Charley Harper just bought!

we're back from sunny Cozumel to shipping out products sold while on vacation!!! now that's the life! with a little cash in my pocket I decided to check in on my wanted find.. Todd Oldman's book: Charley Harper: An Illustrated Life
....and there it was on amazon for only $126! this is a $200 gem filled with just about everything the man has ever created! I have visited the one copy that has definitely been abused at the Towsontown's Anthropology store. At first I wasn't very impressed with the print job. Matt pages do not do vivid colors justice..but I read some other reviews and someone wrote about it being just like the pages that were printed in the 60's. And I have to agree that that is the exact feeling I get form the illustrations themselves so it makes sense for them to be printed in the same quality. the book is of course out of stock, so I have to be patience and wait till my gem arrives!

peacock tote for Mexico

I am so excited! Pat and I are finally going on our honey moon. Our first attempt was wiped out due to Wilma...so its off to Cozumel for four nights..almost five days. I made a new tote for the occasion! A good one, This one is mine to keeps...but once I get back, you can bet on seeing more of these on my etsy site!

New Owl in the Tree Tote Bags & Birdy Bird Pillows 2

They're going hot...one already sold, and I've only made two so far. I'm starting to play more with sewn backgrounds as well as contrasting and brighter interiors. I've been trying to make as many bags as I can awaiting the Baltimore Magazine for April to come out. I'm not even sure how they will be featured, but we will see. I've been making more birdy pillows too! we've just bought a new couch from IKEA.....good buy futon couch! We're going up to the adult couch now! Its a bright blue that make a good drop cloth for my pillows.

the zen of posting and riding a bike

funny, here we are a normal Tuesday night..me skipping yoga once again,up in my sweat shop posting another jennyjen product on my etsy site, Patrick downstairs on the lap top, posting on his blog. I really have to say, my man has really been working hard on the upkeep of his blog. writing his heart out and just like Obama, making more and more sense. He posted this great pro-bike (yes everything on his blog is pro-bike)about how great the world would be if we all actually could ride our bikes to work! I wish they would turn one lane, each way of Perring Parkway into a bike lane (with concrete barriers protecting the cyclist from the gas eaters) so that i could safety ride my bike to work! I do believe we would all be happier if we rode our bikes to work. Check out his blog here...while you're there, click onto his entire blog to check out the post about taggers!

not saying good-bye, just see ya later

This week was a very busy and hard week. I had to say so-long to two of my favorite people…first of all, Ruby, my favorite hair stylist that has created the best color, cuts and styles of jennyjen! My sister found her and we will absolutely miss our cuts, our conversations and our friendship. She is off to a new adventure to Portland Oregon…not too far away from daddy-in-law’s island in the Sound.

Then to another sadness…one of my favorite students, Ae-hyum will be leaving tomorrow on a jet plane to Korea. She has to go back with her Dad and Mom. She has worked her tushy off enough to graduate from HS early, so she can go back to Korea and not have to go to high school until winter. But can save up to come back this summer so that she can attend MICA along with her sister. She has been an inspiration for all of the AP kids as well as myself. Her explorations in mix media, including coffee! Started a great trend in my AP group of experimenting and not taking the obvious ways to making art. Here is just a sample of her work that she produced this year in my Advance Placement and Studio 1 class this year. I will miss her in class! But I know I will see her this summer. She promises to hang out with me in my booth at Artscape this summer.

what's with the deer head?

in my research for sneak peek ideas I found myself looking through the homes and studio's of design*sponges' sneak peeks and I can't help but noticed that about a third of them have some sort of deer head, or reference to a deer head. thanks to urban outfitters we can all have deer head's in our abodes without after touching a shot gun, stepping into the forest in savvy camo or even think about the up think-a-ble to acquire such a prize.

here's the game for tonight..see of you can match the deer head to the artist/designer....
amy rupple
oijoy
trish grantham
paul lowe
papa sour

sneak peeks

i finally got to my first baltimoreetsy meeting and i was very impressed by the positive and productive energy of this BEST crew. as small as i thought Baltimore was, i did not know any of these women besides through avatars, emails and posts to our Google groups.i knew of their amazing work, but not them personally....and i have to say, i was so happy to meet a new group of people that i am so excited to work with and get to know. all you have to do is go to the Baltimore etsy blog and you will see what I mean. Part of the membership is posting to this blog once a month. i wanted to contribute in a way i know will keep it interesting , selfishly for me , but also in a way that i could get to know our members better. so, i resort to one of my favorite blogs, design*sponge who features sneak peeks of designer's homes and studios. my voyeur appeal loves checking in every week for a new sneak peak. so i thought i would do the same for the baltimore etsy group. so i figure i would do some brainstorming here. My cousin Cathi and I went to art school together and have tried to keep up with our artwork and keep in touch with our artistic souls..when Cathi started working at St. Agnes Hospital for her Dad and starting having children, I remember her telling me , that even though she didn't have time to paint much anymore, she at lease could arrange her refrigerator in an artistic way. so this is my motivating quote..how we design our homes and organize what we have in our homes in artistic & creative compositions.

New Line of Birdy Bird Totes!

I've been getting ready for the spring and upcoming events...especially getting my totes in the Baltimore Magazine for the April issue! So I've been reflecting over what my customers have been telling me...wanting longer straps, continue the small totes for only carrying around the essentials, and keep up with the birds! I've been playing around with new colors. Yellow canvas! Still looking for other colors. Found a very bright orange but it feels too much like hunter orange..don't think that will be a selling point. I'd like to hear any other suggestions..if you have a jennyjen bag, I'd love to hear form you and how it is holding up...with any other suggestions for improvement!