Fabric Ceiling

Still working on the studios. The ceiling in the design studio doesn't exist. The previous owners of the house left us all of the parts to do a hung ceiling. The problem is that there are pipes that hang lower in some places than others. If we did put in a ceiling it would end up being pretty low. Neither of us wanted that since the room is already small. I decided I would try a fabric ceiling, why not, there was nothing to loose. And it turns out, I am pretty happy with the results.

In my theme to re-use. These are the walls of my quilt market booth from last month. I started with these and stapled them on each side of the wall to cover things.

Once all the white curtains had been stapled up I went back in with fun fabrics I already had. I had some sari-like fabric, some madras, and some glittery tulle. I used the staple gun to attach the fabric to each side.

I just kept attaching strips until all of the ceiling was covered. There is a light fixture in the middle of the room. I cut a hole in the fabric where it was. Then I got one of those ceiling fan medallions to bolt into the rafters. This would keep all of the fabric a safe distance from the bulb.

While I was at the hardware store I found a screw in socket that can take two bulbs so I doubled my light for about 2.00!

I also added some flags to the ceiling for fun.

See you soon,
Jennifer
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Studio Number 2

Please don't tell my husband, I'm taking over the house. Even though, I think he has pretty much figured this out, I'm not going to acknowledge it. :)

Remember this studio? This little room is supposed to be a workshop/tool storage room. It's off the side of out garage and is a funny shape. It's six feet wide and probably 20 feet long. It was Niks office, then my making and glazing studio, then Nik's office again, and now, yes, I'm getting it back. How did I swing this? I have promised a canned ham trailer for the backyard...someday........ for his office.

So anyway...Nik had the very smart idea of making this a design studio. This room has windows! My other studio does not and when you spend all day there it can make you crazy. I spend a lot of time on the computer, so why not put my painting and computer in the room with all of the windows. So I decided to make this room my "creative studio" This is where I will come to be inspired to design and paint. I have decided to do it up fun and maybe not so practical as my other areas.

When Nik had the place as an office the second time, he painted the walls and the floor. I was originally going to paint but on a whim, decided to leave it how it is. I did add a little more color. I painted the trim this yellow/chartreuse color. It's the color of our family room, I also found enough trim board from the previous owners to trim out the room. Wahoo!

More on that ceiling tomorrow....it's the reason Nik moved out.

Have a good day,
Jennifer
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Jennifer Jangles Bags and Jewelry

I am so excited about this! If you're a store you might have seen some ads in Gifts or the Atlanta Gift Mart book about my new line of quilted bags and ceramic jewelry. They are officially shipping to stores. You can see all of the bags and jewelry here at Caffco's website. There are 32 bag options and 28 jewelry options.  If you're a store you can get a wholesale login for pricing etc. If you're a retail buyer, I have a list of stores as well.

Here are some more pictures.... love, love, love them :) Can you tell I'm excited?

Notice how the bags all have these fun ceramic zipper pulls? and ribbons? I like "do-dads" and thought you would too, they are on every bag.  I even added a ceramic flower pin to the front of my bag...so fun. Caffco has them as well.

This is my favorite necklace...been wearing it a lot. Actually been wearing several at a time....

I'm going to re read this post a couple more times and drool over the new things and then it's back to the studio redo.

Have a great day,
Jennifer 

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Studio Progress

  I told you this one is going to be a tricky re organization to get everything to fit. I love stations. I like to have a station for each of my "usual" jobs. That way I don't have to clean a surface off to start something new. I love to re-use and the doors from my first quilt market booth have become table tops. I think I have six in all. So I have put most of the furniture in. Now I am going to spend some time thinking about where each station will fit before moving everything.

These are the areas I need most:
Sewing
Ironing
Beading
Shipping
Invoicing
Designing
Painting
Product Storage
Bead and Button Making and Glazing

If you missed my interview with Mark Lipinski about my studio you can still listen to it here.

You can also see my original studio here in Inside The Creative Studios.

I'll update soon!
Jennifer


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Good News, Bad News

Monday!, ugh...ugh, fighting a sinus infection here and not feeling so great. I also have some news that is probably going to disappoint some folks. Might as well deliver it as I am already feeling crummy.

 I am closing the gallery. Over the past year I have found that I am not needing that much space.  Katie, my employee, had an adorable baby Juniper, so she has been with me as much, and to tell the truth, I am not a big fan of fixed hours. I guess since I've been self employed for 15 years I am used to doing things when I want to do them. I have always loved working from home, I get to see my boys more and I don't mind wearing jammie pants all day.

However, I am going to miss all of the great people who have come in to the gallery. This was definitely the hardest part of making the decision. I have already promised lunches and get togethers with some. If I haven't seen you lately and you're just getting this news, please keep in touch. I don't want to say goodbye.

For those of you folks who aren't local....nothing else is changing. I will still be making beads and buttons, designing fabric and more. You'll just be seeing different studio shots.  If you read last weeks post about the new floor that's the start of a very big studio move.

I'm cleaning out as I go, I have piles for donating, for a garage sale, for Habitat, and for a de-stash sale. My piles are getting big, my home studio hasn't been organized in quite awhile. It's taking major reorganization to get it all back in one, well, two spaces.

More studio progress and pictures tomorrow...
Jennifer

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New Etsy Items

Now that my two big shows are over I finally found the time to add some new items in the Etsy shop. They are super summery! 
Have a great weekend,
Jennifer

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Studio Redo

 

Hey, Hey,

Quilt Market and Bead and Button are over, my Jolly Holiday buttons have been shipped and it's time to relax right? Not quite...

So a long long time ago I had this beautiful studio. It was in Studios magazine and it even made it into there Studios book. Then a couple of things happened. the rain came after a very long drought in Georgia which caused flooding in my basement along with many others here. It was fixed, I repainted and did my best to get it together. At the same time all of this was going on I was just entering the world of fabric design, buttons were being made, etc. My studio became too small or just not set up for what I needed anymore. I just focused on my away studio and left this one be.

It's been driving me crazy lately. I really want to have a nice sewing area, better storage, etc. Now if you haven't figured this out yet, I like to redo my studio more than most others probably do. It might seem flaky but really I think it's keeping things fresh, and most of all me inspired.

So here we go again. Wanna hang with me while I redo this one? and another one? Oh ya, big plans are starting to take shape here. I couldn't be more excited.

 

 Here's my official helper. If there is a lap she thinks she is supposed to be sitting in it and I was sitting on the floor to take this photo. Right now she's in my lap as I type this post. So first I cleared most of the room and then I found these snazzy and super cheap peel and stick tiles. And as of right now, I think it's the only thing I will be spending money on. The rest I can do with what I already have. Sometimes it's just about mixing it up.

Stay tuned for more,

Jennifer

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Extraordinary Colors

I'm super excited to tell you about my latest adventure. I have written my first children's book. it's titled Extraordinary Colors and that's just what it is about. The books is illustrated with my paintings and has Otis rhyming about mixing colors like chartreuse, saffron, periwinkle, and more. I have been working on this book for several years now and it all fell into place when I started designing my latest line of fabric. It's my first children's line and it's called Extraordinary World. You can see it here at the In The Beginning Fabrics website. You can get a signed copy of my book at my website now, but the fabric will not be available until October. Quilt shops can order it now so if you want them to carry it you can print out this blog post and take it in to them. They can also order the books as well as the fabric through In The Beginning Fabrics.

Have a great day!

Jennifer

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