Inspired | Jeanne Oliver

Italy {Here We Come}

June 17, 2013 By jeanne 14 Comments

I can’t believe that we are leaving for Italy in five days!

It has been my dream for as long as I can remember to travel to Italy and that I get to go to teach art is more than I can process.

When I first started my business and I began creating on a regular basis I have said over and over that the Lord answered a prayer of my heart that I didn’t even know I had been praying.

I look back over the past 5 1/2 years and I see the Lord’s hand over and over again in the success of the business.

I see the beautiful people He has brought into my life, doors He opened and the creativity he has grown in me.

So, this week I will get on a plane with my husband and we will experience Italy together.

I will be teaching in Bellagio along Lake Como.

After the week in Bellagio we are heading to Florence for another four days.

We hope to come back with all of the children to see Rome, Naples and Pompeii.

Here are a few peeks of the projects I will be teaching.

I can’t wait to meet all of the women and create with them.

If any of you have suggestions for the Lake Como area or Florence I would LOVE to hear!

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I wanted to let you know that today kicks off the start of my Creatively Made Home Summer Series!

The Art of Seeing {a photography class} begins right now!

The mini courses are priced at only $10 each so you can pick and choose what speaks to you…or take them all!

To register for The Art of Seeing click HERE.

To see all of my online courses click HERE.

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I also want to share with you that my friend Kimberly Taylor is hosting an auction to raise money for her upcoming trip to Africa!

All of the money raised will be used for supplies and clothing for the children in the home that her mother has built.

I have donated an Emerson Bag for this auction.

This is one of the bags that many of you have asked about and because of the vintage fabric used…this is the last one to be sold.

It was set aside months ago for this very special auction.

Click HERE to see all of the items being auctioned and help such an incredible mission.

Filed Under: E-Courses, Inspired, Travel Tagged With: Africa, cathy walters, Italy, online courses, photography course

My Katie Kendrick Art Weekend

May 29, 2013 By jeanne 27 Comments

I still can’t believe that it was a little over a week ago when I had so many incredible women in my house making art.

Katie Kendrick was in town to see her beautiful daughter and family and took a day to do a class.

Kelly and I moved out all of our furniture out of our living room and kitchen and made room for the class.

This idea always seems a little easier in my head than in reality.

Kelly really loves me to support all of my crazy ideas!

I had originally planned on taking the class to but as the class grew I knew I would have fun serving these creative ladies.

I wasn’t disappointed at all because I will have over a week this October with Katie, Stephanie Lee and Judy Wise.

We started off our day with mimosas, coffee, tea and a light snack.

It is always such a joy to watch another creative person working through their creative process.

Katie just exudes kindness, creativity and calm.

All of the girls created for a few hours and then they met me on the back patio for lunch.

We had just gotten our last snow about 2 weeks before the class so I felt so fortunate to be able to host the lunch outside.

I just wish they could all come back now that the yard is getting green and much more lush.

I guess that means that Katie needs to come back again next summer:-)

After lunch all of the girls headed back to creating and I have to tell you that this group of women created the most gorgeous art.

I didn’t have much time to sit and watch them create but I was blown away looking at their creativity.

It was so fun to see how they took Katie’s techniques and incorporated into their own work.

Even their palettes were gorgeous!

The day ended with some of the girls heading to dinner at Augustine Grill here in town and then antiquing the next day.

I had a wonderful time hosting the art day and I had the extra bonus of spending all weekend with my friends Jennifer Rizzo and Danielle Donaldson.

Long after the house was put back together I was able to spends lots of time with both of these women talking, laughing and brainstorming.

I really encourage you to open up your home for whatever creativity connects with you.

Hosting a small class in your home is intimate and encourages connections among the girls that come together.

Don’t feel like you need to make lunch and make it pretty….just open your home.

The girls would have had as much fun if I would have ordered sandwiches and we gathered on the lawn with blankets.

I can’t wait to do this again!

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Just a quick reminder that Santos Cage Dolls {creating rustic beauty from paper, clay and wood} just started!

All of the videos are instantly available and you have one full year to watch them.

This class is only $19!

To read more click HERE.

To register click HERE.

Filed Under: In The Studio, Inspired, Me Myself and I, My Nest

Creating Your Own Outdoor Movie Night {summer is coming}

May 10, 2013 By jeanne 18 Comments

Summer is right around the corner and my mind is going crazy thinking of all the fun things I want to do with my family and children this year.

Summer is the perfect time for casual parties, afternoons with backyard water slides, water balloons and homemade popsicles.

When the weather starts to warm up I am more likely to invite friends over for a backyard BBQ or an afternoon coffee date while the children play.

I think I come out of hibernation in every way.

One of our favorite family end of summer traditions is our annual outdoor movie night party.

{we have also held a chili dinner before the movie}

It is so fun for us to put it on and I know that the families that come love it as much as we do.

We wait until late summer for the movie night so the little kids don’t have to stay up so late.

You could do it in the middle of summer just remember that the sun doesn’t go down until 9pm.

The day of the movie night we prepare the yard and start setting up.

Here is a quick list of how we prepare:

*We use our picnic table for the popcorn and large boxes of movie candy.

I buy all of the candy at Walgreens and we order the popcorn from our Subway in Wal-mart (weird but true).

I have a large metal bin that I use for the candy and I put all of the popcorn in popcorn boxes from Cost Plus World Market.

We open up the umbrella and we hang white lights so even when the movie is playing people can come and get refills of popcorn and candy.

*We use old laundry tubs (in the summer we use them for our herb garden) to hold all of our sodas.

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*We have a smaller table against the house that holds the coffee pot and the crock pot of hot chocolate.

I like to have a ton of whip cream available for the kids (who am I kidding…for me).

I also bring out my reproduction drying rack full of all my different mugs to use for the coffee and hot chocolate (the little kids use paper cups).

I try to have cream, sugar etc. on the table too. We also have another crock pot full of hot cider.

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*I have a large basket set on the patio full of blankets and quilts if people get cold.

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*Kelly always makes sure to get hundreds of glow sticks and glow necklaces/bracelets. The kids are usually full of them before the movie starts.

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*Our Maddy is a performer at heart and for a few years now there is a “pre-show” that includes the neighborhood girls singing for everyone.

A few boys get up there too.

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* You can rent an outdoor movie screen that blows up but we made our own.

We have a pergola in our yard that Kelly built.

Kelly made our own screen using PVC piping to wrap a kings size sheet at the top and bottom.

He also used PVC piping to create holders on our pergola so we could attach the “screen” to our pergola.

It works perfectly for us because our pergola is a little higher than the rest of the yard.

*We use self powered speakers or PA speakers. We place the speakers to the left and right of the screen.

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*We use a projector. You can use a LCD or PLP projector. We project the image from behind the screen but you can also project from the front.

We do it this way so the equipment is out of the way and no one trips on the cords or knocks over the projector on accident.

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* Check your sound before everyone arrives. You will need your sound to be louder than you may think.

With all of the children, adults, candy wrappers etc. you want the sound to be clear.

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* We love this kind of party because we get to cuddle up with 100 people in our backyard:-) Everyone shows up with their own blankets/folding chairs and we supply all of the snacks.

This is such an easy party to set up and it is so affordable when you think of how many people we get to invite.

If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

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If you are looking for a last minute Mother’s Day gift for your favorite mom:-) or a treat for yourself, sister or best friend…

Jennifer Rizzo has an amazing new Santos Cage Doll e-course that will launch May 27th!

Click HERE for the details.

You can register directly on my creative network HERE.

If you would like to gift this course please email me at jeanneoliverdesigns@gmail.com and we will help you give the class.