Cupcakes, in a jar?

Let's face it, cupcakes are adorable.  Who can resist this little bite-size morsel of goodness, what with the swirl of frosting, and the cute little decorations?  I mean, come on... really?  Not that it needs anything to help it be "more cute" - I have been seeing some other ways to present our little favorite treat... so without further ado, I bring you my version of the cupcake in a jar:

I was playing around and tweaked my red velvet recipe to include some mini semi-sweet morsels and other "secret ingredients" to make it a super moist and yummy cupcake.  Add to that a swirl of cream cheese frosting on top and in the middle ensures that every bite gets that creamy goodness!  Bonus is that it is one cupcake that you can savor throughout the day... a little bite here and there!  These little treats were a huge success, I see many a gift in the near future - think mother's day, teacher appreciation... you name it... because like I said, who doesn't love a cupcake?

I Heart Faces - Pet Photo Challenge

I have been addicted to all things photography as of late - hoping to better my shooting skills.  One of the websites that I have found to be an amazing resource and full of inspiration is I Heart Faces.  Each week they have a photo challenge with themes for you to share.  I have never entered before, but I thought I couldn't resist submitting our dog Nilla.  I took this picture in front of our sliding glass door - she was desperate to go out and lay in the sun.   

I highly encourage you to check out their website!

As always, thanks for looking!

Making our house a home...

We have been in our home for a year now, and we have very little on the walls.  It started out with being scared that we would wreck the pristine walls - and then when it came time to try and hang the artwork that we already had, it just wasn't right.  All of the pieces that we had were meant for a smaller area - this house needs something BIG!  So began our hunt for the perfect wall decor... but nothing quite worked.  It felt like we were looking at art just to have something to put up, not that we really liked it.  Then it hit me - well, actually, then I saw just what we needed here!  Yes, this is Erin's house - the fabulous photographer that traveled all the way to California from Alabama to take our pictures (ok, I suppose there were other families too - but she was so genuine and real, that it felt like she was here for us!).  The A-HA moment was when I saw her canvas college in that blog post. What a perfect addition a beautiful collage of US on our otherwise empty walls!  

Guess what arrived?!?

It is perfect at the top of our stairs!  I just love it (all 36"x36" of it!)!!!  It is a great addition to our home.  And, we couldn't just stop there - we added these:

a beautiful scene in our dining area.  I love the casualness of them- they are just US, the big goofs that we are!  and then of course, one more, my favorite of them all:

If you can ignore the mess in the living room in the back there... but this is the first thing you see when you walk in the house!  Hanging these pictures is a HUGE step for us, but one that has really made our house feel like our home!  TFL!  

Cookie Evolution

I was recently asked to make cookies for a baby shower in the shape of pinwheels.  So, as usual, I start searching for a cutter - with no luck.  There were cutters for the pinwheel cookies that are made with more of a pastry dough and jelly filling, but none that were the complete shape that I need.  I sketched out a simple pinwheel, and it hit me...  I could hand cut them.  WHAT?!?  This is a cookie first for me.  I have seen some amazing bakers who have hand cut their own cookies, but the thought never crossed my mind, I never thought I would make cookies in a shape that no cutter existed.  I must say, it was more time consuming, but I feel like it was a little freeing.  I am very happy with the result, and I think the Mom-to-Be will be too:

With this new experience, I began to think about when I started decorating sugar cookies and how I have grown as a decorator.  I made my first "real" cookies (and by first I mean, first ones using the right tools and techniques) in March of 2008! So really, that is only 3 years ago... and while not all cookies are works of art - I love how my art has grown.  I love that these pinwheels have started a new chapter in my growth and I am so excited to try other new designs!  

I thought I would share some of my favorites from the past 3 years:

My very first "real" cookies

Some Apples for the teacher

Aaargh - Pirate skulls

Some Monarchs - (love this technique)

My favorite owls

Thanks for taking this walk down memory lane - thanks for supporting me! 

It's all part of the journey

This weekend we had a family photo-shoot with Erin Cobb (you know... THE Erin Cobb).  I feel so lucky to have had this opportunity - she was simply amazing in every way!  We had our session at this awesome semi-secluded beach in Laguna, and it was like walking onto a movie set... the light was beautiful, the waves crashed against the rocks, and there was a nice breeze in the air. 

I have been so nervous to have this shoot, as I prefer to be behind the camera, not in front - and I have to say, I am still nervous and hope that I have not ruined what could have been amazing shots - but Erin really made me feel at ease.  It was like talking with an old friend - and no matter what the pictures look like, it was so much fun for us to do this as a family.  Connor was even reminding me, that these pictures are representations of who we are - now... This is Us!!!  This is part of our journey.  I can't wait to see the end result...  the only other family portraits that we had were about 6 years ago at The Picture People - you know, the boring, all sitting in a pile against a white background photo?  Before that- was about 14 years ago for our wedding!!!  It was about time to document us, don't you think?

While I don't have the pics just yet - I had to share a quick before-shoot picture I took of Connor - because really - it's all part of the journey, right?

Somewhere over the rainbow...

You can't have rainbows without a little rain, right? I saw these adorable images from Pink Cat Studios (Billy in Rain Gear) and fell in love!  What does that mean?  It means a new video of course.  Unfortunately, this was shot at a strange angle  - I have since learned how to adjust that, so future videos should be better... but for now, enjoy!

Thanks for watching!

Cupcake Love...

I had so much fun making that last video - I decided to do another - and in the process, decided that I needed to make a card.  I have totally fallen in love with so many new styles of digital images and this adorable girl from The Greeting Farm, Cupcake Anya, is no exception.  In fact I love all of the Anya images!  Here is my latest card:

I used these really cute papers from My Mind's Eye - Pink Photo Mat.  I am not really sure where I got it, and I have had a hard time finding it - hope it is still available, it is really cute.  The colors were perfect to go with the copics that I used.  I embellished with a dimensional cupcake sticker from  Little Yellow Bicycle.  The stamp is from Papertrey Ink's Tiny Treats... one of my favorites.  

This first video is the one that shows how I colored it:

and the second one is the actual putting together of the card.

Thanks so much for watching... can't wait to do the next one!