Tilda card and some very exciting news!

I'm sooooo excited to announce that I am now a member of the Magnolia-licious design team. I have fallen completely in love with these stamps, so you can't imagine how happy I was to get the invitation from them! This is my first card as a design team member, and it's for the March sketch challenge.

You know, I was never much of a sketch person before, but the more I'm doing them, I'm really starting to like them! The DP for this one is Kaiser, and the stamp of course is Magnolia. Cardstock is Bazzill.

I colored her with my wonderful Copic markers and added some ribbon and a Prima flower with a Making Memories brad in it. Oh and the photo corners are from a Cuttlebug die. All of these products are available at Hallmark Scrapbook.

I've seen a few people taking pics of their copics they used, and I know it sure helps me. So thought I would jump on that bandwagon too! Hope it helps you!

Thanks so much for stopping by to check on me today and I sure hope to see you back again soon! Have a wonderful Sunday!! HUGS!

Hog Wild about the Irish

Happy Friday everyone!!! I've got some exciting news to announce on Sunday, so stay tuned! I just felt like doing a light hearted, whimsical card tonight, so that's exactly what I did! I grabbed this cute stamp I just got from Whippersnapper, and was looking at it after I stamped it trying to figure out what I wanted to do when this popped into my head!

I colored the stamp with my Copic markers (coming soon to Hallmark Scrapbook), and I think it clearly shows I still need to learn a lot more about those! The DP is Nana's Kids and cardstock is Bazzill.

I added a couple Prima Flowers with some Making Memories brads in the center, and then printed off the sentiment from my computer which is double popped for dimension. Used my new favorite MS border punch too!! A lot of you will be happy to see that Hallmark Scrapbook is going to be carrying the Martha Stewart border punches!! And she ships anywhere!! YAY!!

That was all there was to it! Quite simple really! Thanks for stopping by to see me today and hope to see you back again soon!! HUGS!!

Who inspires you? :: A week of inspiration

I recently received the sweetest email from Sierra of Romeo Envy on Etsy. She just opened up her new Etsy shop, which sells lovely jewelry at very affordable prices. I hope she doesn't mind me mentioning, but she had been following the twigs & honey blog this past year and was inspired to start her own shop! I've received some of the nicest emails and convos from many brides and aspiring entrepreneurs. Thank you to everyone and keep them coming. It really makes my day to read all your heartwarming stories! I think that with the state of the economy today, it is really great that people are turning toward crafting, the arts, and hobbies! It's even greater to hear that people are supplementing their income through crafting/creating/designing or taking the plunge and becoming their own boss/home business. Doing what you love and being able to make a living or extra income on the side can be very empowering. Also, supporting crafters, artists, and designers is wonderful and gratifying in its own right!! I love finding those one of a kind pieces, made by the hands of some talented individual near or far and not too different from myself or my complete opposite.... awesome! Doesn't it feel great to create and to support those who create?? I'm not going to make this blog my political soapbox, but I do want to say that I think small businesses are such an important part of the greater picture. I love seeing all sorts of talented people succeed against current projections and trends. Every little bit can truly make a difference. What goes around comes around. Have you hugged a crafter, etsian, artist, designer today?

So I thought of doing a slightly different week of blog posts next week. Sierra's email got me to thinking. There were many individuals who inspired me to both start twigs & honey and make the career shift from employee to self-employed. I thought it was about time I share with everyone else who those fabulous people were! I'll do a post a day about an aspect of the twigs & honey business and the individual that provided me with the inspiration and push. Check back all next week!

Happy Weekend! Old photo of an Ann Wood Handmade bird. Longing for warmer days...

♥ ♛ the romantic moment he gave me ..

After all the classes & the work,in the weekends i usually being a lazy ass. I have been doing nothing but sleeping & browsing the internet for the whole day!. Hney is busy doing his work for his presentation next week. He hasn't been sleeping for almost 4 days now,he stayed up all night long & only took a nap later on lunch time. Poor thing ~





Anyway,while i was figuring out what to do,i saw choggie in the other side of my bed. I remembered that i haven't post any blog about him.





So i am in the mood of telling little stories about hney gifts since choggie was one of his surprises.

(Romantic Mode = On)





Since the first time i knew him,hney has always been the kind of guy that always makes me feel special. I'm not even sure what he did.. he just does. He's not really a romantic kind of guy,really. He will not do the sweet things to me everyday. But while i didn't expect it,he always succeedly surprised me that didn't even give me any clues of what was about to happened!. That's why it always goin to be special and will always be. =)





I remembered this one time,sometime after my birthday;2 years ago,we dine in pizzahut. while we're waiting for our food ordered,he said he needed to use the toilet. I waited for about half an hour and asked me to close my eyes. I thought he was going to make some jokes while eventually he ran along outside to buy me candles that he put into the cake from pizzahut to wished me happy birthday. i knew that it was spontaneous thing.. it was just touching!.





He also gave me this huge set of beautiful roses before i had to moved back to Indonesia. I kept it until it died. Quite sometimes he bought me roses that people sell in the street where we were happened to be there. It always makes me blushed.





But the one thing that i remember the most is when i was about to have a vacation back in Indonesia,just couple of months before this present time,i was already staying in Malaysia at that time. Unfortunately,my flight was canceled that day,but the day after it,a package of big beautiful roses arrived at my door with a note that says "Sorry for hasn't being a good 'husband' lately". I felt like i was going to cry at that time!. That package supposedly sent to my home in Jakarta,but since the flight has been canceled,he sent it at the apartment in malaysia. How sweet ~





this is the pics of the flowers he sent me that day..







Later on,on our birthday we were in Thailand,at hney's home country. We were about to celebrate both our bithday together for the first time,because for the last 2 years,we had not a chance to celebrated it together. Mine's in 27th Dec,his is on 28th Dec,just a day later mine's. what a coincidence,isn't it!. As for me,i don't need anything that special on my birthday. some little meaningful are already mean a looot to me. For example,the presence of the people i love the most and their prayers are already are the best gift for me. I'm glad that he felt the same way too. So that night,we blow our little cakes..







Before we blow the cakes,we went to this mall in Thailand for a little refreshing. The story is a little bit similar with the Pizzahut story that i told you before. We went for lunch in Sizzler. He said he wanted to go somewhere for a bit (he didn't say where). I actually was already felt suspicious. I was damn nervous the whole time while i was waiting for him. After about 20 minutes he came back with empty hand. I figured i was just too confidence and i forgot about my guess already. After we finished the lunch,he said he wanted to stob by one of the department store in the mall,we went to the sections of Dolls and Teddies. He then said that I can find some cute ones and he will buy it for me. I started looking,until hney was already in the front of me,holding a giiiannntt wrapped gift. It was already wrapped!!. He was smart,he asked me to look around so then he can freely go to the counter where they wrapped it and kept it for him!.

And of course,it was a giiiant teddy!!. A giiiant hugee one!!. The biggest i've ever had. It is a dog teddy,he chose it because i used to have this small dog doll where i used to sleep with it all the friggin time. He was named 'doggie'. But doggie was broken sometimes after i move to malaysia. I still kept it in my wardrobe,i'm afraid to ripped it even more. Hney knew about it,and he then chose a teddy that looks a bit similar with my old doggie. That's why i named him choggie from 'chocolate & doggie',since his color is chocolate. ~

I LOVEEE IT!!.





and this is choggie



Thank you,hney..

You're the sweetest and best i've ever had! ever!.





Oooh,and Hney made a painting of us at the first year we broke up & live separately. When he was still in college in KDU in Penang Island,Malaysia taking Interior Design. He had to make a painting at that time for his assginment,and he paint this.. (right now Hney is in ,Equator Academy of Art)





His painting is abut our Long Distance Relationship which is over right now because we're together again now. =)

We had LDR on the 2nd year we were together that eventually we broke up for about a year. Me in a towel represent a very me,the stairs represent the long and far ways that separated us,the black tree or could also mean a crack between us,and hney close up face represent that this is the way he saw us at that time.

HOW SMART and BEAUTIFUL,is it?.

Medieval Jewelry Put on Display

Medieval Jewelry is one of the oldest forms of body adornment. The beads with a history of 100,000 year-old made from Nassarius shells are thought to be the oldest known medieval jewelry. In the ancient world gold was the preferred metal for making jewelry. It was rare, did not tarnish and best of all it was malleable, so it could be worked fairly easily.
It is reported that two priceless hoards of medieval jewelry and coins have gone on display in the UK for the first time.

Among those precious finds, some can be traced to the 14th Century. Three of the earliest known examples of Jewish wedding rings have been displayed at London's Wallace Collection.

As for the origin of those items, experts say they were buried by families when there was Black Death in Europe. Stephen Duffy, of the Wallace Collection, in Manchester Square, said the items were "very rare and unusual survivors from the medieval period".

One part of the display was found in the walls of a house in Colmar, France in 1863, while the lager part was found later than the first one, in 1998 at Erfurt, Germany. She said: "It is impossible to put a value on such unique objects."

Karin Sczech, German archaeologist and curator of the exhibition said: "It is impossible to put a value on such unique objects."As well as being precious stones and materials, the items have great cultural and historical significance.

The exhibition at the Wallace Collection in central London will open on Thursday 19 February until Sunday 10 May.

Snap! Girls TV "The Pilot Episode"

Our friend Dave Bettencourt told us about a sweet little video camera called the Flip Video. I purchased one the next day... and set about my evil plan for torturing Trish and Melissa, and hey, while I'm at it... all the other vendors at weddings too. Why not? I know you guys love seeing the behind the scenes photos... so now you can see us in live action too. I shot this movie at Karalyn and Erik's wedding. Plan on seeing a lot more of these.

Lights, Camera.... Action!

The Silver Lining

I've always been a firm believer in the saying "Everything Happens for a Reason," a belief instilled in me by my mom and Nana. I repeat that thought during perplexing and surprising moments, but most often, I repeat it during difficult times.

I always seek comfort in the belief of a reason, although, many times, when in the midst of a challenging period, it seems impossible to see what the reason is.

Keep Calm Gallery

"Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining," is a phrase that sums up the belief in a different way, and last night, E and I were discussing our own recent "silver lining" in life-- a missed job opportunity that at the time was devastating, but which we can now clearly see was a tremendous blessing in disguise.

As E and I try to navigate this new piece of life we've begun carving out, this poster would make for a very perfect reminder that a year from now, we may well look upon other silver linings still yet unseen.

Karalyn and Erik at Belle Mer Part 3 - The Party!

It feels like we have had a whole day of fun already (because we have!) but we've got an entire evening of good times ahead... Karalyn and Erik wanted to get a peek at the ballroom before anyone else, so we snuck in first for the big reveal!

Beautiful!

Here's Belle Mer's Stuart... he's making sure Karalyn is a happy camper. She definitely is!

Karalyn strikes a pose with Pam of PDR Events... the lady behind the scenes.






How would you describe this arrangement? Sparkles, Crystals, Wintery sticks, Giant white flower poms... Semia has outdone herself here.









Melissa was photographing the details... but here's Trish muscling in for the shot.









Love the feathers.

I wanted to keep this big sparkly M for myself. Karalyn might have noticed it missing from the top of the cake though. I think Trish and I have got all the angles on the cake covered here.

As if her day wasn't perfect enough... Karalyn also gets a killer sunset. We ran outside for some quick sunset shots.

...and then of course the Blue Light...

Ta Da!

These folders are for the photolounge pics... Melissa is feverishly printing them out and setting them out for the guests to pick up.

The band was excellent... Beantown Band. If you are looking for a band- make sure to check these guys out.

Erik gives Karalyn a little spin around the dance floor...

Whew! The evening is flawless- thanks to Pam's team and the stellar staff at Belle Mer.

Sweets...

That's Erik in the middle of the dance floor- who knew he had such awesome moves! I've never seen anyone dance so skillfully to Billie Jean before (except maybe Michael himself).

A little "Living on a Prayer"... and Karalyn playing the guitar.

The End!

K & E, Thank you, thank you, thank you for making us a part of such a fun day! Can't wait until you get back from Hawaii so we can talk about it all! Hope you love the photos so far, there's a lot more where that came from!

Friends and Family of Karalyn and Erik, if you want to receive an email when all of their photos are ready to view on Pictage, click here, and register.

♫ Awesome Beat..

Santogold or Santigold..





Talented new artist!. She is a mucician,a songwriter,and also a producer.

The first time I heard her was in Gossip Girl Soundtrack,there were one of the scene that play her song 'Shove It' in the background. It was soo catchy that I had to google that song. After Shove It,I listened to her other songs,& it was just worth to hear if you're looking for something fresh and catchy,even though my BF finds it a bit annoying for him. =(

Her unique music is categorized kind of into rock, new wave, post-punk, electronic, and dub in the same time,or *electro-pop in my perspective. She has been compared a lot with M.I.A & Karen O from the Yeah Yeah Yeahs (which is one of my most fav band of all time!).

She is Santi White better known by her former stage name as Santogold or (now) Santigold.

She is best known for her single.. ♥ L.E.S Artistes & The Creator. You can see her official video right now in YouTube.

Personally,I like her other songs which are..

♥ Say Aha,

♥ Shove It, &

♥ You'll Find A Way (Switch & Graeme Sinden Remix).. it's worth to hear ~

Apparently she's been voted by The Rolling Stones to be one the must artist to watch in 2008.

Soooo..... ~ she's not bad at all!.

Make sure you check out her album while she's still hot.. or just type her in Youtube.





The other talented & unique artist that I'm listening to right now is..

Lykke Li, a swedish indie singer.



She is magnetic!!. I simply confused how to categorized her music. Lykke Li came to my playlist while I was reading the review of her in one of the Radio station.

Some of her very catchy songs are..

♥ Breaking it Up

♥ Little Bit

♥ I'm good I'm gone



'Youth Novels' album of hers..



.

Three Clovers Thursday Challenge

Hi everyone! It's Thursday, and that means it's time for our next Three Clovers Thursday challenge over at Three Clovers Designs! Kerry's challenge to you this week is to use B+B+B! What's that? translation please? Ok, it's to use brown+blue+buttons! What a fun challenge, huh?

I actually had no idea who made this stamp because a friend of mine from the UK sent it to me. I'm sure a LOT of you know Dawny from Pink Piggy! Thanks Dawny! And then I saw that Claudia Rosa had used the exact same stamp a couple days ago believe it or not, and she listed the maker! How's that for a coinkydink??? Thanks so much Claudia!! The stamp is by LeLo Design by Stampavie called Natural Boy.

I layered up a bunch of Bazzill cardstock and used my SU ticket punch in the corners. I really like that look. I don't know why, but I do! LOL! Then used some little brads in the corners that I had in my stash. The DP is by Serendipity that I've had in my stash for quite a while.

I added a simple strip of blue cardstock down the right side and topped it off with some blue gingham ribbon tied in a bow. I don't usually do this, but I left this one totally sentiment free to make it nice and versatile. For the buttons, I wanted just an array of different buttons across the bottom, and I threaded them with some brown embroidery thread.

This was a really fun challenge!!! We'd LOVE it if you would pop over to Three Clovers Designs and play along with us! Thanks for stopping by to see me today and hope to see you back again soon!!! HUGS!!

Beautiful! :: Amy & Sean's wedding photos :: Paul Rich Studio

I'm up late as usual and while visiting Paul Rich Studio's blog, I was so excited to see some of Amy & Sean's wedding photos! They turned out beautifully! I wasn't expecting them up so soon, so it was a great surprise. I think the rest will be up after all the post production work is complete, but some of their favorites are up and you'll have to check out there blog to see the rest and to see all the other lovely pictures from these talented photographers! Here are a few that are just too lovely for words:

I love this photo. My mom looks so cute. It's very creative photography too. My mom and I were actually standing behind my sister in the bathroom, and the photo is showing our reflection in the bathroom door's mirror. At least I think that's what I'm seeing. My head hurts thinking about it. ;)

Photo credits: Paul Rich Studio