Happy Mothers Day!

This picture reminds me of my Grandma A.  It also represents quite a few other women who have impacted my life.  The brush belonged to my Great Grandma Krueger, the peonies remind me of Grandma A, the old purse and glasses are from my Grama Z, and the fact that I put these things together on the top of my dresser comes from learning to decorate creatively with things that having meaning to me from living and learning from my mom.

Happy Mothers Day to all the great women in my life (then and now).  If you are reading this, you are likely included.

love, jen

Opening Day Doesn’t Just Refer to Baseball …

Well, I did it.  I had my first opening in “the shop” – Jen by Jennifer.  Thanks to everyone who has encouraged me and supported my dream to make this a reality.  Thanks to everyone who stopped by for a visit.  And thanks for the feedback on the shop and house and for the purchases, of course, too! 

I was very pleased to see that Sh… cards (adorable hand-crafted cards created by Sarah Hunt) sold right from the start and that there are a handful of stained glass fireflies out there flitting around thanks to The Glass Ceiling (Bob Anderson).

Keep watching for featured items and the next official shop hours.

Around the House …

I’m out of the office this week sleeping in, painting, painting, painting … and loving it!

Today I hope to get outside too and get some weed kill along the fences.  Who’d have thought that I would need time to get in the yard to work this early in the year.  I had planned on doing only indoor projects and painting when I planned this at home vacation.  Oh well.  I’ll take it all!  More later. 

Have a great Tuesday.

Almost there … (project for a friend)

Well, so far the mirror and pitcher have gotten thumbs up from Kristen’s mom and mom-in-law.  That’s good news!  She sent me a picture of it almost in place.  So I wanted to share.  It’s really going to look nice.

Project for a Friend

Good morning blog friends -

I want to share a picture of the mirror and pitcher I’m bubble-wrapping to go in the car in hopes of getting together with my friend Kristen soon.  It’s a good example of how spray paint can make something come back to life.  She spotted this mirror leaning against the wall in my house when she was over a couple years ago and asked if it were ever going to go in my shop for sale.  I told her it would not if she wanted it – it’d be hers.  Since that time she and her husband Chris have bought a new house (and had two of the most adorable twin girls!) and she says she has just the spot for it.  It was originally silver when I bought it.  I painted it black some time way back to go in a bathroom.  It had some scratches so I put another coat on it.  It’s good to go now.  I love the embossed flowers.  It’s a nod to my love for painting flowers.  Hopefully I’ll have a photo of it in it’s new home to share in the near future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Have a great Sunday all.  I’m also working on a couple of closet makeovers this weekend.  Perhaps I’ll show before and after shots when I’m done.

jen

Happy Birthday Day a.k.a. June!

Happy Birthday to my mom today.  May the coming year be one full of nothing but happiness.

love jen

(from Archie too – mrweowp!)

 

Christmas is really Sunday?

Not that I have ever been someone who is “into the holidays” but this year I can’t even believe ’tis the season.  Is it the weather?  Time passing too quickly?  Too much to do at the office?  Help me here.  Anyone – what do you do to capture some holiday cheer when it just doesn’t seem to be here?

A beautiful fall day on Lockport Street

What a beautiful weekend in Plainfield, Ill.  Although I was out in the back yard most of the time, I had to pause to take a few pictures of the front of the house. Thanks to my awesome girlfriends for their gifts that help to make the front porch fall-festive.

The pumpkins are from Teri and the beautiful white mums are from Sue.

Love you girls!

I hope you all have been enjoying this great time of year too.

Peace and pumpkins!

jen

Happy Third Adoption Anniversary Archie!

Three years ago September 27, I eagerly made the trip up route 59 to PetSmart to complete paperwork on what has turned out to be the best rescue I’ve ever made – Archie the Cat!  Thanks for three awesome years little boo boo!

Sharing Flowers

My black-eyed susans are amazing!  And abundant.  To think they came in a shopping bag, dried up and dead-looking about 12 years ago from my friend P… crazy.

Happy Tuesday All!

Nationwide… or almost

Hello again!  I haven’t posted since before the show at the Growing Place.  And the last promise I made (was it a promise? – oops) was that I was going to post a picture of the dresser I was taking – my big piece.  Well, here she is.

 

 

You’d think I would have learned by now to take pictures with my good camera as I paint things, but I guess it’s a Jen thing.  These are from my iPhone just before I packed her up and delivered her to a  nice doctor in Naperville who was going to transport her to a rental cabin in north Wisconsin.  I was so excited!  Earlier in the day a lady bought the large white watering can to send to Arizona, and last year the little black stool was heading out east.  I may not be taking the nation by storm, but there are “jens” out there!

Hope you all and your flowers survived the heat.  I think we might get a slight break here in Chicagoland for the next few days.

Be well.  Peace and sunshine.

jen (by jennifer)

A Chair Here and a Chair There

I like to have a chair in my dressing room and one in the kitchen and one next to my dresser in my bedroom and I have one in my living room…  I’m starting to wonder – oh and in my office.  I guess I like chairs.  They are a great catch-all.  That’s probably it.  Makes me feel like I’m not being messy if everything is piled on a chair.  So why not make it a good-looking one?  Like this -

Ironically  my purse matches the seat almost perfectly.  Anyway, this is a piece I got from a resale shop that donates their proceeds to cancer.  I donated a couple other painted items they thought they could sell and they gave me this interesting chair.  It’s been repainted and has a new seat, but it still carries a good caring vibe.  Funny how stuff can do that.

Happy Thursday folks.  Technically I guess I missed my feature for yesterday, so I’ll do another later.

Have a great day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Different Kind of Bucket List

I’ll get you started, but then you challenge yourself to come up with a list of the different ways you can use today’s feature item – the bright and functional 6-inch diameter yellow bucket!  I particularly like the color combination on this one (orange and blue on a yellow background – simple).  Fill it full of all the colors you can find – colored markers, pens, colored pencils or all sorts of color-handled scrapbooking shears.  This is a great portable solution for kid fun or an easy way to liven up an office or craft room.  I’m a big kid who likes their “colors” so I use a similar one (not pictured) to hold all my markers.

Pick it up and try it with colors you wouldn’t expect on a patio or kitchen table.  I show it above on a turquoise and white place mat with a red candle holder.  Neither of those colors are in the bucket – what’s up with that?  It’s a great way to pretty up a table and have napkins and utensils on hand for every day or when you’re expecting guests but don’t know how many.

If you’ve read the home page on my website, the inspiration for my work came from wanting all my items to be functional.  This is another example of just that – use it, love it, put it away for later and take it back out when you need a pick me up.  What a great way to have versatility in a one-of-a-kind piece of art.

Happy Tuesday!

peace

jen

Hang it up! (and use it …)

Attention blog shoppers –  sale item for Monday, June 20, is a hanging 6-inch diameter container.  It’s useful in so many ways – and cute to boot!  Hook it over a shower curtain to hold toiletries or over the office door to gather mail or bills that need to be paid.  Use your imagination.  It’s also good on a fence to hold your favorite gardening gloves and a trowel.  That should get you started thinking anyway…  Here she is – pretty in pink –

The colors look a little different in the pictures depending on the lighting, but you can get the general idea of what she looks like.  The best way to view my stuff is in person.  Saturday, June 25, is a good opportunity.  I’ll be in Naperville at the Growing Place for their Gardener’s Art Festival from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.  Stop by.  It’s worth the trip just for the beautiful gardens.  Even better if you find some jewelry, pottery, garden art or some other treasure that the artists have for sale.  I’m certain you won’t be disappointed.

I would love any feedback you have on what you’ve seen so far – leave a comment or email me at jen@jenbyjennifer.com.

Have a good night!

Inspire Your Flowers… Water in Color (with a hand-painted watering can)

I hope you are all enjoying Father’s Day with those you love.  Happy Father’s Day to those of you to whom it applies.

Today’s feature item is a 12-inch tall white watering can that is fully functional and ready to inspire your flowers to bloom all summer long and beyond.  Now that I think about it, this can goes really well with the white chair I featured on Friday.  What a duo they would be in a back entry or on a patio!  Anyway, like my other items, the watering can has been treated with polyurathane so it is sealed and ready for use.  I can tell you more when we visit at the Growing Place  - Naperville next Saturday, June 25, for the Gardener’s Art Festival and you pick this cutie up to take home.  Check him out -

When you come visit you’ll also see a neat way to display and use watering cans.  I’m not going to reveal it now, but I can tell you it is an attention grabber every time.

Well, I need to get back out in the yard and inspire some flowers as a matter of fact – they aren’t going to plant themselves.  And I’d still like to work on a few more items this afternoon to take with next weekend.

Hope to see you all soon!

Feel free to comment on a post if you have questions or go to www.jenbyjennifer.com where you can contact me via email through the form.  OR just straight up email me at jen@jenbyjennifer.com.

Have a great afternoon.

jen (by jennifer)

Can it! … (containers for almost anything)

Today’s featured item(s) are a set of canisters.  I have them posed as kitchen containers, but because they are water resistant and have tight-fitting lids they would be great in the bathroom for cotton swaps and hair accessories as well.  Take a look -

Although my house has splashes of color throughout (as seen in the backsplash and picture), these would be great as a mobile accent you can put away for a 3-season room to hold cards or Scrabble letters – anything fun.  And… the small one is only $12 and the larger one $15.  For less than $30 you can have one-of-a-kind containers that you couldn’t get for that price even at HomeGoods!  If you are interested in these and can’t make it to the show, let me know.  I can certainly ship them or bring them to you.

So much for a rainy Saturday!  Who besides me thinks the weather forecasters have it made?  They can be completely wrong and still can do it over again!  It’s not a blue sky picture-perfect day in P-ville, but it is certainly cooperating for some painting in the backyard.  Off I go!

Tomorrow’s featured item – something to inspire your flowers!  Come back and see…

jen