Ahh... the holidays

This time of year combines two of my passions; ambitious crafting and thoughtful gift-giving.

I can't remember where I heard it said, (please insert your version of Dear Abby's voice now) "The perfect gift is one that you know the receiver will enjoy, but they would never buy for themselves"

I'd like to share a personal story now. Years ago, I received an Exotic Fruit-of-the-Month membership. The giver of this gift knew that I liked fruit and certainly knew that no human being on the face of the earth would ever buy them self a fruit membership. With the formula for a perfect gift in place, what could go wrong?

The membership enticed with promises of fresh fruits harvested at the height of their seasonal perfection. Shipped from the far corners of the globe (i always imagined on a tramp steamer), directly to your door. Forbidden fruits from foreign lands.

Often was the case that more exotic fruits would be unavailable in a particular month due to flood or drought. Such unfortunate events would occur and the slightly less-sexy Ruby Red Grapefruit would replace the exotic Mango.

Grapefruit? Seriously? This is it? 15 lbs. of grapefruit was the best you could do to replace perfectly ripe Comice pears? You couldn't dig up a Starfruit? Heck, I'd settle for a decent Kiwi.

To add insult to injury, I would arrive home to discover a delivery notice on my door. We attempted to deliver a parcel. blah blah blah. I'd drive to the post office with an eager pessimism. Maybe there would be Pomegranates? The double doors from the back room would swing open and the front end of a rolling cart would emerge. My heart would sink. 15 lbs. of Florida Grapefruit.

Let me say, it was by no fault of the giver, that the formula failed. If Mother Nature hadn't stepped in to direct this fruit folly, it may well have been a wonderful surprise.

That brings us to the moral of the story. There is only one "perfect gift". The one that comes from your heart and is given with kindness.

It's the First Night of Christmas, so I thought I'd leave you with this lovely little card. xoxo- jenni

Partridge in a Pear Shaped Tree by Avenue Handmade

Voting with the Applause-O-Meter

Good evening citizens of these United States. Today I voted. Today I struck a blow for hope. Today my friend K voted. She made her choice for a new leader. There were many people voting early today.

The lines were long but the election judges were determined to keep things moving. We took our ballots, we gave our name and number, we agreed not to switch places in line. In fact, we agreed not to move from our position in line for any reason. I assume emergencies and natural disaster were accounted for ahead of time. And with agreements in place and ballots in hand, I headed off to my semi-private voting box. Am I too young to remember the voting boxes you see in movies? They looked like photo booths or shower stalls, only less entertaining. They are a lot less entertaining now.

Ms. June Carter-Cash. Leader of Canines for Change.

I cast my vote for Obama. I know you're supposed to keep your vote a big secret but I don't see why. I'm proud of my vote. I'm excited about this new era of leadership and I see a better, more aware, more educated future ahead of us. I'm embracing the change whole-heartedly. It's my most sincere hope that McCain gets his hat handed to him.

In other exciting news, K and I saved a dog today! We were on our way to vote when we both spied this lovely little pup.

Her name is Coco and she is a very sweet German Shorthair Pointer. She was cowering in the tall grass along side a very busy road. We pulled off onto the side of the road and approached the dog slowly. I bent down and held my arm out toward her and she came right to me. She was scared, it was heart-breaking. Anyway, K started making phone calls to see if anyone had reported her missing and I made arrangements to take her to the vet and to have her scanned for a microchip. It never ended up getting that far. Within 45 minutes we were in touch with Coco's owner through the police and they were reeunited shortly after that.

Apparently, Coco stepped on the electric window button at the same time the woman turned the corner and Coco just fell right out. Ouch! She had some bruising on her chest and ribs and she was bleeding a bit here and there, but overall she was in really good shape. I knew she had a home somewhere near, but in the back of my heart, I was hoping she could stay here. At least for a little while. Ultimately I am happy and relived that she is back home safe and sound.

Today I voted and I saved a dog's life. That's a very good day. xoxo- jenni

As I was saying...

What is it about Fall that gets me all fired up? The colors go without saying right? The smell is a definite contender. The smell around here is especially nice. On the weekends, the air gets hazy and smells like burning leaves. It's just chilly enough to make you stamp your feet a bit around the fire pit.

Beer tastes different in the fall and summer. Does that sound odd? That beer can resonate differently depending on season? Right now I look forward to pumpkin beers, which I inevitably dislike, but continue to look forward to year after year. I'm also looking forward to the Chimay that Mister and I will be enjoying now that the holidays have arrived. I thought I was going to be writing about the splendors of Fall, but it turned into a tribute to Beer. I can live with that.

Firkin, Libertyville, IL

We'll be traveling for Thanksgiving this year and I'm really looking foward to the trip down south. The fall colors will be a bit later than ours and I'm hoping to get some great shots. This will be my first big holiday with my new camera since the 4th of July.

Speaking of photos... I thought I'd upload a few from some recent events for some of my special readers. Thanks guys!

Warhol Pete

Kids + Dogs

Evan + Poojan

Emily + the Hula Hoop

Pianta Pieces

Halloween is in 2 days. I bought a sad little supply of candy this year. I think I need a pumpkin. Maybe tomorrow I'll pick a couple up and Mister can carve his yearly masterpiece. g'nite. xoxo- jenni

Just Popping In...

I know I've been away for some time and I hope you will forgive me. I have been swamped with work these last few weeks and I am just beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Fall has arrived in all her seasonal beauty and I owe her a tribute. It's on my list of things to do. Here is a tiny nod to the splendor of this season.

taken from my reclined seat at the firepit in our backyard

In other exciting Fall news...Halloween is almost here! I will admit that I am a little lackluster this year as we approach, what has always been, one of my favorite holidays. So I ask you, what has happened to Halloween? More on that as well...

wonderful urban stoop jack-o-lanterns

Last but not least I would like to talk about this most important upcoming election. This is another topic that requires proper attention be paid. So for now, I leave you with this image from my recent trip to Wicker Park with good friend Kristin. (be sure to check out her recipe for creamy potato leek soup)

taken from the corner of north + milwaukee in chicago, il

So check back later this week for more updates and thoughts about this and that.

ps. i have added new items to my Etsy store. Stop by and take a look. I'll be adding Holiday cards and more yoga accessories soon! xoxox- jenni

This the BEST THING on the internets today!

So I have to give all of the credit to Mister on this one. He discovered this little gem and now we're both addicted. What we have here is FREE, open-source, public domain video of...well...everything!


Mostly vintage television, ads, cartoons, tv series, ect. It's amazing. Available for download with Quicktime at 2.3 MB, 533 KB and 238 KB, you can make DVD's of quirky ads and TV shows. A fun gift for a retro enthusiast or a great avant garde movie reel to play at parties (at least that's what I'm gonna do with mine)

Thanks Mister!

Click here to Visit Archive.org

xoxo- jenni

Powered by ScribeFire.

Different Strokes...

It would seem that there are some mixed reviews regarding our house on the AT tour and I think that's great!

I didn't expect that everyone would love our place. Nor did I expect Better Homes and Gardens to hand us any awards. I expected criticism. I invited criticism by opening our doors to the public at large.

The point of posting our home was to share a house you just don't see everyday. Good bad or ugly, it's a one of a kind.

That being said...I love our house. I LOVE our house. Every item, every detail, every corner of our, yes, I'll say it, HUGE house, makes me happy. Every weird object reminds me of a great day that Mister and I spent rummaging around in the heat and dirt and dust at a mid-september flea market. Every room holds memories, and not just ours, but the memories of the owners before us. Our collection of castoff family albums are as loved by us as they were by their first owners. I get giddy thinking about the trip we took to St. Louis where Jeff uncovered this little trophy.


Things like this a 100 other oddities make this our home and I wouldn't change a thing. As requested, I am attaching some pictures of the exterior a couple more interior shots. Thanks for reading, and thanks for sharing your opinions. It's been a great experience. xoxox- jenni

Front Exterior

Front Walkway with newly planted specimen garden and Johnny Cash

Backyard view of the Half-Circle

The square glass enclosure to the right of the tree trunk
is the sunroom complete with 1970's terra cotta orange hot tub

Carpet around the fireplace serves a functional purpose.

Johnny Cash and June Carter love it!

I call this the Natural History Museum. It's the landing on the
second floor and it's full of bad taxidermy, old photos and books.

Are We Famous Yet?

After nearly a year in the making, the BIG Day is finally here! As some of you may know, Mister and I have been eagerly awaiting the AT Home tour of our house to be published on the AT Home website. Well today is the day! Please take a tour of our lovely home at AT Home. Leave a comment, or not, that's ok too. We promise to return your calls and emails even after we become one of Oprah's Favorite Things!

xoxox- jenni

P.S. Vanity compels me to mention that the family photo at the end of the tour was taken the day I came down with a monster cold that morphed into pneumonia several weeks later. Hence my lack-luster pose and demeanor. Lucky for me I have such a handsome husband and lovely dogs.

view of the diningroom, livingroom, kitchen, fireplace....

Art In The Barn

On a recent adventure, a friend and I drove out to Richmond, IL to visit a neat little foreign imports store called Ginger Blossom. I say store because everything has a price tag, but after that, there are few similarities. I'm sure you can find comparable items at Pier One or World Market, but not tucked in amidst wildflowers or hidden inside the walls of small one room houses that speckle the nearly 40-acres of farm land Ginger Blossom sits on. Navajo rugs, Thai silk bedspreads and gorgeous handmade Guatemalan sweaters take up residence on the ground floor of stone and wood framed barn. Chairs hover on the walls above an intricately carved and painted Indonesian Gazebo.

Buddha as a cast resin waterfall

There are hundreds of Buddhas carved from wood and cast inn bronze, stone pagodas and beautiful ceramic planters and giant metal sculptures of cattle that line the walkways and open air areas of the farm.

There is a small one room building dedicated entirely to the celebration of Dia de los Muertos.

On Sundays there is a yoga class held in the orchard and anyone at any level is welcome to join in. This is a very fine copy of a Fernando Botero painting. This lovely lady now hangs in my dressing room and I smile every time I see her.

I heart fat girl art

This is a magical place and I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys exploring old dusty junk shops and open air markets. Visit my Flickr to see more pictures from the day. Just enter the search words Ginger Blossom. xoxo- jenni

My Meme

1. first name: Jennifer 2. favorite food: Sushi 3. high school: Downers Grove North 4. favorite color: Green 5. celebrity crush: Sarah Silverman 6. favorite drink: Pomegranate Martini 7. dream vacation: Hacienda Campeche 8. favorite dessert: Cupcakes 9. What I want to be when I grow up: A grown up 10. What I love most in the world: Mister 11. One word that describes me: Energetic 12. My flickr name: Miss Atomic

My favorite blogger HulaSeventy makes memes all the time, but I never really knew how they worked until Kristin C. at One Time, One Place made one of her own and shared it with us all. Now I'm hooked. Thank you ladies, for being so wonderfully inspirational.

If you've ever wanted to try one, here's how to do it:
Answer each of the questions above into the Flickr search box and choose a photo from the FIRST page only. Copy the URL for your fav photo and enter it into Big Huge Labs mosaic maker
Then share your meme with all the world.

I would love to see your meme, so if you make one, please come back and share it.

xoxox- jenni

It's Tuesday and for cuteness you can't beat these

Did I say Tuesday? Well clearly I meant to say Moosday.

For more absurdly adorable imagery please visit Cute Overload

This is what I do instead of working.

Stuff White People Like

LOL Cats! If you haven't already, you must!

Have a very cute day. xoxoxo jenni

Smart!

I've had such a great day already and it's only lunch time!

I attended an estate sale this morning in hopes of becoming the proud owner of a gently used Bernina serger (it's a type of sewing machine).

I've never gone to a sale like this before. They hand out numbers and you mill around the front yard with a bunch of strangers while you wait to gain entrance to the house. I arrived at 9 am exactly and found myself #43 in line! I figured the serger would get snapped up by someone else, but as luck would have it, I got into the house in time, and now she's mine!

I also scored these three camera for the low low price of $37. A large format paper cutter and photo of a train for Mister made their way into my trunk as well.

From left to right :: Revere Eight 8 MM | Brownie Reflex | Petri FT EE

I haven't tested them out yet, but I have my fingers crossed, especially for the Revere 8MM.

On my way to the estate sale I stopped at a Starbuck's where I saw this adorable little car. It's called the Smart fortwo.

find out more at wikipedia

It's only 8 feet long and it's small enough to park 3 of them inside of one standard parking space.They look pretty roomy inside too. The guy that was driving this one was of average proportion. The rear end says Powered by Mercedes Benz, but I don't know anything about engines.

Now I 'm about to go up to my sewing room to start in on some little home dec projects. I'm planning a big post to share all of my recent sewing projects, so stay tuned! xoxox-jenni

Spring Fever Better than Disco Fever

We've finally had more than 2 days in a row above freezing and that qualifies as Spring in my book. And it couldn't have come any sooner for me. I've been waiting for the snow to melt and dreaming of all my lovely spring projects. New slipcovers for the sun room bench, new pillows for my office, yards and yards of gorgeous Amy Butler fabric just begging to be turned into skirts and bags and belts. And in all that time spent day dreaming, I neglected my blog like a mildly-impaired step child.

I'm constantly snapping photos of things I intend to blog and then don't. The nice thing about a blog is that it's always there whenever you come back, even if the precious few readers I had, aren't.

This is one of those photos I took and said I would blog about later. These are vegetarian/organic stuffed peppers. They were awesome. If you'd like the recipe, let me know and I would be happy to share.

So what's new? Let's see. The photo shoot for Apartment Therapy is set for Saturday. Finally! After postponing due to re-decorating (kitchen, office and 2 bathrooms!) 2 weeks of illness while Mister and I both suffered through the flu and several schedule conflicts later, it's finally happening. For those of you that may be reading for the first time, I sent a few snap shots of our home to AT back in September 2007 to see if they might be interested in sharing them in their Apartment Therapy :: Chicago section, and they were! Just like that! Overnight celebrity status looming in the distance and here I am with white walls. WHITE WALLS! Granted, there were only 4 of them, and they were in the bathroom...but still, white walls? Not in this house. And why stop there? Let's tile the kitchen walls! And I really have been meaning to do something about my office, and then there's my bathroom/dressing room/now ultra-feminine-girly-dress-up room to think about. 5 months later, we're just about ready. I have a few last minute things and pick up. My absolute fav couture florist's, Ashley and Peter are creating gorgeousness with French Tulips that will be ready tomorrow. Ashley and Peter do things with flowers that other people only think about before they chicken out. I'm hoping the dogs don't destroy the house before Saturday and that this beautiful spring weather holds out for just a few more days.

So that's the house. I'm sure some of you are thinking, "yes, that does sound like a lot of work, but we know jenni. That can't be all. It'd take more than that to keep her from her blog!" (i'm shaking my head in shame)

To you, my faithful few, I give you Part II. The baby announcements. No silly! Not my baby announcements, as in, my bun-in-the-oven announcements. I mean my baby announcement(s), as in, I made them myself. Ok, background story, a couple of weeks ago I was looking at the results of my online advertising campaign with Yahoo and I noticed that all of the traffic being routed to my site at Terrapin was coming from searches done for custom invitations, specifically, baby announcements. It made me crazy to think about all the potential clients I was turning away by not having anything to offer. So I designed 12 cards in 4 days. They aren't all gold records, but a few of them turned out to be pretty cute and funny. My favorite is the one below. Nothing like that New Baby Smell!

No sales yet, but there are women getting pregnant everyday, so I have my fingers crossed.

What else, what else? I'm still totally addicted to yoga. Last night I drove out to Naperville and took a class with my old personal trainer Mike Retterer. It was great! He has a great mix of traditional and hybrid poses and he mixes Yin with Vinyasa Flow for a really intense class. It was shorter than I'm used to, but I am actually more sore today then I have been in weeks. I'm trying to organize a day for a few of my girlfriends to get together at my house and do a yoga and breakfast/dinner party. Mike has promised to teach a private class in my red room if I get at least 4 people and I have 3 yes's so far, so it looks like it could happen soon!

A few last things, my amazing mom-in-law Linda had a birthday on Feb. 28. Happy Birthday mom! I hope you and a wonderful day. I'm hand-making your gift and I promise I will get it out to you next week!

My other mom, my mom mom, has just begun to work on several gorgeous pieces of lingerie for her new line, Suggar Britches. I'll be building her an equally yummy site, so stayed tuned for more info on that.

AND... Mister starts his new job on Monday. It's engineering and it's in government labs at Motorola. I could say more, but then I'd have to kill all of you. Just kidding. I honestly don't understand what my husband does for living. I try, but, there's math.

Anyway, I imagine that he slides down a pole every morning into an underground laboratory where they've already invented a flying car and monkeys are as smart as men. Oh... and his shoe is a phone and his pen is a bomb. Or do I have that backwards? I can never keep those little details straight and that's exactly why I'm not allowed to talk about Mister's job in my blog.

It's late and my stupid stinky dog-heads are whining to go to bed. G'nite - jenni

I apologize for the low-level effort in today's post. I have stomach flu and I'm in no mood to be chatty. So while I may not be very funny, the following Parenting pamphlet is quite amusing. enjoy . xoxo- jenni

p.s. click the image to open an enlarged view.

XOXO

This day is dedicated to the love of my life.

Happy Anniversary Mister. I love you with all my heart.

xoxox, your mrs.

Triple Letter Score

It's been snowing a lot in Chicago. It snows, melts and freezes and snows again. Sometimes all in the same day. Sometimes it snows so much so quickly that Mister and I are trapped in the house waiting for Mr. Plow to come and do the driveway. On days like that it's good to have a lot of things around to keep you entertained.

Several months ago during the holiday buying frenzy, we picked up some board games with the intention of spending some quality time together and we finally made good on that idea.

We had our choice of Scrabble or Jenga. We chose Scrabble and this was Mister's first time playing. I know...unbelievable, but true. I guess when you're a Mensan board games, no matter how wordy, just seem to fall below the radar.

So here is our game. I make REST, Mister turns it into ARRESTIVE. I can't even take credit for BLOG! I thought about challenging him a couple of times but I was too lazy to retrieve the 40 lb. unabridged dictionary. Then I tried to cheat by making up words that sounded real like subquient. In the end I lost. He kicked my ass 200 to 130 on his first try. He even read the rule book, something I can honestly say I never bothered to do.


Ahh... to be married to a genius. I really am quite proud. xoxoxo-jenni

Ahh.... That's Better

I know it's been awhile since my last post, but I've returned with the results of my office makeover! If you are a regular reader of my blog, you'll remember that a couple of weeks ago I was complaining about the general chaos that was whirling around me in the form of red-orange paint, a half-finished tree mural and enough crap on the walls to put a TGIFridays to shame.

My office was in desperate need of a Design on Dime makeover. So with IKEA a mere 20 minutes away and a Vintage/Asian/Seaside theme steering my thoughts, I embarked upon my most ambitious decorating project to date.

Since it was color that prompted this redecorating frenzy, choosing a new color was my biggest challenge. After spending a year in a room painted one-shade hotter than the sun; I was looking forward to a nice cool palette. Something equivalent to a mental mint. I eventually arrived at Livable Green and Transport Gray. It's very calm and just a bit institutional, which I find oddly soothing.

After the room was repainted I waited a few days before I dove into the actual work of redecorating. I really wanted to approach the project from a more organized place than I usually come from and that meant NOT throwing everything back up on the walls. It also meant measuring, leveling, sinking anchors and using common sense in general.

I hope you enjoyed taking a peek at my new office. If you have a room or a corner or a shelf that you've walked past one hundred times and thought, " I should do something with this" I hope this inspires you to get started on your own project. xoxox - jenni

Busy Beaver Beats Cabin Fever

Ok, my last entry was a bit of a downer and I apologize for that. When I first started this blog I made myself a secret promise that I would only use this venue for good. There was going to be one place in my life where I was always positive. No whining, no complaining. I have tried to stick to it and when it gets away from me, I remind myself that I am here to inspire... if only myself and I check my crap at the door.

I used crap instead of S**T because I've noticed an excessive amount of profanity spewing out of me lately. It stared last weekend at a Champagne Girl's Night. The F-word was everywhere that night and since then it has become a regular guest in my sentence structure. I can't seem to compose a thought that doesn't need to be propped up by the ever-mailable F-word. When you don't have little kids around it's easy to forget your manners in respect to naughty language. I'm giving myself a written warning.

Sorry..I'm off topic.

As I was saying... I strive to inspire, so I am presenting a photo roll of my weekend DIY projects. I had hoped to be able to include a picture of a new pair of pajama bottoms from an Amy Butler pattern, but I ran out of steam after lunch. Maybe this week.

Rubber stamped rocks.

I can't be the only person who's ever done this. My next rock project will involve much larger rocks, tiny seed beads and the Virgin of Gaudalupe. Stay tuned.

Rubber stamped picture frame.

I was rubber stamping anything that would stand still this weekend. Thankfully, the dogs were too fast for me...this time. I went to IKEA last week and picked up a bunch of those $1 wood frames to use in my office re-decorating project and I came up with this. Again, I KNOW I'm not the first person to stamp a frame but I am pleased with the results.

close up of throw pillows

I picked up a few yards of cool fabric from Ikea and I whipped up these pillows for the living room with my new machine. I thought I'd better start out with a couple of easy projects. It's the smartest machine ever and I love her so! I need to get these scotch-guarded or The Cashes' will trash em' in a week.

I heart Johnny Cash

close up of pillow shams

I tried to make a blouse with this fabric but it was a few inches shy of a full 2 yrds. and mister showed an interest in the print, so I made pillow shams instead.

the boudoir

So that's it for now. My office is being repainted on Tuesday. I've chosen a very calming pale pale greenish-white for 3 walls and a nice grayish-green for an accent wall behind my desk. I can hardly wait to start redecorating. I'll share my after pictures when it's all done. xoxo-jenni

Change Can Be A Good Thing

Bleh. Bleeehh. I've got winter blues. It's not quite so serious as seasonal depression, but there's definitely a funk.

I'm obsessing over my office. It's the wrong...everything. Please see photo below.
If you begin to feel light-headed, look away, as this may be an early warning sign of a seizure. SERIOUSLY. How can I be expected to concentrate on work when this is going on around me? When Mister and I moved into our new home, many of the rooms had already been painted. Actually, ALL the walls had already been painted. Some rooms, like my office, got a royal Earl Shibe color treatment. "We'll paint any room for $99!" As a result we have a baby blue guestroom, Mister has a not-quite-turquoise green office and my office resembles tomato soup from a can. But painting was the last thing we were thinking about when we moved in 3 days before Christmas. But it's been a year and when I look at the picture above I realize that I've spent the last year trying to cover up my walls.

But what to do when you're in a funk and you know that you're prone to making drastic changes to relieve ennui? I have about a 50/50 failure vs. success ratio when it comes to impulse decisions. (My husband is reading this and thinking more like 90/10) I've had more bad hair cuts/colors than good and at least one tattoo I wish wasn't there at least once in awhile.

It seems like a plan might be a good idea. Logical, right? I have never uttered the words "Let's think about it and come up with a plan." This is uncharted territory for me. But I feel a real need to alter my space and I want to do it right . I'd like to try to establish a design and not just rely on my flair for the eclectic.

So I am happily reading through my cache of inspirablogs and I get to decor8 and she just happens to have posted a magnificent piece about a potter in Denmark. Just what I needed. And I thought it apropos an earlier post of mine about the impact one artist's work can be on another. The spaces these artist's create it can be just as inspiring as the art they create.
xoxo-jenni

Is This Another Ebay Auction?

I hear this pretty frequently from our mailman, Greg. Greg's a nice guy. He has very few requests; shovel your walkway, pay your postage due, be kind to children and animals. Ok, that last one is mine, but I couldn't think of a third thing. That's how nice he is! I can't even think of 3 things!

He always brings cookies for my dogs and he never complains about the weather. And occasionally, like once a week, he'll query as to whether or not the package he has risked life & limb for by crossing our unsalted walkway (hey..we shoveled!) is an Ebay auction.

I'm not sure why it matters one way or another. I mean, if I was a freelance surgeon working out of my house, would he enjoy delivering my packages more if he thought they were kidneys? Do my Ebay auctions say more about me than I realize? Am I consumption-happy? Are these boxes and their contents' a trite and materialistic display of gluttony?

As a begin my decent down the shame-spiral I remind myself that everyone, or at least everyone I know, loves to get something nice in the mail. Whether it be a little hand written card, (my mom-in-law, Linda is really wonderful for these!) or a free sample of fabric softener or an Ebay auction; everyone likes to get mail.

Maybe that's the problem with Greg. Maybe he hates to get mail. What's Mister always saying...the baker's kids have the worst shoes? Or cobbler? I dunno, but you get my drift. Maybe handling the mail all day has bred contempt deep in his heart. Well Greg...if you're out there, I'd like to share with you the Ebay package I received on Monday. I hope you find it as inspiring as I do. xoxo -jenni

click on the picture to enlarge
These are pages from the Neiman Marcus 100th Anniversary Pop-Up Book.

"The girl is crafty like ice is cold!"

As I mentioned in my last post, Christmas was wonderful! I got everything that I asked for and then some. This year was a crafty Christmas and in my opinion, that's the best kind! Mister gifted me with a nifty 'lil sewin' machine called the Quilt Designer II.

That's Husqvarna for y'all that don't know. It's hella nice! I haven't really cranked her up yet because I need a little one and one class time to fully understand all that she has to offer. I want to understand her inner workings so that I never take her for granted. She's that important to me. I pause now to consider my reading audience ... does that read creepy?

Anyhoo. My very generous hoosband also gave me the Speedball Block Printing Kit and I got myself some rubber block and voila! My first rubber stamps! I must say..I'm pretty pleased with my first attempts.

owl + mermaid JI 08/AP

The last thing that I want to leave you with are these 2 fantastic photos. The first is a 'tagged' tree. It's part of a movement of non-destructive eco-friendly graffiti projects that are taking place all over the globe. Most notably, the Knitta, Please! group.

This second photo is the sculpture “In Bed” by Ron Mueck. Many of you have probably already see this piece or other pieces by the artist, but they are so cool I'm sure no one would mind another peek at them. But for those of you who are seeing this for the first time, I'm hoping your reaction is something like " Brilliant!" (thank you to Kristin)

It's images and concepts like this and the tree sweater that inspire me and fuel my creative work. I depend on like-minded individuals everywhere to take up the cause of art in a public forum. Even if it's only to make something small and post your creation for others to view. You never know what kind of impact your art can have another person. That's why art is so profound and why it needs a greater, wider audience. So, thank you guerrilla knitters and giant lady sculptures, you make this a livelier world! xoxo- jenni