Hi there - I hope you all had a nice weekend.

Josh and I went to our new favorite sushi place for dinner on Saturday and then drove downtown and saw Paula Poundstone at the Moore - she was very funny.

Yesterday we stayed in. There was an America’s Next Top Model marathon on,

so I camped out infront of the tv and finished embroidering a flurry of these little guys:

I recently got my November issue of Cotton Time magazine.

Here, I’ll give you a peek inside!

Tiny ornaments - I may have to make these for next year.

An interactive felt book for kids - fun!

I think we should all take a day off and make fuzzy hedgehogs - who’s in?!?

Have a fabulous day!

Jenn : )

Cheers!

Jenn

Hello everyone!

Thanks so much to all of you who left me comments on my little quilt: Ginny, mikiye creations and Megan!

Josh and I were in such a rush to get everything together, that I didn’t have time to post that we were headed out on a red-eye flight for a long weekend in Florida. We went down to visit my Grandparents - it was wonderful to see them! (I even gave Grandma the little quilt that I made for her - it got rave reviews.)

I decided to take a technology break and left the laptop in Seattle. I was a little hesitant at first - but Grandma and Grandpa kept us so busy I hardly thought about it.

We had good weather and saw lots of neat things and played a ALOT of card games!

Here are a couple photos of the peacocks that we saw at the Fountain of Youth, in St. Augustine. The Fountain of Youth is located near the approximate spot where Ponce de Leon first came ashore in Florida.

The peacocks were beautiful - there were even several all white ones. Some were on the ground and some were sitting up in the trees.

At the Fountain of Youth you can actually take a drink from the water that flows from the fountain.

(And for those of you who are curious - youth tastes kind of funky, like sulfur! Go figure. Ha!)

We also got out on the boat a couple times and spotted some alligators along the shore of the river. This guy was the most photogenic - but we saw one or two that were bigger.

We had a wonderful time - but now we’re back and we’ve got plenty to do.

I’m going to be participating in a craft fair over in Phinney Ridge here in Seattle in the beginning of April. This will be the first fair that I’ve done - so I’m very excited about how I’ll set up my tables and get more items created to take with me. I’ll be very busy right up until the show. I’ll try to get some photos of the fair to share - and some of my table, too.

And tomorrow night is LOST - I think I’ll make a fish pie in honor of our British friends who I hope will join us for the show : )

Thanks again for your great comments -

It’s good to be home!

Jenn : )

Hello -

Josh and I have had a fun Saturday so far. We slept in (ummmmm) and then took a trip to Uwajimaya this morning. Uwajimaya is an Asian market located in downtown Seattle in the international district.

As we drove into the parking lot we noticed that the market validates parking for up to two hours. “Ha!” I laughed, “We won’t be here anywhere near two hours.”

As we left - the parking attendant was kind enough to overlook the fact that we had been there for 2 hours and 3 minutes…

I can’t help it - when I go there I just want to look at every single thing in the store. And before you know it - 2 hours have flown by. The front of the market is a grocery store - filled with beautiful produce and meats and seafoods, etc. Then there are shelves of non-perishables, a bakery, a bookstore, a Hello Kitty section and more. Then there is the sushi counter and the food court. We had a tasty lunch of chicken and rice and a little salad.

I wish I had taken my camera with me. I don’t have any photos of the market itself - but I can show you some of the goodies that I brought home:

I bought three new sewing/embroidery books and these two little pads of cute paper.

This book is filled with plush animal projects and is titled “The Cute Book“. Now, how could I pass that up?!? (This book is the only one that I bought that is in English - the other two are in Japanese.)

These are some of the foods that we brought home - some Pocky, bread and papaya cakes. I also found these little plastic containers that I’ll use in my studio. I can always use containers for buttons and little bits and doodads.

And this is a gift for my brother. Each April (when we remember to do it) we send each other something that we think will make the other person laugh. This package is filled with dried little fish and shrimp - heads, eyes and all, and it says “Let’s Party” on the package. It will go nicely with the belly-dancing instruction tape I got him a couple years ago.

Have a great weekend everyone!

: ) Jenn

I’ve finished two of my little sewing book/pincushion sets.

A big thanks to my great husband - who took these photos!

I’ll be listing the purple set in my Etsy shop tomorrow (tuesday).

The bumblebee set I will list on thursday.

: )

Jenn

Good Morning 2007!

I’ve been meaning to do a post about some of the materials I use, and since I woke up this morning to a nice comment and question here - I thought I’d go ahead and say a word about felt and fabric.

I started out using craft store felt and found that there really is a difference in quality between the less expensive variety and the kind you pay a bit more for. That’s not to say that I don’t ever use craft store felt, but I look very closely at it before I buy it. I have a craft store near me that carries good white felt that I use for the pages of my sewing books. You’ll know right away if it is of lesser quality because you’ll be able to hold up cheap felt and see through it (yuck!) and it will have a kind of shiny look to it, which I don’t like.

When I want to buy a really nice “felt” for my projects I go to Pacific Fabrics. But I don’t go to their felt section. I go to their wool section. Wool or wool blend is the way to go to get beautiful colors and that great soft texture. I look at the texture of the fabric very closely and the edges to see how cleanly it will cut (some will fray more than others). These wools are about $20 a yard.

There are two online resources for felt that I’ve seen recommended many times: A Child’s Dream and Earthsong Fibers. But I have not tried ordering from them yet.

For fabrics I like to shop at Pacific Fabrics and also online. There are many great sites to find fabrics that you won’t see in regular stores. Japanese fabrics are unique and very whimsical and popular. Here are a few of the online shops I like: Superbuzzy (they also carry Japanese craft magazines which are great inspiration), Reprodepot (they also have a very nice ribbon/trim selection), International Fabric Collection (I’ve been to their shop in PA - I could spend days there!) and Purlsoho (they have a lovely shop).

Here is a photo of one of my sketches for my plush animal & bag project along with two Japanese fabrics that I bought at Superbuzzy.

Investing in good quality felt and fabric can be intimidating at first. I started slowly, incorporating what I could afford into my projects. But I find that my felt projects tend to be smaller in scale - so a little felt goes a long way. You can cut the cost by buying a 1/4 or 1/2 yard instead of a full yard and by all means save your scraps! I keep three bins for my felt scraps: one for large pcs, one for small pcs and one for teeny tiny pieces : )

Hope this answers some questions and gives you direction for finding great materials to use in your projects. Once you use the good stuff you won’t want to go back to the cheap stuff again. And your work will look so nice!

Jenn : )

Hello! Just thought I’d take a couple quick photos of a project that I’ll be finishing soon and then listing in my Etsy shop.

This will be a little sewing set that includes a
pincushion and a sewing book (also called a “pin book” or “needle book”).

The sewing book will be similar to my larger ones, but scaled down to a smaller size. I thought it would be fun to offer a small sized set for folks who like little things (like I do!) or want a travel sized sewing set.

I spent part of last night embroidering the little shirt/jacket that will decorate the front of the sewing book.

This fabric is vintage and I just love it.

I will only be making two of this particular set, but I have a few other themes in the works, including: hedgehogs, Scotty dogs, dragonflies, butterflies, bumblebees and kittens.

Can’t wait to get them in the shop - new items for the coming New Year!

And Happy New Year to you!

: ) Jenn

Well, this is the beginning of my newest project, and it all stems from this “happy accident” : )

I was working on a prototype for a new purse and I wanted to try something out (the front pocket I think..?) and decided to just make this little guy to see if I liked where the design was going.

When I finished putting this together I really, really liked the size and shape - so boxy and cute!

So the next logical step (ha!) was to grab one of the little stuffed critters that I have on a nearby shelf in my studio and tuck him in the bag.

Wa-La! He was a perfect fit!

“Cute” I thought, and just put the whole thing aside and moved on to another project.

But something about this little bag has been like a seed in the back of my mind and it has kept growing until I can’t ignore it anymore.

So I’ve done some sketches of bags and plush animals of my own design and bought some lovely fabrics and ribbon and I’m going to turn this idea into something tangible : )

(Oh, and buying the fabrics and ribbon has been soooo much fun! Gorgeous wools, velveteen, corduroy…. YUMMY!)

Check back to see the raw materials evolve…. Jenn : )

My name is Jenn and I am an artist and seamstress.

This blog will be about my WIP (work in progress) and things that inspire me to create.
First off - here is a photo of my creative space. My studio. When we bought our home this room came with purple painted trim and large unrealistic clouds painted on the ceiling. After living with that for a while I had to tone it down. Four coats of paint later, it is a calm soft butter yellow with white trim and ceiling and I love it!

Here is how I wish it looked all of the time (neat and tidy):

But here is how it often looks mid-project:

Yikes!

Stay tuned for my next post: I have a brand new project I am starting and I’ll be posting at each step along the way!

: )