Another Giveaway for our Fans!

We hit another milestone on the Kiwi and Kiki Facebook page - 250 "likes" To celebrate, we're doing another giveaway!  Last time, the winner got to pick the theme of their goody bag, this time the winner will get to choose what they want!  The winner will win a $15 credit towards any item(s) in any of the Etsy shops, or from our booth at one of our events (check here for our current event schedule)  This can include shipping!  The winner will be sent an email with instructions on how to make your selection. 

To enter the contest, there are three ways you can enter (make sure you make a separate comment for each entry)

#1 - become a follower of this blog! (or tell me that you already are) 

#2 - Visit any of the etsy shops, and let me know what you might spend your $15 credit on!

Here are the links: 

Kiwi and Kiki

Kiwi and Kiki too

Paisley Dreaming

Decal Dude

#3 - Post this Giveaway to your Facebook/Twitter account (post to both, and get a bonus entry!)

Contest will end on Sunday evening - June 27th at 10:00pm Pacific Time

Good luck!  Winner will be chosen using Random.com

Farewell, Old Friend

You see this bottle, innocently sitting on the top shelf of my fridge.  This is my weakness.  My Achilles heal, if you will.  There are two particular ways that I love to drink Coca Cola.  Preferably, from the fountain.  But it must have the perfect syrup to soda water ratio, or it's no good.  McDonald's and Wendy's typically are a safe bet for a good Coke.  Very rarely can you go to a gas station convenience store and find a good fountain Coke.  The second way I prefer to drink it is from a can, straight out of an ice cold cooler.  Excuse me while I feel a little faint.  Okay, back to you. 

To make a long story short, my love affair with Coke must come to an end.  When you start to consume a minimum of 32 ounces a day, you really have to stop and think about what exactly you are drinking.  I'm sure at some point in the future I will visit my friend, but I cannot continue on the path I have been. 

So, I'm putting this out into the Internet world, so someone besides myself will know about it.  If you see me drinking a Coke, feel free to question me about it, hold me accountable.  Unless you see a slightly crazed look in my eye - if that happens, then BACK OFF!  Really, it's for your own safety. 

Diving in!

Up until this year, I was scared to make clothing...last year, I sort of dipped my toes in the water with the bloomers, but I didn't go fully in until I made my daughter and niece's Halloween costumes.  They were butterfly fairies, inspired by Tinkerbell.  Here's their costumes:   

For my niece Abby's first birthday, I wanted to make her a lady bug dress, to go along with her Lady Bug themed birthday party.  I searched everywhere for Red fabric with black polka dots, and I couldn't find any that reminded me of a lady bug, so I decided to applique black polka dots on to red fabric.  Turned out much better than I could have imagined!  Here's a picture of her wearing it:  (photograph provided by Terri Beloit Photography)

Well, I'm diving head in - I'm listing dresses on the Etsy shop!

You can find the lady bug dress for sale here:  Black and Red Lady Bug inspired Bubble Dress, available in size 6-12M, 12M, 2T, 3T

There are other new items available also!  Check out the new bloomers and pink & brown polka dot dress.

A break from reality....and the sewing machine

I am on the second to last day of my vacation at Lake Chelan.  This has been the second time I've been to Lake Chelan in the spring, and I LOVE it.  It's so quiet and peaceful, and since it is so late in the spring (almost Memorial day, afterall!) it is still warm and sunny, and perfect laying-on-the-beach weather.  Or if you asked my daughter, perfect sandcastle making weather.  She would know.

This is the view from the condo's balcony (with the help of a really cool photomerge thingy in Photoshop):

We had a fun weekend with friends, and now its just me, Maddy and the hubby.  I am beginning to feel withdrawals from my sewing machine, which I haven't been able to use since last wednesday, but I am feeling excited to get back and start on a few new projects for the Market and for the website. 

I'll let you in on a little fun fact....this is where I got married.  Almost 9 years ago.  That's crazy.  In the very left corner of the picture, off in the distance are some trees next to a little fish pond (which happens to be nearly empty right now, they fill it for the summer months) - this is where the ceremony was.  In the middle of the picture there are bushes around some utility thingamabobs...in front of those, on the grassy side, is where the  reception was.  It rained a little, and we danced in the rain, but I didn't care, I was married!  I almost ran into the lake afterwards, dress and all....but for some reason we didn't. 

Here's a couple of other fun pictures from our week:

view from our lunch table at my FAVORITE burger place - Lakeview Drive In.  However, my family affectionately calls it the "Hole in the wall"  I think my mom started it - because it really is just this little burger place.  Established in '57 - they serve Fries in a bucket, complete with MSG! :)  What could be better than that.

Miss Maddy sitting in a tree....she liked hugging the tree.  What can I say.

Can you spot the little piggy that escaped the shoe?  Maddy came running up to me...."my toe, Mama! my toe!"  I wasn't sure what was wrong, until I saw that her little piggy was trying to escape!

On our first day, we arrived around 6pm, we unloaded our cars, and headed to the beach!  The day was slowly slipping away, but the water was calling to us.  Maddy had to dip her toes in, and so did Mama and Tina! 

And one last picture for now...Maddy on "Maddy's Beach" as she likes to call it.  She's wearing her new bucket hat, something I tried out for her, and hope to be making more to add to the online shop and the markets.

We have one more day of sun ahead of us, and then we pack up and head home on Thursday.  Back to rainy western Washington, and back to my sewing machine!  Oh how I've miss you. 

Opening day at the Farmer's Market!

It was a chilly opening day at the Puyallup Farmer's Market today, but it was successful!  We saw some familiar faces from previous seasons, and some friends stopped by to show support!  Here's a picture of our new setup: 

There are more items coming soon to the market, and a larger selection of some of the items I had today.  I was testing the waters on a few items, and since we had a great response, there will be more!  There will also be a separate section for custom order items, including embroidery options. 

This past week was one of little sleep, but after getting a good night sleep tonight *fingers crossed* I will be ready to put the finishing touches on the additional items for next week.

I will definitely miss being at the market every Saturday, but hopefully we will have a chance to do some other festivals/street fairs that we have been wanting to do. 

This week, I'm hoping to also start adding a weekly recipe and/or tutorial to the blog.  I have an ambitous week ahead of me!  Time for some sleep!  nighty night