Winner Announced :)

The Winner is...............


JEAGLE222!

Congratulations :)

And as always, HAPPY SEWING!

The Sami Dress is HERE!!!!

I have a brand new ebook that I am super excited about! It's "The Sami Dress"!! This sweet criss cross bodice and double layer ruffles dress is simply ADORABLE to boot. You will enjoy making it and your daughter will LOVE wearing it!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22617014

To Kick of my brand new ebook, I am also having a drawing for a Joann gift card!

For every ebook purchase from March 22, 2009 until April 11, 2009 I will add $1 to the value of a JOANN gift card (up to $40). Everyone who purchases an ebook from my store will be entered into a drawing to win the gift card. One ebook equals one entry, three ebooks equals three entries! If more than forty ebooks are sold before April 11th I will start a second prize drawing for an additional JOANN gift card worth up to $20.

No worries, if there is not a JOANN store near you, there will be an alternative prize of equal value.

Drawing(s) will take place on April 12, 2009.
Winner(s) will be contacted by email.
Contest rules subject to change without notice.

Testers Revealed!

Thank you to all those who participated in my little contest! Since there were so many willing participants, I decided to pick 3 testers instead of two!

CONGRATS to: Christina, Jay and Syl, Sue!




Email me at prettybabyboutique@gmail.com and I will give you further detail information and the ebooks!

As soon as these testers give me their feedback, the ebook will be ready for sale in my etsy store. Someone could win a little something something to feed her fabric addiction! Check back often!

PHASE ONE: Testers needed!

For the last few months, I've been working hard on this brand new ebook. Typing, picture taking, rewriting, editing.... Finally, it is now going into the "testing" phase. I'm not going to show you what it is yet.... but I will tell you it's a super cute dress for spring/summer. How do you become a tester for my FABULOUS ebook?

ETA: Pattern is for size 1/2 to 4T

It's as simple as leaving me a comment! Just tell me you want to be a tester! I will post the 2 "winners" tomorrow morning, randomly drawn of course. Tester will be given final version of the ebook as well once it is all finished.

All I ask is that the testers finish the dress within 1 week and give me feedback on grammar, clarity, and general flow of the ebook. Also, a picture of the finished dress :) So if you don't think you can do that, please don't put that your name.

BUT............................. STAY TUNE!!!!!! Once the ebook is finished and in my etsy shop, I will have a drawing involving some fabulous prizes!!!!

Scouting New Location: Adams Park

So with only 1 car in the family, the kids and I have started taking the bus around town (and by around town, I mean to the Library). We keep passing this park that has this cute shabby building there. I thought it would be great to take pictures there so that was our adventure today!

It was bad timing though... 10:30 AM and the sun was WAY up. I tried to stayed in the open shade, which elimanates 1/2 the building. But I think I got some pretty good shots anyways.

That was his most natural smile... I hate when kids cheese it up lol



What can I say about this girl, she is TROUBLE!



Doesn't it look cold? Well, it WAS!



I love a great vintage action! Don't you?

Adventure In Babysitting

I got to babysit my sister in law's baby today and it was so fun! Granted, she is only 5 months old and couldn't do much but I just love cuddling babies! She cooed and yelled and peed and spit up. Pretty much a normal routine day for her. I know her mom won't appreciate this, but I didn't put her down for her nap, I just held her the ENTIRE time! It's so much fun spoiling other people's babies....

So not only did I get to hold the baby, I had a chance to take her pictures too. Mental note, taking pictures of babies by youreslf... not a good idea!

This is SOOC (straight out of the camera), taken with my rebel xt and 50mm 1.8 lens with natural light.


I wish my headboard wasn't going through her head, but you make do with what you've got right? I love that she is somewhat smiling AND eating her hand at the same time. I think I took about 30+ shots and only this one was usable. What did we do before digital??? I can't even remember!

This is after photoshop

You know I LOVE photoshop right? I'm not really going for a natural look here, it might look over process to some people but I like it how it is. I used coffeeshop's free action (again!) but before I did that, I did adjust the temperture and exposure in ACR (adobe camera raw). If you are not shooting in RAW, you should get started! The actual shooting part is no different at all, there is no special way to shoot RAW vs JPEG. You do the exact same thing! RAW just takes up more memory. Then you go to ACR in photoshop, and you can adjust the picture like it is in camera. Go ahead, make the switch next time you take a picture!

I Love Photoshop!

Okay, yes, I realized that this post contradicts the post before, but I've got it all figured out!! Sort of... I figured out the action part anyways (thanks to a fellow ILPer!) I took some valentine's picture of Ms. S because she doesn't go to preschool and won't get to do anything fun with her classmates, so I thought she can make some cards herself and sent them to her cousins. We live for little things like this because, quite frankly, it's too cold to go outside and play! That and we don't have a car and can't drive around and explore Logan.

These 2 pictures are both edited in Photoshop Elements 7 and taken with my Canon Rebel xt and 50mm f1.8 lens. Usually I like the very natural looking photos but I wanted to be funky and fun for this shoot. (I use the term loosly becaues I am in no way a professional photographer!) I downloaded some free actions over at Coffeshop, applied urban action for the photo above and color pop for photo below.

Well, when you don't have a car and you live in a small town AND you are impatient, what do you do? you print your pictures out at walmart. It's one hour and 19 cents a copy. Mind you, without a car, one hour means nothing but it's better than waiting by the mailbox for 4 days if we do it online. I just have to wait till hubby gets home to pick them up :)