Crafter's Dream Job

To our friends and readers, please indulge me one last time as I showcase my last event for the year.  This time, I partnered with another event planner to bring to fruition the first ever "Christmas Gift Fair by the Vineyards."

The event was a lot of fun to put together as I got to meet a lot of fabulous craftspeople and artisans.  The event even caught the attention of local press (Niagara Events Presents “Christmas Gift Fair” by the Vineyards | Niagara Falls).  I was in awe with the assortment of handmade goodies and the support from Niagara residents.  

Clockwise: Soaps by Nikki, Wanda's Wicked Jelly, TCH Catering, Cherryl Corris of Better Homes & Garden Realty / Photos courtesy of Daniel Morel, Nichole Robinson

Clockwise: Lucien Gagnon Reclamations, Those Girls' Garden Arts, Simply Stitches, Kozmo's Kos

Clockwise: Waggin' Walks, Angelic Stones, Collier Creations, Imagine it Crafts

Clockwise: Grandma Jean's Creation, Lucien's Gagnon's Reclamations, Clocks by Walter, 4 Paws Pet Bakery 

 I find my new "gig" very rewarding. Not only do I get to promote local craftspeople, but we were able to collect toys to build Niagara Regional Police toy mountain during the event.  I am hoping this will be a start of a Holiday tradition in the community.

Enjoy your Holiday shopping and don't forget to support your local artisans & businesses!

Canada's Baking & Sweets Show

I was like kid in a candy store when Irma and I attended the Canada's Baking and Sweets show at the Toronto Congress Centre this past weekend.  This event showcases the hottest trends and latest technologies in the world of baking and sweets featuring the amazing talents of cake artists, pastry chefs and tons of baking enthusiasts.  

The theme for this year is Alice in Wonderland.  The stunning craftsmanship of gifted cake designers was showcased in the theme cake competition.  More than a dozen jaw dropping cakes were featured, and my top 3 are:

My personal favourite.  See how clean and perfect it is?

The details!! Incredible artistry!

The winning cake! Exquisite!

There was an eclectic gathering of chefs and industry professionals who gave live demos and provided insightful tips both on stage level and through meets and greets.

The lovely and delightful Heather from Cupcake Girls (with me and my daughter Sofia)

The star of the event: the cake boss himself!

This event is not just for baking enthusiasts.  Anybody with a sweet tooth will be inspired and entertained with the amount of talent, decadence and free mini cupcakes the event has to offer! Go check it out next year!

With Irma

My kids high on sugar!

 I hope your weekend was as sweet as ours.  Thanks for dropping by!

Bebsy

Garlic Fever

"There is no such thing as a little garlic." - Arthur Baer

My love affair with garlic started with my first taste of "Adobo", a "garlicky" dish staple to any Filipino home.  Incidentally, as I was writing this blog, my mom who is visiting, prepared this delicacy for lunch. 


Mom's version of Chicken-Pork Adobo loaded with garlic - YUM!

Mom won't always be here to prepare Adobo for me.  So on days when I need to satisfy my garlic craving, one quick way is through roasted garlic.   Roasted garlic can be enjoyed by itself or as a topping for mashed potatoes, bread or pasta. Here is one recipe from Elise Bauer who posted her idea at Simply Recipes. 

To my delight, September is proving to be the month of garlic...at least in my neck of the woods.  The Stratford Garlic Festival starts tomorrow and runs until Sunday in Stratford, ON.  Next weekend, the Niagara Garlic Festival will be held on Saturday, September 13th at Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON.   And on September 22nd, the Toronto Garlic Festival will take place at Evergreen Brickworks in Toronto, ON.  These festivals help promote local garlic growers and producers of garlic. 

For those interested in free tickets to the Niagara Garlic & Herb Festival, email me (or craftmatesetc ^@^ gmail.com, if link doesn't work) with your address, # of people attending, and I'll mail out the tickets to you.  Or, if you prefer, pick it up at the admissions tent on the day of the festival.  Note that the free tickets are limited so they are on a first-come-first-serve basis. 

Enjoy your weekend!

 

Thank You, Volunteers!

One of the events I helped organized, the 1st Niagara Food Fight for Foodies festival, was held last August 17th.  The event would not have been possible without the help of friends and volunteers (special mention to Craftmate, Virna who volunteered in the admissions tent).  I was pleasantly surprised by the volunteers from Brock University.  They were all very helpful and stepped above and beyond what was required of them.






As a thank you, I sent them a small token in a little handmade card.  I got the gift card holder tutorial from an awesome blog, "Secret Life of Paper" .  What I love about the tutorial is that I was able to use scrap stock card that I had saved.

Enjoy your weekend!

Craftmates at the Niagara Lavender Festival

The day was just perfect for an outdoor picnic.  That is exactly what happened when the Craftmate Virna joined me at the Lavender Festival last July 13-14, 2013 at Niagara on the Lake, ON.  Family and friends stopped by to help out, peruse our wares or just to say hi.

 

Festival attendees stopping by Craftmates booth

 

Family and Friends helping out the Craftmates' booth

 

Craftmate Irma's stationery

 

Craftmate Virna's bookmarks and purses.  Virna's hubby Louie also showcased his multi-tiered tea plates.

 

Louie's terrariums and vertical gardens were a hit!

 

True to its promise, the lavender festival was a feast for the senses.  The festival was held outdoors in the lavender fields so purple hues abound.  As well, the exhilirating scent of the blooms filled the air.

What a beautiful backdrop to our booth!

Lavender in full bloom

 

Food infused with lavender and essential oils are available to taste and purchase.  Cooking demos and greenhouse tours ran every hour so there was no lack of things to do at the event.

A guest enjoying lavender waffles from a cooking demo

 

Long line-up for lavender ice cream tasting

 

The local culinary college was handing out samples of lavender soda water and rootbeer

 

Event volunteer Bonnie giving our lavender sconces and lemongrass popcorn

 

We had a wonderful time at the event.  See you next year!

 

 

happy star wars day!

May the 4th be with you!

Celebrate your inner geek today!

Bebsy ;-)

Easter Cookies

Not too long ago, I attended a buttercream cake decorating class on a whim.  I managed to get through the 4-weekend course but I wouldn't say I was at the top of the class.  2 years and $200-worth of supplies later, I made my first attempt to decorate with royal icing.  I thought why not give out home made cookies for Easter instead of my usual store-bought chocolate?  After all, how different is royal icing from buttercream anyway?  Surely after my class and investment on materials, I am fully-equipped for the challenge.  HUGE MISTAKE!

After 3 days of trial and error, I was able to come up with a batch of half-decent cookies.  For the base, I followed the recipe from allrecipes.com and I have to say, the sugar cookies are indeed one of the best I have tasted.  I also went through several youtube videos and found this tutorial on decorating with royal icing very easy to follow.

I bet you are now curious as to how the cookies turned out.  Here are Aimee's easter cookies.....(I hope my teacher is not reading this)

Have a Happy Easter Everyone from the Craftmates!

Crop & Create Cards

Hello everyone! It's been weeks since I last posted and once again I've been delinquent with my blogging duties.  The problem is that I haven't been doing a lot of crafting lately. By the time I get home from work, I don't have a lot of energy left to do much except veg out in front of the TV.

Anyway, the Craftmates went to the Crop & Create event a few weeks ago. I had a great time with the girls as we spent the whole day chatting, laughing, eating, and bonding together. We had so much fun that we plan to make it an annual tradition. 

During the event, I was able to make some cards with the help of Irma. As you all know, she's great at picking colours and creating layouts. So, here are the cards I made...

Tags

Thanks Irma for all your help.

Till next time!

croppin' and creatin'

We hope everyone is safe and warm following that historic snowstorm last Friday in the Northeast.  It would have been safer to stay home during the weekend, but all 4 of us dug ourselves out of our homes and braved the snow covered roads to attend Crop & Create, a special event organized by Scrapbook & Cards Today.  

This wonderful travelling event celebrates the art of paper crafting that features classes administered by the best teachers in the industry.  We also were treated to delicious food, a delectable dessert buffet, awesome makes 'n takes and fabulous goody bags!

It was a great opportunity to meet fellow crafters, share our stories and meet new friends. 

The event also featured inspiring challenges for the participants.  It was no surprise that our very own paper addict Irma won the Color Suite layout challenge. 10 snaps for Irma!!!

We highly recommend Canadian crafters to check out Crop & Create and see if this spectacular event is coming to your Province.  

Check out our photos below:

At the event photo booth

Bebsy with Kelly Wood, owner of big little words cards

Irma with Crop & Create instructor and blogger Kelly Purkey