Christmas Cash Giveaway!

You know, no matter how carefully I budget and try to spread out my gift shopping throughout the year there is always that additional something-something that I just have to get for someone on my list come December.  Never fails!  And it's never just ONE someone, either.  No, I find all kinds of cool stuff for LOTS of people in December!  So I am always in need of some last minute holiday cash. 

Are you anything like me?  If you are, then this giveaway is for you!  Imagine an extra $200 in your pocket next  week!  How many cool gifts will that buy, I wonder??  Sooooo many!  Even the $25 2nd Prize will give you gas money to go to your holiday parties, right?  Right!  

Maybe you want to have this cash to donate to charity, or to buy a Christmas dinner and some gifts for a needy family!

Let's face it, how ever we decide to celebrate, we all need more money during the holidays.  Hosted by Mommy's Moments, this is a cool chance to get a little cushion of the green stuff just in time for your holiday shopping!  1st Prize is $200 Paypal cash, and 2nd Prize is $25 Paypal cash!

So hop on over to the participating blogs and pages, make some new cyberspace friends, and grab a chance at winning this awesome prize!

Entry is easy.  Just follow the instructions on the Rafflecopter form below (it's the same on all the participating blogs) and you're in!  Be sure to do it before December 2nd 'cause that's when the Giveaway ends!

Have fun, and good luck!

~ Pia

A Bonafide Cake Pop Celebrity!

Bakerella's pops that started it all.  Who would've thought???  She rocks!!

There are some people in your life who you never expect to meet.... people who inspire you, whom you would like to emulate, whose very image conjures up all kinds of warm fuzzies in your heart.  In our case, one such person is Bakerella -- the Cake Pop Queen!  She singlehandedly started the cake pop revolution  in which we all now live, and I for one believe the world is better for it.  :)

If it weren't for Bakerella, Kathleen and I would not be here cake popping to our hearts' content.  If not for Bakerella, we wouldn't have made so many amazing new friends in the cake pop world and beyond.  Without Bakerella, we would have had to look for another way to make a little extra money and help out the Intracranial Hypertension Research Foundation.  We owe Bakerella so much!

So imagine our delight when we found out Bakerella herself was coming to San Diego!  Oh my goodness, what????  And we were actually available to go meet her!!  Holy smokes!!  Bakerella cake pop book in hand, we hightailed it down to the Barnes & Noble where she would be doing a little talk and signing books.  Kat and I got there 90 minutes early.  Yes, I'm crazy that way, ha ha!  As soon as we arrived, the first thing I did was beg Kat to take my photo by the sign.  She didn't want hers taken there, so this one was all me!   Thanks, Kat!

We bought a new Bakerella Cake Pop Kit as a birthday gift for my Goddaughter (shhhhh..... don't tell her!) to get signed, too.  And then I asked a nice lady in the front row to take my photo by the table display.  Man, my belly is huge... I need to stop "taste-testing" our cake pops!  Anyway, we were meeting our friend Pam from Cake Ball Love (she's the one who gave us the heads up that Bakerella was coming to town!  Yay, Pam!), Alejandra from The Marshmallow Studio, and Kris from KCreative Cake Pops.  It was sure to be a fantastic afternoon!  

When Pam, Kris, and Alejandra arrived, we totally sounded like the fan club that we are, squealing and giggling and sharing the excitement of the day.  Kat took her service dog outside for this part, ha ha.  Smart girl!  Here we are posing for the "fan club" photo.  As you can see, I buttoned up my shirt for the sake of the public.  I also did not get the memo that we were all supposed to wear classic, dark colors.  Oh, me!  Alejandra and Kris brought awesome goodies for Bakerella -- marshmallow pops decorated to look like her, and Snickerdoodle cake pops shaped like hot air balloons (Kris' signature pop!) in the Bakerella pinks.  Pam and I brought books we were getting signed.  :)

Our friend -- and wonderful bookkeeper -- stopped by, too!  I didn't get a photo with Megan because she was busy with her young children.  But she was there!

We got pretty good seats since we were there so early.  It was standing room only, I tell ya!  By the time Bakerella started speaking, the crowd was way back toward the front door.  Well, you can't see that in these pics, but trust me -- it was huge.  Anyway, as you can see we are only 4-5 rows back!  Woohoo!!  Bakerella had so many good tips for cake popping.  I felt like I should've been recording her talk but alas, I hadn't thought that far ahead.  

Our friend Myra from church came to see Bakerella, too!  She has her own very cool artisan bakery and was coming to have her sign a couple of books.  This photo was taken when we were standing in line to meet Bakerella.  We were so excited!

Finally, it was our turn to sit at the table and thank Bakerella for her inspiration.  We got to talking and found out that she and Kat have something in common!  But I can't say what it is.  That'll be Kat's treasure to keep!  Bakerella was so gracious and kind.  Talking with her was like talking with an old friend.  It was great!  

We gave her one of our exclusive "I heart CAKE POPS" buttons.  Just a little something to remember us by.  Do you want a button?  Drop us a line!  We've got 10 to give away -- then you can say you have the same button that Bakerella has!  

We asked her for a separate photo with Kat and Ignatius, and she totally agreed.  See?  Told you she was very kind!  Kat was tickled!  Ignatius had no clue what was going on, but he liked the attention.

We even ran into our Facebook friend from Sweets Amore!  She's putting together a project to get cake pops in the hands of people in countries that have never heard of them.  What a great idea!  I told her we'd love to participate somehow, so I hope she keeps us in the loop.  

So that was our happy, happy afternoon.  What a great time!  This event was not only a chance to meet Bakerella (who is AWESOME!!)  but it was also a cool networking session and a great chance to meet in person all the fantastic women with whom we've been chatting via Facebook for so long!  

~ Pia

Getting Ready

We are participating in our very first Christmas Boutique this weekend!  Sooooo exciting!  We're figuring out what kinds of pops to have, what our booth should look like, and what other fun stuff we can sell.  Oh my gosh, so much is running through my head!

Our big popping day is tomorrow, since we want them to be nice and fresh for the boutique.  So today, I am doing all the tags and signage, the order forms for custom orders (which is the staple of our business so far), and everything else that doesn't involve actual cake-popping.

My youth group will also have a sale table at this boutique, so I'm doing double duty on all the prep stuff.  When we're selling this weekend, Kat will handle the Cake Pop Fusion table and I will handle the youth ministry table.  She's quite the entrepeneur, this daughter of mine!

We'll put up photos here when we get a chance next week, and let you know how the boutique goes for us.

Don't forget to enter the TWO Giveaways we're running right now..... the 50 Free Holiday Cards from Tiny Print and the Social Picnic (which has a grand prize worth $920, including $500 Paypal cash!).

~ Pia

FREE Card to Your Child from Santa, and Enter to Win 50 FREE Christmas/Holiday Cards for You!

What??  A card from Santa?  AWESOME!!   When my kids were little, Santa left little notes for them with their Christmas presents.  Here's a chance for your child to actually get a CARD from the Man in Red himself IN THE MAIL!  How cool is that?  This offer is only good TODAY, so hurry over to the Tiny Prints Facebook page.  Wish this was available when my kids were younger!

On that note, it's time to start my Christmas cards so I can have them ready to mail the day after Thanksgiving.  Who's with me?  I am all about photo Christmas cards.  I love receiving them and I love giving them.  They hang on my wall and my fridge during the holidays, and then they go into my scrapbook after the Christmas season is over.  I love looking at them from year to year, seeing how people have changed and how children have grown into beautiful young adults.

I usually put the photos together myself and print them at home, then add them to a card stock base and send them off.  That's a lot of work, and the photos aren't always archive-ready (they fade after a while, which is annoying!).

This year, we were introduced to Tiny Prints.  On this fabulous website, you get to choose your design and then drop in a photo (or two or three).  That's it!  They do all the work, so your photo card will last many years to be enjoyed and cherished by your family and friends!

Our friends at Tiny Prints are giving you a chance to win 50 FREE holiday cards to get you started!  
Check out their page HERE, then follow the instructions in the Rafflecopter form at the end of this post.  Can't wait to see what design you would pick!  That "Merrily Woven" is definitely calling to me....

Ready to enter?  Click Read More after my sign-off below!

~ Pia

The Social Picnic!

The 3rd edition of the Social Picnic event is finally here, hosted by This Lil Piglet and Family Approve. To enter the giveaway, the Rafflecopter giveaway form will be located on participating blogs November 8 - 12:01 AM EST - 16th 12:01 AM EST. All entries in the form below support all the participating blogs, please bookmark this giveaway page, write down where you ended off your entries to make it easier to enter all ways possible over the next 7 days, plenty of time to get ALL entries. We have limited the number of links/entries for each participating blog to make it easier on everyone however we suggest keeping track to make sure you don't repeat entries. Duplicates are always deleted prior to selecting the winning entry. Please read all Rules, Regulations and Tips below before asking questions.

Giveaway Total Prize Pack Value $920

Model Status

Ruffle Scarf - hand knit, hand dyed, premium Merino wool

"Model status"..... that's a favorite phrase around our house.  I'm not exactly sure where or when it started, but it's been around a long while!  When someone is looking pretty darn dapper or a photo of someone turns out over-the-top nice, we dub them (or it) "model status".   So I find it amusing and delightful that Kat has been blessed with the chance to model for our friend, Sandie over at Knitzy Blonde.  Click on the photos in this post to go to her Etsy shop!

Lacy fashion scarf - Cranberry red, premium Merino wool

When Kat was little (six years old, to be exact), she and her older sister, Chrisi got to model for Storybook Heirlooms -- a children's clothing catalog company in northern California.  Chrisi was a fit model, and Kat was a catalog model.  It was a fun day, and an eye-opening experience for all of us!

Fingerless gloves and matching flower headband ear warmer - Merino wool

Kat learned a bit about hair (she had to sleep with her long, straight hair in curlers the night before) and makeup (yes, even on a 6-year-old), and about how to change clothes quickly for the next shot.  I learned how competitive the world of modeling can be, and how secretive -- of course, no one could talk about the outfits our daughters were modeling until after the catalog was released.  So it was kind of fun, like James Bond style, ha ha!

Lacy Hat - Hand dyed cashmere Merino wool; Hunter green & Dusty blue

Kat and Chrisi were paid in Storybook Heirloom vouchers for their work, which they both thought was pretty fantastic!  They got to shop with their vouchers in a model-only shop, so that was pretty cool, too.  :)  They ended up with some very pretty outfits to wear for Christmas that year!

Fingerless gloves, soft Merino wool

And now here we are, 13 years later.  Kat has been invited to model for Sandie and she's having a blast!  If you had asked either of us if she would ever get to model again, we would've said probably not.  We just don't travel in the circles that would be likely to expose her to the opportunity.  But check it out -- never say never!

Lacy fashion scarf - premium hand dyed cashmere Merino wool, Dusty rose, Lavender mauve

Big thanks to Sandie for reopening this world of experience to Kat.  She really is having a fantastic time!

Lacy hat - Merino wool cashmere

Go take a tour of Sandie's Etsy shop.  She's got some beautiful knits for all the people on your list -- babies, men, women -- there's something there for everyone!

Slouch Hat - Hand dyed cashmere Merino wool

And when you stop by, please let Sandie know that Pia and Kat sent you.  Just our little way of saying Thank You to her for this awesome opportunity.

~ Pia

We Have a Winner!

CONGRATULATIONS to Stephie, who had entry #40 in our Trick or Treat Blog Hop!  You'll be getting an email from Glass Dharma with instructions on how to claim your $25 gift certificate.  Enjoy your awesome glass drinking straws!

THANK YOU to everyone for participating!  Hope you had a blast hopping from blog home to blog home, and that you got some nice goodies and made some new bloggy friends!

~ Pia