{3 days}

...3 days until Christmas and

Zack was at the mall of america shopping for me last night.
{i'm such a lucky gal. i wonder what stores he went to...?}

he left the house and now i'm playing with the camera on my iMac.
i never do this stuff when he is around.
because it would be so embarrassing for him to see me playing in front of the camera.
hah.

ooohhhh, guess what i saw with my blue eyes last night?!

{don't worry, i didn't touch anything. just looked. really hard.}
{see mom, some things never change} :)

a present that contradicts allllll things.
a present addressed to "Naughty".
and i think it's for me!
hah.
hahaha.

I will let you know on Christmas Eve if it was for me ♥
or for some Gussy-girl.

xo.

{the post in which I type a lot}

This photo may look like a normal photo to you. But it's not. Yes, you can see our Gussy stockings. Yes, you can see our Gap look-alike Christmas tree. But most of you don't know is what else is in this photo.

Tee hehe.

Would you like to see a little close-up of what I'm talking about?!?!




Here you go {click photo to enlarge}:



See our Little Drummer Boy ornament?! Do you see that 'lil piece of wood standing short and proud?! Oh yes. This is for real everyone.

A few weeks ago, shortly after we put up our Christmas tree, I was sitting on the couch and noticed our Little Drummer Boy ornament was horribly twisted. I took him off the tree, pulled the strings so he unwound, and low and behold his front-side graced me with its presence.

It appears that somewhere along the road of passing-down-the-ornaments, Mr. Little Drummer Boy has lost his drum.



Oh, dangit, I'm sure he is just mortified.
But I'm laughing, and I hope you are, too :)

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I've got a few new blog sponsors:

• Jessica with Jecka {awesome knit ear flat headbands, you must click her link!};
  
• Maria with Curly Birdie {for those of you that have/know of little ones}; and
  
• Emily with Fern & Flora Designs {super SUPER adorable headbands}.

Christmas is nearing -- it's not too late to order from their shop and include a photo to the recipient of their gift!

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Like I mentioned yesterday, I haven't been sewing and it's practically driving me nuts. However! I have made a shopping list of supplies for when we return, I've ordered more zippers online, and I'm working on about 100 Gussy tags.



Yes, these babies that effortlessly flow down like they are... OK, I'll stop. Sorry! hah!

I've only experienced 328,753 times this week that with owning a business the work never really stops. My goodness, sometimes I can't even take a moment for myself without my iPhone saying DING! GUSSY YOU HAVE AN EMAIL! DING! GUSSY, SOMEONE WANTS TO TALK TO YOU.

And yes, I can turn my phone off. But then our mom's can't call us to see how we're doing. I think more importantly I need to turn my brain off sometimes. Just the Gussy-sewing part of it, not the Gussy-talking part of it. {Sorry Zack!}

But I loooooove doing Gussy, dings and all :)

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I was at Target yesterday and noticed there is Valentine's Day products out already!!! Yeow. Looks like Target has Gussy beat on the whole lets-be-over-productive-this-year-OK?

Say it with me now: OOOOOH-kay!


PS. That was a little hint as to what I'll have stocked in my shop early January ♥ ♥ ♥

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Gussy gift certificates -- buy one now and shop later! The shop is open now, but nothing will ship until Tuesday, January 4 {Merry Christmas to me!} Blog sponsorships are open again on the 1st. If you're interested in advertising and increasing shop traffic + sales, contact me!


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DeerLola giveaway winner: Just Jingle

Happy Monday! :)

{curiousity}

{I've always been a curious gal}

I like to know how to do things on my own.
Sometimes I like to cut my own hair.
But sometimes I just need a few tips.

So to help me cut my own bangs, I just YouTube it :)

Just remember,
if you want to learn how to sew, you can YouTube that, too.
yeow.

But you also have to practice, practice, practice :)

{weekend recap}

There's been so much excitement over at the Whitley house, I don't even know where to begin!

First, our friend Luis stayed with us Friday night. He's a college bud from Michigan and stopped in Minneapolis on his way home to visit family for Christmas. We went out to dinner Friday night at The Old Spaghetti Factory. We walked through the downtown area and it was a beautiful evening. While it was our first time eating there I left a trail of drool up to the front steps. I just knew it was going to be great.

Next thing I knew I was stuffing my Gussy-self with lots of deliciousness. Once we were done eating and talking, we walked back home and spent the next two hours laughing at YouTube videos and hilarious photo websites. There's nothing more fun than an evening reminiscent of our college-days :)

PS. Has anyone seen any of the Gloria make-up video tutorials? Ummm, if you answered No, please click and enjoy. Side note, Gloria does these for fun and my laughter thanks her. Saturday morning we woke and I cooked up a delicious breakfast. That was delicious meal #2, if I may recap for a second. Luis, Zack and I feasted on scrambled eggs with cheese and salami; bacon; crescent rolls and coffee + vanilla caramel creamer. Oh, and apple crisp ♥ Yum!

Saturday evening Zack and I went to his work party and we are ANOTHER delicious meal. What is that, #3? Whew. I think I need a workout.

More Italian food, more drinks, another fun evening with friends.

At the party, I caught up with some of the other work wives. One of them said to me, Oh, are you the purse girl?

I replied: Heck yeah!

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May I confess something? I didn't sew a single thing yesterday. I realize Christmas is getting very close, and we're going to be awfully busy the next few weeks. So I didn't sew.

{I just looked at my sewing machine and my heart felt a little sad.}


However, I have done other Gussy-related tasks this weekend.

However, there is a variety of Gussy gift certificates if you want to gift your gal with Gussy this Holiday.

However... {just kidding}



Gift certificates are super swell because upon purchase I will email you a ready-to-print certificate within 24 hours. The recipient then sends me their unique code to redeem their credit. Yeow! Do you think Gussy can get some Gussy shop credit?!

I have some sneaky plans up my sleeve.
Be prepared for lots of red and pink in January, in preparation for Valentine's Day.


And don't forget to enter in the DeerLola giveaway. It closes tonight @ 10 pm CST.

I need to go rest on the couch now. All these plans have me exhausted, and I haven't even told you how much talking I have done. The weekend is almost over so I need to rest up.

{gift certificates are now available!}

Sometimes it's just too hard to pick just one Gussy. Right? And I should know. I can't sit down and sew just one ruffled Gussy item, I have to sew at least 15.
Or 20.

***

To making giving a Gussy this Holiday season, I've made something totally unique and no one's ever done this before, either.

Give your gal a Gussy gift certificate! Upon purchase, I'll email your Gussy gift certificate within 24-hours. You can then print it and give it! It will contain a unique code that the recipient then enters in the Message to Seller" section at check-out. See? I told you it was easy :)

{more holiday pics}

Christmas is less than a week away!
Are you ready?


We are.
Zack and I will be celebrating on Christmas Eve.
In our Minneapolis apartment.
Just the two of us.
I know it will be magical.

Our second Christmas as Mr. and Mrs.


Then we are off to Michigan to see our families
for another 10 days of magic :)

Remember to enter in the DeerLola giveaway, posted below!
Open now through Sunday night.
The winner will be announced Monday morning.

Christmas, it's coming :)

{Gussy Stockings!}

::LIMITED EDITION::
gussy Christmas stockings

Little Darlings, they are ready for purchase
and will ship Priority Mail ASAP.

They are on a first-come, first-serve basis.
Once they are gone, they are gone for the year.
Check back late 2010 for more Gussy stockings :)

***

L to R:
orange plaid, red and pink, pink plaid.

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***

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{Featured Artist: DeerLola}

This giveaway is now closed!

Here at Gussy has a lot to say we love to look at all things beautiful. Beautiful wall art, beautiful accessories, beautiful stories about family life.

Today marks week #6 of my series on featured Etsy artists. It is my goal to introduce some drool-worthy eye-candy. Over the next few months I'll be showcasing hand-selected Etsy artists that offer products that I think will appeal to you, my readers :)

Please join me in welcoming Ina at DeerLola.

***

What inspires you? Lots. First and probably foremost all people that are close to me. Also, I find a lot of inspiration in other artists and events or sights I stumble across in my everyday life.

Where do you call home? Are you from there originally? I live in Rotselaar, a small town about 30 minutes from Belgium’s capital Brussels. I grew up in another province until I was 18 and moved away to study elsewhere. After my studies, it just felt weird moving ‘back home’ because I had found a new home. So I stayed put, found a job and later on a husband here as well. Although I must admit that when visiting family and my parents in my home town and province, it still feels like coming home…




Name something unique to where you live. There is hardly anything ‘unique’ around here. I consider our home a very unique place. Still lots of green, nature and trees. The perfect place to come home to!

Share an interesting fact about yourself. At the moment, that interesting fact would be that I am 6 months pregnant with our second child :)

How did you come up with your shop name? And just who is Ina? I’m married, have a lovely daughter and by day I work as a full-time communications specialist in an IT company. In the evenings and weekends I love to create jewelry. When I decided to start my own shop, I wanted to do so with a catchy name. So I went with my daughter Dolores’ nickname Lola. And Lola loves deer...




If you had to describe yourself in a word, what would that word be? Inquisitive

What made you decide to open up shop? I’d been creating jewelry as a hobby for almost a year and was giving away the jewelry I made to my niece, sister, friends, family... but I was creating more jewelry than all these people could wear together, even if they changed jewelry three times a day ;) When I discovered Etsy, I was amazed by all the great artists and the variety of designs, creativity and products ! So I decided to try and sell my own designs as well. Sometimes I wish I could spend more time promoting my shop but I simply lack the time with a full-time job.




Name your favorite thing about selling handmade. Getting feedback on my work! I’m a real perfectionist so each time I send out a package with a piece of jewelry, I always double-check if everything is okay. It has to be perfect. When a buyer leaves feedback and they love what they purchased, that really makes my day!

Do you have a day job or sell on Etsy full-time? I have a full-time day job so my Etsy time and the time I can spend on crafting is limited to the evenings and weekends, mostly. Although I have to admit I will check in on my shop occasionally during the day. I’ve also joined the Etsy European Street Team, which is a fun, kindred-spirited, talented and very supportive group of artists on Etsy. We have a very busy thread and it’s difficult to keep up at times but it makes my Etsy experience a very fun one!!




Give us a little glimpse into what a typical day in your life looks like. During the week I will get up at about 7 AM. We’ll have breakfast and get our daughter ready for school. My husband will bring her to school in the mornings. I will pick Lola up after school, will prepare dinner and get her ready for bed. I have a very flexible work schedule. Some days I will work from home, some days I will go to the office to catch up at the coffee machine and for meetings. I love my job and although I sometimes wish I would have more time to spend on other things, I couldn’t miss my job which I actually love a lot!

Share with us a favorite Etsy purchase or shop. I create jewelry but am not a jewelry person myself. I will wear simple silver earrings and I wear rings. Both you can find plenty on Etsy! I will spoil myself with an Etsy purchase every now and then but keep discovering so many incredible handmade things on Etsy every day. My wish list only gets longer and longer...




List a few of your most favorite pastimes. Spending time with my family and friends, being outdoors and of course... crafting!

Read any good books lately? When I read a book, I want to finish it in one go. I can’t just read a few pages and then continue the next day... So most of the time, unfortunately, reading books is limited to my vacation... One of my favorite books is The House of Sleep by Jonathan Coe.

What is your most prized possession? I’m not materialistic at all so I don’t value ‘possessions’. I can’t really think of anything I own or possess that I couldn’t live without.




What are three of your favorite foods? I love food. I like to eat. I enjoy eating good and healthy food. So naming three of my favorite foods is a challenge ;) Anything that is fresh. The dish doesn’t have to be complicated, as long as the ingredients are fresh, I’m happy. Anything which is authentic Italian food, I love ! When we travel (which has been to Italy the past couple of years), we always look for Slow Food restaurants. Slow Food is an international organization, founded in Italy in the eighties, that encourages good, authentic and fair food. I also like ice cream and could eat sushi every single day...

What would you like to learn to do? Silversmithing ! I would love to create jewelry from scratch. I’d also like to learn Italian. Properly. So more than the few words and one-liners I picked up from spending my vacation there...

What are you listening to right now? I absolutely love soul and R&B. I love Angie Stone and Erykah Badu. Also love to listen to Bill Withers, Barry White and Sinatra. My all time favorite song which always lifts my spirits is Fly me to the moon’ by Sinatra!




Name one place you must visit in your lifetime and why. I’ve had the privilege and pleasure to travel quite a lot but have never been to Africa. So if I could... one day... I’d like to travel to Africa, discover a few countries there and probably totally fall in love with this fascinating continent!

***

Now for something fabulous!

Ina has offered to give away this wooden acorn necklace:

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To enter:

Leave a comment with why you'd like to win something from her shop!

For additional entries {leave a separate comment}:

-Comment that you follow my blog

-Comment that you follow me on Twitter

-Tweet about this {leave a comment with your Tweet}

-Blog about this {leave a comment with your post URL}

RULES:

• The giveaway will close Sunday, December 21 at 10 pm CST, and the winner will be announced the following day

• You ABSOLUTELY have to have an email address listed on your blog profile, blog, or the comment you leave. Don't make me hunt you down {'cuz I'll pick someone else!}

Please check back Friday, January 1 for another featured artist post!

{can you guess?}

UPDATE:
I am such a tease. Look at my ruffles, now:
{click photos to enlarge}



ORIGINAL POST:

working on three special things tonight...
Gosh, can anyone guess what I'm sewing?!?!

They'll be available tomorrow {early} afternoon.

{custom order: for Katie}

Here's another Custom Order I finished. Christmas is nearing so the buyer must remain anonymous! {I never know who might be reading this blog!} The buyer wanted a bag for her ______ to carry lotions and other liquid products in. The inside is wipe-able {wipeable?} and it's beach-themed. Or, as Gussy calls it: mucho mega relaxing to look at :)






I am now caught-up with my Custom Orders. For 2010, I'll be accepting 3/month. January is booked and I have one commitment for March. A little random, but Gussy likes random things :)

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I know I am a broken record on this, but it's just so true! I've got a huge itch to be sewing with my new Heather Bailey fabrics. The big question: What do I make with them?! If you have an opinion {aka: suggestion} be sure to leave a comment. Hah!

Now that the year is winding down and tomorrow is my last shipping day {**place your order by TONIGHT if you want your Gussy item mailed this year**} I have more free time than I ever imagined. I've been so used to working full-time elsewhere, then coming home to sew/Gussy full time in the evening... What am I supposed to do with this down-time as I relax before the Holidays?!

Duh. Just do some light sewing. I can't stop. It's like an addiction. Or a mom telling herself to not be a mom for a week. Yeah right!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Impossible I tell you.

*My shop will still be open while we are gone, but all orders placed tomorrow morning through Monday, January 4 will be mailed on Tuesday, January 5.