friends, followers lend me your ear

I have to laugh at the lingo of our day-today's winner the letter F


First...we will start with Facebook "friends". Now the use of this term is liberally applied (think sunscreen on the beach your first time out of in the summer season). I mean if the dictionary were to define friend in the manner of facebook it would have to include the following entries: a loose acquaintance, someone I send a Christmas Card to, someone who signed my year book "with love you like a sister", someone whose name pops in my brain about every 2 years or so, someone who likes me more than I like them, someone who who I like more than they like me, someone who I know I should remember more but my brain just can't recall, someone I feel social obligations to, or quite possibly a real true, heart and soul friend.

Second the new blogger term...followers. I have yet to switch to the follower set-up. I guess I have to wait a while for them scary jim jonesesque connotation to wear off. The follower word make me think: screaming Beatles groupie or or shady hippies with mystical leanings. This word of power as though the blogger can command a cyber uprising of their followers who hang on their every word.

What words are next.

1. kind service of others 2. prizes for goodness 3. racing thoughts spilling out

Oh Robert Frost it's not that easy!

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both...

Yes, that is pure recall from my 3 grade coerced poetry memorization. It just popped into my head because right now I am working on a big new painting (Yes the paint is wet on my palette as I type but I took a break for some fresh choclate chip cookies which will be coming steaming out of my oven in about 2 minutes-- just enough time to blog) And I keep finding myself at an impasse: continue this? change this? add this? try this? this color? this pattern? My brain is exhausted with the millions of small decisions in this piece. All to create color harmony, flow, mood, tone, message...

Maybe for poets it's 2 roads but for artists it's more like 257 roads diverged in a yellow wood. Try to make that poetic sounding Mr. Frost.

1. clean house 2. new painting 3. music on the Ipod

free sub-zero

"Wow! A free sub-zero. I'd love one of those in my kitchen," I thought as I saw the red lettered words scrolling across the marquis at the bank inside my Wal-mart. I glanced back up a few minutes later after laboring with my son on the appropriate place to stash the Viva paper towels post check out. "Free sub-zero sleeping bag when you open an account," the rest of the message scrolled on. I chuckled to myself. So ironic for our economic times. I guess they are trying to snag the foreclosure niche market. Someone should really talk to their marketing people...I don't think the "soon to be homeless, need a sleeping bag" crowd will be making big deposits.

creativity... like rodents

I love inspiration and ideas. I am an artist. I couldn't survive with out these dear friends. At 12:30 at night when they surely come, they like rodents and cockroaches--unwelcome guests. My husband questions when I tap on the light in the middle of the night, the cause for this my bedside scrawling.
"Sorry, I just had this poem in my head about crayons I had to write it down so it would let me go to sleep."
While I welcome these interesting thoughts, they are very brazen. Thinking they can come to me at all hours and I beholden to committing them to a scrap of paper or a sketchbook. They must keep within the bounds I have set for our relationship. I will reiterate them here for future reference...Creative thoughts only in waking daytime hours, not racing through my mind at 100 miles an hour when I am trying to get to sleep (already an hour or two behind schedule). Any good recommendations on mental mousetraps or brain raid highly appreciated.

1. having help 2. morning naps 3. 66 cupcakes baked

cupcake class: Creature edition

For the love of cupcakes, please not one more cupcake post from smart mama! Sorry my faithful readers hoping for something witty today- you just get more confectionary creations. Sorry I must archive them here once and for all.

How to make octopus cupcakes:

How to make turtle cupcakes: Penguins inspired by the book Hello, Cupcake. (although they didn't not turn out right due to a change in frosting and the eyes being delivered 2 hrs to late by UPS!)

1. excited kids 2.parents who help out 3. supplies to create with

Cupcake class:Red Sox Edition

My apologies for the string of cupcake posts. My 4 week cupcake class teaching gig, I have cupcakes on the brain. This issue is for Red Sox Nation in honor of Thursday night's game. Perfect food for a Red Sox themed birthday party or game day party. Here is a tutorial for all you Red Sox superfans.

How to make Baseball Cupcakes:

1. Frost cupcake with chocolate frosting.

2. Edge with green jimmies.

3. Roll out a circle of white fondant.

4. Place fondant over top of a mini donut.

5. Place on the cupcake

6. Add red details with rope licorice.

How to make Red Sox cupcakes:

1. Frost cupcake with chocolate frosting.
2. Edge with green jimmies

3. Roll out cherry air Heads candy.

4. Cut out the shape of 2 red socks.

5. Place small dot of white fondant on heel and toe and dip in white sugar.

6. Roll out fondant into snake and form into letters.

7. Place decorations on the cupcakes.

How to make Wally the Green Monster cupcakes:

1. Frost cupcake with chocolate frosting.

2. Cover with green jimmies.

3. Add icing premade eyes (available and Country Kitchen SweetArt)

4. Use Wilton sour cherry balls for nose

5. Use harbio rope licorice wheel for mouth

6. Use 1/2 of a oreo cookie for brim of the hat

7. Roll a half circle of fondant in blue and black sugar (to get navy color) or tint with Wilton colors

8. Form a B out of cherry air head candy.

9. Add hat pieces to the cupcake.

1.supplies on hand 2.exciting games 3. Halloween carnival fun

about Segullah

You may have noticed the "I write" banner in my R sidebar or the "I am reading" Segullah magazine in my L side bar and wonder what it's all about. I'll explain Segullah is a group whose purpose is to with encourage literary talent, provoke thought, promote greater understanding and faith amongst of LDS women. They publish a journal twice a year which is a collection of works by LDS women. (You can also read more in the issue archive). They also feature one artist's whose works each issue.

The staff of Segullah also writes an almost daily blog which is well written and discusses thoughtful topics. I recently joined on as part of their staff (working with their blog sampler). The sampler features blogs of Segullah authors and staff and also highlights other blogs of inspiring LDS women.

The staff of Segullah is amazing, a group of incredibly talented women. Kathy Soper, the Editor-in-Chief, has just published her second book The Mother in Me, a compilation of writing about mothering (the good, the bad, and the not often talked about).Kathy's previous book, Gifts, was a compilation of writings about the experience of having a child with Down syndrome. As a child life specialist and someone like myself who did graduate research on how a child with special needs impacts a family, I so applaud this project.

My shameless plug...I am going to be the featured artist in the spring issue of Segullah (so another good reason to subscribe). I consider it a huge honor considering past featured artists include: Cassandra Barney, Jacqui Larsen, Rose Datoc Dall (incredibly accomplished artists). It will showcase about 15 of my pieces and I will be debuting new pieces.

P.S. For any of you in Utah, who want to meet some of the amazing authors, this Saturday, October 18, is the book launch party for The Mother in Me from 2-4 p.m. at Deseret Book in University Mall (Orem). Which will have great food, great stories, great poetry, great prizes, great company. All royalties from sales of The Mother in Me that day will be donated to the Stephanie and Christian Nielson Recovery Fund

1. a new reason to create 2. inspiring women 3. something good to read on my bedside table

fullness of joy

Motherhood is a service and a reward. The great reward is being taught by your children. So I was taught today of JOY!

Baby brains are notorious for getting overloaded by stimuli. They feel with such intensity they have to turn away. I love the ebullient laughter that bubbles out of my baby. He gets so excited and laughs so much that he has to turn away. When was the last time you felt that way? So happy it was more than your brain could handle. If you haven't felt that lately try to find a way to get back to it.
1. a good haircut 2. JOY 3. naps

cupcake class #1: halloween cupcakes

Well, I survived the first week: me, 20 kids, 66 cupcakes, and 2 helpers (we were down a helper so it was a little harried) 66 cupcakes. Here are the Halloween themed cupcakes I taught them to make for any of you interested in making them at home.

Spooky spiders

How to make spooky spider cupcakes

Pumpkin patch

How to make pumpkin cupcakes

Outrageous Owls

The owl idea is courtesy of an awesome book Hello, Cupcake! (but slightly modified)

1. one week done 2. feelings of relief 3. remembering

Growing into myself and losing the fear

Okay, I'll come right out with it. I am submitting a piece to the Museum of Church History and Art Competition and it's due Friday so I have been working on the submission. At any time in the past, I would not likely have entered (because well I am not really a competitive person) and if I dared enter I would never have publicly announced it. Why? Because I didn't like, no make that loathed and feared, failure and rejection. Now, I don't care. There is something liberating about growing into yourself. Of being happy enough with yourself and being passionate about what you do to face rejection or failure. And not only to do it alone, in secret, but to let others watch you not get it as well. To know from the start the most likely outcome (yes statistically maybe only 1 in 4-5 make the show) is that the piece will not be accepted, and that I will be handed the "thank you for playing, please try again card". Then translating that into "not good enough" or "not what they wanted" (which is a nicer way of saying not good enough) and not feeling discouraged or ashamed. So today I am patting myself on the back, not so much for the painting (which I do like especially because it is unique, and breaks from the normative style of most submissions) but because I have learned to be me, to jump in especially when everyone is watching.
1.courage 2. celebratory chinese 3. new friends

Profundity from Wal-mart grocery shopping

As I watched the rotisserie chickens turning round and round, baking in the heat of the oven I thought, so too is my life.
I started out fresh, unseasoned.
Then loaded onto the spit of life, each day round and round I turn getting juicier and tastier and nicely golden.
One day, when my time is up I too will be fully cooked and get put in a box and sent over to the other side.
Hopefully, to be greeted by many smiling faces who will pronounce upon me "Well Done!"

1.weekends 2. impending fun 3. new opportunities