Seasonal Decorating: Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day isn't a very big holiday for my husband and I. We skip out on all the busy commercial stuff like restaurants, chocolates, and flowers. Usually we stay in, cook a dinner together and then snuggle on the couch while we watch a DVD. But that doesn't stop me from decorating the house! I started the Valentine's decorations last year with some wooden words and wreathes and kept the pillow cases very basic. This year JoAnn's had a gorgeous Antique Valentines fabric that fit perfectly with my style and the decorations we had already. I ended up loving the fabric so much I designed a Valentine's Quilt that I'm going to try to complete this month.

I've also made matching his and hers aprons with the remaining fabric for us to wear as we cook our annual Valentine's Day dinner together. Mine is a skirted apron in the Antique Valentines fabric and my husband has a BBQ apron in the coordinating plaid.

The couch covered with Valentines Pillow Cases.

Our LOVE jars filled with silk roses.

The original LOVE wooden words decorate the mantle.

Even the bathroom was decorated with a tissue box cover.

The table decorated with reversible placemats. I love the coordinating plaid.

This is the end of the Seasonal Decorating series.  In 2012 we plan to blog about all of the quilts we have made in the past or projects we are currently working on.  The first of which should be the Valentine's Quilt with the Antique Valentines fabric and coordinating plaid.

Jeanine's Birthday Christmas in July Giveaway!

It's my mom's (and partner in crafting) birthday this month! As a present to all the Creative Tradition fans out there we'll be giving away a special Christmas in July set of five of our Beaded Ornament Stars in Crystal and Silver!

To enter the giveaway you will need to leave a comment on this post by Sunday, July 31st and share one of your favorite Christmas or other winter holiday memories. The winner will be announced on Monday, August 1st.

If you want to increase your chances, become a fan of the Creative Tradition Facebook page and leave a message on our Wall.

Check out all of our Christmas in July items at our online store including vintage ornaments, holiday Barbie dresses and more beaded ornaments like these beautiful colorful bells.

The Mother-Daughter Team

Jeanine Bass: Mother, Grandmother, and Seamstress

Jeanine has been sewing and crafting for most of her life. As they grew from babies to teenagers she sewed clothes for her children. Her most favorite items are the quilts she makes for her childen to celebrate important milestones including births and weddings. Jeanine made a quilt from scraps of the dresses she had made for Jennifer's first year of school.  Jenn still has it and treasures it.

She has made countless home decorations including curtains, table clothes, and placemats. Every month she redecorates the house with seasonal quilts, pillows, table clothes, and knic-knacks.

Through the years she has made countless children's clothes, PJs, costumes, bridesmaid dresses, and even her own wedding dress!

Jennifer Bass Colucci: Daughter, Newlywed, and Creative Designer


Jenn is Jeanine's eldest and most favorite ;) daughter.  Family always tells me stories of when I was 1 or 2 and already coloring in the lines. A lot of my fondest childhood memories are of creative things I like to do today including crafting, cooking, and gardening.

I create a lot of handmade items include clothes, aprons, costumes, doll clothes, quilts, baby accessories, and home decor.  My favorite projects are those with a story or a meaning. The best of which is quilt I made for my husband for our first-date anniversary called Hand-holding Walk On The Beach.  I knew he was the one when he grabbed my hand while walking at Dana Point Harbor and his most favorite romantic moment was a moonlight walk on the beach in San Diego. Every time I see the quilt I remember those moments.

My other creative pursuits include fractal artwork, photography, interior design, landscape architecture, and culinary delights.  You can see my other artwork at www.jennbass.com.

Creative Tradition: The Mother-Daughter Team
Jeanine is great at executing projects.  Give her a pattern, instructions or recipe and she'll follow it to the letter.  Give Jenn the same pattern, instructions or recipe and she'll get the gist of things and start making changes.

Jenn is great at designing projects.  Give her an idea, a photo, a quote, a piece of fabric and she'll make you whatever you asked for as well as some extra things you never thought of. Give Jeanine the same idea or photo and she'll find a pattern.

That's what makes our team so great.  When I'm up in the clouds dreaming of all the possibilities my mother is there to ground us.  And when my mom gets stuck with a problem, I'm there to think a way around it. She makes it work, I make it pretty.  I sell it, she records it.

How It All Started

In fall of 2009 I had a few free months between day jobs. I had quit my job as a Business Analyst for a direct sales company because I wasn't reaching my creative potential.  During that time I reawakened my love for sewing.  I went through my mother's stash of fabric and made Christmas aprons for friends and families.  I also made a baby gift set including quilt, nursing pillow, and stuffed dog for my sister's yet-to-be-born son.  I had so much fun I thought... why not sell these online? If nothing else it would feed my own fabric stash so I could make more items.  I started a Etsy shop as Jenn Bass and posted my aprons for sale.

Several months later, after a new day job and got engaged, I realized all my wonderful branding for Jenn Bass would need to change with my married name.  During a lull in my wedding planning I was invited to a start-up craft fair.  I thought: "This was my big break!  But... I need new branding!"   I also knew I wanted to bring my mother, Jeanine, along with me on this adventure.

Within days we were working on expanding our inventory, preparing our booth space, working on marketing materials, making a web site and moving the Jenn Bass Etsy store to our new Creative Tradition store.  It was so exciting! Unfortunately the craft fair was a disappointment for us.  We had 2 sales, the first of which was my fiance who wanted to support me and provide us a test of our invoice and packaging process.

We kept going with our online store and within a few more days we had our first sale!  It was one of the historic colonial Barbie dress sets my mother and I had made years and years ago.  They were so beautiful but they never sold at the holiday boutiques we went to. Now, the Barbie dresses are our number one seller!