a little surprise for a happy Easter....20% off today and tomorrow....

Happy Easter SALE today & tomorrow
20% off with code HOPPY20 at checkout...

Click here to SHOP NOW

Enjoy your Easter...

xxoo Jen

follies, paper and sweet things

Sometimes it takes a long time for me to figure out how I can work with the women I admire, the women who's talents inspire me....

So I am utterly tickled to tell you I have just added talented Wendy Addison and her creations to the featured artists' offerings on the site....

I have long admired Wendy paper follies, so often embellished with that wonderful tarnished look of their German glass glitter....but now, her work also features her original art...and I am completely smitten!

I was able to catch up with Wendy and Marcia Ceppos when Jo Packham and I walked the NY Gift Fair in late January. 

I love seeing new things at the Fair, but the best is seeing old friends...

Here's a peek at some of my new faves from Wendy below....

and you can see them all on her pages of the site.

AND NOTE...all orders for her creations ship free through 4/14 with code SHIPITFREE at checkout...

Who doesn't need their own, personal Eiffel Tower???

So many of her works convey....vive la France!

 Her tags are darling and come tucked in a muslin bag, a dozen are $10....

 Vintage paper scraps are there on the site too thanks to Marcia and Tinsel Trading...$6-$9 for great old loot!

Love this carte jour -- a hang tag or card with Wendy's illustrated Fleur de Lis...

 And these little boxes....

 Ahhh Wendy! I love them all....

This is a TAH DA moment! 

Thanks to Wendy for the fab creations and joining us...

You can catch Wendy when she will make an appearance with Earth Angels at the Rhinebeck, NY Country Living Fair June 7, 8 & 9

 ...stay tuned for more details!

xxoo Jen

hello monday - a goodbye and Spring

It's a brand new week. 

Last week brought lot of change, some of it will take some getting used to...

so here we go week, let's move through you with grace.

It's spring, its Easter and it's time to say hello.

 

As some of you know, last week the collecting world lost a lady we all knew...

Goodbye Glenda Jackson of Alabama, you were the very first person that said hello to me at that very first Madame Alexander doll event I attended in 1994. 

You told me, "Come sit next to me".

I guess every hello counts.

I am so glad we had a chance to speak at length recently dear lady, Becca and Ann will miss you lots...I hope heaven is full of lobster, and Coca Cola and See's Candies for you...Remember that crazy trip we took during UFDC through the White House with my sister, Vickey? And that "backstage" clearance thanks to your Birmingham connection...and Vickey and Ann getting all those fellow tourists to lie down on the White House lawn and spell out "HI BILL" when President Clinton flew over us in the helicopter we'd watch take off...
I am glad that great memories last forever....

 Glenda -- like all my friends -- loved me for who I am, faults and all. And likewise I held her in deep affection despite her many flaws too.
So let's say hello to celebrating who we are....

and thanks to Clare Jordan for reminding me, 

"Don't try to fit in, you were born to stand out."

Clare it's an honor to be working with you once again...

you know I adore what you do and how you see the world.

I've mentioned on this BLOG that we've been facing some budgetary and school challenges here in Warwick, and while I am relieved and our school Park Ave will remain open...for now...Kings is closing...

it's going to be a time of adjustment for many.

So hello Monday and hello to spring, now if we could just get that warmer weather to come rolling on in things might seem a bit brighter.

...the kiddos are off from school and we've got big things planned! Thinking Cooperstown, the Carousel at the big mall, maybe the tearoom...

 What else does the week have in store....hello to good friends, Anne will arrive this coming Saturday in time to share Easter...and please know how grateful I am for all my friends...some old some new, 

I am glad you all know how I feel about you.  

 

 Hello to pretty things, look at my little girl, getting soo big....

 Hello to differences of opinions, there are plenty of them in this house, this town, this planet...

 Hello to great friends who help me get it all done...xxoo to you Liv...

Hello to menus, dishes and decorations...we'll be hosting Easter this year. 

It's a treat to have the family over...the head count is hovering about 25...

the Easter Bunny better leave a lot of candy...

hope your week is a good one...hello hello to you all

goodbye and hello

xxoo Jen

hope you are watching...SALE stuff posted here

...just a heads up to let you know we'll continue to post news of our weekly sales on the BLOG....the sales are usually posted on Tuesdays or Thursdays, BUT we add new items to the SALE PAGES all the time.

This is in response to your requests...and hope this suits you all...we know some of you watch the BLOG more than email and some watch Facebook more than the BLOG, and well, we're looking to cover your bases to keep you in the loop.

And yep, more items were added to the sale pages today...

You can CLICK HERE TO SHOP THEM NOW

thanks for your input and enjoy.

xxoo Jen

Got Fashion? Get FOLK...

 I love that FOLK is reaching into the heart of what Americans are all about. Working to cultivate a nation by hand, with style and ingenuity intrinsic to our success.

CONGRATS Ben on another fab issue of FOLK magazine...the best yet! 

(Did you get yours yet? If not, CLICK HERE TO ORDER..

It's a whole lotta cool American goodness for 7 bucks....)

How perfect that the NEW issue is all about stories and storytellers and the fashion that is so uniquely our own.

Here's a peek and an excerpt from my current feature on re-purposing textiles and  fashion...

 It was fun to take a closer look at the work of Melody Elizabeth...

 She has a fab fashion story...and I love sharing her work with our customers, but chatting with her about her inspirations and training was really cool.

Here's an excerpt from the article...

you'll want to peek at the issue to read and see more.

Now, American fashion – where style meets with raw ingenuity -- is quite simply an unbridled luxury fueled by unfettered imagination and a culture that grows daily. It is the novelty of conveying a mood, a tone, or one’s personal style within a vast and diverse community.  So, in making a handmade life, we cannot help but reach for garments that send salutations of our personal style.

Yet, trends in fashion and wearables don’t always march to the same tune. Tides in fashion come and go, but a good garment, or a fabulous accessory, can long outlive a seasonal burst of attention.  And certain fashions – like the artful creations of artist Melody Doyel -- are simply transcendent – allowing the wearer to cross time and trends with certain aplomb and beauty in true American style.

This designer’s work whispers to the best remembrances of fashion’s many eras.  While it seems from another time or just slightly out of step with what many others might be presenting in the marketplace, her clothing and accessories are totally in-fashion and on-trend with their brave use of texture and color.  Her work conveys a thrumming retro vibe that is utterly appealing; her work is textiles retold.

In her inimitable style, the designer creates wearables and accessories by repurposing cast off garments, old upholstery, junk shop finds and piles of vintage baubles and jewelry findings that on their own appear only a jumble of possibility. In Melody’s capable hands, and with her limber imagination, a seemingly motley array of textiles emerge as new garments that convey style and a savvy sense scale.....

~~~~~~~

Thanks again Ben for the chance to showcase the work of another Earth Angels Studios' artist....I cannot wait to see what you come up with for the next issue!

xxoo Jen

ANNUAL SALE - Happy Bday to Me!

...just an FYI on a big sale to celebrate my Birthday.

I do this every year...

It's my birthday so you get a treat too.

Shop at 25% off today and tomorrow with code 

BDAYGIRL at checkout

~~~3/20 & 3/21 only~~~

Just be sure to enter that code and 25% will come off your item total...YES! This includes SALE items too!

Enjoy xxoo Jen

hello monday (a big decision)

Hello Monday...last week was busy bringing us blast of winter weather as we hoped for spring and news of change on the wind...

If you know me, or Warwick, or this blog you know that this Monday I am saying hello to a week that will change our Town. Tonight the School Board decides which grammar school we'll need to close...and of course, I wish none were going to shut their doors.

Let's HOPE they think of the whole Village, and have FAITH that no matter what, the kiddos will be just fine in new schools among old and new friends.

 So hello new week and I hope we are ready for you... I know decisions are made, we cope, we react, and we have a little faith that things will sort themselves out.

Hello to Spring...one more week of school 'ti the kids' Easter vacation.

...ahhhh....

Two more weeks until Anne arrives from Australia to celebrate Easter with us. Woo Hoo!

Hello to Laurie Meseroll who is in a creative frenzy and painting up a storm of happy works...

Hello to fun traditions...Friday my niece Hayley, Charlotte and I headed into Manhattan for an annual girls' day out. What a treat to share some treats and a show.

 And always, hello and new week, glad you are here...we've got lots of work to get done. Harold and Luke were busy posting to the site last week and unpacking from Sanford with Julie, and this week I will have extra help from Liv and Oliver. WHEW! There's more to get done than usual.

 Hello to my adopted town, hubby grew up here but he's made this City girl love it...I have been in Warwick almost 11 years now, and it feels like home.

Hello to all of you...and hope it's a great week for you and that Spring brings your good things....

 

xxoo Jen

Irish Anyone?

I was raised a in an Irish-American house in Queens, a tribe of friends and family about me. Our shared background hovered, a constant, coagulating force. Communal knowledge bonded us as did Ireland's presence. It never seemed too distant, our history was just east, across the same ocean that touched the shores of Long Island. I went from one Irish name to another -- Graney to O'Connor without a hitch when I got hitched...

 

My childhood friends had names from the phonebooks of Galway, Kilkenny, Tralee, and dear Donegal. "Mc” and “O”, and “Fitz” this and “Fitz” that. There were Kristina McGann, The O'Connor Brothers, Joanie & John Gibbons, Pat McInerney, Pat McKenna, Pat Kelly, Liz McNelis, Matt McLaughlin, Jim O’Driscoll, Deirdre Duggan, all those Bradys, Kevin O’Shea, Timmy O'Flaherty, Siobhan Flynn, Tara Welch, and all those Leahys who had cousins everywhere, and so many more.

Some had parents with brogues, some said “h” as “hAy-ch”, and all were proud little Irish-Americans.

This place where "we" had come from was heralded as a hauntingly beautiful, full of soft days and green meadows that rolled to cliffs hung on the Sea.

 

But, it was full of pain for those that had left in haste, in hope, or in hunger...making our familiar heritage, sometimes fearsome.

What did this mean to us as collected ethnics?

We learned to re-tell stories of brave clans, wee leprechauns, revolution, magic and superstition.

We competed for who had the most freckles.

When people asked, “Where is your family from?”, they meant, “Which County?”, not which Country.

We cut school – quite forgivingly – to attend the St. Patty’s day parade en masse. We relished the green line painted down Fifth Avenue in our honor and watched in awe as the thousands upon thousands of "New York's Bravest" and "New York's Finest" marched by, all of them Irish in descent.

We sang “Molly Malone”, “The Fields of Athenry” and "The Wearin’ of the Green”. And, we knew with a brave certainty, and hitch in our chest, that U2 was not just another band and that, “Sunday, Bloody Sunday” was not just another song.

We knew too that The Irish are prone to wit and festivities, and so were we, and so I am.

So join us, be Irish for a day if you like. But most of all, be proud to be an American where we can celebrate our shared traditions and our differences.

We’ll be wearing green in this house.. and after all, everyone really is Irish on St. Patrick's Day...or so we like to amuse ourselves.

xxoo Jen (and for the generations of my own Irish American forebears)

let's make that....

Jen Graney Sullivan Moran Brady Fitzpatrick Nichols...

....O'Connor

Earth Angels

PS and yes, to the avid readers of me, this is a re-post from '08, but then again, we Irish Storytellers are known to repeat our tales now and again...