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!

and on to the new year...

these snowmen, snowballs, snowflakes, and snowy trees were part of the Christmas package sent to my brother's family.  like i said, if they were to arrive late for Christmas, they're still winter cookies, if not Christmas cookies.  i made a bunch and gave a bag to Vanessa for that help she gave Jeff with his online work/stock thing.  all extras were promptly eaten.  sorry Santa.  the resemblance to the snowman in "The Snowman" was a coincidence--and he had a (tangerine?) for a nose, not a carrot.  and around my cookies, you'll probably hear Perry Como playing...
and that brings me to the end of the year, and the pictures taken thus far.  i'll have another 90th birthday assignment in January, and a kid's birthday after that.  and some owls for a baby shower... and then Valentine's day? (nudge) see ya on the flip side! Merry Everything! Happy New Year! and drive careful out there...

pairs of pears

i spent the afternoon on the road finishing up the Christmas shopping and now i have mere moments before i pick up the kiddo from daycare.  so here, quickly, are pears!  these were for the Trinity Lutheran annual Christmas Sale. i put 2 in each favor bag for a pair of pears.  ha, clever.  i love the little blush of orange or green from the airbrush, and how the gold pearl dust makes it Christmasy--like, "partridge in a pear tree" pretty. 
coming soon, my nondenominational "holiday" cookies, ie snow: if they get them after Christmas, the theme isn't suddenly dated. ha, clever again! till next time, Merry Christmas, Happy Solstice, and i hope the Mayan epoch ended well for all of you.  hugs!

lil chickies

Monica ordered cookies for baby Daniel's arrival and left it up to me.  i found an intended-for-Easter shape and diverged from the yellow chick and decorated egg look and made little blue birdie babies hatching out of some wild eggs.  some quick lines with the edible marker made them smile and flap.  i may have flapped a little myself--i like cute birdies.  :)
and speaking of kids and cookies, in lieu of any employment opportunities, i'm still eager to do large projects; if you're a mom, teacher, student, or fellow baker and you think that your school/organization ought to have a bake sale, i'm down with helping out.  and/or if a Great American Bake Sale for Share Our Strength sounds good, call me.  Christmas is coming, and i like spreading joy...

Thriller... Thriller night...

so happy belated halloween! now that i have a new laptop, and it's actually from this decade, i can now pop in the camera's memory card and upload to the picture folder instantly.  but then i still have to get my butt to Starbucks to get to the internet, so please continue to bear with me.
these lovely minis were for an 80's themed Halloween party--lace, stars and plaid, all via the airbrush. Jeff and i went as Peg Bundy and The Greatest American Hero.   i had many plans for other H'ween cookies, but either you can have cookies, or i can have a functioning household, but not always the 2 together.  don't worry, i did some house keeping and i'm ready for Christmas.  and i'm still ready to do this in someone else's kitchen, so if you know a bakery...  anyway, i had started to make ninja clowns, but the many steps took time and my icing went flat, so they sat there half finished and Jeff ate the good ones.  i said, "can't you tell the difference between an ugly unfinished cookie and a nice picture-worthy finished one?"  he can't.  and i'd scan the sketches i drew, but then we're back to the "computer issues" conversation.  so back to cookies.  coming soon: some baby birdies, pairs of pears, something for Nessa 'cause she rocks and helps Jeff do stuff with his stock options, and a ninja clown revival for Ryan for helping me figure out that IE was my Facebook problem.  that's right kids, i pay back favors with cookie awesomeness.  now who wants to hang some lattice or tune my car?  bbl, and have a great weekend :)