For the Little Divas on your gift list

 For Christmas I blew the dust off of my little girls crayon bag design! I only make this one a couple times of year and had LOTS of requests for it in the last two weeks. So here they are, in all their cuteness, with a new addition...a ruffle down the front to match Mom's Gathered & Sown Ruffle bag ;)
They are only $15 a piece, so they make a great little gift. If you are interested in one of these, ( I have not Etsy'd them yet)  please send me an email at stuffedmommy at yahoo dot com. Subject line CRAYON BAG ORDER
Thanks! (and PLEASE feel free to pass this on hint,hint!)

Turquoise with Burnt Orange

Mod Swirl with Cotton Candy Pink

Yellow with Grey and White Polka Dot

Red/White Check with Navy/White Polka Dot

Gathered & Sown has a professional photo shoot {I feel so grown up}

Last night, after I dropped my kids off for VBS, I was privileged enough to have my good friend Krissy Vanderlaan offer to take pictures of my bags. She has a super fancy camera, some mad photog' skills and photo shop. I would be a fool to say no! But when the time came to go, I had no model. As I called Krissy on my cell, I drove by my friend Laura's house. Lo and behold, there she stood, cleaning out her car, like a frantic answer to prayer! And don't gag, but as you look at the pictures, please know this is EXACTLY how she looked when I drove by. No foolin. I wish I looked that good when I was cleaning my car! Krissy was able to convince me that I looked presentable enough to be in a few shots, even though I was only planning on standing BEHIND the lens. Had I known, I would have tried to look at least a little more "laura-like!"

This picture was taken in the cutest little old fashioned soda and ice cream shop in the South Pier district.
If you are ever in Sheboygan, check out South Pier Parlor, owned by the sweetest little thing,
Michelle and her hubby Ryan.
{ I love to support awesome people and their small businesses, wink,wink! }

This was taken on South Pier in Sheboygan.
We are SO BLESSED to live right on the beautiful Lake Michigan.

Krissy thought Spencer felt left out. (he was waiting in the car the WHOLE time!)
SO we decided to get him in a few shots.
{Notice his body language. He was about to SPRINT after another dog.}

Laura and those L-E-G-S!
If I had legs like those, I'd be going around showing them to people, saying
"Hey, have you seen my legs? They rock!" :D

We had so much fun. The weather and natural lighting were perfect and I love what Krissy did with the pictures.

{Thank you Laura and Krissy for your time, talent and friendships!}

That's what I love about my job. I get to do what I love, with the people I enjoy being with and on top of that, get to see something I CREATED bring someone joy. Life is good :)

They say real cheese comes from WHERE????

I am a Wisconsin girl, through and through. And the fun excursion my friends Amy, Cara and I took our kids on today proves one thing: THE BEST CHEESE COMES FROM WISCONSIN!!! Cara even had a friend visiting from Florida, who made the trip PERFECT by walking around with her camera on her neck like a real tourist, Lol!

I had been told by a friend that if you ask, they might let you see the factory. So I did...and while they couldn't take us to the room where they make the cheese (sanitary reasons, which I am GRATEFUL for!) but they had huge windows which allowed us to see the process. But our generous tour guild, Kert showed us and the kids an entire tour of the rest of the facility. It was fascinating! I never knew there was a demand for 1200 pound wheels of cheese, but I saw the picture to prove it. The wheel was ordered from Texas. I guess everything IS bigger in Texas!

Here are the kids, the sun was a little high at the time we wanted to take the picture :)

The huge windows and the view into the cheese making room.
That is the back of Kert(on the right), our wonderful, informative tour guide!

We made Will sit in the pictures and go along to the factory, although he is clearly WAY TOO COOL for such things!
From left:Will, my BFF Amy, Aidan,Sabina (those are her three wonderful babies!) then Chloe and Audrey, my two daughters. Oh how I love them all!

Chloe and Audrey showing off their hair nets for the tour.
The kids loved them, they wore them until we got home. NERDS!

These are wooden boxes filled with cheese wheels.
There was a crazy huge amount of cheese in this place!

That is a vat holding a wheel of cheese that is solidifying. Something about the whey coming out...
Kert explained it better than that. And yes, it is bigger than my daughters.

The kids are demonstrating how CHILLY it was in there. Fah-reezing!

These kids love each other so much, I just love this picture.
Oh,Aidan <3 (on the left)

Time to sample! Yummmmmmm. Those are squeaky fresh cheese curds.
They were still warm!

For information on Hennings cheese, check out their website. I honestly love their cheese over any other WI cheese maker. And we have some great ones THE BEST in our state.

Fun day, great place. Finished it off with local ice cream, scooped while we paid for our cheese:) I highly recommend making the trip if you ever get the chance. And anyone who wants to argue that cows are happier in California, please come check out Wisconsin. No question :)

Girls Night Out

Last week I stepped out of the realm of comfort, and went as a featured guest at a Womens Gathering. First of all I was flattered that they would invite me, but most of all, I was honored at the opportunity to show my bags to new eyes.  It was so much fun pairing my bags with outfits and accessories from other lines and seeing how easily a quick change of accessories can change your look.  The coordinator had 3 models in basic outfits, and used bags, jewely and shoes to change the look based on their activities.

It was casual, and the ladies were so much fun! I have to admit I was a little nervous, wondering if I'd be able to pull it off, but in the end, I was challenged in a good way, and left that evening able to see my products from a whole new perspective. (a good thing, of course!)

I thought I'd share a few pictures of the night, but I have to apologize, the settings on my camera that night were perfect for up close still shots, but not so great for shots of the models. So I just showed the best ones I had :)