Winter Wonderland + something for the grownups!

A winter birthday is super sweet if you're surrounded by snow, penguins, polar bears and everything that glistens in the cold wind!! How to bring all that into your home in Southern California? My new Winter Wonderland line of paper goods might help :-) I designed a double stranded birthday banner made out of three layers of snowflakes, boy and girl penguin cupcake toppers that I inserted in delicious mini donuts in a bed of shiny pearls, and scalloped snowflake toppers to match the theme. It was so much fun creating this line because I love aqua and pink together - just so delicate and pretty.

So in response to some of you that have contacted me to make more adult items...here is a sweet start...

The winter bird cupcake toppers on a berry branch to top those delicious holiday party sweets for the office or home.

Not too late!

Hope everyone had an amazing Thanksgiving! I have been very stressed all month but today I find myself more at peace. Thanksgiving was truly wonderful this year...just so much to be thankful for and having my mom, dad and Jorge next to me was a real blessing. Earlier this month someone whom I love so much was diagnosed with colorectal cancer. A series of events followed that news...trips to the hospital, an 8 hour surgery, a scary recovery and therapy and just when I was exhausted from worrying my prayers were answered. The day before Thanksgiving we got the news that the cancerous tumor had need eradicated and finally tears of happiness came. I couldn't be happier and so thankfull for all the support I got from Jorge, my coworkers and my best friend when I broke out crying in the middle of the cafeteria. So I look forward to continuing my focus in school, my business and best of all enjoying the company of my family and close friends. I can't wait for Christmas!!

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone is having a super fun Halloween night! I've been missing out on my blog but I remembered I had promised to share some of my decorations with you so here they are! I've been having so much fun seeing everyone's outdoor and indoor creations! So many creative people out there!! :)

I decorated two acrylic shelves I have over my couch in the living room with little things I gathered here and there. The crow is special because it came from my best friends' girlfriend stach of about 10 crows! The skulls well I just had to get an anatomically correct one and another with a little bling for eyes (it's a candle too)

This is the first banner I create for my home! I love how it just fits perfect over the shelves. My favorite part is the scalloped letters and the fancy frames with a skull and spider for accents. It was George's idea to use both orange and black ribbons! He is creative too :)

The old books that Mr. Crow is sitting on are actually circa 1909 and 1917. They were an awesome find at the UCLA LSA book sale - which I was lucky enough to get a sneek preview. The actual sale is going on Nov. 1st and 2nd from 9:30am - 2:00pm at the YRL Library at the UCLA campus. Go there you will sure find amazing books for super cheap! These actually had vintage ephemera inside!! By the way there are lots more where these came from.

I made a large rosette using vintage 1900's music sheet I also found last year at the book sale for the perfect background of this witch on broom. I filled up a vase with about 2 bags of candy corn for a sweet touch.

Happy Halloween!!

Fall is here!

My favorite weather season is definitely Summer but I LOVE Fall! I'm looking forward to Halloween, pumpkin pie with my sweetie, that early morning chill and I can't wait for gorgeous October moons. I've been awol from my blog and my etsy shop due to crazy hectic non stop studying! With hardly any available time I really cannot handle any more orders than the ones I'm currently working on. I did manage to start a little something for our home! Yes I never get to craft much for our home but this year I'm starting very early and slowly working on a few Halloween items like a banner, a door hanger and a few decorations here and there. At least we can have something festive to look at while we study! I got a sweet message this morning from Jenn over at BrideFinds an awesome site with lots and lots of ideas for future brides. They feature great finds from Etsy sellers and focus on unique handmade items for ceremony and reception. I've been lucky to be included on their great finds for a Halloween Themed Wedding! My eerie silhouette cupcake toppers are featured among many awesome items that are cleverly chosen for a wonderful and elegant event as a wedding!

image via BrideFinds

New inspirations for the weekend

Wanted to share a new collection that I'm just in love with! If you haven't heard of Designers Guild - you must! An amazing collection of colorful and elegant items for your home. Their color combinations for wallpaper, furniture, bedroom linen and accessories are breathtaking. I can live in just one of those rooms and be completely in heaven! I've been shopping around for cool wallpaper that'll go on our closet and these just blow my mind!! I would want them all over my house and not hiding in the back of my clothes but still...I love them :-)

Never Forgotten

This morning was not a typical ride in to work. I woke up on time at 5am as I do every Friday morning. I did snooze for about another 10 more minutes before I got up, got dressed and out the door. As soon as I get in my car I set the radio to AM for my daily dose of news. A few miles down the 91 fwy I found myself in tears as I heard the news team reliving the most horrible day of our lives a decade ago. They put together a clip about 5 minutes long that took me back to that early Tuesday morning in 2001when all of our lives changed for ever. It's too hard to even try to type the memories and emotions I felt that day. Glued to the TV and seeing what it seemed like the most horrific movie turned into reality was devastating for me, close friends and family.

A whole decade has passed and 9/11 will always be engraved in my mind. My love and respect to all my fellow EMT's and Firefighters that gave their lives that day will never be lost. This weekend along with lots of studying and things to do Jorge and I will take the time to remember that day and look forward to the new WTC. The renovation videos look incredible and I'm so eager to see a new Manhattan.

Where did August go?

In the spirit of temperatures reaching in the 90's this past weekend I was missing being out by the pool and drinking margaritas with my sweetie. We've both been so busy with school, work and trying to remodel our place all at the same time!! Our bedroom just needs to be primed and paint is going up on the walls soon :) Can't wait for that! Well if you're not as crazy busy as me then you might still squeeze a few tan lines out of this beautiful weather and enjoy it. It was so gorgeous out on Sunday I grabbed my camera and got to work on a little set up that included my new Hawaiian and Under the Sea theme cupcake toppers! I wanted to run to the beach as an excuse to pick up sand for my shoot but since my to do list was insane...brown sugar did the job! I scattered it around and used my favorite sea stars for fun! The new Under the Sea toppers include a mermaid, crab, sea horse and this adorable sea shell I adorned with coral, an aqua pearl and propped up fish!! The Luau Hawaiian toppers include a hang loose hand, hibiscus flower, hula girl, and tiki tower. Doesn't it just make you want to be in Maui right now?!!

Welcome Babee

I'm really excited to show you my new line of party decor for a bee theme baby shower that we shot a few weeks ago with awesome photographer Ayumi from YouandMeWorld! Among the many plans I had this summer was to come up with a series of new themes for my etsy shop and I have to admit this Bee theme just makes me smile and sigh with joy.

I'm a huge lover of black and white damask print and for this line I got inspired by our ongoing bedroom renovation where damask print plays a major role! I'm really loving the bright yellow accent and of course the adorable bee as the star for this collection. I was so static when Ayumi sent over the pictures!! I love how she captured each detail I put so much time and effort in creating like the cupcake toppers, the drink flags, and the "B" is for Baby invitation! I spent weeks planning how I wanted this table to look like. I dragged my husband to Downtown Disney late the night before to get their delicious Kettle Korn and I even baked lemon bars the same night! I felt like I was truly having an Amy Atlas moment - setting up the backdrop, making the treats look yummy and lining up my paper goods just the right angle! It was definitely intense but SO much fun and I couldn't be happier with the results!