Squishy Face - Stella B's & Captured Blessings Photography

Can I get an "Awwwwww"?

These beautiful pictures were sent to me by Jennifer Rodman of
Captured Blessing Photography

This precious baby girl is wearing a cream Miss Ted E Bear beanie. Her Mommy and Jennifer added the cute little bow for the perfect finishing touch!

Here's one last photo of Jennifer's own lil man in the Barley Ted E Bear beanie!
Lookit those cheeks! What a handsome lil dude!

Thank you SO MUCH, Jennifer! I look forward to working with you in the future!

Back to School Sale

We're gearing up for school and love us some good Back To School Sales!
I also love holding Back To School Sales, so here it is!

Until further notice, Stella B Designs customers have two sale options!

Option 1:
Buy 1 Get 1 for $10!
Just mention "BOGO10" in the "message to seller" or in any correspondence to redeem this option!

Option 2:
25% off of 1 single item!
Just mention "BTS25" in the "message to sller" or in any correspondence to redeem this option!

You can order via Etsy or email me at stellabdesign@yahoo.com.
If you order via Etsy, your Sale credit will be refunded via Paypal within 24 hours!
If you email me, we will discuss your beanie choices and I will invoice you via Paypal with the adjusted sale price.

August Giveaway Contest!

Happy August!

The summer has almost past! The kids are about to go back to school! Fall is just around the corner!
Did it go as fast for you as it went for us? It seemed to pass us by at lightning speed!

This month, the Stella B Designs "Fans" chose something they'd like to win that is a little more grown up! While it can still be made for a child, you can see it looks fabulous on the older crowd!

Introducing:

The Michele Headwrap by Stella B Designs

Color will be completely customizable by the winner(s).

The Michele features a removable/re-positionable "Bubble Flower" on an alligator clip.

It is NOT too soon to think about Christmas gifts!

Thank you to Brittney Wood Photography for these gorgeous pictures!

To enter:
1. Tell me your favorite Childhood School Memory!

2. "Like" my Facebook Fan Page (link is to the right) - you need to leave me a separate comment below if you do this one!

3. RSVP as "attending" to the Stella B Designs August Contest.

4. Tweet this (leave me an additional comment).

5. Blog this. (leave me an additional comment).

6. Share this on Facebook. (Leave an additional comment!).

That is SIX ways to enter (but you MUST leave a separate comment for most of the ways above)!

July Giveaway - WINNERS ANNOUNCED

CONGRATS, WINNERS!

Happy July!
I hope everyone had an excellent 4th of July!
We have been busy, busy, busy with birthdays and holiday and church activities!
This time of year can be so busy, but so fun!

The July Giveaway item is the:

Ted E Bear beanie!

The winner(s) will get to choose their size, color and bow options.

The more entries into the giveaway, the more winners there will be!

This makes the perfect gift, photo prop or head-warmer!

To enter:
1. Tell me your favorite BBQ food item by leaving me a comment on here!

2. "Like" my Facebook Fan Page (link is to the right) - you need to leave me a separate comment below if you do this one!

3. RSVP as "attending" to the Stella B Designs July Contest.

What I Make

Morning!
I've been a reader of Kelly's Korner for quite sometime!
She has an adorable daughter name Harper that I've been able to watch grow through her blog!

Kelly hosts a weekly "Show Us Your Life" blog where she asks her readers to share how they do things in their lives!

This week is "Show Us What you Make".

So if you're visiting from Kelly's page... Hello, my name is Brooke! I make and sell Crochet Beanies and accessories! I realized the last few posts have not included my actual craft, so I'm posting a few pictures of my favorites!

I sell them on Etsy and also have a Fan Page on Facebook.

My Letter to Canada

Dear Canada,

Let's start out by acknowledging that I don't know much about you and you don't know me. That much is clear.

Things that I do know about you:
(yes, in bullet form)

• You're anthem starts out with "Oh, Canada" and I can't get it out of my head
• You're situated north of the equator and my wonderful country
• You have really big mooses... no... mose? er...moose?...
• You are home to some really cool ladies that I consider myself privileged to know!
• You have much snow that bugs said ladies
• Both French and English are spoken
• I hear your health care is something to behold
• You stole my Patrick Marleau from the Sharks to play for you in the Olympics
  
• Your customs process is really putting a kink in my shipping schedules!

It is this last bullet point that I'd like to address in detail. Actually, I'd really like to discuss the last two, but for now I'll keep it short. Alls I have to say is, "What the heck, man?" 21 days minimum is my experience. Twenty. One. Days. This seems a bit excessive to me.

Let me just note that everything I ship in the US takes 5 days TOPS. Yes, that includes ALL THE WAY across the United Sates! I won't even bore you with my mileage and time factorage calculations that I don't actually have, but let's just say that I'm thinking it's ridiculous.

I won't get into the "why would you even consider holding your countrymen's purchases for that insane amount of time" topic... I just want to respectfully request that you maybe might come up with a new system that will cut down on the arrival time by... a week? At the least?

Don't get me wrong... some of my best friends are customs workers... I'm not a hater. I just think something else could be done.

Please?!

I'll be here. Waiting for your response.

Thanks so much,

Helpless US Shipper

Product Placement - Curlformers

I always wanted my girls to have some curl to their hair.

But it just wasn't meant to be.

All three of them have gorgeous hair. BGrace's is thick and it highlights in the sun. It's got golden browns and highlights of red. Red's is a gorgeous shade of... you guessed it... a red that can't get from a bottle! And Boo's is long and flowing... and honestly, quite wild if I don't get it tamed! She does have a slight curl at the ends, but I have a hunch that as soon as she gets her first hair trim, those will be a thing of the past. *sad face*

So basically, we're a bunch of straight-as-a-board hair people.

UNTIL NOW!

I just wanted have to share this product!

Curlformers!!

Because we have 3 girls, I bought the big box of them. I have to say that I LOVE the whole design. It's hard to explain in words, but there is a hook that pulls the hair through the curlformer. There is no wrapping the hair around anything! I always found that soooo tedious and I'd never know exactly what the curls were going to come out.

I was able to do all three girls hair in a little over an hour. Most of that time is just the sectioning of the hair. I wasn't going to do Boo's hair, but she plopped down on the stool and said "ME TWERN!!" I had five of them left, so I was able to get her hair pulled into them. I'd say it turned out pretty well for an 'afterthought'!


I'm not going to lie...they are more expensive than what I would normally pay for this type of thing, but I think the end results are worth it. Plus, I think they're going to last us a LONG while... from what I've seen, they look to be pretty sturdy and long lasting.

What do you think?



**EDITED**
Here is the video that is on the Curlformers site. I didn't see this until the next morning and I was still able to figure it out! All 3 girls slept in their Curlformers... no forming cream was used... and they turned out amazing!

Post It Note Tuesday

Here it goes, my first foray into putting my Passive-Aggressive inner voice a chance to shine...

My very first ...

*sigh* that felt good!

It sure was Monday!

Here is how I planned to spend my day...

crochet, crochet, crochet

Run a few errands and be back in time for the SACRED NAP TIME

crochet, crochet, crochet

Spend time with the hubs and kiddos

crochet, crochet, crochet

Sweet, sweet sleep!

Now, here is how I actually spent my Monday...

crochet, crochet, crochet...
I was feeling pretty good and accomplished by the time I left to run errands

Bank...

Auto. Parts. Store. (NOT planned)

Hubs met us there and changed the fuel filter and we were on our way! A little hiccup, but I felt good to have that done!

Pull out of the parking lot just to pull back in.... truck chugs to a stop half-in and half-out of the parking lot.

Call hubs. Wait, he's right there... HONK, HONK, HONK

Hubs drove by. Didn't even look at me!

Call. Voice Mail. Click.

Call. Message: Me- "I cannot believe you just DROVE right by me? Didn't you hear me honking my horn? I'm broke down. Turn around and come back and GET ME!"

Call. Voice Mail. Click.

Call. Voice Mail. Click.

Call. Voice Mail. Click.

Call. Voice Mail. Click.

Call. Voice Mail. Click.

Call. Voice Mail. Click.

No kidding... still calling.

Call. Voice Mail. Click.

Call. Message: Me- "If I have to call my dad, you are gonna be sorry! You knew I was going to be calling you to make sure the truck was working. The next call I make is to him because you won't pick up your blankety blank phone!"

Um, Click.

I got a little stressed at one point. He FINALLY answered his phone about 12 calls later!

I've already made this post longer than it had to be with all of my copy and pasting and entering, so I'll just say that my hubs and Dad saved the day. My Dad helped my Hubs run parts down and do a diagnostic thing on the truck and then hubs changed the $150 fuel filter right there in the parking lot! He's a stud like that.

So by that time it was pick-up time at school. Once I relayed the story to the girls, Red was insistent that she get to go and "just watch" them fixing the truck! We went back to the truck and repairs in progress.

Poppa and Daddy were happy to have their lil helper observe.
You can now observe her observing her dad (the one in the flip flops and bare legs under the truck). You can also observe the rain on the ground. Yeah, he didn't much plan for the weather.

Did I mention how awesome he is!?

Oh... and see that little silver cylinder thing there on the ground? That'd be the OLD fuel pump that decided it was going to call the shots today.

My messed up day was worth seeing her watch them.

... even if I didn't get half the things done I had planned!

How was your Monday?

P.S. I totally apologized to the Hubs for being mean and ugly. He didn't know what I was talking about... and when I explained, he made me sit there as he listened to the two not-so-nice messages I left him. Yikes!

What'll It Be?

You now have the POWER to choose next Month's Giveaway Item!
Whichever - or is it "Whatever" - item receives the most "likes" or votes will be next months Featured Item!!!

You can cast your vote in the "What'll it Be??" album on Facebook - (Just click the Facebook Fan Page button over there --------------->

OR

You can comment below on the item you'd like to win in June!

FOR THE GIRLS

Option 1: Girly Girl Newsgirl Beanie

Option 2: Summertime Newsgirl Beanie

Option 3: NEW Stella B Headwrap
(This is a brand new item - not yet sold online!)

FOR THE BOYS

Option 1: Deluxe Earflap Beanie

Option 2: Basic Newsboy Beanie