hot hot hot

ah summer. we are in it's throes here in the sacramento valley, and apparently all along the pacific north west. i don't know about you guys but my electric bill is literally on fire but *sigh*, what can you do? i know what we have done is take full advantage of local swim spots, and our proximity to the ocean! :) trust me, it helps.

along with the season, we have summer craft shows which are a little like a sado-masochistic exercise if you ask me! vending on asphalt on a "spare the air" day of triple digits is just...well, a labor or love i suppose! so far, there are two ongoing events i have done and loved a lot, and will be doing for august and september: 2nd saturday @ park your art by mcmartin reality and 3rd saturday @ design downtown put on by the sacramento news and review. look for me there if you are in the area and love supporting your local DIY/craft scene.

in other NFB news, my website got a mini-face lift and i am loving it. if you haven't gone lately, please check it out! neverfeltbetterbyjen.com

i have listed a new group of vintage fabric soldered pendants, along with fabric "feather" and bird headbands--cute cute! also, i plan to donate a portion of fall/winter sales to the farm sanctuary.

website updates, craft shows, summer oh my!

happy summer! and it is setting off with a quiet bang for me here at neverfeltbetterbyjen.com central! i have two craft shows back to back this month, july and it is a trial by fire since i haven't done much in the way of vending for a few months and feel a bit rusty. but, i am ready to begin again and along with that i got some new graphics for my site and etsy shop (you like? i love!) and am having some different tweaks and wallpaper coming mid-july that i am really excited over. it is a good thing!

here are some recent new items for the site, enjoy! please check back for more vegan "feather" headbands and fascinators...ready to be sewn in my little workshop as we speak LOL.

happy to be crocheting again...

crocheting, soldering...hey i am overly proud of myself for making anything other than a drool puddle on the computer desk lately :) drool puddles aside, it is making me happy to create. my good friend gave me some radical 1980 wrapping paper that is all swirly and colorful--they don't make'em like that anymore. i ended up making double sided soldered pendants that turned out pretty nicely! then, i finished two new pouches. both cotton, the blue and white one is more of a ditty-bag (i love saying DITTY, by the way) and the pretty pinky one is more of a fully lined clutch, decked out with a vintage button closure and vintage fabric button with a darling vintage carrot cab. neat! (i love saying NEAT, too).

i have been noticeably absent on the second saturday/craft show circuit and i am feeling the itch (thank you thank you thank you) but i don't want to act too soon. my brain is mush, i had a hard mothers day without mom and i am juggling a bunch of plates in the air. in the meantime i am going to take it one day at a time, create as the need arises and not be too hard on myself in general. one thing i do notice is the drop off in sales, which is a ego-blow for sure. but i am not really promoting myself other than facebook and twitter, a little myspace now and again. not really much at all, actually. it's my own fault.

i welcome june (my birthday month AND anniversary--FIVE YEARS!!!), it's my favorite month of the year. go gemini's! :)

never felt better? me too!

i love spring--our backyard is coming along nicely, the weather keeps you guessing, bike rides are a priority...

renewed hope and a good attitude is what i am running on right now! i have a couple craft/art shows on the horizon (more to come as info comes to me) and a new line of glass tile pendants and magnet sets that has me really excited. i have had some custom work here and there (working on a pair of fingerless gloves for chilly east-coasters and custom photo soldered pendants) and that has been keeping me busy between orders and shows. also scaling back on the child care i was doing during the week and having my preschooler start this next week is really making me happy and giving me a new lease on craft! LOL. i am planning a real attack on the shops around town, and already have a line on one so i feel pretty great about all that.

soon i will be back to the busy bee self i have grown to know and love. it has been a few months now since losing mom and i know she would not want me to be using her as an excuse for anything--business or personal. i have to get back my MOJO!

take a look at some new pendants/magnets up now on the site now. i hope you think they are as cute as i do! i can also make them into a soldered version but i am digging on the glass tile look on these. expect some new day of the dead art skulls, too. i sold the last big one in november and got the itch to do some painting last week so one is waiting to be finished. they are so fun to make :)

marching on...

well, time marches on even in march. i am making some goals for myself to get out, meet and greet any and all potential wholesale accounts here in sacramento and in the bay area but something always comes up and then i get frustrated at myself for lagging on something SO important. i am doing childcare during the day and would need someone to sub for me, but that is just another excuse i don't need to be giving. i am working on a game plan, since time is of a premium i have to KNOW where i am going for optimal success.

what i do know is that i will be hearing "we don't do wholesale, we are only offering consignment". *sigh*. i think i can talk people into taking the plunge on my soldered pendants. they are gifty, well made and a really great seller for me and other shops in the recent past. i have branched out to making customized photo pendants (thanks to me snoozing at the wheel, some other lucky seller cashed in with mickey roarkes customized dog pendant at the oscars! doh! that should have been me, what in the hell was i doing instead?), and am going to have some good marketing stragedies with those in particular. you have to be smart nowadays...times are tight and people are not so loose with their monies.

other than that i am working on some underground backyard type craft bazaars with a friend of mine here. between the two of us we know all kinds of sellers who are looking for a cheap, but fun and productive venue to sell. :) more details on that to follow.

other than all that, things are great: the girls are settling, the backyard is coming along, i have several starter plants ready to plant and i am doing some pepper seeds in my windowsill as we speak. i cannot wait for the garden! thank dog spring is just around the corner.

be mine :)

ah, valentines. what a stupid holiday. and i am happily married! in my mind it marks something more momentous...SPRING IS COMING! see, in our house, it is valentines all year round...there is a lot of love in here! we give one another extra love on the 14th for sure but it is like any other day in our world. :)

what IS new is that i have a jazzy new energy for neverfeltbetterbyjen.com
and with my trusty new soldering iron i have some new soldered pendants in the que. a few are posted this week and more are in line to be photographed. i made a business page for it this week on facebook, so if you are on FB please check it out and be a fan!

i plan to focus mainly on the soldered pendants this spring and am working on a type of catalog to be able to email prospective wholesale accounts to make their buying decision easier--with general colorways available, the process, and materials that i work with and some good shots of the many custom orders that have been a great hit with brides for bridal parties, thank you gifts, special orders, etc. i have some good press that i should pass along as well, that can't hurt.


oh and your homework for the week is to tell one friend about neverfeltbetterbyjen.com! have a great weekend!!!!!!!

neglected blog alert

i have been ignoring this blog, partially on purpose-partially not. for those close to me, you know my mother passed away on new years eve and i have been really battling grief these past few weeks. it comes in waves, but when it does it is more like a tsunami and i am working hard at working through it all with the right amount of perpective. i have a lot of work to do, yet. the whole she left in my life larger than life at the moment.

it is affecting my work, my drive, my goals for neverfeltbetterbyjen.com
but i am working through it, as i said. i have more than enough stock and have been doing custom work here and there. there is another indiesacramento.com coming up on february 7th that i will be there for sure (i missed january's--i just could not make it under the circumstances) and i am really excited to be "back" in the craft show circuit.

look forward to some springy accessories there and on line, like my vegan bird fascinators
and some new crocheted items, as well! lots of tile and soldered pendants, too. if all goes well this spring, i am hoping to do a site re-launch with a new NFB look and feel to the website by fall-09. it is just so pricey! i almost had a heart attack at the quote, but from the gals who do my work it is totally worth every penny.

thanks to anyone who takes time to read my blog, and the support i have received from friends since the first of the year. NFB may be a tad neglected for the moment, but i am going to come back strong and better than ever for 2009!

*cheers*

happy holidays!

i do not even care...i love the winter holidays. we are still decompressing from portland, and even moreso now they are having "stormpocolypse 2008" (to steal from adrienne!) with feet of snow!!! we are amazed how mild and warm it is here in sacramento, and honestly, it feels like we never left. if you were here i would be driving you crazy too, with the christmas songs loud on the radio and me just sing-sing-singing along. we got our very first full sized tree since now we have the room to spare. i am just a big old sap for the holidays in general. much to everyone around me's chagrin. :)

still i have been photographing and listing weekly. there is another indiesacramento on january 3rd to get ready for. love that it is going monthly!!! next up: scout out local shops to try and sell.

hopefully the handful of shops that have opened up in the past 4 years are good fits for little old neverfeltbetterbyjen.com

be well and have yourself a merry little winter holiday, whatever that may be for you.

we've landed!

we have landed in sacramento, and i have successfully feathered my nest! including my new office workspace which is totally a tickle...i have never had a dedicated space before that was MY OWN. now i have a whole room and i am pretty excited about that. no more unplugging this for that kind of thing :) i have an idea board, with a ton of ideas for NFB but am in a place where i can't go there quite yet. this weekend is my first sacto craft show INDIESACRAMENTO.COM, so i am getting ready for that today with high hopes. it will become a monthly event so if i am lucky i can hitch on for that to quickly find other venues as well. i am pretty excited about it. i missed all my usual craft shows up in portland this season :( hopefully this makes up a little!

for the show i am keeping it gifty: more fabric magnets and pendants, along with my best selling vintage post earrings for saturday along with a selection of scarves and scarflettes. it should be a really good time, too. i am pleased with everything so far...i think it will be a good day!

if you are in the greater sacramento area, come downtown to buy local handmade goods this holiday. and of course, come give me a high five!

seasons

pictured: new items up now in neverfeltbetterbyjen.com. i am contemplating doing a holiday show down in sacramento, just a couple weeks after we get down there. it is called indiesacramento and i hear it is hoping to go monthly. i think i can pull off the short notice, and i could use the extra holiday money for sure. what is also sure is that i am batshit crazy for even entertaining the idea, but still i have to give myself props for thinking i have the brass to take it on right now. my mind is over burdened with not only *regular* run of the mill life stuff, but this looming out of state move: you would think that would be enough on my plate. i take comfort in that you never get handed too much so you can't carry--and that brings me to my ailing mom. she is getting sicker and sicker as each day passes. she is not a candidate for a much anticipated and needed kidney removal, and her scans came back with more cancer, more cancer. that is pretty much that is all i have to say about that--to go into the feelings and pain we are all experiencing would take a novel.

reading, reflecting is helping me. i fully recommend a classic--death and dying by elisabeth kubler-ross. right now i am finishing death is of vital importance. that was a gift from my mother in law when my best friend passed away suddenly 5 years ago. and such a gift it really was and still proves to be :)

time for time

wow--i have been neglecting this blog! so much has been going on, but i have felt utterly uninspired to but words to screen. well, that and i have just been basically overwhelmed to the maximum but what else is new? :) i am feeling some relief from my thyroid issues--we tweaked my meds and i feel a whole hell of a lot better on this dose than i have in months--many many months. i feel the brain fog lifting, i am dusting off my planners and my watch...just little indicators that i am getting back to normal. my november calender is staring at me to my right...two weeks from friday and we will all be crammed in our van and a uhaul making our way back to california! i saw the weather this morning and there is already snow in the mountains and i am kinda freaking out about that but i will reserve the total freak out closer to the real date. it looks like snow chains on both vehicles is in our immediate future to get us over that pass. {{shiver}} i am NOT looking forward to that!!!

our new house is going to be awesome, though. a beacon in the fog of this whole move. it is HUGE. cute kitchen...great backyard. i am utterly grateful to my awesome friends for making that happen. and the outpouring of offers to help in any way shape or form is awesome too. i have some ass kicking friends in sacramento i am stoked to see in the flesh again, and i am saying 'aloha' to some ass kicking friends here i know i will see again. it is bittersweet all the way around.

in NEVERFELTBETTERBYJEN.COM news, i am gratefully holding off on any type of advertising blitz for the holidays. no, i need to get personal stuff taken care of and focus toward the spring. i have enough stock for regular sales but really don't have the time or energy to put forth for A LOT of custom work or wholesale. next year it will be a different story but for now i am not beating myself up a whole bunch.

i am still making and listing new items, my fingerless mittens have sold some and pendants are still a good seller for me. i have introduced a different style of pendant, the glass tile version of my soldered vintage fabric jobs. i am doing some more magnet sets-those have done well for me in the past and i had a request not too long ago. so, all in all things are pretty good in the NFB department. i get a straggle of sales on etsy, but my website is where my real business will always be done. i have noticed that sales are twice the "$15" average sale on etsy, as well. when i get everything together i am going to do another ad and try to get out there as much as possible. sacramento is a whole new market for me, and since there isn't much going on there--i am thinking the bay area will be it in all reality. i am pretty stoked on seeing my city by the bay again! :)

our target day for the move is november 21, and it will take a few days to get down there. wish me tons of luck, and i do the same for you. we will get through this holiday stuff together! i just know it.

OCTOBER, already?

i seem to be in a weird rift where time is simutaneously going slow and fast! i am striving to keep these little hands busy and not worry so much about family and the impending move...it is a strange time at neverfeltbetterbyjen.com headquarters lately!

i have been listing new fall items here and there, and i do have a large batch of new pendants and linocut journals over in the herbivore store here in portland (if you are local go say hi to michelle and josh!).

if you haven't been to the site in a while, take a look--i am slowly retaking pictures too. a HUGE undertaking, i may add with little time during the day to get it all done. so i am going little by little when i can here and there. no pressure, lol :)

oh, and check out my new business cards! can't wait to hand these puppies out to new shops in sacramento and sf...

life can be exhausting, sometimes.

life is busy. i mean really BUSY for me lately. news on the daily about my mom, changes in treatments-living arrangements-surgeries can really do a number on my stress level. on top of hearing all this long distance, i am trying to coordinate a major move so i don't have to hear of it long distance anymore. it is wiping me out, man! i can't seem to get enough sleep, and i feel as though my thyroid issues are becoming unmanageable. again. time for more blood work, huh?

does this get me down? nah. i am a 'live through this' now, fall to pieces later kinda gal. i still have work, the girls, appointments and NFB to juggle. if i could fast forward to the middle to the end of december i would--this would all be a fading memory and we will be settling in for a mild california winter. not bad, not bad at all :) i feel really bad for people who jam-pack their and their kids schedules with lessons for this, practice for that, school this and that...even now when things seem hectic i still get to take time to stop and smell the roses with the family. family is more important than anything right now, friends included.

on the good tip, i made what has got to be the cutest little toddler item EVER so far, listed today: a little baby version of my head scarf. i don't care if it ever sells--it is leeetle...and cute...and leeetle. i love little baby things....i can look at this every freaking day and it makes me so very happy :)

control

mmmm i love it when the weather changes...even this little bitty taste of autumn has me drooling for more. i have listed warm cottony baby hats to officially kick off my season lol. got out and listed an old day of the dead skull, and i finished an older one i had started over the summer. i am keeping one eye on the NOW and one on the upcoming seasons of fall and winter. even though we will be relocating back down to calfornia before xmas, i am going to try and make it a stream-lined and smooth move for my sanity's sake and those around me LOL. i want to continue listing and making my best sellers and hit up my wholesale contacts a couple more times where needed.

i started a new wordpress blog (for a yet undisclosed subject back in sac!) and realized that will be such a fun and informative subject, i *almost* wish we were back already. with several of my long-time best friends there waiting and happy to have us back i am excited to go ahead and get going NOW. although for the great friends i have made here, it is bittersweet-but i know never to say goodbye, just aloha :) i will see them again and will talk with them every day via the 'nets just like usual.

things are looking up and we are soaking in portland as much as possible before we go. places and people we see are taking on a much more special meaning all of a sudden. time is short, people are precious and memories are important: even more so now.

crazy(er)

A LOT has been going on for me on a personal level these past two weeks. i don't even know where to start and don't really feel like getting into it again. my mom is sick, really sick. it is a mind-fuck. everything else seems so petty, but after getting back from going back home to see her i realize i have to keep everything normal for the girls. we will probably be going back down sooner than later, and thank god i have siblings who are kicking ass with the care for her. it is the down-side to being far away from "home", not being "there" to pitch in like i would like to. shawn has been so wonderful during this whole thing--i have never been so happy to see him than i was the night i got back. it means the world to me to have a partner who is so compassionate and caring as he is. i feel like breaking out in with the song "nobody does it better"....

but around neverfeltbetter headquarters, it is business as usual. some good sales and a custom order have kept me busy. i went to the yarn shop, and cleaned up my workspace for some sewing. my sleep mask got all stretched out by lucy so i made myself one, that serves as the prototype for some i plan to sell for holiday. these are made from vintage pillow cases and have some quilting, too. very cute, eh? and boy--with traveling and sleep dep...if you don't have one you need to get one asap. hopefully from me, lol!

things are crazy, but that is life, huh? and again, i thank the universe for shawn. i could not do this without the honest support i recieve from him. i am a lucky girl....

summertime....

when the livin's easy...

well enough with the crazy moody weather! today it is creeping up to the triple digits, then cooling off for the weekend in the 70's. it is a wonder with the rain last week, now the sweat-looking forward to cooling down we all aren't stricken with summer colds. i think my immune system is working overtime with my thyroid-the cold/hot/cold-and germy people gallor.

well, neverfeltbetter has the cure...a free shipping coupon code! "summertime" upon checkout will get you free shipping through the month. now, don't you feel better already? :)

Wii, tea & me.

we stumbled upon a wii yesterday in the gamestore and went ahead and gave it a new home here with us :) i am working on my virtual backhand in tennis gearing up for real life--got a racket and am ready to go at the tennis court down the way! i figure i can serve it up to shawn and lyric while lucy chases the balls. ha! anyway the wii is a big hit, and i am glad we picked one up--even by happy accident. i won't be seeing too much of shawn as he has his new metroid girlfriend to occupy his time LOL.

today is my friday, and it could not come a single moment earlier. it was a weird week, to say it delicately. it was one of those weeks where the weathers mood swung from sunny to rainy, throwing me for a huge mental loop. i also had some family health scares to contend with, but all considering i am doing just fine. alittle out of it and spacey, but fine. my mind is a million miles away, you know how it can be when you worry about those you love.

to combat this, i am crocheting more baby hats. working on a dusty pink one as we type. finished up a green and cream striped job last night, and my goal is to have three more by next weekend. crafty wonderland is on the 10th, so i have time for a few more items but then it is just working with what i have. hopefully i can do double duty on monday when i go to scapegoat for the rest of my coloring on my tattoo, i can sneak into herbivore and see michelle to sell some stuff. :)

well, back to this lucious cup of tea. it is vanilla spice, extra energy, it says. it does have a kick and the flavor is divine. then my little virtual wii mee is going to kick ass in tennis :)