And The Winner Is....

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!



Congrats to Terra Yates at Creative Pose Photography. Your picture was hands-down one of the best submitted AND the pictures on your websites are just as gorgeous. I spent an hour just watching the slide shows on your website. Your work is amazing and I cannot wait to see what you do with everything!

Top 5 in Photo Contest!!!

Well I narrowed down all 47 entries to just 5 so far. It was SO hard because I really did love so many of them. Let me also say that I was expecting mmmmmm....maybe 20 entries so 47 was just amazing! It was a little overwhelming to say the least, but I am so grateful that 47 people found my clothes worth photographing! It still blows my mind that I make children's clothes and am--somewhat--successful at it. Now if I could just keep this fabric addiction under wraps I might actually make some money....but that's a different post for a different day.
Back to the Top 5 Finalists (in no order):


Angels Among Us Photography by Joie Dawson. Creative and unique name and adorably unique photos. How cute is this photo? I mean really?!? Can this little boy be any cuter? Visit her Facebook Page here.


Jennifer Marie Photography by Jennifer Stoehr. This was the second entry I received in the contest and I fell in love with it immediately then. The colors are perfect the girl is beautiful and I really love the photo journalistic style this reminds me of. Visit her Facebook Page here.


Forty Toes Photography by Jennifer Anderson-Wiggins. I love that her name comes from her four kids and she uses her too-cute-for-words daughter to model clothes. And let me tell you this girl can model! She is definitely no amateur! I can't tell you exactly why I love this photo--maybe because there is too much to write about--I love the clothes, I love the colors, I love the rustic background...I'll stop there. Visit her Facebook Page--where she is ALSO having a HUGE a giveaway for hitting 3000 fans--here.


S.Dawn Photography by Sindi Parent. She just has a way with capturing these kids personalities! I look at her photos and I feel like I know what the kids are like. And how does she get them all to smile?!? Oh yeah, best part?!? From Michigan! Woohoo! Visit her Facebook Page here.


Creative Pose by Terra Yates. ::sigh:: Love her! She is so gracious and her photos really speak for themselves. This photo is beyond gorgeous and she went against the norm of sending in a photo of kids...that was gutsy! I like it :o) But honestly, this photo is practically perfect and I completely understand why she sent this in as her favorite photo. Visit her Facebook Page here.


So that's it! That's my Top 5! Check back on Friday when I announce the winner!!! Good luck to the five photographers you all are amazing and I swear to you it's gonna break this little heart to choose just one.

Photo Contest

As it turns out deciding on just one winner is HARD! Way harder than I ever thought it would be. Not to mention that I have over double the entries I was expecting....Pretty good for my first one! I decided that I'd like to do this as an annual thing. A way to support other businesses and hopefully, I'll only be getting bigger so maybe I can bring some people with me?!? I only wish I would have though of it last year! lol. Oh well, better now than never.
Anyway, I had some amazing entries and it was SO hard to narrow it down to my Top 10 and its only going to get harder as the week goes on!!! I will be announcing the winner of the contest on Friday! That is, the person who wins $200 worth of free clothes to photograph! My ENTIRE Fall 2011 Collection. I may be biased but they are AWESOME!
Stay tuned....tomorrow will be narrowed down to my Top 7.

Oh yeah, here are the Top 10.

Flashback Fridays!!!

So I was looking at some different blogs today and I saw someone doing posts every Wednesday that were titled "Wordless Wednesdays" and just included a cute picture as the post. I was thinking to myself, "Hmmmm...that's and adorable idea! I should do it!" BUT then I didn't want to be like everyone else so I came up with "Flashback Fridays". I'm sure if  I Swagbucked* I would learn that its probably not all that original of an idea, but it WAS original to me! lol. So, thus begins my "Flashback Fridays".
Here is one of my most FAVORITE things I've ever made--and no my daughter is not what I'm talking about, although in reality she is one of my favorite things I've made, lol. This pettiskirt was the very first thing that I "made". I put it in quotes because I didn't exactly make it alone. The night before these pictures I begged convinced my good friend Christy (hi Christy!) to help me make it. Really, it just included me sitting next to her while she did most of the sewing and I watched...although, I do remember gathering 60 feet, yes you read that right 60 FEET, of nylon chiffon to make the beautiful ruffles. I believe we were up until 2 am or thereabouts! Haha! I'll tell you what though, it was worth it! Although, I promised her that I'd help her do the same for her daughter who was just turned one at the time and just had her 3rd b-day! (I think you should cash this in Christy because I OWE you :o) )

Please Go Vote....

for my beautiful Love Me Knot Natalie Dress (#7) over at whimsycouture.blogspot.com. If I win I can get a bunch of free patterns! Yay!

It's Contest Time!!!

So I've been figuring out my fabulous Fall line and I'm so excited because I have some GREAT styles coming up that I'm excited to show off to everyone. Only thing is--in case you haven't noticed--I am NO photographer. So that's where YOU come in! I'm looking for some photographers with some serious style! So without further adieu here is my challenge...

Contest: Send me your very favorite photo that you have taken. EVER! It can be whatever subject matter you so choose. Just be sure to make it something that will WOW me.
Prize: The winner will receive upwards of $200 worth of Dashingly Dainty Designs products to photograph for me AND will be promoted on my Facebook page, blog, website, and just about everywhere else I can post! Even if you don't have any daughters to wear my clothes they would make great props for you! What little girl doesn't want to be photographed in boutique clothes?!?
How to Enter: Mail ONE photograph to DashinglyDainty@yahoo.com by 11:59pm on Sunday, February 20, 2011. Please put "Photo Challenge" in sugbject line and be sure to include a FB Fan Page or website so I can advertise all the entries! That's it!

Good luck to everyone who decides to enter! I look forward to seeing all of your entries :o)

And just for giggles...here's an example of my stellar photography!


Check out the entries HERE!

So its Decided...

Well, I've been scouring the Internet and as it turns out finding a good art show means that it will be juried. Being juried means they will ask you for pics. And when they ask for pics, chances are they are going to ask for a booth display. Those sentences remind me of the book "If You Give A Mouse a Cookie", except in my version it'd be "If You Give A Girl A Sewing Machine". HA! But I digress...I was able to find one art show so far. Although it isn't a big one...it's actually the inaugural one. It is right on the water in a nearby town so it has high hopes! The bonus, for me since I'm such a procrastinator, is its not until the end of July so I have plenty of time to build up stock and buy everything I need for the perfect booth display...or even more time to hold off until the last minute. lol. However you want to look at it...
I already kind of have the set-up in my mind. Nothing too crazy or exciting since the clothes are the main attraction--if you will--but it will be white, with clean simple lines and a little shabby chic thrown in!
Now I have to decide what pics to enter. Here are the ones I was thinking but I really need some input since I've never applied for one of these things before. Thoughts?!?






Wow. Sorry the pics are so large. I obviously need to work on formatting this kind of stuff still. Anyway....so I wanted to show some pics of my clothes on kids, but maybe I shouldn't? Maybe I should just show only pics like the third one. Anyone else have any professional pictures of my outfits on their kids? I would LOVE to see them, who knows, maybe you'll even see them on my blog one day.... Email me :o)
This is going to be a long process with my decision making skills!

Taking the Next Step...

As a "boutique owner" (I put that in quotes because although I guess I am a boutique owner I don't really feel like one) I have big dreams. I figured I'd share one with you: I want to do craft shows! I know, it probably doesn't sound as exciting to you as it is to me. The problem is, I don't know HOW to do it. Especially because I don't want to start out at tiny craft shows; I don't want to waste my time. I want to jump right in and do ones that I know I will make money at because essentially, that is my overall goal in doing these. Well, that and getting my name out there. I don't want to be a tiny boutique that you can find only on Facebook or Etsy. I want to be BIG and I feel like the next stepping stone for me would be to do a craft show. A good craft show.
So anyway...how to do it. Finding applications is easy enough. Submitting pictures of my work and me doing the work is easy enough. Submitting pictures of my booth? Impossible. I've never had a booth before. It's also winter here in Michigan so I can't set up a booth example outside. Furthermore I don't have stock built up to take pictures of said booth. So I guess, my goal is to find a big craft show that doesn't require a booth photo and pray I get accepted. Does this exist? I'll let you know...

Here it is...

dut-dun-da-dun! Yeah...not so exciting BUT I made it all and its mine! My own little piece of the Internet.
I'll be sure to let you know when I have a new post, but for now, I'm not sure how often that will be. I'm debating on whether I should keep this strictly business or add my feelings and emotions in here as time goes and I guess I'll see how it goes.
The only "announcement" I have is that I entered my Love Me Knot Natalie Dress (pictured below) into a contest on Whimsy Couture's blog to try and win some free patterns. I think people will end up voting for the winners so I'll keep you updated because free patterns for me equals new designs for you :o) and really, can a designer ever have enough designs to choose from? I think not...