moo-re carrots please!

As I mentioned in the previous post, I needed a pic of animal. Luckily, we live very close to a great little roadside farmstand called Atlantic Farms. They're the usual type of farmstand that sells fresh grown fruits and veggies, but where they depart from the norm is with their awesome little collection of super adorbs farm animals. You pay a small fee and buy a bag of chopped carrots to feed to the animals...except for the brand new extremely cute baby goats...because they are still exclusively on mama's milk. The cow above is the first gal you meet and she's got a ton of experience with visitors. She opens up that giant mouth like a cave so you can just toss in fistfulls of carrots and she couldn't be happier!


Below are some goats and sheep. I love goats because they are just nuts...they will climb on top of anything. And both goats and sheep...especially the little ones, sound uncannily human when they do their talking. They are all so sweet, but I gotta admit, the third pic down of the beardo...he was kind of a jerk. When we fed his younger buddy the beardo would snort snot all over us. So then we fed his buddy a bunch more just to spite him. ha!

Look at this mess down below! Go on, take a wild guess who lives here. A gigantic Pig. What a slob! Yep, due to the wall of stench that surrounds the pig enclosure, they keep em way in the back. Which suits these guys just fine. All they wanna do is sleep the day away.

The little horsies are amazing and so so peaceful...but since tiny kids come to visit the animals the mini horsies aren't as easy to have contact with. They have giant teeth that can be dangerous for the little ones. I especially loved this one guy with his surfer/skater hairdo!

Years ago we went to Atlantic Farms and they had an ostrich. It was amazing...there were these giant football sized eggs all over the place. But I guess the ostrich has moved on to greener pastures. Now they've got a bunch of emu's. These guys are so weird. They have feathers, but on top of their head it looks like a little afro of hair. They love to interact but from anything I've read, and you also can sorta tell just by looking in their eyes...I don't think they're in the genius category. But still, they're sweet and they try not to snap your fingers when you feed them.


So besides our farm trip, we finally had a day with some sun! And I was able to get my Sunflare photo for the challenge!


Day 23: Sunflare

sun glare pics can be super cool looking...I'll be taking advantage as much as possible this summer...This one does the trick, but I'm gonna try to get some dazzlers.

Day 27: From a distance

We were driving home from dinner and I said "I need a from a distance photo." Aaron had the idea to get a shot of the Great Auditorium in Ocean Grove. Perfect idea because it has a wide open field in front of it that goes straight to the ocean. That field is also the home of the Ocean Grove flea market which I chronicled a few posts back. A bit of trivia...that giant illuminated cross atop the Auditorium was broken for years...then Woody Allen filmed the movie Stardust Memories in Ocean Grove and to show his gratitude to the town he paid to have the cross fixed and re-lit.

Be sure to first pause my music down at the bottom of this page :)

Ok, that's it for the pics...but I wanted to mention one last thing here. We will be officially retiring our diecuts from our shop. We love them and we've made maybe a thousand or more of them over the years. They hang in so so many homes and businesses...including our own home. But we really want to focus on a bunch of wooden plaques and signs. Also, much of the imagery from the diecuts will be available on plaques and such. But if you want diecuts get them now...We've got them on SALE: Buy 2 get 1 free...just buy 2 and let us know which one you want for free. The diecuts will be gone by July 4th!

ok, thanks again for coming back and sharing in the fun!
See you soon! xoxo Jenny

happy happy photos

(This adorable lil pair was seen on a side street in Ocean Grove NJ...could you just melt? I'd play the lottery if this duo was the prize.)

Boy this past week flew by! The days seemed to blur into one another. It had been non stop rain, clouds, humidity. Not the best conditions for taking photos for the 30 day photo challenge. I'm still missing my day 23 assignment which was a Sunflare. I hope to get one tomorrow.

How is everyone else doing with their challenge? We only have a few days left and I'm a little sad. I mean I'm guessing there will be another challenge to participate in somewhere in blogland. You can bet I'll look...and play along! This really was such a happy thing for me. So so glad I did it! Used buttons I hadn't even "messed with" till now. Ok ok..so let's get caught up shall we?

Day 20: Bokeh

The term comes from the Japanese word boke (暈け or ボケ), which means "blur" or "haze", or boke-aji (ボケ味), the "blur quality".


Now for you who aren't in the know yet. Bokeh is that fun background blur we see in those profesh looking photos. Well..and non profesh..but in that case it most likely happened on accident. When background lights become little blurry balls or haze. Easiest way to put it. If you simply google you will come across blogs devoted to bokeh, videos on youtube, (click both links) as well as hacks...like making your own lens cover with black paper! (this technique allows you to turn those balls into hearts or stars or whatever lil shape you'd like! It was my first time actually trying to get the effect, I've gotten it in the past accidentally...easiest place for that happy accident to happen is when we take pics of our Christmas trees! :) I'm excited to play around some more! And I will def be making one of those paper lens covers!

Day 21: Faceless self portrait

me on a rainy afternoon, in our living room. this is a suuuper old mirror with that awesome wavy effect to it. If you are wondering..I painted a black scalloped border around it..and then covered that in black glitter. :)

Day 22: Hands

Now why on earth would I take a pic of my hands or Aaron's hands when I have a house full of random doll hands? These would make pretty fab earrings no?

Day 24: Animal

I had taken a pic of pup #2 and was in the middle of uploading it when Aaron walked into the studio with a big smile and a happy idea. "How about a ride to Atlantic Farms, for a REAL Animal photo"? not 5 mins later we were on our way! It happened to be the first sunny day in about a week for us..which made it even better! This fella was super sweet! I'm pretty sure we shared the majority of our carrots with him. :) I'll be back tomorrow to share the rest of our farm pics!

Day 25: Something pink

Something pink? Geez...It was almost harder than something orange for me. only due to the massive amounts of pink things in my life. I mean c'mon ..I have pink hair. I'm sure you can imagine what I'm saying. I really couldn't settle on one thing. Finally while working on some orders I glanced across the studio ...the sun was shining directly on this spool of bright pink sequin trim. Yep! Perfect! :)

Day 26: Close up

I have had a jar of these candy colored bells for almost 10 yrs. I'm pretty sure I found them at a dollar store! Oddly enough. As you can see I am running low on pink ;)


Well...we are caught up except for today's assignment which I will post tomorrow. It really isn't too late to join in the fun..you can always start on July 1st! I'm going to find another challenge and when I do..I'll let you guys know!

Just want to thank you all for all of the super sweet comments and visits to my lil corner of blogland! I truly appreciate you guys! And to my new followers ...Big Big Hugs!! So happy to be connected! If you haven't left a comment..say hi! Leave me a link to your blogs!

See ya tomorrow!
xo Jenny

C is for Cookies!

Forever we've been wanting to paint some cookies and I just can't believe we haven't until now! So many people have made the request and we always had plans to...but you know how that goes. So this was a now or never situation...we had a little box of cookies from our local bakery and we said we'd eat only half and save the rest for reference...well you know how that goes too. So with full bellies we had to paint from memory. We love this sign so much and it hangs in our kitchen right now...it's also in our shop for anybody who wants it in their home too!

Ya know...I guess the "normal" person in us all would pick Kermit as their favorite Muppet...but I think deep inside every single one of us is a Cookie Monster...that same part of us who would coin the phrase "if we're not supposed to have midnight snacks then why is there a light in the fridge?" Below is a little jingle for all the Cookie Monsters out there who indulge their heart's desires...haha!




As far as the 30 day photo challenge goes I've been keeping up on flickr...so let me get you guys caught up over here. I've really been having a lot of fun. Knowing that you've got to capture an image...and make it at least partially meaningful, keeps the visual part of your brain dreaming...even if your dream window is only 35 mins! Stopping to take a picture...even if that seems like a teeny tiny act...it really is a great artistic personal escape from the busy day. It's fun to see everyday things as a photo op. So here's a little catch up from the last few days of the photo challenge.

Day 15: Silhouette

I had Aaron hold an itty bitty dollhouse chair in his hand in front of a pink box lid and the angle of the afternoon sun was just right for some nice shadows.

Day 16: Long exposure

I'm totally not a photographer so my idea of what a long exposure means was simply guesswork. I googled a smidge to get a clue but mainly I learned by doing. Right before we walked out the door to get dinner I grabbed my camera just for the heck of it to see if I could figure out long exposure. So we stopped in Asbury and found a dark spot...Aaron had a little flashlight in the car so we did some experimenting in an old parking lot. Now I didn't capture any spectacular image...I figured I'd use this one more as a learning day and just get the technical aspect right. What's so weird is that in that image of the light swirl Aaron was holding the flashlight and standing right there, yet he doesn't appear in the photo...and the buildings behind him do!


Day 17: Technology

It was laundry day and although laundry feels like a pretty old school chore and not very technological...our modern washers and dryers sure beat using rocks down by the riverbank to scrub clothes. So here's a shot down at our local old school "launderette". My sister made fun of me every time I called it that....turns out, it is the actual name.

Day 18: Your shoes

These are my treasured vintage Chatty Cathy shoes... the perfect tone of teal velvet...stripes inside...and itty bitty millinery flowers.

Today...
Day 19: Something Orange.

Orange just happens to be one of the very few colors I do not use in my personal decor. If you want to find something orange in my home you better open a drawer or look in the fridge. Well except in the Fall...gotta go traditional for Halloween.

Alright, that's it for today. Thanks so much again for checking in. I'll be back real soon!

xoxo, Jenny

roses and coffee and scones,cupcakes and sunsets, fabulous dresses and crazy baby eyes! Yowzer!

So, like so so many of you my first thought upon waking is..."where's my coffee?" But I think this is really only true with me in the warmer months...because I'm a lover of Iced Coffee waaaay more than hot.

Sometimes me and Aaron go for a quick ride and grab a couple cups from somewhere and then we usually hunt down a couple scones (my biggest addiction in life...SCONES!) But since that's costly on both money and time, we keep a pitcher in the fridge of New Orleans Roast from Rook Coffee Roasters...The best coffee in the world...and they are 5 minutes away. (we ran out yesterday and Aar went and got another pound this morning on his bike...and two Scone Pony scones, which Rook keeps stocked!)

Anyway, I bring this up because today I made the brew too strong...and even though I need my coffee...me and caffeine do not mix well. My heart starts skipping a beat and I feel so nutso that all I want to do is lay down...you'd think it would have me running in circles but I get so past that point that I could actually just sleep! So, me and Aar made a rare decision....we took a nap. My heart and brain needed it...and his leg needed it ( the running and bike riding have been taking their toll on the screws in his leg...yes, he's part robot, like most peeps after a car crash.) But, yet again...where am I going with this? Sorry, the caffeine still has me in it's claws. Well, first...as you can see from the pics...we've got some new hand painted flower pots...some pink and white to add to our pale greeny/aqua ones. And another Cupcakes sign very much like the one we did a little while back on a very old board we found...but this one is on a new one that we aged a bit ourselves...(I made it read this blog post and it grew a gray beard...what an exciting Nap Story!)....So, look for these new doodads in the shop.

The 30 day photo challenge has been a real lightning rod for me creatively/spiritually. It keeps me thinking visually...it keeps me blogging frequently...and it gets me out of the house. The assignment from the other day was Sunset and I was in the studio and saw that the sun was just about in it's last stages of descent. So I told Aar-" Let's go now, and get the sunset pic, before we miss it...where's the best spot to see the sunset?"

We first drove to a spot where we knew it would be sinking into the treeline...and then after some shots there we took a quick drive down to the boat harbor in nearby Belmar...good idea. I got my final sunset shot with about 30 seconds to spare before the sun was all gone...and it was spectacular that day...to our left and right, like a dozen or so other people followed our lead and hopped out of their cars for a look and a pic. Scroll down to see the pics...and the pics for day 13 and 14...this is a catch up post!

Day 12: Sunset

And for Day 13 it was a very easy decision for me. The assignment being: Me and 13 Things. My vintage stuffed bunnies were the obvious choice...I LOVE these guys! Aar had to snap the pic for me, because as you can see, my hands were full.

No, day 14 was not black dress day...nope, just decided to squeeze these pics in here...ya know, like a brief intermission...sorta a word from our sponsors. And by this I mean: Shabby Apple! Yes, the makers of this amazing dress! I got it from them a little while back and I've been dying to share it and them with you. It's my absolute fave! It's called the La Noche Negra...regularly 78.00...but on sale right now for 58.50! It's perfect for me...wide shoulders, gold metallic buttons, a military inspired feel, bold collar, puckered sleeves, and tulip skirt - perfectly proportioned with banded waistline - just the slimming effect I need right now! I also included a pic of it on a model...and as you can see...her arms aren't as in love with Scones as mine are!

Shabby Apple makes women's dresses, little girls dresses, and maternity dresses. As well as fabulous swimwear and Plus sizes! And they are a super fab outfit...they give 5% of net dress sales to women's charities...every 100 dollar donation to Shabby Apple provides at least 2o women in need with financial services and a chance to live a life without poverty. You can check them out on Facebook...AND, here's the kicker...You will get a 10% off coupon code by reading about them here...so write this down, or type it, or copy/paste it somewhere:

"everydayisaholiday10off"

And don't forget to "like" Shabby Apple on facebook! They keep us friends up to date on all sorts of good stuff! :)

Ok, I can hear Etta James singing "At Last...(this post is ending)"... I also can hear that it's now raining outside...another factor that caused the nap I'm sure...me and Aaron both get effected by rain...my whole body and soul...and his leg hardware aches.

Day 14: Eyes.

Another easy choice for me...I love my old baby heads...and mostly their eyes...glazed with age...all googly from years of use...and this one in particular is without eyelashes...well, he still has eyelashes...but they seemed to have dropped out of sight...ya know, they rolled back into his head. It happens to the best of us.

Alright, back soon...thanks for reading...hope you all are having a wonderful day/night/week/June!

xoxo, Jenny

Let's EAT!!! ...cupcakes, cake, cookies, doughnuts, macarons!

Hey Hey! How's everyone's weekend going? Hope you guys have had better weather than us here in Jersey. Rainy and grey. Not much sun. So we have been making our own sunshine here in the studio. Listening to lots of TV On the Radio, and plenty of Candy colored paint being poured on palettes! We are cuckoo for signs...I've said it before and I'll say it again! We are having sooo much fun! It feels like the old days. So many signs so little time! I swear...I wake up during the night with ideas and debate about getting up to sketch. I have about a dozen doodled napkins in my purse...probably myself and Aaron are the only two humans who can decipher them!

We are pretty stoked about this latest sign...

* EAT *

yep! One word says it all! Of course for me it is cupcakes, and ice cream and cake and doughnuts and macarons....but geez, I so see this one hanging over a kitchen table or a bright and cheery dining table. Little ones in pj's sitting down to a plate of silver dollar pancakes or a bowl of cereal! Fun fun fun! Oh oh...and do you see the Red!? Yep...we added a cherry to our normal frosting pastels! This is an open edition...so we plan on making a bunch of these. We have a bunch in the works now and will be cranking them out.

And with a lil cherry red...and sunny yellow thrown in!! :)

Lots of attention to detail..super distressed and aged...washes for an added layer of age. Authentic and FUN!

In the SHOP now!!

Roses galore... Can't keep my mind off these beauties! My grandma always had rose bushes on the side of her garage. I'd go out to prune them with her after school. Really happy memories for me.

Also in the SHOP!

And here we are at Day 11! Something blue. One of my favorite collectibles. My tin dollhouse from the 1950s. Love it to bits! The interiors are amazing...so many fun and kitchsy details. If only I had more space...I'd love a wall fullllll of these!

Well that's enough for today, Aaron is waiting for me in the studio! And it's almost time for today's photo assignment..which is Sunset! Not sure how this will work out being that there was not a glimpse of Mr. Sun today...may have to get creative. Tune in tomorrow for the follow up! :)

Have a great week kids! :)
xo Jenny