Swell...

I have had my eye on this new line called Swell for a while now. It is designed by Urban Chiks for Moda fabrics. The entire line is everything I daydream of and exactly what I would design for myself. I am so completely in love with its fresh retro feel...

The mini red polka dots are from another line, but I think it will mix well and I plan to use it for some handmade bias tape. I ordered the top bundle from The Calico Cottage Quilt Shop... owner Christine wrote a sweet note on my invoice and wrapped my bundle with some beautiful green satin ribbon and even added a fabric sample from another fabric in the Swell line! So sweet... Pop over to her site when you get a chance and pick up some beautiful fabrics!

So stay tuned for some new bags, ruffled aprons and some other surprises...

Unplanned Break...New Fabrics & other Goodies

I took an unplanned blogging break, but I'm still working in the studio and getting ready for some Summer and Fall shows... Stay tuned for some show updates on Simply June...

There are a lot of new fabrics and supplies arriving in the studio...a happy spool of baker's twine & scalloped fabric shears. (Can I tell you how far and wide I have searched for these? I think Fiskars must have stopped producing them and I wasn't able to find another source...with some help I finally bought a pair from a fairly obscure sewing supplier.) Check out the cute scalloped edge on the polka dotty oil cloth!




















I am so charmed by fair tales right now and couldn't resist these cute Little Red Riding hood fabrics and tape... the matching designs were actually purchased from two different sources... check out Talk to the Wind on Etsy when you get a chance. She is located in Japan and a great supplier of fabrics and Japanese craft books... she even sent some cute goodies along with my order!




















Oh, and how can one resist hedgehogs? This cute Matryoshka print is my favorite and I might have to squirrel a little away for myself...




















Promise I'll be back soon! Happy Thursday and a Happy Birthday to Lisa over at Artsy Fartsy!

Valentine Felted Flower Brooches

I mailed cute Valentine brooches to a few of my lovely Valentines today. I picked up a little needle felting kit at my local craft store a few weeks ago and took my first try at this craft and loved it. What is not to love about stabbing wool with a needle into foam...relieving the tensions of the day... I have tried wet felting before in the form of bead making. I love working with a beautiful palette of colors and texture, but it is so time consuming. I was talking to another crafter at a show this winter who makes the most beautiful felted wool earrings. She tends to make a whole array of beads and then selects them for size. She also mentioned that even as you get better at felting, there is no shortening the process. I have a whole new respect for felted items! Check out lusitania's shop on Etsy sometime...

Last week I placed an order for Merino roving from The Yarn Tree in Brooklyn. I'm dying to get a chance to visit the shop some day...maybe on a trip to Renegade? They carry a huge palette of the softest Merino roving and I selected about 15 colors to start my collection. I love the idea of painting with fiber. These flower pins are likely just the start of many new ideas and I can't wait to evolve in my designs. I also love the organic feel of the designs when you use natural materials.

Oh, and the darling "je t'aime" Valentines are courtesy of the Black Apple...head over and print some out for your lovelies!

Poor, neglected blog...

Oh, poor neglected blog. I do still love you. I have been buried in the plans for a Multicultural Fair for our adoption agency. It is sure to be a fun event, but it is definitely consuming all of my beloved "nap time". I have been stealing a few moments for ordering supplies for some upcoming SimplyJune designs. How delightful are those little ladybugs and climbing vines? I've been craving red and white polka dots too... Check out Repro Depot if you've never stopped by before.

New Simply June Business Cards

These sweet cards arrived via the post the other day. I'm loving my new business cards...if I do say so myself. A little vintage...a little retro cherry... some visual texture...they suit me.

I placed my order with Visa Print. I ordered a sample packet and it came directly. They have some of the best pricing out there as well as a good quality and some extra deals if you use the links that they send you...clever. Their site was easy to navigate and they show you a digital proof online that proved to be quite accurate. They also shipped fairly quickly (though I think I paid a bit more to expedite the process because I have some shows coming up). I ordered 1000 and they came packaged up neatly in boxes of 250. There really is nothing more delightful than a freshly printed stack of business cards...

Woven Garment Labels

Our new labels arrived from Fancy Weaver! As a small indie business you really have to pinch your pennies when it comes to custom labels, packaging, etc. On the other hand, it is so important to portray a unified look and quality in both your work and branding. I know woven garment labels are the topic of many blog posts that I read...along with many great tutorials on making your own. When I first started Simply June, I searched high and low on the internet and finally found a company in Australia that would do short runs of black labels with white text (a rarity for some reason in short run options). I was generally happy with my labels and the price, but had limited font choices. In our case, Simply June in its specific font with 'June' italicized is our logo. So, from there I decided to make my own labels and had a custom rubber stamp made. I used fabric ink on twill tape, heat set it and then treated the cut edges for fraying. I was actually really happy with the result, but the time consuming process of making them was discouraging. So, back to my search... I then stumbled upon Fancy Weaver on Ebay... 200 labels, any font, black with white text, heat cut, $35 and no shipping! What did I have to lose? They just arrived the other day and my next order is sure to be much bigger. They are high quality, nicely packaged and the company is great at communicating and sending proofs. Spread the word!

New Nataliya - Silhouettes in the shop soon!

Glass Photo Mirrors

I made these two pocket mirrors and fabric cases as little gifts for my girls night out the other night. I made these using the same technique as the necklace. I cut the glass to match the 3 x 3 mirror tiles that I picked up at my local craft store. These two feature some of my photography...

I was surprised at how relatively easy it is to cut glass. For some reason it has been a skill that has intimidated me. The tools needed are rather inexpensive and include a cork-backed ruler, grease pencil, safety goggles ($4.39 at Dick Blick), glass cutter ($3.95 at Dick Blick) and scorer/breaker($9.56 at Dick Blick)...I prefer using a separate glass cutter. I like to work on a small carpet mat as it allows for the right amount of give for scoring the glass. For larger pieces, I just turn over my glass after scoring, fold the mat over and apply a bit of pressure to break along my score line. Sheet glass can be easily found at your local hardware store, but also look out at yard sales or in your basement for unused frame glass and recycle!

The best source I have found for soldering materials is actually Etsy. Check out Stained Glass * Mosaics * Collage Jewelry Art SUPPLIES. They also offer great instructions and will answer any questions you have once you begin working with the materials. They carry lead free solder, which is very important when making jewelry. I already owned a soldering iron, but ordered Canfield SILVERGLEEM, a burnishing tool, locking tweezers, lead-free flux paste, glass rectangles (they carry nice thick glass perfectly sized for pendants), flux and patina remover, block of Sal Ammoniac and flux brushes. I would also highly recommend a small vice that you can attach to your work surface. The glass heats quickly and it is nice to have your work held in place while you solder.

Scrapbooking, Glue Pens and Postal Goodies, Oh My!

I keep dropping off the face of the bloggy earth, but here I am again. Last week was spent making a scrapbook for my Mom's retirement, which I forgot to photograph in my excitement to wrap it up and gift it! If you haven't checked out the new line of Martha Stewart scrapbooking supplies at Michaels, haul on over there now. First on your list should be her glue sticks. I bought both the fine-point and wide-tipped glue pens. They go on as a blue liquid and dry quickly to an almost post-it glue consistency. The glue then held securely and didn't wrinkle even the finest of papers. Her embellishments all come in handy packages with ring holes pre-punched for keeping organized.

I received this goody by post the other day. Thank you Lynn and thanks for shopping Indie! This beautiful pincushion was made by Snazziedrawers over at Etsy. I love the Amy Butler fabric and a vintage piece of jewelry. My tomato pincushion can now go into retirement too.

Gift Packaging Has Arrived

I placed an order last week for shopping bags, tissue and my new SimplyJune stickers at Nashville Wraps. They are a great company with a huge selection whether you are ordering for your business or your own personal wrapping needs. I ordered three sizes of the Kraft Paper bags for my Open Studio and the light blue tissue to keep with my colors. Don't these bags just make you want to take a peek inside? I designed the new Simply June stickers based on an antique textile block that I have and am pleased with how they turned out. Custom printed stickers are so expensive, so I had to settle for single color ink for now. All these little details are coming together and I can't wait to see all of you in just two weeks! I'd better get back to sewing!

Wool Felt

I have been admiring some of the things other crafters and artists have been doing with wool felt and am finally taking the plunge. I looked everywhere for a good supplier of wool felt. My local fabric stores carried a small selection of very drab colors and at very high prices. As I began looking online, I found a number of sources for wool felt, but was introduced to the fact that there are a number of types of wool felt available - 100% wool, 70/30 wool-rayon, 60/40, etc. There seemed to be benefits to each of them as far as durability, color selection, price, thickness, etc. I finally narrowed my choice down to two companies and my first order came in the mail today from The Silver Penny - might I also add that I ordered it yesterday! I get so excited when I have something on order - constantly peeking through my shutters at the mailbox. As a child, I lived in quite a rural area and our mailbox was at the end of our long driveway. We had a little red flag on the mailbox and would place it up in the morning when we had mail to go out. The postman would put it down when he had picked up the mail and made his delivery. I would peek out the window to look at that flag and run down when it had been lowered to see if there might be a letter for me! Now, I live in a much more populated area. We actually have street signs that read "Thickly Settled". So, our mailbox is actually attached to our house and the postman walks right up to our door to make his deliveries. So, my peeking through the shutters to look for mail sticking up out of the box replaces the little red flag, but my excitement is much the same.

Back on track...I excitedly opened the box, which also included a cute little Mary Engelbreit card as a gift (I love ordering from small businesses - when has Staples or L.L.Bean ever sent you a little gift?) Inside, I found this yummy selection of wool felt (60/40). I have not worked with it yet, but it has a nice wool texture, nice drape, wonderful colors, great price and I can't wait to start creating with it.

The second website that I found was The Twining Thread. They offer a beautiful selection of 100% wool felt and have the best selection of colors at this grade that I have found so far. The cost of wool felt is a bit more, so I thought I would try the blend first and then move up to the 100% to see which I am happier with.

Stay tuned for some felted goodies at Simply June...

What is Blick

I found this incredible site the other day called Blik. They design and produce these really unique wall decals. They come in a variety of trendy colors and come in a pack of 9. What you see in the photograph is one package of the Iron Vines design and costs $50.00. Jason and I have been planning a redesign of our bedroom for a while and have decided to do a blue and brown combination. I think the cocoa version of these would look great mounted on a blue wall. We don't have a lot of wall decorating options in our room because we have a Mansard roof - causing all exterior walls on our second floor to be angled. I had thought of tacking original canvas paintings to the walls, but I like this idea so much more. We are going for a somewhat modern look in the room with a platform bed and really simple colors and furniture. I want a clean, modern feel to the room and I think these elements will attain that.

Fabric Sources

I'm often asked where I find good sources for fabrics. I love being able to go to my local shops because nothing compares to being able to touch and feel the quality of the fabrics and to see the colors in person. But, I also find such a limited supply at my local shops and don't always have the time to browse through all of the bolts of material - you know what I mean if you have ever been pulled into the fabric store vortex. So, I have found quite a number of sources for fabric on the web (no comment one the hours I spend browsing fabrics and materials online). So, here are some of my favorite sources and I'm sure they will become yours.

Purl Soho
Repro Depot
Hancocks of Paducah
Flapper Girl Fabrics
Digs
Supper Buzzy

Also don't forget to be creative when looking for fabrics. A trip to your local thrift store can yield some great fabric finds. I love looking through the pajama section as you can find some fun quality cotton prints. Take another trip to your favorite bedding store and flip through the clearance bedding. Mismatched sheet sets make great yardage too. If your lucky enough to live near an IKEA, they sell fabric too and at a great price! Many of their bedding sets are also fabric designed by some the leading designers out there.

Here are some recent thrift store fabric finds... Happy creative fabric shopping!

My fabric order came in last week from Hancocks of Paducah. I love everything that I ordered. Most are Michael Miller, Amy Butler and Free Spirit fabrics. I picked a bunch of fabrics in various color combinations and I'm really excited about how they are combining in the new purse design. I have six purses done and hope to make six more before I put them in the shop. Sorry for the fuzzy pictures.

I had a great weekend of estate and yard sales and will post some photos soon. My favorite find was a circa 1940's Remington Portable Typewriter with white keys. It needs just a little cleaning, but it works really well and I have been punching away at the keys. I'm thinking of typing all of my hang tags on it for my Simply June holiday shopping party. I love the nostalgia of the typewriter font.

From Cram Cream to Squid Jerky...

I promise I'm crafting away for SimplyJune. There just hasn't been a lot of time to take pictures. I also have a huge fabric order coming in from Hancock's of Paducah to spice up my stash so that I can launch my new handbag design shortly. I'm also working on some freebies for the website to give you a little taste of all things SimplyJune.

In the meantime...check out this great blog that I just stumbled upon Gimme Your Stuff! I love it and love the idea. From Cram Cream to Squid Jerky...I have got to try this out!

Finally Blogging!

I have been wanting to put a blog together for a while, so I have a backlog of photographs and ideas that I want to post here. This is mostly as a record for myself so that I can keep track of my ideas and materials, but maybe others can get their own ideas or see some of the fun new items making their way to the Simply June store.

I took a trip recently to Boston's Chinatown to shop at my favorite fabric store - Winmil Fabrics. They are located on Chauncy Street if you are in the area. They have beautiful fabrics and you can always find something new. The photo below shows my recent haul. I've got to get better at lighting my photographs because this photo just doesn't do the colors justice.














I have also been having some fun on Ebay recently. I have been purchasing a variety of vintage buttons to embellish the bags and hats. Here are some recent finds.