Coral Colored Henna Cake

Here's my most recent cake I just finished this Saturday for a dear friend of mine, Joslyn. Her sweet little sister is getting married (which I must add is just crazy to me, because I remember when she was just a teeny little middle-schooler - where has all the time gone!?!), and so for her bridal shower I was asked to make this cake. They wanted a henna style cake with white and coral colors and this two-tiered design is what I came up with. The cake itself was made of lemon with lemon frosting on the bottom, and yellow cake with buttercream and strawberry filling on the top. I got the recipe for the strawberry filling from Wilton's website, and oh man, does it ever taste amazing! Super easy to make, too. We used the leftover filling as an ice-cream topping, and it tasted just like the stuff from Dairy Queen. Oh yum-yum! =D

Peach Colored Ruffle Cake & a Vintage Storybook Shower

Back in June, my friends Jaime, Angie and I had the pleasure of throwing a baby shower for a dear friend of ours, Jessica. I can't believe her little girl is already here! Little Winnie was born just this last week, on Wednesday in fact, and she is absolutely perfect! I seriously can't wait to meet her in person!

When I first found out what the theme of her nursery was going to be, I absolutely fell in love with it and just had to base the shower off of it. "Vintage storybook" is what she called it, and it was just such a sweet idea. I had sooo much help from my friends Jaime and Angie, from my own momma Cindi, and of course Jessica's momma Julie, who catered it with the most amazing food from Piazza Catering. My mother-in-law Karla and even my sister and my other mother-in-law Deolinda (or rather my sister's mother-in-law who I've kinda adopted as my own too) helped with the decorations as well. I seriously could not have done it without any of them! Thank you all so, sooo much!

I had thrown around the idea of making a literal storybook cake for the shower, and was going to paint a picture on it with food coloring, but realized that this was WAY too ambitious considering everything else I needed to get done, so about a week before the shower I decided to change it up and make a ruffle cake instead. I felt that a stacked cake would be more elegant than a single layered cake would have been, and though I'd never made one like that before, I decided to try it out. I figured if it didn't work I could just do two cakes or something anyways. But for the most part it worked great, though there definitely was a good side to the cake! And I learned I really need to buy some supports if I'm going to be doing that again, just so it is a little stronger when it's moved and so the top layer doesn't crush the layer below it. It was quite yummy, though, and fit what I wanted perfectly, so I am really quite proud of how it turned out. Here's my peach colored vintage ruffle cake, made of devil's food and buttercream on the bottom and strawberry with strawberry and buttercream icings on top:

As for the rest of the shower, here are some of the other little details that we put together:

So Jaime came up with the idea of having bookmarks as our favors, which I loved because it was both practical and made perfect sense for our theme. And they turned out amazing! Jaime, you did such a great job on them! I really loved the fabric backing and am going to have to steal that idea for sure! We played a "Guess the Price" game which I found an idea for on Pinterest, though ours looked entirely different. We also made a bunch of toothpick "flags" using vintage storybook images and I borrowed as many authentic vintage items as I could, to complete the feel. Oh, and my personal favorite thing to make - the Vintage Storybook Lanterns! I found the idea on Pottery Barn Kids and just had to make them. And with my mom's circle cutter they were a cinch! I'm thinking of printing off a bunch of Seahawks logos and finding some blue and green gingham paper to make some for the boys room... I really wish I had gotten some pictures of the amazing garland Julie made with a string of lights and scraps of vintage fabrics. It was just beautiful! That is most definitely going on my to-do list for Christmas decorations, let me tell ya!

We had such a blast putting this shower together, and I have to be honest, I've really missed my late night crafting moments with Angie and Jaime! Congratulations again, miss Jessica, your little girl is beautiful! Well, I'm sure I've babbled on for far too long now, so I'll let you go. Have a blessed day!

Emma

Back in March, I got to do a session of this gorgeous little girl along with my sister-in-law Kimie, who was really the one in charge of the shoot. We've been playing around with the idea of going into business together, but I think I was really just there for emotional support for her more than anything else! =) Haha, anywho, this little doll's name is Emma, and she is one gorgeous little girl! If I ever do decide to brave getting pregnant again, and IF we actually had a girl the next time, I would most definitely dress her just like this. I love, love, LOVE all the ruffles!

I had such a fun time trying this out with Kimie, and got to see just how nice it is having someone to work with! No driving by yourself, no worrying that you didn't get any shots, and most of all, MUCH less stress and a lot more fun! The only hard parts were trying not to get in each others way and making sure that each of us got the shots we wanted. Oh, and trying not to compare yourself with one another. I'm so bad at that!

All in all, we both had a blast together and just absolutely loved taking Emma's pictures. We only wished we had more time with her - she's just so stinkin' cute! And I definitely look forward to working with Kimie again, that's for sure! After all, we've been joking about creating "The Adams Family Art Gallery" for years now, with Kimie's photography, Kelsey's paintings and ceramic wonders and my art as well. What do ya think? It's good to dream, right? Okay, well I've talked enough for one post, so I'll let you go, but after you're done here, why not hop on over to Kimie's new blog to see her take on Emma. Hope you enjoy! Oh, and of course... Happy First Birthday Miss Emma!!!

Oh Wow! God, You Amaze Me!!!

So about a week or so ago I lost my mouthguard (yes, I'm so hot I get to wear a mouthguard at night!). And by lost, I mean LOST! It was nowhere. We pulled out the dressers, checked up and downstairs, rummaged through the trash. Nada. I mean, I even checked my bible, as random as that is, just in case it got closed in it or something. But nope, no matter how hard we looked, it was nowhere to be found. So I made an appointment for last Friday to get another one made, because I just can't live without it (it keeps me from getting blinding migraines because I clench my teeth at night). Well, Friday morning came around and as my alarm went off, I turned to Tyler and asked him what I should do, because I just didn't have peace about going to the appointment without trying one last good look. After all, the silly thing cost $300 - yikes! We decided to reschedule and look some more, but after looking that day, we still couldn't find it. Then Saturday night rolls around, and after looking a bit more just to make myself feel better, I give up and pray out to God, "Please Lord, I don't care if it was me that lost it or if it was Levi who threw it away or hid it, but God, please just work a little miracle here and bring it back to me. I really don't want to buy a new one." And with that, I grabbed my bible as I slipped into bed. Upon grabbing it, I felt something funny underneath the cover, so I open it up, and lo and behold, there is my nightguard, just sitting in there, as if it were a little gift from God! I was floored! I mean, FLOORED! How cool is that?! This isn't the first time this has happened, after all. Remember back when we couldn't find Levi's medical card anywhere, and it fell out of my bible randomly the week I needed it? And remember the fact that I had already thoroughly checked my bible earlier in the week? God is so cool!!! Thank you Lord, for all the amazing little miracles that just make me love and trust you even more! I love the fact that You are a God who can move mountains and set the stars into motion, and yet You also love me so much that You do wonderful little things like this that just mean the world to me! You are such an Awesome God!!!

Meet My Nephew, Nolan

Oh man, this little guy sure is a cutie-pie! He actually reminds me a lot of my own little babies, aside from the fact that he got his daddy's nose... And maybe his chin too... Okay, so maybe he doesn't look as much like them as I thought, but I definitely see both his parents in him, that's for sure! He's so sweet and little, and it was a pleasure to get to meet and hold him! I sure wish they didn't live so far away, because it's going to be hard seeing him look so different every time. But I will treasure the times we do have with him, because he is, well, a treasure! I love you so much already, little Nolan! And congratulations Kelsey and Jeremy! You guys did an amazing job bringing this little man into the world and I know you will raise him to be a man after God's own heart! =)

Montana 2009

These are from our trip to Montana a few years ago, just a few months before we got pregnant with Levi. And I'm just now sitting down to edit them today... Can you tell I'm a little behind on my edits? Anyways, these were taken during our long drive home, the first of which was captured right before a beautiful lightning storm hit. I wish I could have set up a tripod and shot out in it, but we were on a schedule and I am just not THAT daring - such a wimp. Lol! 

That trip, by the way, was amazing! It was my first really long road trip, I mean, the first that went further than Mexico. We had such a blast and were so blessed by some friends of the family to be able to stay in their gorgeous house up by Flathead Lake. Oh, and one of my favorite parts of that trip was discovering the Winchester Steak House. By far the best steak I've ever had in my life. EVER. I would almost make the drive just for one of those steaks, it's THAT good. Oh man, now my mouth is watering... But I digress. I hope you enjoy these - I had a ton of fun taking and editing them, and can't wait, Lord willing, to go back again some day. That house is, after all, my favorite place to paint plein air! =)

"The Meeting Place"

Yay! I just finished my sweet baby Owen's little froggy painting, and I couldn't be happier with how it turned out! It's so exciting to be working in series and I seriously can't wait to see where it takes me next!

For this painting in particular I went along with the theme that I started when I made the painting for Levi titled "Do I Dare...?" which was made specially for him to put in his room/nursery (or rather now, their room/nursery), which is themed with something along the lines of woodland creatures. Okay, okay, so it's very much ALL about woodland creatures. Haha, why try to deny it? Silly me. Anyways, I still have one or two (or three) more paintings up my sleeve for this series, but I'm not exactly sure when I'll be able to start on them and I can hardly bear the wait.

I sure hope you like how this turned out little Owie! Mommy loves you, okay?! Someday I hope you'll appreciate this for what it is, a simple expression of love from me to you. But as for now, I just have to figure out some place to hang it where it's not going to get destroyed by you, kiddo! Lol! I love you my son! =)

"The Meeting Place"     16 x 20     Acrylic on Canvas

Detail from "The Meeting Place"

Detail from "The Meeting Place"