Blogging via email, via the iPhone

So, this is my first attempt at doing this. I haven't posted in
forever, yet I have had easy access to the Internet ever since I have gotten my iPhone. One thing I love about it is its camera, which isn't too bad for a phone camera. It even has a focus feature! These are a few of the many photographs I have taken with this camera:

some lavender on my porch

a ToyWatch- I love the contrast of the white watch and the red quilt

and my Bengal, Tessa, in one of her favorite spots- my bathtub!

Damned if I'm gonna miss a class

I may have been sick this morning, but damned if I'm going to miss my cake decorating class that I paid for and of which there are only three! (First one doesn't count, it was just an orientation!) Tonight we did roses, clowns, and other drop flowers. After my first practice clown sitting upright, we had to do one laying down and she said "Try to cross the arms in front of him so he doesn't look dead." To which I said, "Maybe I want him to look dead." So, I made a clown that looked like he had been thrown out of a 10 story building (sorry, to all the clowns that read my blog). Had I colored some frosting red I would have went to town with the whole display, but instead I just scooped him up and threw him back into the container to mix in again. But roses I like, so here are a few pics that I took at the end of class...

This is the second one I did and you can kind of tell that the icing in my bag was transitioning from the cream to the pink, not entirely on purpose, but it has a cool effect....


These next two are a more solid pink and after a little more practice. I have to say I wasn't a fan of my icing consistency because it gave me a kind of ruffled/ragged look on the end of the petals- but then again it does give it a peony look with those edges...hmm... peonies are one of my top favorite flowers, I definitely have something to experiment with this weekend....

Class has begun!

Guess what? I just had my first official cake decorating class tonight! I felt silly taking pictures during class, so all I have is the finished product here, but next time when I do it at home I will take pictures step by step. I learned about different consistencies of icings and how to use different tips. Next week we will be making flowers and clowns but I think I just had a great idea for Maggie and Phil's Halloween Party!

Before and After

I haven't posted in forever, I know! I have been into all sorts of trouble lately and just haven't had the chance! Well, not real trouble... what would you call a new job in a new state in a town where you know no one? Anyway, at my new job I was asked by my principal to design some student of the month certificates and when I asked for the school seal I was given this...

And my issue I have with this lovely electronic piece of information is that it in fact does not look electronic and you cannot blow it up, and you are restricted by the black background. It looks like a photograph of something embroidered!

So I went ahead and redrew it as a vector image so it can potentially be any size you want it to be and it is transparent.

And then I was interested in colorizing it a bit, so I played with it and did this.

My students said it looks a bit "cartoony" like the Simpsons! Which, I will give them that, it is a very simplistic in its lines, but I was sticking with the original typeface. I suppose the next step would be to do a bit more stylizing to the lines and give this a more "classic" look, but hell, that would only happen if I got paid for this!

I'm off to do some baking, now! My sisters sent me lots of baking tools for my birthday (thanks!) so now I must get to more fun stuff!

Fender Bender Cupcake Carnage

What you see here is deliciousness...
Chocolate Guinness Cupcakes with Bailey's Irish Cream frosting (left) and Vanilla Bean Cream Cheese frosting (right). I made them in three different sizes, filled the larger ones with frosting in addition to what is seen on top. I initially saw the recipe months ago on a blog that I regularly read and had been dreaming about them and searching for a reason to make them. I had a friend's birthday come up and decided that these would perfect for the occassion! Normally I don't even think to share recipes on this, however, I have received nothing but rave reviews so I included the links above- I take no credit for the recipes, I just made what you see.

But, I will take credit for this idea below... I made a cardboard "pint glass" as a cupcake stand! Lighting was not so good in the bar, but I abhor my flash. Fellow party-goers then suggested making "pint cakes" so now I am in search of tempered pint glasses that can go in an oven, any thoughts?



Did I mention that on the way to the birthday party I got in a car accident? I spent so much time baking these cupcakes and piping the frosting, only to have them thrown about my cupcake carrier (love it) in my car. Therefore party presentation- not so good, taste- loved by all, story of their delivery- priceless.

Mini!

This is my first batch of mini-cupcakes that I have ever done! It takes a lot of careful work to fill those many little cups, but I was not let down. The frosting is a basic vanilla frosting from scratch and I learned that investing in a good vanilla extract is worth it and next time I might even try heavy whipping cream instead of just milk to thin it out and real vanilla bean. As for the piping, is does make a difference in regard to presentation! I added the dime for a little perspective on the size. Stay tuned, tonight I am making something even better!

salty

There is a story behind this mini-obsession with salt: Liz and I were hosting a Lethal Luau a little while back (that's a Hawaiian-themed murder mystery dinner party) and the main course was to be pork barbecue which called for black Hawaiian salt. We SEARCHED EVERY STORE possible with no luck, though I was pretty confident I had seen it back up north. And I did. And here it is. So, since my best girl recently got hit by a car and survived, I thought I would send her a little present. And this is how I made it. Love her lots. Thank you, God.

Therefore, here's a little DIY to make this present so much better than giving her a bags of salt (which since I was on a hunt for black I decided to get a few other Hawaiian varieties...

Step 1: Buy the salt.


Step 2: Buy super-cute jars.


Step 3: Make fun labels for super-cute jars.


Step 4: Place fun labels on super-cute jars.


Step 5: Fill fun-labeled super-cute jars with salt.


Step 6: Enjoy!

two of my favorite things

I'm pretty sure I have posted once before that two of my favorite things are flowers and ironwork. Well, recently I visited my Alma Mater and shot a few photographs. Way back when, when I went on my first campus tour it was love at first sight. I'll probably share more photographs later on, but I was using my sister's fancy camera, so I played with focusing and this is what I came up with. I wish the rose garden was in better bloom, but I think blooming season for roses is much earlier down here. This place is highly photographed though, so these are probably nothing special, its all just a lesson for me!

soooo tired....

Just got in from Relay for Life. It was a fun night, I didn't even take a nap! I didn't take too many pictures either, but a team next to us had this adorable wagon so I had to ask if I could shoot it. I totally want to have one of these when I grow up and carry garden supplies around in it. I'm not grown up yet, am I, right? Anyway, here it is on the turf in front of a tent, it almost looks like a studio shoot!

ibus

Just wanted to say 'hello!' to all my foreign visitors!
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Salam! G'Day Mate! Olá! Salut! γεια! ¡Hola! Selamat datang!

Interestingly enough, this chart was created in Adobe Illustrator. Sure it is no Excel, but you can't create your own swatches as easily in Excel as you can in Illustrator. See, charts CAN be fun!

more sun = less drawing = more photography

The following collection is from a recent trip and brings together a few of my favorite things: blue skies, old buildings, and the contrast of nature and man-made objects. Click on the pictures to see in full quality!

front of building




courtyard











interior (fan is rotating)

Who's a Good Boy? Charlie's a Good Boy!

This dog here, Charlemagne, is one of a kind. Okay, well maybe not one of a kind, but I am pretty sure not every owner is as clever as my Liz who is training her GERMAN shepherd in GERMAN, who's name is CHARLEMAGNE, and who's personal catch phrase is "Hündinnen Liebe Me". Love him.


Also, brought my marketing students to a family theme park for some fun and to talk with the Director of Marketing. It was pretty much a rainy day, I did a crazy sky-rocket-bungy-thing, but I fell in love with this old carousel there and wanted to get a shot of it. This is the oldest horse on it, and I believe it is from the early 1900s, probably should have taken a picture of the sign so I knew all the details.

Cake and Cupcakes

This is a first of a many things. Let's play the never have I ever game! Never have I ever made a three-tiered cake. Never have I ever experimented with different types of cake (i.e., bottom layer is rainbow chip, middle is white, and top is strawberry).Never have I ever used multiple frostings on one cake (i.e., the top and bottom is whipped cream colored pink and green, the middle is rainbow chip). Never have I ever piped decoration onto a cake.

But why, oh why, did I make this cake? Reason is still undecided, I originally had visions of a topsey, turvey, wonky, crazy cake for the Fall into a Wonderland of Reading book fair, however, that would require much more experience than I had, so this is where I am starting! I MUST sign up for cake decorating classes, just like my best friend Courtney took! Therefore, I believe I am going to use this as a surprise for my marketing students tomorrow.

Anyway, I had extra batter and frosting therefore I made a few cupcakes and played with some more decoraring techniques. I must admit everything is out of a box or a can! While I had ambitions to bring this all together, time still is a factor so this is what I came up with Sandra Lee style. If you don't know Sandra Lee, that means it's semi-homemade and the semi- part comes into play because I added food coloring! I think I get points for baking the cake too, instead of buying a ready made one, right? Whoa, too much talking going on. Enjoy my designs below!

This one kind of reminds me of a kind of variety of chrysanthemum... Like my laptop staging area?


Friends forever <3


The garden with the brain...


The last of my favorite techniques...

Fall into a Wonderland of Reading

Fall into a Wonderland of Reading

That was the theme that my marketing students agreed upon for this year's book fair. It was a major responsibility for the class to take on the promotional and visual merchandising aspects of the fair, and though it may have not come easy, throughout the book fair I received rave reviews from faculty, staff and students about how impressive it was. In fact, most say "it's the best one ever". I thought I'd share some highlights of my students' work. I have so say I am very proud of the students in my class, I cannot believe my time with them is almost done, I hope they learned something from me.

Promotion:

Visual Merchandising:

Spring in The City!

This past weekend, my Mom and I went into The City to play. We had gorgeous weather and beautiful sights to see. My camera was almost dead, so by the time I had taken a video of a dog that looked like a walking Barbie Doll from behind, I only had enough battery for this last photograph. I love the wrought iron, tulips, and just a peek of the Chrysler Building, which is beautiful by itself anyway. Click to enlarge.

Twilight

For all you Twilight fans (myself included) a photograph I took over Christmas break...