Craft Fair ... Zeal

Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Join SimplyJune this Saturday, February 2nd from 10:30-2pm at Newton South High School, 140 Brandeis Road; Newton Centre, MA for a craft show. We will have some of our old favorites as well as some new goodies including children's beanbag sets, new wipe-clean children's aprons and gift tags.

Also stop by to visit our friend Zandra Zuraw from Zeal: Paper Crafts for the Home and check out her colorful and eclectic boxes, frames, coasters, lampshades and more...

Keep an eye out for the upcoming City Sampler: Boston at the Sampler! SimplyJune has contributed 20 hand embroidered buttons that will be distributed in this new featured Sampler. The Sampler is a great way to check out some amazing indie artists and get some great goodies in the mail.

SimplyJune has also contributed a raffle basket valued at $200 to the Alliance For Children's 7th Annual Multicultural Fair to be held Saturday March 29th from 12-3pm at Wellesley High School. This incredible event celebrates the wonderful cultural diversity of our world and includes music and dance performances from Latin America, China, Eastern Europe and more as well as children's crafts, food, raffle and a marketplace. The annual raffle raises money for the Alliance for Children Foundation which is dedicated to improving the physical and emotional well being of abandoned children living in orphanages in Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America. My husband and I adopted our son Nikolai through Alliance for Children in 2006 and are honored to support this wonderful organization. If you would like more information about this wonderful event or are interested in supporting the Alliance For Children Foundation through the purchase of raffle tickets, send us an e-mail at info (at) simplyjune.com.

Karen June



















Hand Embroidered Buttons for the Sampler: Boston by SimplyJune













Lampshades by Zeal



















Boxes by Zeal



















Coasters by Zeal

Newsworthy Matryoshka

Simply June has been receiving some press lately... I was contacted a little while ago by Virginia M. Citrano of adoptionblogs.com 's Russian Adoption Blog. Citrano is also a Russian adoptive parent and wrote a really nice piece on us entitled "Russian Adoption Inspires A Business." Check it out to find out a little more about how Simply June came to be... Also, take a look at her follow up article "Russian Culture: Matryoshka Dolls" to learn some more about the history behind the Russian Matryoshka.

Nolé Style & Beauty Indulgence - You work hard. Look Fabulous. Indulge Yourself in Style and Beauty.

Check out this wonderful new website called Nolé Style & Beauty Indulgence. Their website features indie designers from all over the world that design and create handcrafted goods. Designers join by invitation only and SimplyJune is now proud to be a member! Check out our designer page at Nolé .

Nolé also offers Holiday Gift Guides, Articles written by designers, Product Reviews, an Events Calendar, Contests and a Blog. Coming soon will be Nolé Mi, an online magazine as well as an Online Shop featuring items from Nolé designers.

SimplyJune Newsletter - Holidays 2006






Our Holidays 2006 Newsletter went out today. If you did not receive it, your e-mail address may not be on our Mailing List - take a minute to update your information today. We have some fun surprises coming up that will only be available to those on our mailing list.

Hope that everyone had a Wonderful Thanksgiving!

Craft Revolution - Indie Business Profile

Check us out on the Craft Revolution website. They are currently featuring a profile about me and Simply June!

New Indie Business Profile: Simply June
Meet Karen Grant, the designer behind Simply June, an online boutique that offers lovely, handmade items from handbags to embroidered buttons and crocheted hats.

Are you Indie Friendly?

SimplyJune was recently listed on IndieFriendly.com, a wonderful online directory of Indie Crafters designed as a guide to the best places to shop indie on the web. IndieFriendly is careful to list businesses that are personal and professional and sell high-quality items. SimplyJune is honored to be among them. So, check them out and visit and support some of the other wonderful Indie Crafters out there.

Not exactly sure what an Indie Crafter is?... Craft Revolution defines "Indie" as...

"What is the Definition of Indie?

According to the dictionary, 'indie' is an informal version of the word independent.

Although this definition is accurate, the word has come to mean more. It has come to symbolize originality and forward-thinking, especially in music and design.

By our definition, indie is any business or designer that is not associated with a large company. Indie can also define the indie shopper, who chooses to support small business rather than big-box stores."

Check out their other websites:

CraftRevolution.com
Crafters-United.com
IndieHolidays.com
IndieDesignAssociation.com

Have a great weekend!

Newsletter

Well, the very first SimplyJune newsletter was just sent out via e-mail. If you did not receive a newsletter, take a minute to fill our Mailing List form on SimplyJune's website and we will get one right to you. Also, tell your friends, your family, your co-workers, etc. so they can join in on the updates, project ideas, freebies, etc.

I thought I would include a shot of the technical corner of my studio. One of my favorite parts of reading blogs, especially crafty ones is seeing photographs of people's homes, studios, etc. I love how everyone uses space and implements design so differently. I love those keyhole snapshots into people's environments. As you can see in the photo, I use a widescreen Dell laptop - a wonderful surprise birthday present in June from my dear Jason! When I am up in my studio, I hook up my mouse and keyboard to it as well as my flatscreen Dell monitor. What, might you ask, do I do with this second monitor? Jason set it up so that I have dual monitors and can move my mouse from one screen to the next, seamlessly. I usually keep my e-mail open on one screen, while working on the other. The technical aspects of how he did this are way beyond me, but let me just say - it is sooooo cool! I can't tell you how out of sorts I am when I bring my laptop elsewhere and keep looking off to my right to read me e-mail and its not there.

Anyway, another favorite part of this corner of my world is my Parsons style chair that I picked up at IKEA a while back. It is meant to be a dining room chair, but it looks great in my studio and is super comfortable. Also, note the nifty "K" mug. I have been loving the below version at Anthropologie (but then I love just about everything at that store). It is actually very reasonably priced at $6, but I stopped in at the Christmas Tree Shop this morning and found this one for $1.69 - wooo hoooo! Feeling pretty smug right now...

P.S. Those mini-marshmallows are so gone...yum...

Creative Moments

I'm working a bit today on getting my blog name out there to bring new visitors to Simply Blog and ultimately to Simply June. Here is a banner I created for some webslog directories. Feel free to add it to your blog and I would love to reciprocate!

While I'm busy crafting ... check out this crafty blog: 52 Projects. Jeffrey Yamaguchi, author of "52 Projects: Random Acts of Everyday Creativity" has a wonderful blog that is sure to get those creative juices flowing. Check out his photo album titled "Tree", where he frequently takes photographs of the same tree on his daily run. Jeffrey reminds us to find creative ways of experiencing our every day activities. So, find some creative moments in your day...