Almost halfway to another Christmas tree...where have we been?

There is no possible way that I could just gloss over the fact that it is now the end of May and the last time we blogged was Thanksgiving. Also, there is no way that I could begin to explain the reasons for the 6 month absence. But it is by far the longest stretch of nonblogging since we started the blog back in 2006, and it's the very first time that we missed a Christmas. I just now re-read our Thanksgiving post and in it I talk about measuring life by how many Christmas trees have passed and how many more you might get. And here we are now...practically halfway to the next Christmas tree! 

We certainly didn't lose interest in blogging, but I guess we kinda reached our limit time-wise and communication-wise and creativity-wise, and the blog must've been the one appendage that we could afford to cut off for a little while. But then the little while turned into a long while. I'd be lying if I said that the loss of Aaron's mom wasn't a huge factor. I think we spent many months sorta numb and maybe slightly in denial. But then your emotions will always catch up with you. It isn't clear that it's happening at the time, but when you look back on those months it's fairly easy to see.

But ok, I promised myself I'd keep this as brief as possible. Why are we back to blogging now? I guess the short answer is that we really feel like blogging again. And I don't mean that in a selfish way. I mean that we really really feel like connecting again. We want to share a bit of our lives and we want to hear back from all of you. We want to put ourselves out there again. Get back out into the world. Me and Aaron have been just working, and working, and working, and not much else really. But it's not like we have a desire to work any less than we are right now. We just want to add some playtime to our work time.

It would be impossible to recap the past few months in full, (and who would want to endure that anyway?!) but it would feel weird to just jump right into the present tense. Since 2006 the blog has at least casually chronicled where we were and what we were doing during whatever time of year it was. So for the sake of posterity (using that word as loosely as possible) it would make sense to do, I guess you could call it a "virtual slideshow", of our hiatus.   

Here goes... 

 Lets start with the aforementioned Christmas tree. (so so weird to be blogging these pics in May!) The first thing you might notice is that our pink and cream striped walls have been replaced by a color that looks nearly BLACK. Yes, I know, big change. But before we talk about that I need to mention that this angel tree topper is one of my favorite things ever. She's vintage but when I got her she was in super brand new condition in her original box. If you look closely you can see the tag around her wrist.

So...the dark walls. This pic was taken with some late afternoon sun coming in our windows, and you can see that a room can still glow with warmth even with walls this dark. For us it was a much needed change. It's super soothing to unwind in this room after a long day and night in the studio.

Sure, it looks like our tree is pretty much as full as it can get. But we are always on the hunt for more magical ornaments. Our newest favorite additions this year, like this blue haired girl above, are from Crankbunny. Love love love her style.

We got this tree at Target for like 16 dollars if I'm remembering it right. I added the gold glitter tips just like you'd see on the vintage ones.

Great friends send great gifts. It's not a rule, but it's nearly always true. This is some stuff from my dear friend Beca, who totally gets my aesthetic. And when I say "my aesthetic" I mean that pizza wrapping paper, bright pink tissue, and a dusty pink vintage prize ribbon go together like peas and carrots. (Sidenote: I'm very much a fan of "5th Place" winners. They are wayyyyy more down to earth than those snobby First, Second, and Third placers. 4th place is also ok in my book.) 

And of course that ribbon found a home on our wall right away.

So yeah, remember when I said that we were working, working, working? Well this was our busiest and best holiday season on the ornament making front. We had so many more varieties this Christmas. We loved making these, but boy oh boy, our sore fingers were furious with us. 

And of course we made a ton of our wood diecut plaques too. (and these are much nicer to the fingers, haha!)

And one thing that we changed this year was that we moved our studio upstairs, and it made all the difference in the world. The downstairs of our house is so so cold in the winter, and working on detailed stuff is tough when your hands are nearly numb. Seriously, just that slight change, working on holiday orders upstairs, made life so much better. 

I can't remember the holiday rush entirely, but I do remember making a couple dozen of our 8 x 10  Christmas house cake plaques and doing a "Ready-to-ship Flash Sale".

We need to do more ready-to-ship sales. We love being able to ship the pieces the very next morning.

I love our new Fave Craves mugs! They were a big hit for the holidays. I'm thinking that we may have never blogged these before. We love how they came out and we plan on making some new designs soon.

And many many art filled pink bakery boxes shipped off to homes everywhere.

Despite being absurdly busy with orders I am so happy that I was able to find the time for a holiday swap. Here's the stuff I sent, all wrapped up and just about to be shipped. And yes, I got my swap partner the same pink tree that you saw in our living room. 

Did you ever have a long long long holiday season and in the end you're eyes start looking like this??

These stickers are from a Gabby doll that we gave to our niece Olivia when she visited us for the holidays. Go ahead and google "Gabby doll". I think you'll enjoy it.

Aaron had a big bday at the end of January! It's weird, but it seems like he has a birthday every year on the same date. Uncanny. 

You can see that the overall vibe of the new living room decor is a bit more masculine. And Sir Kyle back there in his swim trunks is bringing the handsome to this little corner of the room. He's also made by the amazing Crankbunny. 

Those twinkle lights over our mantle are not for the holidays. We like to twinkle all year round.

And yes, Lieutenant Dan missed you guys dearly.

He lives a hard knock life. 

These two kill me. They are always right at our feet and they'll gladly take whatever amount of attention you've got to offer. But mostly they just want the day to end so that we can all go "bedtime!"

(I neeeed to make a video of Lt. Dan jumping into my arms when I yell "bedtime!" It's priceless.)  

Little old man Carlos. Such a good big brother.

A big thing I miss about blogging is sharing about the latest additions to my fave collections. I'll never stop adding to my vintage paper mache bunny gang.

And apparently my paper mache love extends into the world of nuts. That giant paper mache walnut in the background was a gift from my dear friend Kimberlee Edgar, and when I found this paper mache peanut I simply had to have it.

We love our new cards! Great new addition to our packaging.

And maybe our favorite new design is our Happy Everyday cake diecut plaque. We launched it a few months back and it has been a collector favorite too. Everyone can identify with the classic "party sheetcake". You can find them pretty much anywhere. From the small mom and pop bakeshop, to the bakery counter at the supermarket. They're not super fancy or anything, but to us they simply mean: Celebrate!

Ok, I just decided that this post will be Part 1 of the recap. We'll be back with Part 2 pretty soon, and that will bring us into Springtime. And before you know it, we'll be all caught up, and we'll be blogging on a regular basis! We can't wait to get back in the swing.

And we also cannot wait to hear from you guys! Drop us a big HELLO in the comments!

Love from the Jersey Shore!

xoxo Jenny & Aaron

Hello February!

This is one of the best times of year for eye candy. Aren't you just totally in love with Valentine's stuff?! Even the kitschy cheap things at your local drug store are super charming. I love all of the hearts, the roses, the endless shades of pink. And I really really love vintage Valentine's…the ones that kids exchanged in school. I have a ton of 'em. If you've read this blog for a while then no doubt, you have seen a bunch from my collection. The vintage Valentine's imagery is much more beautiful than what's on contemporary cards. And wow, kids had amazing handwriting 50 and 60 years ago. 

So, me and Aaron designed this Valentine painting with a vintage sensibility. And we also made it distinctly Everyday is a Holiday by making the focal point a gorgeous cake. This painting actually features almost the full range of our favorite things to paint…we absolutely love painting roses and don't do it enough, and it goes without saying that cake is sorta our thing…but mainly it's the color palette that inspired us. On Valentine's day you will be inundated by pink and red. We wanted our main color to be this perfect pale shade of aqua, so that our Valentine would stand out in the crowd.

Ok, so we painted this piece on an 8 x 10 canvas and we wanted to do something special with it. One day we showed it to our friend Beca, and she suggested that we make postcards. Of course we thought this was a smashingly good idea! Right away we got them made and rush delivered. The quality is outstanding. The colors are bright and true to the original. 

We designed them to look like vintage postcards, and we wanted to offer them in a set of four so that you'd have the option to use them in a few different ways. The quality of the print is certainly worthy of framing. You can see all of our brush strokes and the texture of the canvas. 

You get four in a set and they come with white envelopes.

We announced them the other day and got a ton of orders right away…which we have already shipped out. That's definitely a plus with these postcards…our other items are made to order and therefore take some time. But we've got these postcard packs all set and ready to ship. We don't have many, so get them while they last. They're in the shop now!

The other day we got one of the most amazing gifts ever in the mail from a friend who took a class with us way back in 2007 at Silver Bella. This gift came as a total surprise, and the thought and care put into it is jaw dropping. Ok, do you see this little container of personalized m & m's?….well, there are nearly 50 of them!! Each one has a special scallop cut label that says "J & A", and the m & m's are adorable. They are our exact color palette…I especially love the generous amount of black.

And yes…besides all of those individual containers, Becky also included this giant jar full of 'em! So amazingly sweet! 

This is a just a few of the custom designs! I love the pics of Lt. Dan and Carlos. And Jack makes an appearance a couple times. That's a tiny illustration of me and Aaron on the one next to the pink Carlos m & m. And yes…that one does indeed say "ol man Carlos"…ha! So great. 

Seriously, what a special gift! We are so lucky to have a gal like Becky in our life. Thank you so much Becky!!! We love them! 

Ok, it's still chilly as heck here in Jersey. I think we're going to retreat upstairs where it is much warmer. We've got a makeshift mini studio set up in the corner of our bedroom specifically for cold nights like this. Thanks so much for reading…and don't forget about the Valentine postcards…they won't last very long…and they are all packed up and ready to ship!

xo, Jenny…and Aaron says hi! 

Doll Eyes NY SS15 Fashion Show

To some of you these two gals may be very familiar faces. But for any of you guys who are not yet acquainted, I am so thrilled to introduce you to this super talented and inspiring duo. Meet Elena Kanagy-Loux and Stella Rose Saint Clair, the designers of the experimental fashion brand Doll Eyes. 

I've been an admirer of Stella Rose for years (she's on the left in the pale blue skirt). I can't really pinpoint where or when I first discovered her, but bits and pieces of her style often popped up on my radar. I'm positive that she made it into my Friday Faves here on the blog a few times over the years. And more recently, probably close to a year ago, I became friends with Elena (wearing all pink on the right) on Instagram. We definitely share similar aesthetic tastes in collecting, fashion, and decor…lots of pretty pastels, fabulous vintage, and a look that starts out classic but is then whimsically appropriated into a very unique personal style. I promise that you'll fall in love with Elena's Instagram feed…you can follow her at: @erenanaomi

And if you want to learn more about Stella Rose, I highly recommend this fantastic article in the Seattle Times that tells the tale of how she was literally discovered right on the street in NYC, and from there she was prepared to meet every new and amazing opportunity with hard work and confidence in her own personal style. She's a very inspiring gal. 

Ok, so this is where the paths of Doll Eyes and Everyday is a Holiday converge. It was just Fashion Week in NYC. Ever since me and Aaron met, New York City has been a very special place for us as a couple. We spent a whole lot of the formative years of our artistic career there…shopping, exploring, eating, absorbing…we have so many exciting stories that can be traced back to our years when we were under the tutelage of New York City. Fall Fashion Week especially was always a magical time for us. (note: it's in the Fall, but the collections that are debuting are Spring and Summer wear.) I'm a Fall baby and lover of all things Autumn, so when Fashion Week would hit I always made it into an event. Aaron and I were always in the city during Fall Fashion Week. 

So, just a few weeks ago my fabulous Instagram friend Elena contacted me and asked if me and Aaron would be interested in creating some of our cake diecuts to be used in the Doll Eyes fashion show. She made reference to the above pic of that fab heart shaped cake, and said that the collection would be in the spirit of that cake image, and that our diecuts seemed like the perfect fit. I agreed immediately! 

We had a full plate at the time...lots of orders to make, pack, and ship. But when something special like this comes along, you make time for it. Having the chance to collaborate with other artists that you love is one of the main reasons for being an artist in the first place! :)

Here's the thing…we didn't have any of these cake designs finished yet. Let me give you a little bit of behind-the-scenes info about me and Aaron…we have about a million yet-to-be-completed designs and collections here at Everyday is a Holiday headquarters. You wouldn't believe how many fab designs we have just waiting in the wings. We simply don't have enough time to bring them to fruition. We do what we can, when we can…it doesn't really stress us out too much…but it would be awesome if we could pause the rest of the world for about a month while we went bananas getting all of these half done designs all the way done. 

Cakes for Doll Eyes needed to be fancier, more decorative…lots of piping, pretty color, and piped roses. Right away we decided that we could include one of the pieces from our Gilded Sweetness collection. And we especially wanted to give them a tiered cake like the one above…the kind of cake that a scantily clad gorgeous gal would jump out of. So over a couple of late nights we painted that one and a couple others from scratch. We worked hard right up to the 25th hour, and then overnighted them all to Doll Eyes in New York.  

The gals were sweet enough to invite us to the show, but there was no way we could take the time away to attend. As I said above, we were swamped, and after making these cakes we had a lot of catching up to do. 

But fortunately, there was a live stream of the show. We were able to sit at the worktable in our studio and see our artwork grace the stage alongside the latest Doll Eyes fashion collection! It was sooooo fun! Just look at their set up. They didn't go with a traditional runway…instead they had set up a sweets table and backdrop, and the models came out from either side and circled the table. Some of them danced, some showed off their contortionist skills…and the girly French soundtrack was perfect. Many of the models strutted out holding baguettes and tearing of bits to nibble as they posed about the stage.

It was such an honor to contribute our artwork to this amazing show. We absolutely love the style of Elena and Stella Rose, and it's so cool that they thought of us when they were designing the look of their show. Like I said above, getting the chance to collaborate with artists that we hold in such high regard, is one of the best things about being an artist.   

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you love Doll Eyes and the two fabulous gals behind the brand. Make sure to keep up with what they're up to on Instagram: @dolleyesny…they're always inspiring!

xo, Jenny…and Aaron says hi!

Life Lately...

It's hard to believe that this week is almost over…it totally flew by. We have so many projects going at once, that our heads are kinda spinning. We're simultaneously working on orders, doing some custom designs, finishing up house "stuff", and getting ready for Art Is You in Connecticut…which is in a month! We're so excited for that! We love everything about Art Is You. 

Earlier today we finished the above cake. It is for a very special super exciting and fun event. I'm going to have to be a little vague here just in case the recipients wants to keep the detail of the event under wraps until the unveiling. But we promise to share more pics and details very soon. We feel like this is the ultimate CAKE. It's design just says "Celebration". It could easily be a wedding cake, or a super duper sweet 16 cake, or a Quinceañera cake. Think of the three tiers and those piped buttercream roses as the starting point…beyond that the customization possibilities are endless.  

It's BIG, just in case you can't tell from the above pic. I hope to snap a better pic tomorrow. Today it was gloomy and grey here, so the photo above isn't very crisp...but you get the idea.

The group of cakes we're working on have lots of piping. Very much in the style of vintage Wilton cake decorating books. We will be shipping these special pieces off tomorrow, but I promise to take more pics! And we plan on adding a few of them to our regular shop offerings! 

Working on so many different projects all at once is totally putting us in the mindspace we'll need to be in for the upcoming holiday season. Do you remember our Starlet ornaments? Well they were so incredibly popular last year that we could barely keep up with the orders. So many of you had asked if they'd be back this year…and the answer is Yes!…they'll be in stock, along with a handful of new designs! Lots more ornaments…definitely some macarons, more cupcakes, kitty cats, doughnuts, etc.

I'm not sure if I shared this pic a while back. These are vintage Stanley Home cookie cutters. It must have been another very gloomy day when I snapped this pic. When I shared this pic on Instagram it started the best conversation.  All of us were trying to solve the mystery of the guy in the bottom left-hand corner. Is he a Dutch boy? And what's with the cowboy-at-high-noon stance?

Some were saying that he must be "Mr. Stanley". And some figured that he's a gingerbread man. And a few people said that they owned this set, but in place of the "Dutch-gingerbread-Stanley-showdown-cowboy" their sets included an Astronaut. Which is equally strange!

So, if you look at this pic that I shared the other day of an aqua set that I just found…you can see the Astronaut. And if this pic were part of a grade school IQ quiz that asked "which cookie cutter doesn't belong?"…the answer would be: the Astronaut! 

All of the others are holiday themed! That bunny is my fave…and jeeez, I love the Valentine…and the Jack-o-Lantern! I also own a birthday cake cutter in this same color. Do any of you own these? I know there is also a red set. I love these!

Ok, gotta go back to work. We are really cramming to get a bunch done tonight so that we can ship a big batch of boxes tomorrow. Wish us luck! 

Thanks for popping in!

xo Jenny…and Aaron says hi!