Wonderful Surprises From a Wonderful Friend

Selling on Etsy did not just earned me extra cash, but I did get a lot of friends, too! Though miles away from me they do keep in touch, sending me their well wishes through emails and convos.

One of them is Marie Christine from France. She's been a good friend ever since our first Etsy transaction. She even surprised me one day, when I got this lovely cookbook from France in the mail.

And last Thursday, I received yet a nother surprise from her! My son and I were very thrilled when we got the package. It felt like Christmas opening the package....just loads of goodies inside. French biscuits, trinkets, postcards and whole lot more! I will definitely cherish all these wonderful items!

Thank you, Marie Christine...you definitely made my day! :)

Appreciation Photos

It's been raining really hard for the past couple of weeks now. I believe that's what caused some interruptions on my internet connection. I failed to check my emails because I didn't have any internet connection the whole day yesterday. But today, the sun is back and so is my internet. And I'm very happy to receive some beautiful and lovely photos via email.

Marie Christine, a wonderful customer of mine from France, sent me a bunch of photos. Some of these photos are pictures of her garden. It's so beautiful it reminded of "The Secret Garden." How I wish I could smell those flowers and just run around the green grass barefooted! :) (click on the image to enlarge)


Along with her garden photos, she also also sent me photos of her table setting where she used the faux cupcakes I custom made for her. She setup a dinner outside on her terrace. She prepared her table, placing each faux cupcake near each plates. And using them as place card holders. (click on the images to enlarge)

(NOTE: all images used with permission of Marie Christine Estepa)

I'm so happy she was able to use them. And don't they look pretty? Even the cards she used are pretty...heck, her whole table setting is PRETTY! Yes, I love those plates and hand painted glasses, too...so chic! :)

Thanks again to Marie Christine for these lovely photos! :)

Those lovely cards Marie Christine used were handmade by Seasonal Delights. You may purchase her cards and tags (...and even have them custom made) at her Etsy shop.

Etsy Buy Handmade jarS

3 Parcels in Week!

I've been doing some shopping online for some craft materials. And this week I have already received three parcels. Yay!

I have purchased a few new scents to incorporate on my faux cupcakes. These scents are raspberry, caramel, butterscotch, chocolate and cookies n cream. I only put vanilla scent on my Cookies n' Cream faux cupcake. So now that I have the real scent, my Cookies n' Cream faux cupcake will even smell more delish!

I purchased these fragrance oils from The Soap Farm. I am really happy with this purchase. It arrived really fast and well packaged. Miss Grace (whom I believe is the owner) is very easy to communicate with via text messaging. I will definitely buy again from her.

The Soap Farm makes delicious soaps. Not only these soap smells yummy, but also good for your skin. Visit the The Soap Farm for more pics of their delicious looking soaps!

(^Photo from The Soap Farm)

Another one I got from the mail is this small pack of micro beads I bought from eBay (I don't want to rub it in, but yes, eBay! This is before my eBay incident! harr harr!). I don't know why I bought this item, but I'm sure I'll put it to good use. I thought maybe I can use it as sprinkles on my faux cupcakes! :)


And just this afternoon, I went out despite the heavy rain to pickup a parcel at the post office. It's the package of La Doll clays I bought from Japan. I will use it to create and sculpt different embellishements for my faux cupcakes...sort of my fake fondant! Hehe! But I will also use it in creating different crafts as well.


Before, I use Creative Paperclay in creating my faux cupcake decorations/embellishments such as my fake Oreo cookies, wafers, and flowers. I really love using this paperclay, I can say nothing bad about the quality. But then I can only purchase them in the U.S. or Canada, which makes it a bit expensive for me. And not only that the shipping cost is also too costly, it takes a while for me to receive it.


And now that I can purchase La Doll in Japan, I don't need to worry about the costly shipping. And since it's within the Asian Region, I can get it faster than purchasing from the States or Canada.

All these craft materials that I just bought will surely keep me busy for a while! :)

Our Stolen Photos Completely Removed on this eBay Shop! Yay!

As I checked this eBay shop just moments ago, all the stolen photos of faux cupcakes were completely removed. I believed that the original owners have taken action, reporting this violation as well.

I find it weird (and funny, and irritating!) that this seller, after removing my photos, would still have the guts to continue to use other people's photos. Are not my "friendly" messages (which they ignored) and my eBay report serve enough warning to them?...that they MUST remove all photos they stole from other people! And that they should NEVER use other people's images and claim as their own! I can't believe that they have to wait for the other original owners to take action, before removing all the rest of stolen images.

Anyways, all is good now! Our photos were completely removed. I hope all the remaining images left there are their own property.

Thanks so much to those who contacted the other owners.

**If you wish to purchase faux cupcakes, please purchase directly from the original sellers/makers. There are a lot of faux cupcake sellers/makers you can find on Etsy. Please purchase from us there.

Update on My Stolen Photos on eBay

The two eBay (auction) listing that used my faux cupcake photos ended yesterday and today. However, the items can still be viewed and my other fear is that this particular eBay seller may re-list them again.

Despite the couple of "friendly" messages I sent them, they refused to reply and take the images off their shop. I decided to report them to eBay since they decline to cooperate in removing my photos.

I reported the seller to eBay this morning, informing and directing them to my Etsy shop and Flickr account where they can find my original images uploaded. I'm very happy that eBay takes urgent action regarding such matter. This afternoon, I checked the eBay shop of this seller and I'm glad that my photos (and the listings where my photos were used) were completely removed.

However, this seller is still selling faux cupcakes using other people's photos. They did not remove those images. According to eBay, they cannot do anything about it unless the original owners will report it to them.

I'm still trying to find out who the other owners are so I can contact them and inform them about unauthorized use of their images.

Please check this eBy shop! And if you recognize any faux cupcakes or other items, or if you know the original owners of the images used in this shop, please kindly inform them!

An eBay Seller is Using my Photos without Permission

I developed this habit of googling "faux cupcakes" just to see if my name would come up, or to see if there are people who blogs about my creation. I'm happy about the fact that there are a few who were nice enough to feature my creations on their blogs.

But just moments ago, after googling the words "faux cupcakes", I found this particular link

***FAUX CUPCAKES UNUSUAL AND UNIQUE PLACE SETTINGS*** on eBay ...

And for some unknown reason, my finger just clicked on it. And to my horror, there I saw the photo on my faux cupcake creations. This eBay seller stole my photo and using it as their own. I did not gave permission to use of this photo.

Those faux cupcakes were from the first faux cupcake batch I've made. I made them as samples for my customers who were looking for wedding favors. And those plates are still sitting on my moms cabinet! See my original images here!

And that's not the only photo this eBay Seller stole. Here's another one stolen from me, my faux cupcake ornaments....which this seller would like to call **VANILLA SCENTED FAUX CUPCAKE FAB GIFT OR FAVOUR**

View my original ornament images here.

I reckoned these photos were snatched from my Etsy shop, my Flickr account or on other people's blog which featured these items. I don't really mind people using my images for blogging purposes. In fact I appreciate it. But to steal them, claim and use as their own...I'd like to call that hitting below the belt.

I already contacted this seller reagrding this matter, but I'm still waiting for their reply. If they don't wish to reply, I expect them to remove not just my photos but all the other stolen photos as well....otherwise I'll report them directly to EBay.

There are other faux cupcakes being sold by this seller, on which the images they used are not their own. Please pay this eBay seller a visit, browse through their shop and if you recognize any images or know the original owner...please, please contact them about this atrocity.