In the Jungle the mighty jungle...

I think the lion might be sleeping now...or maybe the monkey...

I was asked by a friend to make their son's 1st birthday cake. Such an honour. Then she sent me this photo and asked me to use it to design the cake. The only request was that the monkey be on the cake as they often call their little guy a monkey.

I was going to keep it simple...I was going to build the animals around the outside of the cake and make them flat. But when I started to work on the cake...the lion (I started with him) screamed to be modelled not flat. And so it began...
Next came the zebra...I love his little blue stripes.
Finally, the monkey...I tried to stay as true to my inspiration as possible...they made me so happy.
I bet I know one monkey who is sleeping well tonight.

Enjoy!

Heather

Slippery When Wet!

These girls came to the workshop ready to have a good time. But before I tell you about that...I need to point out the fabulous hairband the birthday girl is wearing...how can you not love that?Sorry...back to my story now...when the girls found out they would be making mini-soaps they were so excited! I passed a bit of soap around before it was melted and they went all ooey gooey on me! They were hysterical! These girls are 9/10 years old so we then started talking about solids and liquids (this was after we discussed fractions while making our cupcakes - not just a pretty face, we learn here too!) But mostly, you need to take a moment to appreciate the expressions on one of the girls' faces...
Then it was birthday time!
I had so much fun with these girls!
I hope they had lots of fun too!

Enjoy!

Heather

Valentine's Day Creative Kids Style!

I just spotted these photos and realized I totally missed them while blogging the last week or so!!! Please forgive me for being late and enjoy our fun times!

First we made pink marshmallows! The kids loved it (and so did I)! I got the recipe here and it is a lovely blog so if you have time you should totally check it out!

We packaged them up when they were ready...

But the real star of this show were the picture frames. How great do all these Valentines look? I just love it!

Enjoy!

Heather

Look out Kitty!

When I was contacted for this cake I was a bit shocked...this cake is for a client whose husband plays Airsoft and has often joked about how the guys would respond to a Hello Kitty gun on the 'battle field'. Since the gun wasn't a feasible gift she asked for a cake to look like the gun!

I had a tough time getting into this cake but once the cake started to take shape I started to get excited...really excited! I did a lot of fondant piecing and built up certain areas with extra cake (the barrel, the stock - the back part and the handle area).
In the end, I have to admit...this cake kind of makes me happy!
Enjoy!

Heather

Spa Day!

Spa Parties are among my favourites! I don't know what it is but I love making the mini-soaps and bath bombs...they are just so fun! And this day was no exception!
There was plenty of silly going on around the table on Saturday!
And some sweet cupcakes to finish it all off with!
These girls were full of energy and fun from the start! What a great way to start off my Sunday! I hope they had as much fun as I did!

Enjoy!

Heather

Valentine's Day at our house...

It might not look like it here but we really don't do much for Valentine's Day here...that being said it was a busy day!

Sarah made the Lolly Flowers (by herself!) and Sean wrote on the doily hearts after I sewed them and put some candies in them (I enjoyed making them in all honesty!)

I like to make a special dinner so we had heart tortilla chips (homemade!), greek salad with heart peppers, heart cheese and ham bites and strawberry milk shakes!

The cake was an order...but there might have been a bit of cake left to share after the kids went to bed...just maybe! ;)

Oh and the marshmallows were for Sean's class party.

No wonder I am a little on the tired side this week!

Enjoy!

Heather

Let's Talk - a mental health break

I'd like to take a time-out here...just a moment. It's time. Indeed, it most certainly is...I believe that in many cases creative genius comes with a cost. Often an unspoken price...one that we are afraid to admit. The cost is ones mental health.

Today is Let's Talk Day sponsored by Bell so that's what I am going to do. Talk to you.

• Robert Munsch has obsessive compulsive disorder and bipolar disorder (I love you)
• Charles Schulz reportedly suffered from clinical depression (you were our idol as children)
• Paul Simon reportedly has clinical depression (I wish I had diamonds on the soles of my shoes...)
• Vincent Van Gogh, Isaac Newton, Winston Churchill*
• My Brother.

I think there is a price to pay for an open, beautiful, creative mind and so many people who have given us so much have paid or are paying a price.

Shortly after I turned 18, my brother 20...our mother got a call. She and I were getting ready to head out for the day. It was the man who owned the house where my brother boarded. He had to call 911 as my brother had locked himself in the bathroom and was shouting violently. I will never forget that day...it is etched in my mind forever. It was just before the July long weekend...

He has since been diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

My brother is an artist. He grew up drawing Snoopy and Smurfs. He had created his own characters. Later he taught himself to paint (he has done some fantastic work and some very dark work too). He loves music, poetry and spoken word. He records music independently. This is not the place to share his work.

I thought it was important that we talk. When I was younger, I never admitted it but now I do. I went away to university, far away, to leave it all behind. So I could just be me. Not a sister, a daughter, a caregiver. Just me. I couldn't. I just couldn't. I still struggle with some of those roles. Ever see someone walking the wrong way when they should be helping? Please don't judge them. Maybe they want to help but maybe they need to help themselves first.

My brother pays a price for his beautiful mind...sometimes we all do.

From Bell's Let's Talk Page;

• Mental illness represents 15% of Canada's burden of disease.
• Only 5.5% of our healthcare dollars in Canada are dedicated to mental illness.

Let's talk,

Heather

xo

*Source: http://blisstree.com/feel/famous-writers-and-artists-and-mental-illness-234/

It's raining Cats & Dogs!

Well, it wasn't actually raining...it was snowing when we had this Creative Adventure!

The birthday girl requested a Cat & Dog theme...Dogs because she loves them and Cats for her friend who loves cats! How sweet is that?

So we started off with Shrink Art...a cat and a dog.

Put them in the oven...
I didn't get a lot of photos in the middle of the party...but here are some of the cupcakes the girls made.
Oh and did I mention the cat ear hair bands??? They were so fun and the girls loved them!
Our birthday girl!

I just loved the detail put into this cupcake...I was happy I could snap a photo before he was gobbled up!

We turned the Shrink Art into collars...

Then just one thing was missing...

A tail! We picked up a bunch of feather boas which happened to have a loop on either end so I slipped them onto some ribbon tied them on and we had some pretty sweet cat tails!

I had so much fun with these girls! They were a delight!

Enjoy!

Heather

Jean-i-ous PD Day Camp!

One of my regular customers has been asking for these PD Day camps...this was our second one and they are SO MUCH FUN! I can't believe I didn't start sooner! So first I'd like to send a shout-out to that customer for encouraging me! I really couldn't do it without all the encouragement I get from all my readers, fans and of course my family and friends!

Sadly, I did not get a whole lot of photos throughout the day but I do have some of the girls' work that I would like to share...

We started off by making our purses...

Some of the girls had fabulous jeans to work with! And others made their fabulous with embellishments we made later in the day.
We did our hair accessories...these were so fun! And thanks to some encouragement from the salesperson at Joanne's we had some super cool ribbon for these too!
And the aprons! Gosh, I love these aprons! How cute are they...the girls worked so hard on these...you can see that "Cookies" was embroidered on this one (this girl had big baking plans in mind!)
Now for those who didn't want to hand-stitch there were glueing options available too...
There are the unstuffed bolster pillows. They are to be filled with the girls' pjs when they aren't in use or when they go to a sleepover. I just love the roses on that pant leg!
I had my apron out for inspiration for the girls...I just passed it along to a young friend of mine. I made her brother an apron but never her. She was delighted and wore it home!
My hairband...although it's too small for me...I do love that flower though!
I know I already said it but I had SO much FUN! That day! We have some great March Break activities coming your way so if you live in the area or are looking for something fun to do come visit us in our Creative Workshop!

Enjoy!

Heather

...And the winner is...

Entry #1 as designated by Random.org! Here is what she said;

Jen Gerrior said...

Very Cute Apron!

Happy Sewing Jen! I hope you make a few fabulous aprons and share them with us on my blog!

Enjoy!

Heather