reality bag making Cold Winter vs summer sun

It is really hard working on summer bags when it’s snowing & the wind is whipping, it feels like below 0 degree temperatures. @ jessiesbags.com We are dreaming of tropical islands beach days’ sand & surf…..not ice snow & wind        Burrrrrrrrrr

here we snow again!

Did I mention we I want to move Jessie's Bags  to Hawaii!

My feet are Ice  Cold

remembering the beach days

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Instagram #jessiesbagsontheroad

 

My creative Care giving advice 101

Caring about and care giving for aging parents and aunts has its challenges.

These proud strong willed people are often independent when they need to be interdependent.

Jessie said I’m loosing something as we got into the car yesterday, (I think her clothes needed adjusting).

Jessie

Then she said maybe it’s my mind. I quickly said oh don’t worry about that you lost that a long time ago. And we laughed.  Laughing helps we deal with every day changes. We can’t stop her memory from being askew. We keep her busy sewing. When this is her focus she is not fretting over aging issues.

The only problem is we can’t make bags all the time. We have to take care of necessary things. It’s time for a mammogram (for both of us) but I hate to schedule it because when you or your loved one has had Breast Cancer this time of year becomes a traumatic event. Part of my ongoing support for my survivor is trying not to stress her out

.

It’s Time to get smashed!

And when we finish I’m sure I will need a drink!

Stop and smell the flowers

 Gift Bags for Breast Cancer Survivors

Spend time with family & friends

Going back to Middle School

# JESSIE'S BAGS ON THE ROAD

Yesterday Jessie’s Bags met some  Middle School Students who volunteered to work on Jessie’s Bags.

These full of energy excited young ladies had their first lesson in making Jessie’s Bags.

Some of the ladies started off quiet watching from a distance..... as soon as I told them they could make themselves a bag to pick out the colors they wanted everybody wanted to participate.Their teacher had collected boxes of beautiful Fabrics and supplies for us to use.

Beautiful fabrics in all different colors

 We quickly started to cut out the fabrics. Excitement was in the air. Some of the ladies knew a little about sewing and quickly wanted to start sewing the bag immediately. They were willing to start sewing by hand. I think they all will come back to work with us again.

I think the creative process is interesting to watch.

I am an unconventional sewer. I didn't measure anything I don’t follow the rules I think there is no right & wrong way to make a bag. These are your bags & your creations. If they have a flaw this is part of their hand made quality. I am an artist. I love putting the colors together. I love the fabric textures. I am grateful that Jessie can take what I do and make it look even more beautiful.

Sometimes I frustrate Jessie because she is a true sewer. Things have to be exact. Her attention to the details keeps our bags looking beautiful.

 I think that’s what gives our bags the look of quality.

Maybe someday I will be more like Jessie.

Probably not………. I may have to hire someone pay attention to the details for me……

I will take Jessie to meet the middle school students next time & she can teach them how to really sew.

Meeting new people and talking too much

Jessie's Bags

• Every day we meet people. Everywhere we go we see new faces.

 I’m a lot like my father he knew everyone and spoke to everyone. Some have made negative comments about this. I however feel this quality is an asset.  When I was a child in school I always got in trouble for talking too much in class. I had A’s but the grade in behavior was always bad. I think I inherited this quality from my dad. I did not get this from Jessie.

When I stop at the Wawa in the mornings there is always someone I have never met but I speak to everyone. It may just be a Thank you for holding the door. Or we say good morning. Sometimes we are talking about the weather or price of gas or something happening in the news. I will always smile and say hello.

I recently met someone I had only spoken to over the phone. We met for coffee. I brought Jessie and her bags. This was a good meeting. This meeting has already helped us work toward our goal of having our first corporate event.

While At this meeting a stranger walked over and saw our bags made a donation and got a bag for a friend who is a Breast Cancer Survivor someone he wanted to support. This was OK with me. Jessie always says I’m just like my father. I take this as a compliment. I’m not sure she means it to be one.

  Another Person I met recently I have only spoken to over the phone but she gave us useful suggestions and is willing to work with us to promote Jessie and her Bags. This conversation will aid in our future growth.

While Taking care of business at a new bank, I briefly spoke to another employee and he made a comment that has helped  Jessie’s bags accomplish another of its goals.

Who knew being a person who talks too much & speaks to everyone would be an asset. I am Proud to say i'm just like my dad.   

      Jessiesbags.com                                                                                                            

  Strangers are just friends we haven't met yet!

Some of the People We've met along the way

               Hello!                    




How are you today? 





Thank You....

# Jessie's Bags............
 On the Road







Follow us on instagram #jessiesbagsontheroad

            Meeting folks 
@ fundrasing events
        & 
Willing Volunteers

 Family & Friends


 

neighbors

Jessie’s Bags needs volunteers to help us with our community service project. 

We would like to hold a Bag Building workshop/ fundraiser at your corporate offices for your employees. Please Contact us if you would like to spend a little time helping us make our bags!

Jessiesbags.com

#jessiesbags

 Jessie’s Bags makes bags for Breast Cancer Survivors and we need volunteers.

What do you value

What is The Value of  one of JESSIE’S BAG?

 Jessie’s Bags spent 2014 giving our bags away. We let people decide what they wanted to donate for our bags if they wanted one. We got a lot of different amounts. I am often asked is this enough?

If I had to place a value on the bags it would be high, and we would be rich (Financially). What makes our bags valuable to us is the time, energy and love spent crafting these bags. Jessie is nearing the end of her life and the time she spends sewing and making these bags is very valuable. This is time she spends doing something she enjoys and loves. No two of the bags are the same. They are 100% hand made. The time I spent working on bags for Jessie to sew is valuable to me because it’s doing something I love playing with fabrics, its time I’m spending with my mom. I value each of these days. Its time I will never get back. Its time I will always remember. I am Rich! (Just not financially, L O L J )

When we give a bag to someone we hope they appreciate it, and value it. I hope that the friends who volunteer or offer suggestions or work with us know we value them. We value support, it can be financial, the support.  We realize that Support can mean different things to different people. Many times it is a kind word or deed. I think this is what the bible is talking about at proverbs 25:11 “like apples of gold in silver carvings is a word spoken at the right time “.

 I value the people who have faith in me and believe in me. To some it might look like we don’t know what we are doing and we are all over the place.  Even if they think our ideas make no sense at all, we appreciate the support, and the kind words. I think out of the box a lot it must be my artist brain. Jessie’s bag does not do things the traditional way. We are creating our business plan as we go along. We are adjusting as things work or don’t work. Maybe we are doing things the hard way. But maybe we are creating a new program, a new way to work, a whole new approach to a business. A new attitude about what is valuable. Thanks for sticking with us.

I value the time spent working with the groups who volunteer to help us. If its young ladies & gentlemen I enjoy that we are passing on to another generation lessons learned as we work together. If it’s people we meet with to help Jessie’s bags grow we value the suggestions they give us and the advice on how to proceed. We appreciate meeting new people. We appreciate the smiles and hugs of thanks whenever we give someone a bag.

How do I put a dollar value on all of that? 

Reviewing 2014 looking forward to 2015

 This has been a very busy year. We set a goal of giving away 100 bags a month.This was quite a challenge and we had to make adjustments along the way. a few times because of Jessie's health issues. Major changes have occurred in our lives and adjustments are ongoing.

Though this his year has had its ups & downs.  Through it all we are happy to say we still hand made and donated most of our bags. Most of the bags were given to breast cancer survivors; some were donated to volunteer ministers and some to nursing home residents.

In 2014 we did not charge for our bags, when non survivors wanted our bags we accepted donations. This at times caused us stress as funds were always limited. Our expenses are low but there are ongoing items needed to keep Jessie’s bags afloat. We appreciate all of the donations, large and small. And you always supported us which we appreciate.

We also want to say how grateful we are for the supportive volunteers who sewed, created & tied tags, worked on fabrics and listened when we needed advice.

                                                                                                             

We need help to continue to grow and keep moving Jessie’s bags forward. We think what we are doing is encouraging to all who participate and we enjoy doing good deeds. We have met so many wonderful people along the way who support us in a variety of ways.

 So as we begin 2015 we hope we will be able to expand to get more people involved in what we do , we want to give more surviving ladies Jessie's Bags. We hope you will continue to support us and we pray for god’s direction in this effort. The bible at Luke 14;28-29 says “For example, who of you wanting to build a tower does not first sit down and calculate the expense to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, he might lay its foundation but not be able to finish it, and all the onlookers would start to ridicule him, saying: ‘This man started to build but was not able to finish.’”

In our counting the cost we find that we will need to pay for some of the things happening here at Jessie’s bags, for example we see the need for consistent sewers to do finishing work for us. . At this juncture we need to shift the bulk of the sewing from Jessie to others. We want to make this shift so that Jessie will still sew some items whenever she wants to.  We do not want her to feel obligated to sew every day. To date she is still the primary seamstress.We do have others who sew when they can.

 In 2014 we were very creative in getting volunteers as well as funds to carry on our project. We got young and old to volunteer, we go into schools, senior centers, and nursing homes assisted living locations all to find willing volunteers. We had monthly groups of family and friends in our home working right   alongside Jessie & me. I’m her daughter as many of you know, Jessie and I both have been at many of these events, but I’m noticing  a slows down, as she has more pain she is missing from the majority  of them now. And so many of you ask for her know this, Jessie always wants to go with me but I know it is not possible. This is another reason we need funding we need to hire a few people to handle these events when we are unable to attend them personally.We are working on finding grants and funding to help us in this area. Many of these require a nonprofit status so we are working on that also.

 We travel a great deal to pick up supplies which cost time and gas. On the last trip I took Jessie with me to Lewes Delaware the trip I can make in one day had to be made in two so she could rest. We made it a mini vacation you can see the shots of Jessie on the board walk on Instagram.  The pain in her leg kept her in the bed for a week when we came home so that may have been her last road trip.

Follow our events see the places we visit look at the bags we create. Volunteer to join us, Helps us along the way. Spread the word to others about what we are doing or make a donation using  pay pal  on our website.

If you Instagram you can see the sites and follow our journey. Look for Jessie’s bags around town…. Drop us a line..

Read about our experiences and see some of the people we meet along the way...... #jessiesbagsontheroad

#jessiesbags

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Jesbags.blogspot.com

Jessie's Bags can't wait to see what happens next.......looking forward to 2015.....