January…aka: the fastest month of the year.

How on earth is it Jan 22?! No seriously, how? Somehow Christmas came and went, and I'm nearly convinced that New Year's lasted for about three seconds. For a couple months we have been in this cruise control mode…and not the slow kind of cruise, just the constant kind. We've been almost exclusively working on orders. So many orders came in right up until Christmas and truth be told we are still getting some out. We are really lucky to have super awesome customers and collectors that are willing to wait for handmade items. Also, this was our first year offering gift certificates, and they seemed to be a hit. So we are filling lots of those orders right now as well.

 One thing that we love is that we had a bunch of post-holiday custom orders for more ornaments! A lot of folks subscribe to the "celebrate everyday" lifestyle, and will be displaying their ornies all year round! We've been seeing pics on instagram of donut, cupcake, and ice cream ornies being used in Valentine's Day vignettes and we love it! 

We have some really fun new designs coming very soon! But to be honest, there are only so many hours in the day, and we just can't take time away from orders to finish up new paintings just yet. But very very soon! We'll be sure to share some sneak peeks as soon as we can! 

We haven't seen much or done much outside of the studio, except for a few quick trips to Target, which happens to have some great stuff in the dollar bins right now! Lots of minty, sea foam green, office-y stuff! Like this adorable file folder seen above! For $1!! Oh, and that sweet pink lidded vintage style jar for only $3!

I couldn't pass up these little plastic bins either! Perfect for holding invoices! (picture a New Yorker cartoon with an overworked guy at a desk…the "out" basket is empty, while the "in" basket teeters like an advanced game of Jenga.) And also from the dollar bins are these cute jars, pencil holder, and that to-do list pad has a magnet on back. It's on our fridge and quickly getting filled with lots of ink. I really don't think I've ever gotten through the dollar section without putting at least one thing in my cart. 

We definitely are getting a bit of cabin fever due to this studio lock-in, but seriously it's been so cold that I don't feel like I'm missing anything out there. We had a frozen pipe a week or so ago, and we're lucky it didn't burst when it thawed. For the coldest of days we put together a mini makeshift studio upstairs where it is way more warm. 

Our days are spent working, listening to music, cooking yummy meals, and burning candles. Party right? When I put the above pic on Facebook and Instagram I got a lot of questions about that candle. It's called Sweet Tobacco and is from Candelles. It's definitely more masculine than most of the scents we go for. Definitely earthy, woodsy…and to quote straight from the description on Candelles: "it begins with top notes of mandarin orange and tarragon; middle notes include rose, honey, and osmanthus; base notes are caramel, amber, musk, and hints of patchouli."

And I'd say that's fairly accurate.

Well, I wish I had more new stuff to share. We will very soon. I really just wanted to pop in and say hi! And let you know that we are still here! Hope 2015 is treating you all well!

Love from the Jersey Shore!

xo Jenny… and Aaron says hi!

Faux Cake Mixed Media Shadowbox tutorial (CJS 2015)

Hey guys! Just popping in today to remind you about Creative JumpStart 2015! We blogged about it a few weeks ago, but we wanted to share it again today for any of you guys who haven't signed up yet. It is certainly not too late to join in on the creative fun. Throughout January a new artist's video will be added each day. Just this morning ours went live, and we're so excited to see the viewer response!

 We are teaching you how to make this super fun, ready to hang, mixed media cake slice shadow box from start to finish!

This is a screen shot of our incredibly derpy intro, featuring an overly excited Jenny, and a robotic Aaron.

Truth be told, we are both mega camera shy, and this was like our 10th take. We were about to just throw in the towel, but then we just said "whatevs!" and settled on this awesomely awkward one. HA! 

This year's CJS has a stellar lineup of artists and so far we are blown away by the videos we have seen…and we're only 4 days in! It's sponsored by Liquitex, so you'll be seeing lots of awesome products in action. So far we've seen a mixed media canvas being painted and collaged, tons of great art journaling techniques, a video showing you how to make your own stencils from a photograph, and for ours we decided to make a project-driven video. We made a step by step video showing you exactly how to make your very own mixed media cake slice shadow box. But we also made sure to do a project that uses mediums and techniques that can be used in lots of other types of projects.

And again, for the super low cost of admission, you not only get our video, you get videos all month long from 23 of the best mixed media instructors from around the world! And you'll have access to the videos for an entire year! 

And Creative Jumpstart is a community event. You'll find a wealth of info just from reading through the comment sections below each video. And you can join in the artsy conversations, ask questions, share info about your own work...

We hope you'll join us! It's only Day 4 and we are already having so much fun!!

Sign up here!

xo Jenny & Aaron

Friday Favorites

I am not a quilter…and sadly, I can't even use a sewing machine. 

Oh jeez, I just said that first sentence out loud and it sounds like I'm confessing to some horrible sin. But in a way, I guess I am. Being able to sew is a dream of mine. I would absolutely love to sew my own clothes, and it's a shame that I cannot. 

Now here's part two of my confession, and I kinda feel crappy admitting this: 

I own a sewing machine. It was a fabulous gift from fabulous friends of mine, given to me over a decade ago. And this is the bad part…I took that sewing machine out of it's box a total of two times. Ugh.

 I'm not exactly sure what my hangup is. I'd probably be at least semi-adequate. When I took Home Ec in high school, part of the curriculum was sewing, and I actually did really well. I sewed a hat, a tote bag, and started a skirt…key word "started". But still, at least I gave it a whirl back then. I think having a teacher hovering, and being there to answer questions helped. And now that I'm a teacher of art…at least a few times per year at art events…I can definitely relate to what the students are feeling. Most of them possess the abilities, but they just want to have a helping hand there in the room "just in case". 

So yeah…silly me. Here I am at these fantastic mixed media art events a few times a year…and often there are classrooms buzzing with sewing machines. When me and Aaron walk around an event, and pop in to visit other classes, I'm always enthralled by the classes that are all abuzz with the magical sound of sewing machines, fun conversations, and laughter. I would love to be one of those students. Maybe I'll do it the next time I get the chance.  

So yes…the reason why all this talk of sewing came up is simply because I laid eyes on this amazing quilt up above. It is such a work of art. It's pretty much the fabric version of an abstract painting. Just so incredibly beautiful! It is by Amelia Bennett, and it's title is Blocks and Strips, from c. 1965, Cotton, measuring 84 x 79 inches.

So, I did a little research, and the maker of that quilt was part of a southern group of women called the Gee's Bend Quiltmakers. Above and below are a few more examples of their work. Make sure to click the link and read the story of the Gee's Bend quilters. There are so many fascinating details about each featured quilt.  

This one caught my eye. Check out the zoomed in shot of those strips of fabric. From a distance it looked like floral fabric…but when you see it up close…those are actually candy colored puppies! Is that a white chihuahua in the center of the right strip? 

Aren't they all so fantastic?! 

This is such a beautiful dress. And yes, I would indeed pair it with black. Lots of black. And possibly some leopard print. It's sorta on the purply pink side, but every once in a while I go a bit more lavender when mixing my pink hair dye.  

I think it would go great with this hair color that I had a little while ago…purply pink fading down into a rose pink. 

I love these pieces by artist Do-Ho Suh. They're lightweight sculptures of everyday fixtures found in his Manhattan apartment. Out of translucent polyester fabric he constructed his oven, toilet, bathtub doorknobs, etc... 

I love the colors, and I love how they sorta look like digital 3D renderings.  

This sweatshirt seriously says it all! 

When our friend Heidi Swapp posted pics of her new Marquee Love collection on Instagram a few weeks ago I just about died. I've been a longtime fan of Marquee signage, and I'm always posting pics of fave vintage pieces, and I've also blogged a handful of tutorials as to how to make your own.    Marquee signage is super trendy right now but at the same time so old timey and classic. 

 We have a Marquee style heart that hangs in our studio, which was a gift from our sweet friend Becky. And to remind us of our sweet friend we hung it near our Christmas tree this year!

So, like I said…Heidi's new stuff looks amazing! I am so incredibly excited about this collection and the endless possibilities! 

It's as easy as tracing, cutting, and taping! 

There are fabulous washi tapes and glitters too!

I seriously cannot wait to get over to Michaels to see this collection in person! Now I just have to narrow it down to one idea to get started. 

Thanks bunches for popping in on this first Friday Favorites of the new year! Me and Aaron are still very hard at work on orders that were coming in right up until Christmas day. We've got lots of new artwork on the drawing board that we'll be finishing just as soon as we can. Plus, we plan on blogging more…namely, tutorials…art projects…fave supplies…stuff like that. 2015 will be a very creative year...I promise.

Have a great weekend!

xo Jenny... Aaron says hi!