The sweetest pea...

What could be more merry than the 25 extra pounds you'll put on from eating all that luscious holiday food??  Well, spend those calories wisely- on chocolate macaroons of course, at the Sweet pea bakery in downtown Phoenix.  Kym and I founded our blog "2 nerds in Phoenix" there and had our first photo session outside the bakery.  We're excited to be working on more projects with the super talented owner and chef Danielle.  

PS.  How awesome is this photography?!  Thanks Kym!

Happy toys!

Christmas shopping for kids can be downright scary these days, Aaron and I were really disapointed to find that almost every toy in Target is made in china.  Although we know we can't totally avoid it we hoped to get her a few fun toys that wouldn't potentially give her brain damage.  Much to my delight, I found these great items at the Children's museum of Phoenix today.  The tea set is totally environmentally friendly and made in the USA!  The book is a great way to encourage the little artist in Emma, Georgia O'Keefe is one of my faves, some of you know I have one of her flowers tatooed on my upper right arm.  The best part was they were really well priced and now I am officially done my christmas shopping, YAY!!!

Refresher course...

I'm new to this blogging thing, and I wanted to share some pictures of earlier work with JolieJour flowers, these pictures were taken by David de Dios in Aug. 2007 for a display at Bright event gallery- a wonderful place to check out when planning a wedding.

More merry-making!

One for you, one for me!

I am so lucky to have such a good friend in Kym Ventola of Ventola photography.  Not only do we get along fabulously and work together in the same industry but we have 2 of the cutest kids on the planet!  Our playdate this morning included decorating a lovely gingerbread house- at least half of the candy got on the actual house before it collapsed!  Check out these photos and Kym's website for more photo inspiration.  More to come on the collaborative efforts of Kym and Jenn...

Tis the season

I usually hate christmas decorating, for my own home I prefer a very subdued christmas- stick to earthy tones and your own color theory.  I like to get my christmas on at other peoples homes or venues, where they will have to be the ones to take it all down, painstakingly pack each item and then bug their husbands to climb up on a ladder to put it all back it the garage attic.  This year, I've opted for a few handmade touches and a plantable rosemary tree.  I know, I hope someday Emma can forgive me for my unwillingness to put an inflatable Christmas cactus in our front yard.

Best Friends

The super cute apron in action!

                   

Emma and Lydia continue the tradition with eerily similar personalies

Best friends always seem to know how to make you feel special at the time when you need it most.  I am lucky enough to have several "best friends" in my life, Amanda is an old "frenemy" turned sister-like best bud.  We really had it out for each other when we were roomies in college, I think because we were so much alike and couldn't stand to admit it!  Since I had Emma we have reconnected- our hubbies are BFF's too, how convenient, except the real curse here is they live in Camp Hill, PA, I think it is our karma coming back from when we were rotten to each other in those college days!  So now we are cursed to be long distance best friends, probably forever...booooo!!!!!  Move to Arizona you guys!!!

Amanda sent me this amazing apron after I told her how much I admired my friend Lizzie's.  It matches my style and personality in this totally fundamental way that only a best friend would understand.  Thank you so much for getting me...and getting me this fabulous apron!  

Family

This blog is supposed to be about flowers, art and life, so here's the life part- mine, that is...

Bright event workshop

Thanks to Victoria and Kelly of Bright event gallery for putting together a super helpful workshop for their grateful vendors, these ladies are amazing at supporting local and small buisiness, they've always been ecouraging and supportive of my work!  Check them out if you're planning a wedding anytime soon, they're sure to take the stress out of it and make it a blissful day!

My beautiful brides!

I love, love, LOVE getting these notes from brides, it really makes my day to know I've made theirs, thanks for the love ladies!

Jessica and Gary

And let's not forget their super cute Chihuahua Lola!  Jessica and Gary were so fun to work with, Jessica's vision was so in line with my own tastes we just hit it off!  I loved how I got to create pieces that I fell in love with too...

And thanks to Katina Patriquin for coming out to shoot some pics for me!

Inspiration

It all started with my favorite new hoodie which was found at the always fabulous store in central Phoenix, Frances.  I was inspired by the intricate floral designs embroidered on this gorgeous piece as well as various things in my house- a large tin mirror with floral detail and a coveted anthropologie rug.  Then came the sketches, on paper and daughter, and then the rhinestone studded origami paper flowers strung onto luxe midori silk for our upcoming photo shoot, stay tuned...

Wagner Event

        

                        

I love it when a bride allows me to have some creativity in the design.  Teana was great to work with and allowed me to create arrangements for her without any constraints except to keep them green and white, her colors of the day.  She did come up with the design for her own bouquet, inspiration from a page in a magazine.  Her personality and style inspired me and this wedding was one of my favorites to work on.  Thanks Teana and Hendrik!

And isn't he the cutest ring-bearer ever?!

Hello world!

I'd like to introduce myself as a lover of art, style, and nature.  I am interested in creating stylish affordable wedding decor and flowers while also supporting the environment by using eco-farmed, or fair trade flowers.  All this on a budget!  I've made it my mission.  

I love our planet and now that I'm a Mom I'm even more passionate about doing something to help save it.  My husband Aaron is an intregal part of Jolie Jour flowers creating props and helping with set ups, I am so fortunate to have such a great partner.  And my daughter Emma is a daily inspiration.