Gallery Of Travel

To say that we are ready for Spring would be stating the biggest understatement of 2014. On the drive home from the post office today I looked around at the slushy roads and said "I'm over this." Yep, we've been blanketed in white for days, but this being the NJ Shore, it would be more accurate to say gray. Our geographic location, probably owing to our close proximity to the ocean, will transform most snow storms into what they call a "wintery mix". It's very wet, messy, and all the traffic dirties up the snow. In the Tri State area...NY/NJ/CT...everyone commutes. The bus to NYC loops through our little town and picks up right at our corner. On the way back from the post office we were talking to Aaron's dad about how crummy it would be to mass transit commute in this weather. Being dressed for work and having to negotiate your way across a gulf of slush, snow and ice wouldn't be fun at all. But the veteran commuters are hardcore...they've got their tricks, their change of clothes, plastic bags inside their shoes...whatever it takes.

The thought of all that humbles us. We know we are very lucky to not have to catch the bus or train each day. Our "office" is right here. Our commute is the length of the staircase. So I really shouldn't complain. We open the curtain in our studio on days like this and the room gets so bright from the sun reflecting off of the snow outside. I pulled out some of my favorite supplies...lots of pinks and reds, some old photos, trims, stamps and inks. Can you tell that I've got Valentine's Day on the brain? Something sweet and lovely is in the works...though I'm not exactly sure what it'll be yet.

We're painting lots of jumbo wood die cuts. The pink frosted cupcake is by far our top seller of 2014...sure, the year is still young...but there has been such a rush on these!

And as soon as each one gets done it then get's the Everyday is a Holiday customary gift wrap. 

And oh boy...we're matting up prints galore!

Seriously, 99% of the job is clerical in nature. So, after very long days of that stuff we try to cram in a tiny bit of designing. This was from the other night...the very beginning stage of a Pancakes die cut! We are so excited!! Designing new stuff makes all the busy work worth it. But we never get to really hunker down and design something from start to finish in one sitting. It kills us to set projects aside, but that's the only way we can get anything done. We have a systematic way of chipping away at all sorts of things throughout the day and week. We keep lots of irons in the fire...and bit by bit things come together.

And whenever we get to pause for an hour or two we try to do some home improvements. We are so so excited to finally be finishing up some long overdue home repairs. We were busy with work and put all that stuff on pause. Now we're finally going to really work on the livingroom and kitchen. We just cannot wait to be back to normal. Having a home with decorations hanging...our favorite things on display again. It has been so long! This here Exit sign is a new favorite of ours...I can't wait to hang it! We just have some repairs and some painting to do before we really get the ball rolling. Our plan is to have the painting started this weekend! And they're predicting more snow on the weekend...maybe we'll stock up on canned goods, let the snow barricade us in, and paint and do room makeovers until Spring! Or then again...maybe not. We'll just keep chipping away like we have been.

Ok, that's it for now. Just wanted to say Hi and fill you guys in on how things are going in the great white (actually gray) north (and not really too far to the north) ha! Anyway, thanks for checking in! I'll be back sooner than later...hopefully with some great stuff to share!

xo, Jenny...and Aaron says hi!