What I received in the #epicgalentinesswap

Last week I had told you guys about the Galentine's Day Swap. In case you missed it, I blogged about it here. And I had promised that I would return to share what I received in the swap…so here goes!

The package that my partner sent me arrived several days prior to Galentine's Day, so I'm proud of myself for maintaining adult-like composure and somehow not sneaking a peek at what was in the box until the big day. As a group, we all planned to open our packages at the same time on Galentine's Day (Feb 13th). The gal that sent to me was Meghan from Juneberry Stitches. And oh my gosh did she do an incredible job putting this package together! So so me! Just look at the above pic! 

First was this vintage Valentine. Sweet as can be! 

Too cute right? They used the best fonts ever back then! A happy new addition to my vintage Valentine collection! 

Meghan also sent me this sweet pink and white check vintage apron with black detailing.  I love it! 

It looks right at home hanging in my kitchen! 

Meghan makes some of the most adorable bags, and I was so excited to receive this one. Linen burlap with a black doily and pink zipper!

Annnd this incredibly cute custom "basket". It's like a bag that stands up and can be used to store things…like make up…or craft supplies...or whatever.  I love it so much! 

One of the questions in our Galentine's Swap questionnaire asked what new craft or hobby we'd like to learn. My answer is that I would love to sew. So once again, Meghan paid attention to the fine print and handmade me this darling needle book! 

So so so cute!! And beyond thoughtful! So much care and time went into these beautiful things. 

She also included some black and white baker's twine…which I love! Never enough baker's twine!

And those top three rolls of washi tape are from Meghan...the black with white hearts, and the aqua and pink scallops. As you can see they are also right at home in my studio! She perfectly nailed down my aesthetic. 

And I love this adorable little cupcake stamp. 

I totally cracked up at these pencils! So so good!! She sent a whole pack of them! "Hoes before Bros" A Leslie Knope quote from Parks and Rec. 

“You know my code: hoes before bros. Uteruses before duderuses…Ovaries before brovaries.”

And check out this crazy cute vintage cake decorator! Ahh!! The pink plastic handle! It is so perfect in our kitchen. The shelf you see here in the background is it's new forever home.

Such a fun swap and geez what a perfect and incredibly thoughtful package I received. So glad I found the time to participate. Such a great group of gals. Sweethearts. If you'd like to see what everyone else got you can check out the #EPICGALENTINESSWAP hashtag over on Instagram! 

Meghan also sent me a bag of chocolate kiss truffles...I didn't even know they made those! 

Seriously, life moves so fast. Seasons blend together and holidays come and go in a flash. So taking time to connect with others for a holiday themed event such as a swap is so meaningful. First, it's so important to set aside the extra time and effort for making things and gathering stuff for someone else. It's so rewarding. And then there's the super duper added bonus of receiving a package like this. There are things here that I can display year round and know that they came from a great place.

Hope you enjoyed!

xo, Jenny…and Aaron says hi!

Pink and Red Galore

Ahh February! Also known as the month that contains Valentine's Day. This is the holiday that makes this pink loving gal expand her color palette to include red. Well, from time to time I will add a tiny pop of red to our pastel palette, in the home and in my fashion. I see red as the oh so necessary maraschino cherry placed atop a neapolitan sundae or cone. In our decor I feel like red makes the pastels pop…like if there are red accents on a hand painted pink sign, then the pinks look even pinker. And when it comes to my wardrobe, all it takes is some deep red lipstick to totally set off an all pastel ensemble. So yeah, red acts both literally and figuratively as the cherry on top. 

And at this time of year red appears in great abundance around here. Lots of vintage Valentine ephemera is heavy on the red, and with us nostalgia wins big. So instead of sticking to our tight palette of pastels, we'll cast red in a starring role. 

As I said on Instagram earlier today, if you accompanied me to the grocery store and I happen to wander off…you can find me in one of two places...the baking aisle or the floral dept. 

And yes, this most recent trip to the grocery store was no different. I wandered off and came back with this bouquet. I simply couldn't pass it up! It made me so happy, and it was only $5.99!

It actually came with double the blooms you see here. The rest are placed in other vases around the house. 

I love the pink, red and white paired with the aqua-turquoise hue of this vintage ball jar. It is one of my favorites! 

 This time of year means pulling out some of my all time favorite decorations, including my Magpie Ethel assemblages form our friend Laurie Romanaggi. We have been collecting her creations for years.  I was looking for more pieces from this collection, rummaging through some boxes I had stacked way in the back of a closet, when sadly I was reminded that I lost the pieces I was looking for to Hurricane Sandy…that complete jerk. 

Ah well…it's senseless to lament...I'll just have to add more to our collection! 

So, not only is it nearly Valentine's Day…we've also got Galentine's Day on the way! For those who do not know what Galentine's Day is…it is a Parks & Recreation reference/episode that kinda took on a life of it's own. 

Here's a little clip to bring you up to speed. 

I love the whole concept of Galentines, so I jumped at the chance to participate when I was asked by my friend Kristen to take part in a Galentine's swap among Instagram friends! This swap works in a way that's unlike a traditional swap, in that the person we send to is not the person who sends to us. So that means no one knows who has who! 

We all filled out a little questionnaire and then the info was passed on to our would-be partners. We all mailed our packages out in time so that we could all open them on Galentine's Day…Feb 13th! I was joking the other day to Aaron that I sorta feel like a grown-up, because there is a box here full of gifts for me and I haven't opened it yet. ha! I'm in awe of my adult-like restraint.  

Above are pics of the gifts I sent off…if you focus reeeaaly hard you can indeed see a name on a tag. oops! ; ) Still lots of surprises.

Oh and this. Just a typical scene around here. 

Hope you guys have been having a great week! And thanks so so much for all the sweet words about our Sweetheart Valentine's Day wreath! And for entering the giveaway! We are LOVING reading all about your fave Vday memories!! Some are so funny, and some are just so sweet! You still have 2 days left to enter if you haven't already! 

Thanks for popping in!!

Love from the Jersey Shore!

xo Jenny…and Aaron says hi!

Treetopia Valentine's Day Wreath Blog Hop and Giveaway!

I don't know if I've mentioned it lately, but we've been super duper busy. And despite that, we still jumped at the chance to participate when we were asked by our super talented friend Jennifer Perkins to be a part of this Valentine wreath blog hop sponsored by Treetopia. We just love all things Valentine's. It's one of our fave times of the year...one of the most visually appealing Holidays. And the whole concept of this blog hop is great. We got to have some fun with this giant pink wreath from Treetopia, and get crafty alongside a star studded lineup of super talented crafter/designers. And in the end, you readers will have FIVE chances to win a wreath like this of your own! 

So…we stole a few hours out of our busy schedule and made our Charlotte Sweetheart wreath.  

So, like I said, the wreath is giant! When it arrived we were like yowza! We had only seen a pic online of the wreath and we couldn't discern the actual size. When the box arrived and we slid the wreath out we were thrilled at the size. What a room maker it will be! 

I immediately had the idea of the wreath acting as a frame for one of our wooden Charlotte plaques. She's our mascot and we love to see her sweet face up on our living room wall. 

We are big time sketchers. Pretty much everything we ever design starts with a crude pencil drawing like this. We'll just jot ideas on the paper and slide it back and forth across the table to each other.

Since we were going to have the matte black, chalkboard type elements, I grabbed these vintage wired pink balls and some other ornaments for pops of shiny color.

And then we started cutting out mat board hearts, and also added some glitter.

The arrow that we had sketched came together "in real life" fairly simply. We cut a wooden dowel to the right length, and then cut the arrow tip and end feathers from mat board. 

We painted all of the elements with gold acrylic paint, attached the tip and feathers to the dowel with hot glue. Then we glittered the tip and the end feathers. 

We love black! We always use it to balance our pastels and candy colors. And we love chalkboard art and lettering. So we decided to go with a black chalkboardesque banner to bear our wreath's "statement". 

The banner is cut from a cardboard box, and then we painted it with black acrylic craft paint. The lettering and line work is done in white acrylic paint. 

The first things we added to the wreath were the balls…some little pink ones, some slightly bigger pink, glittery gold, and a few white fluffy snowballs.

Our Charlotte plaque is actually hung right on the wall. To balance out the banner up top we added the arrow and the X O to the bottom portion of the wreath. And the big pink glitter heart was so so necessary. 

The X O and the black hearts were also just cut out of mat board, which we painted black and then decorated with sketchy chalk details.

We just added some bakery twine to the back of the banner and hung it on the top branches…this way we could always remove it and use it for something else. 

The whole wreath came together in just a few hours. It was really fun to do, and it looks so so fun hanging in our living room! 

We hope you guys enjoyed this little show and tell! We love the quality of this Pretty in Pink wreath. There are pre-lit wreaths & garlands available too! You can find them here. 

 Or, like I said up top...If you'd like a chance to win your very own wreath! Entering is super easy! You can enter below on this post, and also visit the other posts to check out their amazing creations, and enter on their posts as well! 

Monday: Jennifer Perkins

Tuesday: Crafty Chica

Wednesday: Amy Anderson

Thursday: Us! 

Friday: Vickie Howell 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

And be sure to visit the Treetopia blog to continue the blog hop tomorrow!!

Happy Creating!

xo 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!