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

The Creative Connection...a recap. :)

The Creative Connection was more delightful than we could've hoped for. Being that we drove there...yes, from New Jersey to St. Paul Minnesota, 25 hours straight, no motel stops, just the occasional sugar and salt binge...we needed to rest up once we arrived in St. Paul. So in order to stop ourselves from turning into real life actual zombies we grabbed some beauty rest. This meant missing the opening day breakfast and also the lunch...but that was fine...We arrived at the event right before dinner and checked in...receiving our itinerary package (which was so so clear, concise, and helpful) and name tags. And at that point the hotel was teeming with fabulous gals and a palpable buzz was in the air. This was the beginning of what would be the ultimate odyssey of hands on, tangible, social networking...more consecutive handshakes, hugs & kisses than Mickey gets on a good day at Disneyland. It just warms the heart to reconnect with everyone...all the gals that we only get to see at events like this. And even better than that is when you get to meet in person for the very first time a longtime online friend. And what tops that is when you strike up a conversation with a complete stranger and then you carry that conversation over the next 3 days in St. Paul...and you just know that this will be a real deal friend for life.

The big opening night dinner was fantastic...foodwise and contentwise. Jo Packham welcomed the ballroom of nearly eight hundred peeps, with her trademark wit, charisma, and above all candor. I simply adore her honesty and true spirit. She got very emotional up there at the podium and it's not hard to see why being the founder of an event like this would break you up in joyful tears. The whole message and feel of the event was that we are all so much alike...that, at an event like this you know that you can walk up to anyone at all and connect on a million topics. Because the pre-work was done for us all...we could all fairly assume that if the person is there at The Creative Connection then they are our kind of person.

Tim Holtz was in attendance and he took the microphone briefly, talking mainly about what it was like to be the first guy featured in Where Women Create. And the keynote speakers were fabulous. Cristina Ferrare treated us to pretty much a tell-all, E true Hollywood story of her life. And the super sweet Holly Becker lead us through her own coming of age tale...and being that she's a blogger extraordinaire she had great visual aids on the projection screens flanking the stage.

The following day the vendor market opened and classes began. Classes - these were the reason for our journey...everything else was just the sprinkles on top. We taught three classes with two different themes and it's impossible to pick our favorite. We did Hooray for Cake and Lovely Ladies, Layers & Lines. Each was so so rewarding in it's own way. The connection we make with our students and seeing the artistic twinkle in their eyes is a cure-all for the soul. So much self discovery is happening right there before your eyes...and to think that you yourself play a small role in bringing about that discovery is just plain magical. Everyone was so darn sweet...arriving at class with an open heart and mind. I hope we filled them with good stuff that they can put in their artistic toolboxes for the long run. The slide show up top shows just the tippy tippy tip of the iceberg. I encourage you to take stroll through blogland to see what everyone else has to say about their good times...I've been seeing some great pics on Facebook too. Me and Aar would love to return next year...even if we're not instructors we'd even go just to be vendors at the market...speaking of, I guess that was our only disappointment. Our classes were scheduled at the same time as the market on both Friday and Saturday...so our booth at the market was left unmanned while we taught our classes. Next year we'd make sure to bring help or to set up with one of the few super generous gals who offered to help us out next year if ran into the same problem.

As much as I'd like too, it's impossible for me to give you guys my full blow-by-blow recap of The Creative Connection. One thing I'd have to say is that this is one event that is so very worth putting on your calendar for next year. And say you have a friend that you'd love to travel with but maybe they don't have an interest in taking art classes...well this is the perfect opportunity. Even though us artistic people tend to sorts take an event over and make it all about the artistic projects, the getting down and dirty with paint and glue and glitter and more. The Creative Connection is so much more than that. You can go and take classes on starting up a small business, opening a bakery, putting together a unique and creative menu...jeez, tons of stuff that doesn't involve cutting, painting, drawing, making etc... It really is a special event for making connections not only with others but within yourself...for seeing what was always there but you were maybe too busy to acknowledge it. I know it worked that way for me and Aar in a way. Well, it really hit us on the ride home (which we did much slower than the ride there...actually got three motel rooms in three states) we'd like to do a lot more of this. And so now that we're home our goal is to not fall back into any old patterns but to carve out new ones that will lead us to a life that contains much more of the stuff we want it to contain. And with that said, Art is You is nearly a week away ( not too late whatsoever to sign up! do it if you can...it's in Danbury Connecticut and our classes are awesome! Really great projects!) and we are stoked to hit the road again and teach teach teach and meet meet meet.

Please don't forget to enter our swag bag give-away...two swag bags and two chances to win... either comment on the video on the previous post or comment under the same video on Facebook. The sound on the vid is out of sync and it urks me to no end, but in a way it makes the train wreck that much more fun right? Ok, gotta go grab some dinner. Thanks so so much again for stopping by!
xoxo, Jenny