New Line Launch!!

I'm so excited to launch my new line of Tween/Teen Tutus!  I think they turned out to be AWESOME!
My sister did such an amazing job of modeling them for me.  I'll be posting them on Etsy and ArtFire soon.  For advance orders, feel free to email me!

The Zombie Tutu

8 layers of tulle, 8 different colors

Fluffy, fun, something you can sink your teeth into!

In this tutu, you'll be ready to MEAT anyone.

The Rock 'n' Roll Tutu

Ready to rock on at a concert or party.

6 layers of tulle, in aqua, purple, and black

Shimmer tulle makes this tutu tons of fun!

The Fairy Tutu

Inspired by nature

Tinkerbell will be so jealous!

Perfect for a party or just hanging out with friends

6 layers of tulle, two shades of green and shimmery apple green accents

The Princess Tutu

Perfect Party Princess in Pink

Three shades of pink, including shimmery pink tulle

Great for dance class or gymnastics, too!

Flouncy and fun!

I can put your name in bling on anything!

I can totally customize all of these tutus--color, size, length--whatever you want! I can add ribbon, rhinestones, or embellishments. I can also make a matching rhinestone t-shirt saying anything you like!
What do you think?  Which one is your favorite? Isn't my little sister GORGEOUS??
  

Featured in Another ArtFire Collection!

My rhinestone bling t-shirt "I heart My grandma" was featured in a really cute collection on ArtFire.  The collection is titled, "You Are a Tweet Heart," curated by LittleApples, and it features products with hearts and birds.  ArtFire collections are created by ArtFire members and they are a really interesting way to see items themed together.  Some really creative people create these collections and it's always interesting--and inspiring--to see the items they select.  You could find some really unique Valentine's gifts by looking at this collection.
You can check out the collection here
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My Rhinestone Bling T-shirt featued in "You Are a Tweet Heart."

Valentine's Tutu Giveaway!!

Happy Friday, everyone! This weekend is a great time to start planning your Valentine's Day celebration. Why not start by winning one of my Valentine's Tutus? There are several ways to enter!

Red, White and Pink Tutu

Glittery Pink Tutu

1. Follow this blog! (If you are already following, you have an automatic entry! Yay, You!)
2. "Like" my page on Facebook
3. Share my Facebook post about this giveaway on your wall.
4. Follow me on Twitter
5. Retweet my post about this giveaway
6. 1 entry each for following me on any of the following:  Google+, Wanelo, Ownza, Pinterest, Stumbleupon
7. Finally--refer a friend on any of these sites and you will get 2 more entries if they leave a comment mentioning your name!  Woo hoo!  Lot's of ways to enter.
If I have more than 100 entries, I will giveaway 2--that's two--tutus!!

Pixie Pink Tutu

Rose Tutu

Giveaway ends Sunday night at 9:00 Central Time.  Good luck!!

Princess Lolly Tutu: Creative Juices Flowing!

A very special customer has asked me to create a Princess Lolly Tutu for a birthday party. I must admit, I had no idea who that was.  But I know now!  This is Princess Lolly from Candyland:

Isn't she whimsical, fairy-like, awe-inspiring!  Wouldn't any little girl look just adorable in a Princes Lolly Tutu? Uhm, yes, but my customer is going to be 25 on her birthday! Yes, 5 and 20 more.  So, this makes it a little more challenging.  Not only does she have to look like Princess Lolly, still be whimsical, fairy-like, awe-inspiring, cute-as-a-button, she also has to look like an adult on a very special day!  So I also have to make her look stylish, fashionable, well, down right gorgeous!
So, the creative juices are flowing! I want to incorporate more purple than you can see in this picture. Some of the drawings I've seen of Lolly have more lavender in the skirt than this one.  And I need to keep the lollipops in as well, which is going to be challenging because I've never tried to make a lollipop out of tulle before.  Maybe I can use felt . . . hmmm. . . . These are my favorite types of projects because it pushes me to do things I've never done before.  Some of my best work has come from my refusal to tell a customer no. If I hadn't ever tried to make a tulle boa, I would have never made the boa-bodice dress, the Queen of Hearts with all of the tulle pieces around the top, or the Shabby Chic Rock'n'Roll tutu, which is both one of my favorites and also the biggest pain in my behind I've ever made!
I'm hoping to have Princess Lolly ready by early next week. The big photo shoot for the teen/tween line is this weekend! I'm super excited about that! I'm also working on one of the tutus recently won in a giveaway. Oh, did I say giveaway--yes, one of those coming up this weekend, too!  Lots of pics coming soon and your chance to be the next winner!

5 Ways to Turn Social Networking into A Pain in the Butt!

Hi, my name is Amy and I'm addicted to data!
(Hi, Amy!)
I don't know if it's just my overly-Type A personality, if I actually truly do have borderline-OCD or if I just made a pact with the devil at some point in my life that I don't recall, but I have a horrible obsession with numbers.  And not in a "Wow! She guessed all of the lotto numbers right again!" kinda way but in a, "But, I had 312 Facebook followers yesterday and now I only have 311 and that means someone actually UN-LIKED ME!  Why would someone do such a thing?  Is it because I post too much?  Not enough?  Do they think I'm FAT?!?" (because, quite frankly, for me, everything goes back to whether or not someone thinks I'm fat.) Does anyone else have this problem, or is it just me??
But social networking is supposed to be fun, right?  Isn't it?  So, here are 5 ways you can easily take social networking and make it ten times worse than a visit to the gynecologist. (I love you, Dr. Bailey! Thanks for delivering my babies--don't be offended!)
1. Create an excel spreadsheet.  Now, don't get me wrong.  I love excel spreadsheets.  They are my fave.  I make them all day long. I use them all day long.  At work, I am known for my spreadsheets.  However, if you would like to turn some casual social networking/self-promotion into a nightmare only Freddy Kruger can top, try keeping track of your data in an excel spreadsheet. Obsessively update said spreadsheet everyday, showing the number of Twitter, Facebook, etc. followers you gained (or lost.)  Take this one step farther by having the data go directly into a graph!  Be sure to take everything personally and get very upset whenever the lines go down instead of up!
2. Attempt to create a list of all of your Twitter followers! Now, you might be saying, "That's ridiculous and pointless!  You can see all of your Twitter followers simply by going to Twitter." And that is true, so very true, but let me get to the reason for making the list of Twitter followers.  Also--create a list of all of the people you are following on Twitter. Cross-reference list.  Color code people you are following who are also following you so that if they stop following you, you can UNfollow them!
3.  Every time you lose a Twitter follower, use list from #2 to determine who it might have been! Yes, I know there are other places you can get this information much more quickly and without causing the retina in your left eye to detach, but signing up for one of those Unfollow services isn't nearly as much fun as paging through hundreds or even thousands of names on a list and looking back and forth to check to see if s/he is the culprit.  I mean, come on, we've all wondered what it would be like to be a bounty hunter from time to time and this is just a much safer, "roll-playing" version of that, if you will.  Boba Fett would be so proud.
4. Attempt to sign up for a lot of social networking sites you really don't understand and don't care to use, but you have heard that it's the cool thing to do so you do it anyway.  Get really upset when you can't figure them out.  Spend some time trying to connect to people, fail, get more upset.  Say screw it.  Go back to Facebook and Twitter.
5. Pay really close attention to that number on Facebook that tells you how many of your Facebook friends have liked your business page and then see what happens when the number drops! Talk about an adult version of everyone's favorite childhood threat, "You're not my friend anymore and you're not coming to my birthday party!"  Holy cow!  When that number changes, watch out!  It doesn't matter how many spreadsheets it takes, how many times I have to find the square-root of 437, or how many correlates there are between Flag Day and a full-moon, I will figure out who decided they didn't like my boutique's page anymore and they will not be getting a Christmas card!
Okay, so hopefully this made you laugh more than it made you re-think following me on any social network, including this one.  But then, if you decide not to follow me anymore, well, you can't say I didn't warn you! Most of this is at least slightly exaggerated, and I have calmed down a lot about tracking things since my Christmas vacation has been over and I've had to track more things at my "real" job.  But I have to ask, do any of these things bother anyone else?  Some of you have your own online business.  Do you follow your numbers? How do you respond if suddenly someone is MIA?  Just curious! I'd love to hear from you!

You'll Love This Zombie Tutu, Even if You Don't Have a Brain!

Okay--I was thinking maybe, "This Zombie Tutu Will Eat You For Lunch" or, "This Zombie Tutu is Happy to Meat You."  I don't know, it's Monday and all of my cleverness was spent up already giving math tests to lots and lots of first graders!
But, the good news is, the Zombie Tutu is done!  I think it turned out just as I had imagined it!  Here are a few pics, though it will look even more awesome when my sister models it for me (hopefully next weekend!)

Zombie tutu, zombie on the left, human on the right

It has 8 layers of tulle and I used 8 different colors.  The tutu consists of the "human" side and the "zombie" side.  On the human side, we have a nice white, then, light pink, then pink, then shocking pink transition, while on the zombie side, it goes from black to plum, to wine, to red--blood red.  And the sides are not exactly cut in half either.  I wanted them to melt into each other so the two pieces overlap.

This is the bottom of the tutu with the red on the zombie side and the shocking pink on the human side.

A lot of college students are playing Zombies v. Humans, where they literally run around and try to "kill" each other, like tag or something, I don't quite get it.  Wouldn't this be a great costume for that?  I have heard of teenagers having zombie parties, too.  How fun would it be to show up in this?  Even if you just want to wear something interesting to a concert or out on the town, this is definitely going to catch a lot of attention.  I can make it in any size or length.  This one has a variety of lengths from 12 inches down to 6 inches, which creates a poofy-effect, but I can make it however your tween/teenager likes.  Or maybe it's for you! Feeling a little un-dead these days?
What do you think??