vintage tuesday

new life to forgotten pieces. one of my most favorite things to tackle. on separate occasions, i found 2 fabulous (and super purposeful) OLD pieces of furniture. the 1st being an old farmhouse cabinet. solid wood with little shelves inside. completely roached with layers of funk and then some more layers of funk. the 2nd being a tall cabinet with sagging shelves. super old, hand constructed, sagging...but surprisingly strong! and beyond dirty. beyond. now, some people would run screaming when they see that much funk and grime. but i see potential! major storage and major character! just think of the stories these pieces could tell. you just need a whole bunch of good ol' fashioned elbow grease and a sander and some paint...a forgotten treasure given a new life. love that so much.

here is that old cabinet.

a good cleaning started to reveal some really cool chipped up paint. but the greyish green wasn't working for me...

a couple sandings...making sure not to sand all the way down to the original wood. i wanted to keep that chippy look under the new paint...

then on to some paint...i wanted something bright... a turquoise color. i apply with a brush in light layers. after the paint is dry, i go back over with the hand sander (love you hand sander). really concentrating on corners and edges and areas where there would be normal wear. i think this keeps the character of the piece...

i love it so much and am so happy to give it a home:)

and here is the tall cabinet. i found this in a basement workshop at an old farm. it was gross. even for my standards. i thought originally that i would knock those shelves out and replace them with new wood. but they were surprisingly strong! i wound up only knocking out the very bottom shelf and keeping the rest for now.


this next picture was after a couple sandings. paint was peeling off pretty bad and the grime on it was terrible.

i really liked the blue...but decided to go with a cheery yellow paint and white interior.

painted with a brush...a few layers right over the blue paint...and then sanded to let some of that original blue peek through. i wish the photo showed that better... but here ya go.

love it so much! this would have been thrown in the garbage and now it is sparkly clean and fresh and lives in jake's room holding legos and books! how cool is that.

happy tuesday everyone! i feel like i'm always asking forgiveness for not being a better blog pal lately. i just can't find the extra time to answer all your emails right now. i'm trying to spend time with the boys...pack up the house...work...and prepare for this move. i'm overwhelmed most days for sure. i want you to know how much i appreciate your support. so much. thank you for not giving up on me. i sure do adore you all! xox...jenn

tweet

just poppin' in to wish you all a happy weekend! and to

share my newest little aceo cards with ya.

tweet, tweet! enjoy the day! xoxox

vintage tuesday

happy tuesday you guys! i've been cleaning out

my studio. you know...more preparations for the

move! i have soooo many cute little vintage cards

and game pieces that i decided to make some

little noodle and lou vintage paper packs. they

are so much fun. it's like a little bag of goodness.

and how cute are those teeny tiny chalkware

letters!? you get 1 word in each pack:)

what are ya'll up to today!?

whatever it is...have FUN! xox...jenn

p.s. new painting over here...oh happy day!

monday...

meeting with movers all day.

jealous? chuckle. the one estimate guy just left and

said "wow, you guys have a lot of stuff". what the

heck. ya think. then he said "you've got the retro

look going on. that's okay!"

i'm tired.

on a happy note...

i had the absolute pleasure of creating a special little

painting for a special couple...and i am offering it as a

print in the shop for a bit! my favorite thing to paint...

little couples!!

happy monday you guys:) xox..jenn

happy fathers day

happy father's day to all you

sweet dads! especially to my

super special dad and my

wonderful hubby....

2 of the best dads around!!!!

love you both!! xox...jenn

team-up thursday

line em' up...

that's our theme for team-up thursday this week!

lovin' carissa's golf balls...all waiting to be launched

off. and look at those sweet t-ballers...all lined up.

ready to swing that bat. ready to run the bases. it is

so darn cute. go lemon ghosts!!! so proud of my sweet

guy:)

have a GREAT thursday everyone!! xox...jenn

lotsa love

thanks for all the...

l o v e

you guys are spectacular!

happy wednesday!

xox...jenn

p.s. heading over to the shop to

list this little gal:)

vintage tuesday

i wish i was packing my vintage bag

and hopping on a plane for paris.

or even poughkeepsie.

somewhere away from my present real world.

just for a day or two.

i'm feeling stressed out. overwhelmed.

a little yucky today. we all go through that!

it's good to share.

where would you go if you could hop on a

plane right this minute?

xoxo...jenn

spoOkytime jingles update

it's time for another spoOkytime jingles UPDATE! yahoo for sure! just one little change to note!!! the update will be at NOON on sunday, june 13th!! we will not update at the stroke of midnight like normal! lots to celebrate this month...because we are showing AMERICANA art too! it's an americana hootenanny june 13 - july 13. i'm so excited to see what the other artists have created! here is a peek at my little miss america wall sculpture...

and a little peek at my halloween offering...

so, see you at NOON (eastern standard time!) on june 13th!!!

happy weekend everyone!

xox...jenn

team up thursday

click on the image for LARGER viewing...

m i r r o r .

we followed melody and megan's theme for team-up

thursday this week. and just lOOk!

promise, cross my heart, SWEAR we did

not plan our images! 2 little wooden people taking a peek

at themselves in the mirror! i'm particularly tickled by

the girlie-ness of carissa's and how mine is totally a boy!

love how the mom of 2 girls/mom of 2 boys thing comes

into play in our photos!!!

have a great thursday everyone!

xox...jenn

part II

part II of our ann arbor trip...the fabulous red shOes shop!!!

what a treat you guys!! the kind of shop you could just stay in for hours. and hours. just looking and re-looking at every little thing. the perfect mix of vintage and new. unique home goods. catherine's fabulous art. darling kids' treats. yummy candles and soaps. tons of funky pieces of FUN for your life! one stop shopping people. seriously. if you can't find a gift for yourself or someone else here...check your pulse! so come on in...i snapped a few pics of my favorite shop!


















thanks for your awesome hospitality catherine!!! we love you lots:):) and now for a giggle...the only piece of a photo of the 2 of us;) cracking myself up. here's our heads!!!


xoxox...jenn

vintage tuesday

today is all about those pesky household chores that i adore. ahem. can you sense the sarcasm there? don't get me wrong. i love a clean house. it's just the 'getting there' part that is not so fun sometimes. laundry is sooo not my friend...you know...the way it grows and grows...even when you thought you were all caught up? i remember as a little girl how much i LOVED ironing and cleaning. i felt like such a grown up when my nana would let me iron my poppop's handkerchiefs!

i think i've shared this old photo before...me...so proud of ironing. so, let's focus on the FUN of cleaning:) i just love these little pint sized "household chores" related vintage finds that i've come across recently. i'll be adding them to the shop today. enjoy!

right after i work on some laundry!

xoxo...jenn

p.s. more pics of our trip...tomorrow!

sweet sweet friends...

well, it's been a week since we've returned home...and i've been dying to share pics of our trip to ann arbor with you! you know how fast a week goes by though. then i got sick. again. i'm blaming it on the fact that i was in 3 different dr. offices last week. i must have picked up a stomach thing along the way. yuck. i was already not feeling terrific from the dermatologist visit where he burned about 50 things off my face and neck. i'm not exaggerating. anyhooo...all better now. sort of.

back to our FUN weekend!!! catherine and her adorable family were the best hosts ever. we couldn't ask for sweeter friends. and we LOVED ann arbor to bits! so, grab a beverage...there are quite a few pics. to share with you (click on any photo to see it super sized BIG!)...i'm starting with their fab house!!

so sweet. so COZY. so full of color and light and fun. every detail...absolutely charming. catherine is a master at making a house feel like a HOME.

we loved, loved, loved hanging out in this happy house:) and they gave us lots of opportunities to do just that. we had TONS of yummy meals and drinks there:) cathy makes some delish quiche and potato salad...just to name a couple things. and ian can flat grill some chicken! mmmm mmmm:) they also were fabulous tour guides. showing us their cool town. we fell in love with ann arbor. so many great little places to shop and eat!

(little peek of molly's house! to. die. for!!!)

now...another FUN part of our visit was getting the chance to see tank and pearl! ohmygosh. pure cuteness.

both my children were ready to kidnap tank. look at him!!! good grief he is CUTE!

the kids enjoyed goofing off with each other too. drawing, snacking, video making, playing. lots o' fun!

we walked around the university of michigan....so pretty. loved the architecture! these guys were super impressed too;)

okay...more tomorrow! i'll show you some pictures from red shoes!! beyond fabulous. i could have just stayed in there for hours. catherine is sooooo talented and amazing. yep. she sure is!

xoxo...jenn