Changes and someone's listening...

It was  a busy week around here. You know how I've been complaining about my job for the last two years because of the super early hours? Well, two weeks ago, my boss asked me if I wanted to change positions and work from home a few days a week, setting my own hours. I, of course, jumped on it.

   It confirmed for me, even more, that someone was listening. The thing is, I've been praying about my job and my art goals for the year, and really wanting and needing more time to work on my artwork. Since I have to bring in an income the only option for me was  to look for another job ( which I had been looking for, but finding one to work around my husband's schedule with a little one at home was next to impossible.). With the job I work now, The hours a week could vary. Some weeks I'd work 5 days some 2 . On days I worked, I had get up at 3 and 4 am, and not only would I be wrecked for the day, but after doing a few days in a row, completely spent for the whole week and painting and creating was the last thing on my mind, not to mention not being such a good mom a lot of the time. 

It was like some one had handed me  a gift.

I'll have regular daytime hours and a set amount of hours a week I can count on... And time to work on my things when my daughter is in preschool. 

So beside finishing up my job for this week, I had training for my new position which I start next week.

  It only confirms for me that I am on the right track and I am actually doing what I am supposed to be doing, and taking opportunity as it comes.

  My good friend, Anne, and I joke about "living the dream" but as hokey as it sounds, maybe I am one step closer to achieving it.

So I am very excited to begin another small step toward living that dream. 

And I am very thankful.

Jen

February funk and a refreshing our rooms party......

I have to admit it.

I have a bad case of the February funk's.

 I am so tired of seeing the cold and the grey and the drab. I don't feeling like doing anything but crawling in bed with the groundhog for another 6 weeks.

 I've even noticed in blogland, posting seems down, visits are down and it seems like everyone is waiting.....

I know spring is only a few weeks away, but it seems like forever....

I think maybe we need a party?

Maybe we need to see things in a whole new light?

Let's shake off this February funk and catch some Spring decorating fever.

 Let's refresh and rearrange our rooms to give them a whole new look and  feel. Pick one room and brighten it. Add pillows, move a couch, swap chairs or drapes from one room to another, change a lampshade! Even if the only thing you buy is some flowers, let's shake off this February Funk and welcome in  March.

Monday, March 7th

Jen

Some Boho love....

Way back last October when Anne Marie and I were brainstorming for this next sale, we knew we wanted a lot of color and texture, the feeling of Italy, but the romance of Bohemia. Even though things were still very neutral, we were craving color. We had talked about tenting and draping fabric, and large puffy pillows. We even decided to have a "Boho Ball" Friday night instead of  vintage ball gown night ( Believe it or not, we are already talking about the next sale theme for October 2011.). Suddenly this season is all about adding color back.In home decor, it's coming back slowly, and I've heard that fashion is a year ahead of home decor. 

I've been looking for something to wear or make for the Boho Ball and came across these outfits.

 We are surrounded by color  and pattern and I am loving it. Like these amazing dresses from Tracey Porter.

And  Anthropologie

And this site I found: Modcloth. It has some really cool and  affordable clothes.

Are you feeling the Boho love? How do you feel about adding color back into home decor? 

Jen

The new girls in town....

I've been working on more Santos dolls between swearing at my chair.  I am really getting into the process of creating them and then giving them their own history. Sometimes I almost think my dolls are more like art dolls. They take on a personality of their own after a while. 

I have to admit to sneaking and peeking over at the site Santos cage Dolls . The dolls they have are so gorgeous and they have these little crowns I keep thinking about buying to put on mine. it's a pretty cool site.

But I still have to admit. I love sculpting my dolls and creating them; but they still creep me out a  tiny bit.

I swear their little eyes follow me around the room.

I know, I have issues. But, just keepin' it real.

Any way....  :) meet...

   Bird Molly. She's a kind soul, with a heart that wants to fly. 

 Helene. You can depend on her for strength and guidance.

 And  The Mother. Everything about her encompasses love.

In her little nest is  a little antique frozen charlotte I found on Etsy. These are the tiniest little dolls I have ever seen. They come all the way from Germany over 100 years ago and are actually discards from an old factory, still being unearthed.

I'll have these listed in my Etsy store for my Spring collection with some others I am working on. I'll also have them for The Nada Event in May. If you get a chance, stop on over there. Anne Marie wrote the nicest post about me today. You can also see some of the other awesome dealers that are going to be there along with Fifi signing her book. There are so many people coming from out of town, it's exciting!  

Jen

The chair I am messing up....

I've had this chair for a few years. I bought it off of craigslist for $25.

I know it sounds odd, but I feel like my house is too 'brown" and the chair needed a punch of color.

Normally before I start a project, I have  a picture in my head, but this time I just "wung" it.

Weeeeeeeeeeellllll....... you know how things sometimes don't turn out quite like you think? I got to this stage this week and threw my hands up in disgust and then just stopped. I am going to reupholster it after I paint it, but for some odd reason I am totally uninspired to even finish it. So for now it's kind of waiting in the wings . I think I need to stare at it a few days and get my thoughts together before I go on and totally ruin it.

Jen

What I saw this weekend...

I just want to say a big thank you to everyone who left such uplifting comments for me this weekend. You really filled my heart with your support. It just made my whole weekend to know I have such wonderful people around me. It was the best Valentine's gift ever.

I wanted to share some pictures with you as I played around this weekend with my camera. It was one of those great weekends where it was warm enough to shove the kids outside (in the 40's!); It was almost  a heat wave :)

The pictures kind of chronicle a bit of me playing around with my camera while the kids were building snow forts.

I hope you have  a wonderful Valentine's day!

Jen

Living life.. seriously....

I am.

If I had to pick a word for this year, it would be....

Serious.

My poor friends listen to me complain about my job endlessly. I am so grateful to be working, but my real dream is to be selling my artwork and actually make a decent living at it, to make enough to help support my family and pay bills. That is what I want to do all day long. Paint, sculpt, sew, create.

I came into blogging painting furniture and murals. While I enjoyed it; I've always harbored a secret desire to really dig deep and find out what artistic talent I really had in there. When I create, I am lost in a timeless land. Three hours slip by like 5 minutes.

The thing is, when I was 19 and just finishing up my Associate's degree in Arts, I really felt unsure what direction I should go. I felt like I should have a job that I could support myself on and not be some starving artist like the typical stereotype, but what to do? Do I go onto a bigger college? Do I keep on pursuing art? Can I make any money at it?  Where do I go? Do I try to get  a job? What job? I was undecided and ambled. It's hard to be 19 and decide your entire life.

So, to make a long story short, I fell hard for a fireman and became an EMT. He dumped me, yet I still found I enjoyed medicine and the excitement that came with the job running the ambulance and driving the rigs. So in my youth, I left my art behind and moved onto getting my firefighter II / paramedic with a furious, focused energy.

I really loved it, a lot. Don't get me wrong. Even though it was a hard road as the first female firefighter in my department ( that's another story all together, these were the days before ladies in bunker gear was mainstream.), I was a pretty good firefighter and a really good paramedic ; I even got to save a few lives and put out a few fires, but it wasn't a true passion for me. And it didn't always come easy. It was really hard work. I have no problem with hard work, but every step was like swimming upriver emotionally and physically. I'm pretty short and had to do a big guys job. Even though I could bench press over 165 pounds and  leg press over 350 (no kidding) my back and body started to give out from all over the extra demands. I spent 2-3 hours in a gym every day just to keep up. When my body hurt all of the time and I was married and wanted to have a family, I knew it was time to move on even though it was  a very hard decision.

 Again, I was drifting.

So, when I "retired" I ambled for  a while. I became a really bad personal trainer, did a few busted craft shows, considered medical school but decided that road was too long and I finally started working for the health care company I work for today. Then, I had my kids and made a home, painted some furniture, but something was missing. A tiny piece.

Until this year.

I decided that this year was going to be the year. 2011. The year I became serious about doing what I should've done literally 20 years ago. And be successful at it.

So, I  go into my little studio every day after work that I share with the dryer, dirty socks and the canned goods and do what I love best. What I have a passion for. Luckily, my wonderful husband is very supportive of me giving it my best shot. And if I do fail, at least I can say I tried my hardest, was grateful for what I had, and gave the rest up to God. He's there, I can feel it. That way, if I am still complaining about my job this time next year, I know I did my best and it just wasn't meant to be.

I want to make this happen. I want to prove to my old self that my young self should have followed her heart. That you should always follow your passion even if you're unsure, and that success can still come between peri-menopause and class-party volunteer. 

Because good things come to those who wait, right?

Because I am serious.

Jen

Do you live in or near Illinois? Let's get together....

Last year's blog gathering was such a success that we are going to do it again this year!

Saturday, March 19th~!

10 am -1 pm

held in the western suburbs of Chicago.

The best thing is the area we are in has some great antique, thrift and resale shopping as well as some cute and trendy boutiques so when you are done with the gathering you can head out for a day of  fun shopping. It's about  1.5 miles from the train station.

I had the announcement at the end of another post, and we've had a great response, but a few people had mentioned they didn't see it there, so here is the official post!

It was such a great time; meeting other bloggers, followers and people with the same interests.

 Heidi and I are planning it this year. See Heidi waving in the background?

But ladies, I need your help to get the word out, so if you could post about it, that would be great.

I'll start a blog roll on the sidebar for everyone that's coming so you can see and visit before you come.

I had a fantastic time.

We ate, drank and chatted.

 It was a really nice, low-key event.

   So if you're free, and want to meet other bloggers, come on over!

Registration is $19 to cover the cost of food and drinks. We will be doing gift bags so if you'd like to contribute, let me know. Final count will be two weeks before the party. Final RSVP/ registration date is March 6th.

We will be doing gift bags, and a home decor/gift swap and a blog round table discussion.

Hope to see you there!

Jen

P.S. If you've already paid, you'll be getting an official e-mail in a few weeks. Your paypal payment listing is your receipt. If you need an official tax deductible receipt, please let me know in your payment comments. Thanks!

Bathroom inspiration...

I wish I had a finished bathroom to show you; but we are still puttering along with the tile. These were some pictures in my inspiration folder. I am starting to lean towards a light-greeny blue for the walls. The basic stuff is done. We've put black and white basket-weave tiles on the floor (which I love); it's the wall tile giving us trouble. We have to match to an existing tile to which there is no match, so I might end up going with a mosaic to get creative and blend everything. It becomes complicated when the original owners have tiled every wall 4 feet high.

 I don't know the sources, but if I happen to show your bathroom, let me know!

Jen

Flying and growing....

 I've been working on some my painting. I love doing canvas work when I can take the time to sit down and plan out  a design and then actually finish it. I have to admit, I have  a lot of half done work. I'll get ideas, start them, get distracted, and then lose interest in coming back to them. I know its such  a  bad artistic habit. I have a much easier time finishing home decorating projects for some reason.

 I've always loved birds and botanical prints.

  There is something about the vintage quality with nature that is near and dear to my heart.

 I also am trying to play a little bit and not be so serious and just go with ideas; because I know art should be fun too. This one is tattoo inspired. :) It makes me want another one....

I'll have smaller prints (8 x 10) available in my spring Etsy collection; but I have them listed now at my Redbubble site for other sizes. 

I also have advertising room available on my sidebar, so contact me if you are interested.

I hope you had a wonderful and snow free weekend. We had a few inches here, but nothing my husband couldn't handle...  It's good for him.. builds character. ;)

Jen