Paper Goodness

Paper Stories is Here!

Hello Lovelies! I've been so busy but I don't want to keep the photos away (or suspense up) for any longer! The Grand Opening of Paper Stories was such a huge success! A very special thank you to all of my wonderful friends and family who traveled both near and far to celebrate with both Kelly and I. It was a fabulous turnout and I already miss seeing each of your faces already! 

For those of you who could not make it- thank you for all the sweet notes and phone calls... you were all in my thoughts too! Hope to see more of you in the coming weeks, we still have lots of goodies in store and more coming soon!!!

Now if you'll please forgive my non-color corrected photography.... shipping 1000 cards in the next 2 weeks ;)

Here is the Grand Internet Reveal of PAPER STORIES- Boutique and Workspace:

View- walking in the front door:

The hand-silk screened wallpaper from Julia Rothman at Hygee & West

Fun Chalkboard frames made by Kelly

The Boutique Side... sooo pretty!

Wedding Album and display is very green... or should I say VERT by Yoko Chapman

The Inspiration Alcove (still some work to do over here!)

The un-paper goodies.... yumm!

Oh, just one more cupcake please! Boy, those SugarBliss Cupcakes sure went fast!

A popular lady: Chandy P

Chandy's lil' friend:

Custom Aprons made for the event by: MyDirtyLaundry 

Me in my cute lil' apron... they are reversible and were a huge hit!

Thanks for sharing in the fun! See you soon!

xoxo,

tam

My plans for this weekend include....

...making this fabulous cake for my rainbow-colored-heart's (and mouth's) delight!

Oh but wait - it gets better... it's DIET Rainbow Cake!

That's right my friends... we can all try it AND compare notes come monday in our skinny jeans. HaHa. ;)

How to taste the rainbow:

Full tutorial with more photos right here at Omnomicon

The short story on the skinny version below: aka... all you need to know to bake your cake, quick! =)

Recipe below also from Omnomicon

Sunny Day Rainbow Cake:

2 boxes white cake mix
24 oz of clear diet soda (2 cans, ginger ale and sprite work well)
gel food colouring
16 oz whipped topping
2 oz instant fat-free sugar-free pudding mix (2 smallish boxes)

The Dieting
Mix the cake mix with the soda according to regular instructions on box. It will be lumpy afterward. 

The Rainbowing
Measure the total volume (by my estimate, 64 oz), then divide by 6 and measure into separate bowls. There are 8 oz in a cup, so 64/6 = 10 to 11 oz, or 1 cup + 2 tbsp.

Stir colour into each bowl with its own spoon. For the first colour into the pan, measure out 2/3 to 3/4 of your mix (in this case about 1 c) as close to the middle as you can. Drop in your first three colours, then work on the other pan with the last three colours. So if you’re doing rainbow order, the first pan should have red, then orange, then yellow, and now the purple, blue and green go into the second pan. As a recap, this is so both layers are roughly the same size.

Bake the cake as instructed on the box. Check it when the box says to, but usually it’ll need an extra 5 or 10 minutes because of the density of the soda method. Just keep baking, checking back every 5 minutes or so until a toothpick to the center comes out clean. Let cool completely before moving to a wire rack.

 

Wow! I can taste the rainbow already! 

The Frostinging
Meanwhile, make your frosting. Just mix the pudding mix in with the whipped topping for a few minutes. Dye if you’re into that.

Frost your fat-free cake with your fat-free whipped frosting. Eat immediately! 

Enjoy every last bite of your Friday!

xoxo, tam

Five Fab Finds!

1. Rainbow Tape 

How happy am I that I woke up thinking that I should by myself this lil' treat today... and scooped up $30 dollars worth of this delicious colored masking tape this morning JUST before it COMPLETELY SOLD OUT! Check back at Design Within Reach soon and hopefully they will stock back up so you all can get some goodness too! A special thanks to EZ at Creature Comforts for turning me on to my newest obsession =) 

2. Laser-Cut Steel Baskets, Lanterns, and more!

From the talented Megan Auman's lust-worthy etsy shop - I keep coming back to her collection and imagining this lil' basket is filled with my Everyday Assortments and Boxed Note sets! Love. Love.

3. Ceramic Wall Installations 

I first discovered these magical clay floral baubles on Poppytalk last year and was happy to discover the work of Jasna Sokolovic. 

I was reminded of her when I purchased these lovelies just a few days ago and can't wait till they arrive and I can play with the arrangement! Magnetic Flower Art from Chiasso:

 

4. Keep Calm Posters / Designer Humor

This lavender rendition of the classic WWII poster is currently gracing my wall and making me happy...

What's more is that there are so many clever variations are surfacing out there right now!

Here is my current FAV!  I laughed out loud =) 

Surely some of you graphic designers can appreciate! It's available here:

Original in Lavender

Funny Pants Version

5. Heaven on Earth

It's a brownie. No, it's a chocolate chip cookie. 

Whoa baby... it's BOTH!

I tell you... Bakerella never let's me down! Click here  for the Betty Crocker recipe and whip up a batch this weekend. I'm thinking these would be perfect in a heart shaped pan with pink frosting for V-Day... Holy sweetness! =)

Well friends, I hope you enjoy the digs and find yourself something absolutely fabulous this week- or try out some of mine!

Please do, you deserve it =)

xoxo, tam