purple alliums

There's something about allium flowers that grabs my attention each time I see them. I don't know if it's because I'm in awe of how perfectly round they seem to be, or if it's the bright purple color of the petals.

I made a special trip out to Windsor Button in downtown Boston a couple of days before our trip to Chicago because I just had to get some skeins of Manos yarn for a striped scarf project so I could work on it during the plane ride. A scarf? Made out of wool? Yes. And you're working on it in this heat? Yes. Well, mostly at work where it's quite frigid because of the air conditioning. But yes, during the summertime. I know, crazy but Christmas is coming! (<-- that was supposed to be funny ...)

So, where was I going with this? Oh yeah ... so I made this special drive out to downtown Boston and actually managed to find a parking spot (thank you, parking angel!) next to the Public Garden. I went along and bought the yarn, and then on my way back to the car decided to take a quick stroll through the garden. Why not, right? It was a gorgeous spring day, I didn't have anywhere to be in a hurry, and I could use the exercise.

Oh, and the alliums were in bloom!

So pretty. So tall. So purple. So spring. So step-carefully-over-the-chain-onto-the-grass-for-a-quick-photo-opp worthy.

And it was also nice to see so many people out enjoying the weather. I loved this scene of the swan boats at rest.

Of course, as I write this -- fashionably (?) late mind you -- I look at these photos I took a couple of weeks ago and our park just pales in comparison to what we experienced in Chicago. More from that trip to come soon!

TGIF!

engagement photo shoot ~ adrienne & david

I had the pleasure of doing an engagement photo shoot with a couple, Adrienne and David, in Boston's North End. It was a beautifully sunny Sunday, but it was still quite cold out by the waterfront (and especially in the shade!). They were such a sweet couple to work with and the story of how they became engaged played a big factor in the location.

We started at Mike's Pastry on Hanover Street before making our way over to Rabia's on Salem Street. From there, we walked over to Faneuil Hall and Quincy Marketplace before ending at the waterfront near the Aquarium. Here are some of my favorite shots from the shoot:

I had Tony along as my assistant for the afternoon, and this was a spot that he picked out.

I love this picture because of the smile on her face as he's holding her in his arms, trying to warm her up from the chilly winter wind.





And of course, gotta get a shot of those smokin' boots! :) You can see more photos from the shoot here. Interested in doing a photo shoot? Email me at candice [at!] shortcakescraps.com. :)

I...You...We...Robot!

We went to the I...You...We...Robot! art exhibit at the Space 242 gallery in Boston on Saturday. We went mainly to check out my friend (and coworker), Ansis Purin's, painting but were floored by all of the art there. So many cool pieces built around a robot theme!


We also saw a piece by Dave Ortega there, and Tony just happened to have on one of the t-shirts he designed underneath his sweatshirt.

The exhibit will be up until March 13, 2010 so be sure to check it out soon. They have kind of odd showing hours (Fridays from 6:30 to 8:00 pm, and Saturdays from 11:30 am to 1:00 pm) but it's totally worth the trip. The space itself is pretty cool too -- we would love to to have a loft space like this in Boston if it were ever possible!

To see more photos of the pieces that caught my eye, click here.

GBFB online auction

Check out the Greater Boston Food Bank's Super Hunger Month online auction now through January 24th to bid on great items from businesses in and around the Boston area. One of the items available is my "two red chairs" print:

I'm offering it as an 8" x 12" photo mounted on a 1.5" gaterfoam core that comes ready to hang, and the opening bid is just $25. There are some great dining packages, sports tickets, and more. Good luck and thank you for your support!

it's a small, small world ...

I received an email this evening that totally reminded me how it really is a small, small world that we live in. You can click on the photo to enlarge it and read the email, but to sum it up: a couple of years ago, a fire broke out in the red line T station in Downtown Boston. Tony and everyone else in the Park Street area had to evacuate and then try to get home via buses, cabs, etc. but you can only imagine how crowded it was since it was right after work. He ended up calling me to pick him up and when I got to wherever it was we met, a woman was with him* woman asked for help and he asked me if we could drop her off somewhere in Harvard Square since we were heading that way home. Of course, it was cold outside (I think) and she seemed really nice so we didn't think twice and she hopped into our car.

Fast forward a couple of years and to the fact that we ran into each other a little while ago at one of the Design Hive craft shows. And now to this email.


I can't get over how cool this is!!

It just goes to prove that a) you should always be nice to people because you never know if and when your paths might cross again. And b) everything happens for a reason.

So fricken cool.

Okay, I just had to share this with all of you in hopes that I am not the only geek that thought this was pretty neat. :)

(* ETA: sorry, did not mean to make him sound like Tiger Woods! LOL)

The Greater Boston Food Bank

Tony, Renee, and I attended the Greater Boston Food Bank's open house event yesterday morning. It was quite a moving experience to be able to see the enormity of their new distribution center and to pair that with the fact that there are so many people in need of food. It was, as one of the volunteers that day said, "... good that we can do this [build such a large facility], but sad that we have to."

"How did you hear about this place?" Renee asked me, "How do you hear about things like this [the open house event]?"

And this is where I tried to explain to her one of the beauties of this magical thing called Twitter. (Okay, so it's not so magical, but ...) About a month ago, I saw a retweet (RT) from one of the people that I follow where the GBFB had a donor that would give them $5 for each new follower they could attract by a certain day. So naturally, I started following them and retweeted (is that even a legit word??!) so that the 97 people following me could do the same. And so on and so on ... such an easy way to raise funds.

And then I had an idea for a fundraiser: I tweeted that if I (under the ShortcakeScraps ID) could reach 200 followers, Tony and I would donate $200 to GBFB. After a couple of days and lots of retweeting on my and GBFB's part, we reached 200+ followers. Then as a GBFB follower after that, I found out about the open house event through their tweets and thought it would be the perfect way to hand-deliver our donation.

I did not take this photo (although I wish I could've!) - it is posted here.

Another great thing about Twitter is how I've met or connected with some people that I may not have ordinarily been able to (this will get a whole post dedicated to the topic soon). When we showed up to the building, Caitlin - the woman behind the tweets - was looking out for me to greet us and formally meet. We had been tweeting back and forth for a couple of weeks and it was so nice to be able to actually meet her in person. (Note: these are the times when my husband thinks I'm a local celebrity - lol!)

The open house was great! They coordinated a well-marked path for us to follow and we learned about so many aspects of the food bank. One of the most breathtaking parts of our visit was seeing the size and vastness of their storage shelves. It looked like Costco times a hundred.

We also spent some time in the food sorting area where volunteers help package up boxes according to specific groups (i.e. juice, cereals, etc.). We spoke with the volunteer coordinator about how people can stop by and help with the sorting, and she said that various groups around Boston (including Harvard) have already committed to volunteering until next spring. Nick Lachey also helped out here in October!

It was quite a scene in the sorting area and it looked like a lot of hard work. Tony and Renee were joking about how each person had two categories to look out for and fill boxes with, but that I could probably take on six. (A sign of how much of an over-achiever I can be?!) Here's a little video of the conveyor belt and that day's volunteers (if you can't see it below, click on the link here):



We also got to see inside the refrigerators on the premises which were enormous. The one that (there were three) really blew us away (no pun intended!) was the freezer chamber that houses things like meat. It was ginormous and so cold inside that you could make snow!

It was also great to see the GBFB's CEO, Catherine D'Amato, out and about the entire time we were there, mingling with visitors and answering questions. We also met Gail at the end of our tour, the woman that drives around to the every town in Eastern Massachusetts to check on things. She, and the other people we met throughout the day, really made us laugh and made me say, "I think she really loves her job."

We left feeling very happy that we had picked a great charity to donate to, and glad that we could see where our money was going to in the end. We are going to have a food drive in our office to help the Harvard students' drive to reach 1,000 non-perishable items, which will also benefit the GBFB.

I hope that all of you reading this post will also consider donating something - even if it's just one can! - to your local food bank. Due to the recession, local food pantries and women's shelters are desperately low on supplies that support their clientele, especially as we enter the colder months. By bringing in just one item each week, you will make a difference.

To see more pictures from that day, click here.

engagement photo shoot ~ sabrina & sean

I got to do my first engagement photo shoot last Saturday with Stephanie's sister, Sabrina, and her fiancee, Sean. They were in town from Maryland for the weekend and were kind enough to let me practice my photography skills for a couple of hours. Aren't they a cute couple?! They were super sweet to work with and in the end, extremely patient with me as both camera batteries decided to die (note to self: next time bring a hundred backups!), and tolerated the cold temperatures when I asked them to take their coats off.

We started off at the Public Garden in Boston. I love this shot of them mostly because of how Sabrina is laughing at something that he said. The drooping tree limbs and leaves are so pretty in the background.


Then we moved over to Commonwealth Avenue. I have to admit, I wanted to shoot this shot simply because I loved Sabrina's purple heels!

They wanted to go for more of an urban feel so we went over to the South End and took a few shots on the steps of a brownstone, and then in the middle of the street.

This was one of the last shots of the day, and it turned out to be one of my favorite (isn't it funny how that happens?). By this time we were all exhausted from walking around and of course, the cold didn't help. Luckily we had dimsum at Myers & Chang to look forward to afterwards, too!

It was great having Stephanie along as an assistant. She took some photos of us during the day, so it was interesting to see that perspective. This one cracked me up because you can see the little black step stool that I brought along to make me seem more "normal" height. LOL

You can see more photos from the shoot here. All feedback welcome. Interested in doing a photo shoot? Email me at candice [at!] shortcakescraps.com. :)

the killers in boston

I don't know if I should be embarassed by saying that I have seen the Killers live three times now. I mean, do people these days really follow musicians like that anymore? You know I am totally listening to them as I type this, right??!

I have to say, they are definitely in my top three in terms of all-time favorite bands. Right now I'd say it's the Cardigans, the Shins, and the Killers but not in any particular order. Basically, I think I would go out of my way to see any of them if they came to town and we have in the past. We drove up to Hampton Beach (New Hampshire) to see the Cardigans once and that was fricken awesome. We drove out to Lowell, Mass. to see the Killers once too. Anyway, I digress.

I was so happy to find out that Stephanie is a huge Killers fan like me (and Satoko who didn't make it with us this time around) and that she wanted to go see them. When we met up for dinner before the show (read all about that here), we both commented on how it seemed like forever ago that I bought us the tickets, which I think was sometime back in January or February.

Anyway, it was an AWESOME show! It was Stephanie's first time seeing them live, and we had some pretty darn good seats. Here's a show of the stage from where we were to give you an idea:

Stephanie's iphone thingie takes really great shots too. Here's one from her phone:

I snagged this off Twitter after someone in their crew posted it online. It's a view of the Boston crowd a couple of seconds before they came on stage. Pretty cool angle.

They played so many of their hits but surprisingly they didn't do "Sam's Town" this time. I guess because the first show that we saw them at was right after that album was released, so the focus was on those songs. I don't think we sat down once during the whole concert, which was awesome because they just kept rolling out hit after hit.


Both Stephanie and I like "Bones" the best. In fact, it's my cell phone ring tone now that I think about it! When Tony and I were in Las Vegas last year, we stopped by the Hard Rock Cafe casino and they had skeletons that they used in the video on display. Sweet.

They ended the night with "All These Things That I've Done" (<-- that's a funny video ... cowboy boots!) and I managed to capture a little bit in a video. Enjoy! And the next time the Killers come to town, you can probably bet that I'll be there somewhere. :)



"I've got soul, but I'm not a soldier ... "

catching up

Whew. I'm in that stage after I do any type of event where I feel like I have a million other (read: non-craft related) things to catch up on. For instance, posting things on my blogs, chores around the house (sorry, Tony!), and simple things like getting in touch with friends and family (sorry, Linda!). So here's a quick synopsis of the past weekend at the Boston Arts Festival, and then it's off to get some zzzzz's so that I can stop feeling so tired during the daytime.

I have to say that my overall experience during this event was awesome. The crew that organized every detail and helped out the entire weekend were amazingly great. For the registration fee, I received a huge industrial quality (water proof!) tent to use, a 6-foot-long table, two chairs, and they even made each of us a vinyl sign displaying our business names. They provided a really nice bagged lunch each day which consisted of a sandwich, cookie or brownie, apple, and chips as well as gave us bottled water throughout the weekend. The people that worked the event were also available to stand in your place if you needed to take a break during the day. They provided huge containers on wheels where we could pull up on Atlantic Avenue, unload our gear, and they would wheel it to our booth for us. Outstanding help, really ... I couldn't get over how cheerful and polite everyone was despite the icky weather on Friday.

Two people that I found to be extraordinarily helpful were a lady named Marquis and a man named EJ. It was quite windy all day Friday and my sign had blown down twice. Each time, they came by with a tall ladder and fixed it without me even having to ask them for help. I was so touched by their gestures of kindness and willingness to help throughout the day on Friday that I baked some chocolate chip cookies and gave them to them on Sunday in appreciation. I got two very big hugs and smiles which totally made my weekend. :)

Okay so enough of my sappy story telling! Here are some photos from the weekend (click on any of them to enlarge):

This was my booth all set up and ready to go on Friday despite the rain and crazy wind.

This was the sign that they made for my booth. Isn't it nice? I mean, yes, it's plain but having everyone's with the same format really made the entire show look orderly. Unfortunately, they wouldn't let me take it afterwards but it sure was nice having something to use during the show.

A view of the Financial District from where we were with a shot of the Custom House Tower on the left. Tony used to work in the glass building on the left, and we both used to work in one of the buildings on the right (that's where we met!).


To my right was Claudia Kaufman and her beautiful still-life paintings and prints. My favorite piece of her work was this painting of a loaf of challah bread in a plastic bag. Doesn't it look like it's a photograph?!

And to my left was Connie Barbour of Migrant Wind Prints with beautiful silkscreened prints. I met Amy Hitchcock who was across from me with her gorgeous pieces of assemblage and collages created out of found items. Brian from Boston Coasters was there with his neat stuff, and not too far down from the Dyslexic Press who had this t-shirt that I was so tempted to buy for someone. My crafty friends Amy Casher, Bren Bataclan, and Beth Gaertner were also participating in this year's event so it was nice to spend the weekend amongst familiar faces.

I tell you, I feel so lucky that we live in a community where art is really thriving these days. I mean, being surrounded by so many talented artists that weekend was quite inspiring and uplifting in many ways. And then to see people out and about enjoying art through various mediums just makes it all come together.

Speaking of familiar faces, I had a few friends stop by to say hello. Of course, I only remembered to take a couple of photos.

Here I am with our friends Mike, Chris, and Lynn. We all used to work together (which is how we met) and it's funny to think that I've known them for almost ten years now. My goodness how time has flown by!

Our friends Norma and Johnny came by during their lunch break on Friday with a little treat: a raspberry cheesecake from Lyndell's Bakery! The downer was that I couldn't eat it because of the raspberries but believe me, Tony was delighted to eat it for me. (Thanks you two!)

And then on Sunday, my boyfriend favorite visitor during the weekend (no offense anyone but come on, after you saw this photo you'd have to agree with me!) stopped by for a visit: Henry! Oh and of course, I was very happy to see his mommy, Lorena, too. LOL Gosh, I could just eat that little cutie up. I hope he helped bring in some sales with his adorable smile. Hee hee ... such a happy baby!

So of course, the people I didn't photograph and would like to thank for stopping by to visit ... Kate and little miss Sophie, Allen, Amy C., Kathy O'B., Tara G., Chris D., and Janice. Thank you all for stopping by to say hello!

Oh and the entertainment throughout the festival was great! Here's a shot of the Boston Gay Men's Chorus singing their hearts out to tunes from the '80s despite the crappy weather. It was awesome how the crowd simply whipped out their umbrellas and got closer to the stage when they started to sing.

In contrast, this is what the main stage area looked like on Sunday when the sun was out.

Speaking of rain, they decided to cancel the event on Saturday because it was supposed to pour all day. And the weather people were correct this time. It was a mixed feeling for me when I found out that morning because I had already stayed up until 3 am the night before making new cards based on requests on Friday, and I was pumped up for the day's events. But in hindsight, I know we (artists) would've been miserable there in the cold, wet weather. Friday was quite gross but once the winds died down it seemed like more people came out.

The plus side to Saturday's cancellation was this nice surprise from Stephanie:

She had planned to see me at the festival on Saturday so she went by one of our favorite bakeries, Flour, and bought me my favorite pastry: brioche au sucre! So having that with fresh French pressed coffee made by my wonderful husband (and being in my pj's all day in a warm apartment) made me feel better about the cancellation, plus I managed to get more things together for Sunday.

So what's next? Besides sleep and a little bit of catching up? More posts to come! Seriously folks! I have yet to tell you about The Killers concert, seeing Heart and Journey up in Manchester, and tons of food-related posts on the other blog. Not to mention gearing up for the next show (the Design Hive Market) on Sunday, October 4th. Busy busy busy, that's for sure.

But until then, goodnight everyone! This girl needs some serious zzzzz's!

Saturday events have been CANCELED

Due to the rain. Poopy cocky. Too bad I stayed up till 3 am making more cards then! Oh well. They say the weather should be nice and sunny tomorrow (Sunday), so I hope to see you then!

Here's tomorrow's performing arts schedule:

12:30 - 1 PM
Garden Stage
CITY STAGE
Throwing open the doors to arts participation, the much loved City Stage provide fun for all the family.
1 - 1:45 PM

Waterfront Stage
BALLETROX
The cutting edge dance company who re-imagined the Nutcracker into the refreshingly crisp “Urban Nutcracker.”
1:45 - 2:15 PM

Garden Stage
IN LIKE LIONS
Local up and coming rock band well known on the local scene.
2:15 - 3:00 PM

Waterfront Stage
BOSTON BALLET
Boston’s beloved ballet company has consistently wowed audiences in festivals past.
3:00 - 3:30 PM

Garden Stage
GRACE KELLY
One of the country’s top saxophonists is already a star and still in her teens.
3:30 - 4:15 PM

Waterfront Stage
A FAR CRY
Lively and vibrant classical music delivered with an energy not seen in typical classical music set-ups.
4:15 - 4:45 PM

Garden Stage
CARS ON MARS
Up and coming local rock group.
4:45 - 6 PM

Waterfront Stage
A NIGHT AT THE ROCK OPERA
Introducing a wall of sound from the history of rock n’ roll, this group received rave reviews in its Boston run early in 2009.

boston ahts festival - this weekend!

If you're in the Boston area and looking for something to do this weekend, stop by the Boston Ahts Festival! I'll be there at table #26 selling my handmade greeting cards on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday (September 11-13) from 12 to 6 pm each day. It's taking place at Christopher Columbus Park on the waterfront, near the North End. There will be over 60 different artists participating this year, plus live performances and tons of activities for the whole family. Stop by to say hello! :)

boston magazine

I donated some of my greeting cards as a prize at the Lantern Financial "Rock Your Financial Life" event last week (in the Hard Rock Cafe's special events room which was quite impressive I must say), and a photo of the prize appeared on Boston Magazine's website. Check it out:

And then come to find out the person that won them was kind enough to talk about the cards on her blog. Awesome.

Speaking of cards [insert shameless plug here], I need to get busy making them this weekend in time for the Boston Arts Festival. If you're in the Boston area next weekend, stop by and say hello! I'll be at table #26 on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday from 12 to 6 pm each day. Let's keep our fingers crossed that this nice weather holds out!

Hope you all have a great long weekend! TGIF! :)