marie-madeline studio

Nana's dishcloths!

 

We are so very blessed to have two of our great-grandmothers still with us.  Grandma Conwell (Mom's grandmother) is 93 years old.  Her name is June Madeline-- we named our business after her!  She's a beautiful lady with snow-white hair... and as the Lord would have it, we inherited our creativity and artistic ability from her (and her daughter-- our grandmother Nanny, of course). 

And Nana, well, she's quite a lady too.  She's a fiesty little thing at 94 years!  She says that you're only as old as you feel... and she feels about 35.  Lately, Nana's had to keep to her chair a little bit more, but that hasn't stopped her from getting a lot done.  When she isn't reading or talking on the phone, we've started her on crochet.  Nana crocheted when she was younger, so it all came back quickly.  Then she got this great idea.  Why couldn't she help us with our business?  And why couldn't she make beautiful things for other people, while she sits at home?

So.  Would you like to make Nana's day by purchasing some of her lovely dishcloths?  They come in groupings of three cloths, in a wide assortment of colors-- Nana likes to make them bright.  Or, you can choose a dishcloth and potholder set!  All of the profits go to Nana (for more yarn, you see), and we'll ship them to you for free.  Get 'em while they last! 

(Just so you know, these dishcloths are the best.  They're the only things we ever use.  Nana says she uses them for everything from wiping baby faces to scrubbing floors.  They're that good.)

100% cotton handmade dishcloths by Nana~ $8

1. Fiesta   SOLD                                         2. Spring  

 

3. Vintage   SOLD                                       4. Sunset

  

5. Sea    SOLD                                           6. Lilacs   SOLD

   

7. Earth   SOLD

 

100% cotton handmade dishcloth & potholder set by Nana~ $6

1. Lemonade                                             2. Christmas

  

3. Birthday (2 in stock!)                             4. Candy

   

Buy them for yourself.  Get some for a friend.  Add them to your hopechest.  They make great gifts!  And, they make Nana happy. 

Send us an email with your order!

xo~ the Long ladies

 

Nana and the girls, spring 2009~

  

giveaway!

Our friend, Myra, is having a lovely giveaway in honor of her 100th blog post-- and the giveaway includes one of our Chic Sisters Aprons made with the scrumptious Jennifer Paganelli fabrics. (plus some other really cute things)!  Go visit her sweet blog, and be sure to enter the giveaway!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Independence Day!  Ours was great... filled with wonderful fellowship, food, and fireworks.

Hope it's a lovely Monday where you are~

xo, the Long ladies  

Exciting news! (A sale is involved, so we'd read this post if we were you.)

 

Hello Friends!  We've got some super-good news for you.  This is what we've had up our sleeve for the past few weeks.  And you all are the first to find out!  Get ready to take a peek at our brand new website!  It has a really neat shopping cart system now, thanks to our lovely website lady, Kimberly Eddy.  We're telling you, she's the best-- a real God-send!!  If you ever need any help with websites, graphics, technical stuff... Kimberly's the one to ask.  Even if you're blonde (like us), she makes it all easy!

 

Now, you're probably wondering how the sale fits in.  Well.  Starting July 4th, everything on our new site is 25% off through July 11th!  Just use this coupon code at the checkout to receive a discount on your entire order~

SUMMER (case sensitive)

 

So visit the new website!!  Send over your friends!  Tell everyone you know!  And leave us a comment, to let us know what you think.

xoxo~ the Long ladies

 

            P.S. New fabrics, too!  Check out Midwest Modern 2 by Amy Butler~

Summer

This is what summer looks like around here.  What does it look like in your neck of the woods?

make a Southern meal...

Hello everyone!  We hope all of you are having a wonderful Wednesday.  Do you have a free day?  How about making a yummy-purely-Southern-meal (plus a refreshing dessert)?  We made this for Father's Day and it's always a huge hit!   We really want to be back again soon!  xo~ the Long ladies

Chicken Fried Steak

Make a mix of 2 eggs, 1 c. milk, salt & pepper (you may have to add more later, depending on how many pieces of steak your making)

Make a mix of flour, salt & pepper.

Wash and drain on paper towels tenderized pork (or beef) cutlets.  Dip tenderized cutlets in flour mixture, then egg mixture, then flour mixture again.  Put in skillet with hot oil (we use coconut oil).  Cook on both sides till meat raises in pan and is slightly golden.  Transfer to cookie sheet and bake at 275 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  *note: We usually cook ours until we have all of the sides ready.  The extra time doesn't hurt it a bit!

Serve with rice, gravy, green beans, and biscuits. 

Mint Cake

1 pkg yellow cake mix

2 1/2 tsp mint extract (divided)

3 c. cold milk

2 sm. packages instant chocolate pudding

1 8-10 oz. Cool Whip- thawed

green or blue food coloring (sometimes others in the family use odd colors. Ahem.)

Prepare cake mix according to directions, adding 1 1/2 tsp. mint extract to batter.  Beat well.  Pour into greased 9 x 13 cake pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 25-30 mintues or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.  Cool completely.  In bowl, whisk milk and pudding for 2 minutes or until soft set.  Use end of wooden spoon and poke lots of holes in cake top.  Spread pudding evenly over cake.  Combine Cool Whip, food coloring, and 1 tsp mint extract.  Spread over pudding.  Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours. 

 

The story of the ric-rac glasses...

 

These little glasses looked so lonely when Mom spotted them at a flea market long ago.  What was she to do?  Why, take them home of course!  After all, who could resist these charming little glasses, all done up in red and white checks with ric rac trim?  Now "the ric rac glasses" have a special place on the small red cart that sits beside the dining room table.

Where they stay... until a day like today.

We Long ladies have this funny little tradition.  You see, Cherry Coke tastes especially good in one of these little ric rac glasses.  So, sometimes in the afternoon or evening, the ric rac glasses come off the red cart.

  

Then comes the fun part-- we sit and sip our soda from the little glasses and just talk.  Sometimes we laugh (well, most of the time), and sometimes we cry.  Sometimes we just sit together, the five of us, making memories that will last forever.

Maybe when Mom and Dad are empty-nesters (Lord willing), we girls will come home... just to sit and sip soda out of Mom's ric rac glasses. 

A little of this, a little of that.

Hi Everyone~

We've had so many of you write in about our street fair skirts.  Thank you all!  (And, we're busily filling orders, so thanks again!)  In answer to the most frequently asked question, we thought we'd post a list of skirt prices...

below the knee length (27"), plain, with a band, trim or pockets....$50

 

above ankle length (32"), plain, with a band, trim or pockets....$55

 

below the knee length, patched....$60

 

above ankle length, patched....$65

There you go!  Of course, fabrics are your choice.  We'll make them any way you like! 

A few other bits of this & that...

~Did you notice the Sew Simply Series on our side bar?  (Lots of good information there, if you like to sew!)

~And, did you see the grab-our-button box?  Did you?  We love that button-- so grab it, please!  (Special thanks go to our friend Kaitlyn for that one.)

~Read a review about our gracie ruffle skirts on Noble Womanhood.  (Wonderful site, by the way!)

~Our dear Jasmine reviewed our street fair skirts over here.

~You can now purchase our emerson skirts pattern via etsy.

~We are hard at work finishing up the street fair skirts pattern.  If you'd like to pre-order (the pattern will be $14 and comes in two size groups... 2-4-6-8-10 and 10-12-14-16-18), drop us a line!

Well, that's all for now!  Off to the studio~

xo, the Long ladies

  

       We think Abigail's just about had enough in the second picture.  See, it's even difficult to get three big girls to cooperate for picture taking.  Right, Nan?

Happy Father's Day!

 

Our Dad is... Upright.  Bold.  Caring.  Loving.  Godly.  Brilliant.  Strong.  Protective.  Hardworking.  Diligent.  Intense.  Unyielding.  Compassionate.  Generous.  Leader.  Warrior.  Teacher.  

We love you, Pops, with all of our hearts!  Thank you for being the best father in the world.

your devoted and grateful daughters~

    Apphia, Achaia, Abigail, & Abiah 

more about street fair skirts!

 

We've had such a great time testing this pattern!  These street fair skirts are really fabulous.  Pretty, practical, flattering, and comfortable-- could you ask any more of a simple skirt?  They've fast become favorites amongst us Long ladies.  Here are some of the details...

~available in two lengths (27"- below the knee & 32"- above ankle)

~invisible side zipper

~optional bottom band for either length

~optional pockets (inspired by a movie from the 40s!)

~optional piping trim

~you can patch it (isn't that adorable?!)

~available in ladies' sizes 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18

~A-line skirt shape attached to a flat yoke

~the mix-n-match possibilities are endless

~can be made in a huge assortment of fabrics

~And last but not least, the pattern is on the way, too!

If you'd like to order a custom-made street fair skirt, just drop us a line.  We'd be glad to help you!  Or, you can add your name to the waiting-for-a-pattern list by emailing us.  Feel free to ask any questions about the skirts or pattern!

Now for some more pictures...

We made our sample skirts out of the Hello Betty fabrics by Moda.

 

Sunset~

 

Which view is your favorite?

 

  

This photo shoot was so much fun!  Seneca is such a cute little place to take pictures.  We climbed all over the old train caboose and posed next to the big mural that's painted on the side of our favorite flea market!  Now the question is, how are we going to choose a picture for the pattern front?

  

Sisters & best friends forever~

 

Special thanks to the lovely ladies who were willing to be our guinea pigs and pattern testers!  We love and appreciate all of you.  Bye for now~

xo, the Long ladies

PS... We're away from home right now, which explains the delayed shipping.  Lord willing, we'll be back to work soon!  As it is, we're enjoying family time with our wonderful grandparents.  Oh yes, and we do have some more projects going on.  So keep in touch!

the big news... street fair skirts are here!

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

Our first-ever design for ladies!  So, what do you think of our street fair skirts?

Back later, with more details!

xo~ the Long ladies