Fabulous Friend Saturday!

Drum Roll Please.....

Introducing....

PAINT, BAKE & CREATE BY HILARY SURRATT!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1. Hello Hilary! Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us about YOU!

Hello readers, I am a newly-wed for a little over a year to the man of my dreams. My husband, Mike, is a middle school youth minister, so my life involves doing a lot of youth ministry which I absolutely love! I grew up in Charleston, SC, and I have never lived anywhere else, which I wouldn’t ever change! I love living near the beach and everything about the summertime, especially slushies on a hot day! (I don’t do well in cold weather) I love to bake things, especially cupcakes. All throughout my school years, my friends would always call me the “Martha Stewart” of the group. I was always coming up with something to create! I started my business last year in September, and I was really surprised how much response I had with it. I’m in the process of opening an Etsy store, but until then you can order any of my creations off of my blog!

2. Do your blog & shop have a special name? Where did that name come from?

The name of my blog & shop is Paint, Bake, & Create! I thought of this name when I was in my design class in college. We had a project to do to create our own logo for a business. My business was Paint & Bake creative studios, and the logo was a cupcake holding a paintbrush. I chose those two things because painting and baking are two of my favorite things to do, and when they are combined, that just makes me extremely happy! When I started making hair bows I just added a hair bow on top of the cupcake and changed the name to Paint, Bake & Create. I fell in love with it, & created my own business!

 

 

 

3. What was the last treasure that arrived in your mail?

The last thing that arrived in my mail that I would consider a treasure is my new Nikon D3000 SLR camera. It was my Christmas/graduation present, and I surely do treasure it! :)

 4. Where in the world would you like to visit? why?

I would like to visit New York City! I know it’s in the United States, but I have never been there, and I have always really wanted to go there! It is just one of those places that seems like it can be so romantic & fun!

5.  What 8 records or books would you would take with you to a desert island (you can tell us why if you want to)?

This one is hard for me because I don’t read that much, and I’m not “set on” certain music, but what I do love and would love to take on a desert island would be movies. Here are my top 8:

            - The Notebook

            - Sweet Home Alabama

            - How to lose a guy in 10 days

            - Titanic

            - Just Married

            - Confessions of a Shopaholic

            - 27 Dresses

            - Bride Wars

Can you tell I love every chick flick possible, & I could watch them over and over again too?!?!

6. If you could go back and live in a past decade or century, when would you choose and why?

I would choose the 80s! I was born in the 80s, so I wasn’t really able to enjoy all of the wacky clothes & big hairstyles like I would want to! Every opportunity there is to dress up 80s style, I totally go all out: poufy sleeves & big teased hair!

 7. What is your favorite thing about creating something by hand?

There is just something special about having something personally handmade. I love the detail that goes into handmade things, every single little detail!!!

 8. Please list three of your favorite things. Why are they favorites?

            - Anything that has to do with CUPCAKES because they are so pretty!

            - Sunbathing on the BEACH, (it doesn’t get much better than that!)

            - Good SWEET TEA because it is yummy!

             {Hilary is totally a girl after my own heart!!!}

9. What could you eat/drink every single day and never grow tired of?

This kind of flows from my last answer: Sweet Tea & funfetti cupcakes w/ rainbow-chip icing! Who doesn’t love funfetti cupcakes?!?! And sweet tea, I’m from the south and I LOVE sweet tea!!
{Oh yes! The table wine of the South is my fave drink too!}

 10. What is your favorite place? Will you describe it to us?

The Beach on a warm summer day with a nice breeze. That would be considered paradise for me!

rats!

i lost my entire post!!!!!!!!! so annoying!

Instead please check out this great blog I found! I shall try again tomorrow x

{click it!}

it's my birthday!

and it is to you, my friends, that i give this gift......

click the cute for the gift that will keep on giving!

Fabulous Le Cotillon!!!!!!

It's Friday! You know what that means!!!!!!!!!!!! 

DRUM ROLL PLEASE!

INTRODUCING..........

1. Hello Daphne! Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us about YOU!

I am a work-from-home mom. I work online listing items on Le Cotillon's website, Etsy site, and Ebay site. I love to create, but I don't have much time to do it. I'm a little sporadic in my creating. I'll go full swing into something do it for a while and then switch to something else. I scrapbook, create jewelry, make tags, create banners for Etsians and I have also created some blog banners. I LOVE to dabble in all sorts of things! I do a lot of the purchasing for Le Cotillon and I'm hoping that new stuff we're bringing in will be popular!

2. Do your blog & shop have a special name? Where did that name come from?

I do have a blog which I use for Le Cotillon and for myself, it's http://craftydaphne.blogspot.com. My blog hasn't been updated at all lately, however I am going to try to work on that this year!

FYI Daphne has a brilliant ETSY shop bursting with gorgeous beads!!! Go Check it out! Le Cotillon on Etsy :)

3. What was the last treasure that arrived in your mail?

My last treasure was this morning and it was a huge parcel with goodies from China. These goodies will be available in our shop! 

4. Where in the world would you like to visit? why?

I would love to go to 2 places. One place would be Disneyworld. I would love to spend an amazing time there with my family. My children would love it and we would have memories that would last a lifetime. Another place I would love to go is to the Czech Republic. Do you know how many bead factories there are there?! Omg, I would be in bead heaven.

5.  What 8 records or books would you would take with you to a desert island (you can tell us why if you want to)?

1. Interview With A Vampire (book)

2. Black-Eyed Peas

3. A Book of poetry... any book of poetry

4. Sarah Mclachlan - Best Of

5. A "How to Survive on a Deserted Island" book

6. The Hobbit

7. A comedy tape of some sort

8. Photo album

6. If you could go back and live in a past decade or century, when would you choose and why?

I would go back to the 50's. Is that when swing was in? Ya ya, swinging and dancing, that would be great. the music was awesome too!

7. What is your favorite thing about creating something by hand?

The sense of accomplishment. It is an absolutely wonderful feeling to create a piece of jewelry that you know you can enjoy, or even better - that someone else is enjoying. I know I certainly love the idea that someone from across the world is wearing something that I made with my hands.

8. Please list three of your favorite things. Why are they favorites?

1. My children and family - Does this count? if not, here's another number 1.

1. Animals - I love all animals. Dogs and cats make me feel happy. I love being around animals. They can be so quirky at times and just make you laugh.

2. Chocolate - I LOVE chocolate. Yum yum yum.

3. Beads - I absolutely love beads. I love shopping for them, selling them. Finding something new brings me absolutely joy. Receiving an order is literally one of the best feelings for me. I am literally thrilled when I get an order!

9. What could you eat/drink every single day and never grow tired of?

I could eat chocolate every single day.

I could drink tea every single day... as well as Bailey's in milk.

10. What is your favorite place? Will you describe it to us?

My grandmother's house.. which is no longer in the family. When I was younger that is where I spent my entire childhood. My grandmother took care of me. It felt like home to me and I always felt safe. She lived in a little town called Sutton - which is where you will find the Le Cotillon boutique today.

Just a bit more information about us. Le Cotillon is owned by my mom Jocelyne Bonneau. She has so many items for sale in her store that sometimes I just can't keep up. I live 40 minutes away from the store so I spend a lot of my time on the phone with mom sorting stuff out. She has been open for 13 years and doesn't seem ready to retire any time soon!

Wonderful Daphne! Thank you so much for sharing yourself and your shop with us! I hope everyone will stop by and visit Le Cotillon online or in person if they're in the Montreal area! 

OOoOO lala!

shortbread buttons by forth-sixth at grace

HOW absolutely gorgeous are these!?! You know how I love, love, LOVE buttons! And having lived in Scotland for four years I grew to love shortbread too! Aren't they so beautiful! if you check out the tutorial you'll find a downloadable recipe. The recipe is frame-worthy!!!! Look!

Today was a fun day. My friend came over and we had grilled cheese & red onion sandwiches and soup followed by Mississippi Mud Pie while crafting! I didn't get very much done I must admit....I'm maybe 1/4 of the way through a necklace. Then we went to church with my MIL and my friend received a message that meant the whole world to her!!!!
And more fun news! Look! I won a surprise! Mrs Wishes from Alexandra's Wishes chose 3 winners for her give-away and I'm one of them!!!! I'm so excited!

Night, Night
Sleep Tight
Don't let the bed bugs bite!

Hey! Get Your Cute Little Bottom Over Here!

Our friend Vicky of Alexandra's Wishes is having a giveaway!

Check out these wonderful things she's actually willing to give away!

All you have to do is leave a comment! How easy is that?! Plus you'll get to see some brilliant photos of her adorable daughter watching The Wizard of Oz! So good!

Why don't you follow Vicky's blog while you're there? She has so many clever creative crafty ideas! I am totally inspired by her, I really need to get my buns in gear to be half as productive as Mrs Alexandra's Wishes!

NOW GET YOUR BOTTOM OVER TO VICKY'S BLOG AND COMMENT!

Our Successful Dumpster Dive!

Jayne and I went dumpster diving....only there was no skip...just a MASSIVE pile of stuff. Bin bags, boxes, loose stuff thrown all around and rained upon! A thrifty crafter's utopia! We knocked on the door and looked for someone to gain permission from, but there was no one. It was all left for the council to remove.
It was sad. The house owner has either passed away or possibly been taken into care. A lot of their life was just chucked out into the rain and snow awaiting the council to come along and take it to rot in a landfill. Enter Jayne & me. We salvaged what we could! We filled bags full of fabric and paper and silver and tins that had been left being seen as junk. To us it was a mountain of treasure!
Picture the scene...the sun was almost set. There was very little light. The two of us pulling layers down. Boxes were falling apart. I was up on the mountain pulling things from the top. At one point I lost my shoe in the pile. We'd fill a bag and drop it into the back of the car then crawl out for another!
We left filthy and satisfied.
The next phase of the operation was us going through our booty. Sheets went down and the contents of the bags came out. We were very brave and re-bagged anything we would not use or be able to recycle.
My favorite finds were a huge vintage wooden spoon, a 1977 Silver Jubilee Quality Street Tin, and aaallll of the recipe books! Oh the recipe books. Some recipes have hand written notes added. Some of the books consisted of recipes cut out of magazines and newspaper from many years past!
I am so happy with my finds. I've been washing the fabrics, wiping the tins and drying the paper ephemera....there are sooo many more photos coming! Just a little more work to do to get stuff ready! Yay!

MEET OUR NEW FABULOUS FRIEND! BebesDéco!!!!

DRUM ROLL PLEASE......

INTRODUCING........

1. Hello Tatiana! Why don't you introduce yourself and tell us about YOU!

My name is Tatiana Bravo I’m 21 years old born and raised in Miami, FL. Living in Miami can be a bit hectic sometimes, with a full time job full time school, managing a site, trying to do all at once. Seems like the Miami lifestyle but overall I love my sunny city and wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. Growing up I always knew I wanted to do something big; I was never a follower always a leader. I was never influenced by others, I knew that I was born to do great things and be someone. I joined Etsy about a few days ago and it has been an incredible experience seeing how creative and passionate our fellow Etsians are and reading life changing stories where people quit there day job and turned their hobbies into a business has really inspired me. I work alongside my mom who is the genius behind all our wonderful creations helping in anything she needs as a new year we decided that it is time for us to turn our hobbies into a business and this is where our business venture begins.  I currently attend Miami Dade College majoring in Business Administration hoping to one day open a children’s Boutique and like others here on Etsy turn my hobby into a major success. (:

2. Do your website & shop have a special name? Where did that name come from?

My shop’s name is Bebes Décor; it came about 3 years ago when I decided that I wanted to help my mom’s vision come to life. I did my research and I started off with the simplest task of all… creating a domain and hosting site, it was there where I had to come up with a name for our business. Finally after hours and hours of thinking and testing names I came up with Bebes Décor. I thought it was a perfect fit! I wanted the name to resemble 3 major things, sophistication, chic-ness, and creativeness because we wanted our site and creations to resemble elegance of virtue by being fashionable. 

 3. What was the last treasure that arrived in your mail?

The last treasure I received in the mail has to be my hang tags. I specially designed them myself and had a fellow Etsian make my vision come to life. It just made my vision of having a site become more realistic seeing that I have come a long way from where I was back when I only had a business name, domain, and hosting site. 

4. Where in the world would you like to visit? why?

If I could visit anywhere in the world I would definitely love to go to Italy. I would love to go see the leaning tower of pisa. I would love to visit Rome, eat some gelato!! It’s definitely a big change from the Miami lifestyle. 

 5.  What 8 records or books would you would take with you to a desert island {you can tell us why if you want to}?

 If I could take 8 records or books with me to a deserted island I would take:

       1. Weeping Willow

       2. Tears of a Tiger 

       3. Rich Dad Poor Dad 

       4. The Lovely Bones

       5.  My Sister’s Keeper

       6. He’s just not that into you (I think we all would take this) 

       7. Crash course in Love 

       8. Act like a lady, think like a man 

6. If you could go back and live in a past decade or century, when would you choose and why?

If I could go back and live in a past decade or century I would definitely love to live in the year 1978 back in the days when Grease was a hit. I love their style!!! The old school cars and restaurants with the jukebox. It’s incredible; I always have loved the era. Things where more simple, technology wasn’t so advanced. 

 7. What is your favorite thing about creating something by hand?

My Favorite thing about creating something by hand has to be that I know it will be a reminder of someone’s special moment. Whether it’s a crown for a flower girl for someone’s wedding or party favors I know our creations will be physical evidence of that special day. 

8. Please list three of your favorite things. Why are they favorites?

Three favorite things of mine movies!!! I love the movies. I have noticed the older I get the more into movies I have gotten, it’s just so relaxing and calming. Whatever mood I may be if I see a movie it just seems all better it’s like a mini vacation for me. Going into fantasy world. Another thing has to be working on expanding my site, I love this because this is one of my goals I feel this will make me a better person and help me achieve other goals I have.  Last but not least I love music. Music always seems to help my moods, whether I’m sad, mad, angry or just feeling happy music always helps me feel better. There is always a song that you can relate to. 

9. What could you eat/drink every single day and never grow tired of?

One thing I could eat everyday and never get tired of is Pizza!!! I looove pizza!! And coke. I’m addicted to coca cola, it’s so refreshing!! =)

10. What is your favorite place? Will you describe it to us?

My favorite place as cheesy as it may sound is Miami. It has a bit of everything the cold the sunny; it has beautiful beaches an amazing night life. It’s a place where if you can dream you can make it into reality.  

 

 Thanks so much Tatiana! It was lovely getting to know you! 

Please visit Bebes Décor and spend lots of money and get super cute & lovely treasures in return!!!! 

my dad. 1960.

here are some picture of my dad in 1960. 17 years before I met him :)

Window Shopping.

For the time-being I must content myself with window shopping....sometimes my shop cruising ends up being inspiration for something I can do myself! I definitely have the shopping gene, I got it from my dad funnily enough! SO if you love shopping like I do, even if it's just window shopping, follow me!

A Bun in the Oven Card

 Ha! Funny! I've seen some really fun ways people have made their preggo announcement, this one is so fun! But don't get all hot & bothered, I'm not making an announcement...yet ;)!

Benny's Flag Blank Book  I wonder if Mr Woo would fancy this journal?...

Young Girl Reading Jean Honore Fragonard

Oh! I love this print! My grandparents had a big framed copy hanging in their house when I was growing up! I always loved it!

Giant Cupcake Tin....no explanation needed!

le nid d'oiseaux A Bird's Nest in a Teacup Winter Party

"Ethel is a beautiful bird who loves living in the fragrant woods! She has dreams of opening a dress shop in Paris, but for now she enjoys designing frocks and finery for her friends of the forest. Ethel chose an abandoned blue teacup and saucer for her home. She has decorated it with vintage gold and blue tinsel garland for the holidays. She is getting ready to have her best friend over for tea and cookies. Her best friend is a sweet,shy young doe named Millie. Ethel has selected some icy red berries to go along with the Darjeeling tea and cookies in the shape of bells to serve to her guest. She is scurrying to finish her sewing before Millie arrives. So many special orders!Humming a sweet tune, Ethel stitches carefully and quickly, while the tea kettle is starting to whistle. This is going to be such fun! There is always time for tea with a friend!

Ethel's Teacup Nest is composed of:
A vintage robin's egg blue Melmac cup and saucer
Richly glittered portrait of Ethel taken from a Victorian nature diary reproduction book~sparkles like snow
An empty English wrapper of needles with lovely graphics
Shabby spool of thread and rickrack accented with pearl pin
Icy red berries
Sweet vintage fawn and tree stump filled with a real pinecone
Jingle bells
Vintage bell cookie cutter
Lovely vintage golden metal buttons
Vintage garland
Seam binding

PERFECT!"

I love this! My Sparrows Nest has the most wonderful little charming Etsy shop! 

'Cause...I do. (click the pic for the link)

le herisson / the hedgehog

necklace.

skating.

tiny charm

 a spunky adventurous little lady

stamp.

the best purse ever.

postcard

ok.....I'll spare you another hedgehog now! See you tomorrow with a new Fabulous Friend!

So Good!

I decided to share a list of some of the things either really into at the moment or that I'm finding useful or inspiring! Enjoy!

If you read my blog often you already know I've got one sweet Hus. The other day he surprised me with this book for no reason!

1. I love presents 
2. I love surprises 
3. UH! HELLO A SURPRISE PRESENT ABOUT THRIFTY LIVING AND CRAFTS AND RECIPES!!!!
   Oh yeah. He's a keeper :)
   
   This book was my surprise:
   
   The Thrift Book: Live Well and Spend Less

The most encouraging & inspiring book about living on less! It gets hard living on a limited income and we can start feeling really down about it, but this book has made me excited about living well with less! Not only is it full of tips and links to helpful websites IT HAS RECIPES WITH VARIATIONS! This book is worth the cost for the curry recipe alone! That is an A+ + in my book! 

My new crafty tool:

Heat It Up Heat Gun

This bad boy makes hot air! Hotter than a hair dryer and without the blow. It for embossing with powders {which I have recently discovered is great fun!}. It can also be used to dry paint or glitter or even small fimo sculptures quickly! I don't know how green it is to use, but it must be more efficient than heating up the oven for a few small fimo bits to set! 

Waste Not Want Not...in the Kitchen:

I know I'm not the only one who hates waste. I'm not the only one trying to be less wasteful. I recycle, I reuse what I can. But I have always found "recycling" food most difficult. Unfortunately I'm not alone "People are needlessly throwing away 3.6m tonnes of food each year in England and Wales, research suggests" states the BBC. That's not even the worst of it. Check out that article if you are looking for some motivation!
I mean, I'll whip up a banana bread from old brown bananas before you can spell banana, but other left overs are tough. We ate a lot of leftovers growing up...and I vowed I would never eat them when I was an adult! I thought it was sooo gross! The Hus isn't a great lover of left overs either. When I'd freeze something it would end up being thrown out anyhow, just at a later date. We're getting better. I make breadcrumbs from our leftover bread, I am learning how to make delicious soup out of just about any vegetable lingering in our fridge. I made a spaghetti pie the other day out of left overs and I was so scared The Hus wouldn't like it. He actually LOVED it! He ate the left over pie the next day for lunch and has asked to have it again! Hooray!  

We have an ad campaign going on over here in the UK - Love Food, Hate Waste. It's on TV. It's in magazines and newspapers. I didn't take any notice of what they were promoting because the ads are a bit odd. However, thanks to my trusty new Thrift Book I looked up the site they've been promoting.
It's simple. LOVE FOOD HATE WASTE dot com. What a great site! It's full of tips, advice and recipes. It's all common sense but sometimes I need a little bit of guidance. I'm on my way to being super non-waster!    

My Fave Places to get Vintage Crafty Jewellery Stuff:

The stock of the shops is out of this world! My next fave bit is that their shipping policies are the best! Pay for the most expensive one and the rest is free!!! You can't beat that with a stick! They are both wonderful & accept paypal! My Vintage Charms has super cute packaging too :)

I'm a big fan of paypal because when I sell something on Etsy, they money goes into my paypal account which I can they turn around and use to buy more supplies online! 

I'd better get going and scrounge around in the kitchen it's lunch time and The Hus will be home soon looking for eats! 

I'd LOVE to hear about your recent inspirations! Do tell if you check out any of mine and find them as wonderful as I do!