Jenna Lou Loves You

Fresh Fabric Stacks

As I was opening up the box from a recent fabric purchase the other day and neatly folding each piece, I realized that I didn't really have anywhere to put my new acquisitions. You see my shelves were sorely unorganized and the fabric was unhappily leaping over the edges. The problem: too many bit and pieces.

Along with being an avid fabric shopper (a.k.a fabraholic) I have the tendency to save every last bit of fabric I possibly can. No matter how small, it has a place in my home.

 

So instead of cutting back on my bad habits I found a new storage solution... and one that can hide the messes. This lovely and very inexpensive cabinet now holds a dear place in my heart. It holds all the pieces that are too small to be folded neatly on the shelves, but are still too big for the bottomless scrap bin which tends to be reserved for pieces too small for even a mini-zippy. I don't think I want to analyze why I hold onto such things, but if there if every a crisis which can only be solved by small bits of fabric you'll know who to call! 

And the best part of all..... there is space left on my shelves again for more fabric!! And while I know I really don't need MORE fabric, what is a girl to do?

Introductions

I would like to introduce to you my new assistant. Her name is Claire. She's not much help around the office, but in the photography studio she really holds her weight. And with a one time salary of only $35, she was quite the find. 

Deciding on the work uniform was a bit of a challenge. I wanted her to be fashionable, but ageless. I still don't know if I really accomplished that, but I thought she looked pretty good, so for now it works.

 

 

Along with my new assistant I also am finally (almost a year in the making) having my online debut of upscale bags. You will see some old favorites like the Mabel Messenger newly adorned with a really nice faux leather and a new bag that I'm still swooning over that was inspired from years of feedback from customers and shopper requests called Gwen. Gwen has great storage inside with a zippered pocket, slip pocket, pen holder, and a clip for your keys. The four inch gusset is composed of luxurious faux leather that has an amazing feel and makes this bag really roomy.

 

 

More bags will be added to my shop in the coming days. And if you don't see a print that just sings your name I am happy to take custom orders with the fabric of your choice.

Stormy Skies

 

With all the bad weather we have been experiencing lately I had my eye on the sky yesterday when we were out at the lake fishing. Things started out humid and cloudy, but progressively turned darker.

I think there is some universal fascination with weather. We all want to have a piece of it, maybe to understand, maybe to just feel the inscrutableness of it. Over the past week I've been sitting in front of the tv with my eyes glued to the windows watching the weather change in a matter of minutes. I witnessed black, green and yellow skies, hail and falling tree limbs. Only when the hail got large enough to break glass, John convinced me to seek shelter in the basement. I just wish I could have watched from a bubble somewhere. It makes me feel very small and that just reminds me that there must be something very big behind it all. 

I should mention that we were very lucky and throughout all of the storms had no damage to us or our home.

I can't get over how cute these two are together. It's awful how much of my productivity has gone down just because it's more fun to watch these two sleep.

Optimistic

My bowl is looking very full these days. In every way around it.

{ Home Grown }

The Story of a Creative Community

 

A couple weeks ago I received an email notifying me that a copy of Craft Corps was being sent to me. It was to my delight that I learned that my profile was included in this fun and inspirational compilation of artists stories. I had submitted the original piece what seems like years ago... although you could probably remove the plural there it was a long time since I remember writing and them submitting photos. And then when I didn't hear back I just thought I hadn't made the cut. 

So it was a surprise and a lovely one at that.

My mini-bio is on page 21 following an interesting interview of Amy Butler. I know I'm reading into it way too much, but following Amy is an honor to me as she was one of my first inspirations to pursue sewing and designing as a full-time career. Let a girl dream right?

I've only had the time to read into the book a little bit, but it contains lots of inspiration and tips from a very wide range of creative types.

You can checkout more about this continuously growing project here.

The Honeymoon

I'm still waiting to get our wedding photos back, but until then here are some of my favorite shots from the honeymoon. We went to Orlando for the majority of the trip, but did small day trips to both the ocean and the coast. I was really surprised how much I loved the coast. the water was clearer and the color just beautiful... not really what I expected, but exactly what I wanted to see.

Although we have been together for 5 years the honeymoon was our first vacation sans parents, family, or friends. It was amazing and romantic and we got to spend a good amount of time just acting like the children we are at heart. It made us both realize that we don't travel enough and plan to remedy that in the coming years.