JO Blog

For the past 7 years Kelly and Madolyn have gone to the Castle Rock Daddy Daughter Ball. I know when Kelly first took her that it wasn’t really his “thing”…but it was definitely her kind of “thing”. After that first time together and seeing how much she loved getting dressed up, dancing with her dad […]

Last fall as I was walking with Kelly through the Tuileries Gardens I instantly knew what kind of art retreat I wanted to create. I am not the person that dreams of having art retreats or had even been planning to ever create one. There are so many beautiful and amazing art retreats that it […]

Our February interview in our new video series, Creativity Takes Courage, begins right now! We have such an amazing and fun line up for you guys. When I get off an interview I am just giddy and it is hard to not share all of them with you right away. For those of you that […]

Last Saturday as my husband and I were drinking our morning coffee we started talking about what Saturday mornings were like growing up. It was funny to  reminisce on those weekly routines. Saturdays to me was waking up early, heading downstairs and watching cartoons. If I woke up really early my only option was Davy […]

I do not like to paint furniture. Let me say this again. I do not like to paint furniture. Now repeat another 100 times and you may be a bit closer to understanding the depths that I will go to NOT paint furniture. I am guessing that many of you are very similar to me […]

{original image found HERE} When people come into our home for the first time one of the most common questions is how did we pick all the paint colors. I have always found picking paint colors fun and had never really thought about it. {original image from the living room of Jennifer Rizzo} I go […]

One of the best things we did for our house in 2012 was to give it a face lift with new paint throughout. I have a bit of wanderlust/ants in my pants:-)…whatever you want to call it and sometimes I need change in a big bad way! We have been in this house for almost […]

Our new video series, Creativity Takes Courage, begins right now! I have been wanting to do this for so long! I am beyond excited that it is starting and honored with the long list of creative men and women that have agreed to participate! Last month we expanded our creative network to offer free videos, […]

  {image found HERE} I hear it all of the time… You deserve to be happy I deserve to be happy If I only had xyz… I would be happy It is not that happy is a bad word. I just know that there is more! {image found HERE} You are surrounded by it every […]

I feel like I am still getting into the groove of the new year. The past two years I have gone HERE to connect and focus my creativity and business. It starts today and I am kicking myself for not going. I had forgotten that January and February can be hard to put it nicely. […]

My home life and work life overlap, collide and sometimes don’t have boundaries with one another. It is the blessing and curse of running your own business from home. To throw one more thing into the mix…we homeschool our children. In short, our children are usually with us for school, running the house and watching […]

{All of the photos in this post are from my recent trip back to Montgomery, Alabama.  We walked through my old college and walked around my grandma’s neighborhood. Always beautiful} Early Friday morning I boarded a plane to Montgomery, Alabama for a memorial service. I was meeting my mom and most of her family to […]

Today I will share my Homeschool Favorites of 2012 You can also see my Business Favorites, Creative Favorites, Home Favorite and Beauty Favorites. If there was ever something in our lives that I never went looking for, didn’t plan to do and could have never pictured myself doing..homeschooling is it! If there was something that […]

Today I am sharing my Beauty Favorites of 2012. You can also see my Business Favorites, Creative Favorites and Home Favorites. When I was growing up I loved nothing more then my Kit n Kaboodle. Seriously…that thing rocked! I would buy the 2,054 eyeshadow collection from the drug store. I think there may have been […]

Today I want to share my Home Favorites of 2012. You can see my Business Favorites of 2012 HERE and my Creative Favorites of 2012 HERE. I think home favorites are so different then some of the others I will be sharing this week. Our home is about connecting, relaxing and living together. It is […]

Today I want to share my Creative Favorites of 2012. To see my Business Favorites of 2012 click HERE. I  love to create and there is always something new or new to me that catches my eye. I love seeing what other artists use too and how they like to use them. Many  of the […]

I am still trying to come to terms with the fact that we are in 2013:-) I loved 2012. It was truly a year of growth and seeing a clearer path. It was a year of appreciation and connection. It was a year of figuring out what we really wanted and working hard in many […]

It has been a year since our last art e-course…. Creatively Made {rediscovering the beauty of your gifts}. I am so excited to have a new art course that will begin April 8, 2013. I hope you will join me making lots of art in The Journey of Letting Go {Creating beauty from ashes}! Just as […]

I get more comments about my hair than almost anything else. It is actually quite amusing. I was starting to get worried that when I cut it I was going to get a comment like Amy in Little Women, “Jo, how could you, your one beauty!” Thank goodness I didn’t get anything like that…yet. So, […]

{I surprised my family with a weekend in Denver…I didn’t even tell Kelly} Sometimes I wish I could slip back into time and be a small child that can’t sleep on Christmas Eve with an excited heart. As a child you are oblivious of other things going on around you. {A night ice skating with […]

Thank you for your wonderful response to our Thoreau Collection! I love that you also love all the French treasures and special fabrics. Many bags have sold out but we are working on getting more made for the new year. If you didn’t get a bag yet don’t worry….we made you lots and lots of […]

What lies behind us and what lies ahead of us are tiny matters compared to what lives within us. -Henry David Thoreau Thank you for your beautiful response to our Thoreau Collection! We sold out of a few of our bags in one day! We thought we had produced plenty and were so surprised by […]

{all new bags} {The Julia French Messenger Bag} I am so excited to tell you that the new collection is here! Welcome to The Thoreau Collection… {Vintage Clothes} {Grainsack Market Bags} {The wool Aubrey Ruffle Tote} {The Emerson Handbag} {French Linen Market Bag} {The Elsie Linen Messenger Bag} {Grainsack Market Tote} {The Ellison Camera Bag} […]

Welcome to our home! I am so excited that you are here. First of all I wanted to thank my sweet friend, Jennifer Rizzo, for asking me back this year to show you our home all dressed up for Christmas. I love that Jen puts this house walk together and it is such a fun […]