A case of the no-mail service blues…

We’re still status quo on the postal strike/lockout.  Our members of Parliament are currently in a marathon debate session about forcing return to work legislation. I won’t get into my personal political beliefs on the matter, but I, like many other Canadians, want this to end.

I had thought the strike/lockout (and I say both because the union initiated rolling strikes when in the legal position to strike, then the company locked the workers out) would give me time to catch up on my creative endeavours.  I have a million and one ideas for the shop and for the gorgeous Japanese paper I have lying around.  Truth be told, I’m less motivated to be crafty. 

What’s the point? I can’t list the items, because I can’t sell the items, because I can’t ship the items.

I’ve come to realize that summer is a harder time for me and the shop.  My ‘real job’ usually picks up in the summer, so when I get home, I’m exhausted and don’t have the energy to cut a straight line.  When the weather is great, I often feel guilty about being indoors and end up abandoning the craft table for the patio, or the pool.  Weekends, which is typically the only time I have to be crafty, are filled with road trips, visits with friends and general summer laziness.

It’s not necessarily a bad thing. 

The benefit to an online shop is that it’s always there.

I’m hoping I can find some motivation for some small projects ( I think it’s about time for bookmarks to make a return to the shop) to jump-start my creativity.  I miss it, but I’ve also decided to embrace the break.  There’s a reason why they say vacation leave often goes unused (not really a problem for me from my ‘real job’) but sometimes small business owners forget to take some time to recharge. 

The downside to an online shop is that it’s always there.

For now, I’m going to focus on enjoying my weekend; my Godson is coming to visit and we’re taking him to Storybook gardens, a mini (and I mean mini)-amusement park here in London.

Happy Friday!

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Kenny K birthday card

A quick post with a Kenny K birthday card.  I stumbled upon Kenny K by accident…or through a blog hop or something…and found this image.  I had to have it immediately, it looks just like my friend C! I kept the card simple because I wanted the main focus is the basketball player. 

The card base is Crumb Cake (can you tell I love that as a card base?) and used some Pumpkin Pie for matting.  I found this orange and blue paper in my stash and coloured the image using that as my inspiration.

 

I coloured the image with prismas and blended with OMS. 

 

 

 

 

On the inside, I made a little gift card holder for a coffee card for C. I used some matching paper from the front of the card, and folded it in half.  I used my window punch to punch where the card would be held, and glued the sides together.  It’s a great, and quick way to hold a gift card inside a card.

Happy Wednesday!

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GLEE Live 2011!

Saturday night was a great night! A very dear friend and I saw Glee Live 2011 in Toronto at the Air Canada Centre. As a die-hard music/pop-culture fan, a musical TV show is pretty much the greatest thing ever. And a live show about said musical-tv show…even better! My name is Stephanie, and I’m a Gleek!

The opening act was LXD- The League of Extraordinary Dancers. I’d been eagerly awaiting this act. The show was aired online in the US. As a Canadian, I can’t watch it on US websites. Our Canadian music channel just started airing the episodes, they are fantastic! For those who have followed So You Think You Can Dance from the beginning will recognize this guy… it’s Twitch! I tried to capture some action shots, but those guys move so fast, they were hard to capture. LXD was a great start to the concert.

Next the Cheerio Cheerleaders passed out barf bags in true Sue Sylvester style. We were way up in the 300 section, but very close to the stage (more on that later), so we didn’t get any, but it was a pretty funny bit.

Finally, the cast of Glee arrived on stage and wowed us for about an hour and a half. The show was really high energy, and so much fun! There was an appearance by the Warblers, and they totally rocked it!

I was surprised and irked to see empty seats when the show was sold out! {and far too many to be from people not being able to make it at the last minute}. I had tried to get pre-sale tickets, but we weren’t getting a good section. When the sale went public, our tickets ended up in section 300 {have I mentioned how much I love my Sony HX1 with 20x zoom?}. This always bothers me about concerts…I would’ve gladly paid more money to sit in the lower bowl, but I wasn’t given the chance.

I was a bit worried that being up so high we’d be removed from the energy. I will gladly admit I was wrong. The show is so well put together, and the cast is so incredibly talented…it didn’t matter where you sat, it was a great experience. There were two stages set up, and they split up the performances well between the two.

I would absolutely recommend seeing the show, although the tour is winding down. This was the first time on the tour that they came to Canada, and had 4 shows in Toronto. I’m hoping, if they tour next year, they’ll return to Toronto. And I’ll get closer seats!

I’ve posted a handful of pictures…I don’t think you want to see all 128 of them. Enjoy! {I’m also going to try to upload some of the videos I took to Flickr; I’ll post a link if it works}

Chris Colfer (Kurt)

Amber Riley (Mercedes) on the back stage

Heather Morris (Britney)- who was dancing in every single number. The energy and talent this girl has is phenomenal!

If you watch the show, you’ll know these T-shirts mean they were singing Lady Ga-Ga’s “Born this Way”…such a great performance!

Cory Monteith (Finn)

Chord Overstreet (Sam)

Chris Colfer (Kurt); Jenna Ushkowitz (Tina); Amber Riley (Mercedes)

Lea Michelle (Rachel)- singing Katy Perry’s “Fireworks”

Dianna Agron (Quinn) and Chord Overstreet (Sam) singing “Lucky” by Jason Mraz

Kevin McHale (Artie) singing with Harry Shum (Mike) dancing to Michael Jackson’s “PYT-Pretty Young Thing”

Darren Criss (Blaine) and “The Warblers” sing “Raise Your Glass” by Pink

The finale- Queen’s “Somebody to Love”

Happy Tuesday to all my fellow Gleeks!

Technorati Tags: Glee,Glee Live,Toronto,Air Canada Centre

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Custom Birthday card

I’ve been meaning to post this for a while, but I keep forgetting.  A friend asked for a custom birthday card for her father-in-law’s 65th birthday.  I had some Kaiser craft paper that I thought would be perfect for the project.

 

 

  I love the soft vintage colours and the hot air balloons are great for a masculine card. 

 

 

I added some eyelets I had in my stash in a light olive green that matched the paper really well. I often struggle with masculine cards because adding ribbons and flowers are not an option.  Eyelets and buttons are a must! for masculine cards.

 

 

The card base is Crumb Cake, with a Chocolate Chip mat.  I distressed the edges of all the paper with Crumb Cake, and then shadowed the edges of the nestibility with the same ink for the sentiment.  I really like the clean lines of this card, and can’t wait to use more of this paper.

Happy Monday!

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Hello little baby, and a project that’s not paper!

Last weekend my friend D hosted a ‘meet-the-baby’ party for her new little boy.  I’m so happy for D and her husband, and the little one is absolutely darling!  I made this sweet little 4x4 card (I’m a little addicted to them now) using some retired SU paper, which is perfect for a baby boy card.

The card base is Crumb Cake, with a Bashful Blue mat.  I used the Mojo Monday 193 layout, one that I will definitely use again.  I added a So Saffron circle to the bashful blue, and then layered some more ovals.  A simple knot of Bashful Blue grosgrain ribbon completed the card.

As for the gift, this is a project I’m really proud of, and it’s not paper!  I mentioned a few weeks ago that I’d gotten back into knitting.  When D first told me she was expecting, I knew immediately I wanted to knit something for her little one.  I decided to knit a baby cardigan from the book More Last minute Knitted Gifts by Joelle Hoverson from The Purl Bee/Purl Soho.

D and I actually visited Purl Soho when we were in NYC at Christmas; I had every intention to buy the yarn there…but to be honest, I was so intimidated by the gorgeous yarn and haven’t never knit a sweater of any size before.  Also, D and her husband decided not to find out the sex of the baby before the arrival.  I refused to knit in green or yellow, so I told her I’d start the sweater after the baby arrived.

When I got the text message from D  that it was a boy, and I headed up to the yarn shop to get some ‘boy’ yarn.   I chose some Berocco Comfort Chunky yarn in Navy blue.  This yarn isn’t what’s called for in the pattern, it calls for a merino/silk blend which I’m sure would be heavenly….not very baby friendly in my opinion. 

The Berocco yarn is delicious to work with! It’s so soft and knits up really well, and is machine washable.  I also found THE most adorable buttons for the sweater, which was a big hit with Mom and all the ladies at the party.  I just love those ducks!

If you’re a beginner knitter, I highly recommend the “More last minute knitted gifts” book; it’s easy to follow and has projects for every level of knitter. I took a bit longer than the time indicated for this sweater, but it still knit up quite quickly.

Happy Friday!

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Shop re-opened; rolling postal strikes continue

The union of postal workers have initiated rolling strikes across Canada.  I hesitated in re-opening A Paper Buffet on Etsy , but I’ve decided to go ahead.  There’s still a chance of a national strike, and if it’s announced, then I’ll close the shops again.   Orders will continue to be mailed out the next business day upon confirmed payment, but there could still be major delays due to the rolling strikes.

I’ve got some new stuff to add this week, and I’m working on some new products.  A big thank you for all your support as we work our way through this.

Happy Tuesday!

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