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Author: Elizabeth Smillie

Hello there! I'm Elizabeth. Welcome to my website and blog space. All the products in my little shop are hand crafted and stem from my desire to provide creative and high quality products that make people feel lovely. I believe the little moments of life matter, every day should be celebrated, and that the beauty all around us is a gift from the Creator to be enjoyed. I'm married to a wonderful guy who happens to be my greatest cheerleader and best friend, mama to three little ones and currently reside in the heartland of America.
KCWC update

KCWC update

Ian’s hat, originally uploaded by Lizi Beth.

I’ve been working away, although a little at time, on my daily hour+ commitment for the KCWC. It’s been so nice to have an excuse to sit down and make little clothes for my babies!

On Monday I made Emma a nightie using a nightshirt that I cut down and altered (pics coming in a later post). It turned out so sweet.

Tuesday, Wednesday and today I’ve been knitting up a little hat for Ian to wear this winter. His head is already a toddler size (big boy!), so the hats I was hoping he could wear are a bit snug on him. :)
The pattern I’m using is from Simple Knits for Cherished Babies and I’m knitting it up with Caron Country Merino Blend in “Silver Service” on size 6 needles (hoping that it’ll fit longer).

I’m linking this to some of these blogs :)

Good Morning!

Good Morning!

Hi there everyone!

This morning as I was scrolling the blogs I check regularly, I found a woman who is participating in this, and decided that I would join.
It’s a week long event – beginning today – that’s called the Kid’s Clothes Week Challenge. The idea behind it is that you make an article of children’s clothing (or articles) during it, working on it/them for an hour each day. Fun, huh?!
When I saw it this morning I thought, “now there’s something I can do!” So looking forward to it!

Click on over if you’re interested! All forms of “making” – sewing, knitting, crocheting, pattern making, cutting, planning, seam ripping… – count. :D

winning and a new blogging friend

winning and a new blogging friend

So, a few weeks ago I entered a giveaway over on The Back Country Drive and, lo and behold, I won!!!
It was my first time ever winning a giveaway on a blog and it was so much fun. :)

Anyway, I thought I’d share with you a few photos of what I won (it’s pretty cute).

Quoting from her blog:

I used to have a company called Cottage Cowgirl. I made little cowgirl clothing. I have taken a break from it and am currently re-planning my business and starting back up this Fall.
This dress and skirt were made for your little cowgirl in mind. They are 100% cotton and have a cute little texas star design. The dress is a size 12-18 months and the skirt is a size 2t.
I chose the dress and it fits Emma beautifully. It has elastic along the back of the bodice to make sure that it will fit her for a while, too. :)
From 2010-09-11
From 2010-09-11
From 2010-09-11
From 2010-09-11
From 2010-09-11
From 2010-09-11
From 2010-09-11

I could post photos of Emma all day long! I’m thinking that the dress would also be darling over a pair of leggings or jeans as she gets taller. I’ve been doing that with some of her other dresses that I haven’t been ready to consign to the depths of a hand-me-down box, and it’s worked really well. And been super cute!

Thanks again to Cheech at Back Country Drive for the giveaway! We love it. <3

A Custom Mommy + Me Set

A Custom Mommy + Me Set

I was contacted by someone with a custom request through Etsy the other day. She was wanting to buy a Mommy + Me set for her sister-in-law and niece, but in fabric different than what I had on hand.
After a few emails back and forth, she decided on this gorgeous poppy fabric from the Michelle line at Hancock Fabrics (and it’s on sale this weekend!).

I used a coordinating material for the facing to make them a little more fun. It turned out so cute!

Emma was watching me pack them up. She really wanted to “help”. :)

This is what orders look like before I send them out, all wrapped in white paper and ribbon. I hope that the woman enjoys opening it. :)

I am really happy with how this set turned out and hope that the mother and daughter love it too.
Is anyone else interested in an apron or set in this fabric? If so, let me know. I might just buy the entire bolt of material!


Late Summer Sewing

Late Summer Sewing

Emma has been shooting up like a little sunflower this summer! She’s outgrowing her clothes again (my baby girl is getting so big! *sniff*).

DSC_0020
I just packed away all her tops that were mid-drifting on her and realized that she didn’t have very many left! Vemma is starting to take off but our budget is still pretty tight, so I didn’t feel like going out and spending money on clothing that she might only be wearing for another two or three months. Also, I had this cute fabric in the closet and had found this darling tutorial and free pattern on Prudent Baby ….. so Emma got a new top!

Em's new top
I used some darling quilting weight fabric for the “skirt” of the top, and bits of a linen blouse that I’ve been cutting up for the neckline and trim around the bottom. The pattern is made to have snaps instead of buttons, but I was out of snaps and, on top of that, there were some vintage bunny buttons in my collection that I’ve been wanting to use – so I finally did!

Em's new top
Emma enjoys the soft breeziness of the top, and I am loving the adorable little one it’s on. She seems to be getting more and more darling each day.

Linking to these parties – click on over and check out all the gorgeous fun-ness!

it’s only taken, oh, about 4 years

it’s only taken, oh, about 4 years

Yeah, you read that right. Four years.
It was at least that long ago that I started to collect recipes from magazines that I had tried and liked, or that looked tasty and I wanted to try.

I had whole file box full of clippings (it was pretty heavy). I kept adding to it whenever I cleaned out the stack of magazines, and we’ve moved that box with us three times. I planned to “sometime” go through it and put them all in a binder or something so that they would be more organized and accessible, but that “sometime” kept get farther and farther away.
Then I found these pretty downloads on Prudent Baby and decided that it was time to finish the project that I’d started.

the dessert binder

I really liked the aqua version of the binder cover, but our printer ran out of color ink in between the time that I printed the first one and the time that I realized that I’d need more (a span of about 2 months, since I started in the week before Ian was born). I had some pieces of vellum on hand, so I printed out a few sheets of the gray version and layered them over some full-page pictures that I pulled out of MSLiving (they have some really gorgeous images in there).

the baking binder

I tossed a ton of the clippings (I really only need one or two versions of buttercream frosting, right?), but there were still a lot of keepers – three whole binders worth (so far)! So now I have the recipes divided into Side Dishes and Main Dishes, Baking, and Desserts. Can you tell where my priorities are? ;)

It’s so nice to be able to have them all at my fingertips!

Linking to these parties – check them out! There are some really amazing things being posted!


off the needles

off the needles

The baby cardigan that I was working on for Ian is finished and ready to wear. It turned out sooooo darling.

I made it in the 3-6 month size, but it already fits him! Of course, Ian is a big boy (he was 9lbs 7 oz at birth and now is around 14 lbs). I also didn’t take the time to knit up a swatch before I started, so it may have turned out a bit smaller than the one in Essential Baby. But I love it anyway. If it doesn’t get cool enough for Ian to wear before he grows out of it I may give it away.

Or then again, I may just hold onto it. :)
The yarn is some soft cotton stuff that I saved when I unraveled one of my old ones (and has been used for so many baby things already).

linking to these parties.