The ultimate party favor - Cupcake Soaps by MadeByMe

I happened upon this hard-to-pass-up gift item in the MadeByMe store. Precious cupcake soaps.

Available in a variety of tempting scents, these soaps look just like your favorite indulgence without the guilt. I can see them as part of a place-setting at a birthday or bridal/baby shower, or maybe packaged in cute little cupcake boxes and stacked in a tower as wedding favors (oooh with a monogramed sticker on the box, natch.) These delightful faux-treats can even be glittered on special request. (And you know I love me some glitter.) Scents:
Peanut Butter Fudge, Strawberry, Watermelon, Tea Rose, Sugar Cookie, Pumpkin Pie, Toasted Marshmallow, Baby Powder, Orange Blossom, Lavender, Sandalwood, Wisteria, Jasmine, Plumeria, Patchouli

Make A Paper Gnome from Crowded Teeth

Gnome week continues. I stumbled upon the excellent artwork of Crowded Teeth artist Michelle Romo and fell in love with her website and blog and just had to share! Check out this whimsical gnome and the adorable directions to make one for yourself. I can't wait for the book of all her handicrafts to come out! Everyone will want one on their shelf.

BRING THE LOVE: Gnome items from MultiplePersonality

Continuing Gnome week here on the Owen Says Blog. I adore this Gnome Girl Plush and Gnomes Print (edition of 50) from the Kansas City artist Sara's MultiplePersonality store on Etsy. The most darling little girl illustration available in a few different colors. I'm partial to the green. This is one of those items that I would buy as a gift for a friend and end up keeping for myself. Bring the love!

Watch my That's Clever segment on HGTV!

Get a chance to see me on TV!

That's Clever!
segment on HGTV
airing starting June 18 2007
Episode 348
Encaustic Picture-Gram Card - Jennifer Erts Wyatt embellishes her encaustic picture-gram card with a bear and photos.

Crafty Wonderland - what I did this sunday in Portland

Today I visited Crafty Wonderland @ the Doug Fir in Portland, Oregon. A monthly showcase of kickin artists and crafters.

I coveted these gorgeous layered resin pendants made by a really talented lady by the name of Faryn Davis from Seattle. Check out her website Fernworks to see her very special jewelry and artwork. They are definately one of my next purchases. I love the new colorful hand painted layered bird and grass themes. (not shown)

Unfortunately I spent all my loot yesterday on mother's day gifts (retro black and lime travel umbrella, special no-sweat garden gloves and a chocolate cupcake) and the most beautiful pair of shoes I just had to own, an unusual occurance for this very picky and usually cheap girl.

My mad-money budget being only $5, I decided on the 3 hand painted button pins made by painter Madoka Ito. She also had some really great original artwork on display in the style shown  here.

Today I will also visit Post Secret -- an online art blog project that intended to be temporary, but instead has spawned art shows, books, and a cult following. Always facinating and updated every Sunday.

friends don't let friends go on television

Coming to a television near you -- me dancing with my childhood teddy bear and other disastrously wonderful cheesy moments brought to you by Jenn (that's me!) and the Home & Garden Network (that's cable!)

Today I taped a craft themed how-to segment for the HGTV show, "That's Clever!" because yo, I am the cleverest. No, um, scratch that. Talking to a camera is freakin difficult. And I am happy that the format of the show is fun and silly and that they were super nice and lead me like a trained monkey dressed in people's clothes. Bless every single one of the crew. They couldn't have been any nicer or accommodating to me. According to them I did a pretty good job and managed to look not too shabby on video.

I am the girl who says strictly forboden phrases ("Now I will" and referring to the viewer as "you".) over and over without ceasing - instantly destroying at least 50 takes. OH and I can't forget how the mild speech impediments that I manage to get away with for the most part were magnified and so obvious. I come from a Georgia McEducation and frequently channel Yoda (and not necessarily in a good way). My Yodisms have been joked about many times, but I always shrugged it off. Try shrugging it off when you hear three people repeating the words that you just uttered just so they can relive how awkward you just sounded and puzzle over it for themselves. I fear it has put an abrupt end to my television career. (HA!)

Who is the girl who inverses words? ME! Who is the girl who combines two words into one nonexistent word? ME! Who is the girl with weird enunciation? ME! Who is repetitive? Who is repetitive? Who is repetitive?

Seriously, most days this girl can talk. Usually I can do a fantastic job communicating ideas and dotting my chatter with descriptive words. Get the camera in front of me and it was like.... der, um, what was I talking about? I had to be told very specifically what to say and I made the worst parrot EVER. I needed direction like a child does to tie his shoes. And I needed instructions cut into tiny pre-cut pieces, thankyouverymuch.

When the show finally airs in the fall I fully expect for my older brothers to tease me for the rest of my days with the numerous cheesy quotable ammunition they will have. Guess I will have to wait until Fall 2006 to see it myself. It was a fantastically challenging opportunity and I am really glad that I got a chance to experience it! I expect to have more to share once I have stopped internally siezing long enough to eat and sleep normally again.

So I am going to be on TV... hello insomnia!

So I got the call today that I have been picked to do a craft segment on the HGTV cable show called That's Clever! 

I am very excited, but memories of how difficult high school speech class was keep coming to mind. Thankfully I am fully committed to letting go of old fears. But there is no way I will be able to sleep until it is all over and I will prepare in the way that only a complete control freak can so that on the day of the shoot I can just chill.

Curiously enough last weekend I also found myself on the end of a camera, sans makeup with serious morning hair, to film a segment for a clip that should appear sometime online. It gave me a chance to see what it is that I do when you stick a camera in my face:

I babble
I nod A LOT, seemingly agreeing with everyone and everything
I glance at the camera
I become the person who compulsively winks at the cameraman
I added the host's name at the end of sentences with a hard syllable. "Thank you, LIZ."

And this is all for a bit that lasted maybe 60 seconds. But it was eye opening and I have some work ahead of me. The segment people will be around to film for five to six hours!

I worry:

That I will start talking and never stop from beginning to end
That somehow I will do something so horrible and so cheesy that it will be played back in my head like a doofus home movie clip forever more
I will mispronounce a word, or even worse, use it incorrectly over and over again
I will become supremely southern like I do when I drink too much or talk with lower state customer service reps
That suddently I will become bad-madonna british. This is something that has never happened, but what if it could happen. 
What if I fall and get a head injury? 
I can't think of anything to say at all
I say something completely wierd (this is not out of character for me
I say something that horrifies my mother
I wear something my mother dislikes so much she mentions it every five seconds any time the TV show is brought up forever
Something about my craft goes crazy like the time Martha Stewart's Berry Wreaths kept exploding all over the front doors of homes across america whenever it got too hot

I will keep everyone posted as the hilarity unfolds!

plush cuteness abounds

i love the site called mypapercrane.com with crafts by heidi kennedy. 

she creates some of the cutest things in the world. seriously, how can your mood not be improved by plush donuts and cupcakes? it is almost like huggable prozac. check out her store and blog by linking through her main website!