break time.

That's right… it's time for a break! So, we'll plan to jump back in full swing around April 1st. Orders can happily be placed during that time, but won't ship out til at least the last day of March. Thank you all for everything, and we'll miss you!

But, since we don't want to leave you all completely hanging, we have a few assignments for you. Kidding completely on the assignments, but really, here's some things you might want to do while we're away from marie-madeline!

~For fashion-fixes visit our friends', Ashley & Gabrielle, blog…. www.bramblewoodfashion.blogspot.com

~All sewers need to read fabulous Jenny's blog…. www.sewprettydresses.blogspot.com

~Movie fixes can definately be accomplished while watching Steve McQueen in the Wanted Dead or Alive television show. Our brother brought home the entire 3 seasons several weeks ago, and we're up to disc five— oh it's SO good.

~Also, if you're looking for some sewing fun, be sure and check out the tutorial links on our left sidebar. We have a couple more in mind, so hopefully you'll be seeing them in the next month or two!

~And, of course, we can't finish this post without giving credit to the A-D-O-R-A-B-L-E photos of the darling Bethany in her amelia tunic. If you haven't guessed it already, our sweet friends over at In A Shoe get thanked for them. We have more cute photos of our friends that we hope to share soon.

So…. there you have it! Hope you all are being blessed with beautiful spring-like weather! love, the Long ladies xxx

a row of happy ruffles

Here I am, happily wearing a new skirt!! I had this idea of a ruffly skirt, echoing our very own gracie. And someone (in this case Abs) felt for me, and made it!

Happy pom poms made the ruffles complete. I'd seen a skirt almost identical to this one in Anthropologie, with the most adorable pom poms on the edge of each ruffle. Plus, we (I say "we", but it was really just Abigail) made it out of creamy-browny-floaty-voile, which makes it even better.

Here are the details: It is made from our gracie ruffle skirt pattern, except for a few alterations. Each ruffle and band received 2 extra inches on the bottom of them. And yes, we skipped a casing completely and went for an elastic-y waistband (which I really love). Also, in a department store I normally wear a size 6, so I made a 10/12 gracie. For ladies I would definately recommend a lighter-weight fabric than typical quilter's cotton (unless you're making a really small skirt, without many gathers around the waist) to cut down on too much bulk.

And during part of the picture taking I decided to wear the great sunglasses I got at the end of last summer. There wasn't exactly full sun out there, so it must have been the optimist in me. Well, we pretended it was a sunny, summery day anyway.

Aunt Rosie’s peanut & chocolate clusters

These are some of our new favorites. And they are DElicious! We were introduced to these yummy chocolate-covered-peanuts around Christmastime, when our dear friend Aunt Rosie sent them home for us. Of course we begged her for the recipe. Since then, we've made them many times…

Funny thing, though – ours never taste quite as yummy as Aunt Rosie's.

Aunt Rosie's chocolate & peanut clusters

8 – 2 oz. almond bark (chocolate)

3 c. chocolate chips

1 lb. can of salted peanuts

Melt almond bark and chocolate chips. Stir in peanuts. Drop by spoonfuls onto foil or waxed paper. Let harden and store in an airtight container. Enjoy!

love, the Long ladies

Audrey inspiration.

Of course, we all adore Audrey Hepburn. But, Abiah really took it to new heights when she decided that this spring called for a complete Audrey-inspired outfit.
You can see above where her inspiration came from— Roman Holiday. Didn't she do a marvelous job making her own outfit look so much like Audrey's??? We're completely impressed.

Abiah loves her new Audrey-inspired outfit, and we love it too! Mission completed.

Girl’s World

You all know how much we think of Jennifer. Of all the wonderful ladies we've met in this industry, no one has done more to love and encourage us than she has! So when Jennifer let us know about her new book, we were super excited! And amazingly enough, she is giving away a copy on her blog! (Hurry go enter!)

We love you, Jennifer!

xo, the Long ladies

Hello, March!

Some lace that we got a couple of weeks ago. One of the things we especially love about some of the pieces is that they're stretch! We're looking forward to decorating something with them!

Happy March to everyone! A new month is usually always exciting, and this one is no exception. To start everything off on the right foot, we've got a couple of giveaways to mention that you need to go check out!

:: Our friend, Myra, is celebrating her blogiversary with some giveaways, the first of which is a $45 gift certificate to marie-madeline studio!

::And, Jenna (she's so sweet!) is giving away a bundle of our ladies' patterns (street fair skirt, summer shade jumper, and route 66 skirts) right over here!

Of course, we couldn't leave this post without a little fabric happiness—-
Garden by Hokkoh is now on the site….

Also, you'll find Rhapsody in Bloom!

There are definately some things we want to accomplish in March. Now, we'd really like to hear from you. What are you hoping to do in this new month???

Back again soon, Lord willing! xxx the Long ladies