Bit of Whimsy Dolls Blog

The Original Butterbean

Sarah — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 19:15:22 +0000

Happy 8th Birthday, Robbie!

The Big Moment

Sarah — Sun, 24 Jan 2010 23:58:36 +0000

Five years ago, Robbie asked for a skateboard. We told him that three years old isn't old enough to have a skateboard and that you need to be eight years old. He never forgot this and has let us know on every birthday (and many other times during the year) how many more birthdays he has left until his eighth one. Last night, his wish of five years finally came true. Eight years old seemed so far away when Rob and I made this promise to our little three year old. Somehow we thought that this day would take forever to get here and now it feels like it went by in the blink of an eye. It was definitely a happy (and tear inducing!) moment to see his excitement when he opened this long-awaited gift.

Love at Second Sight

Sarah — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:38:27 +0000

For my first post of the new year, I'm going to tell you a little (long) story called "Love at Second Sight" about the night I met Rob, 10 years ago today! Ten years. Wow. Hard to believe! That's a whole decade, people!

I was 22 years old (that's 22 year old me to the left!) and loving' life. My roommate and I went out every Saturday night dancing. Just us girls. No boys allowed! We often went with my sister and sometimes she would bring a friend too. One of our favorite places on Saturdays was a country dance bar called…oh this is embarrassing… Mama's Country Showcase. No joke. It was a fun place to be with a younger, less pushy crowd than some of the other clubs we liked to go to. It was also one of the only clubs in the Atlanta area that allowed 18 years old in… important if you want to bring along your 18 year old sister.

On this night, 10 years ago, Atlanta had an ice storm. Most Atlantans stay home on nights like these. Not us! We were determined to go out and even though I know it sounds cheesy… I knew I needed to go that night. I even told the girls this and they thought I was crazy!

So, we're sitting at a table and a guy walks up to my sister and says "Hey… that's our table!". He is with a friend and the two of them start chatting us up. Guy #1 (who's mom, by the way, works at the post office I frequent now) doesn't believe Laura (my sis) is my sister and asks to see our ID. I am 100% positive that he just wanted to see how old she was. lol Their friend, guy #3, walks over and says "Is he carding you?". The very first words Rob ever said to me. Romantic, huh?

A slow song came on and it just happened to be Kenny Chesney "You Had Me From Hello". Rob asked me to dance and the group of us split into pairs. After the song ended, a fast song came on and we drifted around a bit… Rob didn't seem interested in me and I was not interested in picking up a guy at a bar so I kept dancing and he went and sat down with a beer. Amazed by Lonestar* came on and I thought "What the heck, I like this song. I'll ask this guy to dance again". He said "Yes" and the rest, as they say, is history. We've been together ever since!

*we danced to this song at our wedding for our First Dance.

***I'm adding this note for Rob's benefit since his story defers from mine. He thought I blew him off after the first song and I must have been one of *those* girls who dances with everyone. When I asked him to dance, he turned to the guy next to him and said "I'll be right back". Little did he know!

I'm going to get better at this!

Sarah — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 18:13:01 +0000

So this whole blogging thing is pretty difficult for me… as you may have guessed by the embarrassingly few posts here. I always have things to talk about and posts in my head to write but it takes me So. Long. to write them! Because it takes me so long… I end up not writing anything at all! Not exactly the plan I had for this little space on my website. So, in an effort to get this ball rolling, I am going to do my best to get in the habit of writing at least a few short posts a week… hopefully I won't bore you too much as I practice putting my thoughts to "paper".

By the way... I meant to post this last week! Eeek! lol

Etsy Updates

Sarah — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 15:44:19 +0000

I will only have two more shop updates before Christmas: Friday, November 20th and Wednesday, November 25th. I'm not sure how big these updates will be, but there will be a few new things each of these days. In the past, I have updated my shop up until the last possible minute for Christmas but have found that this is very stressful and I don't have the time to do all of my favorite Christmas-y things like baking, crafting with the kids and making gifts.

So that I can truly enjoy Christmas with my family (and because we are going on vacation mid-December) I will not be doing any sewing for my shop after Thanksgiving. I am working around the clock to get things finished but I cannot make any promises for new patterns or for certain types of dolls to be made available. I have been working on the Piper Pony pattern but have run into a few snags so that it why it is taking me so long to get her finished. Custom orders are at the top of my To Do list and once I finish them, I will get back to work on patterns/ dolls.

Thank you for all of your support!

I'm Still Here!

Sarah — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 18:55:18 +0000

What a busy end to summer I am having! We had a great family vacation and had a great visit with my youngest sister. Rob started his new job and while this is very exciting for him and our family, I also don't have him around to help me out as much. As you know, he is my biggest helper! I've been getting the kids ready for school with school shopping and school review. I've been sewing some clothes for Abby since she is a dress wearing type of girl and it is near impossible to find a decent dress for a 6 year old in stores. grrrrr Needless to say, lots and lots going on on the home front for the last few weeks!

I've also been spending every spare moment I can find adding stock to my shop. I have decided to go down my pattern list in alphabetical order and make dolls that way instead of choosing willy nilly. I thought this would be a great way to get some dolls in my shop that I usually don't make and stock my shop for Christmas (yes, I said Chistmas!!!). While working away making dolls for my shop, I also got a wholesale order which I am very excited about! I'll share pictures and more information once the order is completed. :) I've also got a few patterns drafted that need to be completed so those will be coming soon!

So, if you do not see me around much on Twitter or Facebook it is because I am sitting in my dining room, drinking cups and cups of coffee, sewing away while watching Lord of The Rings on my laptop.

Vacation

Sarah — Sun, 26 Jul 2009 13:20:00 +0000

Rob is starting a new job on August 3rd and just finished his last day at his old job on Friday. This means that for one whole week there are no conference calls or work emails! To celebrate and to have a real vacation, we are driving to Washington D.C. on Monday! We are so excited for a quick family trip to our nation's capitol. If anyone is from the area, I'd love any "insider" tips and restaurant (kid friendly! lol) recommendations.

I will be putting my Etsy shop on vacation but will not be emptying my shop. If you get the sewing bug and want a new pattern, don't forget that my website has instant digital download. :)

p.s. That is a picture of Rob and I from eight years ago!

Giveaway Winners!

Sarah — Sat, 25 Jul 2009 14:30:04 +0000

First of all, I want to thank everyone for participating in my Christmas in July giveaway! What a lot of fun it has been and I am blown away by the comments, blog posts and retweets! Y'all are awesome! I will definitely be doing this again in the future!

After a random drawing, we have our winners! Here are the winners and the comments they posted!

Giveaway Day One:
Tweeted this as SeeMommySew
July 21, 2009 Kristin

Giveaway Day Two:
Such a pretty selection. I think they'd make a cute little doll tucked into a patchwork purse for a little girl to tote around.
Thanks for the giveaways!
~Jenny~
July 21, 2009 Jenny

Giveaway Day Three:
oh! darling! eeek!!!! i would most definitely keep this little sweet gal for me because my girls already each have doodle girls that i scooped up from your shop. then i could play together with them with my sweet doll!!! ;D awesome. thank you heaps kindly!!! you are totally great!
July 22, 2009 little t jane

Giveaway Day Four:
I would give this to my son to love on.
July 23, 2009 Stephanie

Giveaway Day Five:
I LOVE the baby boy doll! He is SO sweet!! The fabric pictures totally remind me of my son!! Especially the boy with the crayon!! My son decided that he needed to decorate our wall tonight :) I would love to snuggle up with them both(my son & the doll :))! These are adorable!! Thanks so much!!
July 24, 2009 Nichole

Congratulations to all of the winners! Please send me an email at bitofwhimsydolls@gmail.com!

Giveaway Day Five!

Sarah — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 04:01:12 +0000

Today is the fifth and last day of my Christmas in July giveaway!

Today's prize is a sweet little Butterbean doll! The winner will be able to choose either the little boy or the little girl doll. They are both made of soft flannel so they are definitely made for cuddling! Butterbean is one of my most popular designs and I could honestly spend all day making them because I love them too!

You can have a total of 3 entries! One entry for leaving a comment on my post (let me know which doll you would want to win), one entry for tweeting about my giveaway on Twitter (just leave a second comment with your Twitter ID) and one entry for posting about my giveaway on your blog (just leave a comment with your blog link)! If you choose to write a blog post, this will get you an entry for everyday of the giveaway... no need to write more than one post, just put the link in the comments everyday. The giveaway will go through Friday, July 24th and the winners will be announced on Saturday, July 25th.

Please leave me your Twitter ID if you tweet and your blog link if you posted!

The drawings will be closed at midnight eastern on July 24th and the winners for all five giveaways will be announced on Saturday, July 25th!

Giveaway Day Four!

Sarah — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 12:51:24 +0000

Today is day four of my Christmas in July giveaway!

Today's prize is this sweet little owl doll! This little guy is almost 9" tall and is ready to be loved. He (or she!) would make a great friend for your little one or would make a nice companion on a shelf in your studio. Check out more pictures of this little owl and the other dolls available in my store! www.bitofwhimsydolls.com/dolls

You can have a total of 3 entries! One entry for leaving a comment on my post (let me know where this little owl will be perched), one entry for tweeting about my giveaway on Twitter (just leave a second comment with your Twitter ID) and one entry for posting about my giveaway on your blog (just leave a comment with your blog link)! If you choose to write a blog post, this will get you an entry for everyday of the giveaway... no need to write more than one post, just put the link in the comments everyday. If you are sweet enough to write a blog post, may I request that you use the full name "Bit of Whimsy Dolls"? I'd greatly appreciate it! :) The giveaway will go through Friday, July 24th and the winners will be announced on Saturday, July 25th.

Check back tomorrow for the last prize!

Please leave me your Twitter ID if you tweet and your blog link if you posted!