Where have you been!?

Hello my dear fans! It has been too long! I apologize for disappearing but I wanted to update you on some of the exciting things going on in our neck of the woods!

Our first big excitement is obviously that we are having a little boy! Michael James is said to be due on October the 28th but I'm pretty sure he's coming mid October. Daddy thinks he's going to wait until Halloween to come out.

Isn't he cute? These were taken Monday. I HIGHLY recommend a 3d ultrasound!! We got ours for a GREAT price so if you can afford it I vote, yay!

Rocking a gorgeous smile!

We had just complimented his cute little ears before he let out this smirk

Just for kicks! I think the kitties have spent too much time in my lap. He is already grooming like them!

We were so excited to see how much he had developed and grown over the last four weeks. He definitely looks like a little baby now! Such a stud!

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Our second big Yay announcement is about our feature in Ocala Style Magazine in next months issue. Thea article is on local Etsy sellers. We were so beyond honored to have been contacted (literally the day we found out we were pregnant) and to have my photo taken today for the article. I can't wait to share it with you and I can't thank you all enough for helping us to get on the radar of such a talked about magazine in this area!

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We've got our Christmas as well as our Autumn items back in the shop. I am sending out some more Autumn items tomorrow so I hope to have them in the shop very soon!

This brings me to my last little rant. I am so thankful to everyone who has gotten their Holiday orders in already. I have gone back and fourth, around and around, up and down.... on how I will handle closing the shop during the busiest and most influential part of the year. Michael will need me and I know how many people love having our items this time of the year but I have to come up with something! My current plan (though who knows if this will change again) is to continue accepting orders until we are scheduled up to October 15th. At which point I will close the Etsy shop until at least a couple of weeks until after little MJ arrives. This seems to be the most logical but because we rely on these fantastic orders to pay our bills I worry about closing TOO early and then not being able to pay our bills. Have you noticed I'm a bit of a worrier?

I will still be active on Facebook and will still encourage some orders from our fans. If nothing else our turn around will be super fast and we should be able to ship things in plenty of time for Christmas. So, that is my plan as of now. I am currently starting to schedule a couple of days past what I have posted above (right hand side towards the top :-) ) so I hope we can stay at a two week turn around. PLEASE, if you are considering placing an order for Halloween or Thanksgiving contact me soon about placing the order. I don't want to rush anyone but I dont want to send out those yucky "I would love to make this for you BUT we unfortunately are already booked." Those break my heart!

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Rant's over! I hope this helps catch you all up to speed a bit! I am doing very well with this pregnancy, minus some minor blood pressure blips and the weight gain, but both Michael and I are coming along very well. Thank you everyone who asks and continues to wish us the best of luck!

One last belly shot before you go! 28 1/2 weeks <3

Gender Reveal Winner

And the winner of our Guess Jellybeans Gender Contest is....

Amanda Cobb

Congratulations, Amanda!! We chose a winner out of those who guessed BOY. He is certainly a boy! He is healthy, growing, and very active!

- I'm sorry we don't have an ultrasound picture! We had an issue with our USB so we have to go back and have them saved again. Then I will happily share my cute kid -

It was such a pleasure including you all in this. He will certainly help me create more boy goodies which I know we are lacking in. We are very excited!

Amanda, if you would like to email me we can work out the details of your $25 credit.

Xoxo,

Guess Jellybeans Gender Giveaway

I am so excited to be only 2 weeks from our next ultrasound! The BIG one. I know my husband is tired of the babies name being "it". This pregnancy has already been such an incredible blessing for us. We have had no problems so far and are feeling good. This ultrasound will be so amazing for us after the long years of trying.

As soon as we found out we were expecting back in March I knew I wanted to do a fun giveaway for when we find out the babies gender. You guys mean so much to us so we want you to be included in such a fun day ( hopefully this kid isn't bashful! ) I have yet to pick out the prize. I KNOW! Thats awful lol! I wanted to do a boy hat if its a boy and a girl hat if its a girl. BUT we don't want people to make guesses based off of the item they hope to win. Hence the reason I haven't decided. Seriously, who enters a giveaway if the prize isn't decided?

- Prize updated below-

I promise, entry into this giveaway aren't crazy like some of the others. You don't have to like 20 different pages or bend over backwards. 

- I hate that!-

I will post a couple of pictures below in case you need reference for guessing and if you feel you need more info to make your guess don't be afraid to ask and I will add that info HERE:

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PRIZE:

I will give the winner a Newborn/0-3 month beanie valued at $25! YOU get to pick the cuteness that will be created for you! If you prefer a large size the $25 credit can be put towards that. The same applies if you'd prefer something else entirely. Like booties!

                                          

                                                      For reference this was taken a week before I got pregnant.

                                         

                                                     This was just taken Thursday. I was 1 day shy of 20 weeks

Here is Jellybeans ultrasound at 11 weeks. Heartbeat was a good 160 BPM.

If it is important for anyones decision making I have been feeling kicks since about 14 weeks .

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TO ENTER:

Please leave your guess ALONG with your first and last name in a comment below. On July 3rd we will pick the winner from the correct guesses. If for some reason we are not able to find out the gender we will pick a winner from all of the comments we receive.


I will post an update about the prize once I make my decision along with any other information we get requests for.

XOXO,

Birthday Celebration Sale and a new Giveaway

I'm sorry for my absence and lack of posts lately! We have been caught up in the joys of expecting our first child who should be here this Autumn as well as preparing for Christmas in July. We are very excited! 

- See later in the post for details on a fun giveaway. -

I't that time of the year again. Time to celebrate my husbands birthday. Last year we held a huge sale which did very well and was so much fun. I would like to honor my husbands birth with yet another sale this year. I will be activating coupon code 30BDAY on June 15th only which will take 30% off of each order! It is a great opportunity to stock up on props. We even had a customer purchase Christmas presents through this sale. She saved a ton of money plus had all her goodies in plenty of time for the holidays!

I will absolutely be accepting custom orders for new items on this day. Anything you've had in mind, don't hesitate to contact us about it!

Happy Birthday to my best friend, my business partner, my soul mate.

- We were 13 weeks Pregnant in this image. I can't believe its been 6 weeks since then! -

NOW, about that giveaway!! Dale thought of this when we were talking about announcing our pregnancy. I've been super excited about it! We have our next ultrasound July 3rd where we should hopefully find out if Jellybean will be Cybella Dona or James O'Dale. We would like to run a giveaway where your entry is a guess to Jellybeans Gender. Once we know we will pick a winner from those who guessed the correct sex. A full blog about this will be posted on the 16th after our Birthday Sale. I can include current pregnancy pictures if that will help with guesses.

We appreciate each and every one of you! It is always such a pleasure to be welcomed into your lives and I love that I can welcome you into mine.

Remember, that coupon code 30BDAY will only be active on Friday June 15th. If you would like to contact me about a custom order ahead of time you can email me anytime at briarrosecraftythings@yahoo.com

Thank you all!!

New Items and OOAK Sneak Peak

Here is a quick preview of some of the new items we will be adding to the Etsy Shop in the next couple of days. Enjoy!

Mrs. Kitty

Foxy Baby Cape

Little Miss Button Bunny

Rainbow Stocking Cap

Frog Princess Beanie

Yellow & Grey Pixie Bonnet

Bold Miss Button Bunny

Peacock!!

And now a sneak peace of some of the items I've been working on. I love each and every one of them! OOAK Sale coming soon!!

Gorgeous Handspun Beanies With removable flowers made by Pretty Baby Accessories

xoxo,

Big Day for Briar Rose

Today, February 17th has been a big day! Today I conquered a fear. One I didn't think I would be facing for quite some time. If it wasn't for my husband practically dragging me I don't think I would have done it.

First, let me catch you up on where I've been on my journey to getting healthy since the last post. The week after I shared my first healthy post I accomplished some great things. I did two complete Jillian Michael's workouts which burn 500 calories each and run about 2-3 hours (for me). After the first I was so very proud! But the very next morning the self doubt sink in, hard. Even though I had just accomplished something so great I had already told myself I couldn't do it again.

I went into a funk. I barely worked out at all for the entire month of December. I stopped setting goals for myself. Even the little ones. I still counted calories and lost some weight but I wasn't in the right mind frame. The doubt I brought on myself was numbing. I can't even describe it. It was like I was 230 pounds again. Which I NEVER want to be again!

Thankfully around January 1st I found some bit of light at the end of the tunnel. We traded in our wii workout games we had been doing and purchased the Biggest Loser Challenge. I started the 12 week program which will wrap up early next month. I'm down 7 pounds since then. One to 3 a week plus an off week. You know, that week.

It's still a slow process but this isn't a sprint. Its a marathon. This is the rest of my life. I'm trying to find every day ways to be active. Clearing out our garden area. Chopping wood. Things I never did before.

Anyhow. I suffer from "Fat Girl Syndrome" I now fit into size 14 pants yet I still see what I have to lose. I'm pretty sure my husband hates it lol. It also doesn't help when your stomach is mostly skin and doesn't look so hot ( any tips on how to tighten that excess skin??) I'm still rambling!! Moving on...

Like any other girl I love the mall and now love to shop! But, there has always been one store I have wanted to shop at but never felt like I was invited into the club. Every time we'd pass by it I'd say "Next time. Next time, I'll conquer you." Well, today my husband made me do it. I'm absolutely grateful of course! I did it. I fought my fears of rejection, insecurity, and social anxiety and got the guts to walk into.....

Victoria's Secret

Sounds trivial enough but this has been my goal. They carry my size! I tried some stuff on! Even though looking at my stomach still makes me want to cringe most times my boobs will at least look great! I made my first purchase! This was my big goal, I wanted it so badly! I never knew I'd get it.

Moral of the story? Keep going. Keep fighting. Even if you don't feel like you are worth it, deserve it, want it badly enough, are beautiful enough, strong enough, keep going!

Nothing is too big or small to go after!

Don't every let anyone tell you otherwise!

I still hear: "Oh you'll never be that size." "You'll never be that small." "Your stomach has always been like that." "But look at all this you still have to lose." Does it hurt? Hell yea! But this isn't anyone else's journey! Eat healthy, be active, be strong, find some support and show them wrong!

I'll be in a bikini this summer. I may not be a model with washboard abs but I'm gonna do it!

Also, if you're having problems acknowledging your weight loss carry around what you've lost. Here's me attempting to carry 57 pounds in a backpack. Even my husband had difficulties :-/

And take lots of pictures! Even though you may not like what you see now you will wish you had something to compare to months from now. Here's a side shot of me taken last week. - Looks like a preggo shot lol! -

And here's my last bit of goodness from today. The seeds I planted on Valentines day have begun to sprout. I'm so very excited! Right now we have salad mix growing on the bottom. Some of the top ones are broccoli and the ones on the right are iceberg lettuce. If all else fails, grow what you want to eat this summer. Fingers crossed :-)

As always, I'm here for support to anyone who needs it or needs someone to vent to! Love you all! Thank YOU for the constant support and encouragement.

XOXO,

2000 Fan Week Long Sales Event

I can't even believe we are only 2 fans away from hitting 2,000 follows on our Facebook page! I can't thank each of you enough! You have really made 2011 and the start of 2012 such a fantastic time for us! We love seeing all the baby pictures and hearing how much our items mean to you guys. We feel the same way about you!

Enough of the mushy stuff! Onto the fun sales coming next week!!

Monday: 20% off our Animal Hats Section of Etsy

Tuesday: FREE SHIPPING

Wednesday: 20% off the Owl Hats Section of our Etsy Shop

Thursday: 20% off the Photography Props section of our Etsy shop

Friday: 20% off EVERYTHING!!

Thats an entire week of fun!! All prices will automatically be marked off each day so you won't need to worry about coupon codes to get your discount. Tuesday I will share a special coupon code with you to take off your free shipping. It will also be posted in the information section on the front page of our shop.

Thank you everyone! I hope you have as much fun as I did planning this! I'll keep adding new items as I receive images so keep an eye out <3

XOXO,