A Birthday recap, Zombies, and a Giveaway!

This year, as luck would have it, my birthday fell on a Saturday! If you've been a follower of my blog or know me...you know that our "crew"...meaning my siblings and Aaron...have made it a tradition to spend each other's FULL birthdays together...to do whatever the birthday boy or girl desires. We started this tradition many years ago and it really has enriched our relationships with one another and it has shone a special light on each of our big days. Because lets face it, when you're a girl getting on in years, you have to invent all sorts of stuff to make your b-day a day that you look forward to...ya know?!

So, we make it an all day affair...and my b-day happens to be during my favorite time of year (but that could be a "chicken or the egg" type thing)...and I usually pick a daytime destination like Lambertville / New Hope...these are fantastically old antiquing towns and you stroll the leaf strewn streets...maybe sip some cocoa...maybe find a cornfield maze. Or maybe if the weather isn't agreeable we'll hit a gigantic mall like Palisades Center, and just shop all day and eat all night. But this year my brother Jay was working and we wanted to stick kinda close to home so that he could join us for dinner when he got off work in the evening. Sticking close to home turned out to be an amazing idea.

Don't ask me how I have managed to overlook this wonderland of a place for so long! It is so so fitting that this was my chosen birthday destination...for the trip there, and the discovery of this treasure that was right under my nose, truly was a GIFT! If you're not already familiar...please allow me to introduce you to Scrappers Cove! It's located in a small New Jersey town named Milltown and even though you could say it's in the middle of nowhere, it's really like a half hour away from my home and it's super easy to get to...very close to Rutgers University. The pictures I've posted here are just the itty bitty tip of the iceberg. They have everything the scrapper/art journalist could ever want! The full line of Smash...GORGEOUS ribbons...Copics galore...and all the boutique lines that we drool over online are right there for you to see and touch. Papers that you have never before laid eyes on...unlike your visits to AC Moore and Michaels...those two places have had the same exact papers for about five years now!

On our maiden voyage to Scrappers Cove this past Saturday, we had the pleasure of meeting Pat...she was running the place that day...and she's the mom of the gals that are behind the shop's perfection. Those two...the daughters...were off vending at some fab scrappy event. I would say it was a shame that we didn't get a chance to meet them...but we're gonna go back there so often that it doesn't really matter! ;) We'll be old friends before we know it!
And like any excellent scrappy shop...they host in-shop classes. Yup, classes taught by the likes of Tim Holtz, Claudine Hellmuth, and more! A class had just wrapped up when we arrived on Saturday...and wouldn't you know it...the class was taught by a friend that we met at Art Opera last year...Peggy! Super Sweet! We were immediately reminiscing and talking shop...favorite bloggers, scrappers, companies, art retreats. We got to talking about the possibility of us teaching some classes there...it would be great! So close to home...and teaching in a place that has that much amazing product would be so inspiring. I've always loved PRODUCTS...and lots of them. The more I have around me, the better my creative brain works. It's just the possibility of possibilities that opens my artistic floodgates up. Aaron was never this way. He's always been the kind of artist who just resigns himself to work with what's on hand...even if his supply pantry is nearly bare. Well, I've managed to infect him with the PRODUCT bug. Now he LOVES "stuff" and understands the importance of surrounding himself with as much "stuff" as possible when it's time to create. It's all about open doors and endless possibilities...having lots of products on hand will do this for you.

So my Birthday also happened to be on the same day as Asbury Park's annual Zombie Walk... another little birthday gift from the universe to me (I'm a HUGE zombie fan!) Check out that pic below!! Those are all ZOMBIES! Staggering in the warm October sunshine, out celebrating my birthday! And oh yeah, the pics above are from our annual trip to the Cheesecake Factory...yup, we somehow always end up at Cheesecake Factory on my birthday. I got the pumpkin cheesecake...deeeeelish!

We popped in at Porta...to see our brother Jason, that's where he works...and being that it's located in Asbury, the place was filled with zombies! If you look close...the couple just to the right of center are zombies...and so are their cute little daughters! :)

These two zombies waiting for a table...It's nice of Porta to allow them to bring in outside food...I mean BRAINS!

Ok, so sorry for the length of this post...but I had a few things I just needed to include! These two new listings in the shop I'm very excited about...our Ornament Kits! We've made ornaments like this for years...and now we've really gotten into teaching instead of doing. We want to put our raw materials in the hands of the collector/student. Our Ornies are a perfect Holiday project...first, because they are easy enough for anyone to make...and second, because your finished projects are classic Holiday decorations that you'll want to display year after year. Check them out in the shop now...and look forward to lots more kits, paper packs, and sticker sheets in FULL COLOR. If things go the way we hope they will...you guys are gonna be super super busy creating with Everyday is a Holiday exclusive imagery!

One last thing...something I'm really psyched about...A Giveaway! Yes, we have a GIVEAWAY here!! This one is for LOCAL peeps! Or anyone that will be in the Somerset NJ area October 28, 29, 30.
So leave a comment...and if you are the winner, I will get you your two tickets asap!

2 Tickets to the Sugarloaf Craft Festival! :)

It's a very big event which we'll be attending...and so will you...if you win the giveaway!...I can't wait to see these artists in person!


Event Details
For over 30 years, the nation’s most talented artisans have personally sold their contemporary crafts and fine art at Sugarloaf Craft Festivals. Rated as one of the top craft experiences in the country, last year more than 175,000 visitors attended Sugarloaf Craft Festivals and enjoyed the work of thousands of juried artisans.

You can read all about the festival here! Get directions here. Print a coupon to save 1.00 on entry here. Become a fan on facebook too!

We will be attending as shoppers and blogging the event! We'd LOVE to run into you there! If you'd like to go just leave a comment here! I know so many of you are spread out all over the country and in other countries and wish you could be there, but I'll promise next best thing...a great recap of the show...with photos...and links to my hand picked fave artists! :)
thanks again! xoxo, Jenny

Home Sweet Home

(click photo to SUPERSIZE it! )

Well...after a looooong time in the making...We've got a brand new Kit available!!

And despite it's cutie pie appearance...I must admit... a whole lot of deep emotion and thought went into the creation of this. First off, me and Aaron have had the basic idea of it floating around for quite some time. But it only truly started taking shape upon moving to our new home. It was then that we gained a renewed appreciation for the importance of "place". With our life & times in such a state of disarray & unrest it's essential to find your tiny slice of personal peace... A place for you and yours to settle into and fill with warmth and smiles...Home.
Home...that was our chant, our mantra, while sitting across from each other at the drawing board. And every night (very late!) me and Aar go for long walks around our neighborhood...it's our tonic for the stressful days. Well, we happen to live in very close proximity to some of the most gorgeous shore homes you will ever see. You can't help but feel dreamy as you walk past these giant sleeping beauties...these monuments of domestic bliss.
Even when we're itty bitty kids we've got this deeply ingrained sense of "home". Think about it...one of the first images you will render with your stubby little crayons is a house. And this habit doesn't end...you'll draw house after house after house during those childhood years when each and every one of us is an artist.
Anyway...like I said...this little Home Sweet Home Kit has a lot behind it! : ) But let me move on from the abstract and talk more about all the crafty details!
Pattern...and lots of it! That's the main ingredient. And all of the patterns you see are 100% hand painted by us. We love to generate our own supplies. Even though there's a wealth of fab vintage wallpaper out there in the world we feel it's our duty to put down on paper some of the designs swirling around inside our heads! We're so inspired by the world of scrap booking and wanted to do a piece of artwork that lived somewhere in between our world of sweets & collectibles and the patchworky, cut & paste world of scrapbooking. And that's what we love so much about creating kits. Because me and Aaron are essentially "painters". But when we put a kit together our paintings get taken to another level. We get to put our paintings in the hands of others...you can then cut them up...layer them...glitter them...and then our art becomes your art!
And the mechanical challenge is fun too. We kinda design in reverse when we make a kit. We design all of the elements first and then we figure out how they'll become a finished piece of art. And we think that doing it this way probably leaves more room for each individual to get something different out of the kit. Our favorite thing to see is all the unique interpretations of a kit. At Silver Bella last year we'd walk around the classroom with our eyes nearly popping out of our heads...we couldn't believe the vast range of creative outcomes produced from a single kit! That's why we'd LOVE to get Flickr group going for this new one. We included enough pattern, space, and design elements in this one for dozens of different interpretations...or you can stick to exactly the script...(Aaron is obsessive about the instructions...I keep them simple, but he wants to explain every last detail so that even if someone never crafted a single thing in their lives they'd still be able to successfully complete our kit!)
The colors are our fave palette of pale pink, berry pink, aqua, mocha, cream, bits of pale vintage green...and everything has got the warm glow of age. The kit contains everything you need to make what you see here (and definitely some tasty left over scraps!) And most importantly...it's soooo easy!! Really easy! Trust me. The base of it is a 9" x 12" canvas and the parts that appear to be 3 dimensional are just that. The banner, cupcakes, and floral panel are "raised up" with 3-D adhesive dots. I Love how those parts stand apart from the rest of the piece.
Anyway...wow, I've rambled on and on about this! It's just that I'm truly psyched and hope that this new kit will serve as the fuel for many many more to come. And also, the basics of the design have been in my head for months and I couldn't be more thrilled to see them come to fruition...very liberating! So...if you want to liberate a kit from our Etsy shop I'd be thrilled!

They're 40.00 and they'll start to ship within a week. Fun is guaranteed! You can get your's here!

And one more thing...it's really funny how things work out. Last week I was strolling through Flickr and came across the sweetest handiwork. These amazing hand sewn hearts caught my eye...each one more adorable than the next. All done by this sweetheart of a gal named Elizabeth and each heart is an ode to her personal inspirations...many of which are my very same inspirations from here in blogland. Anyway, I was so touched when only a few days after "meeting" Elizabeth I visited her Flickr pics and found a heart with the word "cupcakes" and a caption...for me!! Too darn nice!! And now...here it is in my home...and one of the finishing touches on our brand new kit was directly inspired from this little heart...the "stitching" on my little "Home Sweet Home" banner! So the inspiration has come full circle! I LOVE that!

Ok, it's super duper late...I've got more to blog very soon...namely, my Sweet & Sinister swap stuff...After opening my box from Karen I thought the Swap deserved a name change: Sweet, Sinister & Spoiled! Man...did she give me tons of fab stuff! I'll show you next time! 'til then...xoxo, Jenny