We're Still Here.

So... Life has been pretty crazy the past few weeks.
And I need to talk to you guys about a few things. So, can we have a quick chat?

First of all, I'm about to break a few hearts.
We have decided not to participate in the JSL Holiday Market this year.
It was a last minute decision, and it absolutely broke my heart. Things have been a little all over the place lately. First of all, we've got a lot going on in our personal lives. I spend about half of my time in Charleston & half of it in Orangeburg. That makes things crazy. Mom is a care-taker for my sweet Granny, and that's basically a 24 hour responsibility. Anyways.... long story short..... We both agreed that it wasn't fair for us to do the show & not be able to devote 100% of our time to the show itself & post-show orders.
I am so sorry, y'all. I sincerely hope you understand.

Now, we WILL be doing a small sale online & here at the house. I've got a pretty good bit of MaDa in stock, and we've got lots of great gift items. It will probably be like a "Cyber Monday" event after Thanksgiving, and we will also open up the house for local shoppers. More on that later.

We've been doing MaDa happily for 5 years (give or take a little). It has been SUCH a bright spot in our lives, but it is NOT our full time jobs. MaDa is not a gold mine. Let me get real with y'all for a minute.... MaDa is really just an expensive hobby. We don't do it for the money. We do it because we love it. And we love our customers.

The past month, I've been feeling a little "burned out". I've been doing a little interior design work on the side, and I miss it... so much sometimes. I've also been missing my old blog.... I never told y'all I blogged. It was about "big girl" things.... design, fashion, my fave little spots in Charleston and I talk about faith, too. Basically, my life. Well... I want to do that again.
I started working another job, too. You know, to pay those bills that MaDa doesn't cover. I'm helping out at a music venue in Charleston, and that's also sucking up a lot of time.
Mom is just busy. Busy across the board.

Add all this together.... and it means that MaDa gets put on the back burner sometimes.

So. I'm saying all this to explain the distance lately.
No, we're not shutting down the operation.
We're still sewing & embroidering (and of course, filling orders!), so don't hesitate to contact us if you want to order something.
I'm just searching for a little direction. Do I want to focus more on blogging? Or maybe embroidery... Or maybe I want to do more design work & blog more. Maybe keep MaDa, but on a smaller scale?
I'm just not ready to decide yet.

All that said, a huge thank you for the 5 years of support. We're still here.

Tester List for MaDa Christmas & Darling!

How to sign up:
Comment on the Facebook page "Tester Status" or below on this post to sign up.

PLEASE POST the following: 1. Paypal email (or cash/check), 2. LOCAL or SHIP, 3. Item you'd like to test, 4. SIZE 5. Monogram (first-LAST-middle)

I will be watching posts & recording as people sign up. I will be sending out invoices tonight & tomorrow.

Details:
Just a heads up. These items will not ship until late November. Some items may ship earlier, but I am not making any promises. Please, be aware of this!
Refunds and exchanges are not offered.

Darling (LADIES ITEMS)

Monogrammed Polka Dot PJ pants: Hot Pink (xs-xxl) $26 reg, $20 & free ship

Monogrammed Polka Dot PJ pants: Aqua (xs-xxl, NO xs available) $26 reg, $20 & free ship

Monogrammed Polka Dot PJ pants: Light Pink (xs-xxl) $26 reg, $20 & free ship

Monogrammed Polka Dot PJ pants: Navy (xs-xxl) $26 reg, $20 & free ship

Monogrammed Polka Dot PJ pants: Red (xs-xxl, NO small available) $26 reg, $20 & free ship

Monogrammed Black Zip-Up Jacket (xs-xxl) $32 reg, $28 & free ship

Monogrammed Gray Zip-Up Jacket (xs-xxl) $32 reg, $28 & free ship BLUE

Monogrammed Black Leggings (xs-xxl) $18 reg, $12 & free ship VEGA

Monogrammed Hooded Tshirt Tunic (xs-xxl, junior fit, V-neck) (Choose Color: Black, White, Navy, Gray, Hot Pink) $28 reg, $20 & free ship BLACK BENSON

Monogrammed Baseball Cap (Choose Color: navy, black, white, hot pink, aqua, lime, red, coral, and orange) $15 Reg, $10 (plus ship)

Monogrammed Clutch Purse (Choose Color: royal blue, lime, red, hot pink, taupe, & aqua) $30 reg, $24 (plus ship)

Christmas Chevron Market Tote (monogrammed) $28 reg, $20 (plus ship)
USC Chevron Market Tote $28, $20 (plus ship)
Clemson Chevron Market Tote $28, $20 (plus ship)
MINI Camo Market Tote $22, $18 (plus ship)

Christmas Chevron Stocking (monogrammed $18 reg, $13 & free ship)

Christmas Seersucker Stocking (monogrammed $15 reg, $10 & free ship)

JEWELRY engraved bracelet gold (monogrammed $39, $32 & free ship)
JEWELRY engraved necklace gold (monogrammed disc $40, $32 & free ship)

MaDa Christmas Dresses ($32, Free ship)

Nutcracker Dress BLUE

Corduroy Dress

Elf Dress

Christmas Chevron Dress

Chrismas "Peace" Dress
Christmas Trees Dress EMMOTT
Monogrammed Christmas Polka Dots Dress (best for ages 4 & under)
Monogrammed Christmas Polka Dots Dress II (best for ages 5 & up)
Christmas Ornament Dress (pinks, greens, reds)

MaDa Monogrammed Long Alls
Christmas Long Alls Red Cord $40 reg, $35 & free ship
Christmas Long Alls Lime Cord $40 reg, $35 & free ship

MaDa Appliqued Christmas Shirts ($20, Free ship)

Boy- Christmas Gift Forklift

Boy- Christmas Gift Forklift 2

Boy- Christmas Doxie Puppy

Boy- Elf

Girl- Palmetto & Crescent Christmas SUMMERS

Girl- Chevron Christmas Tree BENSON

Girl-Wreath

Girl- Holly Initial

Co-ed- Manger Scene

The Last Summer Sale: the details

It's officially here! Day 1 of our giant 2-Day, End of Summer, "very-last-sale-for-a-while", Sale!

Here's a little play-by-play of what to expect on Day 1:

How to shop: If you see something online that you want, just comment with you size & a Paypal email address. If you're still shopping, just let me know. We'll invoice you after the sale is over on Thursday or maybe Friday. If you don't do Paypal, that's okay, too! Just comment "check" or whatever so I know.

If you're local, feel free to stop by the house & shop between 2 & 6 either day. If you can't make those times, I'm happy to work with you on a more convenient time!

What's on the menu today:
We've got a crop of OOAK (one-of-a-kind) dresses (will list part of stock today & part tomorrow), a couple shirts for boys, some jewels, embroidery blanks, and a couple (not all of our stock) of doll dresses (the 15-18" kind if you know what I mean).

I've also got some of my formal dresses up for sale (so if you know anyone in the market, I've got a couple priced to sell!!) And I've also been cleaning out my closet.... brand new, with tags items. I seriously cannot continue down the path of hoarding-dom. 

Today's Discounts:
Order 2 pairs of Christmas Pajamas, get 10% off your order!
Order ANY item from our "Back to School" album & get $5 off!
Back To School Teacher Flags are $20 today! Yep, you heard me... Only $20!!

We will stack these discounts!!!

And our Lovely Giveaway:
WIN a free monogrammed ladies pocket t-shirt!
How to Enter:
Head over to the "Summer Sale Event" on our Facebook Page.

Share the image on your timeline and tell your friends about our awesome sale! It MUST be shared "publicly" so that I can see it to verify.

Comment on the picture saying you did!

NOTE: If you purchase an item during our sale, we will add your name into the pot for EACH item purchased. (So if you share the image & comment, that's 1. If you buy 2 dresses & pre-order a pair of Doll PJs for Christmas, that's 3 more times we will add your name in. A total of 4 entries!) And you should probably head to Twitter, too. Just sayin.

Summer Sale Information!

You don't know how much I hate the end of summer. 

I am & forever will be a summer girl.

Well, the end of summer brings big sales. So I guess there's the silver lining.

And, we aren't going to disappoint! 

Here's what we've got on our Sale Roster:
*"One of a Kind" (OOAK) dresses/tunics (expect some bigger sizes mixed in with the tinies! As always, if you want a monogram... they're included! Hip Hip Hooray!)

*Boys applique shirts (lots of mustache love & such)

*Pre-orders on several items for the kiddos & ladies (these items will be marked PRE-ORDER...monogram shirts, PJ pants, etc) 

*We do have a few " 15"/18 AG dresses & ONE tutu.These will be marked to sell! They gotta go!

*A few headbands & hairbows... I seriously have no room for these. Gots to go!

*BLANKS. If you know me, you know I hoard t-shirts & blanks like nobody's business. I've got 3 crates FULL. You pick the blank, & the applique/monogram costs are included. BOY & GIRL blanks, all sizes. And y'all know I've got an applique design for everything.... football helmets, airplanes, & cars...all the way to "princess & the pea" & sunglasses.
I ALSO have blank 15"/18" Doll t-shirts. Yes, I can monogram them & do some appliques! 

Oh yes... and we've got blank totes & luggage.
*Ladies jewelry. Yep... I've got a few things left! Gotta go & make room for new stuff!
*We're selling some of our props as well.... we've got a super cute little prop "bike" up for grabs! 

*As y'all know, my "real world" job is interior design. I've got some items stashed back that I'm going to be bringing out. They are all $$$ items, but I'm selling them for more like $. All designer brands or antiques. Some custom pillows, ceramics, antique items.... (Really nice fabrics for custom pillows also.)You get the picture. But, it's time to part ways.

*Lastly, I'm also cleaning out my closet. As I have mentioned.... I'm somewhat of a hoarder. I've got quite a few clothes (never worn, some tags still on) that need a new home. For instance, I've got a brand new pair of Theory flats... still in the box. I'm a habitual online shopper. I've bought some things online & then they arrive & they don't fit.... because I'm really, really short. Also, I'm getting rid of my cotillion/prom dresses if any one knows any one interested.

I will be listing MOST of the clothing items & such on Facebook in a sale album, but since there will be such a huge variety... I won't be listing it all online. Locals, here's your chance to really score big. If you can't make it to the house, no worries. Just let me know what you're interested in, and I'm more than happy to work with you. Want to stop by a different day? It's cool.... we can work something out. Just give me a heads up!

And very lastly, we will be offering special deals & discounts on pre-orders.
But I'll announce that the day of the sale ;)

Pre-Order Madness

I seriously cannot believe that we are half-way into July.
I'm not sure I want to.
Can I just pretend it's June & Summer just got here?

Just wanted to give you guys a little heads up on what's going on in MaDa Land.

Here's what our calendars are looking like...

Christmas PJs! We ARE doing pre-orders for Christmas PJs. Same company as last year, but GOOD NEWS....they're offering more sizes! Yippee! This includes kiddo sizes (6 month to 14) as well as newborn gowns & adult pjs/lounge pants. So excited about those adult lounge pants. Sold!

Back To School (Let the groans commence.... I don't even have kids & I'm groaning!)
We are going to open up some pre-orders for things like nap mats, lunch boxes, etc. It's just easier for me to do a pre-order on items like this. Everything will be ready for pick-up the first part of August. Or sooner if your kiddos go back to school early.

Teachers.... We are ALSO going to release a special burlap flag for your classroom doors!
You WILL get a discount price... because we appreciate you:)

Fall/Winter 2013 Collection
As most of y'all know, mom has had a rough couple months following her sickness/surgery/recovery. I decided NOT to do a Spring/Summer collection for 2013 because I really felt like we needed to take a step back & slow down. I had almost decided NOT to do a new collection.... and of course, the design bug has hit me again. Pretty hard, I might add.
I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. We may do a small, scaled down collection of a handful of pieces. We may release 3 or 4 items. We may not.
I haven't decided yet.

We still have a few more things up our sleeves... but we'll get to that next time!

XO
MaDa

Darling

We've been experiencing a lot of changes around here lately.

It all kind of started when Mom got sick. We have definitely been in a season of "change". 

A lot started changing in our personal lives, and it has influenced our professional lives as well.

So. Without further adieu...

The first bit of news we've got for you guys is this....
MaDa is splitting.

Don't freak out.

The band is not "breaking up"...We're just growing!

We're launching a new branch of MaDa!
MaDa is excited to officially announce

Darling will be a branch of MaDa that focuses more on the ladies. We will bring you couture & handmade items as well as boutique & fashion accessories. We will also be doing more Greek and monogrammed items.

For a while now, we've been thinking a lot about our Facebook page, and to be honest, it has felt a bit cluttered. Kiddo clothing, Poo Pourri, Ladies clothing, accessories.... and last year, we added monogramming services to the mix. It's a lot for our little page to handle.

We have also been giving a lot of consideration to our fan base. To us, splitting up the pages will make it easier to navigate. Our sweet customers will be able to easily find the products & browse through our items. 

MaDa/Darling will both be online based businesses. All handmade/couture items will be available through our Etsy storefront, and all boutique goods and accessories will be available for purchase on our website, www.madadesignsonline.com. 

We're still "under construction" over at Darling, but it should be up and running by next week.

Head over to the Facebook page & "Like" it, so you can stay up with ALL the MaDa goodness!

Perspective.

I took Mom to get her staples out yesterday. All 18 of them.

Normally, I don't get "personal" on Facebook. I don't do it on my personal page, and I surely refrain from doing so on my business pages. But through this entire experience, I have felt so much support from our customers, our followers, friends, and family, that I really feel I need to report a little on Mom and her progress.

Let's cut to the chase.

They thought Mom had cancer.

Mom had seen a gastro specialist, and during her initial appointment with him, he asked her with raised eyebrows if there was a history of cancer in her family. He booked her for an endoscopy 2 days later. At this point she was already unable to eat and in severe abdominal pain. She was swollen and absolutely miserable.

The day they admitted her to the hospital, I had taken her to Columbia for the endoscopy. During the procedure, she got violently ill while still under anesthesia.  Despite that, they did manage to see that the opening from her stomach to the small intestine was almost completely shut. Her doctor realized immediately that she was very sick, and he admitted her to the hospital right away. 

When I got to the recovery room, the doctor met me and told me that she was a "very, very sick lady".

Basically she was slowly being poisoned.

I could look at her and tell that she was very ill.

And she was crying. Crying not because of herself, but because she was worried about me being upset. Apologizing to the nurses for making a mess and scaring them all half to death.

That's my mom.

So I wiped her teary face, cleaned up her clothes, and hid my own tears for the ride home that night.

I won't tell you how afraid I was at this point. 

And I won't tell you how much it broke my heart to see my mom this sick.

Once in the hospital, they put mom on a diet of ice chips. Out of her 15 day stay, she had ice chips for 12.

While we were there, she had the absolute best nurses. They were so sweet and gentle with her. I thank God for those nurses.

For the next several days, I was a total wreck. 

When Mr. B finally made it to my side, I fell apart. 

Situations like this force you to consider the "what ifs" and things that lie out of your control. 

My mom is my best friend. I honestly can't imagine my life without her in it. And thinking about loosing her and how much she was suffering was breaking my heart. There are truly no words.

Mom was a trooper. She contracted pneumonia from aspiration. They also found MRSA in her nasal region. She handled each unpleasant test with grace and kindness. She never got upset. She will tell you to this day that she could FEEL the prayers and FEEL peace. She was at peace with everything, and she faced it like a warrior. She wasn't even upset when they told her that she needed major surgery.

Her surgery was on February 6.
Longest, most scary day of my life.

They removed 20-25% of her stomach which had been damaged by peptic ulcer disease and created scar tissue over time which closed the duodenum. They did gastric bypass to create a new way for her stomach to move food into the small intestine. They also did a preventative surgery to keep her from having ulcers in the future. Funny thing is, she didn't even know that she had stomach ulcers. 

While they were in there, they took lots of biopsies because they were openly concerned that this was cancer. Praise the Lord, it was all benign. 

Her recovery has been very painful, and the first few days were very difficult for her. She had an NG tube, a pic line, drainage tubes. It was so very sad. She has lost an incredible amount of weight, and being that she normally weighs around 110, she didn't have much to lose.

First meal in almost 2 weeks!
1 Chicken Tender!
And it was the best chicken tender ever.

Mom came home on Friday, February 15.

It's a miracle that she's here. She was so close to death, but she's here with us. I thank God for that.

She's cancer free. I thank God for healing her in his very own way.

I thank God for each card, message, phone call, visit, gift, meal, and flower that has been sent to her. I thank him for using people to make her feel loved and special. I thank God for the helpers.

I thank him for her and for blessing my family with each other. We don't deserve his goodness.

The cherry blossoms started blooming after Mom's surgery.

This entire experience has truly reverberated with Christ.
From the big picture, down to the smallest, almost insignificant details, God was in it all.
Through this, God has taught me so many lessons.
So much perspective.

He has spoken to my heart directly in ways that he has never done before. 

He has whispered into my soul and brought me comfort and joy.

He has reminded me to live as an example to others and to live a life of love and service.

He has taught me about faith in the darkest times.

 

So, you're probably wondering what this means for MaDa.
Well. It means a lot.

First of all, we will not be releasing an "official" Spring/Summer line this year. Depending on Mom's progress, we MAY do a few pieces... more of a "mini" collection for Summer.
We will be moving slowly for a bit longer. At least another month. Just a heads up!

We WILL still continue to do monogramming and embroidery. 

We will be having another flash sale on March 7.

AND.... I have a few more surprises coming your way very soon.

I will debut them next week!

Thank you all for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for her. She's got a very long road ahead, and this is a slow recovery and healing process.

We appreciate your patience during this time. I am currently living at home to take care of my Mom and hold down the fort. Please be aware that it may take me longer to respond to emails, and shipping will take a little longer since I am not able to go to the post office several times a week right now. If you're trying to place an order, please send us an email at madadesignsonline@gmail.com. It's the best way to reach us.... just give me a few days to respond.
Thank y'all for being a part of the MaDa family.
xo
jj