Kinda Speechless

It takes a lot for me to stop talking, but this birthday cake by Cheryl Kleinman from Betty Bakery took my breath away and was an absolutely perfect guest at my party!  I'm so grateful to the family and friends who came out to celebrate and I tried not to get too teary-eyed.  It all started with this invite from Paperless Post, love this site...

Of course the theme was pink & purple:

and Betty Bakery also made these yummy cupcakes that Rachael brought.  The pink ones were strawberry frosted!

There was an abundance of cheese, mmm....one of my favorite foods ever...and lovely duck sausage, pate and rillettes from New Amsterdam Market.  This was only one of the cheese tables!

Gotta have some nice drinks, including a magnum of Veuve Clicquot yellow label Champagne I got as a gift in 2007 and never seemed to get around to opening, lovely local wine and a strawberry sangria that Jenny made.

I attempted a little speech but didn't get too far.  It was just enough to have everyone there with me for the day, eating and happy.  There was much Bonchon Korean fried chicken, pajeon (pancakes), mandu (dumplings), kimchi coleslaw, eggplant parmesan made by my Mom, a strawberry jello mold made by my Aunt Liz (a family favorite), curry rice with chicken made by Ray, california rolls and spam sushi made by Tomoko, dumplings brought by Louise, a gorgeous plum tart made by Eunice and luscious enchiladas made by Eric.  

How I didn't get pics of all of this astounds me, but I guess I was running around a bit in my sparkly heels and pink crown.

And there were party favors!  Stamped paper fans from an idea by Martha Stewart (and the fans were just $1.00 from Pearl River Mart).

Pretty cards, including a few cats of course:

Colorful flowers from Eliot and Robert:

And presents!

Lexi made this ceramic tile: ahhh she knows of my affection for precious, little sheep.

I used Paperless Post again for the Thank You cards.  My friend actually thought this was my handwriting -- I WISH I could write this neatly, but I'm definitely not known for that.  Thanks especially to my setup & cleanup crews, great job, guys!

Today a UPS surprise arrived!  Girly fun by Nars from Niki of B3: Beauty by Brennan. 

And finally a BLOG surprise!  I noticed more than a usual number of hits yesterday and found out that Teri & Jenny from spoon fork bacon had added me to their "blogs we love" page.  So exciting!  Thanks so much, ladies, the feeling is mutual!

Just another lunch (Thai) and 2 more dinners out (Italian, then Korean BBQ) to finish off this super fun week....really: BEST birthday in years.

100th Post Giveaway! (& my newest follower)

This is my 100th Post on Craftiness NOW!  

To celebrate I'm doing my 2nd giveaway: 12 greeting cards of all seasons made with Martha Stewart craft punches 

in hearts, flowers, leaves and snowflakes.  

My 1st giveaway was knit sushi for kitties, and speaking of kitties...meet Mila!

She's now the official blog mascot.  Strangely enough I just redecorated my bedroom in grey and then she came along and matches it quite well.

But back to the giveaway: the 3 heart cards say:

1) happy valentine's day (inside: to my one and only)

2) you & me (inside: meant to be) 

3) love to love you

The 3 snowflake cards say:

1) happy holidays

2) merry christmas to you

3) happy first snow to you (inside: and many more)

And...oh...uh oh, kitten card bowling, excuse me a minute...

Apparently if she's the center of attention she'll allow the photo session to continue.

Although she's thinking about knocking them all over again...I think...

Ahem...anyway, the 3 flower cards say:

1) miss you

2) happy birthday (inside: to you!)

3) happy day to you (inside: from me)

And the 3 leaf cards say:

1) i'm falling in love (inside: with you)

2) give thanks (inside: today & always)

3) thank you (inside: for all that you do)

And each card is stamped on the back with my new logo!  

Don't eat it, Mila...

OK, there's a better shot -- the stamp is from RubberStamps.net, highly recommended!

After the busy photo shoot she fell asleep, so now I can explain the giveaway:

1 entry will be given for each of the following:

- leave a comment with a favorite or unusual holiday you celebrate

- leave a (separate) comment with a crafty event coming up

- leave a(nother) comment with a great craft supply source

- be a blog follower

- follow me on Twitter

- like the Craftiness NOW Facebook page

The winner will be chosen at midnight 

on Monday, February 14th, Valentine's Day!  

Good luck and thanks for making Mila feel at home here :-)

Peg Stamp Cards

I mentioned in my 1st post of the new year that I got a 40% off coupon from Michael's so I bought a pretty Martha Stewart Peg Stamp Kit. 

I had never used peg stamps before, but the peg is the ruled piece of acrylic that you hold and which you can stick the stamps to.  It's quick and easy and there's such a nice selection in this kit, so there are many possibilities. 

 

I can't seem to find this exact kit online, but it could be in your local Michael's right now.  I basically followed the patterns on the package to start with, but I think I'll be using this again soon.