Sweeney takes pains to turn party venues, however mundane, into fun places. Photo Gallery:::

Jenny Sweeney has built a career around being girlie. Her cute, you-go-girl greeting cards and stationery have a celebrity following that includes Court­eney Cox Arquette, who sends thank-you notes on Sweeney’s customized cards. She also has a party-planning business, and counts Mariska Hargitay as a client (Sweeney planned a kids’ birthday party for her). There’s a Jenny Sweeney Designs Web site (jennysweeneydesigns.com) and an eponymous gift shop in Libertyville, where Sweeney lives.

But girliness is hardly a focus-group niche for this stylish entrepreneur. Step inside the fairy-tale-sweet apple-green cottage that Sweeney, her husband, and their two young boys call home (as we did last summer, for a soiree Sweeney threw for her friends), and you quickly see that the fun-loving gal portrayed on her cards is, quite literally, who she is. We broke down the essential elements of celebrating Sweeney-style.