Happy Independence Day!

I hope you are all having a good beginning of the weekend! We have done a little work, but are mostly just relaxing! We may check out some fireworks tonight, and then plan an adventure to the St. Louis Arch tomorrow for the airshow and fireworks over the river. It has been several years since we last went, so should be fun. We won't have to carry a tired toddler over the Eads Bridge at the end of the night this time!

After all the cakes I did mid-May through mid-June, I got busy with cookies! First were dear hubby's 50th birthday cookies and balloons.

We surprised him at the office. He hates surprises. He also hates getting his picture taken! (He prefers to be behind the camera. Check out his photography blog at Lsqrd Imaging.)
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My daughter is a lifeguard at the local YMCA this summer. She decided to make cookies for the crew! This was her first foray into cookie decorating- now she is hooked! We downloaded clipart to use as templates and handcut the dough for the shapes she wanted.

The whistles, complete with licorice lanyard, were the favorite! She came home and made another batch! (I emailed a cutter company the next day to price a custom cutter for her!)



I think it is now time to take a little break! I have some other projects that must be addressed before I can have more fun!

Have a safe celebration of our wonderful nation's independence!

Thank you to all of our military heros and your families for your sacrifices.

My current craft love is cake and cooke decorating. I started taking lessons two and a half years ago, when my husband had to be away for six months starting a new job (the trade-off for not having to move!). My instructor told us about a web bulletin board for cake decorators, so off I went. I also discovered the University of YouTube! There is so much to be learned from videos, good and bad!

Here's what I've been up to lately:

This cake was for Confirmation Sunday at my church. The verse was central to their study.

Another cake for church, on Graduation Sunday!

Graduation cookies for my niece. The NA logo is handcut. The graduation cap decorations were cut using my new Cricut Cake.

This pair of cakes was for the baby shower of my friend's daughter. The topper is a sugar cookie decorated with fondant. The cake is chocolate with chocolate buttercream. The flowers are fondant.

Cookie up close!

The matching sheet cake was vanilla, with buttercream icing.

The colors and decorations match the invitations for the shower.

Here are the two cakes, ready to party. I added the balloons with the baby-to-be's nickname when we got to the house.











So that was a lot of cakes in five weeks! I think the family is glad to be getting the kitchen back! There were a few more cookies for hubby's birthday- I'll post those soon. Now my daughter wants to make cookies for the lifeguard staff- we'll play with those tomorrow!

OK, I am trying something...

I love crafting. Sewing, quilting, embroidery, cake decorating, cookie decorating, knitting, crocheting... I enjoy figuring out how to make things. Patterns are fine, but I also enjoy looking at an object or picture, and coming up with a process to recreate the subject. However, I'm not very good at coming up with ideas on my own!

Why a blog? Well, it is something new to try. It could be a central location for me to share my creations with others. It is a self-indulgence! Maybe it will bring a smile to someone.

Thanks for looking! We'll see where this goes....