What do you think?

Sometimes when I am crafting I am positive that when my newest creation gets "released to the public" someone is going to come take it off of my hands and take it straight to the Paris runways.  The demand for my new design will be so high I will have to hire some people to work for me and I will get to quit my other job. Then I post my masterpiece to Etsy and no one seems interested. It gets very few views and no one feels compelled to make it a "favorite".  I am strong enough to take this rejection because usually there is someone out there that falls in love with my craft, it just takes a little while for that person to come forward.

So I am asking you, my loyal readers for your opinion on a new design for a bag. I had a bag similar to this when I first opened the store and it seemed really popular. I am playing around with different designs, colors and textures and have a few other bags in the works but I would love to know what you think. Should this bag be a Sew Sew Lovely staple? Or are my dreams of someone asking a celebrity "What are you wearing?" and the answer being "Sew Sew Lovely?" completely lost on this flop?

This bag is hot off the presses and I did not edit the picture like I usually do, but you get the idea. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

 Would you secretly love something from Sew Sew Lovely for Valentines Day? Even if it is a custom bag or cuff ( let me know the colors or patterns you would like). Drop some hints. Anything in my shop would be a great way to show someone (even yourself) how much you love them!

Leaving no Rhinestone Unturned

 This has come up in conversation a lot recently so I feel like I am ready to be open about it. For a pretty long time I have been a big fan of Dolly Parton.   If you know me pretty well you know this doesn't seem to fit my personality but I have always just appreciated that she is proud of who she is. Sure she is slightly outlandish but she is her own person and she has enough sense of humor to make fun of herself once in a while.

My admiration for Dolly began at a fairly young age but has hit a growth spurt recently.  Every Christmas for as long as I can remember we listened to the Kenny Rogers and Dolly Parton Christmas album as we decorated our Christmas tree. And we listened to this on our record player. I mean with a cover like this one who could resist adding it to their Christmas playlist? 

 My first Dolly Christmas Miracle occurred during my freshman year of college. I went to Mercyhurst College in Erie, Pennsylvania for a year (very far from home). I was shopping in the local CVS and wonder of all wonders, I found the Kenny and Dolly Christmas album on CD for sale in that CVS! The other girls I was shopping were at a loss for why I was so excited and because I was still pretty shy about my love for Dolly, I did not really explain it to them.

This year my Dolly Christmas Miracle was beyond my wildest dreams.  First, I had heard that Dolly stared in a lower budget Christmas movie called "A Smokey Mountain Christmas". I was disappointed that I couldn't get this movie on my Netflix but I was willing to let it go. Then Christmas day what should be showing on CMT but "A Smokey Mountain Christmas". I was no cinematic masterpiece and there was this weird plot twist with a witch but all in all I am glad I can say I have seen it.

Not impressed with that chain of events? Just wait.  Before Christmas I entered a radio contest online to win tickets to see "9 to 5 The musical" at the Peace Center in Greenville. If you don't know "9 to 5" was  a film staring Dolly that became the highest grossing comedy of 1980.  I figured I hadn't won the contest when no one contacted me after Christmas.  Tuesday morning I woke up to my phone ringing,  I put on my best "awake voice" and answered it. The nice lady on the phone informed me that I had not only won 8 tickets to "9 to 5" I had also won dinner for 8 and a limo ride to the show!  The only catch was our tickets were for that night! So my sister and I called our fellow Dolly fans (yes there are others out there and they know who they are!) and we had a truly magical night. I don't know if you are used to riding around in a limo, but I am not and the "where did I leave my limo?" jokes really didn't ever get old.

What am I doing now to deal with post-magical Dolly/ Limo night letdown? (that feeling you inevitably feel when you wake up the morning after a fun night and you don't find a limo waiting to take you to work). Besides being unable to get "9 to 5" out of my head, I  discovered this gem of a book.

 This really is a great read and I am gathering so many priceless Dolly quotes. My favorite so far: "It costs a lot to make a person look this cheap". True that Dolly. True that.