catching up

Life is busy - as always - so I've been neglecting this site. Although if you follow me on Instagram you'll know I haven't stopped baking! But I am way behind on pictures. Some of these will look familiar to those who do follow my Instagram, but not everything. Since this is a picture heavy post just click on the link at the bottom to see all of the pictures.  Ok no more talking, here is a brief view of some of  what I've been up to over the last 3 months or so (I'm saving a couple of my absolute favorites for posts of their own).

I'm baaaack!

Life keeps changing, but it looks like I'm going to finally - really - be back to making cookies.

Updates soon...

but I'm working on some big changes!

{dragonflies and dancing fairies were for my sister

Merry's fairy party... it's as awesome at it sounds}



Easter eggs - the bane of my decorating life

There is something about decorating Easter eggs that has always eluded me. Maybe it's the weirdly rounded shape? Or maybe it's all of those pastel colors... I'm not typically a pastel kind of person. In any case like I said here, my mind just goes blank when I look at an egg to decorate.

My favorite one that I made is the yellow one here in the front. I think it's my only truely succesful Eastery looking egg! I have issues.

My mother-in-law Kathy gave me some sanding sugar in Easter colors that I had to try out. I love the pink and yellow!

Here I wanted to try some really simple designs with the sugar. My favorite is the yellow! 

So how did I do? Are they Eastery enough? Well anyhow they taste good so hopefully the recipients can overlook the visual aspect this time!

spring animals

When I saw this lamb cookie cutter I just knew I had to try it out, it's just too cute! I was pretty tired the night I did these and so there isn't a lot too them... looking back, maybe I should have put a little bow or bell around his neck. I'm always a fan of clean lines though and I kind of feel like this little guy is what Spring is all about - new life - just bright and clean, and undisturbed. I did feel as though he needed something more though.

This guy didn't photograph well, but in person he's a lot cuter. I just used regular sugar to sand him with, and the effect is a slightly fuzzy baby lamb. So cute!

These rabbits are the same - pretty basic, but I love them anyway! Sometimes less is more I think. I'm not loving the pink one, although to be fair when I mixed the pink color the night before it was a lot lighter - all icing colors deepen within 24 hours of mixing them, but I have found some colors go a lot darker than others. 

Here is a closeup. I really need to get a better camera! The ears and nose have pink on them, but the flash of my camera detracts from that. Of course, if I don't use the flash all of the pictures come out fuzzy. Anyone want to donate a really nice camera to me? ...I thought not.

Now for some color! White is nice - but I love the bright colors of this time of year! This cookie cutter was supposed to be a bumble bee, but I like being able to take one shape and turn it into something else. I had to do an orange one. This is my throwback to the Monarch butterfly - which I use to see a lot of in the town I grew up in: Merrimack, NH. I don't see a whole lot of butterflies out here in Washington.

More butterflies. How could anyone not love butterflies?

And of course I had to do some bumblebees too, since that's what the cookie cutter was meant for! Although, I personally thought the bumblebees on the packaging of the cookie cutter were really ugly. I hate the phrase "think outside the box"... but it really applies to making cookies. Anyway that's half the fun - just coming up with your own designs!

And what would make a cute little bumblebee happy? Some flowers of course!

Happy Almost Easter guys - only a few more days! Be sure to check back, I have more Easter designs coming!

a quick update

Easter is nearly here! I'm excited for this year because my little Matthew is finally getting old enough to start understanding holidays. Although, he told me he did NOT want to see the Easter Bunny or do an egg hunt... until I told him there would be candy involved to which he said "egg hunt please!"

 

 I have so much to put up on the blog but of course the busier I am baking, the less time I have to post. So here is just a quick update with a couple cookie designs from last week, not my favorites I think but I like to experiment with new shapes and designs!

 As Easter is getting closer I think the post about wedding cookies will have to wait for next week (I can't wait to show you guys though!) - but check back again this week as I have some really cute stuff to show you! How are you guys preparing for Easter?

easter chick cookies

My sister Sandie found these cookie cutters a couple weeks ago and said she couldn't resist getting them! I like that they aren't just the standard rabbit/egg/chick kind of thing. I especially liked the rabbit popping out of the egg, but in my mind I saw little chicks in bunny outfits. Is that what they look like? That's what they are supposed to look like.

I had to do at least one actual bunny!

My only problem here was decorating the eggs... I have this weird issue with decorating eggs. I always have! Hand me an egg to decorate and my mind goes completely blank. Due to this, my egg decorating may be somewhat less than inventive. I'll have to get in some more practice before Easter gets here! What is your favorite way to decorate an Easter egg?

a bit of spring

Spring is finally here... which means here in Washington we still have a while before we get any weather that is actually decent. At least we are headed there though! With April here, I've started getting a lot of Spring and Easter requests. I love the bright colors this time of year so that's just fine by me! I've got a few designs to show you guys so I'll have to break them up into multiple posts.

Some bright flowers seemed like a great way to start the season! Tulips are a favorite of mine and always remind me of this time of year. When I was about 5 my mom bought some lovely pink tulips and we planted them around our front porch. Every year I looked forward to them blooming because they were something I actually helped plant! Random memory: I remember one year my sister Sandie and I picked the petals off of the tulips and put them in plastics bags with water. Then we went around our neighborhood trying to sell them as homemade perfume. We were so proud of ourselves!

 I can't wait to see some flowers booming around here! And along the line of plants...

How about some cute little carrots?

 Carrots naturally remind me of the Easter Bunny... another random childhood memory: When I was little I wrote a letter to the Easter Bunny and left it in my empty basket the night before Easter. My siblings teased me about it... until the next morning when I was the only one that got a card from the Easter Bunny, and a pair of earrings as a thank you for the note. HA! In your face! That's just generally to all of my brothers and sisters since I can't actually remember which ones teased me.

 You know I love you guys.

I hope everyone out there is starting to feel winter thawing. That especially goes out to all of my New England friends - you guys had a rough winter. I miss living there but I can't say I was missing it while watching the weather reports last winter! 

More spring - or more specifically, Easter - cookies to come this week! Hopefully I'll have time to post, I may have bitten off more than I can chew this week... wish me luck!