who? JJ!

my recent post of little baby birds popping out of shells got my cousin-in-law Kati thinking about an upcoming baby shower for her friend's little boy JJ.  (Kati married into my dad's side of the family, so before i departed from my maiden name, there were 2 of us, minus an E.  i wonder how many old friends of mine looked for me and thought i moved to Milwaukee?)

her idea was little owls, since the mother to be has a thing for them, and in blue and brown, and with the name JJ in there somewhere.  what i came up with were owls in a half shell, in 2 kinds of blue and tan.  "JJ" became the little bow tied around each egg.  i got the baby-owl shape by actually using an Easter shape of a marshmallow bunny peep in a half shell, but i pressed the ears together to make the head, then pinched the corners to make their little horns--instant owls!  their little bewildered owly eyes were detailed with edible marker, and a dust of white pearl dust gave them some glamor.  a big welcome to you, little JJ!
and that brings me current again, so everyone start thinking about Valentine's Day.  :)

cookies that defy gravity!

high school classmate (holy moly it was half my life ago that i graduated!) Dominique, inquired about cookies for her daughter's 6th birthday.  Jateme (say "Je t'aime" like "i love you" in French--how cool is that?) likes teal and gymnastics, and is soon to be the big sister to twins--twice the awesome!
we mulled over the idea of mini cookies, but settled on 1 each per favor bag of 2 medium cookies.  (although i suppose i could have combined all 4 circles into a regular-sized cookie, but anyway) i looked online for some leaping silhouettes, saved the pictures, resized them, and just taped a piece of paper to my monitor and traced them.  then i glued them to a clear plastic lid, flipped it over, and cut out teeny people and a star with an x-acto knife to make a stencil.  then i airbrushed them (yeah i washed the lid first, silly) onto the cookies, making sure the white was extra flat, but leaving the medals with waves and dips, a result of making royal icing in dry January air, to look like something malleable.  rings of dots and sugary ribbons unified them, and they were all paired up in favor bags with a silver bow. 
happy birthday Jateme, and congrats to your family for your new little brother and sister!  coming soon-- little baby owls....

Joe's 90th birthday

i had a temporary post of my sketches for these cookies, and the explanation of my doodles, but lets look at the cookies instead.

tada!  i mentioned that Benita was throwing a party for her father Joe's 90th birthday, and that the colors for the party were tan brown and gold, and that last senior i saw in brown was the endearing Mr. Frederickson in the movie "Up," which made me think of fabrics in masculine patterns--a favorite chair, or shirt...  in the end, when i had them all laid out in rows, these cookies reminded me of the table of ties at a department store, with their little patterns, and satiny finishes.  each was airbrushed with a different stencil, 2 of which were hand cut from plastic lids, the 3rd was a section of needlepoint grid. then detail lines were added with edible marker, then a border of gold, and a coat of gold pearl dust.
the whole time i was doing these patterns i was imagining them in different color combinations.  how awesome would some blue look for a baby shower.  right?  or some Christmas sweater cookies...  or red and pink argyle hearts for Valentine's day.... (losing focus)
baby owls and tiny gymnasts are next, stay tuned, and happy birthday Joe!