It's that time of year AGAIN!! ORNAMENT TIME!!

It’s that time of year AGAIN!! ORNAMENT TIME!! The 2012 HandMade Holiday Ornament Exchange is now open for early registration!!

This will be the 5th year that I’m hosting the exchange!!

Whoo-Hoo!! Five years of handmade holiday fun!!

ornaments made by :: Jen Hewett, lunakat805, Christy Lehto, Monica Lee , Jill Turney

Collecting and making handmade ornaments is definitely one of my favorite things to do during the Holiday Season. So take out your glue guns, sparkle, ribbons and whatever do-dads you have laying around the house for the 5th Annual Blu Penny’s Holiday Handmade Ornament Exchange.

For all you veterans this should be a no brainer and for you newbie’s here is a little video I made last year explaining how the exchange works.

The Ornament Exchange will be hosted on a PRIVATE  Blu Penny Forum, exclusive for Ornament Makers only. The registration fee to participate is $12.00 and from every registration $2.00 will go to the Make a Wish Foundation.  

You’ll have until midnight on Friday, November 23rd to sign up.  All the DETAILS you need to know are  HERE.

The first 20 people to register will get a chance to win my Winter Wishes Doormat from Magnet Works! Won’t this look great in your entryway this holiday season!!! :)

Now let’s get crafty!

 All the details that you need to know are here.

yay baby!! - Atlanta in July

Being brave sure does have it’s rewards!! I’m so very grateful that I have had the perseverance and grit to put myself and my work out into the world time and time again.

 And now I’m able to do it in a really BIG way! :)

I feel so very fortunate!

 

This is my 3rd time at The Mart and each time I go it just seems to get better and more exciting!!

I have a theory that this place is built like a maze on purpose to capture all of the amazing energy, because each time I go I have at least one magical moment, and so far this has been the most magical!!

 

I can’t even begin to describe to you the excitement I felt seeing all of my products on display and in person for the first time!

 Creative Co-op did an amazing job arranging their showroom. They beautifully showcased all of my products. It was ten times better then I had even imagined. I was totally glowing and felt like such a proud new mama!

And my goodness, the way their VP of Product Development was able to breath life into my artwork. She came up with products and fabrications I could never have envisioned myself. She’s definitely a very talented lady!

I don’t think I can say enough how very grateful I am!

   

To see all of my hard work and the convergence of everything I’ve worked for come to life is a really great feeling!!

I’m doing this! I’m really doing this!!! - was running through my head the whole time.

I am so very glad that everyday I get to do what I love, and now I have the amazing privilege of sharing my work with all of you in ways I could never have imagined 10 years ago. It’s definitely going to be a while before you can remove the perma-grin from my face. :)

I mean, now you can purchase all of these amazing products for your home. You can hang them on your walls, arrange them on your tables, lay your head down on them to rest, drink from them and even have them blowing in the breeze on your lawn.

How friggin’ COOL is that!?!

 I feel like I’m still having a pinch me moment!

Aren’t these plates just darling?! And how crazy, that I didn’t even realize that they had part of my designs printed on the backs until one of the sales rep’s turned one over to show me. It was a very nice little unexpected surprise :)

Yep, Caroline and I totally match! I promise you we didn’t plan that. :) I guess we were just channeling the same fashion goddess.

Caroline had an AMAZING launch with Creative Co-op too!! All of her new products took up the whole front of the showroom. She must have had way over 100 SKU’s debuting! Really remarkable and SUPER inspiring!! Congrats Caroline! :)

Eeep! My cowgirl collection was placed right up front by the window next to the super fab Kelly Rae. :) How cool, to be in such close proximity! My fingers are crossed that some of her magic will rub off.

So, I have to tell you, that the idea for this collection grew from a one day urban excursion to check out the downtown Denver Area while I was attending a design conference back in the summer of 2010. I stopped by the iconic Rockmount Ranchwear store dubed ”THE Western Shirt Shop” and couldn’t get cowgirls off my mind.

Gosh, I’m so glad that I took the time to take in the sites. It just goes to show you that inspiration comes from anywhere!! And the funny thing is that my sister is actually the horseback rider in the family. She has a farm with two horses and three ponies. My daughter just loves spending the summer with them. I mean isn’t that every little girls dream, to have a pony even if it is just for the summer.

Since all these collections are so new, I don’t yet have a list of specific stores where you can buy them. But If you are just dying to get your hands on one of these items you can go ahead and contact Creative Co-op directly and they will be able to direct you. :)

 And if that wasn’t exciting enough I also had slew of new products launching with Magnet Works!!

Oh my gosh you guys! I just love working with this company!! They totally embody all the things I look for when I decide if I want to work with a company. I feel so very fortunate to have found it with them.

I truly believe that in work, as in life, it all comes down to having great relationships with good people and these are some good peeps! I feel so honored to be one of the artists in their new breakout collection celebrating life’s joys and special occasions!

And what a perfect match! Because honestly isn’t that what life’s all about! Celebrating and honoring the people that come into our lives!

 

My goodness can you believe that all of this started with a dream that I had. A small thought that I wanted to be able to see my artwork out in the world. The idea that I wanted it to be able to be fully ingrained and integrated into peoples everyday lives. This has been a dream that I’ve been willing to work really hard for. I truly believe that thoughts and actions become your reality. And I am so glad that this is now mine. I’ve been thinking and dreaming about this for a long time!!! And I am so very thankful for all that I have in my life!

And you know that I can’t attend a show without at least having one (or more) nights hangin’ with the girls. Where somehow I always proceeded to way over-share. :) But that’s just who I am so I’m working on just embracing it.

It was so much fun to hang with the darling Kate & Caroline and of course my marketing maven Myleen. These ladies are AWESOME! We were laughing so hard that by the end of the night my stomach hurt. Always a good sign! :)

launching with creativeco-op

Oh my gosh you guys, I’m not very good at keeping secrets and I’ve been dying to share this really BIG news with you all. I’ve been biting my tongue for months and I finally just got the OK to share.

I will be partnering with CreativeCo-op!!

And my new product lines will be launching at

The Mart this weekend!!! 

Here’s just a small preview of what they will be carrying. 

Ahhhh…it doesn’t get any better then this, oh wait it does!!! I also have a new products with Magnet Works debuting for the first time as well.

One of these day’s I’ll have to share with you the story of how this all came about but for now just know that grit, perseverance and passion are an amazing combination :)

on my desktop :: magnet works

Oh my gosh you guys!! I was crazy sick last week and under an even crazier deadline. Usually I hold up pretty well against the germs that my daughter tends to bring home, but this one hit me like a ton of bricks. I winded up with bronchitis :( You should of seen me in my pj coughing away just trying to finish up and get a huge batch of files out the door. I was so worn down that I didn’t have it in me to post even one little thing.

…Well this isn’t little news at all. It’s a bit BIGGER and way more exciting then that!!! Check out some of these product images that I have sitting on my desktop :)

I’m SUPER excited to be working with Sue and Anne over at Magnet Works !! I just love Anne, and getting to know Sue has been a pleasure. These ladies are AWESOME to work with.

It feels wonderful to be working with good people at a good company!! :)

Don’t they look great?! And, these are only SOME of the products that will be featuring my Art!!

The ones you see here will be available to retailers in the Fall/Winter 2012 Early Buy catalog, and to the general public in July!!

Not to worry I’ll be sure to keep you posted on where you can get your hands on these babies :)