smeelay stitches

Christmas Cards Have Been Ordered

2010-11-24T11:56:00.000-07:00

Seasonal Chic 2010 Christmas 5x7 folded card

Make a statement with custom Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Silhouette Machine Giveaway

2010-11-22T08:48:00.000-07:00

Silhouette Machine Giveaway

Holiday Cards from Shutterfly = A Great Deal

2010-11-20T14:04:00.000-07:00

Thanksgiving is less than a week away and that means it is almost Christmas season. I am determined not to wait until the last minute to choose and send my holiday cards this year.

I've been thinking about what cards to send for weeks (probably because I have such a beautiful daughter to show off). Shutterfly.com has an amazing selection of photo cards in a huge variety of designs and styles. I love that I can choose pictures to print on both the outside and inside, like in this card.

Joy Magic Story Christmas 5x7 folded card

Make a statement with Shutterfly Christmas photo cards.

View the entire collection of cards.

Shutterfly’s story cards also offer the option to illustrate your holiday letter with pictures from the year. No need to print a separate letter anymore!

Seasonal Chic 2010 Christmas 5x7 folded card

Make a statement with custom Christmas cards at Shutterfly.

View the entire collection of cards.

Shutterfly also has a special offer for bloggers that will make your jaw drop. Get 50 free holiday cards from Shutterfly, follow the arrow ->. I’m always looking for ways to save money and this deal couldn’t be better.

Which of the cards above is your favorite? I’d love to get your feedback so I can start thinking about how to design a family calendar for 2011...

Reversible Baby Dress

2010-03-03T20:10:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, I had two goals. First, get out of the house with Natalie. She's so happy walking around in the Moby wrap and making circles in the house bores me pretty quickly. Second, use the Joann gift cards from my generous in-laws before the cards were forgotten and lost.

Natalie and I spent an inordinate amount of time wandering through the store, selecting two coordinating fabrics. I chose fabrics that are decidedly unpink. She has a couple of purple outfits, but everything else is pink.

The fabric sadly sat untouched for over a week on our kitchen table. I was feeling ambitious one night and managed to cut it using an enlarged version of the Itty Bitty Baby Dress from Made by Rae . I love how the coordinating fabric peeks through the ties on the shoulder and thought it would be wonderful if it could also peek through the skirt. And, I thought it would be even more wonderful if the whole dress were reversible. I found a great reversible dress tutorial on polkadotbug. It took a little bit of time to decide how to construct the reversible dress with a separate bodice and skirt . For Rae's dress, she sewed the bodice to the lining before attaching the skirt. If I did that, I knew I'd have some unfinished seams hanging out. I ended up sewing 4 panels with bodice, skirt, and piping, then following polkadotbug's tutorial to finish the dress.

I think my next project is going to be a skirt for me with the paisley fabric. I don't think I'll make the reverse with the starburst; I think I'll use a solid instead. I'm a little more plain Jane when it comes to my own clothes. With a solid reverse, I think I'll get a lot more wear out of it.