let's hear it for the boys

5.31.2010
And because I don't post entirely enough of these two guys.........here's a post dedicated to the little men in my life. I love these boys! It was nice to be able to put the girls to bed early tonight and spend some quality time hangin' with the boys....playing games and doing puzzles and such. And here's toward relaxation and gearing up for a busy week around here. Family coming to town. Sewing to be done. Three tutorials to complete and share with you all. Oh...and taking photo's tomorrow of the set that I finished over the weekend. So stay tuned....
Happy Memorial Day!

three day weekend

5.28.2010
This weekend I plan on finishing up a sewing project using my fave fabric from Tanya Wheelan. Which I then hope to photograph to share with you all next week. I love photo shoots! And this set is turning out super cute! I hope to paint some nails with my favorite girls in our funky princess colors. Yes, we had to name each one after a Disney Princess.
I hope to relax with the fam, maybe sneak in a nap.....(yah right).....do some picnic-ing.....hang out with friends..... and celebrate those who have bravely given their lives to defend our freedom!
What are your weekend plans?

blinged converse tutuorial

5.25.2010
I posted this tutorial about a month ago on U Create but wanted to share here too.
Grab your favorite pair of chuck taylors and let's get started!
You will need:
E 6000 (a very strong glue in a tube found at your local craft store or Walmart)
coordinating ribbon (for the shoe laces)
swaravski flat back crystals size 7ss or 9ss (4-6 bags of 144 each) (I got mine on Ebay).
toothpicks
sharp point tweezers
plate (for squeezing glue onto. If using styrofoam or paper, put a thick magazine underneath)mini snickers unwrapped (great for popping in your mouth since you will be sitting a while)

First, come up with your design. You can sketch it onto the shoe with a pencil, or you can freehand it like me. Spread out the crystals you will need. Make sure the room is well ventilated since the glue has toxic fumes.
Squeeze some glue onto your plate. Then grab the crystal with your tweezers. You will need to keep adding little pea size amounts of glue to the plate every two minutes as the glue starts to dry out.
With your toothpick, you can apply the glue to the back of the crystal or you can dip the back of the crystal into the glue.
Place your crystal onto the shoe. Don't worry about the glue strands. You can pull those off with tweezers when it dries.
Pat the crystal into place with the back of tweezer or your finger. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat. If necessary take many breaks. The whole process takes a few hours. When finished let dry for 24 to 72 hours to "cure". Then add your favorite ribbon and enjoy!
Don't have a princess in your life? You can bling cell phones, laptops... or anything else you can dream up. Just make sure it is not an area near the mouth, you don't want a baby ingesting the chemicals. Now sparkle some kicks and have fun! blinged converse tutorial, swaravski crystal, rhinestone, princess sparkle shoes, how to

free paper monday + lola's mad

5.24.2010
So I have this baby Lola....she is small and very funny....but sometimes she gets mad. I made Karl grab the cam & start shooting during one of her outbursts at breakfast. I love grouping together a series of shots. And she looks so darn cute when she's mad. These pics have been sitting on my computer for a while, so I decided to make a digital scrapbook page for them.
(The fine print: You like doing things all by yourself. Whenever we try to feed you, you like to grab the spoon out of our hands and try for youself. When we take the spoon away.....you get mad. Very mad. I don't like to see you sad or frustrated, but when you are, you sure are cute!)
I designed the 12x12 paper with lots of hearts in random colors and named it sweetie. If you'd like to download the sweetie paper you can do so here. Try a scrapbook page for yourself or print it out and get creative. Happy Monday!!!!

Princess Cake

5.18.2010
For Luci's party we did princess cake. The inspiration for this cake is the Disneyland Castle (Sleeping Beauty Castle). Being an avid watcher of Cake Boss & Ace of Cakes, Karl and I thought we had this. We would work together as a team and bang this out in one day. Throwing around terms like "dirty ice", "crumb coat", and "gum paste" so easily without having worked with fondant or even taken one cake class, is classic K&J style. (Keep in mind, this is the same man, who said he could dye my hair because he watched the E channel. With a barbeque basteing brush in one hand, reynolds wrap in the other- he got to work and I emerged 45 minutes later with bright orange hair.) Confidence is a good thing; sometime too much of it makes you look foolish. And I did not want this cake to be a disaster. Up until 3 in the morning, the whole kitchen covered in powdered sugar, we somehow managed to pull this off. And I will list a short tutorial in case you would like to try. (You could switch it up to suit your needs....ie.. knights castle w/ dragons for boys...etc.)
Here's what you will need:
2 boxes of cake mix
1 container of frosting or filling
graham crackers (about 6)
1 pkg icecream cones
1 pkg sugar cones
1 pkg blue jello
1 pkg coconut
food coloring ( green, blue, red and black)
fondant (I made marshmallow fondant found here and doubled the recipe)
2-3 cups of sugar
buttercream frosting (here's the easiest recipe you will need 3-4 batches)
1. Determine the size of your cake and find a board or something large enough to put it on. (We used a shelf found in the garage). Make sure it is clean and cover in foil.
2. Make blue jello. Let cool in fridge.
3. Start by making the rice krispie treat base. (to get the depth we wanted we used a large plastic tub) Depending on how big you want it, you can use a 13x9 pan and stack a few next to or on top of each other.
4. Once your base is cool you can "dirty ice" it. This is spreading a thin layer of buttercream frosting over it. This will smooth it out and help the fondant adhere.
5. Now make the fondant, following the recipe carefully. Add food coloring. Roll it out and drape over the cake.
6. Smooth the fondant. Then make brick lines with a knife or toothpick. With the leftover fondant we made the shape of the arch and adhered it to the front.
7. Make your cakes a little smaller than your base. Once completely cooled assemble and fill with frosting or filling. (I did red velvet with cream cheese filling). I recommend a denser cake though, such as pound cake.
8. Frost your cake with the colored buttercream frosting (or if you really had fun w/the fondant you could use that).
9. For the top part make a little graham cracker square with roof. Stick it together with lots of frosting.
10. For the castle turrets, use icecream cones rightside up or upside down. Frost w/buttercream or fondant.
11. Mix the sugar with blue food coloring until you get it the right shade. Frost sugar cones w/ buttercream and roll in the sugar mixture. (you could also use edible glitter, sprinkles or pre colored sugar- I just did what I had on hand).
12. Once the turrets are all assembled to your liking, make the drawbridge out of graham crackers, ice it, then score with a knife.
13. We used the black food coloring (in a pot) to paint onto cake for windows and crosses.
14. If desired add any candy to the top of castle.
15. About an hour or two before the party spoon jello around the castle for the water.
16. Add food coloring to the coconut. Sprinkle the "grass" around the water. ( I got this idea from here. ) You could also use oreo or chocolate cake crumbs for dirt.
17. Next, top with candles and your favorite characters to create "the scene". And ENJOY!!!
Here's a pic of the princess on her big day. She loves all the princesses but she loves Cinderella just a little bit more. It makes me sad that now that she's three "Rella" is now "Cinderella" and "No White" is "Snow White". At least Sleeping Beauty is still "Booty". The pic below is our party favors. We made a Cd for guests to take titled "Princess Luci's Party Mix" with classic stuff like "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" some Disney stuff, remix princess songs and fun indie girly music. For the framed print and the cd labels I used Luci's silhouette.

disney princess cake tutorial, disney princess birthday party, disney princess party favors

the apron

5.12.2010
Hope you all had a wonderful mother's day. Mine was great. Family get together with good food and fellowship. Here was my mother's day present to my mom. (and mother in law, if you are reading- yours will be ready by the time you get here) I finished it in the nick of time. You see, for two weeks prior to Mother's Day, I had been looking for a cute apron pattern that flattered the body and didn't hang there like some shapeless piece of fabric. Realizing that I wasn't going to find what was exactly in mind, I had to resort to plan B. Karl took the kids out for the day so I had a whole day to draft the pattern, sew the test fit and finally sew the apron. After drafting, redrafting, sewing, ripping out seams, up until midnight.....etc........ I finally finished as we were supposed to be leaving the house. A quick press, gift wrapping and out the door and ta-da! Here's the final product. I still have a few kinks to work out, but I hope to have this available as a pattern in the near future.
And pardon that funky mannequin. (I won it 10 years ago in design class, and it was old then too) It's vintage- and not in a good way!

i need some surf

5.07.2010
I've been thinking about the ocean a lot and how I want to go here again. I want to stay at a hotel on the ocean and leave the sliding door open so I can fall asleep to the sound of ocean waves and the smell of the sea. I love the boardwalk; it makes me happy. This summer I'm gonna ride those swings!

Silhouette Tutorial

5.05.2010
Okay, so I heart silhouettes! Yes, I want them all over my wall like a big Pottery Barn advertisement of our Family. You too? Here's the how-to in two versions. Digital (using photoshop) and manually (using paper, scissors...etc.).

Digital Version
1. Take photo. Make sure there is a solid light or white background behind subject. Be on the same level as subject with subject facing to the side. Start with something simple like the head shot.
2. Go to Image (in the top bar), click on adjustments, brightness/contrast, Bring contrast up until image starts to blacken. Mine here is +45.
3. Grab burn tool. Burn in any lighter parts.
4. Dodge any darker areas immediately around subject.
5. Grab the magic wand tool. Set tolerance to 30. Select subject and it will outline your subject. Hit select, inverse then delete. Deselect the area and fill in any gaps with your history brush. Erase any unwanted areas.
6. Now play with color/cropping and voila!

Now for the Manual Version:
1. Take photo, following rules in step one from above.
2. Print out as big as you want.
3. Cut around desired image.
4. Use this as your template.
5. Place template over pretty scrapbooking papers or fabric. Trace and cut.
6. Adhere cutout to a contrasting piece of fabric or scrapbooking paper.
7. Frame and display.

This super fun project would make a great mothers day gift or grandparents gift. Get creative. Stitch fabric one's onto a quilt, digitally design a set of notecards or work into a scrapbooking layout. What are some fun things you could do with your silhouettes?

strawberries & eyelashes

I love receiving handmade cards and paraphernelia from the kids for birthdays and such. More importantly, I love the thought process and planning involved behind this. "Mom, can I stay at home while you guys go on your walk....and can you guys walk around the block 3 times slowly. What is your favorite color? ; Which do you like better.....panthers or sea lions?" [Hmmm...yes, we'll take the long way, pink and I will leave that up to your judgement.] I just love all of that kinda stuff; but I have to say that the award for the most unique gift goes to Luci. On the morning of my birthday she proudly carried her gift out to me....Strawberries and Eyelashes. Listening to the others make their plans, she had announced a week before that she wanted to give mommy strawberries and eyelashes. Where she got this idea, no one knows. But it was in her two-year old mind nonetheless. So, needless to say, Karl was at the store the night before, making sure to get fresh strawberries....and a tube of mascara had to substitute for the eyelashes. So, there you have it..strawberries and eyelashes.

P.S. Stay tuned for the Silhouette Tutorial! Should be up today or tomorrow morning.

silhouette

5.03.2010
When editing the cupcake pics the other day, I had this cute profile one of Luci cooking. I thought it would be cute to turn it into a silhouette. I've been toying with the idea for a while to get a lifestyle silhouette for everyone in the family (all in action) and dedicating a wall to the project. So, here's the first!