Little Girl Necklaces aren't just for little girls.

OK!

Well, so much for blogging about all the new stuff going on in the shop. I actually skipped away to Quilt Market, and had high hopes that it would be the kind of trip that would leave me with some free time in the evenings to chat with you all! Ha!

Quilt Market was fantastic. I didn't have a booth, I was just there to support Michael Miller, and all my other favorite people in the fabric world. More on that later!

But, before it got too late into the season, I just have to start sharing with you all the sweet little new Sarah Jane things going on.

First, let's talk jewlery!

I have collaborated with the wonderful Bel Kai Designs, and we've come up with 10 necklace designs that I just love.You can get them with or without the pearl, and they are really so sweet. I've been wanting to make these for a long while...and I'm so thrilled to have them!

I will be honest. I'm not a big jewelry person. If I wear it, it's definitely on purpose. Which is why I just love these. Initially, these are for the little girls in your life. My Addie loves these! But honestly, so do I. They aren't just for kids.  I wore the "Going Tandem" one yesterday, and no joke, got 7 compliments in one day. Maybe I do need to wear more jewelery!

I really hope you like these! I've been wanting to offer designs for little girls for a while, and these just turned out so darling.

In the shop here!

And Happy Halloween Everyone! Have a wonderful, safe, and creative night!

xoxo

sarah

Sarah Jane Studios

Hello!

Well, today is the big day. SO big in fact, that the web decided to explode on me and leave me without being able to access visibility to my blog! I had to have a friend (who also stays up in the night to make things!) to post this for me. Crazy world. I'm sure I'll have access later today....but I couldn't launch this site without giving you a formal introduction!

So, say "Hello!" to this new little space! 

It's saying "Hello" back. Just so you know.

There is so much to share, that I can't really do it all in one post. So, I'm going to let you play the "I spy with my little eye" game, and tell me what you see that is NEW! New product, new options...it's all there. I'd love to hear what you think!

I'll be posting about all the new features and goodies over the next few days!

Now just for reference, cause I know you'll ask, the shop on my website is in addition to my ETSY shop, which I love and care for deeply. This new shop can just offer more things that I think you'll be happy with!

And...dun dun dun...we're launching this party with a big fat 15% sale on your whole order! Just this week. Enter code "SJGRAND15" and you'll be all set!

So...I'm signing off to let you play around. You'll notice a few little links that may not work, but like I said. Minor explosion. Men at work.

Have fun looking around!  xo sarah

See you tomorrow!

Howdy, folks. It's official. I have a www.sarahjanestudios.com tomorrow. It only took 4 years. I'm pretty excited.

You'll notice some new little tweaks to the blog too. Feel free to hop around!

But I plan on seeing

YOU

at the break of dawn

TOMORROW!!!!

...before your kids are out of bed...before your bowl of cereal...heck...maybe you'll wake up in the night just to see what's all the fuss in these parts.

And please know, that while I've been slaving away at building a little e-space, that my kids are out building something a lot more real.  Rakes, rocks, sticks and jump ropes...ooooh ya. That's where I'll be tomorrow morning, for sure.

See you bright and early! xoxo

Thinking about change.

I'm bending over backwards to get my website up and running by next week. I am so thrilled to finally have a space that is a lot more cohesive, simple, and well...just a good place to come and visit! But wow...it's been more work than I was prepared for!

I've been photographing up a storm, and I wanted to post this picture today. I think this might be my favorite print in my shop. It often sits quietly, not as noticed as a lot of others. But this one has always been telling of this season. Changing seasons, quiet sounds, yet magical and whimsical. It  makes me thoughtful, maybe because I'm watching more...watching for that next leaf to change...looking for which tree on the mountain will be red next.  This piece is in my studio for that reason...it always makes me smile.

I've been pensive and thoughtful as I've stayed up these past several nights revamping my website after starting this curious journey 4 years ago this month. I will never forget the sleepless nights I spent with prints all over my floor trying to learn how to use a fine art printer. I was so driven to earn an income from my artwork instead of selling health products MLM like I had started doing...that it all seemed so worth it. I was nervous, excited, scared and a lot of naive! But full of hope. I just hoped that someone would buy a few prints, and help me stay home with my two babies.

We all have that hope. Hope that by trying something new, things will improve. That from hard work, faith, smarts and (a lot of!) drive, answers will come and problems will resolve. I don't believe in waiting around for other people to solve your problems...and looking back, I see how tenatious I was to start an entire business out of those hopes! But it's what was (and still is!) in my gut and my soul, and I've just marveled at all the knowledge gained, relationships made, growth and faith I've built.

Forgive me for the nostalgia today! I really can get nostalgic and sappy. But this weather, my businesses 4th birthday and me having to dig through 4 years of all my art has kept me rather pensive. As a creative spirit, it's natural for me to always be digging up, learning and observing from everything around me...and so I guess that's why I'm popping in today! Change is good, and reminds me that you can make what ever you want out of your life! I've really had to ask myself some big questions lately: like why do I want what I want, and do what I do? These are the kinds of questions that help me remember that every path is different, every person unique. And sometimes looking back at it all just makes me feel really, well...grateful! So grateful. I'm thoughful and humble today. And i guess I just wanted to tell you all that: We are all unique and have our own path to carve out of the rock. And if we stop and listen often enough, the way to go is always clear.

And so, thanks for listening! You are all wonderful and I'm blessed to have a place to share this creative journey!

Have a wonderful weekend folks!

xo

sarah

Family Portraits.

Last week, my dear friend from college called me up to say she was going to be in town for just the day and that she had one more slot left for a family photo shoot. It was totally last minute, and I tried to make every excuse under the sun not to go...It had been a full weekend, I had had a really hard day, and I knew it would be a scramble to get everyone ready, I would most likely have wild hair, messy kids and who knows if they'd be fed!

But we haven't had family portraits in years...and I always seem to be putting it off! No more.

Tara is amazing. I met Tara the same day I met my husband. We were in the same freshman year at BYU studying musical theater, and became fast friends. When it came time to create our senior projects, I wouldn't have wanted to pair up with anyone but her. I went on to perform for a bit, and teach voice, and she went on to tour and then to New York to get her master's at NYU. She is one of the most driven people I know! But after years of all that, she settled down and started a (booming) photography business a little after I settled down and started my illustration work. Funny how two girls who had eyes set for broadway so long ago, both ended up starting businesses that could support our families at home.  She looks through lenses and captures moments. I draw mine on paper.

So, these are the first pictures we've taken as a family since before Ella was born. And it's about time.

She does such a wonderful job just capturing the moments that count. No fluff. We just played in the meadow in the mountains, and she took pictures. My kind of evening.

Moments. Real moments. No posing. No fake-y stuff. Ask my kids to pose, and you get Charlie Chaplin.Well, that's cute too.

Thank you Tara! There are even more pics on her blog if you want to go see....they are bigger and and so precious!

And PS: (cause I know you will ask me!) Yes, she travels. It's so worth it.  So glad we scrambled in the car and made it happen. We drove home singing the whole way and had a pizza night afterwards. Perfect day.

Haunted House Halloween Cut-out

The past few Halloweens, we've started some fun making traditions. Remember these and these?

Well, we've also made these haunted houses, and I figured I should document it and let you in on some fun too!

So far this month, we've made about a dozen of these...so  many that they have even stapled them together and turned them into "Haunted House Book" collection. Each page sports a new variety of spooky things in the window. This is hours of entertainment for sure!

You can download the PDF download that I made here, and follow the instructions. But just to prove that it's simple and easy, here are some picture 'how-to's'

Cut out the template and trace onto black paper

Cut out the black paper (with yellow underneath to make a really cool candle it window effect!) We've traditionally just mounted these on white paper...so either way works!

Remove the yellow paper, and cut out the windows with an exacto knife

haunted house 7

Glue

...and then draw spooky window creatures!

There are really endless options with this template, so have fun!

And here is Ian saying "ONE picture mom. Just one!" What? I like to take a lot of pictures? No.

haunted house 2

Have so much fun!

Here's the download for ya:

DOWNLOAD TEMPLATE

DOWNLOAD INSTRUCTIONS

Happy Halloween!

Simple.

Hello!

Well, where did this week go? I've been crouching in front of a computer this week madly uploading, designing, and finishing up a website for Sarah Jane Studios. It's really wonderful to finally have a "space" for everything...all in one place. But wow....there are details that I had no idea about. Kinda like building a house.

"You mean I have 26 choices of light switch covers?"

Kinda like that. I just want white light switch covers. Just plain white.

Also kinda like when I went to get lunch boxes at Target for my kids the week before school. We've never done lunch at school before. I was loftily thinking there would be a few pails, some girl and some boy. Maybe I'd get lucky and find Shinzi Katoh at Target. I get hopeful like that.

But then I walked down to the school section and found an ENTIRE ISLE of all these soft, insulated, hard, colorful, strapped, velcroed, snapped, zippered, vertical, horizontal, super-hero, princess, gender neutral, animal shaped, mountain hiker, posh, cheap, comes with a thermos, comes without a thermos, looks-like-Mom-chose-this, looks-like-my kid-chose-this  choices and I was frozen in the the middle of the isle. Paper bag lunches were looking pretty good at this point.

Keeping it simple can sometimes be hard. Cause there is a lot of "fluff" you have to wade through to get there. That's where I've been all week. Trying to keep thing clean and simple.

When some of the pears were picked this week and laid on the table, it was like a breath of fresh air. Picking your own pears off the tree. That's simple. I hope this site does just that. Keeps things happy, inspiring and simply simple.

I'm not there yet. The blog is still messy, and well....my site isn't live yet.

But I promise it will be wonderful. Kinda like a really great weekend.

Happy Weekend!!!

xo

sarah

His Giant Pet

Every year that we've had a garden, we've grown a giant pumpkin. If you've ever grown a giant pumpkin, you know the risks involved. I mean, this is really risky stuff.

How get a pumpkin to be as big as possible has been the subject of many books and websites. And then, of course, there are secrets. Deep dark secrets.

None of which we know actually.

But...basically, you have to cut off all the pumpkins that grow on the vine, except for one. And you water and nurture and care for ONLY that one.

This is serious stuff.

(The joke is, that the summer Kenneth and I backpacked through Europe B.C. (before children), Kenneth grew his first ever giant pumpkin. We were gone for 6 weeks, and we asked my college aged brother to care for the garden, and pick any squash for himself. Well, he thought that the pumpkin was squash for picking. Kenneth had taken 4 months to care for that one pumpkin. But miraculously, a late bloomer appeared that was growing between 2 loose fence beams, and we actually had to alter the fence to let it grow. It of course never had time to get much bigger than any normal pumpkin, but that didn't matter. The pumpkin even had a name. Halloween came, and we took a road trip, in which this pumpkin was buckled in a seat belt and traveled with us. This is how we feel about our giant pumpkins, folks.In our house, it's as serious as growing children. Um....ok, maybe not that serious...but you get the point!)

Last year, Ian's giant pumpkin was rather small. Too shady. This year, it was Addie's turn for bad luck (although she grew a watermelon nearly that weighed nearly as much as she does!)

Ian has been caring for this big guy since April. Seven months has watered, tended to and checked on his pumpkin. If you have been a house guest in the past 7 months, you haven't been able to walk in the door without him grabbing your hand and dragging you to the garden to show off his pumpkin.  It's almost become a pet!

I have no idea how we are even going to get it inside. He's determined to carve it, but right now, we're not even sure if it will fit in the wheel barrel without denting a side.

But I don't think he really cares about that. Can you tell?