A Labor of Love

This year I was able to go to California for my Mother's birthday and this is what I made for her. I just so happens that the day I did the decorating was one of the hottest days in Ventura ever. Since the weather is usually mild and lovely most of the mission home doesn't have air conditioning (including the kitchen). It made the experience quite an adventure - luckily it didn't all melt! It tasted good and we all enjoyed it.

New Job

I am the newest Wilton Method Instructor at the Logan Hobby Lobby! The first class started this week as is so far going great. It's just very part time so I'm still working on getting something full-time. I am grateful to at least have this do in the mean time. The schedule is fairly flexible so I should easily be able to work something full-time in addition to this.

I've been keeping myself pretty busy around house cleaning, organizing, cooking, and finishing projects like crazy! Most of them are for the holidays so photos won't turn up for a little while . . .

Fondant

My first fondant covered cake. All things considered it went fairly well. It's not perfect but I'm okay with that :)

Gum Paste

I took another Cake Decorating Class is July which focused on using Gum Paste and Fondant. They are different yet similar. Gum Paste can be thinner and dries quicker. Cakes are covered in Fondant and decorations are made from Gum Paste, generally speaking. In a way it was like playing with Play Dough. We mainly did flowers from Gum Paste. Here are some examples. I think it's neat how "real" some of them look. Sorry some of the photos are so blurry try and I might I could not get the camera to cooperate with what I was trying to do.

Calla Lily





A Rose



Carnations, Daisies, Mums & Leaves

A New Apron

I made this one special for Cake decorating. I love the fabric but the design isn't really flattering on me and it doesn't really cover the areas I need. The tie at the neck is quite uncomfortable. It is more cute than functional. Not sure what I'll end up doing with it yet - maybe I'll just use it as decoration.

This one's for Baby Abby

A Close-up of the fabrics

Happy Birthday Miss Ella

Yes I know I'm late once again - but this bag is for Ella Bella who turned two in June!

Even more cake!

This month I've been taking two cake classes and so far managed to only have to bake cupcakes once. This was the last week of class and I needed a cake for each one. This is the first one I've done where the design is completely my own, no inspiration taken from another original. I'm pretty happy with how it turned it. I learned ways I shouldn't do things, so if I do something similar in the future I know what to change.

More Cake

Here's another one I did for class. Part of the border just fell off - don't know what happened there. The flowers are made from royal icing and gum paste. My favorite are the daffodils, my favorite color is the roses, a deep orangey-red.

Library Bag for Spencer Wayne

This one is for Mr. Spence who just turned 2.

Lady Bug

This one is just for fun and practice. I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It took a LONG time to color the icings, both true black and red are challenging to achieve. I started with chocolate for the black so I think that helped, it still took a lot of coloring though. The red took even more - I finished off one container of coloring plus an entire new one! I just partook of a piece of cake and it was DELICIOUS - triple chocolate cake, with chocolate and vanilla flavored buttercream.

Covering a cake with stars takes a while, and definitely works the hand and arm muscles. I beginning to see the appeal of using Fondant.

"Grand Finale"

Here's my cake from the end of my 2nd cake class

Top View


Side View with Birdie


Close Up of Flowers


Close Up of Basketweave

A Springtime Project

This one was started and finished this year. I even finished the frame myself!


A close-up of the saying.


This one is for these delightful wee ones.

On Friendship

I can't remember when I started this one, probably early last year, but it was one of my first finishes of 2010. This one was given to my sister.

More Cakes

This is my "final" cake from my first class. The trick I was taught to smooth it out actually made it much much worse - opps! This cake was lemon with strawberry filling, and lemon butter cream frosting - it was delightfully delicious and the lemon made it light and refreshing!

Here's a close up of the roses and sweet peas. They are far from perfect, but I think for my first go they're pretty good :)


This was for Easter. The cake tasted good. It's not suppose to be lopsided, and I think they eyes make it look a bit possessed but oh well, all things considered it turned out fine. A learning experience for sure. Next time I make the ducky I'll avoid having to transport it anywhere - that was a huge contributor to the lopsidedness.

First Go at Cake Decorating

Here's proof of my beginnings as a "cake decorator". I'm taking a class with a friend and this is what we worked on during our last class. It's fun but kinda hard work on the hand.

Happiness to my Heart

Last week was a horrible week. Not because of anything dramatic just lots of little things that built up. Through the years I have learned that music has an immense power to calm and soothe my soul. Some songs have more power than others and this one is my all time favorite. It's called "Volcanic Jig" and ALWAYS bring Happiness to my Heart when I hear it. Last Thursday I finally pulled out my MP3 player, plugged in my headphones, turned the sound up high and danced around my room. By the end I felt a distinct relaxation come over me.

The first time I heard it was from a CD and I loved trying to figure out all the different instruments - I was right on with my choices! Admittedly I prefer the recording over the live version but I adore it regardless. What I love about the video is seeing how much joy playing brings to the musicians


So last week was rough but I survived in part with the help of music. I also had a great weekend that helped with improving my mood as well, which included a visit from an old friend and my Mother!

Noise Makers

When I work on projects I like having noise in the background. I usually choose movies, music or books on tape. This year one of the noise makers has been the TV Show "The West Wing". I didn't really watch it during it's original run so it has all been new to me. I've been really enjoying it so far - I'm in the middle of the third season. I'm learning things about how the White House and American politics run. Plus I get in some good laughs as well :)





Another popular noise maker for me is an Australian TV Show called "McLeod's Daughters". It starts out with the death of a Father that brings to sisters together who haven't seen each other in twenty years. It's out them getting to know each other again, and working and surviving on a cattle station in the Australian Outback.

I started watching last year and have gradually made it to the last season. None of the original characters are on it anymore and I really don't like it as much as the beginning but it's still entertaining. I've been able to watch most of the episodes online via Neflix.

The Original Cast


A few new faces


The cast at the end.

Plus there's a few main characters that didn't make it into any of these shots.

When characters left some were dramatically killed off and others in a way do they could eventually return, and a few briefly did. Most of them are related is a way, some quite creatively.

Mystery Project #2

Done - another wait for the reveal though :)

Mystery Project #1

Done! Stay tuned for the "big" reveal.



P. S. Just so you know it's going to be a LONG wait :)

Another for Miss Kate Grace

The Lady Bug Quilt-

This was suppose to be for Miss Kate when she was born. Due to various reasons and numerous excuses it wasn't, in fact she's a 14 month old toddler now. Better late than never, right?




Here's a close up of the Lady Bugs and Picot Edging - which is a LOT of work, but I love how it looks when all is said and done. The dots on the red fabric are white, but with all the green they reflect green, which I think is kinda cool.


A close up of the backing fabric and one of the "invisible" ties I used to quilt this.

For Deanna and Baby Vince

This is a nursing cover, and matching storage bag for it. The bag was the first project I used my new serger on!

For Miracle Baby Jack D

Close up of the Center - This was the actual "first" finish of the year.




I started this way back in 2009 but was unable to concentrate so it took a long time to complete :)

For Miss Katherine Grace

The first complete finish of 2010