WINNER~ celebraTORI by Tori Spelling Book Giveaway

The winner has been chosen for the fantastic book giveaway celebraTORI by Tori Spelling!  Thank you to all that left comments and your feedback for my etsy shop Styled Prints Design loft is greatly appreciated!  Thank you to Simon & Schuster,  the publisher of the book for this wonderful opportunity and book!

Here is our winner out of the comments that were left here and on my facebook page~
celebraTORI book giveawayMin: Max: Result:5


Melissa C you are the WINNER!  I hope you enjoy this fabulous book as much as I do!

Thank you again everyone!

Love, Peace & Unleashing you inner party planner~

celebraTORI by Tori Spelling Book Giveaway

I am so excited to announce that I have a fantastic book giveaway this week on my blog!  I love everything about the author, she was an icon from my teenage years on a show about one of my favorite zip codes; 90210!  Since then she has become as I view her a very fun loving and down to earth, wonderful mother, wife, entrepreneur, author, tv producer and party planner just to mention a few....Tori Spelling!

Tori's new book celebraTORI launches today!  I received a copy from her publishers yesterday and I must say I enjoy this book and the reason I believe in it so much is because she is sharing with you easy and creative ways to entertain.  That is exactly what my blog is about!   I believe anyone can be a fabulous host, you just need the right resources and believe in yourself!  This book will help you discover and create to become the fabulous host that you are, Tori shares many secrets and gorgeous pictures through out to help you plan your next party.  You can take a peek into her book here.

Want to win a copy?  In Tori's book she writes about the importance of the invitation to your party.   She writes that it sets the tone and announces the concept of your event.  She also writes that the invitation allows you to stretch your imagination.  Which brings me to how to win a copy of Tori's new book, after the winner is announced it will be shipped from Simon & Schuster.  Recently, I opened an etsy shop selling invitations and other party decor that I create.  Still in its early phases as you will see, but I felt this is just another way to offer my creativity and share my style along with those who purchase from my shop for entertaining.  

What to do?
1) Visit my etsy shop Styled Prints Design Loft and pin your favorite invitation to your Pinterest board.
2) Come back to this blog post and let me know the invitation you pinned in the comment section that will be your entry.
If you don't have a Pinterest account no worries, just leave a comment below letting me know what was your favorite as your entry.


3) An extra chance to win~ simply visit my Facebook page like my page Scrumptious Swirls & leave me a comment about a theme or color combination that you would like to see in the shop!

Thank you!  Good luck!  This contest is only open to US residents and ends April 9, 2012 at midnight.  Winner will be announced April 10, 2012.

Want to find me on Pinterest?  Click here!

Peace, Love & celebraTORI giveaway~

The Twinery Giveaway Winner!

{Winner} Announcement

for 

The Twinery Giveaway

that was apart of our 1st Reality Star interview with Corina Elgart

from the Cake Boss TLC show Next Great Baker!
click here if you missed Corina's interview on the blog~ 

Post #23 Kirsten you are our winner!
( Kirsten said...

Loving up all three pages and LOVING up Scrumptious Swirls blog!!! I would use The Twinery for many craft like, knitting, hand sewing... and of course baking packaging!)

True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:23

Thank you everyone especially Corina & Nicole from The Twinery for such a generous giveaway of The Twine Lovers Pack!  

Don't forget that Corina shared her famous Pumpkin recipe here that saved her from being eliminated from getting into the final round!!

Kirsten please email stacyk17@comcast.net me so I can send your information to The Twinery!

Peace, Love & The Twinery & Team Corina~ 


Stacy

Reality TV Star Interview & Fantastic Giveaway!

Reality TV Star Interview ~ 

Corina Elgart from TLC Next Great Baker

Fantastic Giveaway ~ The Twinery

I am so excited to share this post with you today!  Being this blog mostly about scrumptious baking, I think it is very appropriate to bring you my first one-on-one interview with Reality TV Star & Baker/Pastry Chef Corina Elgart owner of Cakes by Taste  from the TLC show Next Great Baker with the one and only Buddy Valestro The Cake Boss ! Along with a very gracious giveaway from The Twinery!

 The Twine Lover's Pack

The bakers twine from The Twinery is so fun & & colorful and can be used in so many ways, maybe you will win & you can use it to share what you bake with the scrumptious recipe that Corina shares with us here today!  This giveaway is for Twiner’s Love Pack!  You will receive 8 full spools in 8 different fun and bright colors worth $98 (more details at the end of the post)

image courtesy of The Purple Pug

If you have been watching the The Next Great Baker you know that Corina isn’t shy & is very passionate!  I have my favorites of the show one being Corina, I give her all the credit in the world for following a dream by doing this show and having the strength to leave her family to do what a girl needs to do……Bake with the boss the Cake Boss!

Let read what she has to say….

Filming has been over for some time what has been your main focus in the last few months?

Keeping my head above water, lol.  It’s been such a whirlwind.  As soon as I returned from filming I had cake orders to fill that were booked prior to me leaving…that was my priority, after all, I had just opened a month prior to filming.  I needed to focus on building my business.  Fortunately we were not able to speak to much about  the show when we returned so it made it easy for me to keep the priority on the business.

What was your biggest challenge personally in the weeks of taping? 

The biggest challenge was being away from my husband and children.   Keith (my husband) is such a support system and he’s an incredible sounding board.  I missed hearing his voice-he is usually the voice of reason for me.  My children are my little meatballs…I missed their voices and faces terribly.

What did you "take away" from the whole over-all experience of The Next Great Baker? 

What DIDN’T I take away from this….I wouldn’t even know where to begin.  I took away amazing friendships and colleagues; I took away priceless tricks of the trade, and most of all I took away the best experience I could have asked for.

Do you have any regrets from the show after watching it? 

It’s funny, initially I would say yes, my fight with joe, etc…but in reality, if I drive myself crazy with regret and shoulda-woulda-coulda’s I will lose sight of the experience I HAD.  I can’t change anything that happened, I cannot change the way the show was edited.  All I can do is move forward, continue to have people get to know me and what I do and enjoy my life and job.

How has Next Great Baker helped you personally or from a business standpoint? 

I helped me learn humility and acceptance.  After seeing what people say and post and seeing yourself on national television you need to pull back a little and take it all in, the good and the bad and just learn to accept it for what it is.  From a business standpoint I was able to use the platform to be featured in newspapers, Newsday, The New York Times (Sunday edition) and many local papers.  This was terrific because it brought attention to my shop.  Also, being on television I receive many calls for people who are booking cakes over the phone because of the show.  It’s truly been a blessing.

Would you do a reality TV show again? 

I’m sure I would!   However,  It would depend of course…would Joe be there?!   I’m KIDDING….had to throw that in there!

What is your favorite sweet that you create.....would you share the recipe with us? 

I have many favorites…it’s hard to choose….my pumpkin recipe is up there. If I could sell this all year round I would..it’s scrumptious and also makes great cupcakes with a cinnamon buttercream.

Corina's Pumpkin Cake Recipe

Preheat to 375

15 oz canned pure pumpkin

1C  oil

4 eggs

2t Baking soda

1 ½ salt

3 ½ c Flour

3c sugar

1t of allspice, cinnamon, nutmeg

½ t mace

2/3 cold water

Add ingredients to mixer in order…bake @ 375 for 35 minutes then lower temp to 350 for 15 additional minutes

I love a good pumpkin recipe for sure....it is one of my favorite things to bake in the fall especially to give as gifts to people!  Thank you so much Corina for sharing more about you and your recipe!!  We are all pulling for you, especially Nicole from The Twinery!  She was so excited when I asked her to be apart of this because Corina is her fav to win the show!  Would you like to win the giveaway?!

Here is what you need to do~

1) Like our fan pages on Facebook ! Leave a comment on each of  their pages that you are visiting from Scrumptious Swirls!  Leave a comment on my page that you visited and liked our pages!

Facebook ~ Corina Elgart Fan Page

Facebook~ Scrumptious Swirls

Facebook~ The Twinery

2) Stop by The Twinery blog, come back let us know here on this post how you will use all of your new twine! 

Winner will be chosen on Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 9pm EST. Any entries received after this time will not be considered. Open to US residents only. Winner will be chosen using random.org.

Good luck!  Good luck Corina in the upcoming weeks of Next Great Baker!!