What's Up

Look at this adorable quilt! It was made by Bev over at 44th street fabrics. She's got an Etsy shop that happens to carry my fabric as well. I love that striped border, it makes me want to sew.....

Boy I am on a "once a week" blog kick aren't I? I told you I was busy. I will take some pictures around the studio today to show you. Plus, those pictures will be good for reminding me why I need to get organized. But in the meantime I thought I would show you the quilt and I am late on this but I still love it.....The muffin tin challenge. Did you see that over at the Art Bead Scene? You take a muffin tin and fill it up with 12 different sets of beads for projects. Then you sit down and make them. It's super smart and great for organizing. You must check it out.

Seriously, I am coming back tomorrow with studio shots.... I will show you my "problem areas".

Talk to you soon!

New Kits and Organizing

Good morning!

Just a quick note to let you know that I have added five new kits to the Jennifer Jangles website. three Pretty Bird kits and two Daisy Pin Cushion kits. You can see them here.

I am feeling good right now, I finally have gotten new work on the website and in the Etsy shop. Now I need to work on the actual store. As usual, I have some big plans for it. Living in a college town summers are very quiet, so it's the perfect opportunity to rearrange and get things organized before everyone comes back in the fall. I want to get organized. I found this book, Organizing for the Creative Person. I love the idea of being organized but the thought of little drawers, file folders, and labels scares me. I am getting uncomfortable just talking about it. For the most part, I know where things are, but I have to admit, I do spend a lot of time looking for things as well. I need to be able to see everything. The bigger my business gets, especially with the store, the more stuff I have to organize. Any body have any suggestions? Any good books? I am going to take a few days off around the fourth, I think I will read up on some of this. My plan is to spend a few weeks in July getting it together. Of course, I will take you a long for the ride. :)

Have a great day,

Skipping About

Hello, Hello,

Isn't this just the cutest bracelet ever? The very talented Erin Prais-Hintz from Tesori Trovati designed it. You can find the instructions in the current issue of Stringing. I was headed out the door to Bead and Button when the magazine hit news stands and I wasn't prepared with stock. (uh-oh) But I am now. (whew) I have just added several link and ribbon sets to the Etsy shop. While you're there you should see all of the other new work that has been added. The shop is back up and running at full speed. (yipee)

Have a great day,
Jennifer

Bead and Button and a Winner

Hey, Hey,

I am back from the show. Whew! It was a great show as usual and I can't believe another year of Bead and Button has passed. Next year will be my ten year! I am going to have to do something special to celebrate.


I got back and unpacked from it all on Tuesday, cleaned up the studio and got slightly organized. I was in a happy state all day. Then I started my to do list. I am working on three, yes three, top secret projects. They all have deadlines soon. I also have another trip on the horizon so I am on the train to stress-ville right now. Hopefully it's a short trip. :)







I wanted to show you some pictures of the booth. I took them on the first day and my lighting wasn't great so pardon the strange lighting. I then put my camera in my husbands computer bag so it would be safe. He took it to our friends house and it never made it back to the show. So the only photos I have are from the first day. Oops!



Last but not least, I got a ton of really great comments last week from all of my pre Bead and Button posts. 130 in all! Thank you so much. So I took all the names of the folks who commented and randomly chose a winner. And that person is.... Jen! I am going to send you some of my new flower stackers. Yipee! Jen if you're reading this, I just e-mailed you, check your in box.







One more thing....the Etsy shop is being filled up as we speak, new things all week thanks to my lovely assistant Katie. She is working like crazy to get us back on track and organized. I will post more about new things coming soon.

Have a great day,

Something New

Been thinking about this quilt lately. I want something like this for my house. I am going to work on some designs for one...maybe some embroidery.... and it has to have flowers.

Lotti Dot Bag Options

Hello, Hello,

This is the purse I am currently carrying. It's my Lottie Dot Bag Pattern with black bamboo handles. I love this bag pattern because you can use almost any type of purse handle on it and it looks good. I didn't include the other handle instructions in the pattern but I wanted to show you how I did it here.

But first a close up of the yummy flower pins :)

Okay, now to the tutorial. The Lottie Dot bag has a strip of fabric, we'll call it a binding even though it's just decorative, around the top. I replaced the usual binding width with a wider one to accommodate the bamboo handle. I wrapped the fabric around the handle and measured how much to took to cover it completely. I added another two inches to that width.

I cut that width of fabric with my ruler and rotary cutter.

Next, I folded the fabric in half so the right sides were facing outward. Then I pressed the seam.

I open the binding up and pinned it along the top of the bag so the right side of the bag and the right side of the binding were facing each other.

With my machine I sewed around the top edge.

I opened the binding up and pressed the seam. Next, I folded an half inch over of the remaining raw edge and pressed it as well.

I found that starting in the middle of one side of the bag was the best way to get the handle where I wanted it. I started by pinning it in placed with the binding wrapped all of the way around. Since the handle is round I found it hard to pin much more than what I was sewing. Therefore I would hand sew what the pin was currently holding and then move down the top of the bag a little further. Pin a little, sew a little. Once a I neared the end, I trimmed the excess fabric and tucked the raw edges in and finished off the sewing.


Here's another version of my Lottie Dot Bag, this one is in the large black pinwheel print from Polka Dot Garden. It has the handles shown in the pattern and my mother in law is sporting this bag right now.


Have a great day,

Sneak Peek 5: Flower Stacks

A give a way, you can enter all week. Until this Friday, leave me a comment on any of my sneak peek posts and you will be entered to win some of my new beads. I can't tell you which ones, because they are still a secret. :) You can one comment every day for more chances to win. I will announce the winner once I return from the show. Good luck!

Sneak Peek 4: Earrings

A give a way, you can enter all week. Until this Friday, leave me a comment on any of my sneak peek posts and you will be entered to win some of my new beads. I can't tell you which ones, because they are still a secret. :) You can one comment every day for more chances to win. I will announce the winner once I return from the show. Good luck!

Sneak Peek 3: Bracelet

A give a way, you can enter all week. Starting running until this Friday, leave me a comment on any of my sneak peek posts and you will be entered to win some of my new beads. I can't tell you which ones, because they are still a secret. :) You can one comment every day for more chances to win. I will announce the winner once I return from the show. Good luck!

Sneak Peek 2: Tiny Cameras

A give a way, you can enter all week. Until this Friday, leave me a comment on any of my sneak peek posts and you will be entered to win some of my new beads. I can't tell you which ones, because they are still a secret. :) You can one comment every day for more chances to win. I will announce the winner once I return from the show. Good luck!

Bead and Button Sneak Peek

Hello, Hello,

I am as ready as I will ever be for Bead and Button. I took a whole bunch of pictures and wanted to share what I have been up to. It's been busy as usual around here. I am super excited about the show this year. I have been working on some new work, some of for almost two years and it's finally ready to show off. I am going to unveil these new beads and things slowly this week. I don't want to spill all of my beans at once. Here's what I am going to do....

A give a way, you can enter all week. Starting today and running until this Friday, leave me a comment on any of my sneak peek posts and you will be entered to win some of my new beads. I can't tell you which ones, because they are still a secret. :) You can one comment every day for more chances to win. I will announce the winner once I return from the show. Good luck!

On with the sneak peeks...Here are my change purses. I made a couple. I actually used them at Quilt Market but I never got a chance to photograph them. I sewed two layers of my ribbon together for a long strap. My giant flower buttons are on the front.

These beads are actually a custom order for a customer. I was shipping them out and just had to get a picture of them before they left on their way to Australia.

Kits, Kits, Kits

Felt is bee-u-tiful colors. These are for embellishing, making flower pins like on the Lottie Dot Bag, etc.

Lots of bead sets..... I love it when I have so many made, it doesn't happen very often.

Alrighty for the rest of the week I will be showing off some finished jewelry pieces I made just for Bead and Button. Come back by please. And even better stop by booth 1103 if you'll be at the show.

Hope to see you there,