What "Catching Up" means to me

Blog, I've been neglecting you. I've been too busy doing other stuff, like catching up on Grey's Anatomy. And by "catching up," I mean "watching the entire thing from the beginning." (I'm like, 60 episodes in. Roku was both the best and worst thing to ever happen in my life.)

I've also been doing stuff like going to concerts. You know, stuff that other, normal people would find fun.

Yeah, that's right, Lana Del Rey AND Courtney Love at the Hollywood Bowl. It was either going to be amazing or a train wreck. (It was AMAZING!!)

Courtney Love - YEESSS!!

Hollywood Bowl

What was particularly disturbing were all the kids (cause I'm old now) who had no clue who Courtney Love is. I overheard the following conversation:
#1: Who's Courtney Love?
#2: I dunno...(looks it up on iPhone) Oh, it says she was married to that Kurt Cobain guy? Dude, she's like 60!
*smacks forehead*



I also managed to pull off what was one of the best birthday surprises, in my humble opinion, and I took James to see U2 at the Forum. (Also AMAZING!!)

We can't wait for U2!

"The Miracle of Joey Ramone"

Lighters are not held up any longer, now it's the flashlight attached to our phones

And then I did Patchwork in Long Beach, which was amazing!! And I don't think I really have any pictures to show you. But I met a lovely girl called Nora Graseck who took some beautiful product shots that she's kindly shared with me. If you get a moment, go like her on Facebook!

Lace Necklaces, photo by Nora Graseck

And then last week James and I took a few days off to go to Sequoia National Park. It was a fantastic few days, which I promise to tell you more about next time. For now, I'll leave you with this photo so you can see the scale of those amazing trees. I have to get back to Grey's Anatomy. Wednesdays are my binge days...

Wow, check out those trees!!

Save the Date...it's that time again!!

I'm so thrilled and excited to be participating in Patchwork Show Long Beach again!! 

Be sure to mark your calendars and save the date!

June 7, 2015

11a - 5p

Mother's Beach - Appain Way at E. Sorrento Dr.

Long Beach, Calif.

This will be my third time vending at Patchwork, and my second time at the Long Beach show. These events have grown and grown and grown into a really amazing, unique experience, and I'm so happy to be a part of it! From very humble beginnings in a parking lot in Santa Ana, Patchwork now hosts over 150 local artists, crafters, designers and food artisans. We all have to be juried in to the show, and the organizers do a fantastic job of curating a widely varied event. This is the place for all things handmade, from jewelry (like mine!) to succulent container gardens to handmade soaps to fashions for all ages, and so so SO much more!

So come out and support us local artists and artisans for any of the show dates listed above - if you want to stop by and say hello, come to Long Beach on June 7th! I'll be at the booth for Sweetpea Studios - see you there!

Forget the Holidays are Coming, the Holidays are HERE!!

Why, hello there! I've been away on a little break (more about that later...) and now I'm back and -BOOM- the holidays are here. So this is your friendly public service announcement regarding custom order and shipping deadlines from sweetpeastudios.etsy.com.

United States
Please place all CUSTOM orders by  
DEC 8th
Final shipping date is DEC 15th

International
Please message me privately for CUSTOM orders (hello.sweetpea.jenn@gmail.com)
Final shipping date is NOV 15th

(This small child in the picture is not me, just in case you were wondering. I wasn't even a twinkle on the tree when this was taken!)




Don't forget, all you southern California peeps, I'll be showing at Patchwork Show Santa Ana on Sunday, November 30th from 11a - 5p! Mark your calendars now, and stop by and say hello!

Save the Date!

Mark November 30th on your calendars right now because I'll be showing my handmade photo and lace jewelry at #PatchworkShow Santa Ana!! I'm so excited to be a part of this handmade festival again and I can't wait to see YOU there!!

#PatchworkShow Santa Ana, Nov. 30, 2014, 11am - 5pm

So seriously, did you mark it?  

November 30th? 11am - 5pm? 

Good.

Be there or be square. (Smiley Face)

Beautiful Snapshots

Blog, it's been a long time.

The rest of the country is probably cooling down and getting their cozies out in readiness for autumn. Maybe they're talking about summer coming to an end. NOT HERE, I can tell you that for free. It's hotter than ever, we've had the air conditioning on nonstop (oh, our bill...) and according to my phone, it's supposed to reach 100 degrees next week. September in southern California is brutal.

I have a lot to catch up on - life has been full. But for now, I'll just leave you with some gorgeous (in my opinion) found photographs. I'd LOVE it if someone recognized these pictures from their life story and got in touch, how amazing would that be??

Each of these images appeals to me for different reasons. I love getting out my photo album and flipping through to look at some of these beauties. I often wonder who the people are, where they are, and what their stories are.

More updates to come - I'm busy putting together my application for the Fall Patchwork Show and updating things. PLUS I've been making some amazing statement necklaces - can't wait to share them with you!

Catching the Craft Show Bug

If you think all's been quite on the Western Front recently, you'd be correct. That's because last Sunday I participated in a great local show called Patchwork! It was my first experience vending at a craft show (but so much more than a craft show!) and I had a great time!

In the morning, fueled by adrenaline and coffee

My little table, filled with 100 - yes, 100! - pieces of handmade jewelry

NEW collage necklaces - these were so much fun to make! Coming soon to Sweetpea Studios

Just look at all those umbrellas!

Long Beach, seen through my super dirty car windshield as we were driving away at the end of a looooong day

James and Carly were fantastic helpers! Even though James was sick, he still spent the day in Long Beach with me, helping to set up and take down my booth and being a great moral support. Carly did an awesome job as a cheerleader - together, she and James had a system of bagging items that went so smoothly I barely even saw it happen! Friends came out to support the show, and I was so happy to see some friendly, familiar faces among the crowd. THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!

With nearly 200 vendors there, I really wasn't sure what to expect, but I'm really pleased I got up the courage to even apply in the first place. Everyone was so friendly, and it was a day to just let go and enjoy the process. I'd definitely apply again - could I have caught the craft show bug?

If you missed the Long Beach Patchwork, there's still one more left! #PatchworkShow Santa Ana will take place Sunday, June 15th at 2nd and Sycamore. I won't be vending there, but I plan on attending! It's a great community of crafters and creative individuals that should definitely be sought out. See you on the 15th!

Hey guys, remember when...?

Hey, remember when I told you that I'd applied for Patchwork and I was really nervous about it? I got the notification - I GOT IN!!! Hooray!!!

I'm as excited as this little girl is about her book!

So now I'm making things like crazy, because the show is one month away. Oh Emm Gee.

Long Beach - May 25 - Marine Stadium - Appian Way @ Bayshore - 11a-5p

For those not in the know, #PatchworkShow is a twice-a-year juried craft show / festival that showcases local artists, artisans, food gurus, and all sorts of other wonderful things. You name it, it's probably there: jewelry (LOTS of jewelry), clothing, guitar straps, handmade soaps, food trucks, music, tiny terrariums, ephemera, art, bicycle vallets...the list goes on and on. Right now they have 3 locations every spring and winter, and I'll be showing this year at Long Beach. So excited and nervous!

Tiny Lace Earrings

So, what's involved? Well, I need to come up with enough jewelry to fill a booth space, and then I need to design a booth, which means my brain is working overtime and many an evening has been spent on Pinterest searching for booth ideas. (Which are plentiful and all make my head spin with how awesome they are.) I'm also spending a fair amount of time worrying that I'm not cool enough to do this, and all these BuzzFeed surveys that keep popping up in my news feed on Facebook are not helping - apparently I am so far from being a hipster that I don't even know what the word means, and also my true age is supposedly 41.

A very depressing movie, even more so now that BuzzFeed tells me that I skipped my 30's completely.

But in all seriousness, I'm really excited and I really hope that this ends up being a good thing. If nothing else, it will force my shy little self to get out of her shell a bit and grab some confidence!

So don't forget! May 25th (it's a Sunday!) from 11a - 5p at the Long Beach Marine Stadium, Appian Way at Bayshore (don't ask me anything more specific, when an acquaintance asked me where it was the other day all I could come up with was "Long Beach...near some water..."). Stop by and say hi!

Catching Up

Eleanor, a friend from my first year in England, and her son, Eden, came to stay in March. It was an absolutely lovely visit, and I'm sad that they've gone home now. Here's a small taste of what we did...

Exploring at The Gamble House in Pasadena

Selfies at The Getty

Intense Concentration from Captain Cutie

Peacocks in Irvine Park

Late afternoon sun in Irvine Park

Plus, we had a mini photo shoot at the local farmer's market...

Modeling Chaps necklace

And then I applied to be a vendor at Patchwork Show!!! This is the first time I've ever applied to a craft show, so I'm really nervous that I missed something or that the jurors won't like my work, but...I did it anyway! I'll never know if I don't try, right?  I find out in 2 weeks...