Jenna Lou Loves You

Need A Name Contest!

 
Two things that haven't happened in FAR to long:
1. I made a new product!
2. I'm having a CONTEST!

It's been a LONG time since I've made a new product! Well... that's half true. I've made lots of stuff, but nothing that I was really excited about and nothing that I felt would make the cut so they were tossed back into the idea bin (my mind). But now the problem arises with this new wallet of mine.... what to name it? I've had a few ideas cross my path, but none that were truly suiting.

So I propose a contest to help in the naming of this new wallet. Just leave a comment with the name you think would best fit for this new little wallet friend of mine before next Wednesday the 11th of June for a chance to win one of them! The contest will be random so if I pick the name you suggest or not you have a chance to win! I'll pick the winner on the 12th.

Thanks for playing! I can't wait to see what you guys come up with!
xo,
Jennalou

May!!

I can hardly believe it is May already!! The past 2-3 weeks have just flown by unaccounted for. At least spring has finally made a real appearance. We have some serious blooming going on in the trees just outside my windows and the army of tulips have shown their faces. It's really a beautiful time of year.... I've been trying to enjoy each and everyday, to take it in slowly.

Work has been a different story. I've been having a really hard time keeping myself indoors so I have to apologize to those of you waiting for a shipment... I promise I will be caught up by the end of the week. I've notices a downwards slope in my work and I think it's because it's become so demanding and repetitive. I've been trying to look into the future... to plan for it and I can see already that there are going to be some very big changes in the way I have been doing things and hopefully it will be good for all of us. I'm not really sure of the exact changes that will be made, but I do know that custom and wholesale work is going to be on the back burner for a while.

I want to take a new approach as to what I offer in the shop... but I'm going to keep my lips sealed for a bit on that until I work all the kinks out and feel really good and confident that it is the right choice.

Anyways... enough about that. I hope you all are taking the time to enjoy spring and all the renewed energies that it brings!

xo,
Jennalou

Spring seems to be a bit confused this year. We see a bit of it here and a bit of it there, but then it's winter again. Today it's nice.... tomorrow who knows. The weather man doesn't even sound sure anymore. Last weekend was snow. Today is heat. This coming weekend is supposed to be rain. Boo!

This weekend we will be away again. I'll be doing a double show weekend. Saturday is Crafted Together. Sunday is Spring Fling. They both sound very promising and I can't wait to see all the friendly faces! We decided that it would be best to drive up early so we are leaving Friday to make this as stress free as possible. The weather isn't in our favor (I heard snow again) so we'd rather take is slow and steady.

If you are in the area and get the chance to stop by either of these shows do say hi! I'll be the girl behind my booth with the HUGE gray circles under her eyes.

Hope to see you there!
xo,
Jennalou

Craftstravaganza Report

Thanks to those of you who braved the unseasonably cold weather yesterday to visit the Craftstravaganza. Despite the cold there was a steady flow of traffic for most of the day. It was such a joy to meet so many new faces and to share laughs with those of you I know. I'm always amazed by the talent that fills these shows too. It was a shoppers delight.

After the show we went out with some really fun people for food/drinks and had a blast. I'm not sure if my muscles hurt from shivering or from laughing. Both were had in abundance!

Craftstravaganza

If you are free this weekend and in the area, come stop by the Craftstravaganza and say HI to me. It's from 9 to 6 on the 26th at the state fair grounds in (of course) MINNESOTA.

There are going to be tons of other awesome sellers and I think it's going to be an amazing day.

Don't be shy... say HI!
xo,
Jennalou

Ginger Blossom Lauch TODAY

Today is the Launch of Ginger Blossom on Etsy! If you haven't already got some of Sandi's yummy Ginger Blossom you better do so and quick!! Rumor has it that it's been selling out like crazy and some prints are even on backorder already! Good thing I snatched up some yardage right away!! To see all the lovely Ginger Blossom creations on etsy just type the key search "ginger blossom" or even better yet.... click here.

I've added a wallet done up in the same fabric I used for the cover shot of the GBF Wallet sewing pattern... but as you can probably already guess I'll be adding more Ginger Blossom goodies as soon as I get a chance to make them!

Happy Thursday!!
xo,
Jennalou

It's DONE!

Yippy... it's done! The Girl's Best Friend Wallet Pattern is now available in the shop. And because you all have been SO good about patiently waiting for it, I'm offering a special PRESALE for one week only. All Girl's Best Friend patterns purchased during the presale will be shipping on 3-5-08. You can view more pictures of the pattern in the shop or on flickr.

It was such a pleasure to work with Sandi Henderson's Ginger Blossom for the cover wallet. Isn't it yummy and just screams spring... which seems far off in this winter cold, but has been on my mind all week. I have a few plans for some of the other prints too ( I ordered them all hehe) maybe some bags for the shop... and of course a few wallets I'm sure too.

Thanks to everyone for your support during my writing of this pattern. Each and every comment, email, phone call, and hug made this possible. I'd like to give a special shout out to my testers Rachel, Sarah, Barb, Donna, Lynn, and Kate... These ladies are incredible sewers who I've learned a lot from and hope to continue to learn from. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Hope you each had a lovely weekend!
xoxo,
Jennalou

Fresh Sale

I just made up a bunch of new items and thanks to my super light box it was a breeze to photograph them all for the shop. In honer of my new toy... and these lovely new wristlets I'm having a "Fresh Sale". When you checkout just use the code "Fresh" in the message to sellers box and I will send you a revised invoice within 24 hours of purchase. The only exceptions are Custom and Design Your Own orders. This will be good until 2.1.08.

xoxo,
Jennalou

Winter Blooms

My winter bulbs have sprung into full bloom this week. As I left on Friday for the No-Coast show my Amaryllis was only beginning to open up, and when I returned it had really evolved. This is my very first year planting winter bulbs for indoor enjoyment and I've become a real addict. You see... I don't have the best track record with house plants. They usually do well for a while, but within 6 months they are in really sad condition which usually is very uninspiring and I end up killing it. But with these bulbs I feel like there is nothing I could do to stop it. They are so willing to just live on and will do everything in their power to shoot out those BIG beautiful blooms.

I got some paper whites too and am thoroughly enjoying the scent they give off. ** pst... do you see my little helper in the background? She had to sneak in for the photo op. **

I wonder... does anyone know if it's too late to start more of these?? I'd love to get a whole group of them going so I can enjoy them all over my house.

As a quick note I thought I'd mention that I'm FINALLY adding the postcard packs that I've had ready to go for months now to the shop. Don't know how I kept forgetting to photograph them, but it seemed that every time I had a chance

 

to do so it was cloudy out. Anyways they are available in "Sew Savvy" and "Sweet Tooth".

xoxo,
Jennalou

Restocking Shop

I'm back from the weekend. Not totally recovered, but back and happy. The show was a wonderful success despite the winter snowing we got on Saturday. The roads were to bad for us to drive home on
Saturday so we stayed at a friends for the night.

I feel like I have a cold coming on. I'm a bit stiff and can't seem to warm up, so today I'm going to take it a bit easy by catching up on some shipping and updating the shop with some of the leftovers from the show. Sorry for the short post. I'll be back. I promise, just need some time yet to get back on my feet.

xoxo,
Jennalou