Birthdays Are For Giving

I've always loved Birthdays... and not just my own *wink*.... but I really love giving to others on their Birthdays! Something about spending a little time to think about what a person really means to you and what gift would both make them happy and represent a part of you. I like it too be something that will remind them of the time that was shared together.

So today is my Birthday.... I'm 20. It feels like a big step... I'm no longer a "teen" and although I've been responsible for myself for a long time now, it's really official even to the outside world. What a strange thing.... one day I was a kid.... now in the eyes of the community I'm an adult... an official adult.

AND to celebrate this day I wanted to give something away to someone else.... someone who probably isn't having a birthday today... because sometimes we just need a gift for no reason at all. So just leave me a comment and you'll be entered to win this Wristlet (It's my favorite shade of green!!).

Good luck everyone... I'll be drawing on Sunday night!! See you then ;D
xoxo,
Jennalou

Juicy Blossoms Betty

This fabulous new Betty made the journey to Renegade Chicago with me. She received so much attention... ooooo's and ahhhh's, but no one decided to give her a proper home so I brought her back. Today I'm adding her to the shop in hopes that just the right girl will fall in love, swoop her up and give her a long and cherished life.

xoxo,
Jennalou

pssst. Tomorrow is my Birthday so check in to see what surprises are in store.

Tomato Land

I've been overwhelmed with all the tomatoes we've been getting around here. The people who lived her previous to us planted a big and thriving garden. There are onions, lettuces, peppers, and other veggies I've never even tasted before.... but the king of this garden is the tomatoes.

They've all kind of grown together, so I'm not really sure how many plants there are, but I would say around 10 or 12. We get mostly small sweet tomatoes... some of the round variety, some more oblong, some very tiny too. There are also a couple that produce large tomatoes, but these plants don't seem quite as plentiful.

So what's a girl to do with hundreds of tomatoes?? Well first things first I tried to push as many off on family as possible... but there where still plenty waiting around for a use so I brought out my grandmas old recipe for Tomato Jam! I can remember it being our favorite treat as kids and really couldn't be much easier to make.

This works best with larger tomatoes so you don't have to spend half an hour peeling... but work with what you have.... in this case small was what I had.

TOMATO JAM
Peel tomatoes and chop into small pieces. ** hint to peel a tomato first boil it in water... the skin will crack open and will fall off with ease.

Cook 4 C. tomatoes with 4 C. Sugar for 10 min.
Add 1 pkg jello (of the orange or lemon variety)
put in jelly glasses and freeze.

Simple as that to make a sweet summer treat that lasts all year round.
xoxo,
Jennalou

Begin the Bids!

Remeber the Crafts For China Fundraiser? Well the bids have begun on Ebay so be sure to check out my donation as well as all the other hot goodies!!

Renegade Chicago 2007

I'm finally recovered from the long weekend in Chicago. Renegade was a total success and I really am so happy I jumped at the chance to go. The weather was cold on Saturday.... but Sunday was the perfect warm fall day with a sunny sky and a touch of brisk.

We really lucked out. Our hosts Paula and Bill were just the nicest people we could have asked for. They welcomed us into their home and even took time to show us around town a bit. We ate at their favorite local Chinese restaurant and felt right at home.I shared a booth with Amanda from MamaRobot. Our products complemented each others so well and Amanda was really great company.
There was so little time to really shop... but I did venture out to buy some really yummy tea and a custom skirt from my booth neighbor OrangyPorangy. It was hard to resist all the amazing talent, but I did a pretty good job of not spending too much of my newly burning money.

Also I have to say thanks to those of you who stopped by to say hi! It was such a pleasure to meet you all!!

I'm still a bit exhausted even two days after.... but I'll be listing the extras in my shop later this week so be sure to look out for them :D

xoxo,
Jennalou

Craft Studio

So today the sun came out nice and early. I just new when I woke up that today would be the grand debut of my studio. There's so much to show so let's get started!!My room is located in the front corner of our house. It's technically the sun room, but we have some friends living with us so the bedrooms are full and it seemed like the perfect space anyways.... three sides are windows so I have a great abundance of natural light. It's really nice to be located on the main floor so I don't feel so secluded when I'm working. We ran a little low of money so we decided not to paint right away.. but the light blue is nice so I didn't mind.

The room is only 15x8 so ALL my stuff is a little smooshed, and I still have some stuff to put away that's just scattered around the floor right now, but I'll take care of that later :D Lucky for me there were already some GREAT built in shelves where I store all my books, buttons, embroidery floss, and some fun inspiration items.
Opposite of my shelves/fabric/and computer area is the work zone. I'm still using the sewing desk I bought a year and a half ago for $5 at the salvation army... it's just perfect... needs some paint... but is really a great height for me to be sewing at. I added a table for cutting, ironing, and wip projects too which has been really great. It's so nice to have a surface for cutting rather than hunching over on the floor. I highly recommend it!
Another new addition that's a favorite of mine is the papasan chair from John's mom!! It's the perfect reading area or if I need a short break I always jump in and cuddle with zoey.

Well I could pretty much talk about my studio for ages... so I'll just leave you to enjoy the pictures. Hopefully after Renegade I'll have some time and money to finish organizing everything and I'm sure I'll have more pictures then :D

PS. You can see more pictures of the studio here.

xoxo,
Jennalou

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow??

Will it?? Will it?? I sure hope so. I promised all you lovely readers to share pictures of my new diggs... but the sun has just not shown it's true colors in a couple days and I'm oh so reluctant to show you they gray days we've been having. You really have to see it in it's glory when the sun is shinning in from every side... it just brings so much life to my otherwise dull decor.

Will you hang with me for that sunny day?? Tomorrow? Tomorrow??
xoxo,
Jennalou

Moved In

I've moved 5 times in the last 2 years.... every time I have this vision of how much fun it will be to go through the boxes and unpack my life... you'd think I would have learned by now, but this week I've once again discovered the pain it is to move. I am however overjoyed with our new diggs! This house is really perfect for me. Open rooms, lots of natural light, a growing and bountiful garden, and the neighborhood is as sweet as a peach.I know I promised pictures... but I have a few more boxes to unpack and some updating to do before I want to share the house, but the first room I'll show will of course be my craft room! For now I will just have to delight you with these pictures I captured this morning in the garden. You wouldn't believe the purple clematis growing here. I've never seen them so big and they are all over the place. This morning I found some opening up in the garden next to the green peppers!I wish I had pictures of crafting to show, but I spent most of the week unpacking and yesterday I had a mole removed from my thumb, which has left me in quite a bitter mood and crafting is pretty much out of the question for a couple more days. I took some pictures of my thumb, but didn't want to 'dirty up' my blog with them so if you have a strong stomach you can see what I mean here.

Take care friends. I'll be back tomorrow with pictures of the craft room :D
xoxo,
Jennalou

MOVING

It's official... we are moving. We brought the first load over to the new house today. I have so much to share... but I have to be a tease and run... there is just to much to do and too little time. I'll be taking a week (hopefully less) from blogging... but I can't wait to meet you all on the other side :D

xoxo,
Jennalou