So I'm currently obsessed with loose florals...at least for the last week. This piece - lilacs in a glass jar - was done with watercolours except for the white highlights which were done in gouache.
I am tempted to go in with some dry media to really get some details in...but I shall resist ...because it's supposed to be loose florals, not detailed florals. *LOL*
Happy week ahead friends! :)
This month I'm guest designing over at Stick It Down and here is my double page spread which features what the Yams ate in June. :)
It doesn't feature ALL the food I've made...just the ones I remembered to take photos of...before they got eaten. *winks*
I did try to whip up some new-to-me recipes to keep the creative juices flowing. Yep, even the ugly donuts get to be in the family scrapbook. *LOL*
I kept the pages relatively simple by using the same patterned paper and repeating elements on both pages for cohesiveness.
Happy weekend friends! :)
So I discovered this artist on YouTube - Ellen Crimi-Trent and decided to just paint along with her this morning. And here is my loose watercolour florals in a mason jar! :)
She was right...you are so much looser in your brush strokes when you stand to paint as it enables you to utilize your entire arm.
The general composition is hers but you know me...I had to add more florals (and details) to make it somewhat my own. *winks*
This was done in under an hour!
I think I might just start my days doing a loose watercolour floral painting....this was so much fun!
Happy Thursday friends! :)
Guess what? I've officially made my first mousse cake! *high fives all around*
As you know, I tend to go all out when it comes to family birthdays...make a lot of stuff and give myself unnecessary stress. While I do believe that some stress in life is good because it engages your sympathetic nervous system, this time for my mum's birthday, I went with ONE singular cake. No tarts or cookies on the side. (Okay, there was the fail-safe fruit jelly in the fridge....I mean it is after all a birthday celebration, there has to be some sweet stuff).
But of course, it had to be a cake I had never attempted before. Because I like to challenge myself. *LOL*
I decided to make Dominique Ansel's Peanut Butter Crunch Cake. Now I watched this video last year but thought it was a little too technical for me. But when I watched the video again last week, I thought that it was totally doable. Just 3 components: the crunchy base, the mousse middle and the chocolate ganache glaze.
Even though I didn't have the equipment (8 inch cake ring), corn syrup or puffed rice. But I had a few days to get my act together.
I did manage to get a 7 inch cake ring (on sale) on Amazon with next day free shipping (LOVE Amazon Prime). The 8 inch ring was twice the price so I went with the 7 inch of course...because it's the same of yumminess in a slightly smaller size right?
I didn't have corn syrup but decided I would just use honey instead. Surprisingly the hardest thing to find was the puffed rice. I couldn't even score Rice Krispies as an alternative in my nearby supermarkets. Luckily my sister was in town and got me a box of Rice Pops! I was already googling how to make puffed rice at home (either using oil or salt)...phew, I got the ready-made version. :)
But of course, I screwed up the first step by adding my melted chocolate to my puffed rice without caramelising the puffed rice first. It was yummy but I wasn't sure if it would get soggy when I put on the mousse layer so I made another batch (no worries, this batch didn't go to waste...the Gangster Gang ate them all up!).
The original recipe called for corn syrup and sugar to be added to the puffed rice before caramelising in the oven. I went with just raw honey because I didn't want it to be too sweet as the melted chocolate would add more sweetness to the mix.
And of course, I reduced the sugar in the mousse by 30% because I find that American recipes tend to be way to sweet for my liking. Plus I used regular sweetened peanut butter. I just made sure that I didn't kill my gelatine because that was what would set my mousse.
So I made the cake base (puffed rice) and mousse the night before and let it sit overnight in the freezer. In the morning, I made the glaze and poured it over the perfectly set frozen mousse and crunch layers. Then I added the puffed rice pieces to the cake as decoration. Done by 10am for birthday celebration at dinner time! :)
This week's really simple card features another fussy-cut tin man from my stash. There might be another one coming if I can find his head...it got decapitated in my stash *dramatic music plays in the background*. You know, sometimes accidents happen when you are digging through stash. *winks*
And yes, I've been working through my Graphic45 stash. I used to LOVE their collections. But I haven't bought any in the last 5 years or so. Which roughly coincides with the time I started drawing...and the time I decided to use up all my patterned paper stash without buying any more.
I've succeeded in the "not buying" any more part (in part due to getting happy mail/design team freebies) but the "using up" part is another story. Which also explains why I'm not on any design teams. For a while now. Every time I'm tempted to try for a design team, I look at the stuff I already have and just don't apply. As it is, I'm still trying to use up design team stash from teams I was on 6-7 years ago! Why do you think I always use my Xyron Creative Machine? Because I still have a cupboard full of adhesive cartridges. *LOL*
I know that lots of people still get so excited when they get on design teams in anticipation of all the lovely stuff they would receive. I've been there and done that. I'm actually quite happy that I don't have huge boxes of "happy" mail coming to me and having to find a place to stash them as I work through a design team term. Maybe I've been paper scrapbooking for far too long. I started in 2006!
What about you? Are you still buying the new collections or just working through your stash?
Oh well, the ugly stage in my pieces last a long time.*hahaha* I keep persevering because I hate to waste art supplies in any way...which has worked in my favour because I get to use other supplies in my stash in order to "save" it. And there's this strange sense of satisfaction when you've "saved" a piece from total disaster. Could be a totally "me" thing. Hehehe.
Happy Monday friends!
Happy Friday friends! Here is this week's fun decorated paper bag project.:)
It's my mum's birthday this weekend so I'll be busy in the kitchen. :)
See you next week!
Hello friends! How's your week going? I'm currently learning to paint loose watercolour florals (watching and painting along with some YouTube tutorials).
Right now, I'm just learning how to paint basic blooms and leaves. Hope to progress to a floral bouquet next...and eventually a bird painting with florals. Or maybe a portrait with a floral background. Goals! *winks*
What about you? What are your currently working on?
For the last year or so, Wednesday afternoons have been reserved for running any errands out the house that are not within walking radius from my home. It's "Eat your own lunch Wednesday" for the rest of the Yams because it's also my rest day from home cooking. :)
Today I headed to town with my bestie for brunch (last day of free parking!)...of course, my cuisine of choice would be Japanese. :) (yes, this is week 2 of being able to dine out again! Yay!)
Guess who bought a new LED mirror during the Amazon Prime Day sale?
Guess who has been loving it?
Well, the owner of the new cool LED mirror with 5x and 7x magnification would be me. :)
And of course, the one currently obsessed with it would be nephew #1. *winks*
Just wanted to do a fun non-food layout. And the fact was that the new mirror did bring that little bit of excitement to our mundane stay-at-home lives. :)
P/s: Nephew #1 was very pleased with the photos I took of him because his biceps look very big in them. The kid has been working out. *LOL*
Okay friends, this was the best I could do on a gloomy day with a very shiny gold foiled patterned paper design. *LOL*
I decided to tone down the shiny gold with a white doily and an embellishment cluster of found stash. :)
The patterned paper has a really intricate design that is really pretty. Just super hard to photograph.
Happy weekend friends! :)
