And so it begins...the Holiday Rush!

Hey guys! Well the first week of December is nearing it's end. Our Black Friday, Small Business Saturday right into Cyber Monday Sale was a great success! We are so incredibly thankful for all of the orders and so excited to know that our art will be a part of all of these homes and fabulous holiday gift giving! We have been working like mad all week. And we nearly feel like we can toot our own horns a tiny bit... we've been killin it! The thing with our art and shop selection is that there are so many different kinds of things! We try to work in a production line style as much as possible, and all the hopping around to different mediums keeps us fresh. In the span of a day we have to bounce around between the following: matting prints,  making ornaments...all different types of ornaments, painting wooden signs, cutting out die cuts outside on the scroll saw, putting together art kits....and then there's all the packing. It never gets boring. 

Our nights have been spent painting lots and lots of wooden signs. I swear every surface on the first floor was covered with boards laid out to dry. Aaron had to finally take to the floor and lay out some cardboard boxes.

All the hard work totally paid off! We've been shipping almost daily. Today's packages were filled with such great orders! So many fun pieces. We love seeing the combinations of items that each collector chooses. 

See these? They are all big wooden plaques! Wood mounted prints of some of our all time best selling paintings. We've been asked over and over about bringing back plaques, and yep...you guys got your wish! We will be adding some to the shop tonight! They are 11x14 and are ready to hang! No need to go buy a frame! Hooray! 

(press play above)

There has been sooo much of this going on over here! And we couldn't be happier!! Once that bow of bakery twine is tied we know that a box is about to be packed and sent off to it's new home. 

This here is a very special package that went out to a long time collector of our work. A fella in Brooklyn, who happens to be one of our very first online collectors...going way way back to maybe 2006 or earlier. We don't actually offer our faux mini doughnuts for sale since it just isn't very time or cost effective for us...but we made an exception upon our old friend's special request. And we love these things! They're one of our favorite projects in our book! 

We added a few new Starlet ornaments to the shop too!! Yes...Pink hair! And Aqua too! 

Oh hey! 

Stacks and stacks of boxes headed to homes all over.

And we also added Charlotte ornaments to the shop! She has been our muse for years and years.

It really was a busy week and we're thrilled to be taking a little time off tomorrow! 

Yup...tomorrow is the Country Living Fair in Tarrytown NY, and we are going with a few local gals. Super excited! It happens to be outdoors, but with "heated tents" we shall see what that means. Its supposed to be quite cold and raining the entire day. Oh well...I guess my hair will be a big cotton candy wreck by the end of the day. But if we find a few treasures, and meet up with some friends it'll be all good. Anyone else going? We'd love to see you there!

xo, Jenny...and Aaron 

Meet our Feature Sponsor: Jennifer Rodriguez of All Things Belle

What is your name and/or business and blog name?

My name is Jennifer Rodriguez and my blog is AllThingsBelle.com

What do you do? ...and when did you start?

I am a textile and mixed media artist. I've been creating since I was a toddler, but it's taken me a long time to finally pursue my dream as an artist. In the past two years I've really embraced my dream and try to create everyday. As a mother of 3, it can be hard to carve out time so I'm usually in my studio late at night or very early morning.

What/Who are you inspired by?

I'm inspired by my eclectic life. I'm inspired by my three children - I love to see the world through their eyes. I'm inspired by popular culture - I could create for years based on my fascination with Elphaba, the green faced witch. I'm inspired by my fellow artists - I love Jenny Doh, Luke Haynes and Alisa Burke as well as many others.

 Where do you create? home studio? kitchen table? sofa?

I create in my home studio. It's a fairly large room in the basement a foot away from our homeschool/playroom. I've tried to carve out a personal creative space, but most days I'm invaded by my tiny army of children.

What are some of your fave movies/shows/bands/music?

Gone With the Wind, Lord of the Rings, The Jerk, Wizard of Oz, Urban Cowboy and Napoleon Dynamite. My favorite music? Ah, grunge rock from the 90's and country. I adore Aimee Mann, Chris Issack and the Wicked musical soundtrack.

Do you collect anything?

I don't have any collections right now. I do love to pick up unique fabric when I travel and have a small collection of Limoges. 

 Favorite art/craft supplies?

Fabric, hand dyed perle cotton, polymer clay, and my sewing machine.

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

 In 5 years I'll be almost 40! Ack!! I will be homeschooling my brood of 3. We will spend the days exploring, creating and learning. I hope to have a few solo books under my belt (I'm a contributor in a couple books this year). I will be creating textile art when I can. I'll be thankful for the beautiful life I've been blessed with.

9. Three favorite websites/blogs/shops...etc?

I'm a Pinterest fanatic! I don't read blogs lately due to lack of time, but I love watching creative minds on Instagram. 

10. anything else you'd like to add? 

 I hope you'll check out my blog, I hope I inspire you to go play with some fabric and create something beautiful. 

...................................................

I'm so thrilled to feature Jennifer. She's got great style, she's a sweetheart, and she's dedicated to living the creative life. You have to visit her blog and shop to see what she's up to...and be sure to take advantage of her 50% off coupon code below! 

Find Jennifer here:

blog  

shop  50% off to make room for 2014 - coupon code: nonap

instagram

pinterest

Thanks so much for letting me introduce you all to a fabulous gal and her beautiful work!

xo, Jenny

Cyber Monday Sale!

Hey guys! Popping in really quick to let you know about our Cyber Monday Sale!! Everything in the shop is 25% off when you use code: holiday25 

It's a great time to grab one of our larger pieces like our best selling "Cookies" sign, or our large vintage bakery inspired Menu board! 

Happy Shopping! And THANK YOU for supporting small business!!

xo Jenny & Aaron

Happy December! Talking about December Daily and a Giveaway! (Giveaway closed)

Happy December! My goodness! Here we are smack dab in the Holiday Season! But before I get into all the goodness thats in store let me first say that Aaron and I had a great Thanksgiving! We spent the day with Aaron's parent's and one of his brothers. We cooked the entire meal and had a great time doing it. Seriously...we LOVED cooking the family meal. It was a big change because we always just cook for the two of us. Occasionally Walt will pop in and ask if we have anything, and we enjoy serving him up some good stuff...but getting the whole Thanksgiving meal ready felt refreshingly "normal" for us. See...here's the thing...me and Aaron live a far from "normal" life...so when we get to do normal stuff its like this breath of fresh air. It grounds us...makes us feel "in-step" with others. Of course this is a luxury only to those who live a decidedly "out-of-step" lifestyle. (a grass is always greener sort of thing I guess)  

We were proud of ourselves for prepping all the ingredients ahead of time and having the whole meal come together perfectly on schedule. And from what we gathered reaction-wise...everyone enjoyed the meal. We offered to do the Christmas Day meal as well. Can't wait for that!

 And again, the whole feeling in-step with the world was totally enhanced by everyone sharing their Thanksgiving Day experiences online. So cool to go on Instagram to see everyone's pics of pies, and beautiful table settings, and husbands passed out. 

And jeeez...it was the first day of Hanukkah! I have to say I'll gladly take all of your latkes and applesauce and sour cream! 

So yes...now here we are...it is December 1st! I've got not even a smidge of the bah humbug gene. I've been witnessing peeps put their trees up for weeks now...and I'd never ever accuse anyone of jumping the gun. Decorate as early and as often as you want!! To each their own. And I love the tradition of families decorating for Christmas as a family on Thanksgiving after dinner. I saw lots of folks sharing pics of that. Pretty great idea! 

Last night we went to see Hunger Games with Walt & Val...it was a great time. Very happy that Walt took some time away from engines and tools for a little family fun. I think it's easier to get him to break away if you lump it all in with a holiday. Despite his gasoline and grease tinted exterior he's got a good amount of "little boy" left in him that loves family holiday time. Today us four are going down to visit my other brother and his wife and our niece Olivia...yep, the little gal we had over for a visit last week. Looking forward to it. 

A big reason for posting today is to see who is doing a December Daily? Our hands are raised over here! We are super excited about it. We love to browse the December Daily hashtag on instagram, and love to check out all the inspiration on Pinterest. We also love that December Daily albums and books have kinda taken on a life of their own. The lines have blurred...it's no longer just photos, or just for scrapbookers. Art Journalers are joining in the fun, and there are so many creative takes on the concept! 

We know that this is already a very busy time of year, and so often we hear about gals starting their books and just not having the time to finish and feeling defeated. 

No way! Do not let that happen. Make the process pressure free. Me and Aar can't stand stress and we try to approach every project with ZERO pressure. Set your own guidelines. Adhere to no one elses expectations. Do it because you want to and love to. No rules. Chip away. If you have time to sit down to start pages, maybe do a few in one day and just leave some spots to pop in photos next week...or even after the holiday! 

Soon we'll blog some of our tips and tricks for pulling off something fun, easy, and beautiful.

For our book (seen above in it's raw state) we went with a small horizontal chipboard album with scallop shaped tabs. Keeping it small makes it less of a big deal (ha! literally!)...and we also love tiny things. So a little book of Holiday eye candy will be such a fun keepsake to look back at in years to come. A cute little time capsule.

We gathered up some favorite papers, and trims, and ribbons, and twines, and washi tapes, and other happy bits. Of course we are using the classic Jenny & Aaron pink and aqua, and cream, with bits of black...but we love love love adding tiny bits of red to make it festive...and some evergreen! 

We'll share our pages and tips and ideas as we go. And we'd LOVE to see your pages! 

So go gather some goodies. Don't over think it. Take today to choose a color palette, the size and shape of your book, and maybe start a pinterest board or just browse for ideas. Set aside an hour or even 30 or 20 minutes a day to escape into some holiday crafting. Or pick a day on the weekend to do a few pages. 

You can win the above holiday paper and ephemera pack!

After all this talk (or "jibba jabba", as Mr. T would say) you might have forgotten that I mentioned that this post contains a fabulous Giveaway!  

As you may well know...I love to share what I know and what I love with all of you guys. But I just may have one remaining best kept secret that I have yet to reveal. Oh well, I guess it's finally time to let the cat out of the bag...

Our faaaavorite source for the most perfect vintage papers, and trims, and perfectly edited ephemera packs is our long time friend Lisa Cook! Lisa is a born curator. Her paper packs set the mood, tell a story, and never fail to capture a gorgeous little world within a cellophane sleeve. Armed with one of her packs you cannot go wrong creating an incredible art journal page, assemblage, or collage. 

Well Lisa is generously giving away one of the most amazing vintage Holiday paper/ephemera packs right now!! I could just die over this collection. It makes me so so happy! Isn't it amazing?! Don't you want to get your hands on it? Well all you have to do to enter is be a follower of the Everyday is a Holiday blog, and Lisa's blog or etsy shop. And then leave a comment below telling us that you are! The lucky winner will be chosen December 8th!

Good Luck!

Happy December friends!!

xo Jenny & Aaron

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you guys! We hope all of you are enjoying the day in whatever way you like. 

Me and Aaron really have a whole bunch to be thankful for this year both in our regular life and artful life. And all of you guys who are our friends...old and new...have been such a big part of the great changes and growth that we've experienced over the past year. We can both honestly say that we cannot remember feeling this positive in a very long time. And for us, we gauge our happiness and positivity by our interactions with the people who matter to us. We really believe in "you get what you give."

We've been trying hard to give more and more of ourselves in the best ways we know how...and as a result we've been showered with friendship, kindness, and opportunity. The whole concept seems so simple...but it's probably even more simple to forget how easy it is. You can lose track of things in the busy day-to-days of life. 

We seriously want to thank you guys for not letting us lose track! We try to put our best selves forward...and in return you guys have given us your best selves. Thanks So Much!!

Again, Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours...ours is So much better just knowing that you are all a part of it!

xoxo, Jenny & Aaron  

Christmas 2013 Inspired Ideas Magazine is here!

Hey guys! In Jersey its one of those grey drippy days...but for some reason me and Aaron haven't been bothered by it at all. We just got back from doing the last of our shopping for Thanksgiving, and I guess that might be the reason for our good mood. Cooking is kinda our happy place, and we're psyched to do a whole bunch of it. Also, just in general theres a tendency to consider your life in this week of thanks...and there happens to be a whole lot to be thankful for at this moment. 

And on that note...there is something that Aaron and I are both very thankful for. And that is our friendship with Amy Powers. The digital publication that you see above and below is her baby...and what a beautiful baby it is! To me, Inspired Ideas is the hottest holiday ticket in town...and if it were on the printed page I believe that the printer would run out of ink just trying to fulfill the demand for this must have feast for the eyes and creative soul. I mean...it's $3.99!! There's no possible reason to pass it up. 

We are so thrilled to be featured in this edition! There's an excerpt from our book, as well as a great review, and we also contributed a couple of our earliest Christmas memories.

The term "visual feast" doesn't even begin to describe Inspired Ideas. It's so beautiful, but also packed with must see projects, tips, holiday style... 

Amy has a stellar lineup of contributors and everything she does is just magical. I can remember at Silver Bella in 2007, Amy's set up at the vendor fair was just so over the top amazing. One of those glittery vintagey spectacles that you just couldn't take your eyes from. And seriously...her whole world is like that!

So thankful to be part of this great publication...but I swear...I'd tell you to drop everything and get your issue right away even if we had not a stitch of our stuff in there. I promise...you will LOVE Inspired Ideas. 

Ok, just wanted to share this with you all. Me and Aar are about to make some soup and then settle in for a long night of cutting, painting, making, and packing.

xo, Jenny...and Aaron

Incredibly Easy Homemade Citrus Spice Cranberry Relish

Hey friends! Seriously...how is it possible that this Thursday is Thanksgiving already? how? Just mind melting to us how fast time flies when you are doing too many things at once. 

Aaron and I will be cooking 95% of the Thanksgiving meal this year, and we are very excited about it. We love cooking, and since we're always so busy at the holidays we feel like we miss out on some of the traditional experiences...so we think that cooking Thanksgiving dinner will set our feet firmly in the spirit of the holiday.We will be in high gear tomorrow and the next day prepping for all the cooking while packing up orders and cutting out ornaments, etc... How early do you guys start cooking? Growing up, I remember waking up at 8 am on Thanksgiving to the smell of my mom's homemade cranberry sauce. There is nothing like it! My family never used the canned stuff. I can remember one of my little brothers visiting his friends and coming home and telling my mom all about the cranberry sauce he had seen that was "shaped like the inside of the can...and you can cut slices of it!" And then as kids will be til eternity, he begged my mom to buy the canned cranberry sauce! ha! A mom's greatest kitchen efforts will never beat out the lure of novelty.

The fragrance this recipe produces is sweet, and spicy, and bright. This is more of a relish, or compote even. It is incredible on sandwiches, and honestly would work wonderfully baked with brie cheese in pastry! Aaron says he could eat a bowl of it. 

We doubled this recipe, so that we would have plenty to go around and for left overs. It takes less than 30 mins, and there isn't a candle in the world that will make your home smell even half as festive and delicious! 

Here is what you will need:

1 - 12 oz. bag of fresh cranberries

1 1/4 cup sugar

1 teaspoon lemon zest

1 teaspoon orange zest

3/4 cup orange juice

4 teaspoons corn starch

4 teaspoons water

3 heaping tablespoons crushed pineapple (drained)

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg 

In a large pot over medium heat, combine your cranberries, orange juice, sugar, lemon zest, and orange zest. Cook, stirring occasionally. After a time your cranberries will begin to "pop". You might even hear some of them pop open.

 Continue cooking until all are popped, about 10 mins. You'll know when they're all popped just by scooping up a spoonful. The cranberries will not look like berries anymore...just popped open skins. And your whole pot may get all pink and frothy.

Now, in a small bowl combine your cornstarch and water. Then stir with a fork till smooth.

Stir the cornstarch mixture in and lower your heat to a simmer. 

Stir in your pineapple, and spices, And then remove from heat. Let cool to room temp and serve, or refrigerate until ready to serve.

It's that easy! And geez does it smell and taste amazing! Look how bright and cheerful that bowl is. Aaron ate a heaping spoonful right after this pic was taken.

We hope you'll give it a try! It also makes a fantastic gift. Fill up a little ball jar, make some cute tags.

And this is the perfect thing to make if you're not the most confident cook but you'd still like to contribute something to the meal...even if the family has already got their own cranberry sauce...this can be an additional sauce...your little added flavor to the meal. And think about it...its only a condiment...totally pressure free.

Thanks for popping in! We'd love to hear about your favorite holiday recipes! 

Happy Thanksgiving friends!

xo Jenny & Aaron