it's etsy day!

Woohoo! The Etsy community is uniting to make today a huge Etsy visiting day. You can visit my Etsy page at http://www.nightgarden.etsy.com! Stick around and browse other Etsy finds as well!

meet your maker

Guess where I'll be with a table full of crafty goodness on May 1?

cupcake is one year old!

Cupcake's first acknowledgment of my presence came when she was just a few days old. She was a tiny ball of fur, less than six ounces in weight, hanging over the edge of a box in our carport. She was so new that her eyes weren't yet open, her ears were folded over, and her tiny little claws were barely holding on to the box; but when I picked her up, she leaned back her head, opened her tiny, toothless mouth, and hissed at me. If the other two cats guessed she was spunky, they kept it to themselves.

For the first month of her life, I carried her in my sweatshirt pouch all day at work and fed her with a bottle of kitten formula every four hours. I worried when she didn't poop, cleaned up when she wet her bedding, and bathed her with a warm washcloth. In return, she helped ease my broken heart.

Here we are, a year later, and at once it feels like she's always been here and like she can't possibly be a year old. Shawn and I are so impressed my how high she can jump, how fast she can run, and by her thousand quirky habits. And we still marvel at how such a tiny little Cupcake has become such a big, strong girl. Happy Birthday, Cupcake!

what if: you're a beastie and your ears get cold?

Ooh look! A Hobgoblin Chapeau!

delusions of grandeur

When I've watched one too many episodes of Ace of Cakes on the Food Network, I get these ideas in my head . . .

My husband Shawn's birthday cake this year was made with a Fallout 3 video game theme. It's in the shape of a bomb shelter, complete with marzipan Vault Boy, Vault-Tec sign, rivets, and rocks; and graham cracker crumb dirt.

This is a close-up of Vault Boy. He's holding a blaster gun, which has the candle's wick sticking out of the barrel.

Hand-painting and aging the plaque with food coloring was my favorite part! Getting the white frosting dyed grey was my least favorite part.

This is the specially-requested Black Forest cake I made for my god-daughter's tenth birthday.

The frosting is actually whipped heavy cream, and I made the masquerade mask and bowling set out of marzipan.