The Earthgirl

Jill really is The Earthgirl...she spends her mornings pulling magical forms from clay and many an afternoon tending her gardens and grounds.

I love when her work crosses over...earthenware vases for blooms...

...buds strewn across vessels beckoning real flowers to join them...

and as ever...colorful dots and more dots.

Thanks to Jill Wiener for the tour of your studio and shop earlier this week...It was great to visit her space for a photo shoot. Jill will soon be featured in the pages of the November issue of Where Women Create....but more on that later.
I found a few new things a foot since my last trip to her home and studio in Sullivan County, NY! Here's what's fresh from The Earthgirl...and you can see more here...

A happy crop of new bud cases...prices range from $22 for happy dotty versions to $45 for beauties like these...
...and there's also a new dot pattern we've named "Kathy Dots" since it looks just like her new kitchen colors...

I will also need to BLOG soon about Jill's newest project...Earthgirl's Closet...she's just opened a vintage clothing boutique at the back of her barn...
You too can visit Jill's studio, shop and yes, this new textile venture. Just ring first so you don't miss her... you can get directions here ...


Thanks Jill for the great new crop of work and a really fun shoot!
xxoo Jen
Earth Angels

A Friend's Home

A friend's home always feels good. It feels as safe and close as a nest, comfortable as a thoughtful conversation and festive as shared laughter.

Every once in a while a friend's house can also be inspiring, especially the home of a friend who shares collecting passions and tastes. My gal pal Ro's home is all those things... and more.


(don't touch the hutch, Ro -- it's perfect!)

Ro treated me to a day of peace and quiet in her home. She took the day off and we did something that I rarely get to do, chill out! We went for a yummy lunch and even did a little girlie fun shopping on the sale racks of Anthropolgie one of my most favorite fashion spots (and the one in Guttenberg, NJ is loaded with goodies galore...)

But best of all I got to prowl around her home and visit her wonderful collections and her treasured objects...old and new artist dolls, birds' nests and paintings. She even let me play in her closet and see her wonderful baubles and all her pretty things...(I felt like a little girl who wanted to play dress up in her big sister's closet!).

Here are some of my fave images about her house...her collections are unmatched!

The table centerpiece of dolls by Nicol Sayre and Christine Crocker is just wonderful...and see Julie Whitmore's pottery and Kitty B's boxes in the background along with some of Leslie McCabe's punch needle creations...
...this may be my favorite corner...
...I love her assemblage pieces from Cheryl Kuhn......every nook and cranny is magic...
Ro loves the work of Nicol Sayre, Christine Crocker, and Kathy Patterson's new carved wooden dolls...

...her pottery, paper works and dolls marry well...
...one of my faves from Letty Worley...Ro loves Letty's wee teddies in vintage garments, her pixies and her china-headed fairies too...soooo many dolly beauties...

Ahhh...I could look about your home forever Ro...so much to take in and enjoy. Being there with you was just fabulous. Thanks for for sharing your day, yourself and our special friendship.

xxxooo Jen
Earth Angels

Kitchen Update

This is your update #3... As ever I amazed that another week has melted away. School is finishing up for the kids and in a few days we'll host our annual friends and family reunion for 250 people.

And in the meantime, the kitchen progresses!

A few things got started this week...my Dad, Jim helped with painting the cabinets...the color is delish and the wainscoting on the side turned the tired oak to this fresh finish.

...here's where the newly sided cabinet meets the hutch we moved in from the dining room...Prep work is key on painting these and we've hit a few snags.

It will likely be another 2 weeks -- I am guessing -- before we can get them completely and properly painted and the doors back up. So, in the meantime, I get to look at all my groceries. Yes, it makes planning supper a snap...
Oliver was here and moved the hutch and a new wall is in the works...sans the "on-order" French door fridge. Here's the before... and the "temporary" now...
See, the old fridge is still here just moved over...the new fridge is yet to arrive...hoping just a few more days. Fridge #1 arrived damaged, sigh. Just hoping the new one arrives before I start the cooking for the big event or we are going to be carrying bowls of cooked foodstuffs and salads to and from our generous neighbors' home once again (Chris and Amanda are you reading this? Be on standby!)

Well, everyone that has been here during the process is stumped...no overhead cabinets or shelves??? Yep, I say...none. Hmmm...they say. We'll see, say I...that's what a hutch is for...

Here's the corner cabinet I nabbed at the Warwick Antique Barn. Thanks again to owner Carole Johnson for suggesting it. It's perfect!

We needed to build a bit of a seat for it to rest on...just not fair to expect that old wood to hold itself and a full load of glassware. But it's in place and a great visual anchor for the wall.

Here it is in it's new spot...Micah had just finished ripping down the tile and he's prepping the wall for paint...
Next on the docket...finishing the cabinet doors and then planning the work islands! Once the islands arrive we can move the sink, rip up the green tile counters and get that new Carrera marble counter in here! Stay tuned...

And I keep reminding myself that it used to look like this....And now I've got this...
Many small steps getting us "there" and keeping motivated!
xxoo Jen
Earth Angels

Leslie Style Notes

I really think of textile artist Leslie McCabe as a true style-setter. Her look is classic with a twist of festive funk. Leslie knows great materials, she marries colors well and always seems to come up with a fun accessory to suit the season (remember those hand felted acorn pins last fall...loved them!.

So here she shares her fashion know-how with a flock of new splashy headbands. I wore one an orange and pink one at the Spring Fling, and my daughter Charlotte has nabbed a snazzy blue and lavender one for herself!

Michelle and Shauna were good enough to be models for me...when shooting these for the website, display caused some challenge so here they are! Fit to be worn and enjoyed - and they don't "pinch"!

The headbands are available through Earth Angels...each is a one of kind and $18...here are a few of my faves...

And what else is new???...Leslie has also done flower child pins......and stitched up a new crop of pillows laden with vintage trims......and created something new, her Party Girls. Who doesn't love a party girl???
...and her ever divine framed punch needle pieces are still my very favorite...
We'll be sharing more info on the other new arrivals via email and our website.

Thanks Leslie, once again you've put a little happy color in my day.
xxoo Jen
Earth Angels

Lanne's Summer Sale

We are thrilled to share news of a WEB SITE SALE on all of painter Jennifer Lanne's works featured on our website. Jennifer did a similar sale last summer and I am pleased she's doing this once again. The sale will run through the merry 4th of July…

See her page on our website for offerings
http://www.earthangelstoys.com/html/jennifer_lanne_-_originals.html

Here are the sale prices...
Choose any 6x6 canvas for $48 (regularly $80)
Choose any 6x8 canvas for $60 (regularly $84-$90)
Choose any 6x12 canvas for $80 (regularly $120)
Choose any 8x10 canvas for $ 70 (regularly $100)
Choose any 12x12 for $100 (regularly $140-160)
OR choose any other piece – in a size not mentioned about --
for 30% OFF

Thanks Jennifer for these treat prices...
xxoo Jen
Earth Angels

A Bride & A Groom

I really love brides & grooms...They make me happy thinking of love and cherished moments...and all the small joys that pass in between the years that mark marriages.

My sister-in-law Joanne has a fabulous collection of these small sentinels to romance. She's collected them for years. Here are some of our favorites...
...here's love in metal and glass...
...plastic spells love in the 60s with a pillbox hat on top...
...and of course there's love in chipped chalkware...
...but here's the very best one ever...Jo and John's own damsel bride and knight in shining armor!


I tease my kids that Cupid's arrow has struck two people that they know...and it made them fall in love at first sight...AND it has kept them in love, leaving them smitten still...

An arrow hit their Grandpa Jim...he fell in love with Rosie on first sight in 1947 at a party in upper Manhattan at my Aunt Katie's house. They'll be married 59 years this November. Smitten still.
And yes, an arrow hit their Aunt Joanne -- said damsel in above cake topper -- when my brother John -- the knight -- walked out of that elevator on Halloween 1978. They'll be married 30 years this December. Smitten still.
I didn't fall in love at first sight, in fact I thought Micah was such a nice guy, I fixed him up with a friend of mine! Ahhh yes, he was a hand me down...but I did become his best friend somewhere along the way. Here we were...
We'll be married 15 years this week. We don't celebrate with flowers, cards, gifts or even Stella Doro Swiss fudge cookies, but we've been talking about our wedding day like it was yesterday and we both remember it fondly and well (some of you reading this were there to celebrate with us at Jo and John's home under that great big tent...). We laugh a lot as we think about all the years that have passed and the adventures we've shared...And yes, we look forward to many more.

I guess I see something of our love, affection, and what all brides and grooms can share, in some of these cake topping creations...

So here's to all of you that love love and are in love. And here's to all the brides that have been, and those yet to be. It is sweet.

xxoo and some more xxoo
Jen
Earth Angels