Crafting is a luxury you can afford

 

 

 

I've brought this up before but ... I really do love doing the Hannah Grey design team thing. The package of stuff arrives at my door and it's more than just great supplies. It's a nudge...it's a little craft fairy pushing me toward my worktable. So often you tend to forget your roots. Back when you crafted for the sake of crafting. Or those teenage years when you were bored and didn't really feel like calling anybody or seeing anybody. You plug in the glue gun, lay out your supplies, and after a little while you've got something. Something to keep, or hang up on your wall, or give as a gift. Even if it's not the greatest thing you ever made, it's still something. It's better than disappearing into the television. (Which ain't so bad sometimes...me and Aar have been on a kick of late night CSI Miami marathons...I don't think they intended for it play out like a comedy but that's how we watch it...Caruso and his shades are priceless!)

  But anyway, I always forget to craft for the sake of crafting. It's sort of a luxury, but it's one you should try to afford. 

  This is my latest effort for  the H.G.D.T.  The starting point was the vintage photo. The girls look so pretty and so happy and the pic kinda drew me in and made me wonder how they made out. Were they friends forever? Did they lose touch after a while? Was this photo very special to them both? That's what I love about old photos...all the questions they raise. Well that's how you can identify a good photo...how many questions does it raise... or answer? This particular photo was from a Paper Relics  "Vintage Valentine" collage sheet. Hope from Paper Relics has a really good eye for good stuff so her sheet was a great mood setter. The girls already had party hats on but I changed them to fit my color scheme. I LOVE old ledger paper...that's what's up in the top left corner. The rest is an assortment of old and new papers...the star of the show being that strip of vintage floral wallpaper. I then went for a big variety of textures...the tinsel pom poms, trims & lace, some perfect buttons...

 It was really fun to do and I like looking at it...win win. So go check out Hannah Grey and get your craft on.

 

 

 

 I got a super sweet email the other day from a stranger who is now a stranger no more! She's an antique dealer and was out scouting and came across something that she needed to send me. Well, here is that something she needed to send me and I am so glad she felt so compelled.  I love love love this little girl! She's crazed and aged to perfection and her mohair is still intact...a bit disheveled but still there! I swear to you...this is exactly what I look like in the morning. Aaron backs me up on that. It's spot on...except I have blue eyes...but other than that...exact. She currently sits on our coffee table and is only referred to as "Jenny in the morning". Thanks so much Maureen! You are a prime example of those people who "add" to the world. Giving gifts to strangers is at the top of list of goodness.

  Gestures like this obliterate the bad vibes I spoke of in the last post. The nay sayers, jealous jerks, and stealers disappear.  And to bring up last post once more...I Read and loved your comments. And I've been around to a lot of blogs lately with similar tales of woe. I cringe when I hear these tales coming from some of the sweetest people out there. Like, I know myself and who I am and my values and all that. But there are gals out there who are just sweet as sugar. Gals who never say a cross word about anybody and would lay down in traffic for a stranger...and these gals have to deal with negativity on their blogs, on Flickr, etc...Oh well, we know the deal. What more can we say? I guess the best thing is to always shed light on it. Maybe always get the vibes off your own chest. Tell us when somebody is talkin' a bunch of mumbo jumbo. Point out the stuff that makes you feel crummy. Pretend that blogland is your doctor. Name your symptoms and we'll see what we can do about it. But now onto some eye delicious stuff...

 

 

I cannot get enough One Ripe Peach! Does this gal ever run out of cute-as-a-button ideas?! Every little tid bit makes me so so happy! Definitely in my top 5 favorite shops on Etsy. Just look at these! She has new listings almost daily. She's got seasonal stuff, everyday stuff...perfect stuff. I really can't get enough!

 

 

I leave you with my latest Flickr faves. I'm reallllly digging this mosaic. I know I use the word often but geez these pics are dreamy!

 

xoxo, Jenny

Tow Boats on the Mississippi River

We were really surprised at how many towboats or pushboats were operating on the river considering that the water was continuing to rise. Years ago we were fortunate enough to take a Rhine River cruise from Amsterdam to Basil Switzerland and there were hundreds of smaller "freighters" actually family liveaboard type barges. These on Mississippi and other major rivers here in the states push as many as 20 barges at one time.

In Vicksburg down on the river there is a display being put together showing these pushboats up close. It appears they draw very little draft and seeing the props you can see how they are able to power the barges around even in shallow water. I don't know how big the engines are but to drive the as many barges as they do they would have to quite powerfull
In viewing this ship its really much bigger than they appear on the water and from the looks of the cabin structure they must have a fair size crew. Passengers maybe?
Another thing I found kind of interesting was how little freeboard (distance from water to deck) there was. If you were ever to go where there was any major wake from another boat it could be quite interesting.!
This boat has obviously been fixed up as it looked like it really should not have been on display but being used on the river. Maybe this is an outdated model of a type not being used anymore. Anyway, this is all on the waterfront in Vicksburg, Mississippi any worth seeing.

chipping away & ranting and raving.

 

 

 

We never ever have the luxury of completing a painting in a single sitting...or in a series of consecutive sittings. There are always orders to go out, lettering to paint, boards to be cut and primed. So we work on new paintings bit by bit. Sometimes tiny bit by tiny bit. And it's frustrating to see the finished product in your mind but you know it may be weeks until it's realized on the canvas. Every once in a while during the workday we'll go pick up the work-in-progress and say to one another " I can't wait 'til we finish this!"

  Well, this is the latest in completed paintings. And I have to say that this one benefited from the bit by bit method. This was so very near completion and I kept staring at that striped back wall and thought something was lacking. And then I thought "well, we hang up paintings of Charlotte-esque dolls in our real world...wouldn't it make sense that Charlotte would hang up photographs of real people in her make believe world?"...a sort of flipside of our reality. So we then made itty bitty prints of a couple of vintage cabinet cards (I showed you a few posts ago) and handpainted some frames around them. Right then I knew the painting was complete. We named this one The Recital. And regardless of how seriously little Charlotte takes her piano playing, we're much more interested in the way she's decorated her little conservatory. So much in the painting is modeled from elements around our apartment. The chandelier, toy piano, our kitchen floor and walls...though we changed the scale so they'd all make sense in the vignette. I really love the way this new one adds to the collection. The Well Read Raven, Charlotte, and Cupcake Girls are all close up shots whereas this one pulls back so more of the little world is revealed.

  If you're interested, we've now got it listed on Ebay and Etsy in two sizes: 11" x 14"  and 5 1/2" x 7",

 

 

Oh, and I decide to snap a pic of the stuff that keeps us from doing new paintings all the time. This photo represents a typical shipping day of stuff. Which isn't a truckload but keep in mind that all of that lettering is hand painted. We had it all lined up on a bench waiting to be boxed up and shipped out when I noticed how predominantly pink the scene was. And it's my fault. I mean, there are a lot of pink fans out there, but I have to ease up a bit with it and go towards my aqua, turquoise, and pale green tastes. Maybe I'll awaken a bunch of would-be customers! : ) It's shocking how many people out there are NOT fans of the color pink. I'll read somebody's likes and dislikes in a swap and they'll say "send me anything except pink...I despise pink!"  But that's what's awesome about swaps...a lot of times you gotta step out of your comfort zone. But I'm cool with all you pink haters out there because if you're a hater of a specific color then that means that you've probably got a definitive design identity. And that's always admirable.

 

 And speaking of design identity...I recently have had a handful of design stealers cross my path. And I don't mean emulation or inspiration...I mean straight up photocopies of our stuff for sale! Every once in a while I'll do random searches for stuff (ebay). Not like a detective, just curious searching I guess. And a few times now I've found our stuff...actually printed off, glued to plaques, photocopied and framed, etc...

  And I'm never ever mildly amused. I have to admit...I go nuts! And it's got nothing to do with feeling threatened or even slighted. It's more about integrity. I get really really mad when I think of somebody just pointing, clicking, and printing and saying "yup, this is mine now...and I'm gonna sell it." I mean, how crazy do you have to be?! What parts of your brain are in dysfunction?! What school taught you that?! It's just plain wacky.

  Anybody that does something like that knows that it is just plain wrong but they go and do it anyway. And like I said, I don't necessarily feel threatened or robbed. I just feel crummy about humanity at that very moment...and then I get mad at the person who made me have to feel that way. My heart rate immediately shoots through the roof. Aaron has to talk me down and tell me it's nobig deal...some people are less than desirable and we can't let them ruin our day. Eventually I come down off my furious horse and we deal with the situation accordingly...and aim for a positive outcome.

  And one more thing since it's on a sorta similar subject. The double edged sword of popularity. Recently Emily from The Black Apple was on Martha Stewart and I'm sure it was a thrill to do and a milestone business achievement for her. But it also opened her up to a much larger world than she's accustomed to. For thick skinned austere business types the experience would be a cakewalk. But Emily is like all of us tiny crafty gals. She's a sweetheart and comes from a real place of creative purity and honesty. There are no tricks up her sleeve. She does what she does because she loves it. The popularity just happens to follow. Anyway, after going on Martha she was inundated with comments on her blog...a lot of them sweet, encouraging and congratulatory. But then the nay sayers  came out of the woodwork with their buzzsaw tongues looking to cut down the popular girl. Some of the comments were just so spiteful and jealous. Mostly people sitting at home saying "I could do what you do if I wanted to...it's no big deal....you're not original." And then a lot were saying that Emily shouldn't be so protective of her Copyrights...that all us little people should be allowed to make dolls just like hers if we want to. One even had the gall to say "you can afford to spread the wealth." This last comment was of course was prompted by Martha singing Emily's praises and marveling at her yearly sales numbers on etsy.

  Well all of it just got me so sad. Because I know what it must've done to Emily. A totally cool experience like doing the Martha Stewart show had to be sullied by jealous jerks. And us crafty girls aren't like football players. We don't laugh in the face of nay sayers. We don't defy the odds and overcome massive adversity in the face of the media. We get sad and question our own motivations. We say "is this even worth it?....should I just get a day job and simply craft for myself?"

  The world of handcrafts shouldnot have a negative fringe...but it does. They're out there and they're gonna find us wherever we go. We just gotta stand shoulder to shoulder and fend them off. We gotta flood the do gooders with so many positive comments that the negative jerks and their spiteful words are rendered impotent. Ok, that's it with my ranting.

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 I finished another project using some of my Hannah Grey Design Team stuff. The Charlotte, "Queen for a Day" plaque was the first thing I wanted to tackle, but this little 3-D paperboard house was singing to me from day one. I started my gathering right away and chipped away at this over the past week. The starting point was that darling vintage photo on the front...the happy couple in front of their first home. That's the theme...the little love nest. And what love nest is complete without a little kitchen housewifery...The domestically decadent chocolate cake to crown the house warming. Check out the pic of the house beforehand. It's such a simple little product but the possibilities areendless. This would make and amazing girls night project. Pretty much just paper and glue and a scant few three dimensional elements. No painting, no sanding, no glue guns. A little paper and scissor project. I loved doing this. I'd love to make a lil neighborhood!. Pop over to Hannah Grey and get crafty!! They come in a set of two!! ..for only 3.95!!! Fun huh?

 

  Alrighty roo. Gotta go. Thanks for stopping by again. Warm as a bathtub here in Jersey. We might go out for a ride later on with the windows down. Or maybe we'll stay in and chip away at a new painting. ; ) 

xoxo, Jenny

Rocky Springs on the Natchez Trace

This year we decided to take the Natchez Trace home rather than one of the interstates and we had heard good things about the "Trace". It is a highway that was started in the 1930's that follows what was originally and old Indian and hunters trail from Natchez to Nashville and later a pathway that flatboatmen would follow home after drifting down the rivers to Natchez to sell their goods and even their boat for lumber before walking back on the Trace to home. Along the way there were various inns that they stayed at and Rocky Springs was the location of one of those stops along the way. The Trace today has three campgrounds along the way, one being at Rocky Springs. These campgrounds are free and really quite nice and with a short hike not too far from the Rocky Springs settlement or what is left of it today.... a brick church (still in use today) and abandoned house sites with a few old safes that must have been to heavy to haul away.


The picture above is one of the three safes we saw just left lying and now small monuments to times past. It sort of surprised us that this sort of thing has survived with little left of any buildings that may have been in the area. There were some cisterns from previous buildings but nothing else.
The church which has been well kept is still standing and having been in the brick business at one time it was fascinating to see how well some of the old hand made brick have survived after 250 years plus.
This detail at the grave yard I thought was really neat. It was part of a larger gate that has fallen in the typical disarray but unique to the rest of the stones and memorials in the cemetery behind the church.

The trees in the area were really kind of neat and almost something out of a Stephen King novel with all the creepy moss hanging from the limbs.
We both thought the picture above was strange too with the roots of tree reminding us of a spider. We thought the whole cemetery would be a good set for some ghoulish movie.
Between the moss and the trees and of course being in a cemetery we thought the place as unique particularly coupled with the history.

We stayed over night at the campground located there and moved on the next day. The highway is great in that they have a 50 MPH limit and there is little traffic for 450 miles. It is certainly a far cry from the interstates and a pleasure to drive. We probably averaged 45 miles an hour or less and saw beautiful country all along. There is (probably every 10 miles) a marked historical item with parking to stop and see from civil war sites to Indian burial grounds. A great trip if you not in a hurry! And Mississippi is a beautiful in the spring time!

Side visit to Vicksburg, Misssissippi

In the continuing saga of trying to post pictures I thought I would try to show you some pictures taken in Vicksburg of TRAINS!!!!

The city of Vicksburg is on quite a bluff with a lower level and maybe a former ferry site at the base near the water ...... lots to see.

Old Train yards

An old turntable without any roundhouse but neat and old

There was a new shed where the old roundhouse may have been

It still seems to be used though difficult to figure how or to do what?

Queen for a Day

The other day my first Hannah Grey design team package arrived. I couldn't wait to dig in and get to work on something. In the box there was an array of goodies... Jenni Bowlin rub-ons , a collage sheet from Paper Relics, stickles glues, an mdf crown, and more. What I like about the whole concept is the responsibility to be creative. They send me this stuff and it's my duty to get busy with the crafting skills. So without a moments pause I grabbed my first challenge: the mdf crown plaque.

I definitely had no surefire plan. I have to admit I did a lot of blank staring. It could've went in so many directions. So I started digging in the crates of supplies for some visual stimuli to get the wheels turning and I happened upon a perfect sized print of our Charlotte and thought 'this plaque will be Charlotte as Queen for a Day.' It was really easy after that. The crown shape was already there for me. All I had to do was give it some texture, and for me vintage sheet music is at the top of the texture list. And then I needed a pretty background pattern for Charlotte and some three dimensional details to set her off. These mdf plaques are available at Hannah Grey so you can do your own version. The first step was gluing on the pink polka dot paper, using the plaque itself to trace out the exact shape. Second, I cut out Charlotte and glued her right over the polka dot paper. You can use a photo of you or someone special, or an "instant relative" pic you find at a junk shop or flea market...blow it up to the proper size on a color copier. Or snap a picture of an actual vintage doll and do the same. Next choose your patterned paper for the crown. Again use the plaque itself as the stencil to trace out the crown shape. And you don't have to get it perfect. Imperfect edges are easily handled later on with a bit of sandpaper. To soften the borderline where the crown meets the head use a bit of rick rack, tinsel trim, crepe paper, etc...To embellish the crown use vintage buttons, sequins, rhinestones, etc... I finished her off with a chipboard C for Charlotte and sprinkled it with some aqua glass glitter.

I love mdf as a work surface. It's so smooth and I love the heavy, chunky feel of the plaque in my hands. And it's a fairly thick plaque so you can paint the outer edge a color or add another patterned paper as trim.

I made this Queen for a Day start to finish on the day the Hannah Grey package arrived. I loved how she came out and was psyched to send Shosh the pics so she could see that I was an enthusiastic new teammate! And Shosh seemed to like her too. She asked if Charlotte could pack her bags and go on the road to some trade shows over the next few months. I was just getting used to seeing my little queen up on her shelf and I'm sending her off into the world already! Well, you do your best to raise 'em right and one day they're gonna head out into the big wide world. ; )

Thanks to all of you who left such sweet comments on Flickr...very encouraging. And I'll be at work on some more Hannah Grey stuff this week. Definitely go check out their stock when you get the chance.

Oh and handful of you gals have asked how big this crown plaque is...10 inches!! Really a fabbbb size!!!

Got an amazing package of pretties and supplies from Lilia at Fleamarket Studio . There is never ever a shortage of beautiful stuff in her shop! I could stare at these handmade vintage crepe paper and millinery flowers all day. So dreamy! The vintage Cocoa Soap box has got to be one of my favorite things in a while. As a collected group the stuff looks so fab but really each individual item is a treasure on it's own. That's telling of Lilia's excellent talent and eye for detail. So stylish. Love the stuff!!!

Once again my girl Ellen over at One Ripe Peach has me smiling like crazy! Look at these tiny little baby cards!!! too too cute!

I will be sending one or two off to a dear friend very soon. I especially love the "mother" tags! Ellen adds super cute things weekly and sometimes daily! You never know what you will find or what you have missed! : ( but she does do custom orders in case you missed out on something.

A brand new place for cute and colorful vintage supplies: Nickelcandy! A new shop by Sadie Lou. Very fun stuff. I picked up these candy colored trims and I know I will be back for more soon! Pop over and see what's new for yourself.

More good stuff from Pink Grapefruit over on Etsy! I gushed about her a few posts ago...it is my new favorite place to shop! The ledger and the song book are awesome. In the ledger there are not only tons of someone's personal recipes but some amazing journal entries dating back to 1920. Each entry starts with the word "remember". Sample opening lines: "Remember when it rained this morning Sun." "Remember when our Ford was stold at the Methodist in Charleston Sun." It is so cool. Very "rural" sounding. I love it. Also this whole gang of "instant relatives", this cute vintage jar with floral lid, and a mix of vintage white/cream buttons. My goodness this girl has some stash! I could buy her entire store in one sitting!

How adorable are these little Spring tags!? These and the bundles of pastel pipe cleaners are from Amy Elise. I just love how she dresses up her wares. I'd say she takes her presentation seriously but I think "seriously" would be a great misnomer for just how whimsically she puts things together! : )

Well last week was the kick off of Show and Tell Sundays on flickr . That was buttons...and this week it's vintage millinery. So here's my contribution. You gotta go on Flickr and check out the dizzying dozens. So much eye candy you might go into sugar shock!

One last thing. We want Spring now! We're just not there yet here in Jersey. So to generate some momentum we're having a special on our Springtime Greeting kit. Free shipping ! We shipped out a bunch when we debuted it and now we're starting to see some completed projects on the Flickr group and we're psyched to see the results! So, if you're feeling crafty and springy go over to Etsy and pick up a kit and get free shipping. We're currently at work on a couple more kit ideas...we love the whole concept of spreading the artistic bug around so expect lots more in the kit department from us.

Ok, that's it for now. Gonna go watch a horror movie!

xoxo, Jenny

aoljflickrAdd, aoljflickrAdd_3

Natchez, Mississippi

Wow.....where to begin....This beautiful, quaint little town of about 16,000 people on a ridge above the Mississippi River is a wonder. First, its the oldest established community on the Mississippi River. Formerly one of the richest communities in the US thanks to the cotton grown in this area and now a great place to visit and probably live any time of the year. Lots of good resturants, great architecture and plantation homes that are unbelievable.

Marge and I arrived Friday morning and set up camp in Vidalia, Louisana accross the river from Natchez. Natchez is built on a high ridge above the water and its apparent that Vidalia has had and is susceptable to flooding. In fact the river is cresting a record highs right now and our campground is between the river and the levy with the water still rising. According to the news, its a few feet off a record but if there is any more rain it could be very interesting!!! A note of interest is that the river barge traffic has been slowed and halted in some areas as the current is exceptionaly fast and movement of the large barge "trains" causes some stress to the low lying areas and levy's.

Between us we have taken almost 200 pictures of this area and I will try to post some of the more interesting below

Lousy picture but shows flooding on Vidalia, Lousiana side of river.

Under the bridges between Natchez and Vidalia

Casino flooding at the riverfront in Natchez

150 year old plus home (?) office (?)

Covered walks in dowtown Natchez

Rosalie Mansion at the edge of the ridge above the river.

Typical downtown street

Pictures posted but not without problems will try to do more in the next few days . We leave Natchez in the morning heading north along the Natchez Trace