Times are changing at Leegirl Pretties

When Leegirl Pretties started I offered a range of different handmade products because I am the kind of the of person that likes to do a little of this and a little of that...I was sewing buntings, blankets, making door hangings, coat hooks, ribbonwands, blackboards, and of course freestanding words and invitations.

Over time I have taken some of those things off my list of available products, because it wasn't worth my time promoting them when clearly others were selling better, others being the Freestanding words and custom invitations.

As you would remember last month we moved house and I stopped taking custom orders for the Easter break...who was I kidding, a break... a break from what!lol! I was still working my consecutive four shifts a week with hours that make me tired just thinking about them, running around after a 2.5yr old ball non stop of energy called my daughter and trying to manage the cleaning, unpacking and organising of our new home, running a household in general and all the while I was still working on a few orders!

It was then that I realised I was tired....and a little uninspired to keep moving forward. I use to make things because I enjoyed making them and creating something special that in turn you could enjoy too...but of late I haven't enjoyed it so much... I had even thought it would be easier just to pack it all in and walk away.

We didn't have the internet on for a good two and a half weeks after we moved in, so with the time that I would normally have spent wasting online here and there, I found myself thinking about the direction I was taking Leegirl Pretties in and was it what I wanted to continue to do. 

 When I designed a few little party accessories for a friends nieces' birthday...I enJOYed it... and when I put together a little dessert/sweets table for my family to enjoy after our Easter dinner, I enJOYed that too....I think thats when I kind of made my decision...This is what made me happy...designing and styling and making things prettie! 

I knew what had to go...I knew I wasn't enjoying them anymore and to be honest with you, I was dreading finishing off the ones I had ready to go...but more than that I was dreading having to tell you all and how you may be disappointed in me...but then I realised I was putting the wrong people first...don't get me wrong, I love and appreciate each and every single person who has supported me, but the people I need to put first was my family...and me. By not doing this I would be disappointed in myself that I continued to do something that doesn't make me happy.

So it is here that I finally say, I will no longer be taking orders for any custom Freestanding words (including wedding words and other mdf products). Of course all orders that are currently being worked on or paid for will be completed, but I will not be taking on any new orders. There may be limited custom spots available from time to time, so keep an eye out, and of course should you be looking for other businesses that can prodive you with these products, I would be happy to point you in the right direction.

This is not only a decision that I have made for Leegirl Pretties, but one that I have made for my family and myself.

I want to move forward in the direction that I had always hoped I would go and that is designing pretties for parties and celebrations. I hope you stand by me with this decision and continue to follow me on this journey.

I am excited for what the future holds for Leegirl Pretties and where it will take me from here, so make sure you keep your eyes open for some new party pretties coming your way (some are already in the making!).

Thank you for taking the time to read this and should you have any questions or quieries please feel free to contact me.

Stay Prettie

Jodie-lee xo

The Two Little Bubbles and Leegirl Pretties Giveaway!!

A little while ago Leegirl Pretties past the 1000 liker mark, and Mel from Two Little Bubbles also reached and past the 2000 liker milestone too, so we thought we'd get together for a little celebration giveaway... I mean who doesn't love to celebrate!!

We have four very special ladies helping us with this giveaway, and we know you'll love them, because we LOVE them too! We'd like to thank each of these amazingly talented ladies for their donations and support, so thank YOU!

Now all YOU have to do is thank the following businesses for their donations by liking each of their facebook pages via the Rafflecopter link below! Easy as! The winners will be drawn via Random.org, following this we will endevour to email each winner and then announce it here on the blog!

***** THE WINNERS ARE THE FOLLOWING LADIES *****

*Hayley C *Jess M * Natasha M * Cat C * Natalie B * Suzi C*

***** Please check your emails and respond to them asap. You have 48 hours to claim your prize or it is redrawn. ******

With out further ado here are the prizes....

All Things Owls

The winner of this prize will win a handmade 'Lola' Owl softie.

REE:creations

The winner of this prize will win a voucher to the value of $20 to spend on any REE:creation items.

Scissor Paper Rock

The winner of this prize will win a 5x8 print of there choice from the amazing range over the Scissor Paper Rock website

Zen Designs

The winner of this prize will win one of Zen Designs handmade Wish Bracelets.

Two Little Bubbles

The winner of this prize will win a voucher to spend on any Two Little Bubbles creations to the value of $20.

Leegirl Pretties

The winner of this prize will win 15 custom designed childrens invites and a set of matching cupcake toppers.

Goodluck to you all,

Jodie-lee & Mel

*this promotion is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Facebook and in saying this the participant is providing information to LeegirlPretties & Two Little Bubbles and not to Facebook.
*only open to Australian Residences.

Easter hopped on by.

Easter this year came just a week after we moved house!! We welcomed my family into 'Box City' as I've been calling it, for a yummy home cooked meal of roasted chickens and veggies (I must say my roast chickens are pretty good...simple and easy flavouring, but AMAZING taste!!lol!) and I decorated a little with cute little Easter table.

Styled by Leegirl Pretties

My cute little bunnies from Mini Style with a stunning bow
made by Two Little Bubbles...with Macaron's from Andre's Macarons in the back ground!

Another little bunny...in the background there is also a nest of fairy floss
and chocolate bird eggs..and a sweet little mumma birdie from Little Big Company

 

Chocolate eggs filled with Vanilla mousse and a pretty little tea pot
filled with Easter flowers and Gerberas (one of my faves!)

Can't forget the hot cross buns and a good old Lindt bunny!

I hope you enjoyed! 

Stay Prettie,

Jodie-lee xo

Easter Fun

Image found via
http://ourvintageaffair.blogspot.com.au/2011/04/march-tag-challenge-easter-tag.html

I swear since Boxing Day last year I have seen Easter through out the supermarkets... there is just never enough time to get over one major holiday before the other is being thrown in your face. Don't get me wrong, I love celebrating Easter and Christmas and other hoildays, but all at the right time and not 3 months in advance thank you ;)

So after seeing the increasing amounts of Easter Eggs and Hot Cross Buns (I had my first of the 'season' over the weekend...I'm so glad they don't make them year round they are just too easy and delious to eat!) Miss Kirby has started asking about the Easter Bunny and telling me that he is bringing her chocolate!

Last year she was still too little to understand who the Easter Bunny was, but she sure did enjoy the eating chocolate part....
 

Easter morning 2011...and egg for each hand, thats how you do it! lol

Due to our packing and moving that is happening at the moment (blah!) I haven't been able to do any easter deocorating...but I have been planning it so that when we move in next week I can get it organised and ready (will definately blog about it :D)... including a little Easter table that I'm hoping to set up when we have family over for an Easter dinner.

We managed some Easter colouring today :)

So to get into the celebrating and decorating, I thought I might share with you some of the Easter fun (and FREE printables) that I love and some new things I will be trying out too...

Last year I found this super cute print which is from Le Papier Studio. It is a free printable which you can print and frame your self...a small touch, but a very cute one!

Find this printable HERE

I also discovered these last year too....very cute Easter colouring in pages by the very talented Style Me Gorgeous. You will not only find Easter colouring pages here, but also for other occasions too. These are free for you to download, print and colour!

Love these colouring pages :)

Bianca from A Little Delightful has posted some fun craft and cooking activities recently including this very cute Easter Garland that can be painted and then hung for you to admire. You can find the download for these cuties HERE

Image via http://alittledelightful.blogspot.com.au/

 Also over on Bianca's blog you will find a little tutorial for these amazing looking carrot meringues...I am in love and am going to attempt them once we are in the new place :) You can find the tutorial HERE.

Image via: http://alittledelightful.blogspot.com.au/

This is a yummy treat that I tried out last year and was a hit! Mini Easter Cheescakes. you can find the recipe HERE.

Image via taste.com.au 

I'd love to hear your thoughts on these Easter activities, or even what some of your favourite pages/blogs are for Easter fun! :)

Stay Prettie

Jodie-lee

Busy behind the scenes

Of late there have been quite a few changes in my life that have been keeping me busy, which means that although I have been on actively on the computer checking emails and facebook etc, my page and blog have been a little neglected.

This is the main reason I have been kept so busy....

Yep we're moving house...again! So my time has been spent looking at houses, attending inspections and after placing an application in we now have a new house to move into and make our home.

If you have ever moved house you'll know that it drives you crazy, and as much as you try to plan to have it all done by moving day, moving day comes and your still shoving the last of your stuff into a box and it gets marked 'bench stuff' ...well thats what its been like the last few times for me any way lol! 

This time though, I am trying my VERY hardest to get it done in time...I'm going room by room and plan on sorting the crap stuff and the keeping stuff and having a garage sale to make back a little cash...the carpet cleaning money has to come from somewhere right?! ;)

Given that I am still working my part time job, running around after a little girl, running a household and trying to pack, I have decided that I will not be taking on any more orders until after the Easter break. Any orders that have already been discussed and paid for will of course be completed with in the time frames already outlined.

This does not mean you can't contact or email me about orders that you'd like to place. I will start a wait list and once the Easter break is over I will open orders again. There may be a chance that I will open orders again before that, but I am just giving myself this time frame to settle.

I will still be posting about the exciting orders that I'm working on and also sharing parties and styling with you...including the Easter decorating that I'm planning (but can't start setting up due to the move) and inspiration for a 1st birthday party that I'll be styling in a few months... AND if you keep an eye out you may find some details about a Giveaway that we have planned with the lovely Mel from Two Little Bubbles and some other lovely handmade businesses!!

So please stick around while we take this short break from taking orders and keep LeegirlPretties in your newsfeed (this can be done by hovering over the 'like' button on our page and ticking the 'Show in NewsFeed' option) so you are upto date with all that is going on.

mmmmm rainbow cupcakes!!
we made these one the weekend...they didn't last very long at all! ;)

Stay Prettie,

Jodie-Lee

Valentines Photo Shoot

I mentioned in my post yesturday about the product photoshoot I was styling for the Valentines Day inspired range from Two Little Bubbles .... Well the AMAZING Karen from 21 Dreams Design & Photography has done a fantastic job...not to mention got them back to us SUPER quick!! 

From the hundreds of photo that were to be chosen from, Melanie has managed to pick her top 25 and has posted them to an album on her Facebook page.

I thought I would share a few of my faves.... PLease be warned there are a few ;) 

ps. how cute are our little models ;)  ...not bias much lol! 
  

BIG Thank yous to:

** 21 Dreams Design & Photography

** Our AMAZINGLY super cute models, including Mr B. who was kindly lent to us by his awesome mummy from Mel & Bel

** Andres Macarons who helped us out with a last minute order of their DELISH Strawberries & Cream Macarons ... seriously, check them out they are A M A Z I N G!!

And a MASSIVE thank you to my wonderful sister Melanie, for giving me the opportunity to show off the creative/styling side of Leegirl Pretties... I am so proud of myself for being able to produce something that looks so wonderful (well I think so anyway) and I can not wait to pursue this side of my creativity more!

I would love to hear your thoughts, and should you have any questions about any products included in the shoot please don't hesitate to contact me (leegirlpretties@hotmail.com)

Jodie-Lee

oxox

The week that was... Photoshoots!

I like to take photos...lots of photos...I am not a professional...but I like to think I'm some kind of a photographer, even if its only a mummy photographer!lol!

This past week though, Leegirl Pretties has been involved with 3 different photoshoots...all shot by professionals!!

When the call out was done for business' who may be interested in taking part in a Valentines Day shoot being put together by Lily Chic Events  I put my name down and was totally stoked when Lilan contacted me about making a Custom Freestanding word. There was no way I wasn't being part of this fantastic opportunity!!

There were some amazing vendors involved including Kiss Me Kate, Tout Mon Amour, Emporium Housewares, Jennifer Birkhead Design Pinwheels and Pearls and Lee Bird Photography

Here is the sneak peek that was released during the week... ps I am in LOVE with it and can't wait to see MORE!! 

Custom 'Brekky<3' word made by LeegirlPretties, Styled by Lily Chic Events and photographed by Lee Bird Photography

The second photoshoot I was involved in was for a product shoot with Melanie from Two Little Bubbles. She wanted to do a Valentines themed shoot for her new range of hair accessories, and asked me to style it. 

For something that was put together with a weeks notice (nothing like a last minute challenge!) I was sooo happy with the outcome and can not wait to see the final shots ( there will be a whole post deicated to those ;D )... but here is the sneak peek we released in the mean time...

Styling by Leegirl Pretties, Hair accessories (hanging over Love word) by Two Little Bubbles and Photography by 21 Dreams Photography

The third shoot that I was involved in was with Coco by Miss Jane.

Jane did a call out for someone who would be able to provide her with a bunting that spelt out 'Happy Anniversary'... it was a special anniversary, as the couple were celebrating 65years of marriage!! Although this was another last minute project for me I couldn't say no to that much LOVE, and I'm so happy I was able to help.

I dont' have a sneak peek of this shoot, but when I get one you'll see it!!

I guess this last week has shown me that sometimes the best opportunities are the ones that come knocking at your door at the last minute, and sometimes its easier to go with the flow of it rather than 'think' about it too much!

Jodie-lee

oxox

PS... we also got iPhones at the end of the week and I am in LOVE with Instagram! lol!! Here is a little snap of my sunshine! (you can follow me on instagram too, leegirl87)