long time no see

Hi, I'm still here, just been busy and a little drained. Here's what I've been up to lately.

my first attempt at coconut cake

My friends and I are cupcake enthusiasts, and lately we have been discussing frosting: buttercream vs. cream cheese. I think cream cheese is my new favorite because of possibilities of flavor combinations. Before last week, I had never thought of coconut and cream cheese together, now I'm wondering what else can I do with it?!

This cake was inspired by this version. I used a box cake (the horror!) and used coconut oil in place of butter, it came out quite light and fluffy, then made the cream cheese frosting, I like less sugar and more tang from the cream cheese and bought the coconut flakes and tada! Fancy and delicous....I forgot how much I love to bake.

I also went to a quilt show, and I was really inspired by this garden themed quilt that combined applique and embroidered panels. I am excited to experiment more with embroidery soon.

I have been thinking about the little things that make me happy about sewing and baking.
This is what I've got so far.....still playing with colors of course. I want to do a series of these and I plan to start the next one very soon.....in between my other ideas.

 The most difficult and fin part was coming up with the patterns for the fabric for "happy"
The H and Y might still change not sure I'm completely satisfied with them as they are.

What makes your heart happy?

teeth and tattoos

I have been playing around with some ideas for awhile. When drawing monsters or random creatures, I find the addition of teeth cute and mischievous. I started making one monster out of felt, but he has been put on hold for now until I feel like messing with him further.

He's a happy monster ....

.....with eyebrows

Then my friend had a birthday and that got me thinking about cute faces on food, and the addition of a singular tooth.

sketching initial ideas

experimenting with a felt version

look at the cute little face

 So I am thinking about stuffing it ....all this hand sewing is wearing me out. I think my sketch's proportions are a little cuter.....oh well live and learn....yay for prototypes!

On to tattoos, I've always thought about getting one, only problem is I hate needles, and I haven't decided on design I am happy with yet. Initially I had thought one of the wallpaper people would have tattoos and started the below drawing as kind of a joke, an ode to the most popular tattoos (i.e. hearts, sparrows, and the punk star) she kind of grew on me. I'm not really completely happy with her, she still needs some tweaking. Hey one thing about getting a tattoo on your chest, it's like permanent jewelry, so it's ok if you forget to wear a necklace.

big surprise it's purple my favorite color!

and piercings are always fun too

Happy Wednesday Everyone!

Sunday at the Movies

I was reluctant to see the new Spider-Man movie, the Tobey Maguire series was ok. I must admit Spider-Man has never been my favorite super hero, my heart has always belonged to another.
But seriously a reboot after the last series finished 5 years ago? C'mon Hollywood let's come up with an original idea......I realize I'm asking a lot.
This new cast did seem intriguing to say the least, our new Spider Man's only really big part was in the facebook movie  and the bad guy is played by the crazy roommate in Notting Hill.

one of my favorite movies

Not to mention Emma Stone who is always amazing as the fun, quirky girl next store.

 Stone @ the 2011 Golden Globes, I love her Calvin Klein Dress!

  But then the movie started getting really good reviews and on fourth of July weekend I needed a fun movie. I was pleasantly surprised, it was different take than the previous series, this Spider-Man is a bit younger and edgier ( he has a skateboard!). Any movie that has a "testing your new powers" scene set to this song gets points in my book. Emma and Andrew are very cute together, and Rhys Ifans is great as the mad scientist, and of course we get set up for the second installment. Oh and Stan Lee's  customary cameo appearance is the best yet. So if you are on the fence, I say go see it, you will probably be surprised with how much you like it.

After the movie were greeted with a spotty shower and rainbow....a wonderful way to cap of the evening.

Yes, that is a Chicken Express

Have a wonderful Monday Everyone!