Feeling a Tad Bit....

Overwhelmed.  Yep.  Me.  Overwhelmed.  I am not one that usually gets this kind of wound up before a show.  Now I get wound up about things....but more because I am beyond excited about what is happening.   I like everything to be perfect for a show down to the last detail.  But this is an in the gut freak out show is here I am NOT READY KIND OF OVERWHELM.  Whew.  I said it.  And I am shaking.  And I am blogging instead of painting?

But before I go here is what I came home with yesterday.  65 frames for my little tiles!  Wooohooo!  Looking at them all stacked up was freaking me out.   Until I actually sat down and glued the tiles in, hammered the hangers and signed them all. 

This is by far my favorite printed item to sell.  Makes me giggly looking at them all!!  Oh and the paintings behind the tiles are another giggly thing to look at.  Almost done, they need their lines filled and their frames.  I am loving the bigger paintings.  Love.  Puffy hearts all around.  Ok.  So I am calming down a bit now.  Thanks for listening.  I'll be back hopefully before Friday to share some more finished products.  Friday is Show DAY!!!!!  Sweetwater420 Festival.....come see me!!

May Have Found My Sport of Choice

Not what you expected to see me doing in this blog today, right?

This past weekend William and I were participants in the 4-H State BB Match.  The event was held at our State's 4-H camp at Rock Eagle.  A most impressive camp I must say!!  I won't bore you with all the details and there are more photos here.  But let's just say the other Coaches (Dads) dared me to do the coach shoot.  They jokingly said "Jenni they give awards for the lowest shot too!"  Now, I've shot guns before.  Yep.  But never the Daisy BB gun at the tiny targets.  In fact, I'd never even looked through the sight.  William was not helping the matter either.  He too was joking that I was not going to be ANY good.  Well, let's see:

Yep.  They were all taking back their giggling.  This little blondie did do quite well for herself in the 5 minutes we had to shoot all 10 targets (kids are given a 1min prep period and 10 minutes to shoot)!!  Given William and I were giggling and carrying on so I think given some time and a little guidance I just might enjoy this sport.  And you don't even break a sweat!

But seriously, this is what the match was really about....being the best Coach I can to this amazing little boy. He rocks the prone position....then the rest are all over the board.  We giggle, we fuss, we challenge each other's patience, but it is so worth it.  It's our thing we do together.   With more practice and the determination I know he has in him, he'll do fine next year.  OH, and I should also mention that this sport has written gun safety tests that play a huge role in the overall scoring.  Isn't that cool? 

Guns in waiting above at camp.  Below is a long view of the match.  We had 547 shooters in this Georgia State Match.  There were 7 relays with about 100 firing points being shot at once.  It was an amazing site.  everyone starting at command.  Everyone stopping at command.  Works flawlessly because of the amazing coaching, and by coaches I don't mean coaches like me.....I mean the volunteers like our Coach Chris.   And most of these team coaches don't even have kids in the program but volunteer their time to the sport because they love it.  And what a wonderful gift they give our kids.  William and I can't wait until next season.  We are working on Mailey to join the team too......make a family sport out of it!  So how'd you spend your weekend??

The Vintage-Flea... A Little Slice of Newnan Goodness

I have a permanent booth in a sweet little shop in Newnan.  It's called The Vintage-Flea!  Together with Natalie of Grit and Grace (isn't that a fabulous business name?)  we create a unique shopping experience in our 7x12' space.  She carries amazing asseccories, tees, dresses, purses, etc.  We scatter my little joyful creations into the space and voila!  Instant shopping bliss. 

So if you are looking for a fun day out and about come on to Newnan.  We have a special square with loads of unique shopping and yummy eats!!

Field Trip Friday!!

Hey guys!!  Well, it's Spring Break week here in Georgia.  And boy have we filled our week with "Staycation" activities.  Along with all the Atlanta suburbanites it's felt like!  Crazy crowds everywhere cool to go.  But it's been fun.  Today Mailey and her BFF attended Camp H20 at the Georgia Aquarium.  I know, very cool thing to get to do.  It was a behind the scenes camp including VIP treatment for the new Dolphin show.  They loved it.  And Momma, well she took FULL advantage of the day and hit some fun spots of her own.  And not once did I get lost, have to jump start the van, blow a tire, get towed, or lock my keys in the car!  For those of you giggling right now, there was a story.....just not one I can share here.  There's always a story when it comes to me and a road trip.  So at 8am in Atlanta there is not much open.

But I did make my way over to the Atlantic Station Target.  Man I love a good Target.  I mean, where else could you find such an amazing Anthropologie inspired dress like the yellow one above for a mere $27.99!  (and since I ended up having to wear it all day...the story... and got a zillion compliments and "you got that where?" statements it was a good buy.)   I spent 1.5 hours in Target looking in places I didn't even know existed!  I also scored some fabulous outdoor lights for the Sweetwater 420 Fest.  There are some dark hours during that show and I want my customers to be dazzled when they walk into my tent!!

Next the orange van and I traveled across the city to the Atlanta Gift Market.  I was in need of some findings from Yousef.  And look what I found along the way!!  OOOOOweeeeee!  Beautiful clay flowers.  I have absolutely no idea what I'll be doing with these, but I have them in the bag of tricks for a rainy day.  I also can not ever leave that place without buying a strand of blue beads.  And the dreamy aqua faceted ones now in my possession are too pretty to use.  Yep.

Next stop was Saga Selection.  If you need a neck, or any type of form for that matter (they even have feet...ewwww) they have the best selection.  They also have the clear bags, the tags, the stickers, the well just about everything you need to display and sell jewelry.  I needed some simple necks for the new jewelry.  And these white burlap ones look like they were made for my booth.  So exciting when a plan comes together!

With the need to buy list all complete I had oh, about 4 more hours to kill.  So off I wandered into this and that store, you know, the want stores.  One store I found the sweetest jewelry ever for my booth at The Vintage-Flea.  Since there it doesn't have to all be handmade I can slip a few favorite finds into the mix.  Look at this super duper bike!!!!

There are sample rooms a plenty on the 7th floor.  And of course, I have favorites.  Like Ahn and Ahn.  And no I did not need anther white shirt, but I own it now!  (I could literally wear white tops and jeans everyday of my life)

I showed considerable restraint during this shopping trip to the Mart.  Maybe it was because I was traveling alone, or maybe it was the stuffed closet I stand in everyday, or better yet maybe it's the fact that everything I buy right now I compare to how many gallons of paint it equals.  Because if we get the new house, I'll need about 100.  :)

With the Mart trip under my belt and still 2 hours to go until picking up the girls, I headed back over to the Midtown area....in particular the new Anthropologie.  I had a return to make.  But seriously who can resist a store like that.  I could live there.  If they'd let me.   And since I'd forgotten my receipt, and these glasses were saying, "Jenni....you can wear me to shows and look so cute in the booth because I am Mattie blue".  I bought them.  Oh and the store girls also loved my yellow dress....hehehehe

Magnet Love

Like my refrigerator art?  The sunflowers on the left Mailey painted in my afterschool art class and the poster on the right is a favorite find on etsy.    No, I am not doing a post on refrigerator art.  Nah.... Rather look what's holding the beer poster up!

Fresh off the printing press are MAGNETS!!  Woohooo....I am so excited to be offering these.  And man did they turn out great!

There are 50 printed, packed and ready to go for show #1.  Which ironically enough is the Sweetwater 420 Fest.  The irony is that Sweetwater is my favorite beer.  A local Atlanta brew.   Sweet stuff I tell ya!  I hope if you live in the Atlanta area you'll come check these and all the new items I've been brewing up in the studio this week.  It starts Friday, April 15th at 4:20.  hehehe.....

The Truth

Yesterday while watching my son's baseball games and weaving little nest pendants I began to watch those around me.  Parents mingling with one another, making small talk all the while hoping that their son will make the next big hit or amazing play in the field.  You can see it in their eyes....the anticipation.  The boys are playing 11u travel ball.  It's "real" this year.  It's no more trophies, it's about points accumulated to play in the Little League World Series.  Yep.  Now please do not get me wrong, I LOVE to watch my William play.  He is amazing.  But what really inspires me is how they as a team have begun to know each other, and can anticipate plays.  I love that they win as a team, as well as loose as a team. 

Sometimes I wish friendships could be a little like this.  I wish my team could anticipate when I need more or less room at the plate.  Or when I hit a homerun they are all on that plate chanting like mad men!  Better yet, after striking out they are in the dugout saying, "man, you'll get it next time!"  Yes, I want those around me to know my heart. 

So as I navigate the silence today, working toward goals in the studio the team will be back at the field.  Cheering one another on as parents watch in anticipation.   Of course I know I'm not all alone in the studio.....you guys are right here with me in the journey.   And I am pretty sure you know my heart.  :)

Field Trip Friday!!

Hey guys!!  It's been awhile since I shared a field trip with you.  And boy is this a fun one!!  So last Friday my artsy buddy Laura and I headed off on an adventure for the day.  First stop, the bead store.  The bead store.....

 Isn't it dreamy?   Ooooooooooo......it'll make your head swim it's so......beady........

In actuality it's completely a totally overwhelming head spinny place to visit.  I always go with a detailed list in hand.  Always.  Plus I have a certain aesthetic I look for.  Sometimes it's a bit like looking for a needle in a haystack.  The one strand I wanted like ten million of she had none of.  Bummer.  But I did score some amazing beads for the new necklace designs and  30 feet of brass chain.  My new favorite bead is a laboradite.  It's quite dreamy.  And my bag FULL of beady dreaminess was only $124.00.  Yep. 

Next stop on our list was to head to the highlands....Virgina Highlands that is.  This is the city I BEGGED Billy to live in when we were looking for homes 15 years ago.  It's hip, trendy, artsy, and oh the houses are amazing!!  But alas, I lost and we became suburbanites.  Sigh..... So now I get to visit and enjoy the city when I want.  It's not like it's hours away.  Virginia Highlands has a hip street of shopping.  Our first stop was a store that unfortunately was closing that had some of Laura's amazing jewelry pieces.  Got them, a nice stash of cash, and off we went.  Next stop was lunch.  Ok.  Now I am going to go overboard with this.  So just bear with me.  But seriously it deserves an overboardness.  This may be my new favorite eating spot.  Yeah! Burger.  And by that I mean Yeah! Burger is the name.  Although after eating it, you will shout YEAH!

So why does a burger joint deserve such excitement?    Because it is crazy good.  First you choose the meat.....organic beef, organic chicken, organic bison, or the organic veggie burger.  Then you choose the bun:  fresh baked white, wheat or gluten free.  I must stop now and tell you that NEVER have I had such delight from a bun on my palette.  Nope.  I usually go bun less.  Big fan of lettuce burgers.  But here I will ALWAYS go bun.  Then the topping list goes on and on....all local and organic.  Even the dang ketchup is organic!!  OH and organic local pickles are a must.  Because pickles and I......well I love them.  Fries can be gluten or non-gluten, but are all hand cut.  Then the sauce choices comes into play.  Now I am a fan of the YEAH!  sauce.  Can't explain it.  It's smokey, and yet sweet.  And it is so good I imagine you could put it on ice cream.  Yep. 

This is a multi-napkin meal.  I must warn you.  But when you are done, sitting back and rubbing your rather robust belly from the yummy meal, you will indeed thank me for suggesting it.  Yep.  In case you are wondering where this delightful YEAH! place is, check the heart Virginia Highlands, can't miss it and then Mid-town on Howell Mill Road.  BTW, my buddy Tiffin is totally to blame for my now obsession with eating here.  hehehhee....