Monday, 8 September 2014

Around here… (and a Giveaway)


The weather this Monday is perfect! But over the weekend it was super hot and rainy in Jersey…yes, that's always a gross combination. Saturday was the Ocean Grove Flea Market. There are two each year, and we'd love to be able to attend both, but this year we only went to the one in June. To read about that adventure, you can check out this post detailing our fun time at The Flea by the Sea. 
This time around we skipped the flea market, knowing that the forecast called for hot steaming rain, and we also had a bunch of projects that we had to finish up.
Afterwards we heard that Ocean Grove dodged the rainstorm that hit us a mere 30 minutes away. I was definitely happy for all the vendors and shoppers. Here at home we stayed in and kept the AC cranked. 


So, one of the projects we worked on last week was this piece. Some of you long time readers and collectors of our art may recognize it. We actually designed it years ago and it was one of our best sellers. While organizing, and going through our paintings we came across the elements for it, and decided to repaint some of the details and enhance the colors a bit. It's titled "For the Love of Baking"  , and it's a mixed media piece that combines prints of our paintings and actual hand painting. It's a larger piece, measuring 12 x 22, and we love how it instantly sets a mood in a kitchen. We've also made plenty of these for bakeries. I can't decide which wall it looks better on. It's so vintagey and warm on the creamy white wall, and on the black wall in the photo up top the pretty pastels just pop.


While it was grey and raining and super hot outside, we were in our cool studio, working by twinkle lights, surrounded by favorite things, burning a favorite candle, while playing our favorite Pandora stations. When you work straight through the weekend, it's important to enhance your environment as much as you possibly can.


I finished up this little project the other day. Just a makeover on one of my vintage toy pianos. Before the makeover it was a cute little piano, but the color just didn't work for me…it was way too blue. So I fixed it up with some pale aqua paint, some light distressing, an antique wash, and collaged paper stars. Toy pianos are another one of our favorite collectibles. We have a bunch of them around the house, and I blogged about them a year or so ago, which you can see here.


I had some happy mail this week! This is the newest member of our bunny family. I absolutely love this fella's one floppy ear. Like the rest of his bunny family he's perfectly aged, he's a great color, and has an overall sweet demeanor. 


And would you look at this! It's a vintage paper "cake" made up of individual gift boxes. Yes, those are holes for candles! I just love the way the piping and cake texture are illustrated. Can you imagine this for a kids birthday party…having each individual slice/box filled with party favors!


Also in my mailbox was this incredibly adorable tiny macaron bracelet! I put it on as soon as I opened it! It was a gift from one of the cutest gals around. Jenny aka @shelovesdresses on Instagram. She makes the cutest things…case in point being the above bracelet! I adore it!


And here's Jenny herself modeling one of her adorable dresses! She's a living doll, and her Instagram feed is so fun! I love seeing her #dressoftheday. She creates adorable stuff and captures magical images on a daily basis. Every time I see one of her pics on Instagram it brightens my day.


And speaking of brightening my day...would you just look at this lil guy! This little peanut was all curled up and cuddly, and could barely keep his eyes open. I was sitting there and he kept peeking at me like this, as if he was worried that he might miss something if he closed his eyes.


Today while diecut and sign orders were drying, I pulled out some of my older home inspiration scrapbooks. Over the weekend we picked up the paint for the living room, so I'm really trying to make some decisions. 


We are doing away with the pink and cream striped wall in the living room. I'll miss it, but I'm also very excited for change. We're overhauling everything, but in the end I know we'll end up adding some pink stripes all over again. Not in the exact same way…but they've been ever-present in our home for many years…so, some way and somewhere, there will be pink stripes….ha! 


Ohhh before I sign off for the evening, there's one last thing. If you are on Instagram, I just posted a Giveaway today! Two lucky Donut loving friends will win a donut die cut each! Pop over to my feed to enter!
@jennyeveryday

We are hard at work on a bunch of orders and some very exciting projects that we'll share with you soon. If only there were a few more hours in the day. I think I might make that my new go-to wish when I blow out my birthday candles each year. ha! 

Hope your week is off to a great start! Thanks bunches for popping in!
xo Jenny…and Aaron says hi!


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