nina persson + a camp

We went to see Nina Persson's new band, A Camp, perform last night at the Middle East downstairs. You might recognize her as the lead singer of The Cardigans, one of our favorite bands.

I still can't believe we were able to stand in the front row and be less than three feet away from Nina. In-fricken-credible. Her voice is so mesmerizing and I think she is just so dang cool. Corny, I know, but what can I say?

Here are a couple of little videos of them. Such a great show!





They started off playing the first song on their new CD, Colonia, and it just got better as the night went on. Luckily, they were going to stick around after the show to sign autographs so we bought a CD and a t-shirt, then waited in line to meet them.


Okay, pause a moment and insert the reason why we need to get a new little digital camera: so for those of you who have seen the little Nikon that I carry around everywhere, you'll know it's on its last legs. For istance, the battery chamber will not stay closed unless I keep an elastic hair tie wrapped around the camera's body (tho, that's been like that for a long time). So of course, we're in the front row at this show -- a perfect photo opp, right?! -- and I can't make the gosh darn flash to work in auto mode!! Arghhhhh!!! Luckily I figured it out and found a "scene" option that had a flash. Whew.

But then it comes time to get a photo with the band members and -- never mind the fact that both Tony and I were so nervous about being within speaking distance from them! -- the camera freezes on the last photo it took! What the??!! Now?!! It had to happen now?! So picture the two of us fumbling with this thing, trying to explain to Nina (lol - I say that like I know her on a first name basis) that we need a new camera because this piece of shit blah blah blah and I'm ready to just bang it on the table to unfreeze it.

Breathe.

Ahhh, finally, it unfreezes from whatever it was doing and Tony was able to get this photo of me standing amongst Nina Persson, Niclas Frisk, and Nathan Larson.


Thank goodness it worked out in the end. Yes, I know I'm not the tall person in this photo. And yes, that is my star-struck geeky smiling face. Hee hee. I <3 Nina!

blue cloud gallery

Some of my cards are now available at Blue Cloud Gallery -- a great shop on Broadway in Ball Square in Somerville, MA. Patricia picked out a ton of designs (a lot of new ones!) to sell in her shop. To see some of the designs available, click here.

Be sure to stop by and let her know I sent you! :)

isshas & permples

I saw this on Becky's blog ... this guy on SNL cracks me up all the time! So for a good laugh ...

damask + flowers

I got this nice big damask stamp from Impress Rubber Stamps the other day and couldn't help but put together a bright, hot pink-ish sort of diva-like card right away. I love how crisp the image came out, especially after using some clear embossing powder on it to make it feel slick.



Aside from the one card design that I've managed to create within the past week (yeah, I know, I need to pick up the pace and set my butt down at the craftin' table to make more soon), I put together a listing on Etsy for some flower notecards. I love walking through the neighborhood snapping photos of flowers. Lately, I've been so drawn to allium flowers, especially the big bright purple ones that just seem to spring out of no where.

So this set ... you can pick four images and you get four notecards with envelopes. Mix and match flowers or you can have all the same, etc. (click on the image to enlarge it)

Oh and you know what other flower I really like lately? Peonies. I just think they are so beautiful and I love how the petals look so papery.

Anyway, that's it for damask and flowers. On to another heat scorching day here in the Northeast. Can you believe that it's supposed to hit 90 -- isn't it only mid-May?! Luckily (and somehow rather quickly) it's supposed to get back down to 70 on Saturday, so hopefully this [long] weekend will be nice.

TGIF everyone! :)

the shins

We went to see The Shins at the Orpheum Theatre last night. Wow, what a great show!

It's funny because come to think of it, I didn't even know what these guys looked like before seeing them on stage. I am truly a fan of their music in that sense, right? I remember hearing one of their songs on the radio last year and when the DJ would say that it was The Shins who sang it, I'd yell at the radio swearing that it was actually a Guster song. LOL Oh stupidity. And then I think that's when I looked up the song online and alas, the truth was learned and I've been a Shins fan ever since (and a new Guster fan too I might add).

And then we watched Garden State for the very first time (which was quite a long time after it came out - we are so not hip when it comes to the movie scene) and later learned that two of their songs were on the soundtrack. So I bought the soundtrack and did my usual thing where I listen to it over and over and over again about twenty times before I decide to give it a break. Tony is the total opposite of me when it comes to new CDs. He can't even listen to it again within the same day.

So anyway, the concert was great and they sound amazing live. The lead singer's voice sounds just like it does on the CD which is kind of cool because I think that means they don't do anything to tweak it when they record. I took some little videos ... enjoy!

View full sized here.


View full sized here.


View full sized here.


View full sized here.

CKC Manchester, NH

As promised, more about our time at the CK Convention in Manchester, NH on Friday and Saturday.

First of all, if you've never been to such a thing, it might be helpful if I explain exactly what goes on at one of these conventions. There is a vendor fair that takes place throughout the entire weekend where tons and tons (no exageration!) of scrapbooking product related companies set up shop and sell their goods or services. You guessed it, this is usually the best part of one of these events, and this year's was no exception!

I saw a lot of really cool paper lines and fell in love with Crate Paper's new line called Lemongrass. I also got to meet Angela Moen of The Button Farm (as mentioned in the previous post) and fell in love with her awesome kits. What's neat about the vendor fair is that some/most companies also offer discounted prices on products so you can usually pay less than regular retail price.

On our way to the hotel on Friday, we stopped by The Paper Tree, a local scrapbooking store in Manchester. The owner, Michelle, is super sweet and runs a wonderful store. She has so many great product lines and we loved how the ribbons were divided by color and stored in glass jars.

I didn't get a photo of it, but she has a really nice large section for classes. The whole place is just so nicely set up and there is plenty of room to shop around. She also has a lot of the A Muse rubber stamps, along with a bunch of great card samples to provide inspiration. We met Cassie, her faithful little companion right when we walked in the door. Here she is taking a break on the couch.

Oh, and afterwards we had lunch at Z Food & Drink in Downtown Manchester. Read all about that here.

In addition to the vendor fair, you can take classes offered by various companies and Creating Keepsakes. My sister-in-law and I both took one on Friday evening, and then four on Saturday. The one I took on Friday night was an accordion album class that Angela taught and the album we made was fricken awesome! We could make the title of it whatever we wanted since she gave us an entire package of thickers, so I titled mine "good things" like she had used in her sample. I'm actually going to finish adding photos to mine but I'll have to post photos of it later. Anyway, a really awesome class because she's such a wonderful teacher, provides detailed step-by-step instructions with color photos, and she utilizes a wide variety of interesting paper lines and embellishments. She's teaching classes at Absolutely Everything in Topsfield, MA on June 19 and 20 so I think we'll try to attend one to see her again.

On Saturday, I took classes taught by Creating Keepsakes (actually two by CK - both taught by Marnie Flores - she's awesome too!), Technique Tuesday, and Awesome Albums. Again, like the "good things" album, I'll have to post pics of my finished projects soon. (Hmmm ... maybe that'll be my motivation to actually finish a project ... lol) The only one that I remembered to snap a photo of during class was the album in the Awesome Albums class, which we made using acrylic boards.

The other thing about these conventions is that they offer a crop session each night. We were blown away by the number of people that attended the crop on Friday night! So many women there doing the same thing ... it's an incredible concept.

Both Marina and I managed to finish the projects from our first classes during the crop time. Various companies give away prizes during the crop but alas, we weren't lucky enough to have our names drawn for anything.

Here's a little video I made of the packed space ... quite amazing really!



I couldn't help taking a picture of these adorable ribbon cocktails that were on the front podium. I think they'd make the cutest little favors if you were to host a crafting event at your house. (Hmmm ... must save this idea for future gatherings ... )

To sum it up, a very fun time up in Manchester! I learned a bunch of new techniques, picked up some wonderful new papers to use on cards and layouts, and met some awesome people in the meantime. :)

some eye candy

My sister-in-law and I drove up to Manchester, New Hampshire to attend a scrapbooking convention yesterday (Friday). It has been kind of non-stop between yesterday and today with driving, shopping at local scrapbook stores, taking classes at the event, and even more shopping at the vendor faire that I'm actually quite exhausted tonight! I'll post more details about the event (with even more photos) but I'll leave you with these photos of some album kits that I can't stop thinking about by Angela at The Button Farm (click to see larger image).

(psssst ... I got this one to use for some of our honeymoon photos!)

Don't they just make you go gah-gah too??!? More info about them to come! Seriously though, I wish I could have all of these album kits!! :)

davis squared

Good news to share! Some of my cards are now available at Davis Squared -- a cute little shop on Highland Avenue in Davis Square in Somerville, MA. Melissa - the super sweet owner - is now selling 25 designs amongst the oodles of fun stuff in her shop. To see some of the designs available, click here.

So stop on by and browse the cards for yourself! Good luck trying to restrain yourself from buying all of the cute and kitschy items in the store while you're there. Be sure to let Melissa know I sent you!

For more information about Davis Squared, click here.

oh my

I have absolutely no reason to play Bubble Spinner any more after this high score (ooh, that rhymes!). Unless, of course, Trevor finds some way to beat this one.

looking for your support

I'm looking for your support on two things that directly effect our family: Autism and Diabetes.

My sister is participating in the Walk Now for Autism fund-raising event in San Jose, CA on May 30th. Autism is the second most common developmental disorder in the United States affecting one in every 150 children born today. Despite some promising discoveries, the cause of autism is unknown and a cure does not exist. Research is crucial. Every 20 minutes another child is diagnosed with autism. Not only must we find ways to improve the quality of life for children and adults with autism, but we also must find a cure, and soon.

Please consider supporting her fund-raising efforts with a donation to help fund essential research. You can donate to Walk Now for Autism online here. We made a donation in honor of our nephew, Cade.

We did the Walk Now for Autism walk last year with my sister and her family right before our wedding and it was a great time. Our team name was "Blastoff for Cade" and we managed to raise quite a bit of money to surpass our goal (I think our mom and I each raised over a $1,000 each!). This year, their team name is "Cade's Crew". Here is a picture of our team last year:

Our friend, Stephanie, will be cycling in the American Diabetes Association's Tour de Cure fund-raising event in Gloucester, MA on May 31st. The Tour de Cure is a series of cycling events held in over 80 cities nationwide. She will be joining thousands of others to pedal in support of the Association's mission: to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes.

Please consider supporting her fund-raising efforts with a donation. Your tax-deductible gift will make a difference in the lives of more than 23 million Americans who suffer from diabetes and over 57 million people in the United States with pre-diabetes.

It's fast and easy to support this great cause - you can make your donation online here. We made a donation in honor of my Dad who is diabetic.

More information on the American Diabetes Association, its programs and diabetes in general can be found at the Association's web site.

For more information on Tour de Cure, please click here.

spring into style event

Elissa, Stephanie, and I attended the "Spring into Style" fashion show fundraising event at Vlora on Thursday night. None of us had ever been to the restaurant before and were all impressed by how nice it was. We had some wine at the bar before the fashion show and managed to flag down the passed hors d’oeuvres wait staff (ha ha). Each attendee received a gift bag (which also contained one of my greeting cards!) that included bottles of vitamin water, samples of hand cream, coupons to restaurants and stores at the Prudential Center, and more.

We all bought raffle tickets and entered them to win one of four prizes, and both Elissa and Stephanie were lucky enough to win! Elissa won the "Vogue Basket" which contained some pretty black and white office supplies (I think), a subscription to Vogue magazine, and beauty products from Allure. Stephanie won the "Women's Accessory Extravaganza" basket which contained a cute green clutch purse, a snakeskin wallet, and Sake perfume.

The fashion show was really cute, especially because of the little kids that were modeling the clothing. You could tell the ones that were really shy and the ones that seemed like naturals on the cat walk. The adult models were Miss Massachusetts, Miss Massachusetts Teen, Miss Vermont, and Miss Connecticut Teen. We were impressed by the fact that they wore outfits that we could actually picture ourselves wearing for a special occasion, which is nice because it wasn't too over the top.

We didn't have the best view of the runway (as you can see in these pictures) and we were at the end facing the photographers, so you can only imagine how many photos there will be of the models and one of our faces in the background (lol). It was a fun time and I'd like to go back to the restaurant some time to check it out for dinner.

go celtics!

Flags on the State House in Downtown Boston

It is just sports crazy around Beantown lately with two of our teams in the playoffs. Tonight is game 3 of the NBA playoff series in Orlando -- go Celtics!! You know I'm rootin' for Eddie House to do well! And tonight is also game 4 of the NHL playoff series in Carolina. Go Bruins!!

thanks for the support!

I had a very successful experience at the Armory during SOS this past weekend and I couldn't have done it without the support of my family and friends. Thank you all for coming out to see me at the newly renovated Armory! I hope you had a fun time checking out the various talented artists throughout Somerville.

Here are some pictures of the Armory that I took during set up on Saturday morning. It's a great space and we received a lot of foot traffic all weekend. They have classroom space in the basement and offer yoga classes through Moving Celebrations.

Thanks again everyone for your continued support! The Etsy store will be up and running by the end of this week once I get all the inventory details from this weekend's sales figured out. In the meantime, feel free to contact me via email (candice [at!] shortcakescraps.com) if you need a card before then!