Unqique jewelry is an icing on your cupcake...I mean outfit! Interview with Dandelyne's designer

I love cupcakes (everyone knows about it), and I also love shopping (well, I am just an ordinary girl).  I always try to find pieces that fit my personal style, my body type and my personality and somehow original.  I don't usually shop online, except for shopping for jewelries though.  I am addicted to Etsy and have been using Etsy a lot for unique pieces to match my personality and style=)

Months ago, I found this amazing jewelry shop from Australia on Etsy - Dandelyne is a very unique place to get unique and original, and personalized jewelries for yourself, your family, and friends.  I am so honored to have a chance to have an interview time with the maker and the creator behind all things Dandelyne, Sonia Lyne (I like to call her Son) and spread out her amazing works to share with my readers.

Son has been addicted to embroidery since she was young. Her designs can be described as colourful, whimsical and sweet. Each piece truly celebrates many facets of life; family, friends, colour, simplicity and fun. Combining a love for embroidery and all things mini, the goal is always to always deliver on quality, love and originality.

Her signature design and best seller is the miniature embroidery hoops . They are designed by Son and laser cut in Melbourne (Son's home). Son and her hubby spend many nights sanding, drilling and constructing each hoop. The unique miniature hoops are used to frame her designs and are made into necklaces, brooches and key rings. There come with two sizes:  4cm and 5.5cm. They are also now available in DIY kits. Personalized designs and portraits are also highly valued and requested. She loves the challenge of working out how to best  illuminate each person and pet in a way that is truly unique. I ordered mine for my wedding anniversary; it's a TALK OF THE TOWN necklace!  I got so many compliments on it. 

Enough introduction, let's get to know Son more:

Mrs. G (aka Me): When did you find out you love sewing?
Son:  I remember when my love for embroidery, fabric and sewing began. I attended a small rural school of approx. 70 children. I was in year 2, and on a Friday afternoon the boys would head to the oval for“boy stuff” and the girls would head to the library for embroidery classes with Mrs Mulrooney. This makes me giggle now, but I do have the fondest memories of this time. I remember piercing the fabric with my needle and creating my very first running stitch. I was instantly taken by it. It was from this point that I began my love affair with all things stitchy and crafty. There was no stopping me from this point.

Me:  How did you make the jump from hobby to a business?
Son:  I knew when I starting embroidering I wanted to turn it into something that I could sustain forever. It began as a hobby but I knew in my heart, and I was determined, to make it into a business.  It has been a year and a half and now feel like I am running a business.

Me:  Do you still enjoy sewing as your hobby, or is it more like business, another word, work, to you now?
Son:  I sure do! I have had a few career changes in my time and after having my third boy I made a conscious decision to pursue a path that would make me smile all over. I enjoy sewing, and making, in a variety of mediums but many, such as making clothes, are areas I only want to dabble in from time to time. The difference with embroidery is that I want to do it 24/7. If I didn't have to eat and sleep I can only imagine how much I could get done :-D.

Me: Where do you get your inspiration from for your works?
Son:  My inspiration comes from anything that is colourful, whimsical and sweet. I really like to stitch about the moments ,and areas, in my life that truly make me happy. I feel that the possibilities are endless and Dandelyne could go off on so many tangents. My goal is to embroider the world.

Me: Could you share with us what is your favorite piece of work you have done so far?
Son: My favourite piece so far would have to be the first piece I did, which was our family portrait. We have it placed near our front door and it always reminds of how Dandelyne began. Most recently I stitched a custom portrait for a customer that I absolutely loved doing. It was a full embroidered design of her beautiful Whippet. It is very different to my normal style but, a style in which I hope to play with a lot more in the future.

Me:  How do you manage your 5 "marbles" or I should say 5 boys, your mutilpe hobbies and your business at the same time? (Son is a Melbourne based girl , with 5 beautiful boys in her life … one big (hubby), 3 small and 1 furry.)
Son: Managing working from home, family life and play is definitely tricky. I find being organised is essential. There are times when things clash and I need to evaluate what is important in that moment. Generally I am super organised and I utilise the time I have when my youngest is sleeping , during the day, to really delve into Dandelyne. Many nights are spent sewing too. Mornings, afternoons and most weekends are out of bounds for Dandelyne. This is family time. Stitching does tend to sneak into weekends when the boys are having some quiet time.

Me: This question is definitely for my own curiousity, do you take cupcakes over cake?
Son: Cupcakes win hands down. It's like your eating little pieces of artwork and the best part … you can never stop at one ^_^.

Check out Son's etsy shop today:  http://www.etsy.com/shop/dandelyne
Her jewelries will definitely brighten up your outfit!!! and shop for some unqie gifts for your family and friends, it will make them smile=)

Great Compliment

I have shared some cupcake pictures of Dana and Tim's travel themed wedding on my last post this week.  Today, I would like to share this great complimentary email I received from Dana's mom, Debbi, who I also mentioned on my last post. 

Below is her compliment about our service and our hand crafted decorative cupcakes:

I thought the cupcakes turned out fantastic!! They were soooooo adorable- everybody was commenting on them. All that attention to detail - just so cute!  They really pulled together the travel theme. And they were delicious too - that's the best part. (My favorite flavor was the chocolate peanut butter, and I still can't decide which was my favorite fondant topper - all so cute!.) Thank you so much...
 
Thank you again so much.  I'll definitely be recommending you to my cupcake loving friends.
Debbi

I have been very busy and stressful for my full-time job lately.  Debbi's compliment has certainly put a big smile on my stressful face.  I am happy to see my clients and all their guests enjoyed the cupcakes and amazed by the decoration on top of them.  Debbi even send me a link of the professional pictures of their wedding.  If you are interested to see more pictures of the wedding and our cupcakes, head over to here Jason Burns Photography.  The pictures are wonderful; they captured all the important and sweet moments of the wedding.  The wedding was absolutely beautiful and unique and it totally represented Dana and Tim.

Travel Themed Wedding Cupcake Tower

Congratulations to my lovely client, Tim and Dana, who just got wedded last Saturday!  They had their vintage travel themed wedding at Green River Golf Club in City of Corona last Saturday. the venue was great and at a convenient location (not too far away from the guests, who travel from Orange County, Los Angeles County and Riverside County). 

They were such an easy to get along couple, and gave me a lot of freedom to do my designs for them and showed them my creative ideas.  I could not ask for a better client!  Also, thanks for Debbi, Dana's mom for being such a great coordinator between me and the couple.  Since the couple was studying in Egypt and also travelling in Europe before heading back to the U.S., it's not easy to communicate with each other due to the time difference and the availability of internet access.  Debbi was such a big helper for me to help the couple to create the wedding cupcakes for the wedding. 

Here are some cupcake pictures from their wedding:

Luggage tag with Tim and Dana's name on it.  Yellow flower to match their invitation and flowers at the wedding.

This couple travelled many places together.  A little airplane was the perfect guest to be part of their witness at the wedding.

21 dozens cupcakes (favors from the top - Lemon cupcakes with vanilla buttercream, chocolate cupcakes with chocolate frosting, chocolate cupcakes with peanut butter frosting, French vanilla cupcakes with strawberry butterncream). 
Cutting Cake on top (vanilla cake with rasberry filling with vanilla buttercream)

Love cruise

Doesn't matter how far they go, their love always goes with them.

I start accepting orders for September and October.  Please contact me to scehdule your events.

laters, baby<3

You are the icing on my cupcake!

May 26, 2009, a warm and sunny beautiful day after a Memorial Day weekend, Mr. G and I both took a day off after the long weekend. This day, we went to a very special place in Santa Ana - a place that is going to change our lives forever.

It was an exciting day to both of us; I got to admit that I even got butterflies in my stomach.  We got there around 11 in the morning; we got called not for so long and walked in to the office for signing some paper works. We then entered in to a peaceful and quiet room after signing the paper works.  A guy came in to the room and started talking.  I paid close attention to every single word he said; I closed my eyes and realized tears were forming in my eyes - There is no fancy flower arrangements, no beautiful and expensive grown, no six bride mates marching down the aisle with me, no 100+ guests cheering for us...the only one person I saw was the one holding my hands, who was also standing in front of me.  The peaceful and quiet environment made me hear and understand all the words clearly and dearly.

Guitar + Cupcake = Our Love Story (card made by me)

I was slowly but carefully following every words "the guy" said:  I, take you Mr. G, to be my husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part. I looked into Chris’s eyes and noticed that tear drops were rolling down from his eyes too. Sooner than we realized, we were announced as Husband and Wife.

Dear Mr. G,

It's hard to believe three years have passed by ridiculously fast.  During these amazing three years, we got to know each other a little better each day; and we get used to each other's all the good and bad habbits.  We might be different in many ways, but we are like two pieces in a jigsaw puzzle because we fit together perfectly.  I just want to let you know how much I love you and will continue loving you till the day we leave the world. 

You are the icing on my cupcake!  Without you, I will be one "naked" cupcake=) 

Sweet "Supplies"!

I made these cute sweet treats bookmarks
for all my lovely cousins last Christmas

I love baking; I also love crafting and art too.  Last year, I made these very cute sweet treats bookmarks for all my lovely cousins as Christmas's gift.  I know it's nothing expensive, but I crafted each of them from my heart with my two hands. Besides my cupcake business, I also made matching party supplies and paper crafts for engagement and wedding pictures.  Here are few projects I did last few months:

 This sign is great for engagement and wedding pictures

 Helped my friend to cut the letters to a birthday's banner for her son.

This powerful couple will make your engagement pictures and wedding pictures extra cute and sweet.

A one-year-old baby doesn't know how to tell you she is one yet! 

But a sign could=p This sign is great for baby's invitation or thank you card.

If you need any party supplies, please let me know.  I sell them on my Etsy Shop.



A Sweet Anniversary

A friend of mine and one of my loyal customers just celebrated she and her husband's 2-year wedding anniversary last week. I am so happy for them and I wanted to make something sweet for them to show that how much I care about her in person and her business to me.  She is such a freindly person and on top of it; she is very creative and organized too.  Becase of these gifts, she decided to open her own wedding planning business, On the Dot Event Planning. I am sure she could help the bride (and the groom) to take away a lot of stressful moments for preparing their perfect wedding.

I know she likes pink (that's the theme color at her wedding) and girly stuffs, so I designed and created a white cake pops and oreo cake pops dipped in pink candy melt (they are a heart shape cake pops) and dark chocolate as their anniversary gift.  Want to see how they celebrated their anniversary, please check out her blog, here.

Note:  If you are interested in ordering cake pops, please contact me for inforamtion=)

Say Yes to the Dress!

Spring season is coming very soon; which means that wedding season is getting closer too. Finding a wonderful man is hard, but sometimes searching for the perfect wedding dress for the big day is even harder.  Are you or any of your friends are searching for "the perfect one"?  Would you consider these stunning wedding dresses I found from the Internet? 

What style of bride you are?
 A. a wild and romantic style?  (or should I say it in French, romantique)

Or B. a dreamy and classy style?

Or C. a laid back and modern bride?

The last but not the least, or
D. Sexy and like to show off the body you have been working on so hard for the past year?

No matter what type of bride you are.  Please remember to relax, have fun and enjoy the whole process of finding your perfect dress.

Bridal Shower Supplies

7 more days till Christmas and 13 more days till the new year.  I am so excitied for Christmas and my vacation, yay! 

It's been two very hectic months - Thanksgiving, Christmas and new year. I got several orders from my Etsy shop these 2 months.  I am so happy that my Etsy shop is doing pretty good since I opened the end of October.  I will have more items listed on my Etsy shop, so stay tuned!

I got an email from a customer out of California about a custom order.  At first, she wanted to order 3 dozens of fondant cupcake toppers for her friend's wedding shower.  However, due to the limit time (it's a very rush order), I didn't think I could finish the fondant cupcake toppers on time.  So I suggested that I could make some cupcake picks and matching favor tags for her friend's wedding shower.  She gave me the theme colors and also what they want for the shower (the bride and groom's first initial).  She was very open about any idea I have.  I ended up making some very elegant cupcake picks and favor tags for them. 

Cupcake Flowers inspired by Cupcake Liners

I found these easy to make but cute flower decorating ideas online.  They flowers are inpsired by cupcake liners.  This first picture of the flower is made with cupcake liners.  Click here for the step by step tutorial.  The second picture is even easier to make, made with lollipop and cupcake liners.

This flower is made with cupcake liners.



This flower arrangement is made with lollipops and cupcake liners.

 This one looks a little bits hard, but the step by step tutorial seems very helpful.  Click here for tutorial.

Cupcake liners are not only for baking, they could make this beautiful flower too.  Check here to see more.

New Item - Cupcake in a Jar

Not a genie in a bottle, but a cupcake in a jar!  We are proud to introduce our new cupcake item - Cupcake in a Jar!  They are cute, very portable and convenient to eat, and of course they are yummy!  The holiday seasons is coming, they will make a great gift to someone you love.  I used a bigger jar (16 oz) in the pictures (they fit in two cupcakes each jar).  However, if you would like to have a smaller jar, please let me know.  I could also use a smaller jar (250 ml) to fit in just one cupcake.  They also make good wedding and party favors.  I will decorate each of them to match the theme of the party.

Here is some ordering information:  6 (16 oz) minimum or 12 (250 ml) minimum.  They will be professionally decorated as in the pictures.

This will make a nice baby shower or birthday party favor.

This one will be a good gift/favor for birthday

Holiday season is coming!  Are you planning to get something for your family and friends?
How about giving them a cupcake in a jar!

A 250 ml jar fit in 1 cupcake

Cupcake Flower Arrangements

Flowers and Cupcakes, who has ever thought of they go well together. 

Here are some cute flower arrangements inspired by cupcakes I found on the internet:

It's such a great idea to brighten up your wedding party, your bridal shower, baby shower or birthday party.

There are 3 things that last: faith, hope and love, and the greatest of these is love.

Love is in the air - I have a lot of friends are getting married these few years. I was so touched by the ceremonies; especially when the bride and groom were exchanging their vows to each other and making a toast to their new partner and their families. 

Recently, I have been making a lot of cartoons inspired cupcake toppers (Super Mario Brothers, South Park, Speedy Gonzalez, Gegege No Kitaro).  I abosolutely enjoyed doing them.  However, I love to do some cupcakes, which I could show more of my creativity side.  The past weekend, I made three mini cupcakes, which were inspired by LOVE.  Love makes a lot of things possible and could drive you to run very far. Still, getting married is probably one of the most important decisions a person can ever make in their lives.  It certainly takes courage to finally decide that person is the right one for you and to share the rest of your life with. Whether you're having a fairytale princess wedding or a simple backyard wedding, I wish all the brides and grooms enjoy, remember and freeze that magical moment.