A Letter to God. A Letter to Ginny.

Dear Ginny,

This is not God (just wanted to clear that up front) but I do know a thing or two about Holidays.  You see there is this certain secret between us girls.  We sort of own our very special holiday.  It starts with a V and ends with an E and goes like this: Valentine's Day.
Say it with me, "Vaaalllleeennnttiiineeesss Daaaayyyy......"
Very good sweetie, you see, when you grow up you will learn the valuable power of this special day.  First, it does come between Christmas and Easter.  Exciting Right?  Second, if you play your cards right you will get lots of cookies and candy (when you are still young) a nice dinner, flowers and/or jewelry when you are older (again if you play your cards right) and when you become a Mommy you get homemade Valentine’s Day cards made by your precious yet sticky (from all the candy I was telling you about) five year old. 
You also get to exchange Valentine’s Day cards with your friends and find out what they really think of you.  Things like "Cutie Pie," "Cup Cake" and "Hug Me" are all wonderful saying's, good for the soul and can be a fantastic mood lifter. 
Then you get to eat the little sayings and if you are still young you won't care about the caloric intake, and when you get to be 30 and over you will care a little bit more but not really.  They are small pieces so eating  18 in a row won't hurt (not that I would l know....)
Now, I must pause real quickly and throw in a small (yet powerful) warning, the men in your life will totally try and deny you this holiday.  They will say things like "It is a Marketing Ploy"  "Stores just want our money" and some other senseless crap.  Girlfriend, DO NOT BELIEVE A WORD THEY SAY and if they pull that trick on you ignore them, remind them of how fabulous you are and if that fails steal their credit card and go buy yourself you own Valentine’s Day present and double the amount on what you think he would have spent.  Some store suggestions...IKEA, Nordstrom’s, Pottery Barn, Jarred Galleria (my personal favorite) and so on. 
So you see, it is all good sweetheart.  A holiday focused on hearts and love and sugar and spice and everything nice.  It is a Girls DREAM.
Yet more than anything I want you to remember, that the most important part of a holiday focused on hearts, is to remind ourselves, to take care of our own.  So Ginny,  from one girl to another, be good to yourself, and Love Yourself.  You can’t go wrong there and I think even God just might agree.

Kind Regards,
A Friend

Two Mom's, One Passion, A Ton of designs.

Meet local stay at home Mom’s, Amy Snyder and Jenn Holby.  They are the two very creative brains behind their local home based business, "Sew What Mommy."  If you think the title is cute, wait till you see their selection.  They offer fun and different clothing for little ones as well as some unique items that are all handmade, all fabulously trendy and super adorable.
Amy and Jenn have known each other for six years.  Their friendship is unique in the sense that they both have two boys and one girl who are very close in ages.  Their friendship blossomed when they met at childbirth class with their first babies. They now live in the same neighborhood and not only call each other best friends but also neighbors. 
I visited with them one day last week and found out the story behind “Sew What Mommy” and where they get their ideas and inspiration.
"We just wanted to create an eye-catching outfit that you wouldn't normally see in Target, but one that wouldn’t hold a boutique price." Says Amy (a Clemson grad and diehard Tigers fan) Amy, who never had much interest in sewing as a little girl, comes from it honestly as her Grandmother who was a full on seamstress passed away at the age of 96.  After that she bought her first embroidery machine and with the help of her mom and many phone conversations, she self taught her way around the machine and was making and monogramming outfits in no time.
“My grandmother was a big inspiration to me.” She says, and now that she can design and create outfits using a family niche it makes it all the more special.

Jenn, also has a way with the sewing machine.  Prior to buying her Sewing/ Embroidery machine she worked on a 60 year old “Sears Kenmore” that was a hand me down from family.  The machine had been well taken care of but being 60 years old it had some “issues.” Still, she was able to use the machine to make some outfits and most recently, curtains for their new home.  But after Amy showed her Brother machine and what cute stuff one could make, she went out and bought one immediately.  Together they began making new outfits for their little girls and before they knew it people were asking them “Where did you buy that.”  And things took off from there.

“We are inspired by boutique style outfits, but want to offer them at a more reasonable price. Seeing the newest specialty children’s clothing catalogs fuels our creativity even more and we want to achieve a look for kids that are funky yet also simple and fun.”
“Brainstorming is part of the process.” They also say.  Both girls, who admit they get most of their ideas while in the car, come up with new ideas daily. They laugh at the fact of how many times they have called each other saying “I have another IDEA!!"

Trendy Top and pants outfit.

Most of the sewing is done during nap time and also in the evenings when kids have gone to bed.   It is non-stop but also part of the joy they tell me.
"The fun part is it doesn’t feel like work.  We truly love what we create and love what we do."

Another unique thing about “Sew What Mommy” is you can do business with them one of two ways.  If you are a fabric buff and want to pick out your own colors etc, you can bring the fabric to them and they will make the outfit for you.  Or, they can purchase the fabric for you and just add it to the cost of your item.  Both ways allow many options for customers and make things easier on those of us (me included) who can barely put together red on red.

Fabric Sample from one of their designs.

I am definitely a fan of their work and know you will be too.   One of the main reasons they do this is so that the outfits will be distinctive and not something you would see on other kids at school.   They are fun, creative, and both girls have an eye for styles that are current, trendy but also have old fashion flair. 

All of the fabrics are pretreated by washing them on gentle cold and hanging to dry. They also “serge” the raw edges of the material for a professional look and product as well as to prevent any unraveling. All items are made in a pet and smoke free home.  Their sizes run from 3 M to a size 12.  And they offer both boy and girl appliqués along with seasonal collections as well. 


Girl Easter Outfit

Sample Boy Applique

Be sure to also check out their monogrammed items, one here includes the famous South Carolina Logo using monogrammed initials.



Designers Amy and Jenn with daughters Aubree and Mena.


For more information check out their website at and become a fan on facebook.
http://www.sewwhatmommy.blogspot.com/
Or contact them at:  sew-what-mommy@att.net




Intersections is now on You Tube

Because you asked (and I love you for that).  Intersections is now up on YouTube for easy viewing.  Please comment and let me know what you think.  I learned how much I LOVED making this and would like to make more videos in the future that INSPIRE and make you LAUGH!!  And show off any products or services.  Look out Spielberg, the Chatter is coming....

Having my Pink and Blogging it to.

The new is here. I am in love with my new look and hope you are too.  Like most things in life, it turned out not quite as I was expecting. 
A pink background? 
Really?
How did  that happen? 
But here it is new and fresh and simple yet lovely and sweet.
And different from anything I ever thought.
Which is sort of the point.
And I so love it when that happens.
Thanks for being so patient.
Welcome back and Grab my button.
Let's Chat.
Laugh
Inspire
Sort of what you all do for me.
Now we can do it together.
In all sorts of colors.
I can not wait!

Mary