What is the Holiday Season without "Cookies n Chismis Holiday Soiree"?!

This is the third year I've hosted the Cookies n Chismis (healthy gossip) party. One of the few occasions I invite good peoples I have met from different chapters of my life.

I also take pride in my semi professional baking skills and this time around cranked out 60- some sugar cookies that were decorated with the icing with my special food coloring. Ok, that is a slight exaggeration! I had to hold myself back from eating spoons full of the confectioner concoction and crisco. Oh my word!

Here are my essential Christmas songs:

Boys to Men Let it snow

Feliz Navidad (reggae style) Bob Marley

Do You Hear What I hear Destiny's Child

Blue Christmas Elvis Prestley

Pasko Naman Apo Hiking Society

Jingle Bell Rocks Disney

Please come home for Christmas Luther Vandross

Sleigh Ride TLC

Deck the Halls Temptations

We are the world Michael Jackson

Last Christmas Glee cast

Have yourself a Merry Little Christmas Frank Sinatra

A few weeks ago as I was walking along Broadway I noticed a new store that immediately caught my attention. From the window my eyes widened with exuberance as I peered at the displays of sticker letters, embellishments of all sorts, cute cartoon creatures, pens, card stock and other paper; used specifically to scrap book and for someone like me, to make cards, note pads, and photo albums....(for now.)

I have had to briskly walk passed Portrait Bug a couple times knowing I would not be able to hold back from buying the array of colorful everything. Needless to say, I succumbed to my weakness and painstakingly kept my purchases to a limit.. There were a few projects crafted by some of the employees that were on display and I could not help but admire.

I found out about the Inaugural Crop Party at PB and honestly did not know what I was getting myself into. I brought along a file organizer filled with designed and plain paper, stickers and other items from my collection of craft material. It did not compare to the supplies other women brought to this event. I walked into the world of scrap booking that I did not know existed!

Some ladies had totes for their materials while others rolled in travel size luggage with decorative hole punchers, rubber stamps, glitter, contraptions, which I had no clue what their function was and it was quite a distraction from my purpose of making some Valentine cards.

After three hours of chatting it up with scrap book novices, a professional calligrapher/rubber stamper, a gal who has gone to paper crafting conventions and a working mom looking to find an outlet, I did make a couple decent looking cards and more inspired to craft cards when I can find the time!

JEWELRY UPDATE: ETSY.COM SITE OFFICIALLY OPEN FOR BUSINESS!

I officially opened my Etsy store and within days had my first sale! Exciting times considering Etsy has over 100,000o crafters all over the world and selling their goods. I have some of my items listed on the right side of my blog that you can view.

Launched in 2005, "Etsy is an online marketplace for buying and selling all things hand made." You can very likely find anything hand crafted imaginable. If you are looking for a one of a kind something rather, Etsy is website to go to. It supports the crafters and their talent as well as an alternative to

A brilliant concept for folks who have a creative side to them and would like to make money from their hobby or talent. I have found some phenomenal stores with eye catching products and look forward to utilizing Etsy for future purchases.

Creative juices flowing abound!

As I blogged earlier this month, I began crafting earrings for a nearby boutique in my neighborhood a month ago. I am delighted and quite giddy to announce that not only have the earrings made a home in the store front and also have been finding a home with many content customers. A little money in the pocket but satisfaction that my designs have caught the attention of someone!

If you could only see my collection of beads. Sifting your hands through the plastic bags of beads is like going through your collection of candy at the end of the evening after Halloween. I have various sizes, shapes and hues of beads that titillate the eyes at first glance.


I am going to utilize the boutique a as a platform to
determine whether the earrings continue to be a success with the customers before I even consider expanding on line. For anyone looking for original, hand made items - take a gander at www.etsy.com - the oasis of all things crafty.


In the meantime, if you happen to read this and would like your own original Lorial earrings - feel free to message me your preferred color(s), gold or silver wire and any other details --- I would be happy to create a pair for you.

Creative juices

Very recently I happened to bring along a bag of earrings I was experimenting with a few months ago because I wanted to show them to this gal that works at Personal Affairs on the Upper East Side. The sales gal and I were talking about jewelry and I told her that I have made earrings in the past. It was an instinct at the time to carry them in my bag but I did not anticipate that it would lead to the possibility that my earrings would be sold at PA. I had a trial period with the first batch of earrings and to my surprise some of them sold at pretty decent prices.

My girlfriend Rudy got me interested in making earrings quite some time ago. Before she had chronic pain in her neck we would spend evenings fiddling with beads and bending wires to create what we thought were master pieces. I personally think Rudy had a more adventurous side when it came to designs.

I have found some wonderful bead stores in the NY Fashion District. After a couple years of collecting spacers, wire, clasps and many other little pieces to make jewelry, I finally found the inspiration and confidence to make pieces that can actually sell and that I am proud of.

Above are some earrings that I fiddled with in the wee hours of the morning the past couple weeks. I am especially proud of them because I feel like they are one of a kind and are an expression of my creativity. I tend to work with complementary colors and keep the designs basic, not to flashy. I have upgraded from plastic beads to semi precious beads of all sizes, types and shapes.

I have learned a lot about the origins of many semi precious beads - most of which, come from Brazil and Africa. I do have beads from Australia and the US though prefer ones from more exotic countries like Nambia, Australia and Russia. Hands down, my favorite beads have to be amethyst and I came across this amazing deep purple Lepidolite beads. I also enjoy Aventurine that comes in many colors and quartz.

The earrings below are particularly striking to me because they are unique and not generic. I used purple flourite beads that I bought on sale at Michael's and Brazilian Cherry Quartz beads.
I have to say that Michaels ever so often has amazing sales on their sterling silver and gold filled findings! Far better deal than some bead stores I have gone to in CT.


I am excited to find out whether the earrings sell in the coming weeks. For now, I continue to make a couple pairs a night and most likely will need to pick up my pace.

Creative Holiday crafting

As if I needed another project on my plate, I decided to take on the daunting task of making holiday cards this year. I wanted something more of a keepsake than a card so I made a versatile tree ornament slash decoration.

I chose a family picture from Noah's first birthday and found all the supplies at Michael's, which also included a circle cutter. How crafts have evolved. Perhaps the next time I will make sure the paper is recycled. I went to CVS Photo store and printed out the wallet size pictures - 8 on a sheet for 29 cents.

Despite the long hours of cutting circles, trimming pictures, gluing and writing personal messages on the 20+ cards I felt accomplished and extremely satisfied. It was heartwarming to see the ornaments on their Christmas trees.

I think next year I will think of a less complex design.