cupcake tower fit for a queen

This Sunday is my boss, Elissa's, birthday and since I'm going to be out of the office on Friday, I decided to surprise her today instead. I got this really cool collapsible tower from AC Moore and decorated it with cupcakes, Gerbera daisies, some curling ribbon, and a bow. She loves the color hot pink so I went with as much of it as I could find! I must say that a bit of my Martha side came out today and I was quite pleased with the way the tower turned out!

The cupcakes were by Betty Crocker - yellow cake and then I added some Ghiradelli milk chocolate chips, topped with vanilla icing, and then sprinkled with edible glitter. Who would've thunk that they make hot pink edible glitter?! Yes, edible!

when fiction becomes reality

Okay, so most of you who know me know that I have this secret crush on Patrick Dempsey (maybe not so much of a secret, especially now, but ...). Therefore, it's no surprise that I'm a huge fan of Grey's Anatomy (which by the way, so is our Dad which I just recently learned - go figure!). Well, I haven't been able to watch it on TV over the past few weeks for a variety of reasons so I usually do a marathon night where I watch the episodes online. It's actually somewhat better because a) our computer monitor is nicer than our TV screen (no joke!); and b) there's usually only 2-3 commercials total that you have to sit through.

So I went onto the website today to see how many episodes behind I am and I came across the link to this:

It's a wedding website for Meredith and Derek, how funny and weird is that?! It's funny because they do seem like a real couple in a lot of ways (maybe because millions of viewers have been watching their relationship grow over the past couple of years?) but this is a little strange to me.

Okay, that's it for right now. Back to crafting!! :)

a few good things

I had a pretty productive weekend getting ready for SOS, and I still managed to be pretty social too! It's funny to think back to the days (not so so long ago even) when I used to stay up until 1 or 2 in the morning just to work on scrapbook layouts. I think I was up until midnight on Friday night and even that was a stretch for me. Yikes! I'm really getting to the point where getting even 30 minutes less sleep a night really effects me the next day (read: I'm getting old!).

My brother-in-law, Joe, spent the night after he and Tony went to watch our friend, Jim's, band (Gene Dante & The Future Starlets) compete in the 2009 WBCN Rock n' Roll Rumble on Friday night. I cooked dinner for them and our friend, Don, before they left and then I made a batch of the Magic Blondies for a dinner party we went to on Saturday night at Tony's ex-boss' house. Then on Saturday morning, we went over to the Sherman Cafe for breakfast. It's a cute little place in Union Square on Washington Street.

Then somehow I managed to crank out 17 little clutch purses within the next five hours.

Must be something in the latte I had that morning! LOL

Well, I should correct myself and say that I had done all the cutting a couple of nights ago so Saturday was primarily just sewing the pieces together, attaching the elastic closures, and then turning them right side out. But times that by 17 and that's where you get the five hours. Sigh. And then the buttons were sewn on by hand last night.

Anyway, then we walked over to Jie's house/mansion. I kid you not! Her house is amazing. And giganomous. Two of his old coworkers were there, too, so it was a nice small group of us. Joey and his fiancee brought some really delicious shrimp and noodle wraps that were so refreshing. Jie cooked us a wonderful Peking duck dish, and we had some chocolate cake that John brought. And lots of wine! I think Tony and I drank the whole bottle of Riesling that we brought, and then Jie whipped out some Prosecco for dessert. Fun time!

Sunday was a super productive day and it was actually good to be indoors in our relatively cool apartment compared to the 80+ degree weather that was outside. I know, that doesn't sound very hot but it was pretty humid and it felt like a summer day rather than spring. Of course, I'll take that over any rain or snow storm, but still. Too hot for April!

I managed to put together these little 4-packs of note cards in a variety of colors, I think 14 packs total. Each set contains one each of four greetings, plus the envelopes. I hope they go over well at SOS.

And then today started off in a nice way: one of my coworkers brought me two huge bags of mixed candy that she bought at Costco over the weekend to contribute toward the candy bowl. I still can't get over how thoughtful that was of her to do! Here's a shot of the candy after I dumped it into the shopping bag.

Seriously people, this bag weighs a ton! I don't think we have to worry about the candybowl going empty for a while.

I think this is what it would look like if you were an ant that fell into the bag. LOL

And here's what keeps people happy at the office: a full candy bowl.

Oh and I ended up using "schooled" as the subject line in the email I sent to Trevor notifying him of my Bubble Spinner score. Tony said he was quite irked and said, "You're wife is killing me." LOL I love me some competition fo sho! ;)

Hope you all had a good Monday!

score

Sweet Jesus, Amen!

LOL ... so I have yet to email this to my husband's coworker to let him know that he no longer holds the top score in Bubble Spinner. I'm debating what I should use in the subject line and in the body of the email message. Anyone have a suggestion?! ;)

friday finds 04.24.09

(left to right; top to bottom)
1. Amy Butler Midwest Modern 2 Fabric - Ohio Sky Fat Quarter Set
2. Thanks, mom pop up card
3. White poppy pillow
4. Monkey booties
5. Vintage 70's celery green trench coat
6. Very tiny lovebirds necklace

A few fun finds from Etsy to share with everyone today. I hope the weather people are correct and that it actually reaches 80 degrees this weekend. Wouldn't that be nice?!

TGIF!

a few updates

I know I said I'd post some new card designs on Tuesday and that it's now Thursday and I still haven't posted anything. So here are a couple of new cards that have recently been added to my collection.


My Etsy sales have been increasing lately - thanks to all of my new customers! I was thrilled a couple of weeks ago to mail one order out to Australia, and even more thrilled to find another order last night to the Down Under! I'll also be mailing my first package out to someone in Alberta, Canada at the same time. Thanks ladies! I hope you enjoy your cards!

A quick update on the Bubble Spinner situation. So remember how I said that my husband's coworker had the high score of 2,154? Well, he apparently has nothing better to do at work than compete against two women (me and Tony's other coworker's wife) and now holds the highest score of 5,938. Seriously.

And of course - the obsessive type that I am when it comes to competitions - the closest I managed to get was 3,709. But still! That's pretty good, isn't it?! LOL

Anywho. I should be making cards instead of endlessly trying to beat his stupid high score. Should is the key word.

A bit of good news in regards to Somerville Open Studios: we won't be kicked out at 2pm on Sunday after all. Woo hoo! Whoa! When I went to the page to check if it was .org or .com I noticed that I'm on the site's cover page - check it out!

Okay, now it's time to get off the computer and back into the crafting room. TTFN!

fun with wine + a competition

We had a blast at the Wine Riot event on Saturday! We met our friend, Stephanie, there and tasted a gazillion different wines (well, maybe not a gazillion, but close!) within the 4 hour period. Although, I'm sure you couldn't tell by the looks of this photo.

They had a photo booth where you could get your photo taken wearing crazy costume pieces and holding funny signs. Ours was pretty tame, although some of these signs were quite risque! You can check out some pretty funny photos from the event here.

Alas, I thought I had scored the all-time best in Bubble Spinner this weekend with a whipping 1,966 points.

Seriously, it is not that simple! But then after I forwarded the photo of my screen shot to Tony's coworker, he replied three hours later with a high score of 2,154. Ugh. The competition is so on. This boy doesn't know how much I like a good challenge. LOL

Okay, on to crafting ... will post some new card designs tomorrow. Happy Monday everyone (if there is such a thing)!

silly putty

Happy [belated] Easter wishes to everyone!

I got us a pair of tickets to see The Shins at the Orpheum Theatre next month and decided to surprise Tony with the news when we went out to dinner on Saturday night. I wanted to put a note inside a plastic egg but of course - like real, chicken made kind of eggs - you can't ever buy just one plastic egg anywhere. They always come in dozens. So luckily I remembered that I used to collect Silly Putty way back in the day. And I managed to find my stash so that I could "borrow" one of the egg cases for this purpose.

I don't know why I ever collected Silly Putty to begin with to be quite honest. I think at one point in my [adolescent] life I must've thought it was super cool. What's interesting is that it's still good now. I took one out of the yellow containers and kneaded it and it was like it was brand new. That's kind of freaky.

Anyway, what was even more of a 'blast to the past' was the metal container I kept them in. Check out this old school Hello Kitty's friend, Pochacco, tin. My sister and I used to SO be into Hello Kitty garb.

Well unfortunately, I don't think my hyacinth plant at work is doing well right now. This is what it looked like when I left on Friday afternoon ...

... and this is what it looked like after I found something online about dead pinching the dry flowers, so I plucked them off. Looks rather lame, no?

Well, the only good thing that came from being sick and having to isolate myself from the rest of the world on Saturday was that I managed to crank out two cards. I am just not feelin' the crafty mojo lately which is so not good. Anyway, I like how the red one turned out. And as you crafty readers might notice, yes, these are a couple of the new A Muse images that were recently released.



I hope I can set my butt down to make some more new designs tonight! A quick hello out to any new customers from mom's salon, Salon Terrazzo. She is selling cards there now, too, so if you're in the San Ramon (California) area ... wink, wink!

a bit too addictive

When your husband emails you a link with a single word preface of "Addictive!", believe him.

Thus, Bubble Spinner.

Ladies and gentlemen, get ready to waste a few hours of your time on your toosh trying to pass the first level of this addictive game.

You have been warned.


Silly? Yes. Intriguing? Yes. Difficult? Yes. But fun!

So good luck trying to make them all disappear and preventing the outer ones from touching the boundaries. And good luck trying to pry yourself away from just making one more attempt at trying to beat your last high score.

I must say -- after too much practice that I'm afraid to admit to -- I managed to score a pretty good score. Can you beat this?

Consider it a challenge my friend! ;-D

friday finds 04.10.09

(left to right; top to bottom)
1. Spring Floral Cake from Dean & Deluca
2. Emerson Success Vinyl Wall Lettering Words Decal from Willow Creek Sign Company
3. Obsessive from Tiny Art by Yaelfran
4. Leather Jewelry Box from Red Envelope
5. Chef Cookies from Dean & Deluca
6. Crab Coir Mat from Uncommon Goods

A few fun finds to share with everyone on a Friday. I think the cake and cookies are way too pretty to eat (and a tad too pricy!). I would love to put that quote up somewhere in our house someday. I have it on a large magnet on our refrigerator. I think that little girl in the print looks like me, scary enough! I need a jewelry box just like that. And I need a house with a porch to put a door mat like this on.

What have you found that have intrigued you today?

TGIF!

things that need fixing

Can someone fix my throat? It's rather sore and my voice is harsh. I would so much rather be at the Green Street Grill celebrating Stephanie's birthday right now than sitting here in front of the computer with the beginning of some sort of illness. The sore throat started yesterday afternoon and I felt nauseous by the time yoga started. I felt better through yoga, but by the time we got home I sounded like a frog and there was no more kissy kissy after that. So Stephanie, if you're reading this (probably on Friday), I hope you had a fun time celebrating your birthday! I was so looking forward to going to trying out that restaurant too. Poop.

Something else that needs fixing: this poor stuffed bear that one of my coworkers asked if I could repair. Her mother made it for her son after she took a class, but the string that connected the head to the body was loosely stitched. And well, as you can see, the head is now detached from the body (click to enlarge the photo - and stop laughing).

Do you know how to fix something like this? My coworker mentioned something about the string that is still [barely] connecting the two parts was kind of whip stitched around the base of the head and then pulled tight around the screwed base of the body but I have no idea how to go about doing something like that. So this is a call out to all my crafty friends and blog followers. Please let me know if you know how to fix something like this and I can get you in touch with my coworker, who by the way, is more than willing to pay for the service.

In continuing with the theme of things that need fixing, look what fell off the bottom of our car the other night.

Niiiice. How old is the Sentra now? I think six years old. Luckily, we pulled over when we heard something dragging underneath the car and it fell off when we stopped the car. Since it has holes we don't think that it was made to hold anything like liquids in it. So here's another one (before we take it to get maintenanced) - does anyone know what this is??

The hyacinth plant on my desk at work has been blooming quite beautifully. In fact, the other day, I noticed what appeared to be some petals that fell between the base of the leaves. It turns out that another tiny stem started sprouting up!

I pulled a couple of the leaves down to give it some room to grow. It's pretty cute! It smells so pretty on my desk, too.

Here's crossing my fingers that this sore throat is just a sore throat and doesn't turn into something worst. Easter's coming for Pete's sake! Crap.

a little bit of twisted humor

mark your calendar - may 2 + 3

Please mark you calendar to come by the Armory on Highland Avenue during the Somerville Open Studios on May 2 + 3. I will be there selling handmade greeting cards, small knitted items, and some sewing projects along with many talented local artists. The Armory is going to be one of the designated trolley stops along the map route (which is free by the way!), and is a new location for artists to show their wares this year. The only down side is that it was booked in advance for another event later in the evening on Sunday, so I will only be there from 12 to 2 pm that day.

But alas! The Design Hive Market is taking place on that Sunday (May 3) from 10 am to 5 pm at the Maria Baldwin School in Cambridge. So stop by the Armory from 12 to 2, and then head over there afterwards to check out the independent designers market from 2 to 5!

If you can or cannot make it to one of the show dates, I would love your support in helping to get the word out about SOS to your friends, neighbors, coworkers - anyone! Please consider printing out a flier - either this jpg file or this pdf file - and hanging it on a bulletin board at your office or at the coffee shop you frequent every day. Or forward this email to people that might be interested in this event!

Hope to see you there!

blooming inspiration

The hyacinth bulb on my desk has started to bloom purple flowers. It's so cute how my coworker, Karoline, stops by my desk each morning to see how it has progressed.

I think it's a pretty good thing that it's a self sufficient type of plant. Is that safe to say? I mean, my husband is more of a green thumb than I am and I definitely did not inherit my mother's ability to keep flourishing gardens and plants. So I hope I don't ruin this plant. Seriously. I kind of have been known to do not-so-well with small living things like aloe plants and goldfish. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this flower makes it under my care!

On to crafting. Something that I haven't been doing much of lately, I admit. Which is foolish considering I have a show coming up the first weekend in May that I need to build an inventory for!

I have a ton of fabric that is just being stored in my crafting room for someday. Someday when I've sharpened my sewing skills. Someday when I have a giganomous table that I can spread yards of fabric onto and not have to clean it up within the same day. Someday when I learn to have the patience to work with better attention to detail and pattern instructions.

In the meantime, I like to make attempts at smaller projects here and there. The other day, I saw this cute clutch pattern on Kelly's blog so I decided to try my hand at it. I used part of her instructions (loved the clever idea of using elastic for a fastener) and part of these instructions (to help me remember how to properly sew the lining and outer parts together and then flip them inside out correctly) to create these two little bags:

Yes, I realize that's a lot of pictures to show two purses (p.s. click on the photo to enlarge it) but I wanted to demonstrate how they look open, closed, and the inside lining. I also really liked how Kelly used a piece of felt (any color - it doesn't show through) to make it thicker and just thick enough so it didn't weigh down the clutch. Anyway, I love how it turned out and used the one with the small green patch on the outside (that was to cover up a minor mistake - see, me being impatient again!) when I went to the Buckners gig on Thursday night. It was the perfect alternative to a bulky purse or handbag when I just wanted to carry my driver's license, one credit card, some cash, lipgloss, and a small digital camera. Thanks for the inspiration, Kelly!

Speaking of patience (or the lack of), I snapped this photo of a funny sign at the Irish pub on Thursday night. Can I get an amen?!

a giveaway

No, not on my blog, but here!

Shealynn is giving away this set of five thank you cards to one lucky winner, along with two other awesome prizes! Be sure to check out her blog to find out how you can possibly win!

Good luck!

world autism awareness day

Today is World Autism Awareness Day - help spread the word!

In honor of my nephew, Cade, I made a donation to Autism Speaks which will help fund autism research, awareness, advocacy and family services. Please consider making a donation to help children and families affected by this disorder - and all those who will be.

I had the pleasure of seeing Cade a couple of weeks ago and spending some precious time with him. He is now seven years old and is almost up to my nose! Pretty soon he will tower over me and will definitely be able to wrestle more with me (and win!) whenever he asks to be tickled. He is a huge Power Rangers fan and loves to play games on the computer, often utilizing the mouse and the DVD player on his own (sometimes to his parents' dismay!). He may not have a huge vocabulary but it is growing more and more each time I see him.

He may not fully say "I love you" but I know he feels it and he tries really hard by responding with "you" whenever we tell him. He may not be able to fully express his emotions like we do, but I know he feels them. My sister brought all three boys in the car when it came time to drop me off at the airport and he was the only one still awake when we got there. He could see airplanes in the night sky and pointed to one outside the window as we approached and said, "plane". My sister explained to him that they were taking me to the airport and that "Titi has to take an airplane to go home". His eyes got watery and he whispered, "bye bye", which made both of us tear up. I turned around and looked at him and said, "I love you, Cade", and he said, "you".

[sorry, getting all choked up here!]

I love and miss you so much, Cade!