring this all day. She also had to have the nebulizer machine about an hour ago or so this will be continuing throughout the day as well. Thankfully she is sleeping now (restlessly) and should be fine in a day or so.
Thanks be to God for their healthy lives so far, this is only the third time we even had to have an un-scheduled dr's appointment for either of the girls. We easily take these healthy days for granted! What a Blessing!

Lottie Da :: The suspense is over!

Remember this? This is the final digital design image for Lottie Da Boutique - I am excited to see it up in her web-shop, and apparently she will be using it for all her company branding as well! Yay!

I just love being able to help promote fellow moms in business!

Shop Spotlight & Giveaway ♥ Vintage Fresh Soap

Another MyTwoBabes Giveaway!

Not only is Heidi a mother of four, blogger, and entrepreneur, she has a shop over at Vintage Fresh Soap on Etsy. She has also been an excellent customer of mine! After I designed her shop graphics, these cute product labels were her idea, with the logo label as the primary visual, and the different scent labels changing for each new flavor. I also have used her products, not only are they cute, but they smell fantastic, and work great too!

The Giveaway!! You will giveaway is for a $5.00 certificate to her Etsy shop. The giveaway starts today and I will be picking a winner using Random.org on Friday.To register you will have to check-out her shop and let us know what item is a must-have for your home by leaving a comment below this post. If you want to get an extra registration there are three options: 1. Become a Follower! ♥ 2. You can grab the MyTwoBabes button in the right column and add it to your blog, or 3. Post a note on your blog about this post, linking back to MyTwoBabes. Just make sure you leave another comment to let us know you did any of these!

Strawberry Swirls - Etsy Trade

Strawberry Swirls - Etsy Trade, originally uploaded by mytwobabes.

I traded a set of the custom name labels in my Etsy shop for these cute hair clips from Strawberry Swirl also on Etsy- aren't they just adorable! I think anything with the girl's names on is just too cute!
They came with a great business card and super cute packaging with a bow on top. I love getting gifts from the mailman!