I made these Zoo Cupcakes to be raffled off at a charity event. This time I made 2 tigers, an elephant, a snake, a panda bear, some zoo signs and some purple flowered cupcakes.

Here's the Panda Bear with his cute little black paws. Below is the snake and you can see the chocolate zoo sign in the background.

Below are the buttercream flowers I made and stuck in the grass.

Practicing New Techniques

Here is a cake I made which has grapes all over it. I practiced making grapes, leaves, and vines. It was the first time I tried two-toning the frosting to make the leaves look more realistic. It was just a flat 1-tier practice cake.

Mike Cake

I made this cake using a star tip and I drew Mike on the cake by hand...I was in a hurry because I only had about 30 minutes to decorate it....It came out ok and I loved the colors!

Happy St.Patty's Day

Here is a cute St. Patty's Day Cake that I made for a get-together. It came out ok... Nothing fancy. It is yellow cake with buttercream frosting with a touch of chocolate.

Chocolate Springtime

Here are some cupcakes that I made and used different tips to create textured tops. I added fondant butterflies and flowers to add a little hint of Spring.

Brown and White Formal

This is a marble cake with buttercream frosting and vanilla fondant. Chocolate buttercream was piped in a "fancy" design. To finish it off I added shells to the bottom and white peal drops around the edge.

Zoo Cuties

Here are some zoo themed cupcakes that I made... they are yellow cake with green buttercream grass. I modeled fondant into the shapes of the animals and finished them with black food coloring and buttercream paws. They are almost too cute to eat!




Here they are from the top and from the back....as you can see they are fully 3-D and have details all around them!

First Time with Fondant

Here is my first attempt at using fondant....it worked pretty good. The top cake is yellow cake and the bottom is like a white confetti cake. The cakes are covered with buttercream frosting and then fondant. The fondant is all colored vanilla.

Riley's Springtime Cupcakes

Here are cupcakes that Riley and I made to celebrate Spring! It was wishful thinking and Riley picked some bright Springtime colors!

Bobcat Excavator

This is the Bobcat Excavator cake my sister and I created for our Dad's birthday! It came out really cute and looks a lot like the real Bobcats!

Cupid's Cupcakes: Minis

There is nothing like a "sweet" Valentine's surprise. These mini cupcakes were the hit of a family party with their bright pink and red frosting.

Superbowl Sweets

Touchdown! Here are some yummy football cupcakes with handmade chocolate footballs. So sit back, relax, grab a cupcake and watch the game.

Puppy Love

Here are some tasty Golden Retriever cupcakes that are almost too good to eat. They were created at the request of a friend. He ordered a dozen for a dinner party that he and his wife were hosting. The tinted coconut gives these cupcakes a "furry" look. They were created with a regular cupcake and a mini cupcake and glued together with frosting. A mini York peppermint Bite was used to create a nose and their black gel frosting eyes complete the face. The final touch is a pair of construction paper ears which makes these cuties simply irresistable.!

Yummy-Bunnies

After the Golden Retriever cupcakes were such a big hit, my friend asked me if there was some way I could create something for an Eater get-together. His only stipulation was that he wanted coconut again. I went to work and created these cute bunny cupcakes. I created these bunnies much in the same way that I created the dogs. This time I used untinted coconut and I cut after dinner mints into triangles for their noses. Once again I used construction paper to create their ears.

Strawberry-Brownie Treat

These are a must for dinner parties. These were made for a family party that my parents were hosting. These tasty bites are mini muffin sized brownies with a cool whip topping and a slice of strawberry. A crisp chocolate embellishment can be added in nearly any shape or design.

Football Fruit Arrangements

This is a Superbowl arrangement that I made last year for the superbowl. My grandmother has a party every year and we wanted to bring something different. I used a plush football Easter Basket as the base and filled it with a variety of floral shaped fruits. I also undcluded some chocolate dipped green apples and strawberries. This satisfies the chocolate lover in us all. It was a huge hit and I was lucky to get a picture before it was devoured.

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Flower Bed Cake

This cake was a lot of fun to make and it came out so cute. It is shaped like a flower bed and is completed with the gumdrop flowers! Underneith the cookie crumb soil is a pound cake with chocolate frosting. It is completed with a lady finger picket fence. (Idea: from Family Fun Magazine)

The Pickle Cake

When a pickle cake was requested for a birthday I was up to the task. This cake came out very tasty and very green. It was enjoyed to the very last bite! It was a white cake with vanilla frosting that was tinted a deep green. The final touch was adding the green M&Ms.

ARTS AND CRAFTS
Another one of my favorite pastimes is sewing. I have recently started quilting and I specialize in baby and children quilts as well as special orders. The quilts featured here were created by me with a particular person in mind. They were truly made with love! I love to start with an idea and turn it over in my head for a few days. I sketch and fiddle until I create a "blue print" of what I want the quilt to look like.

Over the Rainbow

These were made for a school bake sale and they were a huge hit! The kids loved them and they were made using a beautiful sky blue vanilla frosting and candy accessories!

Retro Quilt: Marilyn Monroe

This quilt was created for Chris' daughter Kaytee. She loves Marilyn Monroe so I went on a hunt to find some Marilyn Monroe fabric. I didn't find any so I needed a plan B. I went online and found a lot of great black and white photos. I used a fabric treatment that allowed me to send fabric squares through the printer. The treatment keeps the ink in the fabric and doesn't allow it to wash out. I went to the fabric store with my color choices and selected some neat retro colored fabrics. I combined these colors with black borders and squares to complete the look. It was a big hit and turned out great! It was made to look vintage and I think that it was sucessful. Kaytee loved it!

Red Sox Quilt: A Gift for Chris

I saw a quilt that looked similar to this online. I decided that I would create a quilt for Chris for his birthday. I sketched out how I wanted it to look and the dimensions. It came out better than I could have imagined. The Red Sox logo in the middle was made by me. I drew it by hand and then appliqued it to the white fabric. I then paired the middle colors with the colors on the borders. The checkered background gave it a more modern look and the blue borders tied it all together. It was a huge hit and people are still amazed that I made it entirely on my own!

Zoo Animal Quilt

After creating the Aquarium Animal quilt, I instantly wanted to make another quilt for Jack's little brother. Though he is a baby, I am sure that he will grow to appreciate this quilt which is full of the cutest little zoo animals. I found an adorable fabric that had zoo animals on it already and I used that along with a blue fabric as the border to this one. The animals on the quilt were sketched and then turned into fabric. I appliqued the pieces to the white fabric and used a zig zag stitch around the shapes. This made the animals come to life.

This past of the quilt has a lion, a zebra, a monkey, and a tucan. The characters have a cartoon-like quality to them that makes you want to smile!

This part of the quilt has a turtle, a tiger, a giraffe, and a hippo.

Aquatic Life Quilt

This quilt started off as a "croc." Chris' three year old nephew, Jack, loves crocodiles and calls them "crocs." I was planning on making him a crocodile pillow for Christmas. As I was looking for crocodile images to use as my muse, I found a variety of "aquatic" life images that were too cute to pass up. I sketched the different animals out and the next thing I knew, I was mapping out an entire quilt. I selected the deep red and sage green to match his room and off I went. The animals are apliqued onto the white squares. I used a zig zag stitch on the sewing machine to trace around the shapes and to give them another dimension. The final product came out amazing and inspired me to create a quilt for his baby brother. On Christmas day when he opened the package, Jack jumped on the quilt and hugged it in his arms. He was so excited with the quilt which made all the work absolutely worth it!

One of the squares had a sea turtle on it.