Shopping Handmade: Náyade's birthday!

Happy Friday everyone!


Even if I have to work Saturday night shift, I'm feeling like I'm getting half a weekend off, even if I'm debating whether to take a nap or have a nice coffee! Maybe both?


Yesterday I met up with my friends from uni, since Náyade (the one living in Italy) was visiting and it had been her b-day on the 22nd, so we had to celebrate her b-day!


We met up over drinks and tapas, basking in the nice February sun, and enjoying having a lost spring day to enjoy in the outside tables of the pub we were at! As usual, we chatted, we laughed and we had a brilliant time! And of course, I took loads of pics!


All my present for Náyade were handmade, and she loved them all! First of all, since both Pilu and Náyade liked the lil nurse I got for Esther, I asked Camamiel's Ana to create a lovely adorable custom nurse for Náyade too, and as always, Ana created the perfect doll! Náyade loved her, and now Pilu is asking for a doll, too! She'll just have to wait for her b-day in October, though ;)






I also put together a lil care baggie for Náyade with a Green Tea soap from Sweet Petula, the awesome happy feet Peppermint cream from Right As Rain Creations and a sample size body lotion from Body Language Soaps! And you only have to read Náyade's body language to see she was happy with the gifts! ;)






Last but not least, a birthday is not a proper birthday without a birthday card! And my handmade route always goes through On Cupcake Moon, since Deb was so awesome as to make me b-day cards in Spanish, and to add the final touch, a lil stamping done with my cupcake stamp from Skull And CrossBuns!








I leave you with a toast to friendship and sunny days! Esther says: Have a tinto de verano with us! ;)

Shopping Handmade: Pilu's Birthday with home baked cupcakes!

Friday is here, once again, and this blog entry is dedicated to last Friday and my friend Pilu's lil birthday celebration and gifts, all done the handmade way!


I had promised Pilu I'd make her the delicious Mojito cupcakes from Heaven is a Cupcake blog, so on Thursday evening I got onto baking them, and they came out looking pretty yummy! I used the "Happy Birthday" liners I got from the Cupcake Social, and once again went with some shortcuts for the recipe, using Mojito mix instead o white rum & lime & peppermint extract, and for the frosting, I used the Flying Bird Botanical's Lavender Mint cacao, it really gave them a lovely minty flavour!




I was waiting for some bakery boxes I had ordered from Paradise Cupcakes, and they luckily arrived on Friday, so I could pack up a dozen frosted cupcakes without them being squished or arrive looking all wonky.






I used a bit of ribbon from my last SugarKitty corsets order and a HK as a panda sticker to give it the final touch. And yes, I am aware cupcakes are not corsets, but hey it was the only ribbon I had handy!




My parents drop me at Guadalajara's train station on their way to the cottage, where Pilu picked me up (thankfully I didn't have to take the train with two bags of presents, two boxes full of cupcakes and a handbag) and we drove to order some sushi to take, and two Sapporo beers for the birthday lunch!




We returned to Pilu's house with our loot and set up table to eat our veggies tempura, small sushi & maki set and the restaurant special, salmon & tuna tempura maki! Miss Indy, Pilu's doggie was hoping she'd get a bit of food, but sushi & beer is not for doggies!











What she did get was a new Fabulously Fierce Pets collar, cause her old one is too small for her now, she's grown quite a bit in the two months I haven't seen her! She's such a gorgeous and loveable puppy! I also got Pilu a pair of leash bags, and she absolutely loved them! They're perfect to keep treats for the doggies when walking them, or for keeping your phone & keys if you have no pockets!

Miss Indy modeling one of the leash bags!

After lunch, it was time for the presents, while we made room in our tummies for the cupcakes! I got her a ComfortRead pillow from Inverness Studios, and she absolutely loved it! She's as much as a bookworm as I am, and I knew she'd love the idea of having something to rest & hold the book while reading in bed or on the sofa, and with the pocket to keep the bookmark, no more fumbling around for it! And can also be used as a travel pillow, cause it has a handle.




Since she's a huge tea lover like myself, I got her two tea kits from Purpose Design, a chai tea kit, and a herbal tea kit. Both are amazing, and smell great!




I also got her a RockyTheZombie t-shirt, I knew she loved Rhi's shop cause she had seen my t-shirts and loved them, and even signed up for Etsy to buy a RTZ baby tee for a friend's baby boy, so I just got her a Zombie Kitty tee in green, her favourite colour! She absolutely loved it, and I think I might have got her hooked for good to RTZ...




She also loved her b-day card, custom made for me by the talented Deb of On Cupcake Moon with Miss Cinnamon in them, and that I hand stamped with my Skull And Cross Buns cupcake stamp!


After all the gifts, we moved to the kitchen and decided to prepare some nice & spicy Chai tea to go with the cupcakes, with her new kit that includes the recipe! I prefer to throw all the spices & tea directly in the milk and boil it all till the colour & smell is right, so that's what we did, we overdid it a bit on the sugar, but otherwise, it was really yummy!






Once the tea was ready, we went onto devour the cupcakes, which Pilu really loved, cause she ate three right away! I ate two, and poor Alberto, Pilu's boyfriend arrived in time to eat the last one of the box! Luckily for him, there was another box!








After we enjoyed a tea with cupcakes and chit chat, we decided to go for a walk with Indy, since the day was great & sunny, without being hot, a lovely early autumn day! The perfect ending for a very nice day & a great way to burn those cupcakes down! ;)

More Skull And sCrossBuns!!

I've already told you all about this amazing shop called Skull And CrossBuns run by an amazing artist and mum of two from the UK called Emily, right?


Well, I'm just here to show off the amazing new goodies I got myself from her shop! After getting my two awesome custom stamps made, I fell in love with some her stamps in stock, and so I went and got me some!


It was just after I had come back from Maiden's concert, so of course, I had to get her Keep Calm and Rock On! stamp, and thinking of adding a more personal touch to both b-day and Holidays cards & envelopes, I got myself a super cute Cupcake stamp and a Skull & Cross Canes stamp that is perfect both for Hallowe'en and Yule/Christmas/Winter Solstice!


Aside from how awesome her stamps are, one of the best things about Emily is how cute she makes her packaging, you almost feel bad for ripping into it!








Not only I got my stamps, but she also sent me an extra one, quite the perfect companion for the Keep Calm and Rock On! stamp, a Devil Horns stamp! (I'd like to remember here the great Ronnie James Dio, who was the one to bring them to rock'n'roll!)! These two really are the perfect pair! I can't wait to start using them, though I'm still plotting how!








The Cupcake and Skull & Cross Canes I already have a very clear idea of what I'll be using them for!





Cupcake stamp I've already used for adding some cute cupcakes all over a friend's b-day card and envelope! No more sending boring envelopes in the mail, I'm all for making people smile before they even open the envelope! ;) And this cupcake is perfect for it! So cute and even has a heart!





Skull & Cross Canes will be my stamp for adding a personal touch to all my holiday cards and again, envelopes! I always think envelopes look too boring all blank with just the address on them, and drawing something by hand on all of them can be a bit daunting, perfect solution? A stamp!




These are for sure not the last stamps I will be getting from Emily's shop, and we're already plotting together a super special stamp, but I won't be saying any more, waaay too soon for that!

Skull And CrossBuns!!

Happy Hot Wednesday everyone!

Well, to everyone in the Northern Hemisphere at least... I'm sure people in the Southern Hemisphere in deep winter wouldn't mind a lil bit more heat, but I'm right now with the mobile AC unit on and still at 28ºC inside the house... so, yeah, a bit hot! But since today was a lovely post day, and I'm having a day off... I shall not complain!


Today's blog entry is dedicated to Miss Emily from Skull And Cross Buns (nope, not a typo, that's the name!) and her amazing hand carved rubber stamps! I met Emily through the amazing forum for crafters (and lovers of handmade) Attack of the Craft! and fell in love with her cute, quirky & rocking stamps! She has all sorts of stamps on both her Etsy & Folksy shops, from cute cupcakes (hence the Buns in her name) to skullies, rabbits, mushrooms, birds and all sorts of cute rocking goodies. And if that wasn't enough, she's extremely custom friendly!


And that's where she got me, on the custom friendly bit! I had seen this cool posters, versions of the "Keep Calm and Carry On" posters from the WW2 era, with many versions I'd love to own, but since I have no space for them yet, I thought, why not ask Emily for a more portable (and easier to store) version on a stamp? So, after choosing which ones I'd like, I asked her for a stamp version of the "Keep Calm and Snap On" (obvious one for a photography lover like me) and a entirely new "Don't Panic and Carry A Towel" one (which is a MUST for any H2G2 fan!) with a towel included, so you'll always be prepared!


Emily loved both ideas, and she set herself to work first on some sketches, so I could choose which look for the stamps I'd like better, and how did I want the towel to look like, and then carved the two awesome stamps that are now home with me!




When I got Emily's package, I found myself with a big surprise, since there were to packages inside, all stamped up with her super cute designs!








And inside one of them, were my two stamps, but what was in the other? Well, Emily is also a great Hitchhickers fan, and since she found out I never got to watch the original BBC series, she got me the DVD! =D Thank you SO MUCH, Emily!






The stamps are so masterly carved! Superbly even and with a great attention to detail! Can you see how great the lens looks in the camera? I can't believe how she manages to do that! And even more without losing any fingers! And I absolutely love that aside from the image on top of the stamp to let you know which is which, I love the tiny lil decorations all over them!














I had to wait for a bit till I got me some ink, and after all my trips around here, I still haven't found some decent ink pads (water based inks is what she recommends, and specially Versacolour & Versacraft), so I got me one on Amazon.co.uk and even though it is a combined 3-colour one, it's better than anything! I still have to find a place where I can buy ink pads online without the shipping being a killer, and with some variety! But, here are my VERY first tries using my amazing stamps!








The stamping is obviously NOT perfect but I kinda dig the multicolour look of it! I surely will be working more on this, and will be getting myself more colours, and of course, more stamps!




Whether you want to add some cuteness to your packages, cards or if you're looking for a stamp with your shop logo, Emily is your girl! Go check her shop & convo her!

That's all for now, I'll probably be back with another blog entry tomorrow, since I also have it off, I just need to take some more photos. Hopefully this evening!

Oh and btw, unless you're German, I sure hope you will all be rooting for Spain this evening!!