Tuesday, 19 July 2011
The Really Really Big Worldwide Vintage Giveaway! By Chicoco!
You really must check out the awesome Giveaway by Chicoco - girls wear inspired by all things French, Vintage and Shabby Chic! So many wonderful businesses have donated to this competition. Competition ends on 31st July so make sure you hurry and head over to their blog to enter: http://chicoco.com/blog/2011/07/vintagegiveaway/
Friday, 1 July 2011
I appreciate Mums Who Make!
I Appreciate Mums Who Make!
It has been a lot of years since I did any sewing up until recently. I first learnt to use a sewing machine when I was 12 years old. As a teen I worked for a friends Mum who was a contract sewer for many different labels like Shark Attack (I dont know if you remember this old label they were boys board shorts with a shark label on them). I was taught to use all the different industrial sewing machines, so it was no surprise that my first Job out of school was sewing. I worked for a furniture manufacturer sewing lounge suites, until I decided to take a different direction in my work life and worked as a bookeeper/accounting for the next 20 years.
After starting For Eva Lilah on Facebook and seeing the many wonderful creations on Facebook made by sew at home Mums, my passion for sewing was rekindled! But I no longer owned a sewing machine. To my surprise one day, 6 months ago, I got a knock on the door, and a lady was standing there with a Brand New Sewing Machine! My wonderful Mother in Law who knew how much I missed sewing had gone and bought me a sewing Machine. Then for my birthday I recieved an overlocker from her! How blessed am I?
As it is difficult for me to push a twin pram through the isles of Spotlight or Lincraft, I decided to shop online for some fabric that I could test my new machines out on. I came across this amazing fabric design of Alice and Wonderland at Voodoo Rabbit target and just had to have it! (You can visit them also on facebook at https://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/voodoorabbitfabric)
As I very rarely get much time to myself between running For Eva Lilah Designer Kids Clothes & Toys, and running a household of 6 children, I knew it would be a while before I could sit down and make something with it. I knew it had to be something special as I Loved the fabric soooo much, and so for the last 4 months I thought up many ideas of what to make with it. It wasnt until last week that I finally got the chance to make something special with it and this is what I made:
Two little colonial style dresses for Evaleene and Lilah!
Here is Evaleene & Lilah in their new dresses, the matching hats I bought from Mezzies Prezzies on Facebook!
My Appreciation For the Mums Who Make and Sell on Facebook:
I have always had an appreciation and admiration for the Mums on Facebook who work hard at home sewing and creating to make an income for their families, but it wasn't until recently, after struggling to just find time to make 2 little dresses, that I could really appreciate the time and effort that they put into their creations. I find it hard enough just ordering stock online and unpacking stock when it arrives for my business For Eva Lilah, I can only start to imagine how much more difficult it can be for these Mums to have to not only advertise, market and try and sell on Facebook and their websites but to also have to buy materials, create ideas, and sew or make their creations to sell.
Unlike the old days when women could stay at home and be Wives, Mothers and homemakers, who had the time to cook, clean and sew, we now live in a fast paced society where the majority of Mothers have to earn an income whether it be at home or in the workforce away from home. Gone are the days when the majority of Mothers could sit and sew for hours a day and even teach their daughters to sew as well to pass on the skill.
I remember my Grandmother once telling me how she had no money to buy my Dad some clothes so she got an old curtain to make him an outfit out of it. I guess these days we are lucky to be able to buy clothing at cheap prices due to them being mass produced by big companies with high tech machines!
So why is handmade clothing that is being sold on Facebook so special?
Buying Handmade Clothing is not only Unique and most times one of a kind, it can also be custom made. It brings a special sense that another Mother has taken out some of her precious time to create something for your child. Yes clothing in the shopping centres can be a lot cheaper but there is no dollar value that can be placed on the time that a Mother takes away from spending with her own child to make something beautiful for someone elses child to wear. It can take hours of preparation and thought, to create, sew and perfect a lovely outfit, with the interuptions of a little child at your feet needing either food, drink, attention or just a cuddle.
So next time you look at a Handmade Outfit thats for Sale and think the price is too high, think again about how special that outfit is! Not only is it Unique, but another Mother has put in some of her precious time to make something beautiful for you to appreciate and enjoy.
Maybe we should show our appreciation for the Mums Who Make every now and then, just to let them know how special they really are and that their hard work does not go unoticed. I have created a little profile pic below, feel free to save it to your computer and put as your profile pic sometime. Maybe even go to some of the Facebook Pages of the Mums Who Make and write on there wall how much you appreciate the time they put in to make beautiful creations to sell in the Facebook Community.
Lets make next week an "I appreciate Mums Who Make" Week!
FEEL FREE TO USE PICTURE BELOW IN YOUR PROFILE!
(Right Click Picture and Choose Save As to save to your computer)
I Love so many Facebook Pages of Mums Who Make, too many to list! I have listed some of my favourites below with links to their Facebook Pages and Websites!
WEBSITE: http://www.mummysgottaprincess.com/
WEBSITE: http://ittybittybutts.com/
WEBSITE: http://www.cnsdesigns.com.au/
WEBSITE: http://www.borngorgeous.com.au/
WEBSITE: http://sookyboo.blogspot.com/
WEBSITE: http://www.inspiredbylilli.com.au
Rachael from Inspired by Lilli also runs a very important Charity Page on Facebook that I Love to support.
DONT FORGET: SHOW YOUR APPRECIATION FOR MUMS WHO MAKE THEY REALLY DO DESERVE SOME RECOGNITION! XOXO
Karen Gardner
Owner: www.forevalilah.com
Friday, 27 May 2011
My First Blog!
Ok so here I am! Many have told me that it is beneficial and almost a necessity to have a blog page when running an online business so I thought I would give it a go. I dont know how often I will find the time to "blog" amongst my busy days of looking after 6 kids, cleaning house, running my business www.forevalilah.com and sneaking in a social life in that schedule.
I will start with a little bit about myself and how For Eva Lilah came about!
I am a Mum of 6 children 1 boy and 5 girls. I have only had 4 pregnancies though as I have had 2 sets of twins. The oldest set being 15 year old twin girls and the youngest set being 11 month old twin girls. My boy is 19 and I also have a girl 9.
For the past 20 years I have worked in accounting, I have been a working Mum all my life. After having my latest set of twins, I became determined to not return to the regular workforce, working a 9-5 job while my babies went to daycare, but instead decided I was going to do something from home so that my babies would not miss out on any time with me. For months I pondered and thought about many different ideas but nothing appealed to me. It wasnt until November 2010 that For Eva Lilah started to come about. The twins HATED shopping centres and would scream everytime I took them. It was very stressful for me so I decided I would just shop online for them for now. With Christmas fast approaching I wanted to buy a special little christmas outfit for the babies and started searching many online shops. While searching the thoughts started to flow! "There must be other Mums out there who prefer to shop online, rather than braving the hustle and bustle of crowded shopping centres with screaming little ones". "There must be other Mums out there looking for something Unique and different to dress their children in" And that is when the final decision to start For Eva Lilah was made.
So why the name For Eva Lilah you ask?
The twins names are Evaleene and Lilah. Therefore I come up with Eva Lilah!
And the "For"? Well For Eva Lilah was started "For" Evaleene and Lilah, so that they can see me all day everyday. And even the possibility that one day when they are older they can take over For Eva Lilah and have it for their own!
I will start with a little bit about myself and how For Eva Lilah came about!
I am a Mum of 6 children 1 boy and 5 girls. I have only had 4 pregnancies though as I have had 2 sets of twins. The oldest set being 15 year old twin girls and the youngest set being 11 month old twin girls. My boy is 19 and I also have a girl 9.
For the past 20 years I have worked in accounting, I have been a working Mum all my life. After having my latest set of twins, I became determined to not return to the regular workforce, working a 9-5 job while my babies went to daycare, but instead decided I was going to do something from home so that my babies would not miss out on any time with me. For months I pondered and thought about many different ideas but nothing appealed to me. It wasnt until November 2010 that For Eva Lilah started to come about. The twins HATED shopping centres and would scream everytime I took them. It was very stressful for me so I decided I would just shop online for them for now. With Christmas fast approaching I wanted to buy a special little christmas outfit for the babies and started searching many online shops. While searching the thoughts started to flow! "There must be other Mums out there who prefer to shop online, rather than braving the hustle and bustle of crowded shopping centres with screaming little ones". "There must be other Mums out there looking for something Unique and different to dress their children in" And that is when the final decision to start For Eva Lilah was made.
So why the name For Eva Lilah you ask?
The twins names are Evaleene and Lilah. Therefore I come up with Eva Lilah!
And the "For"? Well For Eva Lilah was started "For" Evaleene and Lilah, so that they can see me all day everyday. And even the possibility that one day when they are older they can take over For Eva Lilah and have it for their own!
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