Launch week!

I've collaborated with different clothing and jewelry designers this week...be sure to search "Spring Fling Boutique" as well as "PCG boutique" (Petite Cover Girls) for some amazing boutique wear on eBay! Search my eBay listings to see the following featured items this week!

Mermaids have come back again in this collaboration with funky*monkey*boutique and sweet*magnolia*boutique!"

Lemons are the theme in this collaboration with calicoflamingo and sweet*magnolia*boutique:

If you have a toddler or a baby, you won't want to miss these sweet baby petite doubles! These match boutique*julianna and hbd!, but I will make them in other combinations as well!

With the strike ending on eBay, there are lots of wonderful new items on eBay and you're sure to find exactly what you're looking for! I hope everyone has a great week....and happy bidding!

Seasons of Change! :)

The eBay blackout is almost done, and I've got a few new bows scheduled for this week! Be on the lookout for the Spring Fling launch and another with Petite Cover Girls...several new items, sure to please! Currently, I have this fish bow for sale in my Etsy store:

I've been absent for a few days because our entire family developed the respiratory flu. Yes, we had our flu shots, but I guess this was the strain for which the shot didn't work! And yes, I just came off a bout with strep throat....but we had fevers and were pretty much down for the count. Anna felt better on Saturday and went to a birthday party. The rest of us pretty much suffered. I think I was on the couch or in bed more than any time in recent memory! My nose is still runny and stuffy but I hope to pull it together for work tomorrow. Maybe one more night of sleep will help? I bought some "immunity boosting" vitamins today. I don't care if they work just because they're placebos, LOL! I just need some immunity!

Because of some projects for work and other plans that will take some time away from bows, my listings will be sparse in March. Gymbo bows will mostly be by request unless I have time to make some for listing. If you're planning on buying for Easter, please order no later than March 14 for timely delivery. Thanks...and let's all gear up for SPRING! I know I'm ready!

And the winner is.....

Amy of Funky Monkey Boutique is the winner of the "Name That Band" contest with her band name entry for hairdressers: The Split Endz. The vote was actually unanimous, with my friends from work, Lois and Sarah, as the judges. Feel free to drop me a line and I will send you their e-mail addys if you want to verify the process, LOL!

Amy will receive a pair of 3-inch Anna-style bows in pink; they can be purchased for just $3.25 each on my website. Congrats, Amy! They look like these above (only in pink, duh). I love this picture because Natalia's hair is so curly! This winter it's been more "frizzy" than "curly;" I'm hoping it's just the dry air!

Blackout and an Idol

So....with the eBay strike, the Bowbetties are listing on Etsy. Search Bowbetties or BLACKOUT on Etsy to see some of the boutique world's auctions for the week.

I have not judged the band name contest yet! It was a busy weekend. Anna and I went tubing at a nearby hill and she had a blast. I also did four hours of work for "work" and spent a few hours on my bow business, on top of other weekend chores that are always so exciting, ha ha. So I thought I'd just pop in here quickly. I'm going to have someone at work choose the best, so I don't look biased! :) So stay tuned.

If you're an American Idol fan, you'll remember Kellie Pickler from a couple of seasons back. Well, my mom is a big fan and she got to meet her this weekend. She sent me this picture of her and Kellie!

View from My Window

Happy Valentine's Day! I added some love songs to the top of the playlist today. If you've never heard Andrea Bocelli's Con Te Partiro (I Will Go with You), take a listen. I think it's one of the most romantic songs I've ever heard. I wish my husband could serenade me with a voice like that!! Above is the view from my window while he'd be singing.

So, OK, obviously I'm dreaming. Below is the actual view from my window, taken yesterday. I worked from home yesterday because I've been fighting strep and a cold (and, oddly, I almost broke my kneecap last night!! When it rains, it pours). I feel better today, but I actually did get a lot of work done from home.

Yes, I am going on the eBay strike with many of my boutique friends. I accidentally re-ran a 10-day auction or else I'd have nothing up next week (I thought it was a 7-day auction and I couldn't change it since I received a quick bid). The new feedback system is dreadful for honest sellers, and I didn't appreciate the company pretending to lower prices when they actually raised them by dramatically increasing the final value fee. I can't say that the strike will hurt eBay at all, but I feel compelled to participate.

Need names!!

Ok, this is a really great chance to win a set of FREE 3-inch Anna-style bows from my Birdsong Bows website :)

I welcome your posts about possible band names, if you and your friends decided to create a band and named it after your hobby. I'm looking for hip, funny, original names that sound like they can actually BE band names.

I'll run this promotion through February 15. Post your best names as replies to this post. My favorite will get a pair of 3-inch Anna-style bows from Birdsong Bows. If you're a bow maker, we'll work something else out. Seriously! I'll get you started (feel free to add your own variations to the theme if I've already stolen yours. I will not choose my own, I promise. They are not that good):

A Bowmaker band: Heat Sealed
A stained-glassmakers band: Jagged Edges

You get the drift! Now post your replies and be merry! Contest ends on FRIDAY!!!

Wearin' of the Green!

Looking for anything from a clippy on up to a large layered headband? Don't want to get pinched this St. Patty's Day? Then visit my St. Patrick's Day collection in my Birdsong Bows store! The layered bow and the headband are also being auctioned on Ebay, starting Sunday evening, but I've got standard toddler bows, clippies, streamers, a headband and pony-o's available as well. Let's celebrate being Irish (even if we're not!) I live near the University of Notre Dame, so most people around here are "Irish" whether they can truly stake the claim...

Anna is a bird lover, and I made this headband from an adorable Alexander Henry fabric called "Birdseed." It's available in my store as well! Just click on "Fashion Headbands." She'd want to remind you that the headband seen there is HERS. I will re-make one for YOURS. :)

My strep throat is cleared and even Natalia seems to be on the mend after being sick for 9 days. Too bad it's only 5 degrees outside or I'd go out and celebrate!

St. Patrick's Day Bows!!

OK, so I'm teasing you. I do not have any pictures of St. Patrick's Day bows. I meant to make them this week (along with a new headband). I also meant to make some bows to send for launches at the end of February. However, I've been exhausted and have just been filling orders, rather than making any new designs. But I found out today I have strep throat! So this is the "strep throat excuse." Hopefully this is the last time I will have to use that one. But the bows are coming, I promise!!

One of the talented designers I'm working with at the end of February (and I actually got that bow set done and sent to the model!) is Honee of calicoflamingo. This is a closeup of a current set she's offering....just a couple of days left! I think it's perfect for girls who have outgrown the super-frilly twirls, or for more casual days for the littlest girls. I'm just giving you a taste of it here...I really would love you to peek at her auction!

Weather, and Under It

I don't know about where you live, but weather here in northern Indiana has NOT been pleasant. Prayers go out to my friends and customers in the South, who have struggled with severe weather as well. I hope everyone has managed to stay safe.

Meanwhile, we're all sort of "under the weather" here....guess it's the general February blahs. But it definitely has me thinking about spring. You have to look at this outfit by my friend Angie of simply*sophia. We've actually met in "real life!" I can't say that about any of my other boutique friends (yet). This outfit is so yummy and spring-like!

Have you checked out my post just two posts down from here? FREE 3-inch Anna-style hair bows up for grabs!!! Just give me the name of a "band" if you were to start one with a group of friends who have your same interest/hobby. I'll choose my fave on Feb. 15.

This is off-topic but I also wanted to take a moment to mention something that has deeply bothered me this week. I don't know if you've read or heard about the five women killed in the "robbery attempt" at Lane Bryant near Chicago, but one of the women was from South Bend, Indiana (my area), just visiting the store while her husband attended a work-related function nearby. She left behind her husband and three children, the youngest being under a year old. Jennifer Bishop, 34, was a loving mom and an intensive care nurse. I didn't know her, but some of her extended family attend my church and our parish/school community is deeply saddened. As I've gone about life this week....bad weather, sick children, misbehaving children (!) the beginnings of a cold myself.....those little irritations we all have...I keep thinking how fortunate I am, and how her life was taken away in an instant at the hands of a violent, selfish person. If you have a moment, say a prayer for Jennifer's family and the families of the other women killed and injured; I know that I am.

Busy weekend!

Since Anna and Natalia have birthdays so close together (Jan 24 and Feb. 8), we had a little party for both of them and my parents came to town for a visit! I have lots of photos to work on and I plan to get a better photo of Natalia in her little boutique outfit by LimeVine's sugar*sweet*boutique, but I wanted to post a quick one here to see how cute it is! Unfortunately she got sick by the afternoon and hardly ate a thing the rest of the weekend, so I'm hoping for a better week ahead!

In other news, I've joined the BowBetties bow group on eBay. I started EliteBows in August and remained in the group after passing off leadership. However, after six months, we all felt we weren't making a big enough of an impact for it to be worthwhile. We're remaining friends, though, and in some ways it's starting to be even more fun! Watch for several of us to move into other top bow groups soon. I'm still going to be listing infrequently through March; however, but when I do list on eBay, it will be with the BowBetties name! Can't wait to get to know this great group of bow makers better, and I will be granting them a rightful place on the blog soon. I'm still working with some great designers in the EliteBows final guest launch on Feb. 21....watch for new collections of bows soon!