Our First Ever Dear Lillie Contest

First, here are a few pics of my pumpkin from earlier this evening.

Why do babies get perfect complexions and long lashes? It's not fair!

And now it is time for our first ever Dear Lillie Contest!!! (And don't forget there is still plenty of time to enter our clutch and pillow give-away. Either scroll down a few posts or click here to enter).

So, for our first contest we are looking for ideas for our screenprinted items. We have several quotes we are planning on using but are always looking for more ideas. Myself, my mom and sisters all LOVE literature. And lately, my dad and even my hubby have become rather avid readers. Even Lillie likes to read:

Here she is at the bookstore

Lillie opening her first Nancy Drew on her birthday

Reading with her Moosie (my mom)

I think the only one we are still working on is my little brother! My hubby just finished two books in the past two weeks - I am soooo jealous. The thing I miss most right now is reading. Since starting Dear Lillie I haven't opened a single book =(. For our family, reading has always been almost as important as breathing for us. Growing up my parents completely spoiled us in one area - books! One of my favorite memories is going to the library! I love bringing Lillie there now. Once we had pretty much read everything in our tiny town's library, they bought us book after book after book. As I am writing this it is making me so sad. Oh, how I miss reading a good book! I used to keep a reading journal and whenever I found a quote or phrase I liked would write it down. I have referred to that for a few of the screenprinted shirts we have already done ("Hope is the thing with feathers..." by Emily Dickinson - one of my favorite poems, and a few quotes and phrases by L.M. Montgomery as well as F.Scott Fitzgerald).

So, we would love any of your ideas for quotes, verses or phrases! Or it doesn't have to be words at all, maybe just an image idea. Basically, any idea you have at all! It can be for kids, babies, or adults. If we end up using your idea you will get TWO free shirts with that quote/image (we plan on carrying a wide array of sizes and colors) and will be able to purchase any more of them for 30% off. There is no limit to this contest. We may end up picking one suggestion or ten. It just depends on how many screenprinted designs we decide to start off with. We may start off with just a few and add more as we go. So please feel free to comment below with any ideas! You can leave as many as you would like. We will contact you ahead of time if we use one of your ideas and then in August when we reopen our shop you can choose your two free shirts!

I hope you all have a beautiful and blessed Sunday!

Clutch and Pillow Giveaway!

YAY!!!!!! It is time for our June giveaway! In honor of my sister Jamie and her husband Josh's first anniversary on June 6th, we are going to be giving away one of her ring bearer pillows and her newest clutch. Even though this is a bridal themed giveaway please note that we chose items that anyone could enjoy! So, you certainly don't have to be planning a wedding to enter this give-away! The Daisy Buchanan Ring Bearer Pillow in Cream is one of her best sellers (and looks sooooo cute as a little accent pillow if you have no use for a ring bearer pillow), and the Amelia Clutch in Cafe is one of my personal favorites. These items were specifically chosen for their flexibility, as both items can be, but are not strictly, "bridal" items. The clutch is very versitile; it would make a fun rehearsal dinner purse, but also works just as well paired with a sundress on a honeymoon or accessorizing an outfit on any occasion. The ring bearer pillow is a universal color and style that will go with any wedding color and theme, and can be used as an accent pillow on a small chair if someone other than a bride wins. Both items also make great gifts. Perhaps you might choose to keep one item for yourself, and give the other to a friend or family member!

The Amelia Clutch in Cafe Brown:




The Daisy Buchanan Ring Bearer Pillow in Cream:



We will announce the winner of this give-away on Sunday, June 20th.

So, how can you enter this giveaway?

It is simple:

1) Make a comment letting us know which item(s) are your favorite or what item you would like to see as our next give-away - 1 Entry (please limit to just one comment per day; you can comment each day, though, if you would like)

2) Mention this giveaway with a link on your Facebook page: 1 Entry (in order for it to count as an entry, please write "Facebook"as its own comment in the comment section)

3) Become a fan of our Dear Lillie Facebook page: 1 Entry (in order for it to count as an entry, please write "Facebook Fan"as its own comment in the comment section)



4) Post a fan photo on our Facebook Page - 2 Entries (in order for it to count as an entry, please write "fan photo" its own comment in the comment section, and make sure to do it two times so it will count as two extra entries for you)


5) Become a follower of this blog - 2 Entries (in order for it to count as an entry, please write "follower" as its own comment in the comment section, and make sure to do it two times so it will count as two extra entries for you, or if you are already a follower, make sure to write "follower" also as a comment two times)

6) Mention this giveaway on your own blog and include a photo of one of our items and link to our giveaway, - 2 Entries (Again for this to count make sure to write "blog" two different times as comments.)

In case you are wondering why in the world you have to comment each time you blog or if you become a follower, it is because we use the number of comments to plug into the random number generator and that is how we know what number to plug in and who matches up with it - hope that makes sense.

Also, if you have a blocked blogger profile please leave your e-mail address when you enter so that we can contact you. For everyone with an open profile or who we know, then you don't need to worry about that part.

Good luck to you all and we will announce the winner on June 20th!
And check back as we plan on posting some pics of the new Audrey Hepburn Tutu later this week as well as giving some updates on what is going on at Dear Lillie and some changes coming this fall!

We Have A WINNER!!!! (And tons and tons of beach pictures!)

HAPPY MEMORIAL DAY!!! Okay, first I have to apologize for this post being so late! We actually just got back from the beach earlier this evening and I am just now getting on my computer. We left on Thursday and I packed up my laptop thinking that we were going to have wireless at the beach, but no such luck! I had planned on catching up on Etsy convos, tons and tons of e-mails and blogging, but that was not to be. It was so nice not having to worry about any work while we were there, but now I am SOOOOO behind! Anyone who has e-mailed/convo'd me this past 5 or 6 days, I promise I will get back to you. It just may take me a day or two to get caught up with everyone.

I am extra behind because we had only planned on staying through Sunday, but we were having so much fun we ended up staying through this afternoon. It was the first vacation we have been on as a family of three! We weren't sure how it was going to go, seeing how Lillie SCREAMED pretty much the entire four and a half hour drive there. It was awful and I think we were all about ready to kill each other by the time we got there. Even though it was close to midnight by the time we arrived, we let Lillie run around and explore the beach house and get all of her energy out and then we all snuggled in bed together and fell asleep. From the moment we woke up on Friday morning it was the most absolutely perfect vacation we could have ever imagined (actually I don't think we could have possibly imagined it being so wonderful!) Lillie was in absolute heaven and we stayed down at the beach each day for hours and hours. She pretty much made friends with every human being and dog within a mile of us on the shoreline and LOVED being in the water! The first day she would only go in if we were holding her but wanted to go way out and loved the waves crashing down on her! By the last day she was getting way too comfortable on her own and was going under water and thinking she could swim (which she most definitely can't - haha!) She was so well-behaved the whole time that Jon and I kept looking at each and wondering - who was this child? Haha! We went out to dinner the first night we were there and she just sat in her high chair and colored and leaned over and kissed us and then would go back to coloring! She is normally a little firecracker and getting her to sit still in a highchair is a battle! Anyway, it was a wonderful, relaxing trip but now it is back to real life! Ahhhhh!!!!

So here are a bunch of pics (sorry!) and then if you scroll to the bottom you can find out who the winners of the Adeliene Dress and Screenprinted Shirt are!

Headed down to the beach

Beach baby

Jon and Lillie WAY out in the ocean

She would say "Wheeeeee" every time a wave splashed on her

She LOVES her Daddy

One of several doggie friends. This one was named Payson.

This is one of my favorites! Her frisbee throwing skills were rather sub-par but Payson didn't seem to mind.

She would get so excited after she would throw it and he would go chase it down!

Another day at the beach

Her bathing suit was still soaked so we brought her down in this which wasn't the greatest idea - oh well!

I have never seen her so happy!

Venturing in herself

I think this was right before she went under! Haha!

One happy little camper

Another one of my favorites and always one of the things I thought was so cool as a child- an outdoor shower! She loved pushing her dump truck and other toys around in it!

Lillie and I (she was itching to get down and play)

Trying to reign her in for one more shot seeing how there are never any of me and her as I am always the one taking the pictures - now I see why there were never any of my mom when we were little!

Okay, and you all have waited long enough - the 

WINNER OF THE ADELIENE OR STELLA DRESS IS: Katie! Congratulations! Send us an e-mail at DearLillie@hotmail.com and let us know which color rosettes you would like and what size! Thank you so much for entering and I hope you will love it!

And the WINNER OF A SCREENPRINTED T-SHIRT is: Ang Butler! Congratulations!!! Send us an e-mail at DearLillie@hotmail.com to let us know you size and we will let you know what design options we have in that size.

Thank you all so much for entering! And don't be too disappointed if you didn't with this give-away because we will be hosting another one tomorrow!!!! (Or I guess seeing how it is already 2AM, I should say later today!)

We will post our newest give-away sometime in the late afternoon or early evening so be sure to check back later today!!!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Memorial Day Weekend and thanks again for all of your entries and for all of your sweet comments! We appreciate them all so very much!