cupcakes on the brain!

With the "Celebrate the Somerville Sensation" party coming up this Sunday, it's no wonder I have cupcakes on the brain! (Apparently, so do a lot of other people ... it's been mentioned here, here, and here! Yikes!) We're anticipating a pretty large turnout at the event, so if you plan to go and try one of the free mini cupcakes, be sure to get there early!

Amongst the numerous emails that have been filling my inbox lately regarding cupcakes was one that included a link to a site that features 100 cupcakes with a game theme design. The artists that created each of them were pretty creative! The neat part is that you can try to guess which game the cupcake was made to resemble and then put your mouse over the question mark to the right to see if your guess was correct. I didn't score that great because the list of games includes everything from video games to board games (and I don't know a lot of video games). See how well you can do! Here are some of my favorites:

And then one of my friends from middle school who I recently got back in touch with online(gotta love that about Facebook!) emailed this photo to me of someone's cupcake creation of the periodic table of elements. Whoa! Now that took a lot of time to put together!

And lastly, it has been a while since I did a "Friday Finds" posting, so check out some of the cute cupcake stuff I found on Etsy:


(left to right; top to bottom)
1. bird and cupcake notebook by beethings
2. party wieners birthday card by persnicketypelican
3. my lovely cupcake 5"x7" print by rkdsign88
4. neapolitan cupcakes scarf by kellyzkreationz
5. cupcake on a flower ring by PenelopesPorch
6. keep calm and bake on 13"x19" print by PrintPowder

I can't wait to see what Melisa has in stock this Sunday at Davis Squared for the cupcake event. She said that they've been hiding stuff in the back to reveal this weekend. And don't forget! Anything with a cupcake on it is 10% off during the event. Hope to see you all there!

TGIF!!

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! :)

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!

does it help to stalk?!

In this case, I guess it does! I managed to get ANOTHER Etsy treasury page today! Woo hoo!! Check it out here:

The title of this one is "seeing green". Because well, you all know how much I like green. :)

Enjoy the picks and be sure to leave a comment! It expires this Saturday at 8:57 am.

etsy treasury

FINALLY!!!! I managed to get an Etsy treasury page!! Woo hoo!!! (For those of you who think I've gone bonkers and have no idea what I'm talking about, refer to this old post.)

So check it out and help turn my treasury into a highly viewed one!

My treasury will expire on Tuesday, March 10th at 4:06 pm. Be sure to leave a comment and let me know what you think of my picks!!

a few pretty distractions

I know, I know ... it has been ages since I've updated my blog. Lots of stuff has happened over the past couple of weeks. Some a little too personal to blog about. Mostly losses.

I've turned to looking at pretty things online as a distraction lately, and I thought I'd share some of my recent faves here.

Isn't this pretty? It's called "cup of love".

Okay, so I realize this is more on the cute than pretty side, but I am pondering getting this knitting pattern just to make one for myself. [Insert content sigh here] Ahhh ... my love for anything green.

Isn't this a pretty stationery set? I really like how it shows through the vellum envelope. She's Boston-based too. Pretty neat-o.

That's it for now. More to come soon.

featured on etsy, part 2

Check this out! Another Etsy user picked one of the items from my online store to feature in a list of her favorite picks (click to enlarge the photo):

The "love is the spice of life" card is actually made with three stamps I had custom made from Impress Rubber Stamps last year. I got the base of the shaker image from the Microsoft Clipart Gallery, played around with it a little in Photoshop, and then drew in each of the little hearts so that they were all on one side of the container to make it look like they were pouring out. Then the hearts coming out of the shaker are a separate stamp, and then the sentiment. Funny thing is that I came up with the sentiment because I originally thought about doing little spice jars as our wedding favors, so I was going to stamp that on the card or tag that we would've attached to them. Alas, I went with different favors but I still liked the sentiment so much that I built the images to go with it.

Anyway, not that you needed that much information! Be sure to check out this treasury list before it expires on Saturday (1/17) at 10:43 am EST!

featured on etsy

Check this out! An Etsy user picked one of the items from my online store to feature in a list of her favorite picks (click to enlarge the photo):

It's a photo card and the two red chairs on the front of the card are on my in-law's front porch. I am so tickled that someone picked something from my store to feature in a "Treasury" list! For those who have never explored that section of Etsy (I just recently discovered it for the first time myself):

The treasury is a member-curated gallery of short-lived lists of 12 hand-picked items each (plus four alternates). It functions as a high-demand (and pretty!) promotional tool that many devoted Etsians fight to get. Members can feature their favorite items, items selected on a theme, or just however they like. The Treasury is not intended for self-promotion, but instead to acknowledge and share the many cool things for sale on Etsy. Admin often choose an exceptional Treasury list to promote on the home page and occasionally make them to tie into Storque articles or special events and occasions.

When they say "fight" to get, they are serious! They only allow 333 treasuries at a time (they all have expiration dates) so when the current number comes close to 333, people (like a couple thousand at a time - seriously!) will stalk the page until a page is released in the hopes of being able to get a treasury page. I kid you not! I [insert shameless confession here] admittedly stalked the page a couple of days ago vs. roughly 4,000 other Etsians and did not manage to get a page. Boo hoo. Hopefully better luck next time.

Anyway, thanks for letting me share this little gleam of fame with all of you. Hurry because her treasury expires tomorrow (Wednesday) at 5:16 pm EST!

free time = craft time

Still busy making cards. A peek at what I've been creating so far.

Don't forget: if you can't make it to a show date, you can make purchases 24/7 online through my Etsy shop! :)

Okay, gotta go finish my coconut cupcake from yesterday and cheer on the Patriots!

mentioned in the weekly dig

I just got a totally cool email from Val Fox, the woman who came up with the Design Hive Market concept. I'm mentioned in a Weekly Dig article about the market (which begins tomorrow by the way!) after Val found me through Etsy.com. Check it out!

(You can read the article by either clicking here or on the photo below.)

Thanks, Val!

clean desk = creativity?

So a couple of weeks ago (read: once in a blue moon), I got the sudden desire to clean off the surface of my desk in my craft room. Emphasis on sudden. And voila!

Holy crap, Batman! There is a wooden surface on that thing! LOL

Anywho ... I've been feeling semi creative lately so I managed to make these cards over the past couple of weeks. Does a clean work surface have anything to do with it? I'm not sure, but I tell ya, it does help. ;-)





P.S. They're available on Etsy! ;-)

the beauty of etsy

I must say ... one thing I really like about Etsy is that you can connect with artists across the globe. For instance, I bought these two pendants tonight from an artist in Singapore. How fricken cool is that?! I mean, a little package is going to arrive on my doorstep from someone that lives on the other side of the world, and I get to enjoy these beautiful things that she created with her very own hands. That's the beauty of Etsy. Connecting people's passion for handmade things. So cool.