I did say at the start that among other things this blog would include events in our lives that impact on our work and creativity. Just what do we need to do to nurture that creativity? Inspiration can be drawn from many different experiences. Coincidentally, as I was thinking this I went to my friend Joana Miranda’s wonderful blog A Talent for Design, I found the idea of “make time to play” especially pertinent.
With fun on our minds and a significant birthday coming up for our tall, gray and handsome brother-in-law my sister Pat and I decided to bake the cake! I may add that this was the first time either of us had undertaken to decorate a birthday cake. We didn’t know what to expect except that this was an adventure. Explorers were we.
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Sister Witches
We came up with the idea of dressing as witches to make this all much more fun. Our wonderful witch hats came from Cracker Barrel!
We hoped that by chanting spells such as Double Double Toil and Trouble, Cauldron boil and caldron bubble…….and singing songs such as Witchcraft we could entice our niece and two nephews into the kitchen to have some fun with us.
THE NEPHEWS JOSH AND ZACH
The wrapping of the cake from Tales of the Crypt
One by one they appeared in the kitchen at first to watch and then to take part in our fun. We trimmed, iced and decorated. We cut out leaves and made the grapes.
SUCCESS
The wrapping up of the cake to keep it fresh till the next day was its own ceremony. The cake was handled like gold.
Paper Tableware for Converting
The paper tableware we used was one of my designs called Summer Berries.It was licensed to Creative Converting . In licensing as I mentioned every design can be licensed for many different kinds of products. This design was also recipe cards, memo pads and labels for The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.
Much to our surprise when all was said and done everyone thought it was delicious and gorgeous and oohed and aahed. Love went a long way in smoothing out the holes and bumps you might have noticed.
Moving forward we may even take a cake baking course either at the NY Cake and Baking Supplies. , or at a The Institute of Culinary Education.
Peony and Poppies from the Botanica collection
Botanica Lily collage
Back in my studio after the party I am finishing up my new floral designs. You may remember I wrote about them in the First Atlanta post. We put the finishing touches on them today. I am anticipating doing more in this collection including some coordinating designs.
Dennis has been hard at work also.
Pillow from the Everyday Dogs Collection
Every Day Dogs Design by Dennis
Christmas Dogs
The “Beware of the Dog’s” pillow is the start of Dennis’ new “Everyday Dogs” collection. A christmas version of this whimsical doggie design has also been licensed for fabric by Timeless Treasures. My next post will be Part 2 of the July Atlanta Show. I’ll showcase a few of the companies I met with in their showrooms and talk about setting appointments, scheduling, meeting and doing follow through.
As always remember that your comments are most welcome.
Andrea Brooks Studio 