Meet Jen! founder & owner

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...jen o'connor's...Artful Adventures & Daily Inspirations

I Love Art, Adore the Handmade and Treasure the Vintage. I am the Fun Mom, the Silly Friend and the Writer who wants to make more room for beauty in the everyday.

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Thursday, January 28, 2016

...happy news from Finding Home Farms...

I've admired and appreciated Laura Putnam...
her style, her creative savvy 
and her spirit for all the years 
I have followed her blog Finding Home Farms... 

Her sign-off always makes me pause...


Knowing Laura, this signature and sentiment is sincere and true...it leaves me feeling stronger, 
and more grateful,
 to greet my day and whatever it brings.

So how wonderful it was for me to feature Laura's business journey in my "Business of the Studio" column in Where Women Create magazine.


A heartfelt thank to Jo Packham for the opportunity to share Laura's charming and festive studio space




...as well as all of her exciting news and business developments for Finding Home Farms...and a peek at their sugar house and what they're making there!


It was a treat to spend time with 
Laura and her husband Dana...

I love, truly love, how they are working to mesh her blog, his dream of maple syrup production and her DIY expertise into a lifestyle brand...
This is exciting stuff and something worth sharing...
I hope you'll pick up the current issue 
of Where Women Create to read more...
...and visit FindingHomeFarms.com to learn more about all they're doing to fill their 
days with grace and good business...
and how they're working to share their 
family's lifestyle lessons and goods 
with Laura's blog followers 
and their customers. 

xo Jen






Monday, January 25, 2016

...another Boston Tea Party makes the press...

There’s nothing like sharing “good news”! 
And I have some wonderful news to share…

My much beloved Torquay pottery has just been celebrated with a feature in the February issue of Romantic Vintage magazine!  
 
What a great thing to get some new press on Torquay pottery in such a lovely publication...

How did it happen??? Well, last summer I made a visit to the home of my gal pal and fellow collector, Kathy Collins, who lives just outside Boston.  
We had a plan to shoot images of a tea party...


It was an exciting and very busy day, with a 4 hour drive up and back from NY with my 10 year old son, Rory, in tow.  We had a great time and all of us involved were excited to see what would become of the images of our tea party...

When I shared them with Editor-in-Chief, Meanie Hickman, of Romantic Vintage she immediately offered to include something in her magazine. The four-page feature AND the mention of “Torquay Pottery” on the cover far exceeded my expectations!  
 
 A big thanks to her for helping us celebrate the pottery, its history and what it can add to a room in style and display. 


Here’s just a peek in this post of 
just some of the images and story...

The magazine is available on-line via www.RomanticVintageMagazine.com for $2.99 or use this web address to order your PRINTED copy of the magazine shipped to you for $9.99
www.magcloud.com/browse/issue/1021207
 

It’s such a treat to see so many wonderful pots among the pages of the magazine, as well as a mention of NATS (the North American Torquay Society -- our collectors' group) and our events of 2016 as a great way to learn more about the pottery. 
 

Thanks again to Melanie, Kathy, and Lyn for working with me to make this happen!  xxoo Jen

Monday, January 18, 2016

we're flying south for an event SOON...save the date

...just when the cold starts to get to us...
we start making plans to fly south NEXT MONTH!
 ...HOORAY it's time for us to start planning for our annual appearance at the renown 
and time for you to SAVE THE DATE!

Fri. & Sat., February 26th & 27th, 2016

10th Annual “heART of winter” - SOUTH


We love going there each year...
so many wonderful and artful customers and friends step out to see us...we hope you will too!

The Jeanine Taylor Folk Art Gallery 

211 East First Street, Sanford, FL

Annual Artists Showcase presented by 
Earth Angels Studios at 

Friday, 2/26 from 3pm-9pm 
(coincides with "Sanford Art Walk")
Saturday, 2/27, 2016 from 10am-4pm
 

 ...so much art to share...


 ...please mark your calendar and come see us...
 


...there's a lot to take in at the gallery, 
and our hosts allow us to take over the front room 
and share our style...
 FULL DETAILS of this Art Girls's Road Show event are on the events page...


MORE INFO and sneak peeks coming via the BLOG and email newsletters...
stay tuned!


 Hope to see you there!
xo Jen

Monday, January 11, 2016

...more Torquay Tawk...have to share this

As some of you know I am a bit mad for British ceramic art...


I've collected Torquay pottery since I got my first piece in England on my 18th birthday...
and the collection has been growing since...
 
And while it's the people I have met and befriended through collecting that I treasure far beyond the pottery -- I love to share peek at the pots in the hope of sharing my enthusiasm
 for this wonderful antique folk art.
 
the pottery is being looked at as what's hot in collecting vintage...

So with out further adieu, I'd love to share this piece on miniature Torquay Pottery that I prepared for the collector's newsletter of the North American Torquay Society (NATS)...

...and if you want to learn more...please consider browsing the NATS site or the site of the British collecting society TPCS (Torquay Pottery Collecting Society)

Mini Madness

Anything that can be held in the palm of the hand has a certain playful, toy-like charm. My madness for small things and minis began a long time ago. I was the little girl that lovingly decorated the dollhouse made for me by my Dad, dreaming that one day, I would have my own home to decorate. I loved tiny things…and still do.

Conversely, I love the HUGE grand LARGE pieces of my collection, but as the shelves fill — even as I move and play and re-do arrangements in cabinets — I can never say there is not room for one more mini. Indeed I have had a tough time passing up any I have had the chance to buy. They are a wonderful, tuck-in size and I love them for being small, affordable and utterly adorable!



What’s also fun is that they get me to look at patterns and shapes I would not otherwise pursue.  You can see among these photos a variety of patterns not elsewhere in my collection…

You can see in the one image with the penny and pence…there are minis … and then, there are minis….
That one itty bitty plate measures less than 2” across, while the plate from a child’s tea set is about 4”.  Generally in height I look for something less than 2” so that the pieces hold together in scale… And if I have the shape, no matter, I might not have  the motto.

The mottos on the minis are those short and sweet adages that speak with such common observation. With little space on the surface to decorate, the quips and mottoes are direct and often the ones cited most within our vernacular.

I have also included an image of the mini-minis I was able to purchase from Torbay about 12 years ago.

 They are a display within a display filling a tiny doll house sized hutch within another hutch…these are all less than 1” in height. (Look at the dresser tray peeking out from behind the display for scale)



As a toy collector as well, they seem to blend in well with my other displays.  The tea sets make great companions to some folk art monkeys sitting in a child’s hutch in the guest room along with a fave Pat Murphy bear...


And I owe a big thanks to Kathy Collins for the find of my new wall hanging “mini shelf”. We found it in a booth at Brimfield and it wasn’t until I got it home that I realized how perfect it was to host them all!
I am grateful that she encouraged me to buy it and lug it through the fields back to the truck. Well worth it! I had had the minis among some different cabinets before, and now have my faves in one place 
(excluding my all time fave, my wee moulded cottage — I would cheerfully live there!!!) 



...more on this pottery in future posts...
stay tuned
xo Jen

Monday, January 4, 2016

you should know about these GOOD BYES GOOD BUYS

...time to just share a little of our website 
news with you...

 It's time  for us here at Earth Angels to say some "Good Byes" with Good Buys!

24 Artists have NEW POSTINGS
Some of the artist are retiring, 
some are just no longer working with us, 
and some...well.. 
they just want to share a deal...

Don't miss their best prices of the year & the chance to shop before some of the handmade creations are gone forever...

Quantities limited...layaways welcome

 
thanks for letting me keep you in the loop on our loot!
 
xo Jen







 

Friday, January 1, 2016

...here's wishing you a happy 2016!

It's a new year...
the clock has rolled forward into 2016...
 

...all the very best wishes to you and yours for a happy and healthy new year. 

May it be filled with peace and grace.


Thanks for being a part of my world in 2015...
and
here's to 2016!

xxoo Jen













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