New Earrings

Remember last week when I was unloading my kiln with all my new beads? I said I would make myself something and I did just that. I would have liked to make more but hey at least I got a pair of earrings. These hoops actually started out as an accident. I was making hoops for an order and I went to pick one up and it was still wet, well it squished into an oval. I started to throw it out and then I stopped...I actually liked my mistake. I went on to make a matching oval for a pair. I still liked it a lot so I made some more. I just added them to my Etsy shop. I didn't stick with ovals, I made squares and tear drops too. In the listings I included the felt balls to make earrings if you want them to look like mine.




I have been wearing them ever since I made them and I have gotten so many compliments on them. Hey! I have them on now.

Have a great weekend,
Jennifer

Polka Dots

Hey There! I am back...well kind of. I am all set up on an old computer since mine is still not cooperating. But I am at least able to upload and edit photos, which is good. Oh and my new espresso machine showed up yesterday so I have also been able to have my morning mocha. Whew! Things are coming together.

I have had a bit of a polka dot obsession lately. Actually, who are we kidding, I am always obsessed with polka dots. But I found this fabric and bought it in 12 colors. I think I am going to put it together in a project somehow. They are Michal Miller's Ta Dots for any of you fabric junkies out there needing some. I got them all at EuroGirlsBoutique Etsy shop.

As for the bowl of felt balls. I look at these as three- dimensional polka dots. I found myself using them everywhere. Stick around and you're going to see some new stuff with these. Since taking this picture, I have used more than half of this bowl of felt balls.

Still rattling on about my polka dots...I just added some new beads to the my Etsy shop, some of which have a new red and turquoise polka dot combination that I am in love with. They are very springy and fun. Besides the polka dots, I added new hearts, and some every day beads and pendants. The shop is filling back up again now that I have a computer, wahoo!

Happy Friday!

Everything is Broken

Everything is broken around here. Why is it that it always happens all at once? I told you about my leaking wall, it is still leaking. I am living with it, but then my computer crashed! It's less than a year old and it has always crashed and I spend a couple of hours on the phone and we get it fixed. Guess what? Not this time, broken until at least Tuesday night when my new software arrives and can be installed. I also have the Geek Squad booked for Saturday just in case the software doesn't do the trick. I am not taking any chances here. Okay it gets worse.....my espresso machine is a gone-er. I have a mocha every morning to wake me up, not today. It broke and then I took it apart to try to fix it and now it is even more broke.

I could keep going on because there are at least four other costly repairs to be done here, but I will spare you having to read about them all. It's the coffee and the computer that are the real problems. I am typing on my 1990's computer that we have set up for the boys. That means I do have Internet so I can communicate. Orders will be going out this week with hand written invoices, and a trip to the post office for stamps.

Being the eternal optimist that I am,I see my lack of a computer as an opportunity. I plan on taking my usual computer time and finishing up my jewelry for the Buyers Market and catching up on orders and other non computer things. Around the house this weekend we cleaned like crazy and did some home improvements that we could handle so we didn't become haters of our house. There are much bigger problems out there and I am lucky to not have to deal with them. If I disappear from the Internet world for a few days, I just wanted you to know why....

I am off to the coffee shop for my mocha, and then to the post office for stamps,
Jennifer

Happy Birthday

Good Day! Yep, today is my Birthday. I got some pretty flowers this morning and some nice cards. Tonight is dinner out with the family and some friends. Also, I get to eat this yummy cupcake. We had a girls night earlier in the week and we all brought desserts. I made these chocolate peanut butter cupcakes with dark chocolate icing. Oh, they are so good. I saved one for today.

Beyond the usual celebratory stuff it's going to be just another work day. But I did make sure today would not be production. I saved all my fun jobs for today. I have a kiln load of beads just about cooled. I have all kinds of new work in there. Some will become new jewelry designs for the Buyers Market that is next month, some will go up on Etsy, and some better become some jewelry for me! I haven't made anything new for myself in awhile. I also bought a wood bookshelf yesterday and I am painting and decorating it for my sewing corner. I will show you photos of all this soon, I promise to take lots of pictures today.

Also, on a side note, the Jangles studio is a wreck this week. It has sprung a leak! My storage closet has a steady trickle of water coming in the wall. Ugh. We have had record rainfall this year and the ground is thawing. I have scheduled my handyman(a.k.a. my dad) for a visit in February for some home improvement projects, including sealing up the basement. Until then, there are shelves and boxes stacked where ever there is room in the studio. It is making it tight in here.

Have a great day!

Finally Finished

Wahoo! I finally finished up my quilt. Remember way back when I took my Kaffe Fassett workshop? I got some time over the holidays to sew together all of the pieces to the quilt. It has taken me quite awhile to get the borders made and it all put together. I finished up the binding last night. I am really happy with the way it turned out, I love color and this quilt has a lot. I am already thinking about what's next....


Have a Great Day!

Craft Hope for Haiti

Hi There! I wanted to let you know about a fabulous charity called Craft Hope. As a result of the earthquake in Haiti a group of Etsy Shop owners got together and created an Etsy Shop called Craft Hope. You can help in two ways.

1. You can go and shop at Craft Hope, all work is donated by artists and every bit of the money goes to Doctors without Borders for work in Haiti.

2. You can donate a piece or pieces of work for sale in the shop. It's super easy all it takes is a photo and a written description of the work.



I donated three wall hangings yesterday and they all sold within a couple of hours! If you want to help, please go to their blog here and read all about it.

Have a great day,

Hearts Have Arrived

They are up! I just listed a bunch of new hearts up in my Etsy shop. I am super excited about them. I have a lot of red and pink, but I couldn't resist making some bright colors. Some of the beads I wanted to keep for myself and I am still thinking about holding onto them, but I listed for now. Scroll down to see some more....

So Valentiny (is that a word?)

Who says hearts have to be red?

Textures and Polka Dots

Have a great Day,

My New Look

Hey Hey, Happy Monday! So what do you think of the new look on the blog? I have a new banner up in the Etsy Shop too. Things will probably keep changing some, it's kind of a work in progress. It's a new year and I wanted to spiff things up a bit. I am working on the website too, trying to streamline and de-clutter the place. There are always so many things I want to do and not enough time. I think that I am going to have to start drinking more mochas so I can pull some all nighters. If you haven't realized this yet, I am a bit of an impatient person. When I decide to do something I do it. Right now I have decided to do more things than it is possible to do...hmm

Make sure you come back tomorrow....the new hearts beads are coming out of the kiln!
Have a great day,

Last Day

Hey Hey! Today is the last day for the sale. Make sure you come back on Monday, the blog will have a new look.

Heart Necklace

Hi all! Whew what a week! The clean out sale is going great, thanks for all your help in giving my beads a good home.

This is going to be just a quick little post, I just found this photo and thought this is the perfect time of the year to use it on the blog. It was a runner up in the Bead Star contest. I am not to sad that I wasn't a winner, because Erin at Tesori Trovati Jewelry was a winner and she used my beads. You can see the entry here on her blog. It's a really great necklace and that is because she is a really talented designer. Check her out.

Hope you're all having a wonderful Friday. Yay! It's the weekend!

Sale Today!

Today is the day! My Studio Cleanout Sale is going on the Etsy shop. Go shop!

Etsy: Your place to buy & sell all things handmade Jangles.etsy.com

Bead and Button Classes

Vessels, Bezels, and Additions in Ceramic Bead Making
Sun. & Mon. June 6 & 7 • 9:00am-5:30pm

Happy Monday!
Hope your weekend was a good one. I wanted to let you know what classes I will be teaching at Bead and Button this June. Tomorrow is the first day to register for classes, can you believe it? We have added several new ones this year and all of the bead making and glazing classes have their choice of glazes. In the past students have always received all bright underglazes, but this year I will be offering the choice of brights or earthtones for your beads. If you scroll down, you will also see I have a jewelry making class, called Bracelets, Bracelets, Bracelets. It's going to be fun! Students will come out of class with three finished bracelets just like the photo. How cool is that?

Hope to see you at the show!

Bead and Button Show

Milwaukee, Wisconsin
June 6th-13th, 2010
Marketplace: June 10th-13th




Classes Offered: Bracelets, Bracelets, Bracelets
Sun, June 6th 7-10pm

Bracelets, Bracelets, Bracelets
Tue. June 8 • 7:00pm-10:00pm



Decorating Ceramic Beads
Mon. June 7 • 7:00pm-10:00pm



Making Ceramic Beads, Components, and Vessels
Tue. June 8 • 9:00am-5:30pm




Kilns 101
Wed. June 9 • 4:00pm-7:00pm


Ceramic Beads and Components
Thu. June 10 • 8:00am-3:00pm



Making Ceramic Beads, Components, and Findings
Sun. June 13 • 9:00am-4:00pm

Making Ceramic Beads, Components, and Findings
Wed. June 9 • 8:00am-3:00pm

Studio Clean Out Sale

Hey Hey... Finally got my stuff together and came up with a plan about this Clean Out Sale. I worked hard this morning editing photos and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. So now I am happy to announce my clean out sale will begin Tuesday the 12th. I am planning on getting things all loaded into the Etsy shop by 10:00am.

If you haven't shopped my annual first of the year clean out sales before....oh boy are you in for a treat! I go through my studio and fins all of the beads I have made throughout the year. (There are loads). There's nothing wrong with them, they just didn't get added to a project, or a kit, or in some cases I am just too lazy to find a spot for them on my bead table. Instead of hanging onto these beads, I would much rather send them on to you. The prices on Etsy are the sale prices so to make it fair for everyone I won't be adding them to the shop until Tuesday morning. Once they are gone they are gone, so get ready!

Have a super great, and probably cold, weekend!

Dots and Stripes

Good Morning,
I am happy to report I got my photo retaken and it didn't take that much time. It was one of those things where I was dreading it more than I really needed to. Now it's on to editing them, the sale will be coming soon, I promise.



Birkley's teacher sent home the best book for me to read last night. It's called "The Dot" by Peter Reynolds. She was right in thinking I would like it. It's about a little girl who thinks she can't draw, but she makes a dot and things take off from there. Eventually there is a gallery of her artwork and it's all dots. Like I don't already paint enough dots, but this book makes me want to paint more.



And here is one more Christmas present I received this year. My striped sock creature above. It's from a book called Stupid Sock Creatures by John Murphy . I got the book and a kit from my brother and sister in law, I have been sewing him for the last few nights and finished him up last night. He's super cute isn't he? I think I will raid my sock drawer and make some more, the kit comes with a book for even more sock creatures. Yes, I had to add my own beads for his eyes, I couldn't just use ordinary buttons.

Alrighty, it's off to the gym before the snowstorm of 2010 hits. To quote the local news station, "A winter storm is barrelling towards Atlanta", now this translates into we might get an inch or two of snow, but around these parts that's big news. Being a former Wisconsin resident, I thoroughly enjoy watching the news and seeing all the drama that an inch of snow provides.

Have a great day!

Set Backs, Note Books, and Sewing

Hey Y'all
Thought I would show you a few of my Christmas gifts.

Actually, the notebooks weren't my gifts, I made them. I got a Bind It All for Christmas. It's a super cool, binding machine to make your own spiral bound notebooks, scrapbooks, whatever. I always carry a notebook with me and I spend time and money getting the perfect one when I fill up my current book. I love that now I can make my own. I found these old Golden Books at the thrift store and they became the front and back of a few. I used chipboard to make the cover of the flowered one. I used a tag for the vase, a few of my embellishments, and glitter and flocking. I even made colored section dividers in this one. Now I am thinking about all of my possibilities. I want notebooks with pockets and dividers and more. Birkley has put me to work printing and binding calendars for him to draw on and I had to make some notebooks with Pokemon cards as covers. Now everything I see, I think could that be a notebook cover? I was eyeballing some of Nik's new record collection last night....those would make good covers.
My other Christmas gift was an iron, a fancy one for sewing. My old iron I have had since we were married, it didn't get very hot and it made the lights flicker. It was time for a new one, so with some money I received as a gift I went out a bought a fancy, pointy nosed craft and sewing iron. I got my new iron and decided to cave out a corner of my studio as a sewing area. It's not too fancy, but it's nice to have my machine out. Check out all my colors of thread, lots of lime green on the rack.
With my new iron and sewing area, I got to work on my quilt from my workshop that was so long ago. I got everything pieced together. This quilt is supposed to have some more pieced squares for the borders, but I wanted to do something different so I have order some cool polka dots. As soon as they arrive, I will give you a peek at them and continue to show you the progress.
Now for the set back part of my e-mail...I took 150 pictures yesterday for my clearance sale. It was 20 degrees out when I was photographing. I was in my Wisconsin winter coat and hat. I took all of them on the wrong setting. They turned out to be too small so that when they show up on Etsy they are blurry! EEEErrrrrrg. I am so mad. I guess it is back out side to the freezing cold to take them all again. I am grumpy about this.

I hope you have a great day and once I get these pictures taken again, I am sure I will feel better too.
Cheers,

New Year, New Plans

Hi! I am back! Just got the boys on the school bus for the first time in over three weeks. That's a super long vacation, but it still seems to have gone by really fast. Hope you all had wonderful holidays and breaks for those of you lucky enough to have them. We got to go to Florida for a few days for a camping trip. As you probably know, I love the beach so any chance I get to go I take it. This trip was to Anastasia Island, it's pretty far north in Florida so we were chilly. Here are some beach photos.

I am so excited to be back to work. I have been making my lists and planning my days out for the year. I have some really exciting things happening in 2010. For the most part, I still have to keep them under wraps but in the next month or so I will be able to spill the beans....stay tuned.

But in the meantime....it's that time of the year again to be cleaning and organizing. I spent a few days last week going through the studio sorting beads mostly. They never stay in their place. I am gathering one of a kinds for my annual clearance sale. I still can't tell you when that will be, because I don't know. It will be when I get everything photographed and listed on Etsy. I would like to think maybe next week, I will keep you informed. Right now I have quite a big pile of beads to photograph.

As soon as the clearance sale is over, then I will be spiffing up the shops and blog. You know I am not one to keep the same look for long. I have been working on some new graphics and they will be up soon. I can't wait to unveil them, so that is giving motivation to get this clearance sale going.

I also have the Buyers Market of American Craft next month in Philadelphia. I will be posting about getting a wholesale line of jewelry together and what it takes to do the show. I am thinking about taking you through the process like the retail show I did in the fall. I can't believe it's so soon!
Wow! anybody else tackling some new projects this year? I would love to hear what your working on. Anything else you want to see on the blog or from Jangles this year? Let me know.
Have a great day,