manic monday...

I decided not to open my Etsy store just yet since Mr MJ & I are leaving tomorrow to up with his parents at the beach for a few days. Open store + nobody watching the shop = probably not good business practice. So sit tight & I will have things up & running there soon.

Here, my lovies, is what I was working on last TGI Fabric Friday afternoon:

It's a soft, stretchy bracelet that I made by weaving a few strands of t-shirt yarn together. Sewing up the ends & hiding them neatly was traumatic to say the least. & then I discovered the easy way to finish my bracelet. Am I the only one who learns everything the hard way? Also, I am IN LOVE with this bracelet. & am working on a necklace version of it. I'm not sure how it's going to translate from the vision of awesomeness I have in my head to the real life cotton braid I've got going on, but we shall see!

Mr MJ & I went to the ghetto mall yesterday yesterday so that he could purchase jeans while I scoured the over-priced accessories racks for ideas. My favorite find was an infinity scarf & I wanted it baaad but I wasn't about to pay $20 for something that I could make for $0 out of my favorite sweater [it met an untimely death by acquiring a rather obvious & unfixable hole]. So, my next project is a stripey, cocoa colored, up-cycled infinity scarf. & now that Mr MJ is back from Alaska with our nice camera, I'll be stealing it so I can put up nice, non-cell phone pictures of the sweater scarf & other projects.

Oh, hey. I'm on Facebook. I highly suggest liking Mahalia Jane here. Eventually, there will be deals only for my Facebook Fans!

the beginning...

Mahalia Jane has been a long time coming. I've always been a touch crafty but it all really started when I began decorating cakes in 2009 while I lived in Austin, Texas. When I moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin, I taught myself how to make beaded jewelry after buying a cheap kit from WalMart & falling in love with the art. That was followed by purchasing a beginner's Singer sewing machine & teaching myself [always the hard way!] how to sew. Fast forward another year and I'm living near Huntsville, Alabama and finally getting around to being serious about putting myself out there & selling my pieces.

Mahalia Jane is a collection of unique accessories. Hand beaded necklaces & earrings. Scarves made out of recycled shirts. Hand sewn fabric flowers. Bags of all sizes. Blankets. Sparkly things. Basically, whatever strikes my fancy on any given day. If you've got a favorite shirt that needs a new life, a gift to find, or any special request, please contact me & I'll see what I can do!

Stay tuned for Facebook & Etsy links!