Sunday, May 12, 2013

Happy Mother's Day ~ a tea-party and button-flower cupcake-toppers

In celebration of every woman who has brought a person into this world or raised a child as your own ~ you are loved and given thanks for on this day. I hope you all have a wonderful Mother's Day.

Here are some flowers and cupcakes for you ~


My sisters and I threw a little Mother's Day party this past week -- no boys allowed (except for babies). As it was a dressed-down, relaxed occasion, no true tea cups or cutlery were involved :)

These yummy lemon cupcakes are super easy to make and so are the button-flower toppers.

First, the cupcakes:
- 250g butter
- 250g sugar
- 250g self-raising flour
- 5-6 eggs
- 1 fresh lemon, squeezed

--- Beat the butter and sugar in an electric mixer till fluffy and white, then slowly mix in the eggs. When well-combined, blend in the flour and fresh lemon juice.
--- Pour into mini cupcake cases and bake in a preheated oven for 12-15 min at 180 degrees C.
--- Remove from oven and allow to cool. Then tap them out of the cases, cut in half horizontally and fill with meringue frosting and jam.

... and the meringue frosting (really light and not too sweet!) :
- 4 egg whites
- 2/3 cup sugar
- pinch of salt
- pinch of cream of tartar
- the juice of 1/2 a lemon
--- Combine all the ingredients in a double boiler. Stir over low heat till the sugar is dissolved.
--- Transfer to an electric mixer and use the whisk to whip till stiff peaks form.
Note: If you frost your cupcakes immediately, they can sit out without being refrigerated. However if you make the frosting a day or two ahead, store it in the refrigerator. When you are ready to frost, re-whip the meringue as it will have separated.
Disclaimer: If you have concerns about salmonella, you can read more online about meringue frosting safety, and further note that I haven't died of it yet :D


I colored half of the frosting pink, sprinkled lemon rind on top of a few cupcakes, and filled the rest with strawberry jam. I also did not have a cake stand, so I made my own out of a glass bowl, platter, and fruit-plate cloche cover :)



On our menu we also had chocolate-dipped pretzels, fruit-kabobs, dip and chips, raspberry punch, and other miscellaneous yummy things that I shall not proceed into at this time.

The Cupcake-Toppers!!
I used toothpicks (clean new ones OF COURSE), assorted buttons and mulberry roses, and patterned paper.
All you have to do is cut random leaf-shapes out of your patterned paper. Alternatively you could use a die-cut or puncher. Using craft-glue (and if you are reading this blog you probably have some of that lying around), adhere the buttons and flowers together as you please and glue them onto the toothpick. Layer the leaves below the button-flowers. THE IMPORTANT PART: Let the glue dry. If you don't, you will get a glue-y mess on your cupcakes haha. When the glue is dry, stick the toppers in your cupcakes and admire, then take them out and consume cupcakes.
(A waste of time, if you ask me...)




You can cut a few flag banners and stamp words on them too. They mix very well with the button-flowers.

We also decorated the house a little bit. I found fresh roses at the florist and filled a few mason jars and glass bowls with them.






I wish you all a Happy Mother's Day!

xoxo
~ V

*PS: linking-up-love : I am going crazy over DIY nowadays, so hopping on the bandwagon with everyone else ... @ http://www.ellaclaireinspired.com/ and

Today's Creative Blog

Monday, April 15, 2013

Hello 60 ~ handmade birthday book



Hi. Have a post for you today. This paper-bag-book was made at the request of a very special lady and friend for her 60th birthday. That is the cover, in case you couldn't tell...


Throughout the book I used chipboard from Dear Lizzy Neutrals Trinket Thickers. It was SUPER FUN!!
The diamond embellishments are sections from NinaBDesigns Fancy That bling. Paper by Authentique and Prima (Prima link goes to SimonSaysStamp 'cause that's the first place I find a link to when I google "Prima Songbird 6x6." The silly Prima site does not have it anywhere... ugh).



The book in all it's stuffed glory.
I'll show you more pictures.


Now I haven't lived to 60 yet, but I would think it to be a very happy place to be, yes? Because you would be a grandma :)
Sadly, you can't really see the good job I did backing each word with a different patterned paper, it was really brilliant. (not).



In case you haven't noticed yet (from the first sentence that said "paper-bag-book") each page is made of either a brown paper sack or glassine bag. See the page on the right? The pocket is made of the base of the brown sack. All it took to make that was some stitching.


See?



More paper bags, chipboard, and stamps.


A hand-cut pinking-sheers edge (try trimming the edge of a chevron-patterned paper, it will drive you nuts).
Also, more chipboard and some of my corny hand-written font.


And this is the back cover.. something simple.
These are the tags I made to go in each pocket:



There was some bird theme going on there, but I didn't really mean for it to happen... it just did :)

Thanks for visiting!
~ V

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

~ NinaBDesigns January 2013 Blog Hop ~ LOVE

Welcome to the NinaB Designs first team blog hop of 2013!
And welcome back to the blog at which I hardly blog (FYI I spent the last four months making this card, and I just finished it two minutes ago. Cheers!).

For this month's hop, Nina challenged the team to create a project with the LOVE theme, which can be interpreted in many ways: Valentine, Anniversary and Friendship.
I have a few photo steps for you, using some NinaB Designs dies to create the little heart window box -


First, cut the tag from Spellbinders Grommet Tags ... my favorites.
then pop the smaller heart die from Sweet Folk Art onto the center of the die-cut tag and run it through that BigShot one more time.


And then die-cut the larger heart from Sweet Folk Art before using the smaller heart die to remove the center...

Am I making no sense? Sorry .. :-[


Like that. It should look like a tiny little heart-shaped frame after you're done. Ask your mummy if you're not sure how to do it (I wouldn't want you to cut your finger you know).

And then I was lazy and skipped a lot of steps, so figure this out yourself okay; just GLUE the heart-frame die-cut over the heart-shaped hole in the middle of the die-cut tag.

You know how to do that, yes you do.
And embellishadaroonie-o your tag with Prima resin borders.
It looks a little bit like a birdcage (in my imagination) but I really didn't mean for it to become that way. It just happened ~ yay!


And because I want a little bit of sparkle behind the window, I added a shiny crystal. Just put some glue on the edges and thunk it on, it'll stick.


And then die-cut some pretty wings from Home Sweet Home and add them behind the birdcage (I put the wings upside down, somehow it's nicer that way, and I don't know why).
And throw some mini paper doilies in, patterned papers, and your card is DONE!!!

I am truly disorganized, so I don't know where each scrap of paper comes from, but majority of it looks like it came from this Prima Songbird collection.
The sentiment is from NinaBDesigns' Penny Black Lace Delight. Another favorite of mine!

Here are the NinaBDesigns products I used for my tags and card box:

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The NinaB Designs team is giving away these TWO PRIZE PACKAGES:
 Prize Package #1 includes Spellbinders Venetian Accents and Motifs:

 
Prize #2 includes 2 retired sets from Layers of Colors stamps:

 
Winners will be picked randomly from 2 of these designers' blogs:
Everybody is welcome to comment and be eligible to win. The winners will be announced on  January 22 on Nina's Blog, where you will also find all the relevant info regarding the giveaways. Finally, please consider liking the following Facebook pages that are represented on today's hop, so you don't miss the latest news and happenings:
Thank you for joining us today!

Come back tomorrow for a new post. In case I don't finish a card by then (or too lazy to write new stuff), just read this post again.

:D

And now I'm hungry and want a cookie. *crunch*
Bye!


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