Thursday, October 20, 2011

Welcome to my Blog's Official Launch!

Judy's Creative Spirit Blog Post; Thursday. 10.20.11 Copyright, Jubili Enterprises, Inc. ©

Welcome to the “official” launch of Judy's Creative Spirit Blog! With the re-birth of our “new and improved” e commerce web site as well, we look forward to bringing you news and views in this blog, along with weekly additions of great inventory on our web site. We're also excited to tell you that lots of fun things are coming…such as WEB ONLY specials, FREE Patterns for beaders, needle workers and mixed media artists, and some new and exciting Jubili media tid bits such as YouTube instructional videos!

We're also proud to introduce our new and more informative newsletter, called
“Jubili Jewels”. Look for monthly “pearls” of information and crafting tips. So check in often at this blog, on our Facebook page, and follow us on Twitter, and you'll always be up to date on the Jubili Beads & Yarns®! Stop by often and join us in the fun! Post your ideas and inspirations for all of us to share! Any craft is more fun when you have good friends to share in the joy!

Let's start Judy's Creative Spirit Blog by sharing the stories of how crafts and/or jewelry-making first touched our lives. I'd love you all to send in your fondest memories of your first inspirations! Here's mine....

My beloved mother, Eleanor, started me knitting at age 8. Born a “lefty” but forced in those days to switch to “righty”, I remember sitting on the couch with her, as she mumbled to herself the left-to-right conversion steps for me. Somehow she did it! I loved knitting from the start, and brought needles and yarn with me everywhere! By the time I went to college, knitting was all the rage...(remember those huge aluminum knitting needles and the “knit a dress a day” patterns?!) Now an avid crocheter as well, my first “practical” crocheted piece was this neck purse with snap closure.




Judy's first crocheted purse, a long time travel companion!

With my years of traveling for school and pleasure starting, I needed some place to hide my passport and money when I was away from home. That's where my crocheted purse came in handy! I wore it around my neck, hidden under my coat or sweater in such neat places as France, England, Belgium, and Israel. I'm glad to say that my finishing technique is a bit more refined now, but more than 30 years later, it still looks almost like new! It hangs as a sample from one of our yarn display baskets in our retail store.

As I continued knitting, (even in college classes!), I went from intermediate to advanced knitting skills. I made everything from sweaters, to a bedspread, (a beautiful wedding gift I was tempted to keep!), to scarves, baby clothes and baby blankets. I found a beautiful lacy pattern for a short-sleeve sweater that I was making for the warm weather. I needed an outfit for an upcoming wedding, so I knitted a straight skirt, and added the bottom border of the same lacy pattern. It was a hit at at least 2 weddings! Wish I could fit into that outfit now!







Beading came to me many years later. After all my schooling, after my divorce, after my brief time living in Miami. Now with the “love of my life”, Bill, practicing in a Philadelphia hospital, I developed the nerve and chronic pain injury that would change my life forever, and left medicine on total disability in November, 1996. (See “The Jubili Story” on my web site by clicking here). Deprived of the use of my hands for almost 7 years, I was starved for color and joy to come back into my life! By the time I found beading met my first gorgeous “novelty yarns”, my immediate urge was to combine them both! My first finished creation combining beads and yarns is now known to Beadwork Magazine readers as “The Jubili Scarf” published in October 2004. My other mixed media project, a chenille crocheted purse with peyote beaded stitch and beaded fringe always catches my customers' attention.




(left) “The Jubili Scarf” Photo By: Joe Coca (right) Judy's crochet chenille purse with beaded embellishment

And the rest is history! Once I turned to my creative spirit, I was lifted out of the years of mourning I was trapped in because of my chronic pain, disability, and the many things in my former life that were lost. The day I opened the doors to Jubili Beads & Yarns®, I stopped crying, and never looked back! As my story got out to my customers, many shared with me their own personal battles, and thanked me for helping them heal through finding their own creative spirits as well!

Today, besides the retail business, the experience of my own powerful healing through creativity, as well as the stories from my customers, lead me to establish
Jubilation Creations®, in the Fall of 2008. Knowing how positive and healing crafts were for me and my customers, and understanding what it's like to be disabled, inspired me to offer arts & crafts classes to the developmentally disabled and other special needs individuals. I also sought out special needs and disabled workers to help out in the main retail store.

Today, Jubilation Creations®, Inc. welcomes almost 15 developmentally disabled individuals to weekly craft classes, anywhere from one to 3 times a week. We host craft field trips for special needs field trips from schools and parent support groups. We've added in yoga and recreational music as well. Now a 501(c)3 Non Profit Corporation, we have 4 dedicated staff members who will help me grow the program. Achieving an excellent reputation for bringing joy, accomplishment, and creative talents to each consumer, we have set out sites on expanding, and hopefully taking our classes out of this facility to bring creative joy to those outside our immediate area. Click Here to see the Jubilation Creations® web site, and click on the links on our Home Page to our Facebook page and YouTube video!

Everyone's story of the journey to discovery of our creative selves is special, unique, and joyful! Thanks for letting me share my story with you! Please share your story here with us!

Best wishes for happy creating!



Judy Weinstein,
Owner, Jubili Beads & Yarns®
Founder/Director, Jubilation Creations®