I became a jeweler. Mom and I became MarJan Designs. Guess the creative apple didn’t fall far from the tree although I had grown up with creativity. It was part of my life.

MarJan did well for a few years but I decided I needed to put on my big girl panties and left the nest for the adventure of Jewelry by Janet.  Although I enjoyed doing art fairs it was hard work and lonely so my relaxation was horses and riding. That is how I met Stacy. We clicked.  ​

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Stacy was on the tail end of almost 10yrs of being a trained Vet Tech in a private practice. She was facing the fact that all those animals she had been treating over the years, were now seniors—and the pain of that. It was making her question her job choice. She was also looking for a new adventure.

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My business was doing well and I needed help. We had pretty much become Janet and Stacy so we decided to give it a shot as partners. Side note—We had both grown up in the Walt Disney “Big Red”  era and had always wanted a Irish setter.  By then we had started our collection of critters. We had gotten an Irish Setter and had her registered name  “JanetnStacysStupidIdea”—Jassi for short. What a better name for our new adventure in business?  Jassi Designs was this chapter. 

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We remained jewelers for several years but I had been making turtle and frog pins out of clay—my first media love, and then finishing them off in copper and stone. One day Stacy made one that I pointed out being too big. “It’s just going to sit there”.

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And so the Copper Turtles adventure was born. Every year we now add to our ever changing styles of turtles, frogs, lizards, fish, and other animals. We are constantly experimenting with different materials and styles. Copper remains the theme but creativity within that theme is endless. Especially when dealing with the subject of animals. It's been fun.

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As life partners Stacy and I have had wonderful adventures, some painful, some amazing but all an adventure. Because of our mutual love and compassion of animals our spare time has been spent creating a life at www.CritterGroveRanch.com. Our home in the Ozarks.​ There we live with a dozen dogs, a dozen cats, and re-homing the overabundance that comes from living in an area high in puppy mills. We have done our part. We also have horses, chickens, peacocks, and raise registered Nigerian Dwarf Dairy goats--My thing. And yes we do have a very dependable house sitter.    

 

Now after 32 years-- We are not sure how smart of path we took. But we do know life has never been boring, always a new adventure, we have made great memories, met people through art fairs that we love and appreciate. Some  customers have quickly became friends and all that made this business even more special.

​Have we been successful financially? Well as we say in this business…”There’s always next weekend”.

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So go shop . The Janet & Stacy world would appreciate it. On all levels.

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