Friday Favorites

This was one of those-blink and you might miss it-weeks. We just had so many things happening here at home that it all just blurred together. And honestly, I want these weeks to fly by. Whatever it takes to make Springtime arrive sooner is OK in my book! We've got all sorts of home re-decorating projects happening and a few things are being delayed due to weather. We need a very leaky roof fixed and also need to do a whole bunch of sanding, staining, and painting...and all of these things will be much easier to accomplish in the Springtime. We'll be able to open up all the windows and work work work. Can't wait! Ha!

Anyway...recently, me and Aaron have been steadily building up a whole lotta inspiration for the approaching new season. If you're creative in any way I highly recommend this. Grab as much inspiration for Spring as you can...go nuts on Pinterest, or maybe even cut out and paste pics, paint chips, fabric swatches, etc, into a scrapbook. New decorating ideas, future art projects, maybe even your dream new wardrobe. Anyway...doing things like this will take the edge off of the tail end of this long lingering miserably cold winter. Hopefully! :)  

Well, like I said...the week flew by...and it's Friday! Which is always a good day...and doubly good because I get to share some of my current faves and raves with you guys. And you better believe that when I saw these tiny cakes I swooned. Wow...so adorbs!

The gal Tiffanie, who is behind these pinata cakes, made them using a donut pan, and you simply must check out her blog for the rest of the details. So adorable!

And then...there are these!!

They are the wonderful work of artist Cathy Cullis. I have so many collections, and it would be impossible to choose a favorite among them, but folk art dolls are way at the top of the list. And the creations of Cathy Cullis are always perfect. And she's great at whatever medium she chooses to work in. She recently blogged some of her sketches that she rendered on paper using pretty much just two colors per page, and they are stunning. Make sure you visit her blog too. But for now...just look at these little gals! 

I adore everything about this! The tiled wall, the font, the mosaic flooring, the simple classic seating, and the bare bones lighting. It's Fabrique Bakery in London. Being that we're currently fully immersed in our own kitchen makeover I've been looking at lots and lots of great interiors like this.

I LOVE this painting by Bernard Cathelin. This would be utterly perfect in our bedroom, which is pretty spare, subdued, and overall it has a very calm feel. Just like this fab painting.

I can look at shots like this one of New York City 1971 all day long. Besides the nostalgia it conjures, just look at that color! Well, it's the subtle gradation of color that really gets me. I feel like every single tone on the gray scale is represented.  

I absolutely love this simple, pretty make up for Dolce & Gabbana spring 2014. Nothing flashy, nothing heavy...just luminous skin, golden lids, and flushed cheeks. Beautiful.

Ok, I could play this video all day, all week, all year. It's a tiny island in Japan that was a secret military base back in WWII. Since then I'd say that the island inhabitants have drastically changed...from soldiers to BUNNIES. And jeez, these are bunnies that'll come right up to you to get fed. This looks a whole lot like heaven to me. Is there anything more magical than a bunny stampede? 

And lastly, there is This! ha! Unfortunately we all can identify with this more than we'd like to admit. Me and Aaron are both guilty of it. Recently we've fought those long workday hunger demons with just a tiny nibble or two from a bar of very dark chocolate. Works wonders. 

But still...this shirt rules!

Ok, that wraps up another fab Friday! Me and Aar are gonna chip away at some more painting in the kitchen. And how are you guys spending your Friday night?!

Thanks for reading! 

xo, Jenny...and Aaron says hi!

"talk & thought bubbles" Sticker Sheets now available!

We talk about having lots of irons in the fire over here pretty darn often...and it's the truth. We are constantly in the state of trying to balance filling orders, doing custom work, designing for projects, making home repairs and chipping away at renovations, plus normal life stuff. I'm certainly not complaining. Idle time is always served with a side order of the blues. So being busy keeps us bright eyed and bushy tailed. But still...we love to make new art...the challenge is in finding the time to do so. Patience is key. We accepted long ago that we will simply not be able to uninterruptedly work on an artful project. We must grab snippets of time over days, sometimes weeks. 

Though we will try to show some sneak peeks whenever we can...probably in hopes of soliciting some encouragement from our dear sweet friends.

Not long ago we had shared a few pics of our "talk & thought bubbles" in progress and so many of you were excited about them..which in turn made us excited! We knew we just had to finish them up and make a sticker sheet. Well, because of their size and also our inability to edit them down to fit a single page, we had to make two sticker sheets! Even better! 

 So...being that I didn't want to just make this post about new stuff we made...I've also included some great examples of how talk and thought bubbles really bring focus and fun to an Art Journal. 

The above Art Journal page is one of the step by step tutorials in our book! This page is dedicated to "Favorite things", and I think a talk bubble is the perfect fit for a page like this. I almost feel like it's the Art Journal who is speaking. As if to tell the casual observer "Yes, these are some of Jenny's Favorite Things...take note!"

Here Aaron adds a super sweet stitched touch to the bubble. So many possibilities!

And I recently shared this "Dream Big" art journal page tutorial using some of the papers from our scrapbooking collection!

Our love for talk & thought bubbles goes back quite a while. They are a go-to doodle. I remember doodling them all over the cover of my notebooks in high school. You may remember this sweet two page Art Journal spread we did here on the blog,  It was part of the Art Journaling series we did. All of those tutorials can be found on the "Art Journaling" page. There are step by step instructions with little videos like the one above. 

(watermarks will not appear on your sticker sheets)

And here are the sticker sheets! We wanted to keep them doodley & cute...and of course, in our favorite color palette. And including a cute girl was mandatory! You may remember seeing a girl just like her on our Starlet ornaments from Christmas. 

So...you get both of these sticker sheets as a set! We normally sell our full color sticker sheets for 10.50 each, but you get both for 16.50! They are in the shop now! We really look forward to seeing them in YOUR art journals, layouts, and projects! So please blog them, facebook them, send us pics! If you are on Instagram feel free to tag me @jennyeveryday and #everydayisaholiday 

Happy talking and thinking!

xo Jenny...and Aaron!

Take a class with us in May...in Memphis Tennessee!

As far as art goes, our absolute favorite thing to do is to get out there, travel to fun places that are filled with other creative peeps like us, and make art with our friends, new and old. And lucky for us, there just so happens to be a stellar venue for doing just that. You may have heard of it...it's called Art is You Retreats. And this April 30th, May 1st and 2nd we'll be there! Very near to Memphis Tennessee, at Art is Dixie! 

On Wednesday we'll be at the huge vendor fair ("Art Trunk") with a bunch of our artwork, class kits that are exclusive to the event, custom stickers, prints, signed copies of our book...and lots of other stuff. And we're teaching two very awesome all day classes...one on Thursday and one on Friday. And the great thing about Art is Dixie is that it's an a la cart art event. In total there are seven days of classes...and if you want, you can stay the whole week and make art until your hands go numb and vision blurs...or you can simply take ONE class!...or two or three and so on. There is always great food there...it's always set in a very nice hotel...the teaching space is ample...the environment is so darn welcoming, encouraging, and you are bound to make lasting friendships. We sure did! 

If you are anywhere near Memphis in May we'd love for you to join us. If you live close enough and you don't need to stay overnight, you can do that...just make an awesome day of it...or maybe stay with a friend. Or...if you'd like to board a plane to come make art with us...by all means...we'd love to have you! All of the hotel info is on the site...there are great rates for event attendees.

And here's the kicker...right now, if you use a limited time promo code you can get $60.00 off your Art is Dixie purchase price!  When you register for either of our classes enter HOLIDAY (all caps) into the Event Code box on page 2 beside the package of days selection, and you will get $60 off your total registration.

Here's a look at our classes...beginners are Totally welcome!!

EXPRESSIVE ABSTRACTS

Thursday May 1, 2014  10:00 am - 5:00 pm
It’s surprising how intimidating a blank canvas can be…especially when you’re setting out to create an abstract work of art. We can both recall our first forays into painting abstracts. We were more than a bit apprehensive…maybe even slightly scared. But in art, it is persistence and confidence that will bring you to that breakthrough moment. And in this class that’s exactly what we’ll do…we’ll give you your moment. In painting abstracts you get to tap into the purest center of your artistic soul. We’ll put our inhibitions aside and free up the colors and textures that reside inside all of us. And what’s so exciting to us…(and hopefully to you guys!)…is that the two of us…(Jenny & Aaron)…have such vastly different styles when it comes to painting abstracts. And yet…when the two of us collaborate on a single canvas the styles can sit side by side seamlessly. You’re bound to find common ground in one, if not both of our unique approaches. Over the course of the day you’ll develop your unique “marks”, identify your personal color palette, complete smaller “studies” to take home with you, as well as your very own large format masterpiece.

Students will need:

1 inch flat brush
#8 round brush
#14 round brush
# 10 painting knife, Bob Ross brand
Pencil
Optional:

(We will be providing a whole lot of supplies but if you have favorites of the following that you’d like to use feel free.)

Patterned rubber stamps
Archival all surface ink pads

Sign up here.

Painting Girls and So Much More - a Mixed Media Celebration

Friday May 2, 2014  10:00 am - 5:00 pm

The star of the show will be your very own cute girl portrait, but there will be so much more to it than that. Working with a wide array of mediums and techniques you’ll create a work of art with layers, lots of color, and texture. Everything from creating dimensional patterns with molding paste and stencils, to stamping, speckling with paint, some doodles here and there, color washes, collage and paper piecing, and of course…hand painting.

We plan on taking you as far into a mixed media wonderland as possible. And at the center of it all will be your cute girl portrait, which we’ll teach you how to render, step-by-step, from scratch, in our signature style.

And for those of you who might find this idea daunting…fear not…we’ll be closely assisting you every step of the way and we’ll also provide templates of our own girls that you can use as “head starts” in your pieces. You’ll also get to use a whole bunch of our original artwork. We’ll provide high quality prints of our best painted imagery…some cakes, cupcakes, flowers, and more…all on collage sheets that you can cut, paste, and seamlessly incorporate into the “worlds” of your own canvases. Each student will create one large masterpiece, as well as some smaller pieces or “studies” rendered along the way.

Students will need:

    Scissors

    Pencil

    Eraser

    Matte finish mod podge or gel medium

    Molding paste

    ¾ inch flat brush

    #1 round brush

    #6 round brush

    #8 round brush

Optional:

(We will be providing a whole lot of supplies but if you have favorites of the following that you’d like to use feel free.)

    Favorite patterned papers

    Ephemera

    Buttons

    Ribbons

    Stamps

    Stencils

    Acrylic paints

Sign up here.

 Don't forget to use code : HOLIDAY for $60.00 off!

We hope to see you there! 

xo J&A

Friday Favorites

Greetings from the Jersey Shore...where it is an astonishingly balmy 45 degrees! Seriously, this is crazy warm for around here lately. Only, we've got thunderstorms to go along with these tropical temps. Figures. That's why me and Aaron changed our evening plans. We were going to hit Old Navy, Michaels, and maybe Target. But we'd rather stay out of the rain tonight. So we made an amazing dinner and we're going to finish up some painting in our kitchen. Yeah, that doesn't sound like a wild Friday night...but we seriously do have fun working around the house. We put music on, and eat chocolate when our energy fades. We make it a good time.

So...with these Spring like temps (being sarcastic) I've got Spring fashion on the brain. This adorable floral black Rosebud fit & flare dress from Forever21 is perfect for Spring. And even if temps don't warm up anytime soon I would definitely be able to layer this with some leggings and a cardigan if I needed to. And it is totally crazy that is is under 20.00! 

I'd say the majority of our home purchases are kitchen-centric. We just spend so much time in the kitchen and love all of the great implements and accents that are available out there. Like this baking tools tea towel set from The Coin Laundry. We just ordered a set, and can't wait to get them! 

I'm a big fan of cross body bags, my current daily bag is a black ruffled cross body, love it. I'm feeling a little daring at the moment and I'd like to add a pop of color to my 90% black wardrobe. I Love the Ida bag from Ruche. The color is right and I feel like the material has a slightly refined feel while the design is totally casual.

After an epic few days of cleaning and working on the house, our current dustpan has finally bit the dust. I honestly cannot remember when we bought it...seems like forever ago. This "smiley dustpan" has to be the cutest replacement ever! And it's also currently on it's way to our house.

I am completely smitten with the beautiful handcrafted mugs from Paper and Clay Studio. This "Winter Landscape" mug is inspired by cold and dreamy winter landscapes, and beautiful pink winter sunsets. I love the earthy feel...it totally evokes some childhood memories. My mom has always been earthy and filled our home with beautiful yet simple objects like this. Check out Paper and Clay Studio to see many more amazing designs...like below.

You already know I'm loving the idea of black in the kitchen...and this "Danish" mug is perfect. Again, so simple and so refined.

And the sweet and quirky "Copenhagen" mug is a bit more playful in nature. Gosh, I love Paper and Clay Studio.

Above is the Baby's Breath brass bangle bracelet from Heron & Lamb. At first glance this looks like a close up of a ring...but it's a bangle...and it also might appear to be a glimmering stone, but that's an actual baby's breath specimen preserved under a glass cabochon. I love it! 

I just about died when I saw this brand new FREE printable from our super sweet and talented friend Claudine Hellmuth! I know it may look like those retro eyeglasses are photoshopped onto those faces...but they're real...and by real I mean paper! Just download, print, and wear. So cool! 

Ok, just wanted to share some of my current loves with you guys. Now it's time to get back to this fab Friday night painting!

xo, Jenny

Life Lately...

I'm really looking forward to getting some better weather. This weekend is predicted to be in the 50's, which may as well be the 80's relatively speaking. Today was gloomy and grey but we made a point of getting a whole lotta stuff done. Including shipping a ton of boxes. It felt great to come home from the post office and the only thing left on the work table was a stack of invoices marked "shipped". I shared the above photo on Instagram today. The house gets turned upside down when we are packing up orders. This here is a little stack that's just about to get wrapped in pink paper. Notice Jack, our shipping department manager. He seems to be taking a cuddle break while simultaneously keeping a watchful eye on our progress. Oh, and that's our new chair...Jack likes to wedge himself between the new chair and the wall. I'll make sure to blog room pics once we finish it all. At present it is crazy. Our new couch arrived and we've got it all set up behind our current couch...like it's the understudy...or the next batter up at bat. And there is also an elliptical crowded back there too. We're all class over here. 

We always try to throw a little edible treat in each box we ship out. That way we can brighten up more than one of your senses. These new gold foil wrapped white chocolate truffles might become a pretty regular inclusion...if me and Aaron can keep our hands off them! 

We love getting orders for our Cookies sign...totally a fave of ours.

When not working on orders we are either cooking or baking. This is one of our favorite muffin recipes...Double Berry Whole Wheat Good Morning Muffins. And they're not just for morning...when you're eating one close to bedtime...to make it legit, all you have to do is take a bite and say "oh, good morning." 

The kitchen is slowly but surely coming together. We hung our Stainless Shelves on the black wall and love them! 

Out of any new kitchen purchases, our classic spice jars are getting the most daily use. We go for non frilly types of things when it comes to kitchen implements. We really like the simplicity of these jars. We pretty much can tell all of our spices by sight, but you never want to mix up garam masala and pumpkin pie spice...which are super similar looking...so we've got tiny labels on the bottoms of some of the jars.

And I shared this little cabinet in this post. I wallpapered the back with some favorite vintage geometric paper. Again, I want the majority of our kitchen stuff to be neutral in color...that way, our fun and bright vintage collectibles will stand out even more. To soften up the shelves a bit, I'm trying to decide on either this vintage ball trim or a scallop along the edge thats made from vintage recipe book pages. 

And we finally decided on a paint color for the kitchen. This photo truly does not represent it well. It's more of a darker tan than it appears here...a latte color. I rolled the first coat last night and hope to finish it all tomorrow. There is still tons to do, but it is really looking good. I loved coming downstairs this morning and seeing color on the wall.

Tomorrow is a busy day. Lots of different things happening, including a conference call with our publisher. It feels really good to have all of these different projects going all at once. I fear being underwhelmed way more than I'd fear being overwhelmed. Gimme more...throw another task on the pile...in some weird way it actually calms my nerves.

ok...thats it for now! Thanks for reading!

xo, Jenny

Recipe Review: Green Powerhouse Pesto Plate

By now, if you've been keeping score, you know that we love to cook...and eat. And we love sharing our recipes with you guys. We've been cooking together for years, but got way more serious about having fun in the kitchen about a year or so ago. We were so busy writing our book, and by the end of the day we just wanted to put away the art supplies and focus on something else entirely. The late afternoon hunger pangs convinced us that cooking might just be the thing we should be focusing on. 

In the kitchen we could remain creative...but the gears were shifted. And plus...we truly wanted to improve our diet. It's not like we ate Bad before...but it's not like we ate really Good either. At present we don't have a label for the way we eat. But it's definitely cleaner, less processed, less artificial, fresher, more organic...and super duper delicious! We're not really into short cuts. We prefer meals that we build from scratch...adding layers, textures, flavors...More health conscious. And we'd love for each ingredient to actually be beneficial. After a year or so of cooking this way...we can say that it isn't hard to do at all. Like not one bit. We've both lost some extra pounds, definitely have more energy, way better mental health...and we love the time we spend together in the kitchen. 

We are huge Pinterest fans! And even though we kind of follow our natural instincts in the kitchen, we often are inspired by a recipe we see on Pinterest, and we love every aspect of it. In cases like this we use the "if it aint broke, don't fix it" approach. There are lots of really talented home cooks out there that share their own adventures in the kitchen on their own blogs. And from now on, when we come across one of them, with a recipe that really strikes us, we're going to make it for ourselves and share it with you here. Maybe we'll make minor changes...and tell you exactly what the changes are of course. But for the most part, if you see a Recipe Review with Jenny & Aaron...it means that we like it very much...and that we'd love for you to check out the primary source for that specific recipe. We're here to spread love and tips for good cooking and eating.

We'll share some photos of how we went about it, and try to illustrate our experience working with the recipe. And like I said...these all get our 100% stamp of approval. So if you've liked our recipes in the past...you can trust that these are right on target. 

In this particular case, the fabulous recipe comes from Angela over at Oh She Glows. We love her story and really look forward to her book, which should be out soon! Seeing her daily dishes on Instagram is absolutely mouth watering. It feels like everything she puts on a plate is right up our alley. Tonight's meal was our first after a big grocery shopping trip. We came home from the store, laid all of our produce on the counter, looked outside at the ice and snow that has been there for weeks...and probably to spite that snow we said: "Let's eat something very green tonight."

And green it is! But also warm...anyway...Without any further ado...the Green Powerhouse Pesto Plate.

And oh yeah, this may be green...but a salad it is not. The zucchini and the three big handfuls of spinach spend a few minutes in the skillet with some olive oil. So this meal was green while being warm and hearty.

The "warm and hearty" is thanks to Lentils and Millet. A cup of each.

Lentils are a fave of ours. They're so simple to prepare and bring such great flavor and texture to a dish. Just rinse, boil, and simmer until it's tender. Easy Peasey. And Millet...to be honest, we've never prepared Millet all on it's own. We've eaten it...in fruit & nut bars and things like that. And we bought it plenty of times...for our bird! But never made it to be the main part of a dish. Well, it was just as easy to prepare as the Lentils. Again...rinse, boil, simmer until tender and fluffy...and done. Sorta creamy...something you'd want on a cold day. And the health benefits of Millet are great!

And on top of this fantastic dish is an avocado pesto dressing...and it's delicious! Yes, those seven simple ingredients above spell heaven for your tastebuds.

Just give them all a spin in the food processor until blended smooth.

voila!

So...it's really an easy few steps to make this awesomely healthy meal. Cook your Lentils and Millet at the same time. And when done, mix them both together. Plate those first, then layer on your lightly sauteed zucchini and spinach, and then top with the avocado pesto dressing. So Good!

Fresh, bright, tasty, energizing. And we would definitely use this exact pesto recipe in future recipes of our own. We totally recommend this dish for anyone looking for those four bold adjectives listed above. Again, be sure to visit Oh She Glows for all of the particulars...and many more great looking recipes.

We have a whole bunch more cooking that we'll be sharing here...so be sure to check back soon and often. We're so excited about doing more recipe reviews like this!

xo Jenny & Aaron