Do you Lilac?

this is a gift i wrapped for my friend's birthday. i used chartreuse wrap and two different types of ribbon, little purple and glitter purple. the ribbon didn't have any wire, which made it difficult to bow up, however with some patience and concentration, i was able to make it work.  i then got a purple peony. i like to make the flower fit the size of the gift. i try not to pick a flower that will get lost or over power the gift. to prevent sharp edges, i curl the end of the flower up.

 while i was playing with frosting, i also decided to buy some fondant and try out my new cherry blossom mold. it worked wonders. i decided to make a box for my friend's birthday. i made white and pink cherry blossoms, and covered the tops of the cupcakes with fondant as well, in either blue or pink. i did a crumble layer of frosting on top, so i could get a smooth finish when i put the fondant on.  i then used some pearlized dust to give the cupcakes some sparkle.

 

Coming up Roses

i decided to try my hand at making roses from frosting....my first attempt was embarrassing. i used just pilsbury vanilla frosting with some rose pink color gel. the mixture was too soft, so my rose just looked like a blob of pink. i added some confectioners sugar to the mix to make it thicker, that seemed to help. however if i attempt it again, i will make my own frosting, possibly try royal icing. i made the rose directly on the cupcake instead of using a flower stand. i've seen rotating stands for cupcakes, i think that would have been helpful in this situation.

To the drawing board



 when it comes to baking elaborate cakes, i like to draw it out. that way i can figure out what color combinations look good and what designs to use. this is a cake design i've been working on for my sister's birthday cake. she asked for cherry blossoms.

She sells sea shells



last year, i took on the task of making my sister's birthday cake. it was my first time using fondant and working with a lot of cake and frosting. i studied up...i watched tv shows...i read recipe books...watched videos. after finding out my sister chose a beach theme, i tried to keep it a simple design, since i was a bit inexperienced. i used a chocolate cake recipe from one my mum's cookbooks from england. i used vanilla buttercream frosting between the layers and covering the outside of the cake. i bought already-made fondant by duff- ace of cakes host. i bought white fondant then bought wilton cake dyes to make the fondant the color i wanted to achieve. i made the seashells from white and milk chocolate using a wilton candy shell tray. for the sand, i dabbed a bit of frosting on top of the cake and sprinkled brown sugar on top. i dusted the bottom, edge fondant accents with pearl dust, which can be eaten. it was a great learning experience making a cake with fondant.



the two items i loved using for cake decorating were the cake spinner and the frosting spatula. i was able to get a clean, smooth finish when covering the cake with the wilton cake spatula. the spinner made everything so much easier than dancing around the kitchen counter trying to make sure the sides and top of the cake were even.



Can you do me a Favor?

i did these favors for a baby shower. i used blossom polka dot pillow boxes from the paper source. i then made the tags by using a vintage carriage rubber stamp with brown ink and clear embossing powder. i printed the date and name of the mum to be on the back of the card. the 'le bebe' ribbon is made by midori. inside of the boxes were chocolate covered oreos and a chocolate pacifier.

The Pens had the Blues...

 this invitation was for a girls weekend. we decided to go to watch a hockey game. while i cheered for my pittsburgh penguins, my friend cheered for her st. louis blues. while it was a valiant battle all night, the pens lost in over time... much to my chagrin and to my friends joy.
i kept this invitation quite simple in terms of incorporating the theme of hockey. i designed the tickets on the front of the invitation to look like the game tickets. the copy and layout inside the invitation, i kept very low key in terms of the design element. i thought the tickets on the front of the invitation was the major design element. since i create 3-4 invitations a year for the girls weekend events. i do like to add the year and location it was held at. it's very helpful when it comes to scrap booking the event.

Orange you glad...

 this is my favorite shade of orange, it's called poppy. aqua and poppy are fun and cheerful. i made my bows from tulle and satin, glitter ribbon. i like using solid color wrap and then using patterned ribbon and elaborate package toppers. for this occasion, i used my friends favorite color, orange. i will sometimes mimic the colors of the gift in the wrap, or follow the theme of the gift into the package topper. for birthdays, i will usually use wrap and ribbon associated with the recipient's favorite color.

Sparkling Butterflies

 when i see a package topper i like...i usually buy a bunch of them. i know will always use them later. i like making the butterfly look like it's sitting on the bows i make. i tend to like the butterflies that are covered with glitter so they sparkle on top of the gift. i've found a lot of people save the butterfly since it's too pretty to throw away. i usually suggest they reuse it in their own gift wrapping adventures.

Badgers & Bows

 i designed this gift wrap for a fellow art history friend for her graduation. i usually like to use the school colors with graduation gifts. i wrapped the main gift and all the little gifts inside. i made a topper by using the university mascot, in this case a badger, and attached it to a tag i designed on my computer.

Cherry Blossoms for Mum

Here are some of my recently wrapped gifts. These were for my Mum for Mother's Day. I love using flowers for package toppers. I found these Cherry Blossoms at Pottery Barn. These are some of my favorite color combinations, particularly pink and chartreuse. 

Start from the Beginning....

Tonight, I decided to start my blog. I hope to be able to share my creative adventures with you all. I've realized that not everyone gets to see what I can do and thought this was the easiest and most effective way to accomplish such a task. At the moment, I am juggling many projects, my desk is currently covered in pink glitter, I've found double-stick tape in my hair and my notebook is stacked to the brim with ideas and notes. I hope to soon start posting some of my completed projects for your viewing pleasure. However for your enjoyment, I will share some of my previous projects so you may get a taste of what's to come!