Visually Speaking


I'm seeing RED! ...no, no, no, don't take it the wrong way...I'm not angry...not mad. My eyes just have an appetite for all things RED right now.Sure, I live in a world of pastels...a world where colors are aged, old, washed, and worn away. And being a girl full of anxious energy...being a girl who seems to have a penchant for panic attacks, I'm sure it's no coincidence that I've chosen this calming color palette. I'm not saying that my aesthetic tastes are simply my self prescribed home remedy. That would be much too tiny minded...there's way way more behind my decor...or my art...or my fashion. But I do have to admit that these warm & faded hues have a way of chasing away the stress and the blues. (yeah...I kinda meant to rhyme right there ; ) )
But back to the point, which is......RED. I LOVE RED. I love red because it doesn't clash with pastels...on the contrary...it totally sets them off. A small dose of red is like magic. It has weight...it has punch (why do you think punch is called punch?...because it's RED!) You can design something: maybe a painting...or a living room...or an outfit... And there it is...you've got it all put together and it looks good.....but something is missing...it's lacking: ooomf! So whaddaya do? what's missing?
You need to add a punch of RED!

Now, of course this isn't always the case but you guys know what I mean. The color red can work wonders. And with V-day approaching, and with some of our new designs in mind I just wanted to give a little shout out to the color Red. Sorta like on Sesame Street..."this blog post was brought to you by the letter J and the color Red."

We've got some Red artwork listed in the store...some of it Valentines...some of it year round classic stuff. If you go and check out our listings for red stuff and something is missing...maybe a piece that you remember us having at one point, and you weren't in the market for it back then...but you're thinkin about pickin it up now...well anyway, you know what I mean...if you don't see it there now make sure to shoot me an email and ask about it...because it could be an oversight on my part...or the piece might have just sold and we'll be listing a new one shortly. And for all of you big time collectors of red...I'm sorry. I'll be the first to admit that we don't have nearly enough red in our collection. There WILL be more on the way!

So anyway....did I really just take up all that space talking about a color?! Well, yes...and no, I guess. I was getting at something a little more profound than that. I was thinking about all of the blogs that I love...and the magazines too. And I was thinking about all of you other bloggers...all of you fellow collectors...and stylists...and fashion addicts. Go ahead and click through some of the names on my blog roll....and then click through the names on those respective blog rolls. There are a whole lot of us! We are a massive force!....and what is it that we all have in common? We all speak the same language...we speak with our eyes...we speak visually. We LOVE to see things! We'll spend hours clicking through Flickr....poring over blog pics...flipping through decor mags ( I have a habit of flipping from back to front).
And that's just the passive side of us. Because a lot of us also MAKE things. We make things to LOOK at. We make things that look good to us. We do all of this work...spend all of this time...all of it is for the benefit of our all-seeing eyes.

There's that quote from Frank Sinatra: " I feel sorry for people who don't drink. When they wake up in the morning, that's as good as they're going to feel all day."
Wow...first of all...what a terrible, misguided, ill advised quote!!
But it's a famous quote and that's why it came to mind right now. And of course I'm not getting behind that quote...( I never drank once in my life!) ...but I'm thinking more about the attitude behind it...the idea of depriving yourself of something that will make your day, your life...better.
And by that I mean: Seeing Things. Speaking the visual language. Lets change it to...I don't know, something like: "I feel sorry for people who don't see things...etc. etc. etc."
The visual world is a wonderful one....don't deprive yourself of it.

Ok, that said, let me please introduce to you all another Everyday is a Holiday Design Team member. This is spotlight number 4 ! None other than Elizabeth Andrus...the gal behind Bluebird Papercrafts. Really, Elizabeth is what brought on all of the above...all of the talk about "seeing" things...and visually speaking...and having an eye. When I look at Elizabeth's work...well, first of all, I just drool over it...and then I say "wow! she can just SEE stuff!" She can see what wasn't there before...but will soon be there...She see's amazing potential in seemingly simple stuff. It's kinda hard for me to describe so you should really go to her blog and let her tell you. Because beyond being great at seeing things and making things, She's also an absolute Wiz at telling you HOW she makes her magic!


Elizabeth Andrus

Me and Aaron really love so much the way that she talks on her blog...so I'm going to break my regular form right here and let Elizabeth give her bio in her own words:

"The quietness of an Empty Nest led to the discovery of blogs and the creative community of women found there. A passion for writing and paper crafting, encouragement in kind comments, the beginning of a journey. "Use What's on Hand" is my creative style.The eye is forced to look at supplies in new and unexpected ways. This is what I hope to bring to creating with Jenny and Aaron's wonderful products." - Elizabeth Andrus

We are so thrilled to have her on board!

Ok, I went on much too long and apologize. Also, I said in the previous post that I'd be showing you all a new painting. Well, we needed a little more time to put the finishing touches on that so it'll be featured in my next post. Thanks so so much again for reading! xoxo, Jenny