a little Easter recap

We're still waiting on Spring to show up. Today is a little drizzly, but this weekend might hold some warm sunny weather. If that's the case we're certainly gonna get some air. We definitely earned it this week. We've been real busy packing and shipping orders all day and night since Easter. And that's why I'm so late in posting this little Easter re-cap. Also I figured I'd post this today in place Friday Favorites since it's National Sibling Day and I rarely get together with all of mine.

We normally work on weekends, but we always take Easter off. It's a great way to start off the new season and the perfect day to catch up with family. This year my parents and brother Jason came down to visit us from way upstate NY! In preparation for their visit we got as much work done as possible before hand. It was just a whirlwind of cutting wood, sanding, painting, packing, and shipping.  

I love the special holiday offerings at bakeries, so last week we made a few trips to our fave local place for Eastery treats.

And for Easter Sunday we picked up a seven layer cake and a big cookie platter to bring down to my brother's house. 

It had been so long since the whole family was together. There are five of us kids, so it's always hard to get us all together at the same time. This year was quite a big gathering. Not only was it my parents, siblings, me, and Aaron...but also my brother Richard's girl, and her mom and siblings.

 And of course this little peanut!

 Our niece Olivia! It's honestly shocking that I got a semi-still pic of her. I snapped this while she was spinning in circles and bouncing around like silver ball in a pinball machine. This is what happens to a 3 year old after eating half of a solid chocolate ballerina and half of chocolate bar. Happy Easter indeed!

This happens to be one of my favorite pics from the weekend. My Dad, my brothers, Rich, Walt, and Jay, and my sister Missy. They look like they're giving Olivia a group tickle, but in truth they were all trying to keep her from squirming out of her Daddy's arm so that we could get her in the group shot. It's going to be great looking back on this pic years from now.

Oh and let's just take a moment to look at my dad's fancy Easter outfit. Yes, he had "real clothes" packed for the trip…(optimistically packed by my mom)...but somehow he always ends up back in sweatpants, beat-up tees, and his USMC hat! He is a total character and he knows it! It's just non stop jokes…and most of the time the jokes are totally abstract and therefore over-your-head. But not over-your-head in a clever way. Nope…just in a nonsensical way. But not to worry. He's his own best audience, and he cracks himself up. Which in the end cracks us up.  

Gosh there were so many people in my bro's apartment. At one point in the evening Aaron and I paused a conversation to just stop and listen to how loud it was. So many conversations going on at once, and non-stop laughter. I swear it peaked right on the tail end of dessert…way too much sugar! ha! 

I was behind the camera most of the time, but here is a rare pic of me. It is non stop silliness when we get together, do not let my straight face fool you. 

It was really great being together. We ate a ton of yummy food, gave lots of hugs and kisses. I took a bunch of pics.

 We are all looking forward to Olivia's 3rd Birthday party coming up, and I'm hoping everyone will be able to make it again. 

Crazy to have a pic of all of us! And it wasn't easy. I think my dad disappeared a couple times. 

And speaking of…will you just look at THIS! 

My dad purposely makes the dopiest faces when we take pics. In another big group shot of both families he's ducking behind everyone and peeking over their shoulders. Every family photo ever, this is him. Even in his junior high school year book, there's a shot of him on the swim team and he's doing the same thing! 

 I've said it forever…his goal in life is to bust chops.

Walt & Val 

Aww and here is Rich, Steph, and Olivia (who is holding Daddy's wallet).

 Again, I'm shocked that Olivia isn't a blur here…she was ready to take that wallet and run! 

It was a great time. We really needed to unplug and leave the studio for the day. 

I hope you all had a great holiday weekend, with family, friends, or even alone…just relaxing.

Thanks bunches for popping in!

xo Jenny… and Aaron says hi!

Springtime crafting with some of my favorite things

I still cannot believe that this coming Sunday is Easter. Just wow! I kinda feel like Easter always pops up out of the blue, but this year feels even more sudden. Like, where did the month of March even go?! We had plans for bringing back our chocolate rabbit diecuts, and paper mache rabbit prints as plaques and possibly even an Easter cake diecut…but as it will sometimes, LIFE happened! 

And apparently the calendar got the last laugh. So this year there are no chocolate bunny diecuts, no Easter cake diecuts, etc, etc…and at first the idea of this really got me down, but I know we are doing our best and working as hard as we can right now. So I'm not gonna come down too hard on myself for not getting things done. 

And even though we didn't get to launch a new Easter collection, in the past couple weeks we still shipped off a handful of bunny pieces that we offer year round! Like our fave Bunny Baby diecut, and our Vintage Stuffed Bunny plaque. 

We worked all weekend…as always, and I think Aaron's hands are still vibrating from the amount of time he spent on the scroll saw. So many donuts are off to new homes, and a bunch more will be shipping tomorrow and Thursday. This makes us very very happy. A whole lot of time and care goes into these. Just cutting out those holes in the donuts takes an entire afternoon. 

By now we've developed a pretty good system. Aaron will close himself off in what we call "the cutting room", (which is a room we gutted after Hurricane Sandy and never had a chance to finish) so yeah,  the cutting room is super tiny and at present it's sole purpose is for cutting and sanding our diecuts and signs. Aaron will emerge (covered head to toe in a fine powder of sawdust) from the cutting room with a stack of freshly cut and sanded donut shapes, hand them off to me, and I'll do the gluing up while he cuts and sands another stack. Then, by the time he's through with the dirty work, he'll join me in the studio and together we'll do all of the finer finishing touches. It's repetitive work, but it never bores us because we love the items and we love the people who ordered them. It sounds corny, I know, but that is truly how we feel. Our ultimate motivation is just knowing where these pieces are headed once they leave our studio.

So while we were doing all that stuff I had a window of time where a bunch of things were drying and I had an idea for a fun little springtime project. And yes, the project features one of my favorite collections…my vintage stuffed bunnies!

We were lucky to have some great photo shoot worthy sunshine that day. So in the brightest part of the studio I set up my bunnies one by one and was able to get some clear and vibrant photos of each. Then I printed them out, adhered them to some cardstock with modpodge, brushed on a top coat, and cut them out. 

I just love seeing them as they are right here lying on my worktable. They would make really fun ornaments. 

But my plan was for this garland! I cut a length of this super cute pom pom trim and just taped the bunnies to it with washi tape.

I hung it on a cupboard in the studio. I really love how it turned out! So simple to do! And this could be done using photos of any favorite collection! Imagine pretty little vintage dolls, or even just the doll faces! I was talking to my mom about how easy this was…from concept to completion it took like an hour. I think I'll be making her one adorned with her favorite cabin themed things to hang in their log cabin. 

Here are some of my favorite things on display in the studio. I have been collecting paper mache rabbits for over 16 years, maybe longer! But man have the prices soared in recent years! I'm glad I got the bulk of my collection way back when they were affordable. Nowadays I literally cringe when I see the current prices. 

It's vital to surround yourself with the things you love…especially in the space where you create.

I don't know if I ever shared this here, but you can see it mixed in with all my paper mache rabbits and other candy colored bits in the photo above. It's a vintage Good & Plenty box that I found in a great antique shop here on the Jersey Shore a couple of years ago. Isn't it so much fun?

And lastly, I just needed to share this one again. If you are looking for a fun Easter/ Spring craft to do this week, check out this little how-to for these vintage inspired spun cotton bunny and chick toppers that we had shared last year! 

We loved making them…and seriously, they are so easy and you'll have them to brighten up your cupcakes or other sweet treats for many Easters to come.

Ok, thanks again for reading. We're still cold here in Jersey, but we're hoping hoping hoping for at least semi-tolerable weather for Easter Sunday so we can go out for a stroll and get some festive eats. That would be fantastic. What are your plans for Easter?!

xo, Jenny…and Aaron says hi!

Around here…

This photo is part wishful thinking, part incantation. Maybe if I put enough pastel Easter stuff around those lingering piles of snow will finally melt away and bring the daffodils into bloom. We're currently still cranking the heat, and still wearing heavy winter coats and hats for our daily walks to the post office. But at least the days are longer now and there is more sunlight. I mean, don't get me wrong, I've got bunnies and feather trees out all year round, but when push comes to shove I'll pull out even more to create some weather defying table top parties.

Some of my favorites have to be our faux chocolate rabbits. We love faux sweets...faux cakes, faux donuts. We found these years ago in a cute shop here on the Jersey shore. I wish I could find more. 

This race car fella kills me! Totally looks good enough to eat! Usually I'd start with a bite to the ear, but in this case I'd likely nibble a tire. 

Here is a tiny peek at my prized vintage paper mach rabbit collection which is on display in the studio all year round. 

We've been chipping away an hour a night on "home stuff". We're currently painting trim and walls. The darker walls and dark trim really balance things and make our pastels pop. I can't wait to finish and share some pics with you guys. We've been moving things around and creating some happy vignettes.

Here's a little peek of a shelf in the kitchen. That's a Cake decorating tip used as a holder for a vintage inspired flash card. 

We've been cooking some yummy meals and Aaron has been baking. These are some of our favorite banana nut muffins. 

Mostly we've been working on lots of orders, but we did manage to finish up this piece! It has been on the back burner for far too long. We chipped away at it for the longest time and finally finalized the details. We love how it turned out. It may be my favorite diecut to date! It's in the shop now and we've got it on sale for a special introductory price, which lots of peeps have taken advantage of already. If you're interested it will be on sale until very very late tonight.

We had our first flash sale last week over on Instagram, and as a result lots of donuts will be off to happy new homes this week!! So fun!

Popped into Target the other day and hit up the dollar spot! Although I only walked away with one thing this time…this adorable little file folder thingie. It opens accordion style and has tabbed sections. Perfect for holding all my little bits of ephemera and cute papers that I've got waiting to be added to art journal pages or other mixed media and crafty projects. 

Oh and on the weekend I shared this on Insta and Facebook. My sweet friend Court featured me on her blog for her #GirlCrushFRYday . I was so flattered and had fun answering her great questions. You gotta check out her blog. It is sooooo great. 

Last thing I'll mention...We're presently finalizing some details, but if you are in the NYC area…stay tuned. We will be teaching an Art Journaling class very very soon! 

Thanks for popping in!!

xo Jenny…and Aaron says hi! 

Friday Favorites

It's Friday... and it's a Holiday Weekend. Those are two plusses in anybody's book. I love Easter for the pastel colors, the sweet treats, and the baskets full of fun. I have vivid memories of picking out Easter outfits to wear to church...oh geez some are cringe worthy...like that white 1940s inspired hat with veil combo...and the fact that I wore it with a pink and cream damask blazer, layered over a white blouse with black bow tie! Oh and by the way...I was 11 years old. Always the style maven. And my mom totally allowed my adolescent self to get as disgustingly inventive as she wanted. Luckily I really didn't do heels...that would've added injury to insult. Horrible fashion memories aside, I've always found the aesthetics of Easter to be right up my alley. 

Speaking of Easter aesthetics...I just adore adore adore these bunny nails. So simple yet so effective. Perfectly sweet.

 This tutorial for these coffee filter Fascinators from Aunt Peaches is just so much fun! A totally worthy improvement upon the Easter Bonnet. 

Now does it get more adorable than these? What a perfect way to to present macarons this Easter. Or anytime if you just love cute bunnies like I do. Check out the simple and sweet tutorial over at Sugar & Cloth

 Love these gold leaf eggs! Fabulous! There is something so magical that happens when you pair pastels with shiny gold. These are absolutely enchanting.

And these super simple, super cute doodled eggs are just as sweet as the gold leaf eggs, but they're for those of us who love that scribbly hand drawn look. They're simply rendered with a sharpie. To see them from start to finish check out Paper & Stitch.

This is such an adorable little project...DIY iron on bunny tees.  How cute would these be for the littles in your life! And again, not just for Easter either! Of course I would wear one myself in a hop, skip, and a jump! 

And I just had to include this image. Need I explain why? The word holiday...in that font! And this totally resembles the fab old motels we've got peppered all up and down the Jersey Shore. Oh jeez, Easter weekend is when all of our boardwalks open for the season. I'm predicting at least a short trip to see the sights and sounds of the stands, the rides, and the waves crashing in the distance.  

Whatever it is you have planned for this weekend we hope that you have a wonderful time. Lets hope for some warm sun. Get out there and enjoy it!

xo Jenny...& Aaron says hi!

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!