funny girls

some views of our hike the other day... Laughfer found a big puddle that quickly became her best friend.
A funny thing- I was busy in the kitchen yesterday and Laughfer started pullin out piles & piles of dishes and bottles and such out of the cabinet... I unthinkingly said "hey, dude... no no no... stop doing that"

Lavender quickly yelled "NOOO.... I'm LAUGHFER!!!!"

soooo funny

new favorite things!!!

here is a material girl post headin' out to all ya bloggers out there! Yep, yep, I have gotten some supa dupa shwag as of late that was just too too cute not to yak about.

This beeaauuutiful necklace came my way from the Kirby crew for my b-day... the pic is not the greatest - hopefully you can see it is has a drawing of autumn leaves on it and lavender blooms!!! my 2 precious ones represented on the back of a #2 domino - SSoooo Coool!! thanks kirby crew... what a cool and wonderful gift commissioned just for me!!

And my sweet momsie gave my this awesome retro apron - yes, i know - an APRON... i have some how come to greaatly apreciate the practicality that is the apron.

And here are these wiicked cool toddler shoes I picked up for Autumn in this nifty ifty antique store. sooo supa cute, huh...

ok- I guess I'm done bathering on about this material stuff. Which reminds me ---- I had my first real metaphysical convo with the Laughfer this week. So interesting and funny too.... she 'snashed' (smashed) a rollie pollie we found happily walkin' along in the yard. yep, smashed the little dude dead as a door nail. no comin' back. i think she gets it, but can't be certain. She just kept saying "I kill pollie" - kinda hilarious and eerie too.

oh the lessions of life - tough stuff, huh....
i out!!!

No blueprints for this kid

I have a bit of a love for posting reject lettas... here is the most recent from CreateHere for the grant program recieved via email.
The wierd thing is that I really don't feel that bummed about it since it would have been such a tremendous undertaking for an already overloaded gal. But, common on... it would have been fun. Nevertheless, I must admit that I am extremely happy to know that the applications equaled roughly 6xs the amount of moneys available for the taking.

I can't wait to know just what ideas the panel did select for completion.... perhaps it was for a giant statue of a catfish or maybe for a performance art piece entitled 'The pizza went down all wrong".... how the mind spins outta control with query.... hhhhhhmmmmmmm.

anyways... here I am waiting for god to fill me on the next 'big thing' in jen world. Thank goodness life is not full of blueprints and clear paths... how interesting and strong would we be with that???

peace out homies!


FROM CREATEHERE - one of the most tastefully written rejects I have eva received!!
Dear Jennifer,

Thank you for submitting your application to CreateHere for the MakeWork Grant Program. With 97 applicants and over $885k in funding requested, MakeWork quickly became a very competitive program and yours was amongst the group of very strong applications.

We are sorry to inform you that your application has not been approved by the April 21^st Jury Panel to move on to the final round. For your information, the jurors are listed below. We, however, congratulate you on a fine application and encourage you to continue to play a strong artistic role in the Chattanooga community.

We wish you the best of luck in your creative endeavors.

Thank you,

The CreateHere Staff

new works... clothesline style

yalp... these little hands have been bustling around at a frantic pace getting ready for the supa dupa Clothesline show. Here is a little peak at what will debut there. sorry about the pic quality kids, but this girl is tiiired.

all i can really think to say about these right now is simply that I am in love with nursery rhymes and "vintage" contact paper from my Grandma's cabinets.
more lata -

CLOTHESLINE CLOTHESLINE CLOTHESLINE

I know I am doin a little copy cat posting here... but, I'm sure Kate won't mind! I am just so supa dupa excited about the upcoming Clothesline event. I just love being a part of this show. I love the core artists who are involved and I love the casual, non-gallery friendly vibe that breezes through this lovely event. If you haven't made it to this event in the past, you gotsta get here and see just how inspiring it is!!!

Come out everybody and see our new work!!!
Mother's Day Weekend - May 9, 10, and 11

dandelion bliss

can anyone really make these little flowers look better???
yep, that's what I thought too!

We BACK!

So we went on our first fam vaca last week... aaaaaaaaaahhhhhh. so lovely... words fall very short. nevertheless, i'll try to relate at least a little of our adventures.

we headed to the mountains of North Carolina to a sweet little cabin by a wooded stream where the Kirby clan eagerly awaited us. smile smile.

We had a week full of fly fishing, rock throwing, river watching, kite flying goodness sprinkled with moments of tenderness and good conversation. There was no computas, no cell phones (that worked - YAY) and a tv that very rarely produced the adventures of Dora and the Backyardigans.

I didn't realize how much I needed a techy detox. I just can't express how much more enjoyable life is when you spend your time actually talking and just being with one another. It made me realize how much I love my family and just how much fun it is to be reunited with our other half... the kirby crew. i just love ya'll...

It's amazing how fast and slow it all seemed to go. I feel like I was gone for a month, yet nothing much seems to reflect changes that I feel inside... thankfulness and a persistant awareness of the importance of treasuring all your tiny moments with your fam. I hope the "shoulds" of life stay in their proper place... closer to the bottom of the priority list. more words and pics lata... i'm gonna go read a story to the Laughfer now. we out

we out... for now

ok, blogger land...
just wanted to say I will be outta range for a tiny bit.
gots sooo much to do to prep for the upcoming Clothesline show... Save the Date kids - May 9-11th same times, same place... I'll give ya the low down on specs as the time draws nearer.

For now, I leave ya with one of my latest finished pieces (still needs a tiny few finishing touches) and us (love that expression on my tiny girls face!).
smooches...

Being a girl

The other day we spent some time just being girls.
Here is my sweet girl enjoying the wonders of "feesooo polish" (finger nail polish). This is an activity that is definitely new to the house, but is dearly loved by miss Laugher. She sat so still while I painted and repainted those tiny little nails and then turned to me and said "love feessoo polish!".... so cute, huh! She also showed the UPS man the beauty of these pink nails - I somehow think the wonder was lost on him, but he patiently listened... smile.

Thanks to Marmie for reminding us about all the lovely things we can do 'just being girls.'

btw - this crazy pic of Laughfer is the product of me saying "SMILE, Laughfer!" so funny...

sweet Autumn

Me and Autumn Marie! such a sweet place to be... i actually didn't mean to rhyme, it just happens all the time!!!! ah - yea, as you can probably tell, I didn't get much sleep last night. This sweet little girl decided she wanted to be awake and hang out at 3 am.
Boy, these little people have strange ideas of fun, eh!

Yesterday this tiny girl had quite a big day at ye ol' doc's office. We went for her 4 month check up and all is well... praise God!

I did get her stats...
11 lbs 7 oz.
24 inches long
25th percentile in weight
75th percentile in height

Just like big sis! Exactly...
Apparently we do have just one format for babies! but, what a good format it is!!!!!!!!

will my wish be granted???

so on monday i scurried around town in a bit of a flurry to get my grant proposal turned in for the Createhere Make Work grants. I have been in a bit of a blur ever since I decided to jump on this train. I was so hesitant to embark on such a journey that may or may not produce any fruit whatsoever.... somehow it felt like critique time back in ye ol' art department days where you labor and labor over a project till the wee hours of the morning only to find out the next day that your work was dreadfully lacking in compositional integrity or somethin... erg. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate those hard times of learning the fundamentals, but let's be honest... that is hard stuff... not the funest fo sho....

anyways... all this to say, I got up the gumption to submit a proposal for a project that has been incubating in my brain for many many years and I'm so glad I did... even if I don't make the cut. If you're wondering what this elusive proposal is about, I will fill ya'll in if I pass the test.

and one last thing... I wanted to give a shout out to Lauren & Cannon for the awesome words of recommendation... thanks more than you know. and I also wanted to just say to my mom and my sweet little fam... thank you for putting up with zombie jen while I have been so consumed. I promise that you will no longer have to put matchbox cars in my coffee cup or say my name 12xs to get my attention. love yous