1st Fall Snigglefritz Collection Release "almost" uploaded....

Ok, so Im taking a break... my brain hurts! My little skirt personalities are draining me... not to mention my toosh is getting flatter! I did a crash marathon of getting all of my new skirt and accessory listings uploaded for my 1st Fall release yesterday. Sat at the computer for almost 6 straight hours! I was extremely thankful for my walking buddy that pushed me out the door 1st thing in the morning before I got started... because my muscles experienced no other excersize other than my right arm (taking coffee cup from disk to mouth, mouth to desk), and my fingers (tap, tap, tap) for the rest of that morning & afternoon!

So Im almost of there. Still a handful of accessories to finish uploading. I have to take a short break to fill an order, but then back to it. Then there's the 6 other new skirts stacked up and waiting for me to get started on the cutting room floor! I think Im going to have to limit myself to how many new styles I upload on the website... there's just too many different designs Id like to do... so I think the Market Square shows, Private Trunk Shows and Holiday Shows are going to get the bigger/full assortment, and Ill have to keep myself limited on the website so that Im not using up all of my time taking photos, writing descriptions and uploading new listings. Im already dissappointed that I havent had the time to do model shots for the new designs on this 1st Fall release... I havent given up hope, but I just couldnt fit it in and just couldnt wait any longer to get them uploaded.

So my biggest excitement this season is on my gangster ties! They were inspired by that quirky little movie from my childhood, "Bugsy Malone". Anyone remember that movie? My husband says that Im the only one in the world that liked that movie, but hey! I was, like, 8 when I saw it for the first time... I just remember loving all the music and dancing and costumes... thats all I remember about it! Apparently though, according to my husband, the acting was horrible! But looking back, I wonder... How?! There were so many actors and actresses in there that actually made it big... I suppose they had to have their "rough" patches too...

Anyhoooooo... Its our first week back to school this week. We are in 4th grade now. Where has the time gone?! My baby is not a baby anymore. It's such a bittersweet experience... watching your child grow up... We are only 3 days in, but she is off to a wonderful start... she loves her teacher, loves her classmates, excited each morning, feeling good... can't ask for much more than that! :) Well, I close this post with wishing all of our little ones a great start to a new school year... and to our parents too... wishing you a wonderful new year filled with new self discoveries!

Peace!

Big "Christmas in July" Etsy Event!!!!

I just wanted to do a quick shout-out about this big "Christmas in July" Etsy Event that's going on right now.... lots of specials going on. Not just in my Snigglefritz shop but tons of other Etsy shops. Check it out for some great savings! www.snigglefritz.etsy.com

So I think Im in denial that Im just not a "true blogger". A true blogger posts every day... whether mentioning that they've had toast for breakfast this morning, or in a lousy mood because they got cut off on the highway earlier, or maybe that they have worked their tail off today and are ending the day completely exhausted. So here I am, posting once a month if Im lucky sometimes. If Im really on top of things, I actually post as much as once a week!!! Wooooo! Step back! :) But I seriously don't see how people keep up with it all AND get anything done AND how they still have time to have any one on one contact with actual human beings!!! Maybe I just still have a little bit of "old school" tugging at me, but I can't seem to give up on it... Ill figure out the balance... someway... somehow! :)

So in a quick snapshot, the past month has included a 3 week Theatre Camp in Middletown, DE at the Everett Theatre for my daughter... where she just seems to BEAM when she's up that stage... so much fun to watch!!!! This is her 2nd year... and if I had to guess, many more to come! I think she's got the stage bug or something... she just lights up so much... it wonderful to see her light up like that, especially after the tough Spring we had with her being sick and dealing with some anxiety issues. The past month also included some relaxing girl time while daddio spent a week in the South Bronx at St.Anne's Episcopal Church helping with our church mission trip, and a week at Disney in tournaments with his volleyball team. We missed daddio very much, but the girl time was nice too! :)

So now we are on to a visit with Nana and Paw-Paw in Kentucky for a couple days 1on1 visit while mommy and daddy have a couple days down time, and a BUNCH of sewing prep time for the next Market Square show coming up next Saturday (eek!). Its hard to believe that school will be starting again in just 3 weeks... crazy!!!!!! The summers seem to fly by faster and faster each year... you know that "Easy button" that Officemax or someone has? I need a little "Slow-motion button"!!!! Yowza!! I just pray Im not wasting any "moments" in so much of this busy-busy stuff, ya know? Well, wishing you all a wonderful week and many great "moments"!!! :)

Bring on the spit-up! Burp Cloth & Flower Headband Gift Sets

We are now officially enjoying summer break. Things have been busy, calm, busy, calm, busy, calm around here... thanking the heavens above for the small waves of "calm". We play, swim, work, fit in a little VBS, work some more, play, chill, play some more, swim some more... aaaaaaaand repeat! :)

So Ive been carrying my Infant Burp Cloth Sets for a while, but have not added them to my website because I kept tweeking the accessory that went with them. BUT! I have finally settled on what they will be now. So the set includes 1 burp cloth, 1 stretchy crochet headband, and 1 detachable rosette or flower hair clip. I only go down to 12M on my skirts, so Ive been trying to make sure I have something to offer for our wittle itty bitty cuties out there. They are $10/set. Ive went back and forth on whether I should include 2 burp cloths in each set, but then Id have to bump the price up to $15 and I really like the $10 price point... I welcome any opinions you'd like to offer one way or the other on that.

Meanwhile, still working on this whole "being in the moment" thing. Such a tough thing to do when the to-do list keeps growing... especially when daddio is out of town and such a vital part of our daily family functions. Alex and I are really missing him... he's in New York on a mission trip with our church. We usually go up there as a family... atleast that's become a tradition over the past couple years... but Alex really needed some extra down time this summer to chill out and relax, so we cancelled all of our usual travel trips except her theatre camp in Delaware. We miss our mission trip crew... and all the kids at St.Anne's Episcopal Church After-School Program in the South Bronx. It's been pretty cool though... Brent and I have figured out our video functions on our phones and have been utilizing them to send little video messages back and forth between the kids and the family. It helps Alex continue some of those friendships she's made up there... we're already looking forward to being a part of that again next year... what an exhausting and unbelievably amazing week that is... those kids are so unbelievably strong and honest... and "real". What a blessing they are.

Ok, enough rambling and jumping around... sorry! :} I hope everyone is having a wonderful week! Will post more soon... new designs being photographed this week.. hoping to have pictures back to share in next week or 2. Yippee!!!

Simple pleasures... being in the moment!

So I think I finally found a day of "moments"! It was a wonderful, fairly uneventful, living-in-the-moment kind of day!

We've had a busy couple of days with a bunch of "Schools out little girl sleepovers". Other than the occasional "THUD!" on the ceiling, all of our guests have been lovely and they all seemed to have such a good time... pizza, movies, ds games, nails, makeup, pool, board games, and lots of giggling! Our last guest was taken home last night... ahhhhhhhh! A chance for a little quiet time. This morning, something very unusual happened... we slept in 'till 9am! Unfortunately, we missed church because we slept so late... but I have to admit, the extra rest was WONDERFUL... for both of us! So it started with a wonderful cup of coffee and some nostalgic cartoons... like the Smurfs! :) After about an hour of cartoons, Alex looks over at me and says "Mom, maybe we should read some scripture from our bibles since we're not going to church." Of course, I thought to myself... Wow! I can't let this one slip by! So I said "I think that's a great idea!" So we finished watching The Pink Panther (which, by the way, why do I remember this show being way funnier than it actually was?!) Anyhooooo... we took 3 turns each using our "faithful finger"... that's where we just open the bible and close our eyes 'til out finger finds a spot. We had a couple scriptures that really connected and we were able to talk about and share examples... and then there were 1 or 2 that neither of us had much to offer to the story... BUT! That's ok, because the ones that connected, connected so beautifully! It was wonderful... and my 8 year old daughter initiated the whole thing! Needless to say, it was a very proud parent moment for me! :)

So from there... I went out to pull a few weeds, while she began concocting some sort of scented bubble solution where she was finding flower pedals and plant substance to add to several different scented bubble solutions. She had me come smell test several times and by the 3rd or 4th time, I told her that there were some different extracts/flavorings in the kitchen cabinet she could use if she'd like... then that lead to letting her know we had several different scented oils... then after a while, she was mixing up her own blend of essential oil body sprays... it was great... you could just see the creative juices flowing! She had these little tiny squirt bottle left over from her pixo kit, so she emptied those and now has 2 little exclusive "Alex scented body sprays"! She was so excited... and needless to say, I was very excited for her!

Well, from there, I told her there were places she could go to buy different scented oils and little spray bottles so she could make more if she wanted... and that that would be a great thing to use her chore money on if she wanted. Well that just kicked her into chore mode... went upstairs and cleaned her bathroom, vacuumed her room and then even cleaned her cat's little box! She was working on cleaning out my wallet! But that's ok... she was motivated and who was I to get in her way!

So after chores and and some lunch, I told her I had to go upstairs to do several hours of sewing and that she was more than happy to come up with me, or she could do whatever... but we were laying low for today without a bunch of friends running around. So she came up with me and I started my sewing. Well before I knew it, she was in the midst of making her doll a pair of shorts... all by herself! Now, dont get me wrong, she had to remake the shorts 3 times because the 1st time they were too small, and then the 2nd time, she didnt have enough waist area, and then by the 3rd time, they were just right! (well, just right for an 8 year old making a pair of shorts for the 1st time! ;)

It was a day filled with "being in the moment" and enjoying every bit of it! It was WONDERFUL! Alex and I enjoyed some quality mommy-daughter time together without it having to be some "planned event". There was no complaining of being bored, of having to do her chores, of me having to sew, of not getting to watch more TV, etc, etc... we both just enjoyed the day... for what it was. What a wonderful gift... Im so very thankful. I wish all of you many "moments" during this long holiday weekend! :)

"Be present in the moment"... HA!!!!!

Just giving everyone a big shout out to come down and join in Knoxville's Market Square festivities every Saturday... 1st Saturday of every month in particular (that's when Ill be down there! ;) Working my tail off to have plenty of variety in skirt styles and sizes, but even more so, plenty of accessories to choose from too!

Summer has officially started, school is out, so now the challenge of working while kids play all day kicks into gear. My goal this summer is to find the "Balance".. balance? whats that? I sometimes believe there is no such thing. But my goal is to make out a schedule for myself... part work, part play. I figure if I make out a schedule, then maybe it will allow me to "be present in the moment" more... instead of constantly feeling guilty for playing while i should be working... or working while i should be playing... and never fully being present in any of the moments because Im constantly thinking about some other moment (oo! sorry! major rambling there!). Why is "Being in the moment" so difficult? Am I the only one that struggles with this? It does happen from time to time... and when its happening... I tend to realize it right in the middle of it.. and go "Wow! I need to work at this more often.. THIS is what its all about!" But thats the thing... if you work at it too hard... its not "real"... so anyone with some words of wisdom on this subject is urged to share please!!! :)

Snigglefritz skirts - Adorable customer shots

I am just so lucky to have the most adorable little girls running around in my skirts! YEA for me!! :)

Snigglefritz skirts - Adorable customer shots

Im pretty sure ANY piece of clothing would look adorable when paired with this sweet smile, but hey... lucky me! :)