Our customers come from all walks of life… Tattooed hipsters, free spirited surfers, nose in the book students, career driven twenty-somethings, and even moms to be, and we LOVE them all! However we have to admit that hands down, we go absolutely ga-ga over our brides! Knowing that they have chosen us to be a [small] part of this very special chapter of their lives makes us swoon. Knowing that they support eco-friendly consumerism, as well as ridiculously cool designs, make our hearts flutter just that much more. And getting to know them period, is more than half the fun of it! We walk our brides through each and every step during the process of designing their custom eco friendly tote bags, whether it be for their out of town family & wedding guests, their chosen bridesmaids, or for their very own honeymoon.

Being that we love brides, and weddings, so much…. it’s only natural that we follow a few very cool, very fun wedding blogs. After stumbling upon this carnival themed wedding, we couldn’t resist sharing with you! It’s a sure smile waiting to happen. Not to mention, Red Heart Photo was right on when she said, “Amy and Jesse are just about the cutest and most original couple ever.” See for yourself.

All photos found via Red Heart Photo. Thanks!

Ladies & gents, we know we don’t need to tell you, again, how we frigging love scooping up goods that would have otherwise lived in the trash, and then turn them into ridiculously cool merch. We know you already know. Instead, today we’re giving a shout out to another rad group of folks who also take some trash and turn it into treasure….

Garbage Moguls is a TV show documenting the TerraCycle team as they design and produce new products out of reclaimed materials. The show takes its viewers through the whole upcycling process: from the dumpster to development, from pitching designs to stocking shelves. It will bring you the same emotion as other reality TV programs, but with a different kind of trash.

To read more about TerraCycle and their 28-year-old CEO, Tom Szaky, click here.

To catch the show, tune in to the Nat’l Geographic Channel this Saturday night!

And just for the record, we really wanna give all these guys (& gals) a double high-five for being so darn awesome!

We’ve been slamming out new bags all summer long. Here are just a few of some new designs you can find in the shop!

Last weekend, our town hosted their annual canine festival: Cardiff Dog Days of Summer. Simply put, it’s a day filled with feel-good community spirit and loads of wagging tails! Every year, the event is a great opportunity for people to meet and adopt dogs looking for their forever homes, and a portion of the proceeds benefit local animal charities and various rescue organizations! Not to mention, they always have great doggie contests too! This year, we were just in time to catch a glimpse of the “Best-Dressed” dog contest!

We also saw all the latest dog products, a dog training course, a doggy beach bus, and much more! One of the highlights of this year’s event was the new speaker series, featuring various dog experts speaking about pet allergies, holistic healing, grooming, training, and why it is so important to adopt.

Speaking of adoption, we are so thrilled to officially announce that our cutie pie of a foster pup, Oliver, has a new home!

He’s now a part of a great family with a couple of kids, a four-legged playmate, a fenced yard, and a doggy-door! Thanks again to those of you who helped spread the word about Ollie.
♥ We are very grateful!

If you weren’t able to make it to the Renegade Craft Fair in LA, we’ve decided to bring you some of the highlights. First, the fair has definitely grown. Last year’s atmosphere from the 6th floor the California Market Center was definitely cool. Who could forget the view and the marching band! However, an airstream just won’t fit…. So check out the photos, and stay tuned for more detailed artist write-ups.

handmade paper cranes at Bertha de la Piedra’s booth.

Take some advice from The Poster List - “Stay Calm and Rock On”

There were some other great t-shirt companies too, like Fuzzy Ink.

Some amazing handmade pieces from Fernworks.

Beautiful Decay

These little “heroes” from The Birds & The Beasts were too cute!

We fell in love with Misha Ashton’s work.

Meet Oliver! Ollie was rescued from a crazy person in downtown San Diego, and needs a loving home! He’s about 12 weeks old now and is a pit-bull mix [Boxer, Beagle, and/or maybe even a little bit of Shepherd?] He’s had his first round of shots, and the rest of his puppy shots are paid! Oliver’s vet expects him to be about 50-60 lbs full grown! If you or someone you know, is able to give him a good home, please contact me so we can set up a time for you to meet Ollie. We want this little guy to have a home with a grassy yard to run around in and a family who has plenty of time to play, train, and give Ollie all the lovin’ he so deserves!

The first thing I do when I visit a new blog is head straight to the “About” page. I want to see a picture of the blogger’s face, see images of his/her life, and hear about why they do the quirky things they do. Without that, it’s hard for me to sink my teeth into a new blog.

From today on out, JessBecause is proof that I’m navigating my way through the world. You’ll discover a little bit about my life, random bits of knowledge on how you can do your part to preserve mama Earth… I’ll send you a healthy heap of love, and of course I’ll show you all of our new eco friendly products. I’m talking totes, slings, messengers, weekenders, big bags, little bags…. I suppose you probably get where I’m going with this. Together we’ll figure out how everything all comes together to create one incredibly sweet life.

So, there now.

We’re all friends here, right?

I can tell you things.

I can tell you things like… how I regularly consume an iced coffee for breakfast as my well-balanced kick start to my day, and then again at around 3:30 when my late afternoon snack attack taps me on the shoulder.

Iced coffee. It’s my obsession.

I feel a little guilty… but certainly not guilty enough to stop.

Today though, I introduce you to my newest obsession: the Casbah Café Bag.

I can’t say no to this bag. How could I? A bag that gets me from Point A: my morning cup ‘o joe pit-stop, to Point B: sunset cocktails for happy hour with my girls…. all while daydreaming that my Saturday is taking place somewhere tropical, where it’s sunny 300 days out of the year, where my backyard is the ocean and my surfboard is napping in my front yard….. Oh, um, errr…. I seem to digress.

This particular Casbah Café Bag is a sample bag, which simply means you’re getting a unique sneak peak into what we are soon going to offer as a staple eco friendly product in our shop!

Yep, we’re still using RECYCLED coffee sacks…..

And all of our bags are being cut & sewn by hand…..

And of course, we continue to use remnant fabric for all the bags’ liners….

To sum it all up, it’s hot! And I’m not talking about the temperature outside. So I invented the Casbah Café Bag. The End.

Coming soon…. you meet JessBecause’s newest production assistant, Oliver. Sure, some companies hire trained professionals, but what can we say. We’re just a sucker for a gent with furrry legs.

Who doesn’t love a great messenger bag? Exactly! Hands down, we LOVE this bag, for so many reasons!
The Messenger Bag is extremely durable, can hold a lot of weight, and has a great look and texture.
These bags, as all of our bags, are earth friendly because 90% of all materials are post-consumer recycled!

The messenger features 3 large front pockets, as well as an adjustable shoulder strap!

Shop our messenger bags today!

Whoa, check it out! We’ve been super busy brewing up brand new products to add to the JessBecause line! During this process, we end up making a lot of tweaks here and cuts there… making sure to perfect the end design. During this process, we’re left with “guinea pig” bags. Instead of sending them to the trash [no bueno!], we’ve decided to instead, offer them up to our customers at… a HUGE discount!!

Introducing our first ever SAMPLE Messenger Bag… for only 8 bucks!!

Catch the deal here.