A birthday cake

This is sort of an unrelated post, but I made my friend a mardi gras birthday cake this weekend and wanted to post some pics of it. I made the feathers and the mask out of gumpaste and the beads are sugar beads that I got at NY Cake Supply in Manhattan. It was really fun to figure out how to make the mask - I went to a costume store around Union Square - this place always has a line around the block come October but I thought it would be pretty dead at the end of March. There were actually quite a few people in there - a harried mother who desperately cluthed at a clerk's sleve and said, "I need Abe Lincoln, for a little kid." Then I heard another clerk yell at some kids, "Don't play with the whips!" I feel like that place would be a really intersting place to work at, or a great setting for a novel...

Anyway, here are the pics:

Molding the gum paste around the mask I picked up.















The feathers I made out of gum paste - dyed red with gel food coloring and then made feathery with my exacto knife.










The finished cake....

My first screen

I've got my first screen! Ok, so it's not for my dog tees, this is actually for printing my street hockey team tees, my team is called Filthy Goregous, but it's a good place to start. I'll learn how to print on this - from all the Youtube videos I've been seeing and the advice I've been getting lately it shouldn't be too hard. Then I'll move on to printing some of my own designs. I can't wait, I love the idea of being involved in every aspect of the process.

The other reason I got the screens is that my ex-boyfriend used to print them for the team, and it just feels like it's time to stop asking him to do that. I met up with my ex last week to pick up these screens from him. It was strange, I haven't seen him since we broke up. We stood outside the pizza place that he had picked for us to meet up at and caught up for about an hour then went our seperate ways. It's so strange to have these people that used to be such a big part of your life and now they are basically strangers. There's no part of me that is sad about that relationship being over, I'm so much happier with the guy I'm with now. It's just strange to see the road not taken sometimes.

Anyway, onward and upward - I'm off to get some ink for this screen tomorrow after work and then print some hockey tees. I'm also going to get another blank screen so I can try some stencil printing.

Back from CO!

Here's a picture from the ski lift. I keep saying I want a new camera, but I actually think this one did pretty good on this trip!

I've been having a little post trip funk, I haven't really been able to do anything creative since I've been back, but I'm feeling so much better today. I'm going to D.C. for the weekend with my guy which will be great and I'm ready to start a fresh week next week!

I've also started reading a new book with a super cheesy title, "No Plot, No Problem! A low-stress high-velocity guide to writing a novel in 30 days." I don't really believe in such do something fantastic in a short amount of time gimmicky kinds of books, but there's something in this guy's theory - basically that you can't get anything done without setting major deadlines for yourself. I think that's an interesting point for writing, business, any creative pursuit really because anytime you are making something out of nothing there's way too many personal blocks that can set you back.

Gone Snowboarding!

I've just finished a huge load of laundry, packed (ok, mostly packed...) my suitcase and I'm off to Vail for a family ski trip. Well, snowboarding in my case... I'm excited to be with the fam for a whole week and to be out in the beautiful mountains. It's an annual tradition for us - skiing, snowboarding, great wine, great food and lots of catching up. I'm also excited to come back. I have lots of plans for Rattle and Bark and I've found lots of inspiration lately - see the long list of blogs I've been adding to my "following" list.

I can't wait to get back and get started on more plans... Stay tuned!

Another designer I love

I love these guys, Charlie and Sarah -I love what they are doing with their business, and I love their story. They made a onesie for their baby to teach him "proper British" and the onesies totally caught on. I love the idea of a couple that made something because they thought it was funny and then other people see it and it just starts catching on like wildfire.

Check out their adorable tee below

This is also my dream for Rattle and Bark. Also, check out their Etsy shop.

Whenever I see stuff like this I get even more inspired and motivated. I also love that they live in Brooklyn. Brooklyn is such a cool exciting place to be right now, even with the recession going on. In a way this is an interesting time, it really makes you figure out what you care about and what you want and need.

Sweet Fine Day

I just found this amazing blog Sweet Fine Day while looking through my Etsy emails. This is sort of what I aspire for my blog to be - inspiring, beautiful photography, and interesting. I love that the various interests of this couple - Sweets, Craft, Food, Design as their blog says are documented in such wonderful detail.

They live in Brooklyn as well, I am going to comment on their blog and hopefully they will be my friend one day. You know, in a blogger/business person kind of way, not a weird stalker way...

Their brownies look pretty amazing too, I might have to order some things from their site!

Press!

I'm so excited - some great dog blogs that I sent samples/pics and info too posted about my shirts!! My first press! This is totally exciting.

Check them out, at Gotham Unleashed and Snif NYC Dog Blog

I'm so excited, getting my work out there has been one thing I've been anxious about - I think part of my background as a writer comes into play here as well - you spend so much time working on something then the thought of really putting it out there is scary. But these blogs were so cool and nice about featuring my stuff, it was really rewarding.