A Springtime Greeting!

 

 

 

Here's our new kit!!...A Springtime Greeting! We worked out all the kinks...both of us did a test run putting a kit together and we really liked the assembly process. Overall, a very pleasant project. We had on the Sci Fi channel while working and listened to two asteroid hitting the earth movies in a row...Meteor, an oldie starring Sean Connery, and Asteroid, a newer one starring actors whose names I can't recall. Both were pretty bad films but good for a crafty Sunday.

 

 

 

The whole idea of the kit was to capture the visuals, patterns and colors that come to mind when we Think Spring. It's the time of year when we are always most creative, when new ideas are hatched, hence the nest full of eggs. And we wanted every bit of imagery to come from our brushes. We started with a blank page and handpainted the bird, nest, branches, flowers, leaves, and all of the background patterns...two of which are better seen in person, we did them to look like speckled egg shells, with  hand rubbed mottling and faint paint flecks. We made sure to include enough imagery and pattern so that you can use more or less of each element to really change the end result. The background colors are faded and vintagey so that the bird with nest scene really stands out in the foreground. In all, there are six original painted patterns, tons of blossoms and leaves, the bird and nest, two different medallions, sheet music leaves with burnished edges, (and you can catch glimpses of the song lyrics on the leaves: A Little Bird Told Me!) An 8" x 16" pre-drilled thin wooden board, vintage pink seam binding, vintage cream colored pom pom trim, and ultra fine glitter in clear and silver. And we included a surplus of artwork so you'll probably have enough left over elements to make a little side project.

 

OK, some additional info on the kit:

 1. It's now listed on Etsy  

2. It's very easy to do

3. there is no antique wash stage in the directions...some of you weren't real comfortable doing that step so we kept that in mind and gave the paper elements a pre-aging for you.

4. also no watercolor paper stage. It's all thin paper and easy squeezy to glue down. 

5. You pretty much only need scissors, glue, and a paint brush.

6. it's a flexible design that you can make your own.

 

I'd love to start a Flickr group for kits completed by buyers. I know at Silver Bella we were blown away by how diverse the finished projects were. Everyone gave them their own little touches. And some crafty devils who followed the instructions to a T still ended up with neater, cleaner versions of our prototype. I remember at SB in Jennifer Paganelli's class how she would walk around the room and grab a student's project, hold it up and say,"hey, check this out!"

I think the Flickr group could be a way of doing that from home. Post your photos and say "hey, check this out!" 

I hope to put it together soon...it's looking promising. Within the first 45 minutes of listing the kit, two people snatched a couple up! We're very psyched because this is something we really worked hard on. Painted every single bit of it from scratch. Well, I just wanted to show and tell. It was a long, productive Sunday and we gotta get to bed  so we can tackle the new work week. Hope yours is fab!!!

 

xoxo, Jenny 

It's Springtime in the studio!

We've been cramming to get a particular project done and at this moment we're on the home stretch. It's our brand new Springtime kit!!! I kinda want to keep the details under wraps until we debut the photos...but trust me, if you love spring imagery, scrappy ephemera, pattern, vintage color, nature, texture, and fun projects...you're gonna flip! We'll definitely have it up here for your eyes to see within 36 hours.

Designing a kit is harder than our usual M.O. because with each detail we have to think of somebody else doing it. Our method with kit making is to design backwards. We create a multi media, multi textured, sometimes complicated piece of artwork...and then we dissect it, simplify the steps, add three dimensional stuff and work out the kinks so that anyone can make it. This one is gonna be easy to execute but the final product will look like you took hours and hours.  Ok, enough teaser talk...the new kit will be up very soon!

 

Our part of Jersey is nothing but slush. I guess you could say that in the anatomy of Jersey we're on the shoulder...and it's not a cold shoulder. If we get overnight snow it will undoubtedly turn to sleet by the morning. Then it gets cold at night and we have roads coated in black ice (I love how they have "black ice warnings" on the news but every two minutes they have to explain to the audience that the ice is not in fact black...I mean, don't give us "black ice warnings" if you think we aint hip to your jargon! :) . So lately when it snows in my area it's never any fun. No sleds, no snowmen, just shoe ruining slush and spooky "black ice"!

 

 

Me and my friend Sadie did a little swap and here's what she sent me. Two, very fab Betsy ornaments! I already own a few of her ornies but this is my first blonde...I love her. The color of the sequins is just so perfect for blonde hair. And the other one...the Hollywood glamour gal...complete with a teeny tiny beauty mark! I swear, I think everyone in blogland now owns a Betsy, how could you not? They're one of those Eureka! designs. If you're reading this and do not yet own your own Betsy then by all means head over to Sadie's shop and get the adoption process underway. She's always coming up with new styles for the season, for fashion's sake etc...

 

 

Sadie also sent me these sweet tags and this handmade "pillow" envelope/box. Love the little birdie on top! Thanks Sadie!!

 

 

 

Just in time for V-Day I got a little piece of unexpected mail from Mary Holcomb, who's just one of the sweetest gals in all the land! This handmade sweetheart was really such a bright spot in my all over the place Valentine's day. The whole day at the hospital with Jay, then Aar picked me up and we stopped to pick up some Indian food on the way home. It's like our favorite restaurant so we weren't mad at them when our takeout order took an hour and forty five minutes as opposed to the forty minutes they quoted. Since I was walking around on only an hour and a half of sleep I passed out in the car while Aar stood waiting in the restaurant...But we got our food, which was unbelievably delicious, undid our top buttons, sat back, watched Lost, and opened up this sweetheart from Mary. I love the image. It looks like Zelda and F. Scott when it was still the good times. "Thoughtful" is a much used word and almost rendered meaningless by it's proliferation, but if we use the word in it's truest sense then it describes Mary Holcomb to a T. She's always thinking of you and yours. Thanks Mary!

 

 

And speaking of you and yours...check out these Valentines roses from Aaron! He's never ever gotten the color more right! There are a million varieties out there but these are IT! When I stumbled in the door after the long day, I flicked on the lights and these were already cut and arranged in a vase on the dining table and right along side them were some dynamite chocolates, the likes of which I've never ever tasted. Drop dead flavor combos...one had rose water, one even had real bits of lavender in it (though not so thrilled with the taste of that one, but wow!) And as you read above, we ate dinner on the couch, my eyes barely open, I recounted the day at the hospital to Aar during Lost commercial breaks. After dinner, I'm thinking my chocolates are the dessert but Aar says "no, no" and goes to the fridge and comes back with this pre planned pink plate, complete with glass dome. he raises the dome and here are these two individual heart shaped chocolate ganache cakes he got from Whole Foods. Wow! If that was the last thing I ate in my life it woulda been fine with me. Nearly passed out from the chocolate high.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We just added some of our all time favorite 4 x 4's to our Etsy shop as well as some Easter designs..our Party hat Chick cake, Easter cupcakes, Easter art squared, paper mache rabbit ornament, choc. bunny ornament...etc. And some new ones on the way. Oh, and our all new birdhouses. We did them for our mom's for mother's day last year and we just weren't ready to do them for sale...they were like a one shot deal for us. But so many people asked us about them and gave us so many sweet compliments on them that we decided we'd do some to sell. So those are listed too, and we'll do them until our fingers tell us to stop (they're a bit labor intensive!).  And rumor has it that Etsy is gonna be a key topic on this upcoming week of Martha Stewart. I guess she's gonna let the whole world know about the best kept shopping secret ever...but bring it on Martha. I'm psyched to see if the Etsy traffic multiplies this week. There are some dazzling artists on there who are just being plain neglected...I'd love to see their sales go through the roof. And the Martha audience is well suited for Etsy. I'd like to think they (we) have a keen eye for the handcrafted. 

 

 

One last thing. Tonight when Aaron went to the grocery store he came back with this candle from Pepperidge Farm...it smell like their Chessmen cookies. I don't know if I'm a late arrival on the Pepperidge Farm candle train, but I was thrilled at this discovery. I'm always on the lookout for edible scents and Chessmen's are good stuff. Aar said they also have classic sugar cookie scent, Milanos in like four varieties and some others he couldn't remember!! I may just have to get over there and get a few more tomorrow! 

 

Ok, back to business. The Springtime kit is coming and I promise, you'll like it! xoxo, Jenny

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OWOH winner!!

Ok, We have a winner...or two:

 

 Sarah Vintage Lily

and

Kim Allistair

 

So, you two winners, email me your mailing info and we'll send out your prizes!

  The One World One Heart event was huge. We were inundated with entries for our piece of cake on pink floral, and since we received entries in the form of blog comments and emails I decided that it would be fairest to pick two winners. That way we can pick a random number from each pool of entrants. I myself, won a couple of giveaways and I'll post them once I get them in my hands. I love winning stuff and will be watching my mailbox.

 

  This is just a mini post because I'm playing a bit of catch up from the past two days and gotta get back to work . So a quick update on Jay. His biopsy went well. When the nurses and doctor heard that Jay had already gone through a bone marrow test they all said "oh, this will be a piece of cake compared to that...this will be like a mosquito bite." So Jay was sorta set at ease with that. The procedure was quick and barely left a mark. He had one point of sharp pain and very slight aching pain in the hours after. Right after the biopsy which also included an ultra sound, Jay got a little woozy from nerves I guess and lost his lunch...don't worry the details end there. Fuzzy bunnies, paper dolls, cute little yellow chicks, party hats, crepe paper streamers....I'm trying to cover up the lunch losing! They allowed me to be in the room and I held his hand through the whole thing. When he was getting the Novocain the nurse had to say "Jay, calm down, you're going to break your sister's fingers." He was white knuckling through the shots. Oh, but more important than an update on the procedure are the results of the procedure. The doctor called Jay 24 later with the outcome of the biopsy. Jayhas a completely normal liver. This is great news for sure, but not the final news. He's going back to his original specialist to get another once over and explore other avenues now that we know it's not his liver. I believe that if it's a spleen issue, though it wouldn't be good news, it's ok news because it's a not very essential part.

 

  Well, last night was Walt's big hockey game...The Mayor's Cup. His team won by a lot...I can't even remember the final score because you kinda stop cheering as much when you're winning by a lot and you lose track of how many goals you're racking up. Once your team is ahead by four or more points you gotta put the cowbell away because then you're just being mean and rubbing your victory in the other team's face. This game is a huge rivalry but it's all kids and parents from the same town. So the rivalry is friendly...it's a rink full of neighbors. There are awards and festivities before and after the game. The seniors all present their mom's with a flower and they roll out some carpet on the ice so they can pose for pictures with their parents. It's a good time and it's a really good time if you get to walk out as winners. We hadn't been so lucky the past two years.

 

Ok, sorry for the medical/hockey post. I'll be back with lighter fare very soon. Thanks to all the giveaway participants and congrats to the winners! xoxo, Jenny

 

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

I'll be gone all day long but I wanted to just post to tell you guys that we'll be picking our OWOH giveaway winner late at night on the 14th and will be announcing the winner on the 15th. We really jumped on the love train quite late. One World One Heart was a great success and we just popped on in the last 48 hours...but we were thrilled to take part even if just for a moment!

 I'll be with my brother Jay all day. He's getting his liver biopsy and I'll be there for support...he get's very very stressed!! And the procedure will take about 6 hours! Poor guy. Send good energy his way...he needs it! I hope all of you have a wonderful Valentine's and I'll be picking the giveaway winner waaaaay late so if you haven't entered yet, comment on the previous entry or send me an email with the subject OWOH.

 

Love ya!

xoxo Jenny

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almost a snow day...

Just when I relegated snowfall in Jersey to the antique bin, we go and get snow. It's not serious snow, but enough snow to cancel Walt's BIG hockey game. It's the inter-town rivalry, Mid North vs. Mid South...and we were all set to go but just as we were constructing our posterboard and paint stir stick signs, spelling out W-A-L-T, the phone rings and it's a sleepy Walt (he naps before games) informing us that the game is postponed because of the weather. Believe me, the snowfall here is in no way worthy of a game cancellation. It's a dusting. But since Jersey has slipped down a couple climate latitudes we're a bit trigger happy with caution when snow is even hinted at.

  So now I feel all out of whack because I'd been anticipating the game. I guess we'll rent a movie and pretend to be snowed in. It's a sin, but I still have not seen The Bourne Ultimatum. Loved the other two and I shoulda saw this last one on opening night but you know how things go. So maybe we'll rent that, or maybe not...you know how things go.

 

 

 

 

 

I totally missed out on the sign ups for Artsy Mama's "For the Love of Supplies" swap.  But my friend Cerri came to the rescue. She was on the ball, and therefore in on the swap, and she was nice enough to take me on as a second partner. Cerri is the whiz behind Little Pink Studio , so naturally I'm just as excited to receive as I am to give.

  I love the concept for this swap! You take a heart shaped Valentine's candy box...eat all the chocolates with your nearest and dearest while watching TV at 2 am (not in the actual directions, but mandatory in my case, and the chocolates weren't even good, well they weren't bad but more than a few were filled with what me and Aar call "white foam")...thenfill in the empty candy cups/sections with all sorts of wonderful crafting supplies!

  I went and got the largest and plainest Russell Stover box I could find, making sure to avoid any boxes with embossed imagery because I knew I'd be gluing polka dot paper to the surface and I wouldn't want to see some logo rippling beneath. When I was at the drug store looking for the box I saw the type of boxes that inspired my own design. You know, those satiny, lacey, ruffly, kitschy, sorta tacky ones with the silk rose and bow on top. I wanted to do a more palatable version of one of those. I collect the very old satin and lace boxes and as I was looking at the new ones I noticed that they have not changed really. The new tacky boxes are just less dingy. I think I'll go back after the 14th and pick a couple up on clearance...maybe leave 'em on the windowsill to get sun faded. 

  My candy box had a very complex grid of odd shaped slots for the candy so I tossed that out and put pink polka dot cupcake wrappers in it's place. These were a better size for filling with supplies, width and depth-wise. I didn't photograph all the stuff I put in because I wanted Cerri to have at least a couple surprises. I did make sure to put in stuff that I treasure...my prized bits...like my 1940's silk birthday cupcake flags. They were one of my all time best ebay finds 5 years ago. I also put in some of my favorite trims and lace. Because it's such a small setting for supplies you have to be a good editor. I went with the rare and the vintage because so much of my rare and vintage is tiny. I'm a thrifty shopper on Ebay so my purchases tend to be small in size.  Because Cerri's business bears the namesake Little Pink Studio I went with mostly pinks with touches of aqua and tiny bits of red. I hope she loves her stuff, it should be on her doorstep anytime now!

 

 

Also in the mail is my friend Laurie's birthday gift. This is just a sneak peak, I hope she loves it!

 

 

Got a fun fun package from Andrea, aka miss one hundred wishes . Can you even handle these birthday cake decorations?! Way too cute! And I'm really loving these vintage chenille toppers. how fabulous is this gal? And a mom of two! (adorable lil fellas I might add) Thanks so so much Andrea! I adore this stuff!

 

 

 

 Kim Hesson has a fantastic etsy shop. That's where I got this stuff! I love the banner cut outs and can't wait to put them to use. Kim has the market cornered on cut outs. Think of any shape and I bet she's got it. One of the best parts of the creative process is shopping for the supplies. And I don't mean the hum drum stuff. Buying glue,mod podge, paint, brushes, etc...is just plain tiring. But shopping for the little stuff like this is a pleasure. This is the stuff you have no solid plans for. You love it, need it, and then you build a project around it. I'm actually a minimalist when it comes to supplies. I simply lack the space to store it. I envy those gals with the walk in closet of do dads and trinkets. Kim Hesson is stacked with supplies, and not just the ones she has for sale. I remember at Silver Bella she had a killer set up. A Batman's belt worth of cool stuff. Visit her shop for the goods and tell her Jenny sentcha!

 

 

 

  

 

  Lisa Oceandreamer started a fabulous annual event called ONE World-ONE Heart  and we're thrilled to participate. Go to her blog to read thestory behind it. In a nutshell, it's a giant meet and greet for bloggers...a way to find blogs you maybe never knew existed, and a million chances at taking home a  giveaway prize. We're giving away our slice of cake on pink floral (that's our description of it...sample conversation over here: "hey what are you working on?" ..."I'm doing a slice of cake on pink floral."...it is what it says and it says what it is.) We'll pick one lucky winner out of all who post comments. Make sure you include a link to your blog in your comment because that's a big part of this giveaway. We're doing it to spread the word on blogs. All the participants in the One World One Heart event will be linked together...I expect it to be an endless chain. I'll mention once again that posting a comment on my AOL blog is not the simplest of tasks. There are a couple of annoying hurdles...you need to create a user name...but after your initial post it's a piece of cake...really. But if you have more trouble than you care to have logging into the blog you can instead send me an email with the subject: OWOH, and remember to include your blog address in the email. So either way, get in touch and maybe win!

 

 

Ok, gotta go. Either work or movie, I haven't yet decided. Actually, the roads are kinda bad right now so driving to the video store may be off the table. What food are we gonna get delivered? While I scan the yellow pages, you can check out some of my latest Flickr faves. Geez they make me so happy!

 

xoxo, Jenny

I love"stuff"!

 

 

 

I'm a collector. I love stuff. I don't know how a person could get by in life without "loving stuff". And I don't just mean my type of stuff. I mean anything. The little things, big things, crazy things, pretty things, that stop you in your tracks and make you have to draw a breath. It's collecting that drew me to the internet, first for Ebay, then on to Flickr and Blogland. Well, Ebay is a marketplace, all that amazing stuff is up there in the hopes that someone will come along and buy it. But the worlds of Flickr and Blogs...those are just hotsprings of generosity. A 24/7, worldwide show and tell! And there is something pure and neo bohemian about not having to actually possess those things you covet...you just have to see 'em! Just let me look, let me stare for a while. I'll come back tomorrow and look again...and I'll show you some stuff I found, or I painted, or made.  It's an art scene in the best sense. Talent or knowledge are NOT a prerequisites...all you have to bring is your love of stuff. Anyway, that's where I'm coming from creatively right now...paying tribute to the stuff I love. Well I guess it's where my creativity has always flowed from. And me and Aaron have been really wanting to get more into a big big love of ours...the vintage style portrait.  We've been immortalizing the inanimate stuff we love in paintings but now we'd like to aim our brushes at the practice of portraiture. But we want to do it for real. Commissioned portraits, but not overly serious. More folk arty, decorative, customized to the individual.  It's an artform that was once abundant but now has been rendered archaic and that's what makes it so much more appealing. Because we (and by "we" I mean you crazy bloggers too.) don't go for the mainstream. We're up at 2 am so we can go on Ebay and snipe an antique disembodied baby doll head with the most perfect rosy cheeks and blue eyes, for just 19.99! Rarity is what we go for. The exclusive, the one of a kind, the handmade, the well loved.

 

I've always been a fan of vintage portraits. Love, love, love the more primitive style colonial portraits with their deep colors, minimal detail, and crackling paint. I don't know if I'm using the correct word...but there is a "stillness" about them.  For me they hold a bit of a calming effect. And if you know me even a bit then you'll know...anything calming is received with open arms!

  In general there is a stillness in portraiture. It's a frozen moment in someone's life and times. And more so than in photography...though film itself is an aging medium, we still see photographs as modern, faster paced. I guess the feeling of stillness in a handpainted portrait comes from the idea of the labor intensive painting process itself.  With very old portraits (the kind I love), we know there was a sitting, a long period of posing and perfecting. A good portrait will encourage a stillness in you. You'll just stop and stare...get lost in it, a mirror effect almost occurs. We'll be digging through a pile of old canvases in a junk shop and a we'll come upon a portrait, maybe a fab one from the 40's or 50's, a lady with deep red lipstick, and we'll be stopped dead just staring at her, and even though we have no idea where we're gonna hang her (or which closet we'll store her in!) , there is no way we're leaving the junk shop without her.

 

So now we're painting portraits. We've got the listing on Etsy with all the specifics. Of course we're not doing sittings. We'll be working from provided photos, color samples, fabric swatches...We love photobooth photos, the composition is already there, the focus, the cropping. And we'll work from black & white or color and totally customize colors to fit your decor. We're big into art as decor...there is no reason for a painting stick out like a sore thumb. We are lovers of decor and believe that a painting should melt into the room. We'll be working in a style like this old painting of us. Soft brush strokes, sepia washes, vintage color...We can't wait! Doing couples will be fun, and kids too! We're thinking of backgrounds painted to look like vintage wallpaper, floral fabrics, etc...Very excited to do some...as if our plates weren't already brimming. I guess we're mostly excited to do total one of a kind originals. Paintings done start to finish, concept to completion, for the recipient. 

 

 

Oh, and thanks so much for all of your feedback on the new painting! It's now available as 11 x 14 and 5 x 7 plaques on Etsy and Ebay. Our new frame-able prints will only be available on Etsy, so look there periodically to see if we've added any. Well, that's all for now. I think it was 70 degrees in Jersey today. We hit the park for the first time in a while and walked a ton so I'm actually gonna be able to sleep tonight for a change. See you soon!

xoxo, Jenny

Celebrate Everyday!

 

 

Got the new painting done. The whole thing with this one was the editing process. We started with a table full of like ten paper mache rabbits, all shapes and sizes of little Christmas trees, a village of putz houses, tiny party hats galore, and just bits and pieces of all the things we love. Finally we pared it down to a visually pleasing still life. And we're so psyched to be doing this one as a ready to frame print...we want to put ours in a scrolly gilded frame! I think the curtains will look so fab framed in with gold. Anyway, just wanted to share my excitement about the new piece and let you know that there will be many more to come. And this is now listed as an 8 x 10 print on Etsy and will soon be available as  11 x 14 and 5 x 7 plaques.

  Aaron thanks you guys so much for your birthday wishes and he wanted me to make sure I told Heidi that she's got awesome comments. He especially loved the freezing their Valentine nutcups off one, and of course "More Cow Bell"! And Maija, how do you know about those heart shaped tubs at Mount Airy?! Oh, and for some reason the Youtube clip of the commercial on last post is not showing up when I open my blog. I don't know if that's happening for everyone else.

  Ok, back to work...Happy February! Hope you like our newest piece! :)

xoxo, Jenny