T-shirt/cd Give-Away!

I just finished another t-shirt for one of my fav bands, Seabird (sweet music video here). And I'd love to give one away along with their new Christmas EP.  With Thanksgiving over, I think it's officially okay to listen to Christmas music...very loudly.

So leave a comment here and let me know your favorite Christmas song/album (besides this one of course ; ) I'll randomly pick a winner on Thursday so check back! I'll be grabbing the shirt on Sunday evening so, if you're the winner, make sure to email me with your shirt size before then.

Family Portraits!

 For the second year in a row, we took part in our talented friend, Jon Willis's, Simple Portrait Project.

 As much as I love last year's photos, I think these have to be my favorite family photos ever!! I love black & white photography. Jon always does an amazing job.

 I mean, look how studly my three men look!

Jude's face in this one below cracks me up every time. That kid.

And Jon took this shot to match my sister, Tye, and Dexter's family photo. Hilarious.

This week I have lots of printing, packaging, and shipping to catch up on.  Hudson's 6th birthday is later this week so I'm hoping to do lots of decorating too!

Hope your week is off to a good start!
Arian : )

Thankful.

 Hope you guys had a weekend full of thankfulness! Ours was spent catching up on sleep, enjoying lots of good food, and hopping around from one family get-together to another!

 I especially love holiday's spent at Granny and Papa's house because it's pretty much been the same my entire life---same carpet, curtains, furniture, old family photos....same fresh rainwater from the faucet...same warmth from the fireplace...same hand-written notes from Granny always reminding us to "unplug the toaster" and "jiggle the toilet handle" even though she's gone,

 ... same "kids table" but with a new generation of kids!

 ...same tradition of passing around and loving on the newest family member.

 ... same peaceful view,

 ... same vintage treasures in every nook,

 ... same strong and gentle Papa (now 90!) resting in his favorite chair,

... same wallpaper. I love it all!

Are you guys getting excited about Christmas? For some reason, the Christmas spirit hasn't quite kicked in for me yet.  Some decorating and one of my favorite Christmas movies should do the trick! Do you have any tradition that gets you into the Christmas spirit?

Arian ; )

Sleepy, Busy Bees

We've been burnin the midnight oil over here (and the 1am oil, the 2am oil, 4am...) Geesh.  We've been wrapping up the art auction, cranking out new art and new tshirt designs and new music videos and working our tails off so we can enjoy a few days off with family for Thanksgiving. Helllloooooo, pumpkin pie!!! Hellllooooo, nap!

This crazy bunch of new prints is on its way out the door for an art show. But I also added them to the shop. So stop on in if you'd like one!!

LOTS of stuff to show you when we get back!

Whether you'll be officially celebrating Thanksgiving or not this weekend, I hope you find dozens of new reasons to be thankful!!

Arian : )

Experimental Cooks

I've always been an experimental chef and rarely follow recipes, for better or worse. I think it started when I was a kid with my "microwave Bisquick and spaghetti sauce personal pizzas" and my flour+water+sugar+peanut butter cookies that looked more like fake rubber vomit than actual cookies.

But the results of yesterday's experiment turned out pretty good! (I've learned a lot since the fake vomit days). Hudson wanted to replicate a dessert we had on one of our coffee shop dates called "Better Fingers" (because they are better than Butterfingers, I'm guessing).

Of course we didn't measure anything so if you want to try this at home, well, good luck : )

Here's the "recipe":

1. grind a good bit of dry oats into flour with a blender
2.  in a bowl, knead enough peanut butter in the oats to make it into a dough ball
3.  add a bit of maple syrup or honey so that it's a little sweet but not too sweet
4. press the mixture firmly into a wax-paper lined baking pan
5. sprinkle chocolate chips on top
6. place in a warm oven just long enough to melt the chips
7. spread the melted chocolate around til it looks awesome
8. pop it in the fridge til the chocolate hardens
9. cut into bars and enjoy!

Pretty tasty and easy and kid-friendly! Success!

Any interesting experimental cooking success or failure stories? I once tried to make chocolate pudding by blending silk tofu and cocoa powder and sugar but used a cup of salt instead of a cup of sugar by mistake. Total failure. Note to self: use labels.

Arian : )

New To Me

 Hope you had a great weekend! I got my "new" little vintage porcelain enamel desk set up. It doesn't look all that special in the photo but, trust me, it is ; ) So this is where I do most of my work! There's usually a candle burning, a space heater pointed directly at me, a cup of coffee sitting near by, and, lately, some Josh Garrels or Mumford and Sons playing. It's quite cozy.

And Hudson made that pillow for my chair. He's been big into sewing recently. He made himself and Daniel little matching tote bags from my stash of Granny's vintage floral fabrics. Although the two of them sported them proudly to the grocery store, I've since then bought a few yards of more "manly" prints : )

New, warm, fuzzy boots for the quickly-approaching winter temperatures....check!

It's beginning to look more and more like Christmas around town.  We got out our hats and gloves and walked to the bookstore/coffee shop to get gingerbread man cookies and drinks with cinnamon in them.  November's to-do list still seems way too long to really be ready for the Christmas season. But it's coming!

Are YOU feeling ready for it?

Arian : )

Online Art Auction!

Starting today and going until 2:00pm EST on November 23rd, I'm holding an online Facebook art auction! You can bid on original paintings and single run prints from our Owl City/Sky Sailing music videos! I'll be adding new items all day today. So follow the button in the right sidebar and Happy Bidding!