My Awesome YPS Class

YPS stands for the Young Peoples Studio at MICA. And this is my 3rd. summer teaching a beginning oil painting class. It keeps growing with a whooping 16 kids and its been great this summer. We are ending our first week today and I've been busy making my power point of portrait mentors that include the likes of Lucian Freud, Jenny Saville, Elizabeth Payton, Shawn Barber and Kerry James Marshall to name a few of my favorites. Here are some pics from this week.

Pile of Craft Count down Continues

Saturday is just a couple of days away and I received my place in the back room of St. Johns Church at booth 30...so keep coming through all the rooms to see all 40 vendors. Remember 10% of all of my sales goes towards the saving the gulf birdies. North birdies supporting the south birdies...that's how we roll! See you there!

Pile of Craft this Saturday!!!!

This Saturday is going to be one of my favorite shows of the year! Charm City Craft Mafia will be having their fourth annual Pile of Craft inside St. Johns Church at 2640 St Paul Street, Baltimore MD 21218. In light of the oil disaster in the gulf, I'm going to donate 10% of all my sales to the National Audubon Society to help save the birdies! I've been working on some new designs and have a large supply of birdy bird patches!

Schoolhouse Electric Co. lighting up my Vintage!

I went to get my hairs done the other day and happened to fall a pond an interior design magazine and noticed these great retro lighting fixtures in one of the pics. I wrote down the resource, Schoolhouse Electric Company, and looked up the web page. I have always had this fascination with retro style lighting fixtures especially from the 40's tot he 50's. These remind me of the old fixtures from our school before they dismantled them and put up those horrible fluoresce lights. The story is great...read all about here...here are some of my favorite designs. Now to save up for that new kitchen light!

Bringing back a classic!

Did you know you can make your own Otis the Owl Pillow?? The link is in this article Made In Baltimore that features a bunch of us diy crafters in Baltimore. If you make it, send me a pic of your final product. I'd love to see it! ANd I'll give you 20% off your next jennyjen42 purchase!

These are a few of my Favorite Things

I've been doing some cleaning and sprucing up of the place. Getting it summer proof with two new chairs and tins of herbs planted on the front porch. Looking for items that remind me of the good days of summer. Looking on the front page of etsy and I discovered this great refurbished Retro Toastmaster Yellow Electric fan that can be found in Fishbone Decor . I found some more favorites I wanted to share!!! Looking the aesthetic of the 60's so much!

Halter Top Complete!!!

This has been a fun week of fun sewing projects! I love these Amy Butler patterns and I can't seem to escape Joel Dewberry's fabric collections. So here is the melting of my two favorite designers! Now its back to making more jennyjen products because Pile of Craft is right around the corner and next weekend is a great girls weekend escape to NYC! One more week of school!

Next Sewing Project

I was quite happy with my last Amy Butler dress that I decided to keep on keeping on. My Cabo Halter dress pattern showed up today in the mail with two yards of Joel Dewberry's Antler Damask in Terracotta fabric from his Deer Valley Collection. So tonight's its back to the sweatshop for a little sewing enjoyment and the next three episodes of The Tudors! Man, this isn't the Henry the Eight series my parents made us watch back in the 70's!

"Life Line" by Logan Hicks- New Print Release and Artist Profile

Logan Hicks is an amazing artist who use to live and work in Baltimore. I have had the pleasure of having work in his space, having him make t-shirts for me as well as have a panel of his work left over from an amazing street art show as part of Artscape along with the panel from Surge. I really love seeing his work explode. I hope to see his work next weekend when I go up to the big apple.

New Jennyjen stuff....with Free Shipping!!!!

I'm having a free shipping sale in my shop! As well as being featured on Indiefixx's summer galleria which begins tomorrow. I've been trying my best to stick up and load it up with new products. I've been trying to add a new product everyday! I really want this summer to be a block buster selling season. Since I only have two more shows happening...I need to boost my shop sales. So go check it out. Again free shipping n the US! Here are some newbies that are fresh in the shop.

New Dress in Town

I just got finshed making my new Amy Butler pattern dress. I love this Joel Dewberry Antler Damask in Sky pattern from his Deer Valley series. Once in a while I actually squeeze in some time to make something for me. Can't wait to wear it tomorrow for graduation!

Thanks IndieFixx!!

Check out my sweatshop on Indiefixx today!!! I share not only my sweatshop but my organization secrets. Check out Indiefixx for the latest in diy news, crafters, ideas, gallerias, how to's and what not's. One of my favorite blogs that I check on a regular basis! And the creator is another Jen!!! What's not to love about that! Thanks again Jen!

And here it is....

I absolutely love it!!!! Thanks Bill!

Proud to say I didn't cry, I didn't pass out and I only finched a couple of times....

New tattoo in the works

Happy June everyone. My favorite month! In fact I started this blog in the month of June, I believe I'm heading on to its 4th year! I'll turn 47 this month and my tattoo turns one! So to celebrate all of this, I'm getting a new tattoo. I like the fact that I finally feel confident with the images that I have no problem being attached to for the rest of my life. I think once you are in your forties, that the best time to get a tattoo. Well this one is going om my back. Birds on the wire. I've been sewing this scene with my sewing machine for the past year and its really stuck with me. It's that whole urban bird series....just like me, an urban bird. Here is the drawing...stay tune for future pics.

Jennyjen42 has a fan page!!!

OK... OK... I know I'm a bit late for this one. Its that time thing again. I'm challenging myself for the month of June (yes today I'm getting a head start, to post something everyday on this blog, in my shop, and on my facebook fan page. If I don't make it...I"ll fire my boss. I really need to spread the word of birdy birds to everyone that I can in an non-obnoxious way. I have great new projects heading my way. One being a children's book that my mom and I are collaborating on. She's in the writ ting stage as we speak. I'm in the trying not to panic that I've committed to too much again! But we will persevere . Persistence is a great habit! Go check out my new fan page and hit the "like" button, if you like it. I've been posting as many bag and pillow designs that I have done since starting this whole jennyjen business four year ago! Check it out here.

Solitude and Creativity

Again, my apologies for the lack of posts. This is the insane time of the year. Art shows at school, Advance Placement test, wrangling them seniors to finish out the year without quitting on everything, and then 4 craft shows back to back! And then there's the kicking out of the temporary housemate that just took over my space as well as my mind space. He meant no harm, but I completely lost it! I need clutter free living conditions when my life is insanely busy. There needs to be clean and orderly space that I can be in. As well as solitary space. I think my need for solitary has always been my bottom line for being a painter with need for private studio space to paint. That turned to private sweatshop space. And now I have both!!! Once drinking the wine of living alone, I don't know if I ever want to go back to living with anyone. I am completely spoiled with the option of doing what ever I want, whenever I want to. A separate space for all of what I do! Who would want to share that? Not to mention all of the solitary I can use. Well, we'll see.
It's coming up to my one year anniversary for being alone in this house. I've re-done the entire upstairs with new purposes including a new painting studio and sweatshop. I think this summer I'm going to start repainting downstairs.
Anyway, I've been quite interested in why I need solitude so much. And I found this great blog entry by Leo Babuta on the blog Zen Habits titled The No. 1 Habit of Highly Creative People

which has some very interesting theories about how we need to conquer our fears about being alone before we can fully open ourselves to creativity. I also like the

" few of the benefits I’ve found from solitude:

• time for thought
• in being alone, we get to know ourselves
• we face our demons, and deal with them
• space to create
• space to unwind, and find peace
• time to reflect on what we’ve done, and learn from it
• isolation from the influences of other helps us to find our own voice
• quiet helps us to appreciate the smaller things that get lost in the roar"
• 
  

Banksy's Exit Through The Gift Shop (Exclusive 5 min Extended Sneak Peek)

Baltimore Clothing Stop & Swap

WOW...its sort like the book thing but for clothes. What an ingenuous idea! Next week: MICA. Check out the site here.

Bragging Rights..getting to the end of AP

Just a little taste of AP....here is my top kid...Sheila R. More to come when I"m more awake.

Squidfire Art Mart this Saturday

Sorry I haven't posted in a bit....its that time of the year when AP is due and the spring shows are gonna happen right on tip of each other. Starting this saturday in its new location of Fells POint...its the Squidfire Spring Art Mart. Check out who else will be there on the vendor list here.Hope the rain stays away! I got lots of new bags and sewn drawn urban scenes! Come out my new wares.