Cake Pops...I'm totally hooked!

Ever since I first saw this blog by Bakerella, I was hooked on these little cake pops that she makes. They are just so stinkin' adorable!! I've wanted to make them for the longest time but kept putting it off. Well...she just came out with her first cookbook titled Cake Pops and I bought it at my local Barnes and Noble (got the last copy on the release day too). Her cake pops are adorable and her photography of them is even more fascinating. Everything is just perfect about them. I was just in awe as I sat flipping through the cookbook on that first day. I REALLY wanted to try to make these now. I was going to start with just the basic cake pop round shape and just coat them and see how they turned out. But, Evan celebrated Apple Week last week at school and they were allowed to bring in a homemade treat (this never happens at school). I was SO excited because I remembered seeing apple cake pops in the cookbook. I bought all of my items, having to substitute some items because I couldn't find the right sprinkles for the leaves but I was happy. I made 48 of these little pops. Evan had enough for his 1st grade class and we delivered some to each of the other 1st grade teachers as they were all celebrating Apple Week, the kindergarten teachers as they will always hold a special place in our hearts, Max's teacher and Max's teacher last year! They got RAVE reviews. Nobody wanted to eat them as they were too pretty they kept saying. They were quite delicious. To keep with the apple theme, I used a spice cake and substituted apple sauce for the oil in addition to making them look like apples. I have to say that these were pretty easy to make. They were time consuming but so worth it to see everyone's faces when we delivered them. Evan took them in to his class in this little basket that I lined with tissue paper. So, what do you think...good enough to eat?

More crafting!!

I've been busy crafting but haven't gotten around to posting too much. One thing is I had to get a new camera over the summer and I still have a hard time getting my pics off of it and the other is I also got a new printer and it has messed up how I scan things in so I need DH to help me figure that one out so I'll get some LOs posted after I get it all worked out.

First off, I've got this mini clipboard that I altered. I've got 2 boys that are in school full day this year so they are both taking their lunch this year. We were doing really well and getting all of their non-refrigerated stuff packed the night before and having the other stuff ready in baggies in the fridge. Well, life is getting more hectic with Scouts starting up. DH came home from work one afternoon and designed these lunch order slips for them to fill out and then we'll "fill" their lunch orders. Actually we trade off days and each of the boys is responsible for getting out all the stuff for him and his brother. It's taught them a lot of responsibility. They LOVE the idea of filling out an actual order and then filling it. I decided that I didn't want these little papers all over the kitchen so I altered this clipboard for them to go on. I used Locker Talk and All Mixed Up. I covered it in Mod Podge to protect it too. I added some ribbons to the clip and tied a pencil to it too.

Next are some birthday cards that I've made. I used Elmo's Party for this first one. There is a gorgeous cake cut on there. I used my Gypsy and welded two cake cuts together to make a shape card. I didn't add the silly face that you can from the Elmo's Party cart though. I inked all the cuts and stamped Happy Birthday on the cake plate.


Next birthday card was made using Happily Ever After for Snow White and Elmo's Party for the cake. This is for a dear friend's birthday that is a Snow White fan just like me! ;)



The next two cards require some explaining. LOL My dad's birthday was a couple of weeks ago and the boys wanted me to make cards for him from them. They gave me "orders" as to what they wanted their cards to look like. My dad likes to feed the squirrels in their backyard so that is the basis for both cards. First is Evan's card. I used Create a Critter for the whole scene on the front and Cuttin' Up for the inside. Evan wanted a card that just said "SQUIRREL" but didn't want the actual animal on there. Evan really likes the Disney-Pixar movie UP. He likes to imitate the dog when he's talking and then all of sudden freezes and says "SQUIRREL". My dad thinks that is so funny so that is the story behind his card. Max's card is second. He actually wanted a squirrel on his and wanted him roasting an acorn over a campfire because we like to roast marshmallows with my parents. So, thus his card was born. It was all fairly easy to plan out on my G. I also used Create a Critter on his too. LOVE that cart!


Last, I've got a birthday card for my DH, Charlie. He turns 32 tomorrow!! Happy Birthday, honey! I just got the new Toy Story cart in the mail on Monday and I've been having the most fun playing with the cuts on it. I knew that I wanted to use it on his card because we all just love Toy Story. This card is 4x9.25. I used the Toy Story cart for the rocket and aliens, George for the claw, and Mickey font for the words. I had this vision in my head of cutting the aliens and making the scene in which the aliens are in the claw game and getting picked up. I'm so happy with how this card turned out!! I had to really enlarge the rocket to fit the whole height of the card so I could get an alien to fit inside. I also apart a clear envelope and used that for the front so it's shiny like you're looking inside the claw game. I welded together the letter I and 3 moon shapes from George for the claw and then just wedged the little alien in there like he had been chosen. Enjoy!

Some new cards

Life has been VERY hectic lately. My boys went back to school and I thought that I'd have more time to scrap but that hasn't quite happened yet. I spend more time running errands, returning phone calls, volunteering at their school (which I love), picking up the house, and trying to keep everyone well. Evan and I were both sick last week. We both had to see the dr and get on antibiotics. Welcome to the start of school! LOL Then on Saturday, Evan had a really bad accident. He got knocked into our coffee table and almost completely cut off the top part of his ear...the little rounded part. It was horrible. We rushed him to the ER and they were able to stitch him up. It required 6 stitches. He gets them out on Friday...woohoo! The ear is looking better today. The swelling is finally going down and I'm seeing some better coloring in it. The ER dr was afraid that the blood supply wasn't going to be enough to keep that tissue alive but I have better hopes today. He's very eager to get the stitches out because he says that it grosses out the girls in his class. Evan's always got to please the little girls!! LOL

OK, on to some cards. These first two are ones that I made for my bestest friend when she had her new baby boy!!! I made the Welcome Little One for her and the Super Big Brother for each of her two boys. I used Create a Critter for the Welcome Little One card. I also used some Cuttlebug folders for embossing the backgroud. I also added some crushed velvet to the moon's hat. I used my Superman cart for the Super Big Brother card. I embossed the background with Cuttlebug's Diamond Plate folder.

This next card was made for the same bestest friend for letting us stay at her house while visiting. We had the best time and my boys loved spending time with her two boys. It was a great little trip. I used Just Because Cards for everything on this card.

This next card was made for my message board friends that had birthdays in August!! I had fun coming up with this card. I found the stamped saying in my stash first and went from there. I used From My Kitchen for the sweet little vintage phone. I used Nesties for the background shape. Here is the front...it says "Age is only a number"


Here's the inside...it says (Mine is Unlisted, Happy Birthday)
Thanks for taking a look at my creations. I've got more to post but need to get pics off of my camera and LOs scanned in. Be sure and check back!!

Vinyl project for the day

I've been busy getting stuff ready around here for the start of school. Especially since school starts in 3 weeks and 2 days! Where has the summer gone. We've had an awesome summer and I'm not ready for it to end. Anywho, I already know that we're going to have a hectic year with both boys being in Scouts and in full day school too. So, I used my Gypsy, Cricut, and Wall Pops and designed headers for my big dry erase board that hangs in my kitchen. Now, I can keep everything for the boys written down so they can easily view stuff that they have going on and I can keep track of the family's doctor appointments and I've even got a section for Menu so I can plan our meals out for a whole week!! I used the new Varsity Letter for the titles and Designer's Calendar for the days of the week. Enjoy!!

Who needs a Cricut Cake machine?

Not me. Charlie and I have found that we truly enjoy making the boys' birthday cakes and other cakes. They take a long time but it's something that enjoy doing together. We've even gotten the hang of using fondant and have a recipe to make our own...and it tastes GOOD! Here are some cakes that we've made this year.

This first one, Max had a big hand in making. This was for Cub Scouts for their annual Cake Bake. They auctioned off the cakes and the money went to Easter Seals. It was a fun night with so many fun cakes being auctioned. The boys could make a cake to fit a category in hopes of winning a medal. Max won for Best Scout Themed cake. He wanted to make a hat cake that looked like his Cub Scout Wolf hat. He helped with the baking of the cake, icing the cake, and even rolling out the fondant (which was hard work). Max's cake went for $110...to us. We had 4 other families bidding against us and Max REALLY wanted this cake to come back home with us so hung in there and won it back.


Here is Evan's birthday cake from January. He had a Candy Land themed birthday so Charlie and I recreated the Candy Land game board on a cake. There was SO much candy on this cake. All the kids at his party LOVED it.

And here is Max's birthday cake from June. He had a camouflage themed party so we decided to make a cake shaped like a tank. It turned out awesome. We used fondant on this one. I did use a bit of Cricut on this one. I cut the number eight out of paper and then hand cut the 8 out of fondant to put on the front of the cake.

Sweet as Pie

Holy guacamole!!! I scrapped a LO two days in a row. I can't even remember the last time that that happened. LOL My boys' school raised money for Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) this spring. They sold paper tennis shoes in their classes and also took in donations. Evan ended up with the most donations out of the kindergarten class. They were going to take only the top student and let them throw a pie in the face of that teacher from that grade level but since the whole student body did very well (raising over $14,000) one teacher from each grade level took a pie in the face. Evan was the winner for kindergarten. This program was in the afternoon and Evan was a morning kindergartner so another teacher called to let me know like 20 minutes before the program and asked if I'd bring him back to the school. Evan got to throw a pie in the kindergarten teacher's aide's face. He had a blast and she said that she wouldn't have wanted anyone else to do it besides Evan. Her and Evan are best buddies!! Anywho, so that's the story behind the pics.

I used From My Kitchen for the refrigerator, stove, pot, canisters, pie, pot holders, and pie phrase. I used Create a Critter for the word SWEET, George for the cabinet doors, and Jasmine for AS. I cut the tile floor by hand. I used my art skills to draw it out, cut it out, and piece each individual tile together. I even hung the pot holders on little brads for the cabinet knobs. I also printed out some mini pics from the event and put them on the fridge like magnets. TFL

MIA.... but I'm back!

It's been a crazy couple of months as you can tell. My last post was over the boys' Spring Break back in March!!! I've been busy with the end of school in May, Scouting activities...always, and our vacation right after school ended. We went to Pennsylvania to Sesame Place. saw the Liberty Bell in Philly, saw the Crayola Factory and Museum, and did Hershey Park for 3 days. We were gone for a week and had a wonderful time. I'm trying to get back on a schedule around the house. The boys are doing school work each morning over summer break so they don't lose any skills. And I'm using that time to sit with them and design on my Gypsy. I designed this LO this morning and got it cut and pieced this afternoon while the boys cleaned up about a million Legos in their toyroom!

I had printed pics to make the boys' Christmas Eve LOs but ran across this year's Tootsie Roll pic and decided to do a LO of all 4 pics of Evan. My dad always gives Evan something Tootsie Roll for Christmas whether it be a giant Tootsie Roll in the top left-hand pic, a Tootsie Roll bank in the top right-hand pic or bottom left-hand pic, or a gigantic Tootsie Roll pillow in the bottom right-hand pic. Evan LOVES Tootsie Rolls and always asks for my dad for one when he comes over to visit and he always has a pocket full for both boys. It's their little thing. My favorite pic is of Evan in the top left-hand pic. This pic was taken in 2006 and he was not quite 3 years old. The look on his face was precious. DH always laughs when he looks at it because Evan was just so excited to get that super big Tootsie Roll. These pics are from Christmas 2006-2009.

I used Christmas Cheer for the holly and the Tootsie Roll base itself. It was a piece of candy and I used the hide contour feature and hid the little circles that were supposed to cut out of it. I cut it three times in each white, brown, and red and then cut the stripes and pieced it together. I used Base Camp for the letters. I decided to make my background paper look like a Tootsie Roll wrapper too since I couldn't think of a good background paper. TFL

Artist

Evan as an artist...


Max as an artist...
Happy Thursday! It's my boys' Spring Break and I was happy for a rainy day so I could get these LOs finished. I've had them designed on my G for a couple of weeks because it's based on the SOUS sketch from 3/12 but I never got it cut before that week ended so here it finally is. I used Storybook for the background shape, Locker Talk for the paint brush and palette, Dreams Come True for the paint splats, and Printing Press for the title. I inked all my cuts in black ink. Those splats were very tricky to ink the edges but it turned out pretty good. Printed paper is from My Mind's Eye...Just Dreamy collection.

I got asked to be a Guest Designer!!!!!!!!

I'm so excited and feel so honored. I was asked to be a Guest Designer for Stuck on U Sketches (SOUS). Here is the sketch that they emailed me.
And here is what I turned it into...(Max's LO)
And Evan's LO...

As soon as I opened the sketch, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it. That angled piece of torn paper on the sketch just said "staircase" to me and of course this is exactly how my living room looks and how we have our Christmas tree set up too. I designed and cut everything on this LO using my Gypsy and Cricut. Here is a list of what carts I used...

A Child's Year-Santa with boy
Christmas Solutions-Rocking horse, teddy bear, tree, and tree topper
Joys of the Season-Garland and ornaments
Sweethearts-Presents
George-Staircase, spindles, footboards, railing, and picture frames

The staircase was the trickiest to design but using George on every bit of it, I was able to do it. I welded a bunch of rectangles and squares together to create the base for the stairs. I cut footboards using George too. The spindles were created by welding a tall skinny rectangle with a long skinny oval and two smaller ovals. I was most proud of those. The railing is just a long rectangle. I created the frames using George as well. I just put a smaller square inside a larger one and cut it. I created my own faux wood finish by cutting everything in brown paper. I used my Zig .01 fine tip marker and just marked it up. Then I inked all the edges in black. The wood floor was assembled in strips and I added nail holes too. Everything was inked on this LO. I did heat embossing on the garland, ornaments, and tree topper. Here are some close-ups of the detailing.

Picture frame...


Wood floor...

Staircase...

And yes...call me crazy. I did make 2 LOs...one for each boys' album. So, I cut 2 of everything or in the case of the spindles...18 of them! Thank you to the SOUS DT for asking me to be a Guest Designer. I've had a blast.

Do I save PJ's???

This is the phrase that I hear EVERY single morning from Evan. I tell him every morning that I only need his PJ's on Wednesdays and Sundays for laundry but some how he never remembers. He told me this morning that it'd be nice if he had a sign or something to remind him. Hmmm...I can do that!! So, I sat down with my Gypsy and designed a double-sided door hanger for his room. The only problem that I see with this is if I forget to change it on Tuesday and Saturday nights for the next mornings. Mental note to self...don't forget. LOL I used my Gypsy to design this and the Cricut to cut it. I used My Community of the door hanger, Cuttin Up for the words, Everyday Paper Dolls for the doll, jammies, towel, teddy bear, and laundry basket. I used a basket with a handle on it from the cart and made it wider than it was and added round cornered rectangles from George to the basket to make it look like a laundry basket. I just had to cut off the handle after I got it cut out. I inked all the cuts. Printed papers are by My Mind's Eye...Wild Asparagus Collection.