Happy 1st Year Anniversary, SweetScarlett!!!

I am so excited!
Today my little Etsy shop, SweetScarlett is one year old!
I am generally not a superstitious person, but this is, after all, Friday the 13th!
Not to mention that the Ides of March are fast approaching!
Of course, St. Paddy's Day will offset all of that, with a bit o' Irish luck!

It all began when I wanted to sell the little clothes I make for American Girl dolls.

I have made so many sweet little outfits, in the past, for my own daughters, and I wanted to make some to sell in order to establish a little business for myself.
My goal was to have my couture for dolls have the quality of 'people' clothes, using vintage fabrics and trim, and also be unique, one-of-a-kind clothing.
Special, so that the little girl receiving them would know she was the only person to have that outfit for her doll.

This pink silk nightgown was a custom order from the Alchemy board. It featured antique mother-of-pearl buttons with silk loop closures, self-made piping in silk, and a collar made from a vintage hankie.

The same customer ordered this robe made from 100% cotton Laura Ashley rose print, Bibi.
It features self-covered buttons and Victorian styling.

A dear 'new' friend from Northern Ireland purchased the Shamrock dress from me, after I had purchased the vintage embroidered linen from her, with which I made the dress. Its photograph is at the top of this post.

The 100% Irish linen dress featured antique buttons, and hemstitching along the hemlines of the sleeves and dress, as well as a lovely hand-embroidered shamrock.
Trish also was so kind as to carry an American Girl doll back from the states for me. Emily has been waiting for some time to be a model . . . I must sew some clothing for her to model!

I made another new friend, Irina, who lives now in the UK, but was originally from Russia.
I purchased some hand crocheted flowers from her to adorn my couture, eventually asking her to design some eggs for me, too. Her little Easter eggs embellished my 1920s style Egg Dress, pictured here.
I also made a gorgeous coat and dress, both made with all vintage fabrics and buttons. It is pictured below.
And finally, a coordinating set of pajamas and robe were made and sold - but sadly, not on Etsy.
In fact, none of the doll fashions ever sold on Etsy, and that was so deflating,


I simply gave up and sold them on ebay.
It was important for me to remove the negative feelings I was having about my work and move on to create other things.

And so my graphics background kicked in and I was off and running designing bookplates and calling cards for my shop.

But like most things in life, my shop (and me) is ever-changing.
Right now I am working on some small objects that I do hope will bring a smile and a bit of warmth, charm, and and history to you all. These are your only hints!

I am hoping to have them ready to sell in my shop in a few weeks - maybe less -


as I am having a bit of trouble sourcing some of my materials for them.

I believe they will be a unique product on Etsy, and maybe just about everywhere else, too.
Please keep checking back to have a peek at them, and when you do, let me know how you feel about them. I need feedback!

In honour of the 1st anniversary of my little shop, I am giving away a set of eight bookplates.
All you need do to win is to comment with your name and/or shop/blog on one of the previous messages about the give-away, or, on this post.

Everyone who send me his/her name will be entered to win. My daughter will draw the name from a hat and I will post who won after the drawing.
In order to give folks a bit of time to comment, I will wait until the weekend has passed before compiling a list and conducting the drawing.

I would like to send out a huge "THANK YOU" to all of you. You have kept me going with support and friendship and even a few purchases, here and there.

Bless you all!
Maggie

PS: With the graphics in my shop now (finally!) picking up, I feel better about sewing again, and will soon be sewing up some more AG clothing. Please let me know if there is anything you would like to see in the shop.