Just when I relegated snowfall in Jersey to the antique bin, we go and get snow. It's not serious snow, but enough snow to cancel Walt's BIG hockey game. It's the inter-town rivalry, Mid North vs. Mid South...and we were all set to go but just as we were constructing our posterboard and paint stir stick signs, spelling out W-A-L-T, the phone rings and it's a sleepy Walt (he naps before games) informing us that the game is postponed because of the weather. Believe me, the snowfall here is in no way worthy of a game cancellation. It's a dusting. But since Jersey has slipped down a couple climate latitudes we're a bit trigger happy with caution when snow is even hinted at.
So now I feel all out of whack because I'd been anticipating the game. I guess we'll rent a movie and pretend to be snowed in. It's a sin, but I still have not seen The Bourne Ultimatum. Loved the other two and I shoulda saw this last one on opening night but you know how things go. So maybe we'll rent that, or maybe not...you know how things go.
I totally missed out on the sign ups for Artsy Mama's "For the Love of Supplies" swap. But my friend Cerri came to the rescue. She was on the ball, and therefore in on the swap, and she was nice enough to take me on as a second partner. Cerri is the whiz behind Little Pink Studio , so naturally I'm just as excited to receive as I am to give.
I love the concept for this swap! You take a heart shaped Valentine's candy box...eat all the chocolates with your nearest and dearest while watching TV at 2 am (not in the actual directions, but mandatory in my case, and the chocolates weren't even good, well they weren't bad but more than a few were filled with what me and Aar call "white foam")...thenfill in the empty candy cups/sections with all sorts of wonderful crafting supplies!
I went and got the largest and plainest Russell Stover box I could find, making sure to avoid any boxes with embossed imagery because I knew I'd be gluing polka dot paper to the surface and I wouldn't want to see some logo rippling beneath. When I was at the drug store looking for the box I saw the type of boxes that inspired my own design. You know, those satiny, lacey, ruffly, kitschy, sorta tacky ones with the silk rose and bow on top. I wanted to do a more palatable version of one of those. I collect the very old satin and lace boxes and as I was looking at the new ones I noticed that they have not changed really. The new tacky boxes are just less dingy. I think I'll go back after the 14th and pick a couple up on clearance...maybe leave 'em on the windowsill to get sun faded.
My candy box had a very complex grid of odd shaped slots for the candy so I tossed that out and put pink polka dot cupcake wrappers in it's place. These were a better size for filling with supplies, width and depth-wise. I didn't photograph all the stuff I put in because I wanted Cerri to have at least a couple surprises. I did make sure to put in stuff that I treasure...my prized bits...like my 1940's silk birthday cupcake flags. They were one of my all time best ebay finds 5 years ago. I also put in some of my favorite trims and lace. Because it's such a small setting for supplies you have to be a good editor. I went with the rare and the vintage because so much of my rare and vintage is tiny. I'm a thrifty shopper on Ebay so my purchases tend to be small in size. Because Cerri's business bears the namesake Little Pink Studio I went with mostly pinks with touches of aqua and tiny bits of red. I hope she loves her stuff, it should be on her doorstep anytime now!
Also in the mail is my friend Laurie's birthday gift. This is just a sneak peak, I hope she loves it!
Got a fun fun package from Andrea, aka miss one hundred wishes . Can you even handle these birthday cake decorations?! Way too cute! And I'm really loving these vintage chenille toppers. how fabulous is this gal? And a mom of two! (adorable lil fellas I might add) Thanks so so much Andrea! I adore this stuff!
Kim Hesson has a fantastic etsy shop. That's where I got this stuff! I love the banner cut outs and can't wait to put them to use. Kim has the market cornered on cut outs. Think of any shape and I bet she's got it. One of the best parts of the creative process is shopping for the supplies. And I don't mean the hum drum stuff. Buying glue,mod podge, paint, brushes, etc...is just plain tiring. But shopping for the little stuff like this is a pleasure. This is the stuff you have no solid plans for. You love it, need it, and then you build a project around it. I'm actually a minimalist when it comes to supplies. I simply lack the space to store it. I envy those gals with the walk in closet of do dads and trinkets. Kim Hesson is stacked with supplies, and not just the ones she has for sale. I remember at Silver Bella she had a killer set up. A Batman's belt worth of cool stuff. Visit her shop for the goods and tell her Jenny sentcha!
Lisa Oceandreamer started a fabulous annual event called ONE World-ONE Heart and we're thrilled to participate. Go to her blog to read thestory behind it. In a nutshell, it's a giant meet and greet for bloggers...a way to find blogs you maybe never knew existed, and a million chances at taking home a giveaway prize. We're giving away our slice of cake on pink floral (that's our description of it...sample conversation over here: "hey what are you working on?" ..."I'm doing a slice of cake on pink floral."...it is what it says and it says what it is.) We'll pick one lucky winner out of all who post comments. Make sure you include a link to your blog in your comment because that's a big part of this giveaway. We're doing it to spread the word on blogs. All the participants in the One World One Heart event will be linked together...I expect it to be an endless chain. I'll mention once again that posting a comment on my AOL blog is not the simplest of tasks. There are a couple of annoying hurdles...you need to create a user name...but after your initial post it's a piece of cake...really. But if you have more trouble than you care to have logging into the blog you can instead send me an email with the subject: OWOH, and remember to include your blog address in the email. So either way, get in touch and maybe win!
Ok, gotta go. Either work or movie, I haven't yet decided. Actually, the roads are kinda bad right now so driving to the video store may be off the table. What food are we gonna get delivered? While I scan the yellow pages, you can check out some of my latest Flickr faves. Geez they make me so happy!
xoxo, Jenny
