Happy Holidays

Wherever you find yourself this Holiday season we wish you a very Merry Christmas! But most of all happiness and health for you and your families!

Wanted to share a sweet little photo of Ms. Jade in her Loves Me Not dress and Lola leggings from our Black Friday giveaway! Isn't she the sweetest? And I also have to say how perfect the colors look on her!

We need your help!

As of February 10, Knuckleheads Clothing and thousands of others in the children's industry will be deeply affected financially and or will be out of business.

Remember the outcry last holiday season over lead in imported toys? In order to combat such safety issues, the Consumer Product Safety Commission has passed legislation called the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA). The law sets stringent guidelines for children’s products containing lead and phthalates (a chemical used in some vinyl products).

It is supposed to go into effect February 10th, 2009, and after that date any product intended for children ages 12 and under must meet these guidelines, and have a certificate of compliance from a CPSC-accredited laboratory. This includes not just toys, but clothing, jewelry, blankets, sheets, books, bibs, strollers, carriers, and anything else that a child under 12 might come in contact with. Sounds great, right?

In theory, maybe. But in actuality the law is so far reaching that it may succeed in turning the economy upside down. For starters, the CPSIA requires end unit testing on every product intended for use by children under 12. It is the responsibility of the manufacturer to do this testing, regardless of how small the business. That means that manufacturers (like myself ) will have to pay to get every different product they offer tested. These tests have to be done at a CSPC accredited lab, and cost tens of thousands of dollars. For example if you offer 3 different types of dresses. Each dress contains 2 different fabrics, as well as buttons, and thread, so that's potentially $600 to test one dress. But if you have 3 or more styles, that's $1800. And when you get a new bolt of fabric, you need to start all over again.

At present, there are no exemptions for small businesses and "micro" manufacturers and most handcraft artisans. There is no exception for quantities made, where the garments/products are made or anything else. Nor is there an exception for unadorned fabric components, unfinished wood components, materials which, by their nature, are free of lead and phthalates.

Also, the Act takes a "guilty until proven innocent" approach, which would treat a handmade, unfinished wooden toy that doesn't meet the certification deadline of 2/10/09 as a "banned hazardous substance" which would be illegal to distribute in this country. Each infraction carries a $100,000 felony charge. This legislation is also retroactive for any pre-existing inventory as of February 10th, 2009. This means that everything on the shelves in those big (or small) stores will also be "banned, hazardous substances" - contraband.

Larger corporations that can afford testing will incur thousands, maybe millions of dollars in fees, and this expense will be handed down to the consumer, probably making the prices for children's products go through the roof.

This also means that after that date, even selling your kids old things on eBay or Craigslist will be illegal. Charities will not be able to accept donations without a certificate of compliance either. February 10, 2009 is being dubbed “National Bankruptcy Day” by many people in the apparel and toy industry. If this legislation is not amended, it will affect everyone from port workers to parents looking for legal products. Billions of dollars worth of children's products will have to be destroyed because they can’t be legally sold, and this will cause major environmental problems.

Whilewe all for higher safety standards and keeping our kids safe, this law is so overreaching as to put thousands on manufacturers of children's products out of business -hurting our economy and causing even more loan defaults. Though this legislation was well-intentioned, it cannot be allowed to stand as is.

Please help us defend the American dream and our entrepreneurial spirit! This law affects every stay at home mom trying to help put food on the table and every grandmother knitting blankets for the local craft fair. It makes the thousands of us who have found a niche in the burgeoning children's market have to make a tough decision - continue to produce items illegally and possible incur a $100,000 fine, pay the enormous fees and raise costs of goods sold, or close up shop!

Please help us!Contact your Congressperson using this link: http://capwiz.com/americanapparel/issues/alert/?alertid=12274476

It only takes 30 seconds!If you have an extra minute send a hard copy of the letter as well!To sign the online petition: http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/economicimpactsofCPSIA/index.html

Read more about it here: http://nationalbankruptcyday.com/

Please copy and paste this on your blogs, we need all the help we can get!

~Black Friday Giveaway~

Check out this little sweetie Sophie! I just adore her, too cute! I had a blast making this skirt, some of my favorite prints :) Thank you so much to her awesome mommy Michelle for sending these adorable pics!

A sneak

Just a little peak of the set that Nancy won in our Black Friday giveaway. She was the grand prize winner of a 2 pc set of her choice.

December is here and we are finally finished up on all of our Etsy orders. I can tell you I am looking forward to a month off! We still will be brainstorming for Spring and choosing fabrics and designs, but that is the fun part!

...and the winners are

Hope everyone had a great holiday and did not eat too much :).

We have some winners!! Random number generator chose 11, 27 and 30 My Pea Green Sweater "Michelle", "Kelly" and "Super Mommy".

Please email us at lovesmenot@comcast.net so we can get together on your freebies!!

Thank you to all that entered and for all of your kind words and fabulous ideas! Can't wait to get started on Spring!!

Black Friday!

Yes it is that time of year again! Can't believe the Holidays have snuck up on us so fast! We are busy finishing up the last of our orders from our Etsy shop. December will be a time for us to take a break and plan for Spring....yes Spring!

We are grateful for many things and one of them is the success of "Loves Me Not" this Fall. We could not have done it without you! We would love to say "thanks" to our most wonderful customers so we are having a giveaway! Yes "Freebies" as some like to call them!

All you have to do is leave us a comment on what you would love to see in our Spring line for 2009 and of course your name and you are entered! You may enter two times and up until midnight on Friday.

Saturday we will have a random number generator choose numbers and we will announce the winners!

We will be giving away some exclusive "One of a Kind" Designer pieces made by us and the Grandeola Prize of a complete outfit too!!

We wish everyone a very safe and wonderful Thanksgiving!!!

Just a little bit..

More. More fabric and of course more treasures that is. Yes we like any other seamstress out there love us some fabric and can't resist the temptation to just make a little something out if when something strikes our fancy ;)

We have added just a few more items to the shop today slated more towards Winter. The big "W" will soon be knocking on our door along with the bustle of the Holidays. After this we are officially in "planning" mode for 2009.....can you believe 2009? Seems like we were all just freaking out about Y2K. My daughter thought I was referring to new name for a toy lol!

Swimming in a sea of red velour over here and I am sending out your holiday orders as quickly as my hands and dear little machines can create them. All I need is more time and a live in Nanny....want to apply?

December will be "break" time for us or more like "non-sewing planning time" for the Spring line which I know will creep up on us quickly if we don't watch out.

Stay tuned soon as we have a fun little contest coming up!

~Customer Cuties~

We have some darling shots to share with everyone!

How sweet are these cuties!Thanks so much girls for letting us post. We appreciate everyone's support!
Keep the pics coming ladies, we LOVE to see them!

Pretty Please!

One thing designers LOVE to see is their finished product on their sweet little shoppers! We are not begging....pretty please..so don't think you have to do it ....with sugar on top....it's not like we need to see it ....with sprinkles....so don't feel obligated.

So drop us a line and with your permission we would love to post them here on our blog!

Email us at lovesmenot@comcast.net.

And on another note, some new things are in the works. Cozy, soft and comfy winter wear with a bit of girlyness for extra fun....stay tuned.

Get Your Swank On!

Yep, you want some swank we got it.

We now have a section in the store "Designer Swank" and will be adding our design samples there art discounted rates from time to time. These are one time deals, once they are gone they are gone! All of them are ready to ship and will be shipped within a couple days of payment.

We will also at some point be adding some one of a kinds to the "swank" section. We have so much fabric and sometimes it is just good to sit down and freely create amongst all the repetition. It keeps you mind clear and can be inspiring! Once we feel like we have got a handle on our orders in the shop (thanks ladies ;) ) this will something we will try to do once a week. So how about a fun name for our "Swankiness"....."Swanky Friday" just does not cut it for me, will have to think while I sew. Feel free to leave any and all suggestions, they have to be better than mine!

Victoria Velours

At the request of a couple of you loyal "shoppers" out there we had a request for some comfy but cute Velour pants for Mom - we deserve a little spoiling sometimes too!

We have just added 3 pair of women's, ladies, hip momma's, chics..... pants or whatever you like to refer to yourself as ( Women's sounds so aged) to our store. Available in 4 colors, the red fabric is TDF! I do not have a pair of the red modeled so if you are interested let us know.

These are really cute paired with a pair of boots and cute t-shirt or go casual and wear your favorite pair of slip ons. These have become my new favorite pair of pants and my girls can't stop rubbing my legs...no kidding.

Matching pairs are also available for the little "shoppers" though we do not have any to show you, they will come in a standard wide leg cut with mini-ruffle and elastic waist - to match mom. Let us know if you are interested.

More to come...

We have been busy working on orders this week and the first of them are in the mail.

As a designer/seamstress it is hard not to dream and think of what is coming next!

Can you take a guess?

Falling for Fall

Can you believe the first day of Fall has come and gone? Seems like we were just begging for the warm summer days just yesterday and now October is upon us and our first snow will hit us this month...that's Colorado for you!

We are tossing around the idea of a simple Winter collection and wanted some input on what everyone is looking for?? A few ideas are some more comfy and cute knit coordinates, wide cut denim ruffles or how about some comfy velour pants for the moms out there with a small or large ruffle on the bottom paired with a logo cami tank? Just some ideas we are kicking around while we cut and sew and cut and sew......anyone know of a good masseuse?

Oh...and I never posted that we have more leggings available in all 3 colors, but I think most of you already know that :)

Manic Monday

We have an overwhelmingly popular request for more leggings....you ladies love the leggings!

I myself have ordered the MJ Bettie Dress and plan on pairing it up with the Lily leggings in cranberry along with some brown ballet flats (that is if my daughter Miss M. cooperates). They are a perfect match in color :).

So we are on the trail for more cream, espresso and cranberry knit for more leggings...which are you wanting more of? We are getting more requests for espresso and cranberry it seems, so please leave your comments so we know what you like! And we will update you when we get more in! We should be getting more cranberry in early this week so check the blog and the store because it will be in limited quantities.

I am beginning to wonder if we need to open up a second Etsy store....called "Got Pants", "Bottom Half" or "Deux Jambes" (translates to "Two Legs" in french...please give me extra credit for being creative).

The red velour ruffles were selling faster than I could put them in our store late Saturday night and we are now out, so it begins. We are getting more questions on when we can make more red velour ruffles.....we will keep you posted red ruffle lovers.

Sunday Holidaze

So now that we are officially in business here and things are rolling we have decided to begin selling our Holiday Collection on September 28th...2 days and counting.

Sunday sounded like a good day because Sundays are always good days to shop and be lazy. The men are busy with football and other testosterone ridden sports and we can shop and be in our jammies all day if we want and they probably would not even notice.....unless the kids were screaming and hanging from the banisters eating Popsicles in their underwear.....it's okay remember it's Sunday!

So sometime Sunday, could be the wee hours, our items will be ready available in the Etsy store. I am sorry to say the super cute and soft velour pants are available in very limited quantities...unless for some reason a miracle happens and more of this wondrous fabric magically becomes available from the factory in which it came from.

We normally ship our pieces to you within 3-4 weeks, but since we already have orders to fill and cannot anticipate how many more we may receive in addition to this Holiday Line, we would rather be on the safe side and say that Holiday orders will ship first week of November. If we can get them to you sooner than that we will.

So grab your coffee and have your cozy chair ready to do a little surfin LMN style....oh and don't forget about the kiddos, you don't really think I give my kids Popsicles in the a.m. do you?

13 weeks and counting

Until Santa comes to town....or 91 days left to shop, whichever makes you feel better.


Our first Holiday collection "Baby, it's cold outside" will be ready for pre-order in our Etsy shop very very soon. So be sure to check back this weekend when we will be announcing the date you can grab up these LMN goodies!


The collection is a 7 piece collection which includes 3 cozy velour flair ruffle pants, 1 dress, 1 knot apron top, 1 cropped knot top and 1 sweet vintage ruffle peasant top. The velour pants are TDF and if I could make them in my size I would but then we would not have enough fabric to share with all of you - so that would not be fair would it? The Holiday collection will be available in very limited quantities.




Photo session was a bit of a challenge in 89 degree weather so we had to bargain with some "cold" cocoa, marshmallows, whipped cream and of course cookies! It worked like a charm and I was ready for my version of a "cold" one when I got home.

Freebies & Good Manners

Bling Bling Bling we have winners!!

Congrats to Renee H. and Jen A! Renee is post #7 here on the blog and Jen A. is our first official sale in the shop! Please send us an email so we can get you your "LMN Goods".

We also want to thank all of you for making our first days of "Etsydom" (is that even a word?) a great success! So now we need to get rockin on our machines and get those orders out to everyone. And we want to see some pics - yes we love pics so send them to us after you get your goods. Of course we understand some coaxing may be needed and no we do not include the M&M's in our packages - after all they melt.

I have an 8 letter word for you readers .....Leggings. Who knew? You all love the leggings and of course we are glad you do too. They are the "piece de resistance" of the debut collection and we are okay with that. We have more available in the store now so if they sold out before you got them before go take a peak while you can!

We are also busy this week working on a small Holiday line "Baby it's cold outside". A simple and cozy little line she is sure to love and so will you! Hope to have some sneak peaks up later this week! Pre-orders will be available first week of October. And if you have not noticed or just don't have your volume turned up - yep that is Christmas music - just getting into the pre-holiday spirit this week a bit. Call me corny that's fine by me.

The Big Day is here

The Etsy shop is officially open as of late last night, so even if you had wanted to have a sneaky peak you probably would not have even know how to find us....

The link to our Etsy shop is down there at the right, so take a stroll and while you are at it please leave us a comment or two if you like. We are having a contest! Gotta love 'em! We have already randomly picked some numbers, so tell us what you like (we don't' want to hear what you don't like-snicker ) or what you would like to see more of, or that you love us, go ahead and post away.

We are also going to give away a few items based on our first sales in our store! Yep more freebies! Got to love 'em! They are all pieces from our store, can't tell you what they are yet, but they will soon be revealed!

There are 22 total pieces in the collection with 3 other fun little accessories mixed in. We are so happy to be done and if we even remotely lived near each other I would be in the car on my way over now to pop that cork of champagne!

~A Wednesday Preview~

Had to show one more quick peek! Isabel did a bang up job, aside from the occasional "It's too hot outside", etc. lol.
Amy and I are putting the final touches on everything as we speak, we are both super excited and can't wait to show the rest:)

Sunday Monday

Today was not so much a lazy Sunday as some may call it. Fall is in the air and Lesa and I have a busy week on our hands getting ready to open business!

I had a goal of getting some photography done this weekend and mother nature had other plans "rain", well this afternoon the sun came out so out the door we went!

Here are a few of my favorites from today's photo session.

We are well on our way!

It has been a while since our last post and we had a few snags in our master plan of things. It took nearly 4 weeks for our woven labels to arrive and almost 6 weeks for our fabric so we are "behind" as you may say for the fall season.

We hope to have our Etsy shop fully running by late next week.....exhale. And I stress the word Hope as we all know life is full of surprises.

Please check back because great things are yet to come! We will have a great giveaway the day of our grand opening on our blog and in our store!

Not only will we have fabulous vintage inspired dresses, tops and pants but we will also be offering a line called "Luxe" to mix and match with the vintage pieces made of super soft velveteen cord in rich fall colors.

Watch out here we come!

Get ready for a vintage and funked out Winter!

We are officially in the works of our 2008 collection titled "Ice Bouquet". Lots of girly styles with an unexpected twist here or there. Accessories are a girls best friend and we will also be offering some jazzed up bags, hand stamped jewelry and a hat or two.

We will officially start to sell custom items on Etsy first of September so check back for updates soon!