Jenna Lou Loves You

Finally HERE - Mabel Messenger PDF Sewing Pattern by Jenna Lou Designs

You know how sometimes you start a project.... but then you get distracted and the longer it is since you've last worked on it the harder it is to pick it up again?? Well that's what happened to the Mabel Messenger. I started the pattern for her months ago, but got busy getting ready for summer shows and before I knew it I had completely moved on.

Well I'm happy to say that last week I got the bug to finish it. And I cannot believe how easy it was. All the hard work was already done months ago. Research, writing, photography, pattern drawing... all done. The only thing left was for me to finish putting it all together in a pretty little package.

So now Mabel Messenger has been added to the collection of patterns available in my shop. If you've been waiting for ever for this one: my apologies.... but I promise the wait was worth it!

You know it is summer when...

You know it is summer when a full week passes in the blink of an eye (sorry blog... summer is here!).

When lunch breaks are spent on the porch.

When the strawberries are bountiful in your back yard.

When the flowers grow taller than you are (hello hollyhocks).

Summer is off to a great start! Be back soon with some shop news.

Best-Ever Cupcake Icing Kit Winner

Thanks to everyone who entered the Bake It Pretty giveaway. I wish I could send each of you one of these darling little kits, but my bank account wouldn't be very happy with me.... or in existence really.

So here's the hard part... picking 1 winner. I used random.org to keep things fair and square. So drum roll please.........

And the winner of the Bake It Pretty Best-Ever Cupcake Icing Kit is:

#17: Erin

Thanks again to Bake It Pretty for the use of images and for having such a cute shop in the first place!

Garden Visit - Earthworks Gardens St. Peter - Mankato

 
I love setting up a booth at the Mankato Farmers Market. There are so many great people who stop by and I get to visit with the very friendly and knowledgeable vendors too. The past couple weeks we've gotten to set up our booth next to Earthworks Gardens... what a treat. All morning I watched as beautiful,enormous bouquet after bouquet was sold... wishing privately that I could too have one too.

By the end of the morning I had wandered over to smell the plate sized peonies and I got to talking with Diane about them and found out I can get my very own... and they are locally grown right outside of St. Peter. My heart races.
 
So after the market we took a motorcycle ride out to the farm which is open to the public all summer. Totally worth it! It was so much fun to talk with Diane and look at all the fields. There were fields of flowers and fields of produce. Rows and rows of hard work and love for agriculture are just spread out before you. It was totally my thing.

I ended up ordering some peonies called 'lullaby'. They are white with blooms the size of my hand if I stretch it open as far as I can. The petals remind me of a dream. They are absolutely stunning. I can't wait to visit again later in the season when more is in bloom and the veggies are growing faster than they can be picked. If you are in the area I definitely suggest a trip out there. Or at the very least stop by the market and get yourself one of those amazing bouquets!

Chipotle Southwestern Sauce On my Favorite Sandwich

From time to time John and I stop to get one of those 5 dollar foot longs, and we always get about the same thing. Some of the elements change around like sometimes we are daring and add bacon, other times it's tomato.... but one thing never changes. We love the Chiopotle Southwestern Sauce... it really makes the sandwich. And so this week I got to wondering if I could find a recipe to make it myself so we could enjoy the flavor at home and save a few dollars along the way.

Sure enough it took me no time at all to find a recipe that sounded right and we had everything at home sans one ingredient: the chipotle chilies in adobo. So we hopped in the car and made our way to the Spanish/Mexican section of our grocer. I was a little worried I'd have to spend hours scowering the store to find this elusive item (like the first time I had to find hoisin sauce for the salmon), but right next to the other canned chilies and peppers we found the missing link and several brands to choose from even.

I mixed it up while the other groceries were still unpacked ( too darn excited to wait ) and was delightfully surprised with the acuracy in flavor. This stuff really does make any deli sandwich amazing. Send it to lunch with your man and he'll greet you with kisses after work. Not lieing... this really happened!

And so by now you must be praying that I'll just shut my trap and share the recipe. Ok ok... I'll get on with it.

My Favorite Sandwich (at least for now)

Onion specialty bun.

Meat. I used roasted chicken breast from the deli this time. Any chicken or turkey is always good and I think beef would be great too!

Cheddar cheese ( you got to get the good stuff )

Lettuce finely chopped. Here is one of my all time favorite kitchen tricks. Lay the lettuce flat in a layer of 3 or 4. Beginning on one end, role it up tightly. Hold in place and slice from one end. You'll get these nice little ribbons. How neat is that? And it's faster than trying to finely chop just by running your knife through over and over again.

Chipotle Southwest Sauce:
Tip: 1 ounce = 2 Tablespoons

1 C. Mayonnaise
1/2 Ounce Dijon mustard
1/2 Ounce Lime Juice
1 Ounce Chipotle Chili in Adobo (pureed before you measure)
1/4 Ounce Garlic, minced
Salt to taste

Combine and add salt to taste. Smother sandwich. Refridgerate remaining. Repeat.

Warning: Do not be like me and taste the Chilis unless you have a high tollerance for heat. I thought it smelled pretty sweet, but boy was I wrong... this stuff it hot which is why you don't need much.

Onion chopped.

And that it. Enjoy!

Mouth watering.

New Item - The Credit Card Cruncher (card organizing wallet)

Just released a new item in the shop. I call it the Card Cruncher - your card organizing wallet. In the day of speedy soccer moms and online bill pay the checkbook is nearing extinction and every store has a loyalty card for you to hold onto. This wallet is perfect for stashing/crunching all your cards in one place. It small enough for your back pocket or that glam evening bag that's way too small, but oh so sexy.

The Card Cruncher is available in many designer fabrics and the plastic card holding insert is removable so you can throw it right in the wash. With a price of only $15 I'm hoping these little gems will be accessible to everyone.

To purchase, read more, or see other fabrics feel free to stop by the shop.

And don't forget to enter into the giveaway for a Best-Ever Icing Kit by Bake It Pretty. Giveaway closes on the 24th.

If you are in the Southern MN area feel free to stop by the Mankato Farmers Market on Saturday. I'll be there from 8-Noon.

Giveaway - Best Ever Cupcake Icing Kit by Bake It Pretty

As I hinted at yesterday I have a really exciting giveaway to announce!

I ordered myself one of these icing kits just a couple weeks ago and absolutely love it! Every kitchen should have a set of their own. Amanda of Bake It Pretty has the cutest shop around offering amazing cupcake and baking supplies. The liners are to die for... or at least to bake for!

So to keep things fun around here and to share my love of baking with you all I'm holding a giveaway. One lucky reader will win a free Best Ever Cupcake Icing Kit complements of me so that you too can have gorgeous cakes!

Rules
* Open to everyone worldwide
* Please only enter once by leaving the comment: BAKE ME PRETTY PLEASE!
* Giveaway ends Wednesday the 24th noon central time

* Winner will be randomly selected using Random.org

Good luck!

This Giveaway is sponsored by me (Jennalou). Photos are used with the permission of Bake It Pretty. THANKS!

Comments are now closed... winner to be announced.

Sunsets and Recliners

Our little family vacation was great. We enjoyed each day from a beach front recliner soaking up the sun. There was massive sandcastle waterfalls, charcoal grilled meals, daily napping hours, mini-golf, racing cars, and a beautiful sunset each night to end the day. It was the perfect amount of activity and relaxation... with an emphasis on relaxation.

I don't know how I ever made it through a working day without a nap. It seems impossible now.

Hope you all had a lovely weekend too. And stay tuned... to help me get back in the swing of things I'm going to be holding a baking related giveaway this week. You don't want to miss this one!

Be Back in A Few

I'm leaving for a short vacation today. John's family has a yearly tradition of camping at a northern MN lake every year and this year we were finally free to go. I'll be taking my sun screen, bug spray and camera and enjoying my day just like this gal or guy ( sorry can't tell )... R AND R BABY! See you soon and enjoy the weekend!

One Of A Kind Handmade Patchwork Bags

This weekend I had lots of fun digging through my scrap bin and cutting little 2x2 squares. I'm one of those people who save every last scrap just knowing that eventually I'll find the perfect project for it, so I had lots of old forgotten prints to drool over and choose from. These totes sure did a great job a cleaning up the bin... I think I emptied about 1/3rd of it which was great because it was completely overflowing.

They where really fun to put together because as each patch was added it changed the mood and overall look of the bag. I highly recommend doing some patchwork if you need some inspiration or crafty encouragement. It's hard to go wrong with patchwork.

Each bag is truly one of a kind. To give them even more of the 'gotta have it' vibe I added some leather handles. The black handles on the yellow bag are faux leather style N50... you can find them here. The brown handles are real leather and where custom made by yours truly especially for these bags. They are really beautiful in person and the rivets add a great touch too.

So what do you think? Does anyone care to see this bag made into a pattern? I have a few other patterns on the tabel right now, but I can always add it to the list. Also was thinking about doing a free tutorial on using rivets... anyone interested?

These bags will be available in my shop. They are all One Of A Kind so if your heart is set on one do stop by right away. xoxo-