Summer Grilling

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There's nothing like a summer barbeque to take the pressure of cooking. I'll whip up a salad, the kids set the table on the deck and my husband cooks. Perfect! We throw everything and anything on the barbeque : big, fat juicy steaks, seafood, skewers, marinated chicken, burgers - everything seems to have extra flavour when cooked on the 'barbie'. Having a barbeque is always so relaxed, a glass of wine in one hand, tongs in the other chatting and laughing away as the sausages sizzle away on a hot summer's night!


Melissah xox

Images via Gourmet Traveller

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Making my own Sunshine

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It's raining it's pouring Aaron is snoring...



Yep, what a gloomy grey day here on the NJ shore. Goodness. It looked like 7 pm at around noon today. I swear, on these types of days I really just want to watch Columbo, smoosh the chihuahua in my lap, and eat stuff like homemade Mac n' Cheese. (Have you ever made this one of Martha's? It's berzerk deelish!) We've been working round the clock on all sorts of projects, so meal times are all screwy. I've been eating lots of pistachios, and there are 3 empty seltzer bottles in the studio right now. Before you think oh geez, this girl posts non stop, over-the-top, knock-you-over sweets and carb heavy recipes on facebook and all she eats is pistachios.... no no no... There has been pizza, pasta, adorable and deelish itty bitty grilled chicken sandwhiches with a fantastic homemade basil pesto...fried oreos...jeez, need I go on? Yeah, lucky us, we live near a University...so we have all "campus food: late night deliveries" happening over here. Really....fried oreos delivered to your door. Still warm people! Where was I going. ...



Oh yeah projects..



We have a super fun GIANT menu board in the works for a semi local (P.A.) bakery that is about to open. The gal/owner had seen a menu board that we had painted for ourselves ( quite rare..painting anything strictly for us and our home...but it was one of those things that we simply NEEDED)...well she saw it over on flickr. She actually told us that our cake paintings inspired her to open her bakery...she took to baking nearly every cake on the menu board! So needless to say, this got us really excited and inspired...so when she asked if we could paint a very large version of the menu board...we just had to oblige. I love when inspiration comes back round again, full circle. So one of our current projects is the menu board...and it's looking amazing! We'll share more of that with you soon! :)



We've been filling orders too. Nothing we love more than walking out the door with a stack of boxes addressed to new friends all over the globe! So so fun!!



And oh man, we have been working on all sorts of goodies for vendor fair at The Creative Connection and Art Is! New prints, mini plaques, jewelry, collages. Lots of NEW fun stuff!







"second chances"


This piece is much larger than my itty bitty daydreams I last shared with you. I like the size. Again...no plans. I just let it happen. Which is so so different from our normal creative process. No sketch of a cake or still life, or thought of where it will hang in our collector's homes. Just me and my paints. :)







I worked on these two spreads between projects this weekend. Wow, yellow huh!? I know! I am loving it. In decor, fashion, and art supplies! These pages were really fun to do. Introducing the yellow to my everyday color palette really opened doors, and windows! Once I put down some of the yellow I knew I'd be thinking outside my usual box...or rather NOT thinking. Just letting it happen. It really is so so important for us as artists, and crafters to experiment and try new things. A new color can lead to a new shape...which leads to brand new moods and vibes and possibly even music, and scents! Sticking to the same old things, same old supplies, same old colors, same old imagery, is a common trap you can fall into as an artist. You have a tendency to say "this is my thing". But you have to be careful...and try to steer clear of developing a thing. Try to always keep your palette, your tools, etc...fresh. Don't be scared to change...you won't get lost...because no matter what, one constant will remain...and that's YOU. You can change all of your colors, tools, mediums...but they still have to filter through YOU. The development of a personal style will come all on it's own.



That said, I'm so looking forward to our upcoming workshops! Being surrounded by a group of like minded, excited souls ready to play and learn new things! We'll bring our knowledge and tricks, and methods...our inspiration (if there is one thing that we have in surplus supply...it's inspiration.) We're so excited to add to your personal artist toolboxes.





Oh oh before I go...



Ahhh!!! Can you hear harps?! And Angels singing?! A full set of Pantone Universe Twin Markers! Ahhh! Oh my gosh How I would adore this sitting here on my work table! Only $483.00! :/ I doubt I could find that in the couch cushions. A girl can dream right? I mean they do offer them open stock. I think I could handle at few at a time at 3.44 each. But mann that caddy is seriously eye candy. :)





How do Jenny & Aaron deal with a rainy evening? Adorable itty bitty cherry topped pastries! That's how! The plate that's holding our sweets is one that we handpainted back on Valentine's Day, when we did paint-your-own pottery as a Vday date. I'll take a better pic soon. This is rainy day, lamp lighting. So the color and etc...are all off. But the pastries were delicious!!



Alright kids...that's all for now, see ya soon!

xo Jenny



ps. Thank you SO SO much for all of your lovely comments and emails and encouraging sweet words! They mean so much to me!












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