What Would Jesus Buy Trailer

black friday

i did not go shopping on black friday...i will not go to any big box store to buy my presents this year...in fact i am planning on supporting the made handmade pledge! i'm encouraging all to do the same. On friday, the 30th. the movie "what would Jesus buy" is coming to the charles theater. just watch the trailer...and join along in the protest !

new ornaments

here are some of my new ornaments...they will be at Merry MArt at the Creative Alliance and the Squidfire Holiday Art Mart...Check Tricia and I out at the peas&carrots booth!

the year of the gals

meet bailey...my new niece. my sister -in-law Becky just had twins!!! we spent part of this weekend down in virginy hanging out with the gals...bailey and page. so sweet! let's see..first there was Violet and Piper, twin girls that Anne had, then Becky's two and NOW we await Julie's twins!

apple pie anyone?

my first apple pie! i even made the pie crust from scratch! and it was absolutely delish!!!

work from the darkroom

i have made big trives in the photo department this past week. developed my first blk & white film from my fisheye lomo camera.won't tell you how long it took me to load the film on the reel ...it's been a long time! nothing like playing feelie mealie with development tools!
anyway...not many pics came out due to my stupidity of advancing the film after taking each shot...meaning i took lots of pictures of the inside of my bag...
but here they are...my three shots that i printed today.
i love how my hub cab looks like a scarey guy!

WE're on the walls

yesterday we took 48 Parkville High Art students to the National Gallery to see the Edward Hopper show and then to the Corcoran to see the Ansel Adams and Annie Leibovitz shows. What a great day for ART! The Hopper show was amazing! Many of his watercolors I have never seen showcased his amazing talent for capturing light ! GO see when you get a chance...included is his famous Nighthawks!
Then we went to the Corcoran to see the Ansel Adams and Annie Leibovitz exhibits. Remarkable is seeing the technique of clarity in Adams photographs in person, not on a calendar or poster hanging from many an office and living room wall.. Leibovitz's portait photographs are quite entertaining. My favorites were Scarlette Johananson, the Oval Office..Bush and his crew posed as if on a tv sitecom...and her daughter Sarah with her stricking blue eyes. I wanted to see the Vogue shots! The lavish scenes that were highlighted on the American Masters series on Leibovitz. But to make up for that, they had a photobooth room, in which you took your own photo and had it project on the walls. It rotated photo's that were taken within a certain period of time. we all looked like models. Everyone looks so good in black and white! see more pics here.

New bird Party Pillows

woke up this morning with an actual birdy in my bathroom. i kept hearing strange sounds all night long from the hallway, bathroom area. Kept wondering why the cats weren't keeping me warm last night. we came home from our day in DC finding the bathroom all torn up. guilty looks on the cats...did not see anything but the trash can turned upside down, trash on the floor and all the objects that were on our window sill on the floor.
i did not discover the fluthering bird until this morning. luckily it had flown between the window shutters and the window. protected from the cats but trapped. i got a thin towel, covered it and put in a shoebox...some how i was thinking before coffee, and freed it. Lary said its good luck to have a bird inside your house. We shall see. Was glad I could free it without harm. I think chuckie and louie are mad at me. oh well.
here are the creations from this week. Having out patient surgery on tuesday, afforded me two full days at home. Tuesday I was out, slept most of the day. was able to work a little, sleep and recoop alittle throughout wednesday and thursday. here are my newest products.
perhaps mr. birdy was trying to get in on the actions of the sweatshop!

happy halloweenie

thought i would share some of my most favorite halloween costumes.....whatever happen to the day of plastic masks with flannel pj's? my mom was quite the seamstress in those days...my absolute favorite costume was being the angel!
hope all have a great holiday!

Mark Your Calendars

so i'm so excited about the up coming craft shows for this holiday season. First the creative alliance show on sunday, dec. 2 ...which Tricia and I have been brainstorming over since we only get one table and can only display on that one table top. we went to ikea today to do some brainstorming..i'm seeing a lot of "snacks" being part of my half of the table. I guess i'm more excited about the squidfire indie craft show at the lyric on the following sunday on dec. 9. i remember going to the lyric as an elementary kid going to see the symphony. now i'm going to be there selling my wares..who da thunk? so write them dates down in your date book! ya hear!

my inspiration

i love this picture of my nanny.....she has been my inspiration for all of the aprons I make, the pillows, the bags, the cooking I attempt to improve upon....my grandmother, so beautiful in her apron doing her yard work!

new banner for the etsy shop

life has been quite insane....school.....crafting....posting...
things to do on my list:
make postcards to send out for upcoming craft shows and etsy shop
make more pillows
make more aprons
make more tote bags

try to make some sort of smaller items

blah blah blah

what do you think of my new banner?

new tool* brush rolls

very handy dandy for organizing paint brushes, pencils, sewing materials, knitting needles, etc.

New Items on Etsy

well, the MAEA conference was very succesful. there is a lot to be said about presenting the right products to the right audience. I sold 8 of my 10 aprons, 2 totes and a bunch of pencil, brush and eyeglass cases. the best addition was excepting credit card charges! we would not have as well , especially me, if charges were not an option. anyway, today was cleaning day...and picture taking day. I posted 3 new eye glass cases today. Tomorrow, brush/tool rolls.

Bat For Lashes - Whats a Girl To Do

kool animals doing tricks on bikes! what else could a gal ask for!

A new Look!!!

thanks to my best buddy Patrick, he has updated jennyjen to look and feel a bit more like jennyjen! he's added some great new background colors as well as did a little re-arranging. we're not too happy with the switch to the new blogger...not as much that we can do with certain aspect ....trying to make the links have their own page...he's added a new photo section where i can document my world travels. we updated our whole buisness plan with a new macpro and air card so we can update from abroad, i can now have credit card sales at my jennyjen booths, and we can constantly stay connected!!!! Harvey will be so proud of us..as well as adding the garage and entire basement to our business side of the house! Our house is more for our businesses than our actual living! The basement is being converted to my painting and silk screening studio, while the garage will be the new bike workshop. so new things are happening...still trying to train chucky and louie to ways of the sweat shop...they're A's in the unraveling to making a mess in the yarn department. i really think those claws would be great for ripping out my sewing mistakes..

tomorrow is the MAEA conference..I've made really cool tote bags that stand on their own, plenty of pockets and space for the dream teacher tote! All they need are wheels and self-control driving devices! Will post after conference.

so thanks again PATRICK FOR MY NEW LOOK!

flag paintings up for sale

decided to put some of my flag paintings on my etsy site. When I turned 40, I decided to complete a series of paintings titled 40 flags. I sewed 40 canvases, grounded them with matt medium, and used oil paint to create my symbolic flags. I call them flags in need of formal representation for very informal and hidden mysteries that I encountered growing up. I started out with basic patterns to represent a each "country" of growth, then added imagery and painted layers to build onto the meaning. Each represents a part of growing up as a woman in the U.S. from the early 60’s to the present.
The flags hang on the wall, by two grommet openings at the top, or you can frame them.
all flags are 16” W X 12.5” H; Oil on sewn and stretched canvas; Hangs like a tapestry

new aprons ....art teachers pay close attention!!!!!

Here are 2 aprons from my new line of "observation aprons"...these work especially well for the art teacher. They are reversable! one decorative side, for those days the prinicpal or parents stop by to watch you teach, and a demin side for those messy paint projects! They also work well for the messy cook...one flip over and your guest won't know what a mess you created in the kitchen. Medium weight cotton duck and denin makes these aprons very durable..one can even garden in them! Aprons as well as totebags, eye and pencil cases and letterpress cards will be for sale at the MAEA conference on October 19, at Towson University'd FIne Arts Building. Left overs will be posted on my etsy site and then brought to the merry mark at the creative alliance Dec. 2 and the Lyric for the Squid Fire show. I now take credit cards on line as well as during shows. Email me if you're interested. And don't forget to check out my etsy shop by clicking any items in the top right hand corner.