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

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3… 2…1… The Last Push

There is a 30 percent chance of scattered thunderstorms predicted for Naperville tomorrow.  I guess I’ll pack my umbrella among the other items for the show.  As you can see here, I’m stacking and packing product.

I’ll continue to paint a little today to finish the few items I started yesterday.

And to give you an idea of  the additional product I’ve been painting the past couple of days – watering cans!

 

Have a great day all – hope to see you tomorrow.

jen by jennifer

Seven! Poop – Should have 7 items …

Not that I’m making excuses but let me see if I can come up with seven hats I’ve worn today to make up for the lack of seven items to feature for Day 7 of the countdown:  Artist, Blogger, Carpenter, Chef, Daughter (helper), Gardener, Girlfriend, Happy Person.  I think that’ll do it.

All of the following items will be with me at the Gardener’s Art Festival at the Growing Place in Naperville, Ill., on Saturday, June 22.

I’ll have watering cans, buckets, a couple of pitchers, and fun containers of all sorts.

Let me know if there is something in particular you’d like to see.  My time is running short to paint, paint, PAINT, but I’ll do what I can or make arrangements to make sure you get a “jen” that you can enjoy.

What hats do you wear?

jen (by jennifer)

Spring?

How am I supposed to switch out my winter wreath for my Easter wreath when it’s only 16 degrees currently and supposed to snow this weekend!?

Hello! It’s been a while …

Checking in to let you know that we are still out here doing our thing and all is well.  Can’t believe it’s already the end of October!  Grrrrr.  Been super busy at work and it’s making it difficult to stop and look at the beautiful colors of the changing leaves (that have almost all fallen – eek!) Hope all is well with everyone.  See you back here soon with something more interesting to post …

Have a great day all!

jen (by jennifer) and the Arch too

HOT! But hopefully happy …

I hope you’re all enjoying the holiday with family and friends … or just your air conditioner or someone else’s!  Current temp in Plainfield, Illinois, is 93.4 degrees aiming for an even 100.  Yikes!  Glad we got outside and had fun this past weekend before it got to be so oppressively hot. Sigh.

Cheers!  Jen (by jennifer)

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

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

Chair feature… Have a seat!

Good Morning!

It’s nice to see a blue sky and some sunshine.  The forecast for the weekend is rain.  Oh well, perhaps that will keep me inside and focused on finishing a few more items for next Saturday, June 25 @ the Growing Place – Naperville. 

Today’s feature is a chair that will brighten any rainy weekend.  Standard-sized and sturdy enough for daily use, this white chair with red poppies is a great accent piece for a kitchen, bedroom or just about anywhere – even a bath or mudroom.  Check it out –

Better yet – come check it out in person!

Happy Friday all!  Cheers!

jen

Enough already!

I know that April showers are supposed to bring May flowers, but hey!  My tulips and daffodils have already been beautiful.  We need sunshine!

Updated Gallery

Hello all!

It’s certainly been a bit too long since I last added a post considering this is where I direct people to follow what’s up with the opening of the shop.  Sorry folks.  Well, as a continued effort to follow the path of generating interest in jen by Jennifer I have updated my gallery on www.jenbyjennifer.com over the past couple of days.  Take a peek!  Here is a snapshot of the gallery page.

Archie and I are still working around the house and out in the backyard.  He goes “on safari” now with me and it seems to be working out well for the most part.  I’m still challenged with the garden area but everything else is looking quite nice if I say so myself.  Another thing I have been intending to do… add some photos of how the yard is coming along.  I’ll get to it!

There has been a delay in having the windows and porch painted, but meanwhile I have many other projects to lead me toward my goal.  I know it’s almost not worth throwing out there at this point, but I’m thinking of an event for mid-October.  I’ll keep you posted. 

Hope all is well for each of you!

Enjoy – this season will soon be the next before we realize.

jen

Almost Summer!

Well, Memorial Day weekend has passed, and I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I did.  So this means we are officially on our way to summer!  I find I need to remind myself (and the garden fairy) that it is only the very beginning of June.  We have both done so much in the yards already it feels like we should be well into June if not ready to fly flags for the Fourth of July.

The garden comes along quite nicely.  There are enough new plantings I will not attempt to walk you through it again.  I look forward to posting pictures when things are in bloom…  the beds along the fence (once mulched *sigh*) are almost picture ready now.  More on that later.

I am painting.  I worked a bit on a few projects for the show at the end of the month while concentrating mostly on a project for my friend here at work.  It is the final of three items for her bathroom. 

And of course Archie (Bee Dub, Mr. Kitty) was there to supervise…

Have a great day!

jen (by jennifer)

Here’s to inspiration!

Ok.  I have decided to do a show this year.  I started in 2002 (I think) with the Elmhurst Garden Faire and Walk and then added The Growing Place – Art in the Garden Festival a couple of years later.  Up until last Summer (or the Summer before?) I had been doing both of them each year.  With having moved residence, the plans to open the shop, etc. I decided not to do them.  But this year I’m back!  And I will be doing things a little differently… taking items to represent the shop as a whole rather than just my stuff.  But I still have to get painting in order to take enough of my product to make a good display.

So – here’s to inspiration! 

I was watering mamala’s flowers for her last night, so I snapped a couple of pictures.  I then went home to check my garden out back… the 25 lily bulbs are starting to sprout!  BUT this morning I saw a bunny back there…. hmmm – I’m thinking that could be BAD.  I may have to let Mr. Kitty out afterall to patrol the grounds. 

Maybe he can put some of those quick moves on the flower munching bunny and all that practice on his straw will be worth it.

Have a great day all!  I’ll keep you posted.

Year one!

Ok – while I was having a BLAST at the Cubs game last weekend the garden fairy came and roto-tilled the back “garden” area behind my house!  Thank you GF!!!! 

And the planting has begun!  So far there is a big mound of baby’s breath (Gypsophila) to the left front surrounded by some day lilies and some Artemisia.  Behind that are 10 “Lilium true colors Asiatic lilies” in an arc around the front of the tree there… then another 5 about three feet to the right… and another 10 about three feet right of that.  www.whiteflowerfarm.com 

In the back right corner where primarily the herbs will be is a group of lovage in the corner where the fences meet.  And in front of that to the left of the garden bench on an angle is some more with three bright blue pots in front for cilantro, oregano, and parsley… I’m so psyched!

I know, I know… I have to get my camera fixed or buy a new one so I can include pictures!!

BTW – almost ALL my weeding is done too!  Whooo hooo!  And 10 of 15 bags of mulch down so far…

Happy Spring all ~

jen

Mondays come so fast…

Well, hello all! 

It was a beautiful Spring weekend here in Chicagoland!  I got out back Friday afternoon and burned off all the stuff that was piled in the fire pit and on the back patio area.  Awesome fire!  And now at the least it is clean and tidy back there so I can cut back the grasses along the fence and get started on moving pots, etc. 

I also got out under the tree between the shop and the driveway and weeded and turned up the mulch.  Still have a bit more to do and then Preen and hopefully it will maintain pretty much on its own.  I know I will want to work in the beds out back this Summer more than I will want to be out on the street side.  This will be the year for starting the garden area!  Thanks to mom (and Grama A who gives her a gift certificate every year for White Flower Farm…) I have 25 lily bulbs to start with! 

I have also been working on the kitchen… Actually what you see on the backsplash right now had to get wiped out and re-started, but I figured I would share anyway.  This wasn’t complete-complete anyway. 🙂  More pictures later!  Just figured I should throw something in here as it’s been a while…  when I am completely done I’ll show you a before and after – will make much more of an impact.

Well, on to the job I get paid for… have a great week!

jen

And how does your garden grow…

I guess I didn’t realize just how much I love Spring and look forward to Summer flowers until I read through an email I sent to a friend yesterday.
“…I am super excited to work in the yard this year.  Under the tree outside the shop between the driveway and the house I already have crocus in bloom in white and yellow and purple.  Such a happy sight.  Makes me smile everyday I have to go out to the car to head to work.  Like a little gift for getting up and heading to the office which I would rather not do.  And last night I measured for flower boxes for the front four windows and the one on the back of the house under the kitchen, and walked around the yard to see sedum growing in the rock garden out back by the fire pit, and tulips, daffodils, peonies, iris, day lillies, brunera macrophilia, and one of my favorites echinacea coming up.  Exciting stuff! 🙂  Should be a good year… set the foundation last year.”

So as much as I always say Fall is my favorite season… I’m wondering now if it might not be Spring?

Happy Day All ~

jen