Hello, Darling!

My oldest friend lives in Orlando. His name is David and we've been friends for almost 20 years. We met in elementary school and he was even my first serious boyfriend. (Oh, how young we were!) Even after he moved though, we've remained good friends. He's a great guy. I try to see him every time I go down to Disney to spend some time with him and catch up.

But then something crazy happened. Have any of you heard of the Cannibal Cop? The NYPD cop who was arrested for plotting to kill and cook several acquaintances including his own wife? Well, yes, he was one of our classmates in middle school. Later in high school, he went to the all-boys brother school of my all-girls Catholic school so we would hang out at the dances. I had NO idea that years later, this would happen (but really, who ever does?). It was such a surprise to see his face plastered on the newspaper covers and on television. So I cut out some newspaper clippings and sent it to David.

Even though the content was quite shocking, I wanted to create a sweet card to contrast the clippings. This is what I came up with.

First, I used Versamark embossing ink to stamp the flowers on the card. I added purple glitter and heat embossed it. I didn't want to ink the entire card, so I taped scrap paper on all corners and went over the stamp with Spun Sugar Distress Ink. I knew I wanted a sentiment on the front so I took a piece of chip board and stamped Hello Darling in purple and added some yellow ribbon to top it off.

Looking at it now, it is a little girly, but I just chalk that to habit. The next one I send will definitely be more masculine. haha

David and I hanging out at Walt Disney World a few years ago. =)

Paper Playtime #6 Challenge/Craft Fair Question

Hi All! We had a whopping 612 entries for the last Paper Playtime challenge!! Some of your projects had the most awesome coloring and shading. I was def impressed. This week the DT ladies have created some beautiful projects using Bees so I really hope all of you come back and join the fun once again! 

Ch#6 Use a BEE

Begins: Mon, Mar 18

Ends: Sun, Mar 31

Prize sponsored by TSQ Royal Castle Shoppe
"Royal Pain" stamp set

(must have a USA address)

Winner announced in the WINNERS Page Tab

In other matters, my friend Allie contacted me yesterday. Allie and I met when we were both working in the Disney College Program in Florida. We were both working at Star Tours and got along famously. She's a crafty lady too and was telling me about this big craft fair that happens in Orlando twice a year. She wanted to throw her hat in the ring for the date in November and wanted to know if I wanted to join her with some handmade cards. I thought this was such an exciting idea, but as you can imagine, I have no experience with craft fairs.

Have any of you ever participated in local craft fairs? 

It's a two day show (Saturday, Sunday) in November so I am planning on creating mostly Christmas cards, but do any of you have any advice for a newbie? Like extreme newbie? I am clueless in terms of how much merch to make specifically. I'm hoping because it's 7 months away, I have enough time to think of ideas and create the cards, but how much is too much? Anyway, any advice or helpful links you can provide would be very much appreciated! I have been meaning to check out some local fairs here in the city. Perhaps now that Spring is almost here, there will be more to see. Thanks!

Crafting on the Island

Time for another crafting adventure! Last weekend, my boyfriend JP and I drove out to Long Island. Specifically, we were in the Westbury/ Carle Place area near the Roosevelt Field Mall. I decided to see what kind of crafting offerings were available at the three main craft stores we have here in the New York Metropolitan area. 

(Slightly off topic: Anyone out there FROM the NY Metropolitan Area?!)

These three stores were all within a 5 minute drive of each other. First up, the store that was having major sales!

All the paper crafting materials here were 50% off! So I was happy to be seeing things like this-

The problem with this, as with any sale, I always seem to be the last one there. So there were slim pickings, my friends. But I can always rely on JoAnn's for is this lovely pile-

It took me a solid ten minutes or so to go through this. I love clearance items and I don't mind sifting through each bin for my $1 stamps.

In the end, I came away from JoAnn's with these items-

I couldn't walk away without some stamps. The rubber one that I plan to use for embossing was only $5 and the other was just $3! And with Easter right around the corner, I needed some colorful paper! This was just a whooping $4. The small rubber stamp says "Happy Easter to my favorite Peep." Too cute.

Next stop:

AC Moore's stamps were a bit more organized.

They were however not on sale. Womp womp. So I didn't go stamp crazy, but their Cricut Cartridges were on sale! And I found the cutest $1 ribbons.

So we had to stop by Home Depot after which coincidentally was right next store to:

By this time, it was evening as you can see, so as sweet and patient as my boyfriend was all day, we were hungry! I had to be lightening fast! But I was on a mission. I needed a Flower Frog to hold my cards, but when I asked for it, the saleslady asked what it was used for. Now I know this thing is not normally used for cards.

But try to explain that to someone without feeling stupid! Luckily, another worker stepped in and saved me. Embarrassment averted. I came away from Michael's with a nice haul.

Then because he had been so nice all day, we ended the night with a yummy Mexican place the boy likes. I had the yummiest Flautas and guacamole!

And that was our adventure! I do sometimes wish there was some kind of new crafting store with new merchandise, but I suppose it's just wishful thinking. I'll just have to hold out for those times I drive upstate and down south to the large Hobby Lobby's. Now those stores are pretty amazing! Check them out if you can.

We Have A Winnaaaaa!!

TODAY IS THE DAY! Today I get to announce the winner of my $25 crafty supplies giveaway! First off, I would just like to thank ALL you wonderful ladies for joining in and spreading the word! I am really looking forward to getting to know you through your blogs and projects.

And now...... drum roll please. The winner is....


 a Rafflecopter giveaway



PAM! Yay! Congrats Pam! I'll be e-mailing you shortly with the news. =)

Also, if you haven't yet, make sure you head on over to the Paper Playtime Challenge. You still have a whole week left in our Anything Goes Challenge!

Birthday Cupcake

Looking for my $25 crafty supplies giveaway? Click here!

My boyfriend's little sister's birthday recently passed (her name is also Michelle!) and I wanted to make her something cute. Michelle likes to bake and she is also very feminine so I wanted to incorporate the color pink with some kind of baked good. This is what I came up with.

I really love Penny Black stamps. They are so cute and really easy to color with Copics. This stamp is from the Wish Big collection. I covered it with Worn Lipstick distress ink and used blue button brads at the corner. The background was embossed from a cuttlebug folder, but I felt it was too plain so I found a reaaallly old cupcake patterned paper I've had forever and used it for the middle. Then I wanted to add a little sentiment so I put it on some blue card stock.

Because what more does a girl need on her birthday than presents, a yummy cupcake and a big crown?

Paper Playtime: Anything Goes!

Welcome to my first project for Paper Playtime Challenge Blog! This week is a really fun and easy challenge to join- Anything Goes! 

Ch#5 Anything Goes

Begins: Mon, Mar 4

Ends: Sun, Mar 17

Prize $15 Gift Cert. from The Robin's Nest

Winner announced in the WINNERS Page Tab

Here's what I created for this challenge: 

It's March so I wanted to make something green and festive.  This was one of the first Magnolia stamps I purchased and I took to my Copics to color it in. The background paper is from My Mind's Eye and the paper trimmer is from the Martha Stewart collection. I added some paper flowers and a sheer green ribbon. I added the sentiment but it looked a little plain so I attached two tiny brads to the corners. 

I hope everyone likes this and plays along with us! There are some seriously talented ladies on this team and I'm so happy to be a part of it! Anything Goes is a super fun, very easy challenge so let me see what you all got!

Also, have you entered my Blog redesign giveaway? Only a few more days!