Friday Favorites

Another rainy weekend here in Jersey. We broke rainfall records in June and July hasn't been too much better. We took the gray day to sculpt more clay for necklaces and got caught up on some orders. This evening we're going to paint some more. The weather really does make you want to dissolve into a blur of lazy internet browsing...so we're both doing our best to keep productive and ignore the urge to melt into the couch. We hope your Friday is brighter...and if it isn't, we hope your ignoring it like we are. Now lets get to my Favorites! 

Above just brings handmade jewelry to a whole new level...don't you just want to eat all of this? Ahh! Its a little glimpse at the worktable of our sweet and talented friend Andrea Singarella. We would know her work a mile away. Her palette is soft and sweet, but there is always an antique heirloom feel. She just knows how to pair candy colors and classic design perfectly. And not only does Andrea create these gorgeous pieces to sell, but she also teaches others how to make their own fab pieces. The above pics are detail shots of an e-course she is offering right now. And you can go even further...if you'd like to actually meet her in person and take a class she will be teaching this October in the Atlanta GA area. And guess who else will be teaching at the same exact event?! yep, Us! If you can, join us at the Sweethearts on the Home Front event this October! 

Behold The Cronut. The most talked about and sought after dessert in the world right now. Living in the Tri State Area we are just a short car ride from NYC, which is the home of the Cronut. We've driven into NYC on any given random night to play pizza game and cupcake game (these are rating games wherein we visit, one after another, every rate-able pizza or cupcake place in the city...amazing times!) Well even though The Cronut is only a short drive from us...it may as well be a million miles away. There is a line stretching for a block starting at the crack o' dawn for these things. And people are even standing on line for pay...like hundreds of dollars. I mean, they look and sound amazing...but we're not that dedicated. So below is a video from The Food Network...and they show you an easy way to make your own...though they call 'em Faux Cro Doughs I believe...since the name Cronut is owned by the originator...Dominique Ansel.

As you may know I'm a very big fan of tissue paper decorations. I have been collecting vintage party decorations for most of my adult life and many are so fragile. I just love the faded tissue and crepe. There are all sorts of fantastic vintage step by step booklets that were put out in the 50s and 60s, teaching how to make wedding, baby shower, tea party flowers. I've shared some in the past...and right now I'm loving this tutorial I came across on Pinterest! Aren't they so fun? 

Yes some of you may only see this as a nightmare...while others only wish they'd come across it on their next day at the flea market. Its a pic from a German factory in the 50s. It also reminds me of a great little film called Bubble. We saw it yeeears ago...its a very small quirky, dark, film with completely unknown actors, but directed by Steven Soderbergh. Anyway, the people in the movie work in a tiny dollhead factory in the midwest.

This! Oh my gosh the coloring of this vintage photo is just fantastic! I love everything about it! Aaron and I have a few "instant ancestors" we have found over the years at flea markets and antique shops with similar pastel tinting. Geez we love them!

Have truer words ever been spoken? (I mean, maybe if you Really Like zipper-back, pocketless, acid wash high waist jeans...then this quote doesn't apply to you.) But for everyone else...isn't this so right on? I feel like I've always stuck to my guns style wise and it always comes out in my favor in the end.

Ok, hope your weekend is great! We're off to the studio to paint. But maybe we'll make brownies or something first.

xo, Jenny...and Aaron