Jen Bowles Design

Banner Day

I (finally) updated my Etsy shop!

Click here to check out my patriotic 4th of July themed pennant banners.

In other news, I went thrifting the other day.  I headed into the heart of the big city (sort of) and managed to visit 4 thrift stores I'd never been to.  One of them was a Goodwill Outlet.   Who knew  that thrift stores had outlets??  I also visited Value Village, Community Thrift and the Habitat ReStore.  My favorite was probably Value Village.  Here are just a few of my finds:

On Tuesday the boys and I stumbled into a fabric store called The Quilter's Loft.  They had 3 piles of bolts of Amy Butler fabric.  On sale.  Apparently last year's patterns but I loved them.  And only $4.99/yd.  I also picked up 3 fat quarters--it was very hard to choose.  As I said to the woman working there, if I had some clue what I'd be doing with this fabric, I'd be dangerous!  So much eye candy...I'm definitely heading back there when I'm alone : D

Banner News

The Jen Bowles Design Banner workshop is open and several banners are in the production stages.  Thought I'd give a sneak peek, I'm planning on updating my Etsy shop over the next few days--finally!

Birdy Fever Bits, Part 2

My Birdie Fever swap box from Tammie arrived today!!
Check out my goodies...

It was so much fun to open the box, gotta love good mail!  The first thing I noticed was the scent of lavender (turns out from a lovely sachet), mmmmmm.  So many pretty things in here and different from anything that I have which I think is great.  My two favorites (is it okay to play favorites a little bit??) are the earrings and the card they are on--love her!--and the Bird Woman--she is the coolest!  There are so many other cool things too:  a bunch of bird charms and beads, a bird tag with a bird button, a glass bird tray, a 'tweet' little basket of birdie sweets, the MS bird stamp I've been eyeing, millinery flowers, the lovely rose oval platter,  a fabric charm, and a fun branch pencil!   I can't wait to use some of my goodies!

Thanks to Tammie for letting me play along--it's so much fun to see what everyone else has come up with and a great source of inspiration!

Birdy Fever Bits, Part 1

I mailed off a large but light box to my Birdie Fever swap partner, Tammie (My Art Soul Wings) last Thursday.  Hopefully she will be receiving it tomorrow.  It always seems to take an extra day for mail to get in and out of North Carolina--and that's with Priority Mail.  Regular mail can take a week to go anywhere out of state.  Or maybe I'm just impatient.
Anyway, I figured it would be safe to post photos of what I made/sent for the swap.
I made a few things, this is my bird on a box creation.  I was inspired by creations on flickr as well as a quote by Henry van Dyke:  Use what talents  you possess: the woods would be very silent if no birds sang there except those that sang best.
I made the crown out of vintage sheet music and canvas paper.  I think the hardest part of the bird was trying to get the pearl necklace to stay on!  Inside I used scrapbook paper and vintage wallpaper to line the box--and then I added a little surprise.  I also decorated a wooden letter T for Tammie, again inspired by a quote and also a sheet of Heidi Grace flocked birdie paper-- (adorable!).  The bird for this project came from a vintage strand of Christmas lights I found at the Salvation Army.  It was red but I painted it.  Several times in fact...

Finally a picture of the rest of the bits, including a birdhouse beaded bookmark  I made as a hostess gift.  Apparently  Tammie ended up with no less than 3 swap partners.   Phew!  Talk about the hostess with the most-ess!                             Can't wait to get my box as well as check out the goodies that others sent and received.  It's such fun to have a group of people to share your craftiness with, people who "get it".  And I can certainly see how swapping can be slightly addictive!