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Sweetheart by Janna © 2011
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This year my family and I went to Tahquamenon State Park for a summer camping vacation. Because we were close to Sault Ste. Marie, we went for a day trip to ride the Soo Locks and drive over the bridge to Canada.
Since we were in Canada, we had to stop at a fabric store. 🙂 I picked up some lovely Canadian fabrics. This gorgeous royal blue twill coordinated perfectly with a matching cotton maple leaf fabric to make this newsboy hat.
In honor of the Canadian Maple Leafs and female Maple Leaf fans, I decided to create a fun and eye-catching hat. It’s feminine yet splashes patriotism. And I had enough fabric to make three hats. Yay! I will post these to Etsy in the next day or two.
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Sweetheart by Janna © 2011
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Handmade by Sweetheart by Janna
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Sweetheart by Janna © 2011
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Sweetheart by Janna © 2011
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Nicole, my almost six year old niece seemed to like her hat and wore it right away. She looked so stinkin cute! 🙂 Nicole is a true sweetheart She is beautiful, fun-loving, and has a tender heart.



I love these little newsboy hats for children. They are so whimsical! This flower hat was designed for my almost two-year old niece, Kate. Made out of white twill fabric this hat features a large appliqued flower that features loads of pink, white, green and purple. It is destined to snuggle a cute little noggin.
sIn the center of the appliqued flower is a large see through vintage button from Kate’s great-grandma. Adding little Xtra’s are an added bonus when designing your own hats. 🙂

After half a week of packing for camping, five days of camping, and then another half week of unpacking, I finally found some time to do a little sewing. Yeah!!! And of course, I made a few newsboy hats for my Etsy page. 🙂 I decided to use some of the very best red crimson twill fabric for the body of my hats. Made of all new fabrics, these hats are delicious! Vibrant and bold colors in the lining and on the sides of the hat shout FUN! These hats are available in three sizes 23 1/2″, 22 1/2″, and 21 1/2″. I am very tempted to keep one for myself. Since red is my FAVORITE color.

Appliqued hats are adorable and so cute on little girls!!! Featuring a multi-colored butterfly, this hat shouts FUN. Made of all new materials, this hat is made up of white cotton twill, 100% cotton lining, and a soft cotton jersey band. Deep plum bias binding completes the look for a finished touch.
For little heads measuring 18 to 18 1/2 inches this hat is sure to become a favorite.

Over the last couple of days, I’ve been working on a newsboy hat for a sweet little one-year old named Bella. Her mother’s favorite color is teal which makes this hat extra special.

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I have an amazing husband! He may not enjoy sewing and may occasionally roll his eyes at my excited rants, but he definitely is my partner in crime. Tonight, he’s working on developing a revised body for my hats. The mathematical side to creating patterns is not easy for those of us who are not mathmatically inclined. So I’ve been blessed to have a partner who makes up for my deficiencies. I just had to take a picture of him. 🙂 He does not consider himself a sewist, but I secretly disagree. The apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree afterall. He he…
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Proverbs 31:10 – A wife of noble character, who can find? She is worth far more than rubies.
This Bible verse in Proverbs has had an enormous positive impact on my life. In a society where we as women often struggle to find self-worth by measuring ourselves against the standards of the world, we instead find ourselves lacking in both self-esteem and confidence. But the Bible teaches us that our worth is far more than rubies, that true beauty is found within, and that our identity is found in Christ.
One summer day, while I was contemplating my wounds, the hurts of my past, and the faulty logic that colored my present day beliefs regarding my value as a person, I stumbled across a post on my news feed on Facebook. Dee Kasberger had posted a picture of her artwork, “She is worth far more than rubies,” with a link to her Red Letter Words business, http://www.redletterwords.com/.
It was as if God was whispering these words in my ear, his voice soft and gentle. I marvelled at his timing and the balm of healing his word provided. I savored its meaning. Revelled in how it lit the dark corners of my heart with its sweet message. For in God’s eyes, we all are worth far more than rubies.
In that moment, I was convicted that every woman needs to hear this message. I decided that I would display it in my house so that every woman who entered might read it and walk away feeling touched by God’s love. But… purchasing it was not an immediate option. I would need to wait until my next birthday.
God works in mysterious ways. 🙂 That same night, as I attended our church’s music ministry summer picnic, a friend flagged me down to tell me that she’d talked to Dee Kasberger (the owner of Red Letter Words) who’d told her that she wanted to gift me with one piece of her artwork. She encouraged me to check out Dee’s website and pick out anything that I liked. I was floored. My friend had no idea that I’d stumbled across Dee’s page earlier that afternoon and had no clue of the thoughts I’d been working through. God was stirring the waters of my heart like the pool of Bethesda.
My eyes welled with tears and I was filled with an overwhelming sense of God’s presence. To this day, I wonder if God was watching my friend and I with great mirth…. if maybe, just maybe he let loose a hearty guffaw… for my heart abounded with joy. The knowledge that God actively reached out to touch my heart, and used two of my friends to do so, is awe-inspiring. I love that!
Today, this message holds a place of honor in my kitchen. I want everyone that my life touches to know that they are worth far more than rubies to God. That nothing can separate us from His love.
Perhaps I will stitch this very verse into the fabric of my creations, in the hopes that someday God might use me to speak into the fabric of someone else’s life.
Thank-you Dee for blessing me and for following your heart!
With all of mine,
Janna.




Beats blood of truest red.
Poured out for me, you gave your life,
Whispering words of love instead.
You won my heart with great aplomb,
Ransomed my very soul.
Repaired the very heart of me.
Jesus you made me whole.
~Janna


1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups fresh or thawed frozen cranberries (6 oz)
Dry Ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
Wet Ingredients
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/2 cup milk
Top Layer
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp flour
Confectioners sugar for dusting
Preheat oven to 375 with rack in middle. Generously buter a 9-by 2-inch round cake pan. Line bottom with round of parchment paper and butter parchment.
Pulse cranberries in a food processor with 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Mix 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Beat together 1 stick butter, 1 cup sugar, 1 tsp vanilla in a bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addtion. Scrape down side and bottom of bowl. Reduce speed to low and mix in flour mixture and 1/2 cup milk alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour, until just combined.
Spread half of batter in pan, then spoon cranberries over it, leaving a 1/2 inch border around edge. Spoon small bits of the reamining batter over the top of the cranberries and smooth them with as gentle a hand as possible.