Happy Monday!

Hello everyone :) I hope you all had awesome weekends! We attended a wedding and I went to the flea market again. Here are a couple of photos from the wedding:









We had a great time and I got to practice taking pictures :) I also did the makeup for the bridal party. I'm glad it's Monday though so I can recover from the weekend/week. Everyone has had the flu here for the last week and now I *hope* we are almost better.

This week is a week for me to stay home and play catch up, shipping lots of orders and new products to be listed. Matt goes on vacay next week!

A Friday Special

Just for fun and because I love Friday, My best selling item will be 10% off! :)





These eco friendly blooms are made of new and recycled fabrics, cardboard, lace, old clothes, new and found buttons, and of course cuteness :) I hand sew each one and they are all originals! They look so cute on scrapbook pages, hair clips, headbands, journals, collages.. really, anything! I glued one onto a pretty pink vase for my flea market display.

(please note these are made to order and have a 1 week creation time before shipping!)

Calling all ETSY shop owners! :)

UPDATE: The ads are all sold out! If you wish to recieve a copy of the booklet, I will send you one for $3 - the cost of shipping and handling :)


I am putting together a Paper*Cakes publication/booklet/zine thing to hand out to the customers at my flea market booth, to put in with orders, and to pass around locally.




In this booklet there will be articles on why buying handmade is cool, how to thrift, home decor, what etsy is and how it works, tutorials, interviews, handmade culture, recycling and green living, and ads for individual handmade businesses.

I am looking for etsy shops or blogs who wish to advertise in this publication - it will be launching on Sunday! This issue will be the summer issue and will be handed out for free until the fall. My customers are very informed about Etsy in general and love handmade and vintage.

PEI has a lot of tourist traffic in the summer so this booklet could reach a very wide audience!

125x125 button ads will be a rate of $5
250x250 coupon ads will be $15
Etsy Mini Showcases will be $10

Please contact me at spikernub@hotmail.com if you are interested as this offer is limited and priced very reasonably :) I want to spread the word about handmade but ink and nice paper is a bit spendy so these ads will pay for the printing of the publication.

Why I love Thrifting by Chelsea Ling

I have come to realize as paper*cakes has grown how deep my love of thrifting goes back. As a child I can remember going to various thrift and consignment stores with my mother. I also always loved garage sales. Anyways, here is a list of why I love thrifting. Leave a comment and let me know why YOU love thrifting.

All photos are from my "Thrifted/Fun Finds" photo set on flickr.





1. It's a fun activity. I love to go garage saling on Saturday mornings, armed with a friend or family member and a Tim Horton's coffee. It's fun to see what kind of silly things your friends like or helping someone find a specific thing. It's also fun to go alone and just browse and see what is around... items change so quickly there is always something/one to see.






2. I don't need to buy so many new things. I don't need to pay a lot of money for new things, and the world could probably use a little less "stuff". Don't get me wrong, I buy lots of stuff new, but I still feel proud that I am contributing to recycling by chosing to buy items already out there than newly manufactured ones. Plus, with a little love an ugly item becomes so cute sometimes.






3. I have a shopping addiction, and thrifting is cheap. Thrifting feeds my love of silly things, craft supplies, fashion, and beauty for so little! I can find a treat on any budget. Your $20 goes so much further at a garage sale or thrift shop than it does at even walmart, and if you're in need of a cheap fix you can find a cute silver handbag for $2.






4. I'm snoopy. I like to see people's old stuff. I like to wonder about what they used it for, and why they are getting rid of it. I also like the social aspect of flea market or garage sale shopping :) I have fave vendors that I visit regularily.






5. Thrift stores are often run by non profit organizations, or at least donate some of their proceeds to help out the local community in some way. I like that me buying old junk helps people out, and I like that thrift stores provide jobs for local people, a place for people to drop off unwanted goods, and maybe an opportunity for those in need :)






6. You can find things like kitten plaques, ceramic owl napkin holders, and pink princess dresses with puffy sleeves. Items from time gone by that will never be made again, and one of a kind items too. It's always a thrill when you find this great knick knack or that perfect belt!





7. You can still get coupons, deals, and sales when thrifting. I recently used a $50 off of a $100 purchase at value village, and another local thrift store has a punch card that you collect points on as you spend. Thrift stores are trying to make money just like any store so they will offer you the same consumer deals as big box store.






8. When you go to different places, the thrift stores have different stuff. I want to go to Europe and see what I can find! :) Big dream! I am happy just to check out Value Villages in different cities, and make a point to try and stop at at least one junk-store type of place when travelling.






9. You can find ANYTHING. If you are a "browser" like I am, you like to go into stores and look and see what you can find... that is pretty much the best thing about thrifting - the constant surprise. I find that I always find the best things, and stuff I need when I go in with no plan and just look around :)






10. I love books. I love owning books, and reading books. I am bad at returning library books, so I like to buy them. Used books are way cheaper and always prevalent no matter where you go thrifting. Value Village even has a buy 4 books get a 5th book free - and kids books are $0.99!

Paper*Cakes Summer Design Team

Ahhhhhhhhhh! :) I know I know, this is so late! I feel like I have good reason though - I recieved over 200 applications for the paper*cakes design team. I'm so excited that so many of you were interested in partnering with my little company! It was so hard for me to choose and I really encourage those of you not chosen to apply again in the fall.

So, here we go! these four lucky ladies will have a place on the summer design team!


Brenda Weaver




Clair Rigby




Martine Rijnbeek




Teresa Abajo




Andie Carothers






The DT will have a home on the to-be-done Paper*Cakes Craft blog that will be ready to go soon and fully functional by August when the DT makes their debut! Soon you will be able to get to know the Paper*Cakes DT a bit better as bios and photos will be posted soon!

Xo

Flea Market Fun!

This past Sunday, my sister and law Jessica and I opened up the new and permanent (for the foreseeable future anyways) Paper*Cakes booth at the North River Rink Flea Market in Cornwall, PEI.





We had both spent the last three weeks @ the flea market de-junking and selling off old clothing that no longer fit, home goods, etc. I was lucky enough to make almost $500 off of my old junk and was able to invest a lot of that into the startup of this new booth :)

I have been collecting vintage dresses, accessories, and knick knacks for a while. I have also recently developed a love of spray paint.. so this led to my house overflowing with both! In February, I took my crafts to the Flea Market twice, but with a cast on my leg and not enough inventory to bring back and forth all the time I decided to wait for a while, and eventually go back. There was a special this July for buy 2 tables get 1 free, and I decided that I should take advantage of it!





This last week Jess, Aimee, and myself spent a lot of time doing prep and painting and shopping for the booth. On Saturday, we had a photoshoot and had some girls came over to pose in the dresses and handmade accessories. I recently invested in a professional printer so I was able to print out some of these photos to use on our tables as display promo and they looked GREAT!





We opened with a pretty good turn out! Good sales, a lot of people looking, many business cards passed out, and many nice compliments on the set-up! I was even recognized by Karen Mehr, a local cbc radio personality! She said she saw me on twitter - how cool is that?? :) We did get there a little bit late and missed a lot of the early birds due to not being fully set up, but I feel like we still did really well and am so happy with how it all went!





Anyways... next week there will be more items, gift wrap and shipping available, a free paper*cakes zine to pick up, and 10% off again for anyone who comes to see us and mentions that you saw paper*cakes online!

Of.... everything.. :)

According to my husband, I need to update my blog - I know - a lot of you have been waiting for me to post a few things! It seems like every time I try to sit down and post something life gets in the way. I have half finished posts all over the place waiting for me to sit down and code.

Annnnyyyyways, take a seat. This is going to be a long one!

I've been busily preparing for a bunch of big events.. events that have now passed since I originally started typing up this blog post (yeah, that's how long I've been trying to get this done!). We had a super busy weekend! I had a photoshoot on Saturday with some local gals to showcase some of the vintage dresses I have collected and the accessories I have been making. On Saturday evening we had people over to watch the UFC fight and I made some snacks and whatnot. On Sunday, Jessica and I went to the flea market and opened up the "official/permanent" Paper*Cakes Booth and that went well too! Photos will be coming from these events soon :)





We have all kinds of friends and family visiting this summer, and a few weddings to attend (one is next weekend and I am doing makeup for the wedding party). My husband's best friend is coming home after being in the army for months - he is about to move away to Ontario with his wife Jenn and I will be sad to see them both go. Some childhood friends of my Mom's are visiting and we will all be doing fun touristy PEI things, which I am so excited about! Not to mention all of the other friends and acquaintences coming back to PEI for the summer - and then in the fall our best Calgary friends Paul and Alma will be coming.





Jude is turning into such a little man.. which is adorable and funny and sweet but at times tiring and frustrating and even painful when he accidently hurts me lol :) I feel time blurring and my sleep is seriously lacking. I've been trying to get a haircut since april and feel perpetually 5 steps behind everything but life is very good! My ankle is still broken, I am having surgery in August and need to get things finished up before then. Matt has sporting events all the time and has become really involved with work which is fun.





With all of the flea market prep (like spraypainting) I have ended up also fixing up items around my home and finally hanging up prints and decor items I have been planning for ages. Here is a shot of the little montage on my living room wall:





So in conclusion.. I may be more "absent" on a personal level in the coming weeks, but don't worry, I am still here reading posts and comments and posting new items and shipping orders and all of that fun stuff, I just don't have as much time to be as "present" online. I will be re-doing the blogs a little and debuting a new Paper*Cakes crafts website where the design team, tutorials, and anything crafty related will live. I have been posting a lot of photos on flickr daily so if you're missing me please add me as a contact!

Lots of X's and O's

PS: Keep watching today - I will be posting the design team in a couple of hours and roundups from the past week or so later today! The shop will also get an update soon! xo

Soooo much fun!

I'm having so much fun right now taking photos with my new camera... I can't stop. Here is a little mosaic of some new paper*cakes stuff, things I did on the weekend, etc :) Enjoy! xo





1. MAC Pool Party Postcard, 2. Push the button.., 3. Stealing Radios, 4. Bathtime Fun, 5. More Vintage Patterns, 6. Horsie!, 7. More Treasures.., 8. First Coat, 9. Pink Polka Dotty Bows, 10. Fire Dancing, 11. Victoria Row, 12. Eco Friendly Posy Embellies

Calling All Artists!

Calling all digital artists!

I will soon be opening up a permanent booth at the flea market here in PEI and I am looking for artists to partner with. I am recycling various old frames and I would like to sell them with art work inside! I would like to print your art at home on a professional quality printer - so this would be great for digital artists. You would get 50% of the profits made, and I would include your business card and/or info with any sale made. Reach a larger audience!

If you are interested in a partnership like this, please email me! I would like to get a little bit of basic info about you, some examples of your art, and please ask me any questions you may have. Email me directly at spikernub@hotmail.com

xoxox!

Of making ugly things new again and good deals..

Happy FRIDAY! It seems this Friday has come so quickly.. I guess it always seems like Friday arrives so much quicker than it should have. I wanted to share a couple of things from my Friday so far:





I went to Michaels this morning and was super stoked to find *SO* many amazing deals! Everything shown in this photo came to $51.00 even with tax - which is like 15% or something crazy here on PEI! Mostly everything I got was half off, or even better half off of the last marked sticker. I paid full price for one can of spray paint, and the other I had a 50% off coupon for :) (see Jude's dino?!)





So now Jude is napping and I am spray painting some of the hideously ugly wooden things I picked up at Value Village this week. Isn't it amazing what spray paint can do? This is with only a couple of light coats. I highly reccomend this Color Tool spray paint - available at Michaels! I'm using colors raspberry and olive bright to transform these pieces. The bowl cost $0.69 and the frame $1.99!