Inside My Sewing Box

The Dangers of Xylitol!

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:07:00 +0000

I know it's been too long since I've written here. With my parents visiting over Christmas and ongoing renovations I know I've neglected this blog. It's my plan to fix that and I'm working on setting up a new blog on a different interface than blogger. I will let you all know when I launch the new site!

As much as I should be writing about sewing we had an emergency with our dog Zeus this week. I think it's really important that I warn all of you with pets about the dangers of Xylitol. I'm copying and pasting a note I wrote on facebook for you all to read. Please read and pass the information along!

Xylitol is a sweetener becoming more and more common in health foods and sugar free baked goods. It is commonly found in chewing gum like Trident, breath mints, candies, children's vitamins, chewable vitamins, toothpaste, coatings on pain relievers and pills, it is also sold in a granulated, powder, and liquid form in most grocery stores. It is often right next to the granulated sugar. Some dentists will even recommend using it as it is known to be great for your teeth.

There are many things that can be harmful to your pets but Xylitol is extremely lethal. It can kill a cat or dog in less than a few hours sometimes just a half hour after consumption.

If a dog consumes even a small amount of Xylitol (the amount in 1 stick of gum) they will likely go into diabetic shock. Xylitol causes the animal's blood sugar to drop to dangerous levels. Within a half an hour of Zeus consuming the cupcakes he was suffering from severe hypoglycemia. If you suspect your dog or cat has ingested this substance take them to the vet immediately! The dog or cat will need to be treated for the next 24-48 hours with liver protecting drugs and glucose to maintain their blood sugar. Many dogs who ingest Xylitol will suffer severe liver damage and most live for just a few days after consumption.

We are EXTREMELY lucky Zeus is still here as he consumed 10 times the amount deemed "safe" there really isn't a safe amount. I believed he survived simply because we acted quickly and the vets were able to get the food out of his system immediately. If he had time to digest the food he would not be with us today.

Over the last few days I've also learned that GRAPES AND RAISINS can cause kidney failure AND WILL KILL YOUR DOG. Please be aware that there are many food products that are just as lethal if not more lethal than the cleaning products in your cabinets.

Thanks to the awesome vets at the Winslow Animal Clinic and Poulsbo Animal Emergency and Trauma Center for saving Zeus!!

Many people are unaware of the dangers of xylitol and that it's in many products we use every day. Please spread the word!

More information on Xylitol:

http://www.naturallysavvy.com/pet-care/the-dangers-of-the-sweetner-xylitol

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xylitol

Missing...a purse maker and her studio

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 22:07:00 +0000

It's Official I've been missing from the blog since August! I can hardly believe it has been this long! I just wanted to write a little post to let everyone know I will be back in a few weeks! In September my husband and I bought our first house and have since been renovating it. We still have so much to do but are finally moving in next weekend!

This means new items should be over at John Met Betty "hopefully" before the Christmas shopping season is over. If not I have plans to return in the new year with a fresh new look for John Met Betty.

Thank you all for your support this year. I can't wait to be back in my studio and blogging on a regular basis once again.

Jill :)

We have a winner!!

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 22:53:00 +0000

I chose a winner for the contest earlier this week, but haven't been able to write the post until today. San Francisco and the coast was beautiful! Photos soon to come! Unfortunately I caught a cold at the tail end of our trip and I've been so sick all of this week. My mother in law was visiting as well, until today I haven't had much time to get caught up with everything! To those who have continued to comment on the contest post, the contest did end on August 31st. No worries though there will be another contest coming up in a few weeks!!

Now onto the WINNER! The simplest way I've found to figure out a winner is to use Random.org. On August 31st I totaled the 27 comments I had, and Random.Org picked number 12! The 12th comment wins the prize wohoo!! Her Blue Eye Studio is the lucky 12th commenter!

Thank you to all who entered! There will be another terrific draw at the end of this month. It's going to be a fun contest, can't wait!

Trip to San Fran + New Items!

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 23:30:00 +0000

I worked so hard this week and was able to complete almost 3 dozen new items! Unfortunately I ran out of time today and didn't get a chance to photograph everything. Here's a taste of what's to come. More will be listed the first week of September!

While you're waiting please make sure to enter the giveaway! Win a free zip pouch plus $10.00
credit at John Met Betty!

Thanks all! See you soon!

In a blogging mood = time for a giveaway!

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 16:09:00 +0000

I'm on a roll lately! Funny the types of things that jump start your desire to write again huh? I can go for months without saying a word! In honor of my return to blogging and the end of summer what better way to celebrate than with a giveaway? To enter all you need to do is leave a comment on this post telling me what your favorite color is, and what type of bag you're looking for to add to your wardrobe for fall/winter. Make sure you leave your e-mail address or Etsy shop name so I can contact you if you win!

The winner will receive the lovely zip pouch pictured below plus a $10.00 gift certificate to spend at John Met Betty! I want to say how thankful I am to my loyal customers and wonderful friends I've made through Twitter and Etsy. You really are the best! Since I'm headed to San Fran next week I will also be offering Free Shipping on anything in the shop. Please type the code "End of Summer" in notes to seller when checking out. Free Shipping lasts until August 31st. The contest also ends August 31st, make sure to enter before then!

5 Good Clothing Shops I Highly Reccomend

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:05:00 +0000

Since I promised you a brighter post I thought I would write about the GOOD experiences I've had shopping on Etsy over the past few months.

Here are some of my absolute favorite purchases:

I purchased this dress a little while ago and custom ordered it in navy blue. The workmanship is fabulous and the shop owner is so sweet. I've worn this dress several times this summer and couldn't be happier. The dress is also fully lined! You really can't beat the price of a custom dress at $72.00, and 100% cotton! Parsimony is one of my newest favs and I'm sure I will order from them again.

A recent featured seller, and favorite of many is Sohomade. The quality craftsmanship is unbelievable for the price. I spoiled myself this summer and purchased the highly coveted tea dress. At $85 you will receive a gorgeous dress made of beautiful vintage fabrics that is fully lined and finished on the inside. The cinch belt it comes with is worth the money alone! I've worn it several times this summer over T's and with skirts. I will definitely be purchasing something here again. (Hubby says I have to wait until after we do a few reno's on the new house though ;)

Another fav of mine is Ananya. I purchased this dress in a pretty violet color and it is absolutely gorgeous and quite versatile. I'm pretty tall and have been able to wear this dress with jeans and even combined it with my SohoMade Belt to switch things up a little. This shop owner is extremely quick and has terrific communication. This little dress below is only $47.00!

My last two picks are two of my favorite T's I purchased this summer. One of my good Twitter/Etsy pals is Mchen. I adore my Jiggety Jig squid, it always puts a smile on my face :) At $30.00 you will get a beautiful custom printed T by a fabulous artist on a high quality American Apparel T.

And Last but certainly not least is one of my all time favs. Modest Maven will custom make a T-Shirt to fit you perfectly, on top of that adorn it with beautiful handmade appliques. I get compliments all the time and the turnaround for receiving this custom T was unbelievable! $40.00 will get you a one of a kind top that is sure to last you years.

I've been quite the shopaholic this summer huh? Unfortunately I have to take a break from $$ so much as the DH and I are buying our first house. The joys of home ownership ;) However, I'm sure before December hits I will be back to my regular habits.

A Call Out

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 16:06:00 +0000

Over the past year I've become a regular online shopper. While I've had some mediocre shopping experiences online this one takes the cake. The way I've been treated over the past two days warrants this and much more. Just to be clear I don't want to hate on Etsy - I LOVE shopping on Etsy so don't get me wrong. I've purchased many many wonderful things over the past year. This is just one of those bad experiences that I feel needs to be written about.

I never do this, I hate calling someone out however in this situation I feel it's necessary to get the word out.

Over the past few months I've been eying many pieces from (Ureshii) this shop. I thought the pieces were versatile and great basics to add to my wardrobe. Over the past 6 months I've been avoiding buying clothing from mass market brands, doing my best to support handmade. I love supporting handmade for the high quality product and usually wonderful customer service. On occasion like with any company you might stumble upon a bad apple. Unfortunately I happened upon one this month.

The Story:

A few weeks ago I finally caved and bought a dress and skirt from the above shop. I always get excited when I buy something on Etsy, I'm usually over the moon with my purchases. I could not wait to receive my new dress! The plan was to wear it on my trip to San Francisco next week. The delivery man arrived with the package and as usual I was eagerly waiting at the door for his arrival. I could not wait to wear my new dress. Upon opening the envelope I could see through the plastic sleeve that my dress was packed in I was already going to have a problem. There was a gigantic hole in the front of the dress!

As a seller I felt badly for them, it's every sellers worst nightmare to overlook a glaring error when shipping packages. I'm a little OCD when I ship packages. I look over each package I send with a fine tooth comb for ANYTHING that could be a future problem for my customers. I knew they were rushed when they were shipping my package, they said they were leaving for vacation in a few days. I gave them the benefit of the doubt and contacted them regarding the situation. At this point things seemed fine, they asked me to ship the item back with the original envelope and packaging. They admitted buying a faulty bolt of fabric recently which had holes throughout it, though they did not want to admit that the dress would have been made from this bolt. They asked if it were possible that it was opened at customs, I replied that it did not appear to have been opened previously. They told me they would either repair or replace my dress and try their best to have it sent to me before I left for my trip next week. Great I thought, still hoping to have the dress to wear on my trip.

I thought nothing more about this situation until I suddenly received a full refund from the company in my PayPal account. With no explanation they refunded my money. I wondered why they would do this considering I still really wanted the dress. I contacted the seller immediately asking if they would be sending another dress or repairing the original. I was floored when they replied. The seller accused me of ripping the dress when I opened the envelope! They went on to say they didn't feel I was upfront with them about how the rip happened and did not want to send me another dress. They also said to have no further contact with them. I was and still am quite angry. I never get angry but this rubbed me in the wrong way.

There was no possible way that I ripped the item when opening the envelope as 1) I opened it by hand not with a knife or scissors, 2) The plastic sleeve that the dress was stored in was intact - no holes in it what so ever! 3) The hole in the dress was a round circular type hole (the type you see when moths eat fabric) If I had done what they were accusing me of there should have been a slash in the plastic and slash in the dress. This was crazy!

I explained this to them and they refused to listen to me continuing to accuse me of lying! I then did the only thing I could and began leaving negative feedback, before I could finish they had canceled the sale not allowing me to leave feedback! Fortunately the skirt I purchased I kept and was able to leave feedback under that listing. I usually avoid leaving negative feedback in fear of retaliation against my shop account. Unfortunately I was given no choice but to speak the truth. In doing so this shop retaliated against my shop leaving mutual negative feedback. What irks me about this is I'm following the rules, I don't have 2 separate accounts for buying/selling (which goes against Etsy's rules) and as a customer it's my right to leave justified negative feedback. In turn my shop is suffering a feedback of 99% over 100%. I don't like to be bullied into leaving a positive feedback for something that I feel was truly wrong. As much as it hurts to see my business feedback take a negative I will do it, I REFUSE to be bullied into giving a positive to someone who does not deserve it.

I hope this event will teach these people something about customer service, you MUST treat your customers with respect. We are the ones supporting you, supporting you over mass-market shops. It's offensive and disrespectful to be treated in this way. I love each and every customer that has supported me and my shop along the way. I feel extremely grateful each time someone makes a purchase with me over buying something at Target or WalMart.

Anyhow that's my rant. You will see more fun and uplifting posts from me in the near future I promise!

Features and a GIVEAWAY!

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:48:00 +0000

I know I haven't been blogging much - yet again! It's becoming a bad habit that I really need to break! At least some wonderful blogs are lending a hand by blogging about me this month!

Check out my recent features by some very talented ladies I've met through Twitter!

My recent feature by the lovely Emily of mchen. Emily makes the cutest T's! I love her illustrations and now own two of her T's! The one below is one of the T's I received in a recent trade with Emily. I LOVE LOVE LOVE it! Emily also makes the cutest onesies ever! I'm definitely going to order one for my new niece Lily.

If you're interested in WINNING some John Met Betty Goodnes, today is your chance!! Today my feature on Lillyella was posted! Check it out for a chance to win a free mini clutch or credit of $45.00 or more.

The offer is NOT valid with other offers or in combination with previous credits. Also make sure to stop by Lillyella's shop - the best necklaces, earrings, and bracelets! I just received my three items over the weekend and couldn't be more pleased! The Garden Flutter Necklace below is one of my all time favorites!

I've was also featured on NW Source, and interviewed for Handbagdesigner101, just last week. Check out my features here and here.

I'm taking a little vacay this week to visit my family in Canada, my little niece Lily was born two weeks ago and I'm off to visit her! When I get back I will be continuing to work on a new batch of purses for Fall 2009. I will be offering a preview sale through e-mail so please leave a message here with your contact info if you would like to be included! The Official Fall Shop Update will be on September 1st at 1pm West Coast Time! Stay tuned for the new year as well as I'm working on other projects including a collaborative project with a good friend of mine!

Long time no see

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:22:00 +0000

Hello there! It's been a long time friends - hope some of you are still with me :) I know I've been a terrible blogger lately!

It is unfortunate but something had to give the first thing that suffered was the blog, the second was withdrawing from the Indie Banditas Bazaar (Happening this weekend, you should go!)

My stint as featured seller took me by surprise, it kept me running for the past two months straight! I still have one more large order to complete before the end of June! I'm so thankul to Etsy for the opportunity, it's been amazing. To those of you who were looking forward to meeting me at Indie Banditas I'm offering a special discount Free Shipping when you use the code "Indie Banditas." The code expires Saturday June 6th midnight Pacific time, AND you must live in the Seattle area for the discount to apply. You may happen to see me at the show on Friday/Saturday I'm planning on making a visit to say hello to everyone!

I have much more to write about, for now I will save that for another post. Hope you are all well and still interested in what I have to say ;)

Mini Clutch Giveaway(s)

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Fri, 08 May 2009 02:00:00 +0000

Wow I want to thank all of you for an amazing week! Since being featured on Etsy last week I've had many wonderful convo's and messages and many many sales! It is greatly appreciated, each and every sale!

As a way to say thanks I'm offering a huge Mother's Day weekend Giveaway! I'm currently at 90 sales, 10 more and John Met Betty will reach it's first 100 sales! If John Met Betty reaches 100 sales by Sunday May 10th, I will give a mini clutch to the 100th customer. I will then draw for a second mini clutch from the names of my first 99 customers. If you're customer 91-99 and make a purchase of at least $40.00 you will receive a free coin purse of your choice with each order! Here's to hoping that John Met Betty reaches 100 by Sunday!

Thanks for your continued support! I plan to resume regular blogging next week, still finishing up some custom orders this week.

Thanks so much everyone!

Contest Winner!

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:00:00 +0000

Hi everyone - sorry this post is a little late! I've been pretty busy since last weeks feature on Etsy. I wanted to make sure I announced my contest winner!

The winner is Michele of Calico Daisy! There were only 7 entries and so I did a random sequence on Random.Org and the number 1 was first!

Thanks for stopping by and entering! The contest winner will be contacted by e-mail. Again thank you all for your support, it's been an amazing week!

My Secret Revealed ......

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 16:41:00 +0000

I'm featured on Etsy today!! Thank you Etsy!! This has been a difficult secret to keep, I'm happy to finally reveal what I've been up to for the past few weeks. Might explain why I haven't been blogging much lately :)

I've spent the past few weeks preparing new items for the shop. Here are just a few of them. Check out my new line of mini clutches! They are a little bit smaller than the large clutches and a bit more affordable. Hope you like them!

I can't tell you how grateful I am - thank you to those of you who have supported me, and a huge huge THANK YOU to ETSY!

I'm still here!

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:54:00 +0000

Hi everyone - I hope I haven't lost all of my readers! I know it's been an insanely long time since I posted last. This month has been one of the craziest months for me!

I wrote my exams last weekend, thankfully they are over with! I'm now preparing for my secret project which will be unveiled next week! I'm so excited to finally let you in on the surprise! In the meantime those of you anticipating my colossal shop update, I've set an official date of April 28th. Some items may appear before then so check back often!

To say thank you to those of you who continue to support me and stop by my neglected blog I'm going to offer a giveaway! Leave your name and contact information in the comments section below, along with an idea of what you would like to see me design next. The winner will receive a free small coin purse! Leave your comment before Thursday April 30th. I will draw the winner on Friday May 1st!

Good luck - can't wait to return to blogging on a more regular basis!

Win a Coin Purse and Key Chain!

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 20:53:00 +0000

The lovely Kristin of Sweeter Than Me asked me to answer a few questions about myself and my creative process. If you're interested in getting to know a bit more about me and would like the chance to win a John Met Betty coin purse and key chain head on over to Kristin's blog for details!

Finished a new clutch today...

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 02:17:00 +0000

It's going to be hard to part with this one. I can't for the life of me decide which one to keep! As hard as it was to list this, it's in the shop now :)

I've been experimenting with cotton canvas and linen lately. I really like pairing it with vintage textiles, especially when you find a canvas in this pretty lime green!

If I could go shopping....

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 05:13:00 +0000

This is what I would buy:

Lola in Red Patent Leather - so retro! Available at morrisb

I love this Chloe necklace by Tamar. One of my new favorite shops!

A fresh take on the bird necklace - love this one by Genevieve Gail

I love love love this vintage telephone! Available at Finding Fabulous.

I'm loving all of the new shoe designers popping up on Etsy lately. This pair is one of my recent favorites: Fibre Optique by NDEUR SHOES.

Hopefully I will be posting more regularly soon. I have a couple of unexpected projects on the go right now, exciting news that will be shared soon. With that said I need to get some more work done both sewing and studying for my final exams in April!

Features...

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 23:15:00 +0000

Last week was exciting to say the least, I couldn't believe it when I found my items on the front page of Etsy 4 separate times and in a Gift Guide! It was so much fun. I gained a ton of new fans and a feeling that I'm on the right track. It's always nice to hear from someone else they like your work. It's funny how the colour combination's I fear won't be popular end up being the most popular! This one is one of my fav's, I've been telling myself to pick one to keep but I just can't decide.

With that said, I'm always open to new suggestions. Anything you would like to see that I haven't offered? Different colour combination's? Styles? I'm working on a few more things in the coming weeks and would love to hear your feedback.

I know I haven't been writing much as of late - this is due to some major deadlines coming up for school. I'm still here but without much time to write!

Talk soon!

A to-do list

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 15:51:00 +0000

I'm making an effort this morning to actually write a proper blog post. I feel a little overwhelmed at the moment, 1 month to exams, in the midst of essays and group projects (yes group projects in an online class go figure!)

I'm also helping plan our Indie Bazaar in June on top of trying to plan ahead to have enough purses made to sell! I have a million ideas swirling around in my head at one time sometimes enough ideas to make me crazy. I wish I had a set of 10 hands to help me complete all the many projects I have listed in my mind.

Here is a list maybe I can keep this as a reminder and try and cross off some of them as I go:

1) Make more purses lots and lots of purses for the Bazaar
2) Make more purses to replace the ones I've sold on Etsy recently
3) Execute new designs I have sketched out on paper
4) Work on drafting some patterns for clothing designs I have stuck in my head
5) Sew some new clothes for Spring/Summer
6) Make a baby quilt, baby bibs for my soon to be niece or nephew - anyone have any good recommendations for patterns?
7) Try and get some planning done for the Bazaar
8) Order new supplies
9) Answer my e-mails/convo's
10) Take the dog for a walk :)
11) Complete all of my essays/tests/exams for my two courses and pass with flying colours
12) Blog more - comment more on other's blogs -catch up on my blog reading! I miss reading all of your lovely blogs. I'm hoping to get caught up on what I've missed soon :)

That's my list it might help me to look at this over the next month and make sure I complete all of these tasks.

On another note I had the pleasure of helping a fellow artist yesterday. I met this very nice woman named Lone one day while stopping in at a local boutique. Lone is a very talented artist, currently exhibiting at the Danish Immigrant Museum in Iowa with her mom Grethe Herlin. As we were talking I learned that Lone wanted help setting up her Etsy shop. We ended up trading two tins of buttons plus a gorgeous necklace made by Lone for my time, I couldn't be happier! I really hope you will check out her Etsy shop, she has some beautiful felted purses and soon some gorgeous jewelry will be listed too. Lone and her mother's artwork is amazing, I saw a few original paintings in her home yesterday - absolutely beautiful work!

Thank you :)

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 03:11:00 +0000

I always like to give shout outs to those of you who include me in your treasuries. I'm always so flattered. Thank you so much!

My longtime Flickr friend Munieca put together this beautiful treasury:

SCJJewelryDesign put together this gorgeous mix of blues and greens:

Tom Design put together this cheerful mix of beautiful oranges, reds, and greens:

Deborahs Forget Me Nots put together this wonderful mix of talented bag designers (I've got a few new favorites added to my list :)

Hope everyone had a wonderful weekend!

Blog Neglect

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:46:00 +0000

I've definitely been neglecting the blog this week, I need to change that. I've been much more motivated to sew than write, that's usually I am. I'm planning on writing a couple of posts soon, but in the meantime here's one of my brand new designs. It's taken a couple of tries to get this how I wanted and I think I'm pretty happy with the outcome. It's in the shop now.

It's currently crunch time for my two University courses, that might keep me away from the blog a bit longer. April is on the way and I have two trips planned and a bazaar coming up in June. Lots to prepare for and much to share! I hope to return to regular posting mid-April. Stay tuned!

Productive this weekend!

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 01:56:00 +0000

Two more clutches in the shop:

Sunset in the Forest

Button Up in Navy Blue

Treasury - Thanks Anastasia!

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 23:28:00 +0000

Thanks to Anastasia for featuring me in this lovely treasury! I feel honored to be featured in so many treasury's this month ~ thanks everyone :)

Shop Update!

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 18:44:00 +0000

One of 5 new clutches that will be slowly filtered into the shop over the next few days ~ this one is in the shop now :)

Sneak Preview ....

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 03:33:00 +0000

I haven't been blogging much this week but here's a sneak peak at what I've been working on....

Hopefully these will be in the shop by Friday. I'm working on finishing up two essays this week but I've managed to keep my sanity by taking many many sewing breaks :)

I'm working on a longer post for tomorrow ~ see you then!

Week of Treasuries!

JohnmetBetty@gmail.com (Jill) — Sat, 21 Feb 2009 08:26:00 +0000

I finally snagged my first treasury - I stayed up until midnight for this one. Hope you like it!