Your flowers are counting on you

It is watering season. And it’s been SO dry which makes it all the more important to fill your cans and get out there. If you haven’t yet, you should sign up for the TGP newsletter. They share watering tips in the latest edition plus other great info. Use the link in the sidebar on the right to reach their site.

Meanwhile, check out a closer look at the watering cans I have at the Naperville location so you can pick one up and water in color!

93 degrees was pretty darn hot!

Thank you for coming out to the Naperville Growing Place last Saturday for the Art in the Garden festival. As usual, it was a wonderful (although H O T!) day. It was very nice to visit with those of you who already own a “jen” and came back for another or just to say hello… and to those of you who purchased an item for the first time this year, I look forward to seeing you again!

Remember to contact me if you have an item of your own you’d like freshened up or to check on my inventory to paint you something I have.

Enjoy the upcoming holiday weekend. Happy Fourth!

jen by jennifer

You know it’s a good day when…

I can set up in the backyard to paint! What a beautiful weekend. I finished a couple of items and have many more (lots of watering cans!) in process. Looking forward to the Growing Place Gardener’s Art Festival on Saturday, June 25 at 9 a.m. at the Naperville location.

Sun and flowers…a good day indeed.

When will I see you next?

The annual Growing Place Gardener’s Art Festival is coming up fast. Saturday, June 25, the doors will open at 9 a.m. at the 25w471 Plank Road, Naperville, Illinois, IL location.

I will be located on the east side of the front lawn. I’m very excited to be back this year and hope to see you there. I’ll have my always-popular assortment of garden-inspired goods including watering cans, stools, chairs and more. There’s also a good chance I may have some additional India-inspired items, so be sure to come and say hello.

Watch here for updates and photos of what I’ll be bringing to the show.

See you soon!

jen by jennifer

Merry Christmas my Buddhist friend

This was my project to finish this weekend. Success! Delivered to my friend Hiede Saturday as a Christmas-non-Christmas gift. The model in the painting is Lilly my dog friend who lives with Hiede and her family. (I don’t have many dog friends… a good thing because Archie does NOT appreciate it!)

Merry Christmas!  Season’s Greetings!  Happy Holidays!

Cheers

jen (by jennifer)

The time is near!

I spent Saturday and yesterday painting in preparation for the Gardener’s Art Festival at the Growing Place this coming Saturday, June 21 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  I’ll be in the front lawn area this year and am hoping for a day as beautiful as those we had this weekend.  A little less–well, a lot less– wind than yesterday would be better.

Come visit if you are in the area.  It is always a great show and the gardens at the Growing Place are worth the visit all on their own.

See you soon!

jen by jennifer

Looking forward to the weekend

Last weekend we had a great time visiting in Missouri.  My nephew Ely graduated from Plattsburg High School.  It was a really nice ceremony and it was so good to see him SO happy!

Visiting after the graduation with Ely and his brother Sammy, and seeing people I haven’t seen in a long time was just as good as I expected.  An important note:  John got to meet Sam’s mom which is something Sam was very excited to have happen.  I just love that the two of them have become such good friends.

Here’s a picture from the day before when John and I were out roaming the countryside.

Having fun in the country!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking forward to the long weekend at home to paint for the show at the Growing Place on June 21, and to work in the yard!

Hope the weather is as beautiful by you as it is here.  Happy Memorial Day weekend all!

Cheers!

jen (by jennifer)

A successful visit!

Thanks to my friend Cindy who I haven’t seen in years which is hard to believe, I had a “shopper” a couple weekends ago.  In conversation at work, Cindy’s friend Jenny mentioned she was looking for a unique gift for her mom’s birthday.  Edited story…Cindy showed Jenny my website and blog and now I am writing this post!

Thanks to Jenny for stopping by to shop “the shop” for a gift for her mom.  It was a pretty Saturday afternoon and the experience went just exactly as I had always hoped it would when someone made an appointment to come.  I was thrilled to have a guest, Jenny was very excited to find not only the white container (pictured below on the left), but also a pitcher that I had filled with fresh flowers.  Ironically enough it’s a pitcher that Cindy gave me to paint!  I love karma.  She took the pitcher water, flowers and all.

In an email exchange after her visit, Jenny told me

She ABSOLUTELY loved them, she was a little sad to be turning xx so they brightened her day!  Thanks again for an amazing gift for her!

I’m sure I’ve said it before, but that is a true gift.  I love when people are excited about buying something I’ve painted.  And I hope they will enjoy it for years to come.

Reminder:  I will be at the Growing Place again this year for the Gardener’s Art Festival on Saturday, June 21.  I’d love to see you there!

Cheers!

Jen (by Jennifer)

Growing Place Art in the Garden Festival 2014

I received the information in the mail yesterday for the Growing Place Art in the Garden Festival 2014 on June 21 in Naperville!  Mark your calendar.  I already requested my usual couple of days before the event off from work this morning so I can be ready, ready – ready!  And I will start sourcing watering cans right away.  I sold all the cans I had painted last season.

Let me know if you have requests!

Spring will come!!  Hang in there.

jen by jennifer

John Got a New Phone (with a fun camera)

Really John?

Happy New Year 2014!!

Hello!  It’s been WAY too long.  But … at the least I’m back.  Most importantly I want to wish everyone (fan or foe) who is reading this a very Happy New Year!  It’s a time to forget the past (unless it propels you forward IN A GOOD WAY) and to realize that life is beyond too short to hold on to baggage.

I had intentions of posting a photo of my outdoor Christmas decor (that I received many compliments on this year) next to my New Year’s day transformation photo only to find when I went on my phone to transfer the pictures that I hadn’t taken any of the holiday porch!  Oh well.

In short, I still have things to do tonight before I rest for another day at my new job tomorrow.  So I’ll leave you with a photo of where I’m starting outside this year.  AND my thoughts that despite some great loss (my dear friend Lisa – and for John, his dear friend Austin), searching for a new job (SO glad that I found one where I think I can really contribute and thrive) and all the bumps in the road of life, I had a really pretty fantastic 2013.

Cheers friends!  Peace, love and happiness.

jen (Archie and John Cook)

Halloween 2013

Old friends do it all the time …

Playing catch up is just something we do, right?  So…here is a catch up photo of the last custom painted item I delivered.  Ellie approached me at the Art in the Garden Festival in Naperville for the last two years, inquiring whether or not I thought I could do something with a milk can that has sentimental value to her.  This year I went to her house and brought her milk can home with me.  With the help of my awesome boyfriend John, we sanded it down and cleaned it up.  Then I went to work spraying the base coats and then adding the hand-painted details.

She was very pleased.  What a great project.

 

jen

Friday! Again …

Where does the time go?  I can’t believe it’s Friday again.  I’m currently “not going to the office” – Um, yes, I’m unemployed.

Maybe I’m the only one who imagines this, but I don’t think so – you think you will do every project you’ve daydreamed about while at work, your house will be immaculate, the yard and flowers will look better than ever, you’ll exercise every day in a way you’ve never done before, there will be lunches with friends and in my case, you’ll blog, paint and create, and post something new to Etsy daily.  Well … I can’t say I haven’t done SOME things, but if that list is the norm I’m failing horribly.

SO … today I’ve been up since 4.  Job search is first (my Wii check in was actually first) then I WILL scour the bathroom, finish the laundry, wash the dishes, organize the kitchen, paint the outdoor benches, mow the lawn and do at the least one creative project.

I’ll check in tomorrow to let you know how I did. 😉

How do you get and stay motivated?  What do you have going on for the weekend?

Oh … and I stripped the bed already, too.

Cheers!

Elmhurst – woo hoo!

It’s hard to believe that a week ago I was doing my usual final push to paint for the Elmhurst Garden Faire and Walk on July 14, and that it’s already come and gone.  What a great day it was!  A beautiful setting and near perfect weather set the stage that morning and I sold the stool shown below before the faire even officially began.   THANK YOU to everyone who came by to check things out – particularly, of course, those of you who purchased some of my favorite things.  I love seeing items go to happy homes.  Although Archie the Cat was disappointed that the toolbox didn’t come back with me, he’s moved on already and found alternative places to nap.

I’ll keep you posted on my next stop.  Meanwhile, I’ll be playing with new color combinations and seeking out unique items.  Every watering can I painted sold this season, so I’ll be focusing on more of them.  Let me know what else you’d like to see!

Have a great weekend.

jen (by jennifer)

Next Stop – Elmhurst Garden Walk and Faire

A week ago I was on the last push to get ready for The Growing Place show.  It went well Saturday although for the first time since I’ve been doing outdoor events, we had to deal with rain.  It rained all through set up and then stopped, but by that time there was MUD!  Fortunately, the staff at the Growing Place is fantastic and the best help you could ask for which made the situation a minimal distraction.  And the early showers didn’t keep shoppers from shopping the rest of the day…and overall it was a successful show.

Here are a few of my favorite items that were on display that are still available:

Watering Cans on Display at the Growing Place 2013

After talking with another vendor at the show, I’ve decided to start another count down!  Looking for a job, working around the house, blogging, painting and all the other miscellaneous life tasks just aren’t enough.  I’ll be working on additional items to take to the Elmhurst Garden Club Walk and Faire on Sunday, July 14.  It’s the first show I ever participated in back in 2001 if I remember correctly.  It’s in a beautiful setting at Wilder Park in Elmhurst and well worth a visit.

Watch for more feature items over then next few weeks…

Cheers!

jen by jennifer