…& a heart for our earth

oops! did you buy the wrong size coffee filters for your coffee maker? NOT TO WORRY! use these little paper filters to clean your windows and mirrors! they don’t leave streaks and you aren’t wasting your paper towel! OR you can utilize the little guys with your favorite eco-friendly furnititure polish…

double up your filters and use them as coasters for your sweating summer drinks!

soak labels off glass jars & reuse the jars around the house to organize loose items.

we’re almost done with bags number 2 & 3 from our newest collection, HOME GROWN. i thought that i would share some quick shots of the bags as a work in progress.

tami has been hard at work all day working on bag number 2, for the HOME GROWN collection. this ELIZABETH bag is made from second-hand upholstery & donated denim, making it “100%”. the bag features printed horses, with a home made belt created from various recycled materials.

close up of the home made belt.

tami soon began cutting out the body for bag 3, a hobo styled bag. it has a cow hide print & tanned leather bottom, with a leather strap. not even an hour later, she had the outside body of the bag finished.

it’s been a busy day. hope everyone enjoyed the beautiful we had today! :]

p.s.- don’t forget our 30% off all bags & FREE shipping we have going on right now, on our website.

what a beautiful saturday we had today! the sun came out, & so did tami & i. we took our day of business out, where we not only enjoyed the sunshine, but we found some good deals for J&S! speaking of good deals, did you see that we’re having a sale? yeah 30% off all bags & free shipping on everything!

we went & got 22 rolls of new upholstery to work with, this afternoon. we are so excited about all the new fabric- & there’s some great finds in there! tami was so excited that not too long after we got home, she couldn’t wait to  start picking out fabric & cutting it up for future orders.

recently we partnered with this country feed store in highland, who will be carrying some J&S bags soon! tami couldn’t wait to start the first bag for them.

we pulled out some other fabrics for this new, country themed collection, which we named “home grown”.

not only did we score with some new fabric, but we hit up an estate sale on the way home & found an antique singer sewing machine from 1929! she folds up nicely into this little table when you are done sewing.

hope everyone enjoyed this nice day as much as we did! :]

looking back at 2009, we had quite a busy & prosperous year! we threw a fashionable party for the launch of our autumn collection; had our bags on display, as part of an art installation that we created; started a website & blog for our customers to follow us & buy our bags; & our handbags are now featured in two area boutiques: clarkston flower shoppe & after the rain [milford]. in addition to all of that, we took the brand to the next level with new marketing, & saw our product evolve from jeans & t-shirts to beautiful, detailed bags made from upholstery & other recycled materials. this year, we also introduced 100% bags, all made from recycled & donated materials, & containing no unnatural dyes. as the year came to a close, we can confidently say that we ended 2009 on a good note, as we completed about 25 bags for the holiday season & finally moved our self into a real office!

so what’s new for 2010? a lot! we hope to reach out to new customers & create more environmental awareness through our product. we hope that you, our fans, will spread the word about who we are & what we do, to more friends & family. this year, we look forward to creating new bags that more people will fall in love with. in addition, we’re excited to take on projects that will help our customers’ vision for the “right bag”, become a reality.

we have some special new projects that we are currently working on right now, so check back with us to see how these custom orders unfold!

so happy new year friends! we look forward to meeting & working with new people. may 2010 bring all of you good fortune & happiness!

peace & love…

stina diane & tami elizabeth

it may be getting colder outside, but the bags at J&S just keep getting hotter! check out this new design we made for the clarkston flower shoppe & chi chi la la boutique:

we’d like to introduce you to AVA, the newest of our 100% bags. both of these versions are made from donated fabric, denim & clothing, as well as second-hand upholstry. they’re each unique in their own details, but both bags have the same square body.

AVA is for sale at the clarkston flower shoppe & chi chi la la boutique. for more information, visit their website at http://www.clarkstonflowershoppe.com/ or click on the link above.

we know you haven’t seen anything new on our website, but that doesn’t mean that we haven’t been busy creating! right now, our focus is on filling outstanding orders for our customers. but in the meanwhile, you can see what we’re up too, here, on our blog! we’ll be posting exclusive pictures of  our latest designs & most current creations. & if you have an order with us, you may even see your bag come to together!

last week, we completed a custom order, featuring a new design. we would like you to meet SUZANN. she is one of our 100% bags- made from second-hand upholstry, recycled fabric, & donated denim.

[SUZANN was a custom creation for sue l. of michigan.]

sure our bags are eco-friendly & fashionable. but did you know that they help out local communities too? throughout the year, we create custom handbags & donate them to local charities, for fundraising events.

this october, J&S designed & passed along an ELIZABETH bag for the wayne county non-profit, looking for my sister. LFMS provides support, programs, & education on domestic violence. it is a place for women to reach out to, when they need help dealing with abuse. this week they are hosing their annual gala event, “a cruise for a cause”, & we’re very excited to help them out.

the bag we created exclusively for LFMS is based off of ELIZABETH, from our autumn collection. ELIZABETH is one of our special bags because she is made 100% green. but what does that mean? ELIZABETH is created from recycled fabric, second-hand upholstery, & a donated leather belt. there are no dyes or chemicals used & all materials that were purchased, we bought second-hand. so nothing newly manufactured went into the making of her. our 100% bags are the greenest products we have to offer.

since ELIZABETH will be at the LFMS event, we wanted to share with you some pictures of how she came together.

if you or someone you know is a victim of domestic violence, please know that you’re not alone. there are people who will listen & want to help you enjoy a more positive life. please check out looking for my sister at www.lookingformysister.org for more information.