At Jenny’s Glitterfarm Site you can see some of her beautiful work, great How To Videos, and meet Jenny herself. I thought I would delve a little deeper into the artist and retailer behind the Glitterfarm Organic Glamour Company. Here’s Jenny:
Jenny: Hi, I’m Jenny. I’m a maker who wrangles kids, makes art, teaches in video tutorials, and sells organic paint. It’s a busy, crazy life!
Let’s get started!
GTC: How did you get started in Painting Furniture, formal background, junker, artist? Where did the desire to create or originate from?
Jenny: I have been a life long yard saler. I remember from a very young age going to garage sales and estate sales to find cool furniture. My mom was into that way before it was cool. As you can imagine as a young teen I wasn’t so thrilled. As I grew older and moved out, got my own place, I realized how much my mom’s BOHO (Short for Bohemian, eclectic) style had rubbed off on me.
I was really into the shabby chic style as a newly wed. I began collecting things for my home and found that people really liked my style. My mom and I decided to have a booth together at a vintage show called Remnants of the Past. It was great fun and we made great money. We met so many wonderful and interesting people. I had been a vendor at the Alameda Point Antiques Fair a few times and met a gal who was selling CeCe Caldwell paints. She told us how you could paint a piece without having to strip, sand etc. and we were hooked.
(Jenny’s Mom is an artist herself, definitely in the genes!) Here is Jenny’s mom from Polly Jane– She makes beautiful and soft scarves and pins from old cashmere sweaters! You must check her out too. (GTC here) Not long after Jenny and her husband Joe became CeCe Retailers, I had the pleasure of meeting them and working together at a training. Jenny is as enthusiastic and passionate about creating as her color style is.
GTC: What led you to using and ultimately becoming a retailer for CeCe Caldwell’s?
Jenny: I had the idea after going to a family reunion in Napa that my husband and I could sell the paint with an online shop. To this day my husband and I go garage saling almost every weekend. If we find pieces we think we can paint with CeCe, we will buy them, paint them, and resell them.
GTC: What are your favorite CeCe Caldwell’s Paint Colors? What is your favorite technique, finish? (What is your painting style, free form, do you have a vision before you begin, etc.)
(Jenny has a “She Shed”! Every artist needs a place to create. Jenny built hers from the ground up using upcycled items. You can check out that process HERE.)
Jenny: My favorite CeCe color is definitely Santa Fe turquoise. As you can see I painted my work shop/art studio doors.
It is happy and goes with my California beach house.
(A girl after my own heart, Santa Fe Turquoise was one of the first colors I tried and I am still in love)
GTC: Do you have a favorite type of project or technique to use CeCe products with?
Jenny: I really like the dry brush technique because I like to look at pieces of furniture from restoration hardware, then be able to buy a piece at a yard sale and transform it with CeCe Paint. I even did awall in my family room with all CeCe colors to look like old weathered wood.
(You HAVE to read about that wall, the post is full of great tips and BONUS, Jenny shows how to build thoseFloating Shelves. All old fence boards. Jenny was inspired to make this wall from a Pie Shop in Maui, Hawaii. Inspiration is all around us, especially on vacation!)
Jenny: I love making chalk boards with CeCe paint. I have a favorite project I did for my house. I bought a single panel door at ReStore (habitat for Humanity store). It still had the vintage door knobs attached. I had my husband attach it to the wall near my kitchen. I use it every day for the weekly menu and for an inspirational quote (and sometimes to remind the kids to feed the dog).
(Jenny used CeCe Caldwell’s Vintage White and Beckley Coal for this door)
GTC: What are some things you love about the CeCe Caldwell’s company and what do you love about being a CeCe retailer?
Jenny: I love that CeCe paint has a long “open” time. (it allows you to keep manipulating it without drying up, you can re-wet and rework it easily as well). Not all chalk based paints have that open time. I have tried several other brands but I find that CeCe paint has the most flexibility when it comes to how you can play with it and how much time you have before it starts to dry, or you can rewet it to manipulate it more.
GTC: I love the malleability of CeCe Caldwell’s 10% Chalk + Clay Based paint. Because there is no Latex and no Acrylic, no one else has this formula! It can be manipulated into so many different forms. I like to call it the “Magic Paint”.
Jenny: I love that CeCe’s company is green. The can the paint comes in is from recycled plastic. I use them again by either using the cans for other uses like paint brushes or I recycle them. I think the fact that the materials they use to hold their paint is so great. I can’t think of another paint company that offers recycled cans like this and strives so much to be as green as possible.
Jenny: Being a CeCe Caldwell’s retailer is a great job for me. I have 4 kids and a very busy life. I wanted to have a job where I can make the hours myself. Being a CeCe retailer fits into my trips to Costco and trips to school. My husband and I run our online store together. He has done all the photography and web design. I do all the shipping daily and take all the customer service phone calls from people that are new to chalk and clay paint and have questions.
GTC: You guys have a fantastic online Paint Store. You can check it out HERE.
GTC: How do you continue to be inspired? What wakes you up (besides your kids, lol) every day. What sparks your creative muse?
Jenny: The thing that inspires me most is the beach and the beach lifestyle. I love living near the beach and incorporating painted furniture into my home decor. I am always looking for new ways to do that through Pinterest and what I see online. Coastal Living is one of my favorite magazines. I look at that a lot.
Jenny: I love introducing people to CeCe paint who have never heard that you can paint furniture without having to strip it first with all those horrible chemicals. When people hear the good news, they are just amazed! All of my cousins are starting to get married and start families. I talk to them about painting their furniture with CeCe Caldwell’s paint instead of the traditional latex kind. They love that there are NO paint fumes and no VOCs to harm their new baby. DIY art is a big thing too, it’s fun to show people how they can see a project on Pinterest and then create it themselves with CeCe paint.
GTC: You have some beautiful Mixed Media Art you have created too. What are your creative goals for your upcoming projects?
Jenny: As a mixed media artist I would love to get to the place where I could sell my art. Right now I just make it and give it away to friends and family at Christmas or for a special birthdays. It’s a big big goal to me to be at a place to sell my stuff.
Here is a sample of some of Jenny’s work. Mixed Media on Wood. So fun!
Thank you so much for taking time out of your crazy-busy life to chat with me Jenny! You can check out Jenny and GlitterFarm at Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram (@GlitterFarmGirl), YouTube, and Twitter.
Have you tried CeCe Caldwell’s 100% Chalk and Clay Based Paints? If so, what have you painted? I would love see and hear about it. Post a comment or share on my FB page at Redoux. If you are interested in learning more about becoming a CeCe Caldwell’s retailer and you live in CA, NV, UT or CO, click HERE to learn about how we can work together and get in on the FUN. If not, click HEREto get all the details from CeCe Caldwell’s themselves.
Thank you so much Jenny for taking time out of your crazy schedule to chat. Happy Painting!
Jenny seems like an awesome person. I have been into mixed media lately (cleaning out what will eventually become the craft room has uncovered a plethora of materials) and if she was here, she’d find a million places to sell it. But she has a beach, so it’s a trade-off.
Cleaning out the craft room sounds like a fun treasure hunt! That is a job at my house that never seems to completely end. You should share some of what your playing with in mixed media. I have always wanted to try, but I have this voice in my head that feels like it will look like it came out of a dumpster…..
I happen to know that you find some pretty cool stuff in the duster so if your mixed media looks “like it came from a dumpster” it might actually be pretty cool!!
Jenny seems like an awesome person. I have been into mixed media lately (cleaning out what will eventually become the craft room has uncovered a plethora of materials) and if she was here, she’d find a million places to sell it. But she has a beach, so it’s a trade-off.
Cleaning out the craft room sounds like a fun treasure hunt! That is a job at my house that never seems to completely end. You should share some of what your playing with in mixed media. I have always wanted to try, but I have this voice in my head that feels like it will look like it came out of a dumpster…..
I happen to know that you find some pretty cool stuff in the duster so if your mixed media looks “like it came from a dumpster” it might actually be pretty cool!!
Thanks Courtney!