The Well Read Raven...

 

 

I wanted to post sooner but I spent my blogtime cruising the Jersey roadways with Aaron and my little bro Walt, who now has his permit, so we're giving him some driving time. You should see the three of us in his 87 Firebird, it's a riot!

Anyway, we're thrilled about the response to our Charlotte painting! We can't wait to keep showing you more from this new collection. We hope to have a new addition early next week and we've got one to show right now! Introducing... The Well Read Raven! 

 

We know that a lot of you are really into the dolls but before we go on to more cute girls next week we needed to put this Raven on the canvas. We love when traditionally scary subjects are made sweet and approachable. The world of folk art is pretty much defined by that. Just look at his silk ribbon collar with it's tiny bell...he'd never say "nevermore!" I may have mentioned a million times before that Aaron is a chronic Bibliophile so he's especially psyched about the presence of books in this one! I just adore big black ravens. They bring with them a whole landscape of legend and lore as well as just a simple beautiful aesthetic of purest black on black.

  Like Charlotte before him, The Well Read Raven is defined by a select color palette and vintage pattern. Each piece in the new collection will coexist in the same little world of collectibles and vignettes.  He's 11 x 14 like Charlotte.

 

 

And speaking of dimensions, meet Little Charlotte!

She measures 6 1/2 x 5 .   We wanted to do all of the new paintings in keepsake size. Since we are so into the art and act of gift giving we know that when it comes to decor, sometimes little gifts are more appreciated than larger ones. Little art pieces just aren't as presumptuous and you can present them without feeling like you overdid it.

  When we create we like to keep an eye on practicality. I know that it almost doesn't seem like a word that should be used when speaking of the artistic process but we always put practicality in our mix. It makes sense to us because we start from the decor mindset. This would maybe be an impure approach to art if it wasn't our decor we had in mind. We have a model of who our ideal audience is and it's us. We're purists in what we live with and what we collect and if our own artwork can fit in that narrow niche then that's pure enough. And decor inspired art mustn't get a bad rap. Sure, a lot of decor is surface level, matchy matchy, and boring and art should contain none of those adjectives. But when we think decor, we think story, character, mood, emotion, theme. Decor for us is a cinematic world and all of the art pieces play supporting roles.

 

 

And how about this mosaic for story, character, mood, emotion, and theme?! I've been staring at this little cross section of perfection for days...I think I've etched it inside of my corneas! Love the color and I laugh out loud every time I look at those kids with the lampshade heads!

 

 

 

I am soooo in love with American Harvest and this is like THE perfect time of year for anyone who hasn't heard of it to go check it out and fall as hard as I did when I first discovered this fabulous site/store/blog! Behind it are two folk art wunderkind named Sharon and Rodger and everything they present to you is top notch! And I'm not just saying this because I won this magical little Opera Fairy charm from them! (I love blog giveaways!!!) No, I won this charm because Sharon and Rodger are so fab and have me visiting their blog daily! Their store features artists you need to know...including many of my faves such as Nicol Sayre, Lauren Mumford, Michelle Legler, Sally Jean,and more! All Hallows Eve and the mystical autumn approaches and American Harvest is ready for you...you've been warned! Thank you SO SO much Sharon and Rodger!!! I LOVE my charm!! :)

 

Ok, I have to get back to the multi tasking. The new paintings we've got planned are burning a hole in my pocket...or I should say paintbrush, but that doesn't really make much sense. I mostly want to say thanks to all of you and your votes of confidence. Compliments and encouragement from your peers make the paints flow like a dream. 

 

See you all soon!

xoxo Jenny

*"The Well Read Raven", and "little Charlotte" are now listed on eBay and Etsy!

One ticket left!!!

 

 

 

I'm super excited! My sister Melissa just sealed the deal and is coming to Silver Bella! For a long time she's been kicking herself for missing out on getting a ticket. When all the tickets sold out I was bummed because I thought it would be really cool if she went and she'd be my second line of emotional support on my dreaded first airplane flight. Well, things ended up working out. My new friend Sharon McGinn has tickets but unfortunately is unable to attend so Missy was able to purchase hers. And a word to anybody else who missed out: Sharon has one more ticket available and she'd love to sell it to an aspiring Bella! Go to her blog to let her know if you're interested, or stop by even if you don't need the ticket because her blog is a scrapbooking treasure trove of classes and sources! She owns a fab scrapbooking store in Massachusetts and she asked me and Aar to go up and teach a class after the new year. We're definitely gonna take the road trip up there.  I'm psyched to meet her and see her shop in person! So again, if you want a ticket, here's that second chance! This second ticket was Sharon's daughter's and it's the same schedule as the one she sold my sister so you can chill with Missy when you're out in Omaha!

 

Above is a little afternoon tea party we had today. Just me, Aaron and little Carlos. I have to say that mini cupcakes go down way too easy. You can eat 'em like M&M's. Check out those cupcake toppers! The adorable plastic flowers are from  A.Bell Emporium  which, ummmm, oh my, if you're looking for fun cake toppers look no further, cause Amanda rules!! Kitsch Deeeelux! You got your bunnies, your gnomes, record players/records, mini boom boxes...good stuff! Also she supplied me with these super duper sweet vintage plastic party favor cups. I looooove them! She knows me all too well! What a doll she is! Thank you SO SO much Amanda!!!!!

 

And those other cupcake picks with the little girl heads are like my favorite things right now! Besides looking pretty atop a swirl of buttercream I can see these working in all sorts of crafting projects. They're handmade by Laura at KatyDid Designs. Her motto is: “If it stands still it can be embellished.” (well my cupcakes were standing still when I embellished them with Laura's girly picks, but soon after that they were moving fast toward my mouth!) Well take a look at katydiddys. She's got a free monthly, electronic newsletter that features her latest artwork & tips and tricks for running YOUR craft business! It's a very cool blog and the newsletter has lots of quotes and advice from Laura and a lot of her successful artist friends.

 

Ok, just wanted to check in. Thursday is our hump day since our official workweek sorta ends on Saturday night. So nothing much else to report except that it looks as if we might still have an existing sun in Jersey. After four days of chilly rain we're finally clearing up...unfortunately it means that the true August is coming back for it's last hot hurrah. I'm so done with heat!

See ya soon! xoxo Jenny

It's raining junk!

 

 

 

In Jersey we're wearing zip ups and jeans right now. The flip flops are left at home and we're jumping over puddles and ducking the lightning. I think we're gonna have almost a whole week of this weather. Nothing about the outdoors indicates August and for me it's a welcome change. All of the sudden we've got pseudo-antiquing weather!

  Yesterday we took full advantage of the unseasonably cool damp climate and went down to our favorite junkshop. As we walked the isles I felt so much guilt for not having a camera with me. This place is amazing. It's located in Englishtown NJ, a very very old town, with tons of beautifully rotting country architecture. In Jersey when someone says Englishtown you only think of one thing...the gigantic weekly flea market. But unfortunately, it's not the kind of flea market for us ( and when I say 'us' I mean you and me). There's a whole lot of new stuff there...cd's, dvd's, knock off purses etc...so the flea market should be avoided if you're a connoisseur of great old stuff. That's why we head to the junkshop. It's housed in, I believe, an old grocery store and run by this really cool girl Leah and her dad. Imagine keeping an old, smaller supermarket as is, but instead of food filling the isles it's junk! Three entire isles of old dinnerware, two whole isles of holiday junk, rooms full of kitchen stuff, hallways full of books! Anyway, here are just some treasures I brought home without too much digging. Can you believe the aqua mini tea set?!And I absolutely love all the tarnished silver! Mr. Crow is walking among it just to give it all his little nod of approval. And I acquired Christmas balls galore as well as a dazzling array of apothecaries.

I promise a full profile on this place with some detailed interior shots soon. I assure you all that you'll be floored!

  While me and Aar were there we ran into some friends of ours, Mario and Bill, who own a shop way up in Bronxville NY...(very far from Englishtown on the map!). But like us, they covet this place and would travel as far as it takes. Anyway, besides being a super shock running into them there it was also super cool, Mario and Bill were THE first store owners that ordered from us at The Gift Show, so they've always held a special place in our hearts. The Gift Show is this unbelievably gigantic trade show at the Javits Center in NYC and tens of thousands of retailers show up to buy wholesale from people like me and Aaron. There we were, in a sea of a million artists and vendors, and we had no idea if we'd succeed or fail miserably. On opening day Mario and Bill walk up and start pointing at our stuff, saying "one of these, one of these, two of these..." and I can honestly say that it took us a minute to realize that we were supposed to be filling out an invoice...and... seriously on our way into the world of wholesale. So after a fumbling minute we filled out their  invoice and after that the floodgates were open. Within thirty days we were shipping to stores from Tennessee to Seattle and everywhere in between.

  So ok, Englishtown didn't disappoint. I dug through catacombs of wonderful junk and Aaron got lost in a room of floor to ceiling dusty paperback books. (quick aside: he was reading from a book published in 1950, of "dirty jokes"...sample "dirty joke" from 1950- 'how do you tell a male sardine from a female sardine? just take a look at what can they come out of!'----I guess were supposed to blush at the bathroom being called a can!) Anyway, bad dirty jokes aside after an hour or so of junking you have to scrub your hands like a surgeon, which we did at the nearest Quick Chek.

 

 

 

 

 

After that we went to visit Aaron's Grandma at the rehab center. She recently had a stroke and her recovery has been excellent. We hung out with Grandma for about three and a half hours and you would never ever know that she suffered a stroke a week prior. She was clear as a bell and quick as a whip. We had a fun time despite the location and the circumstance. Rehabilitation places/ nursing homes are a bit hard to deal with. After Aaron's car accident he lived in one for a couple of weeks and all of the memories come flooding back. But for Aaron the new perspective is twice as meaningful because he knows first hand how much it meant when he had visitors. He'll never forget those that came to see him and sent him cards. He says he keeps them in a little pocket in his heart...so we hoped to return the favor to Grandma, who sent countless get wells!

Last post I said I'd follow up with some pics of the Christmas cards and tags  I sent to my friend Suzy for our Christmas in July swap. Definitely outside my usual color palette, well mostly with the tags. Three of the cards feature shrunken down prints of our Christmas paintings. I like how the Christmas cupcakes card came out, I guess I'm just really partial to pastels!

  Ok, gotta get back to work, a new painting is coming soon and we are PSYCHED about it! You guys will see it first,

xoxo Jenny

Meet Charlotte!

 

 

 

 

 

Yesterday was Work In Progress Wednesday and so today is Thoroughly Through with painting it Thursday...yeah, it doesn't roll of the tongue as good but nonetheless...Meet Charlotte, the newest member of our Everyday is a Holiday family. We were so psyched to complete her! We've got about four all new paintings in progress and we totally wanted to finish Charlotte first. She's like the fulcrum of the new collection, the spokes model, the face. 

  With our new creations we're reaching back in time a little further, digging in Grandma's attic, peeling away the layers of aged wallpaper, getting cozy, and paying tribute to the treasures that twinkle among our domestic nest.

  We modeled Charlotte from our favorite little German porcelain dolls. We just love their middle of the road facial expressions and the stillness and quiet they exude. How loud could she get with that tiny tiny mouth?! Look at the detail shot of her dress and her little soldered prize ribbon won at her first piano recital! (that's German glass glitter adorning those painted rhinestones!) When sketching her we really couldn't decide on the perfect background pattern so we hand painted a torn mosaic of  florals, stripes, damask, and polka dots. It's an 11" x 14" painting and we reproduced her in that exact size to fit on a distressed mocha colored board. You may have noticed the wall color behind her and if you're keeping track then you know that these walls were Tan very recently. Yes, we painted and it's a whole new world over here...but that's an entire blog entry on it's own. I included a pic of this same mantel area, from last Christmas, just to show you the before and after. I can't wait to do Christmas against this new backdrop. Our Silver Bella projects for this year figured heavily into picking this exact wall color. When we hoosh things up a bit I'll take some new livingroom/diningroom pics so you get the full view...it's a big change. Heck, a year ago the Tan was a big change. We kinda saw the Tan as a transitional color. It got us out of the all pink mode (9+ years of pink!) and now I think we've settled on a color we can live with for a loooong time. Aaron says: "it better be a loooong time."

  Anyway, this is Charlotte's debut...we hope you like her!!

 

 

 

The lovely Mary from Oh Merci was nice enough to nominate me as one of her Nice Matters Awardees. She beat me to the punch on that one because she's one of the absolute first that comes to mind when I think of nice bloggers. Well, I gotta pass on the niceties and name my nominees:

Cerri

Jen

Holly

Andrea

Kimla

Analise

Suzy

Beth

Angelina

Jenn

 

  If you stop by often then you know these names well! I really could go on and on but meaning diminishes when lists stretch out too long. I've said all this ad nauseam but blogland is so full of genuine kindness. Not fake "online kindness". When I think of the blogland friends I've made I know they're not figments of my online imagination...you know, like the kid in 8th grade saying "I kissed a girl. She's my girlfriend, but she lives in Canada." Today's online friendships are like yesterday's "girlfriend in Canada" routine. Except here in our corner of blogland. We blur the line of online and offline. Heck, a lot of us will meet in the flesh at  Silver-Bella . And the tangible objects we trade through the mail show further how "real" our friendships are.  

 

Ok, back to work. I really hope to show you all a whole new painting early next week...but I'll be in touch before then, I made the pledge!

xoxo Jenny

 

*If you'd like to adopt a Charlotte of your very own, she is now listed here ! :)

Thank you Flickr!

 

 

 

A good chunk of our work week over here is spent in the pursuit of supplies. For many reasons we are low quantity buyers...no bulk, no surplus for us...we don't have the room for it! So we make a lot of trips for paint and glue and lumber. Sometimes all the running around is unpleasant but I'm sure the trips out of the house help a bit with breaking the work-from-home monotony. So today after we got our lumber we went over to have my dad cut it on his table saw. My little brother Walt was there sitting in his car. The real funny thing about this is that Walt won't get his license til 2008! A few weeks ago my dad bought Walt a 1987 Pontiac Firebird and it's RED. It's really a hilarious car...it's got those louvers on the back window, headlights that wink, t-top roof! I am the furthest thing from a car person.(well that goes without saying...I don't drive!) But when I say I'm not a car person I mean Me and Aaron collectively are blind to the world of automobiles. If you ask us "what kind of car was he driving?" we'd answer " ummmm... blue." The year, make and models are mysteries. With one exception...both of us love old Trans Am's and the like! You know, muscle cars.  There's great tongue in cheek comedy in an old Trans Am. Images of mullets and mustaches come to mind. And I always thought it would be great for us drive one...being that they sort of represent all that we are not. We don't go fast, we don't rev engines, we don't care about cars! Anyway, what the heck am I getting at here?!  Oh, I was thinking about the work week and how getting out of the house is important for airing out the brain a bit. But I got side tracked by Walt, as always!

  Ok, what I meant to say right from the beginning of this post is that Flickr is an invaluable tool nowadays. There's no time to scour the antique shops, the library, the bookstore, the flower market, the farm stands, the shady lanes...in search of inspiration. I always need to lay things out in front of me...a big collage of the current world that's inside my head. I need to see some luscious dahlias, pink balloons, typewriter keys, dollheads, birdcages...all at once. Enter...Flickr!!! Here's a couple mosaics of my most recent faves. Within a day or two I'll be able to post the latest thing we're working on and you'll see that these little snapshots were an integral part of the recipe. Not specifically speaking though, more overall feel and vibe. Anyway, Just wanted to share these and look what I went and did...I talked about Trans Ams!!! All apologies. Next post will include a new porcelain doll painting! See you then! 

xoox Jenny

Pledge Allegiance to the blog.........and we have a WINNER!

 

It's just the way it goes...when you get really busy you have to make sacrifices. And always the first things you eliminate from your schedule are those things that happen to make you happiest. For me the sacrifice has been this blog. This is my little escape hatch, my portal to the pretty life, and lately it's become (and I cringe to think it!) nearly a once a week activity! I've gotten so wrapped up in other stuff that I've let one of my favorite parts of the day fall to the wayside. Saturday night, Barb (Aaron's mom) had a ladies night over at her house. All the close-by females of the immediate family plus me and my sis got together for food, drink, and girl talk. Anyway, the night was a constant cacophony of five separate conversations. At one point the  conversation turned to this here blog and the gist of the convo was pretty much this : " remember when Jenny used to update the blog A LOT."  There was more to the conversation and as  I explained my side I felt like I was making excuses, and why should I make excuses for not doing something that I love doing? That feels a bit backwards right? But the overall feel of the blog talk was that of reminiscence. Like: "remember when it was good...the good times?" And that's absurd. I feel like a let down...and well deserved. Because when I don't post for a while it's me who is the most let down. I need this little escape hatch! and all you guys are always here...even when I'm neglectful and long absent, the second I come back with a post you guys are still here to check it out and pass on a kind word! So I'm gonna try to make a promise to you guys and to myself to make it a point to get busy with the blogging! No more once a week stuff...that's nuts. You're gonna be seeing a lot more of me from here on out. So, thanks to Ladies night for lighting a fire beneath my seat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

OK, pledge is over. Now onto this amazing array of Christmas in August! These cards and tags are from  Suzy Spence, the designer behind the fabulous Georgia Peachez label. I signed up for a little Christmas in July handmade card/tag swap hosted by my friend Angelina,  and I was lucky enough to get Suzy as a partner. Well lucky to receive her stuff, but maybe unlucky if you consider how high she raised the darn bar with these dropdead designs!! How can you even come close to these?! I mean, swapping isn't a competition but you hope to give as good as you get. Everyone of these designs can be sold to industry. I'm picturing some manufacturer's headhunter trolling blogland and coming upon these pics...so look in stores around Christmas 2008 and you just might find some mass produced knock offs of these. But I don't think my digital camera does them justice...the set of cards is magic! Each came sewn inside its own pink tulle sack tied with tiny vintage mercury glass ornaments. And to think that these probably represent the least of her skills! A few months back I posted pics of an amazing custom apron she made me! Anyway, great stuff right? I'll post pics of mine soon.

 

 

Got my package from OneHundredWishes.com! You know,  Andrea Singarella's online shop I gushed about the other day. Well the plot thickens when the actual products arrive in tangible form. You really can't top the presentation. You want to keep all the stuff wrapped. I looked down in the box and thought of what a great gift giving source she'll be. It'd be great to just purchase from Andrea and have the stuff shipped direct to a crafty friend. The most glaringly obvious thing inside a boxload of 100 Wishes stuff is the purest love put in. And yeah, I got my glue stick and it smells amazing. I had Aaron lick it to see how it tastes, not bad he says. But I don't think it's FDA approved for consumption. You know, I feel like I'm shooting myself in the foot every time I mention 100 Wishes because as word spreads there'll be less and less stuff for me to get my hands on. 

 

 

One day, every roll of vintage wallpaper will be gone and you'll either be a Have or a Have-not. So in these days leading up to the great paper drought it's a good idea to find and employ a skilled hunter gatherer. I've got my source and she's no secret but incase you haven't heard...Jen Duncan  is at it again! She's back with the paper packs!! Check out this selection!

My favorite types of people are editors. The artistic process itself is really just a form of editing. With writing, with painting, with collage, it's all about editing out what doesn't look good. The ugly words, the clashing colors, the drab paper patterns. Well Jen Duncan is a darn good editor. In her paper packs you only get the good stuff. I'm loving the flocked papers, especially the black and white, with Halloween approaching. All of these are gonna make fab backgrounds for handmade cards...like the ones from Suzy! Again, I might be shooting myself in the foot, but get over to Jen and make sure you're not a Have-not.

 

Lastly, we had a little giveaway and I was thrilled at the number of comments and the spectrum of favorite things to bake. As promised I picked a winner out of my favorite mixing bowl and the winner is.... # 15- Christen! and she'd be welcome at the Heid's for the holidays with her red velvet cupcakes! My little bro's request them for every occasion. She's got a blog that I newly discovered thanks to her comment...it's: pocket-full-of-posies.blogspot.com and apparently she's a fellow 100 Wishes devotee! Aren't giveaways great for getting the word out on fellow bloggers? So Christen, once I get your info I'll drop this little baking gal in the mail! Thanks so much to everybody that joined in! I swear, it was almost torture reading through the favorite things to bake! As I read each one I mentally tasted each one. I had Aaron over my shoulder and we were going ooooohhhh aaaahhhhh...simply at the words brownie or coconut cake with lemon filling or apple crisp or chocolate covered cherries or cinnamon rolls, even that plain old simple word bread had us going nuts! Very active imaginations over here when it comes to food!

 

Ok, like I said, like it or not, you'll be seeing a lot more of me here. Right now we're gonna chip away at our porcelain doll paintings.

 

See you all soon!!

xoxo Jenny

There was a party in blogland.....oooh and a GIVE-AWAY!!

Me and Aaron have a habit of closing places...always we're the last ones at a restaurant while the wait staff gathers in a corner, rolling their eyes when we order dessert thus keeping them even longer. Always us and friends will be the last people sitting in the theater after the movie credits have long run out. Aaron and his pals once even over stayed the time limit at a wake!...In other words, we're those people who don't get out much and when we finally do, we get a little buzzed on sugar and conversation and stay out til 4am! So it's fitting that we'd be the last to join Artsy Mama's Artful Blogger Party. Kari is this great ball of creative energy bouncing around blogland, linking all of us together. She's always right on the pulse of all that's cool in art and life. So we wish we coulda joined the party earlier, but I think we had paint to elbows and were in no state to entertain or be entertained.  So at least we're showing up with a gift. This little 4 x 4 retro baking gal plaque is made from some favorite papers, vintage recipe book clippings, and a downsized print of our original painting of a gorgeous girl preparing a fresh batch of golden cupcakes. She goes to one lucky winner who posts a comment on this entry, with only one specification: I'd love to know what your favorite thing to bake is. I don't need a full recipe. I just love to here what people love bake. So that's it, just drop a little line with your fave baking project and make sure to leave me your email and or blog link. I'll put all the names in my favorite mixing bowl and pick one winner by Sunday night...and knowing me, probably LATE Sunday night! Well, anyway, Big thanks to Kari Artsymama for being so darn cool and for making our corner of blogland such a close knit community!! Go over to her blog now for an endless supply of all the links that count, the party continues!

lots of love to all of you lovelies!!!

xoxo Jenny

Looking forward to Halloween...but no rush!...stay in the pool, relax

I've definitely noticed an ebb in my own creative tide. Not in a bad way, just in a summertime way. Aaron agrees that he feels much more depth of creative feeling in the colder months. I guess it has to do with a need to draw brightness from within in times when it won't come from without. The summer offers the calm warmth, still air and steady sun to set our souls at ease. Our nerves are sedated and therefore the therapy of creative expression is uncalled for. You have to put in a little more effort to really get the juices flowing in the summer. And maybe it isn't just the weather. It could have something to do with the deeply ingrained idea of a "schoolyear". The whole 'no more teachers no more books' thing. We tell ourselves "I'll get my mind back in Algebra mode come September" (well, I never ever got my mind in Algebra mode...no matter what month, year, or lifetime!) . And I'm sure a lot of you will agree...it's not at all that the quality of your creativity diminishes. It's just that it doesn't come shooting out of you like a geyser. I guess that's part of my reason for liking Halloween so much. It sorta marks the beginning of the creative year with all of it's visual possibilities and bold announcements of season's change. Well, that's why I wanted to post some Halloween stuff. Last post I showed Jessi's  super awesome cone and that adorable little Boo girl from Mica and I got lots of comments and emails from other Halloween thirsty gals. I suspect my summertime creative ebb is not unique and that most of you guys would agree that Autumn brings a welcome change. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

But first, before I rush us out of summer altogether I have to show you some pics of an assortment of artwork we recently shipped off to Italy! I've talked at length about our friend Rosanna over there so I don't want to go repeating myself but in case you forgot or are new to reading this blog here's a link  to a past entry showing Rosanna's dazzling home and collections. These pieces here were all commissioned by Rosanna and we really love the assortment that she chose. It's like a perfect little sampling of our work in all possible shapes and sizes! She has a dollhouse patisserie where all of those mini versions of our paintings will hang (those are all roughly 2 to three inches at the biggest). And Rosanna requested a custom fairy jar after seeing the one I did for Melfie's fairy jar swap a couple months back. I love how this one came out, especially the bird's party hat! And that  magical crown there was a lot of fun to make. It's totally handpainted...all the scrollwork, the floral garlands, the cake. We put a lot of care into the tiny details. Also I saw in blogland some other bits and pieces collages sent off to Rosanna recently and loved 'em...well here's mine for her, as well as a whole bunch of custom tags (that little ballerina on one of 'em is Rosanna's adorable and apparently super fun daughter!) We totally adore Rosanna and I personally know a few artists who share our feelings for her. She just really "gets it" and its great to do work for those who "get it".

 

 

 

 

Ok, I brought up Halloween so I must at least provide some visual aids. We got lots of email requests to put some of last year's Halloween collection back in our ebay store. So some are there now and we've got more to come. The new stuff is not yet complete but we promise to really kick up our All Hallows Eve game. The visual possibilities are so great and we must measure up to some high standards. In this art/craft/collectible world Halloween is by far the most creative/inventive. Well, I might change my tune when all the Christmas stuff starts to flow (and Silver Bella!!!) but for now lets say that Halloween is king! We are totally gonna have Halloween ornaments in our collection this year! soon!

 

 

 

I think this is going to be a short post. I'm looking at some mail I just received and it's too great to try to squeeze in here. So look forward to some EYE CANDY next post. But I have one more thing to mention and it's not like it even requires mentioning because I'm sure the entire world is aware. It's equal to me trying to get the word out about the Simpsons movie. But I'll tell you anyway. At 10 am eastern time the virtual doors opened over at OneHundredWishes.com!!! The owner of this online paradise is the uber talented and super stylish Andrea Singarella! I'm serious when I say that YOU MIGHT FAINT! when your eyes start to take it all in. Her vintage paper goods, fancy notions, trinkets & treasures are....ummm....exactly what you want, what you need, and what you crave! Gorgeous velvet ribbons, vintage seam binding, Dresden foil trims, as well as incredible handmade goodies (see Paper Cakes!!). You're sure to order a Coccoina Glue Stick just as I did! These Italian imports are scented with almond extract! Imagine your crafting materials transporting you to an Italian bakery. I mean, miss Foof herself uses 'em, Teresa McFabulous! But maybe not recommended for use if crafting is your dieting tool! Well anyway, go over to one hundred wishes again and again. Oh yeah, speaking of Andrea Singarella has reminded me of Artful Blogging. An excellent new magazine featuring the likes of Andrea, Alicia, Kari, Teresa,..and soooo many more! It's all about artful blogs and at first the idea seems in reverse...putting an online entity into print form...but once you get your hands on this mag you'll see it's not backwards at all. You'll see just how much the amazing featured blogs deserve to be immortalized in a high quality print publication. You'll keep it in your "go to" stack of books, right on top. (wait a minute, I just read my last three sentences and I can't believe how much I say stuff like "You'll See!"...it's like I'm a pitch man for some local appliance store!) Anyway, you get the idea, I highly recommend the mag and I highly commend the talented gals featured on it's pages. Somerset Studio has done it again...They are the King Midas of publishing!

 

Ok, thanks for reading. And like I said...Eye Candy soon! xoxo, Jenny