i'm... too sexy for these cookies...

after i did snarky tombstone cookies for my brother's 40th, i decided that birthdays would afford me a nice monthly project. i think i have a family birthday every month till july. everyone will get some token cookie stylings to amuse them. (see fashionista purses for Kristi and trumpeteers for Dan last November.) and i get practice. January goes to s-i-l Libby, a lady bold enough to live with my brother (says the equally pain-in-butt little sister >grin<) who's cake mixer looks like it eats smaller appliances for breakfast, and who's cell phone is very sparkly. Libby deserved cookies that were no less than haute couture.

i only wish that the lines could be a little sharper, but otherwise i like 'em. when i found the die-cut scrapbook page, it reminded me of the bedspread in their master bedroom, black and white scrolly swirls. had to try it. Libby asked if she should eat them in bed. i said sure, if you don't mind the crumbs... Happy Birthday, lady! :)

then i thought, if i brushed that with silver pearl dust, it would look like a gunmetal/silver on shimmery white, so i got to scheming on what to make for Aunt Donna and the family [this Christmas was (see below--one car, 2-year-old) crazy and i thought we can send something dumb/rushed now or fantastic next month when i dig myself out], and Uncle Al and Aunt Lynne, who were on their way out when i finally arrived with poorly planned Trumpeteer Dan cookies for Dan's surprise party that were all unboxed with smooshed bow-ties (no pics, sorry). so i started to make teapots and wanted to do sage-green icing with a green leaf pattern, like "yay, here comes spring," only i overmixed the icing and it was spreading but not settling into a nice flush flat surface. then, since it wasn't working (again, no pics), i gave the ugly teapots to Jeff to share with the coworkers.

then i went to make more dough and discovered i had run out of vanilla. so i had to use lemon. then i thought, when life gives you lemon extract, make these:
i used a different stencil, sprayed yellow food coloring, and while it was still tacky, i brushed on gold pearl dust. then it looked like little lemon shaped pieces of yellow and gold brocade. i was smitten. so i went to edge them in icing and sanding sugar and this time the icing was a little runny (forehead-slap). but i seriously love how the light hits it.

ooooh... sparkly...

because krylon would taste funny!

my hubby, best boyfriend ever, Jeff, got me an airbrush for Christmas. i didn't ask for one, hadn't even considered it since i was pleased enough with sanding sugar and pearl dust. but Jeff is probably my #1 fan and has had some pretty enthusiastic ideas about what i should try next (even physics-and-chemistry-defying ideas) so when he proposed an airbrush i probably brushed (pun!) it off as superfluous, an expense, some tool to fumble and never really learn, like if i tried playing the oboe. i had forgotten that he mentioned it. then one came in the mail.
i eyed it suspiciously for a day or two. (it looked like an electric crack pipe.) then i figured either i'd hate it or i wouldn't, and if i didn't, then i might get good at it, and i had to get moving on cookies for Vanessa and Theresa for covering Jeff's hours Christmas weekend.... so i made some white squares.
then i went to Michael's and rounded up a few stencils. then i watered down some food coloring. then i took a deep breath and made an awesome gorgeous mess of some cookies.
i was incorrectly intimidated. food coloring through stencils on cookies, once the spraying hand can gauge what it's doing, and the stencil-holding hand isn't bouncing everywhere, is pretty simple. i rolled out some fondant shapes, like the square and circle combo, or made a little coil like the ones that say "dream". some of my stencils came from the paint department, others were die-cut scrapbook pages. the pink and purple tiny square pattern in the lower right was a plastic needlepoint grid. pretty soon i had a list of ideas, and my next 2 projects turned out surprisingly well. (posts coming soon!) thankfully Vanessa and Theresa don't mind when tasty cookies are funny looking, so they each got a dozen of my prototypes to say: coming soon, Libby's "boudoir" birthday dozen, golden lemon brocade, (as yet unconfirmed) animals, tractors for a little girl (?) and i'll probably whine a bit about making icing in January... also looking into a cookie party situation. (woo!)

i have a daydream...

Sharon, who ordered the tiny elephants for her granddaughter's birthday, let me know about her friend Tara's blog, Go West Young Mom (click here ) a blog about kid-/mom-/family-goings-on in these Chicago burbs. just when you feel like you live in the boonies and there's nothing to do, there's someone to point out all the fun events you're missing! it's a lot, by the way, Tara does her research. i gave her a shout-out on twitter, and it turned into emails about cookies for her (then) upcoming Go West Girls' Night Out at Urban Style Salon and Spa in Batavia. the specifications were something holiday-appropriate, yet also like the blog's logo. so i made pink and brown (the blog's colors) pinwheel stars in varying shades and textures.

part one of the day was spent finding the place to drop them off. a small brain shortage on my part led me to type "Geneva" in my GPS. i went west all right. and while i was going south, facing the 2pm-ish sunshine through a salt covered windshield, i ran out of washer fluid. don't worry, i got there. then my plan was to go home, get dinner going, and when hubby showed up to watch the kid, i could go to the event and mingle around.

well, part 2 was hubby coming home with a bloody nose because it was so dry out. then he slipped in the bathroom and hurt his knee. i got him put together, the good sport, and i went back to Geneva. i mean Batavia.

i was pooped, but everyone had a nice time. Tara arranged door prizes (someone won a dozen custom cookies, but i haven't confirmed who yet) tasty catering, and various mini-spa services. i chatted up with a few folks, but i had to scoot out early and hit Osco for a knee brace and Kleenex. high 5 to Tara! i'll be at the next one, and i'll stay longer. :)

since then i've been thinking about parties and cookies. i originally started this blog to show my work, and to get an idea about what the baking-audience expects from the baking-artists. in more than a year, i've determined that so far, they want cupcakes and recipes. but what i'm really gung-ho for is the art. and if i were to do this on bigger and fancier scales, what direction should i take it? my own shop? a picture book? how do i make cookies every day, gain exposure, and increase enthusiasm when (perhaps) the world isn't ready yet?

then i came upon 2 websites. one has guest bloggers sign up to make cookies or cupcakes, blog about them and a personal account of how breast cancer has effected them, and donate the cookies to a group fighting breast cancer (a clinic staff, for instance). another organizes groups to gather for cookie decorating parties (!), and the cookies are donated to various charities. now, i can make cookies all week. i'd love to be employed this way, but i do it as a hobby too. i'll even do it for free if i'm invited to your birthday party, so i'm not out to conquer the world with cookies. i just really want them to be popular enough, at some point, that my skills will be needed in the baking-arts world. in the meantime, how do i get all you people involved?

it's MLK day, a day suggested to be one of service, and i know i've spent too great a time on my rear end. and now i'm discovering opportunities to apply my talents to humanitarianism, and i have this funny habit of noticing where the universe is leading me... here's my very important question, so please reply: if i held a cookie decorating party for charity, would you go?

the one-elf kitchen

holy mistletoe did December kick my hiney. i still owe Vanessa and Theresa a dozen each for covering hubby's Christmas weekend, and Aunt Donna and family can expect a thank you package--had we drawn one of their names for the secret Santa game, a treat package would have accompanied the gift; alas, orders came in, snow fell, one car was shared, one toddler discovered "no" and now it's already 2 weeks after Christmas and i still twitch a little. i didn't bring any cookies to Christmas at my brother's, didn't do a plate for Jeff's family, and i didn't even bother sending cards this year. seriously, some years i'm Martha Stewart, this year i was Charlie Brown. but i do have pictures to prove i was busy, and i will take care of my back-logged cookie agenda.

onward.

Jeff's sister Heather and Aunt Dahlas lead the choir and bestow thank-you treats to singers, readers, and musicians who make the yearly musical service and pot luck dinner a success. once more, i was asked for a cookie creation based on this year's theme, "Emmanuel, God with us." at first, a nativity scene was suggested, but i pointed out that one would then have to bite and eat baby Jesus. the "Emmanuel" part comes from the angel informing Mary about Jesus, 9 months before Christmas, but if you say "angel" and "Christmas" one first thinks of the angel directing shepherds and kings. so i drew a sketch for a composite cookie of an angel gesturing to the star and got a thumbs up. the trickiest part was piping in the blue sky as negative space before filling in the angel, lest i cover detailed edges, like the face and hand, by trying to do the angel first. i heard one choir member thought the cookies came from a bakery; it's always nice to be mistaken for a professional. :)

next came Jeff's godmother Dorothy, who wanted 2 dozen. i included a slender white tree with dragees and something new i tried: there's a variety of cookie sprinkle that comes in different shapes--tiny hearts, tiny circles, etc.--and they're made with vegetable oil, i presume so they wont stick to each other. if you were to take a spoonful, and a little bit of pearl dust, and shake them in a tiny container, the dust sticks to the sprinkles. i can now make shiny blue ornaments.


then i did some red and green pinwheel stars, and by then the order was done, but i had just reorganized my sprinkles so i had to try my meta-cookie idea, little cookies on a cookie sheet. i sent these along too.


then i had just enough time to fill one more order--Jamie who ordered the bridesmaid dresses wanted to give a dozen to her godmother, so i did a dozen snowflakes with simple mint-green lines.
and by then i had enough time to tidy the house and pack for Indiana. much thanks for your orders, ladies, and many apologies to anyone who thought i might be slacking. fear not, i'm still baking.
coming soon, my other December order for a girl's night out, those cookies i owe people, and probably some birthdays... happy new year everyone!