Sunday Shots: Cupcakes inspired by Incarnate and Asunder by Jodi Meadows!

Hey there guys!

Hope you're having a good Sunday! I'm back from work and I'm gonna spend what's left of my afternoon and evening being lazy and reading!

Today for Sunday Shots I'm gonna share the other half of the cupcakes I was so inspired to create on Thursday.

I got the idea of creating some cupcakes inspired by the New Soul series by Jodi Meadows, Incarnate & Asunder, and I was even more inspired and had more ideas right off the start for these than for the Defiance ones. I just had to look at the covers for a bit and check a few things to see if my memory of the scenes was right to start working on what I wanted for each cupcake!

Butterflies are an important part of the imaginery of the book, since they represent Anna, the main character, and her possible ephimeral lifetime compared to the others inhabitants of Heart.

 

I chose the cupcake liners cause I thought the fit the mood of the books' covers.

I managed to add different colours to the buttercream by using colorants in the piping bag, and the colours are also inspired on both books covers.

Cover colours piping, with a piano keyboard, since Dossam is a musician, and it's Anna's first instrument to try and love. I modelled the keyboard from scratch, so it was a bit of job, and it shows that is not as perfect as I would have liked.

Covered in white fondant, with white walls (I didn't have a brick rolling pin, so I used a basket weave I do have) and the red heart to represent the weird white walls with a heartbeat of Heart.

And the two roses, the blue (purple) one to represent the New Souls and the Phoenix (red) ones to represent the Old/Dark Souls. This is from book two.

All in all, it was quite a bit of work, but I did enjoy myself immensely making them! So much, that I'm already planning making more book inspired cupcakes!

Sunday Shots: Weeks 49, 50 & 51, Monday Edition!

Hey there!


It's Monday and in a not-so-unusual-to-us move, here are a few shots of the weekly sort, all rolled into one! This week is also the LAST week of our 52 weeks challenge, so I'm hoping we'll manage to have our last shots ready for Sunday!


So, without more ado, here they go!


Week 49:

G's first week at work inspired his shot.




Mine was an attempt to show off my new shorter hair (and my new Label of Hope top!).





Week 50:

An awesome shot of G's eyes



My graduation from nursing school photo, almost 9 years ago!






Week 51:

G showing off his RockerByeBaby blankie




My lemon muffins all ready to go into the oven!





Hopefully I'll be getting a new tripod sometime this week, so it'll improve some of my shots and I'll have more blog entries lined up afterwards!


Oh, and btw, the first half of my giveaway prize has arrived! More hints to come! ;)

Sunday Shots: Week 48

We are back on schedule, and this week's shots are up on Sunday!


Let's hope we can keep it up till week 52! Just 4 more weeks left!


Without trying to set up a common theme, we ended up with the same theme for our shots: our love for reading and our love for Agatha Christie!





Hopefully, I'll manage to keep updating the blog regularly!

Sunday Shots: Week 44, 45, 46 and 47!

Hello?! *hears echo*


Yes, yes, I'm well aware the blog has been VERY much abandoned for the past few weeks, but I was really busy and distracted with work and the preparations for the trip to India, and later on, I was too busy relaxing and enjoying my trip to update the blog BUT, finally, the time has arrived, and I present you with not one nor two but FOUR pictures of the week!


Week 44:

Gaurav's shot with him & Max waiting for me to arrive with my RockerByeBaby blankie!




My own shot en route to India!



Week 45:

Gaurav's shot was the marker for a panoramic shot of the hotel's pool during our short vacation in Goa.



Mine was taken in Delhi before leaving for Goa




Week 46:

Both mine and Gaurav's shots were taken while playing around the hotel in Goa, in one of the various courtyards.






Week 47:

A common shot for the both of us taken in the hotel's lift.




Hopefully, Sunday Shots and the blog will get onto a more regular schedule from now on... but who knows? I can only promise to try my best, though as Yoda would say: "Do, or do not, there is no try!"

Sunday Shots: Week 42 & 43

Sunday again! Damn, does time fly!


Sunday Shots are finally back in schedule, with a combined entry since last week I had a very busy schedule at work and I haven't been feeling too inspired as of late.


Week 42:

This is a special week for both G & me, as should be for anyone that is still pondering about the ultimate question about life, the universe & everything, since we already know the answer!







Week 43:

Gaurav's trying to make the clock go faster, since it's just a lil over a week till we're together again!




And I'm making sure I can fit everything into my hand-luggage bag, beginning to get ready!




I'm gonna try to take a few shots of my packing this week, showing off how to live off a single suitcase in India for almost a month, and what essentials I can't live without in my hand-luggage, so I'll try to write a pair of blog entries about it!

Sunday Shots: Week 40 & 41!

Back again!


With Gaurav getting ready to fly back to India from the US, his 25 hours trip and his adjusting to Indianess & jet lag, we've again neglected our Sunday Shots a bit, so this is, once again, a combined entry for two weeks!


Week 40:

Gaurav on his drive back home.





It snowed over here! I took this shot in the morning after driving back home in the snow after night shift!





Week 41:

Gaurav feeling at home once again!





Myself summed up in a collection of objects.





That photo of mine is part of the shoot that I did this morning to figure out a nice shot to use as my blog button, what do you think?

One Hundred Rambles later... Thank you!

Here it is! My 100th blog entry! =D


Who would have thought that my lil bloggie should reach such a milestone? Not me, that for sure!


I have to say I had lots of doubts when I started writing this blog in 2008, even if I started it just as a way of talking about what I love, and showing it off to the world, but my main doubt was: is there anybody going to read anything? & do I really care if they do?


Truth be told, there have been times when I have thought that it was a worthless effort, and why would anyone bother reading what I wrote, but both my very supportive boyfriend (who thinks that I'm a crazy shopper but supports my handmade interest and my blogging about it) and my increasing number of followers (81 already!) and of course, all the supportive and positive comments from fellow bloggers have helped me to decide to keep on going.





Regardless of the comments (which always make me smile and I'm always thankful for) and the people that might read but not comment, I like blogging, though work, life, the universe & everything don't always allow me to blog as often as I'd like sometimes. So my choice has been to keep on writing about what I love, to keep on showing off to any & all that care to look the handmade goodies I buy for myself or others, to share with other my lil efforts at photography (another love of mine) and to rant & ramble about myself on occasion.





This blog entry is not only a reflection on my blogging but a big THANK YOU to all my followers, readers and fellow bloggers who encourage me to keep on going, and of course, also a big thank you to all the sellers that put so much talent & love on their creations, cause they're the ones that inspired me to start writing this blog! I just want to return the love via my lil blog entries!





I had been thinking about what my 100th blog entry should be, and I just thought that saying thank you again was a good idea, but today while doing some grocery shopping an idea popped in my head, I've just decided to add a weekly feature to my blog, just like Sunday Shots are (I know, they aren't really all that weekly as they should be, and not always on Sunday... but you get my drift) and that would reflect another of my big loves: reading! I'm still trying to find a catchy name, and wondering what day should I reserve for it, so if you guys have any suggestions, I'd love to hear them! I intend to talk weekly about one book or series that I've recently read (that very week) or one of my all time favourites. I've just thought that along with my Shopping Handmade entries that show off how much I love gifting handmade to my friends & family, I love recommending books and gifting them, so I'd do the same in my blog!





I'm also thinking of getting my very good friend Lexie from Headless Tess to work on a button for my blog, but I'm not awfully inspired as of late, so I have no idea how do I want it to look... Any ideas? I was thinking about something featuring cupcakes, books & a camera? Would probably portray pretty well what I am, but I was also thinking that it should probably be made off one my shots, so now I need to start working on that!





In you're still awake after such a long rambling, I thank you, and hope you decide to not stop reading my blog from now on! I plan to update more often, call it a New Year resolution, let's see how good I am at keeping it!


So long and thanks for all the fish!

Sunday Shots: Weeks 38 & 39 (Monday Edition)

Hiya there!!


I know, I know, going back to work has meant a total push back on my blogging, even the Sunday Shots... So much that we're now on a combined late entry for 2 weeks! But here they are!


Week 38





Week 39







Now, my next blog entry is gonna be my 100th entry!! And though I've asked around and got a bunch of suggestions, I really can't decide what to do for it... Hopefully inspiration will struck soon!

Any & all suggestions welcome!

Sunday Shots: Week 37 (Monday Edition)

Hi there!


Yup, once again Sunday Shots are late, and once again, it is entirely my fault, but I can promise you that since I'm gonna be on holiday for 5 days, from Wednesday on, I'll be updating the blog for often, and I'll have Sunday Shots ready for Sunday this week!


Last week I finally got a wireless remote shutter for my camera, so now I can take pics of myself without having to set up the timer and running from the back of the camera to the front! And that's exactly what I'm showing off on my shot.


Both G & I decided to go a bit artsy on our edits of the photos this week:






Hope you all had great holidays and are getting ready to welcome the New Year!

Sunday Shots: Week 36 (Tuesday Edition)

Hi there!

Well, here I am and here are Sunday Shots, though a pair of days later!

Here's Gaurav as the not-so-abominable SnowIndian!:




And here's my shot, not as good as I've liked it, but that's all I could manage so far, I promise this week's shot will be better!:



And hopefully I'll be back tomorrow with another blog entry!

Sunday Shots: Week 35

Hi there!


How's the weekend going? Hope you all are enjoying it, if you don't have to work! I, for one, am having the weekend off, which is a rare occasion and I'm enjoying it doing a pair of things that I love, taking photos and reading!


Last night I finished "Murder In The Orient Express" and before than "The God of Small Things", today I plan to tackle some Sherlock Holmes (in preparation for the Holmes movie to come) and also to write some Christmas cards for family & friends.


Yesterday we both managed to finish our Sunday Shots, quite ahead of schedule! Both of them with sort of a common theme, though not exactly!


Gaurav's shot showing him thoroughly enjoying the snow:





Mine's showing off the gorgeous resin snowflake that miss Marykitten of BlackKittenAccesories sent me!:




Hopefully more blog entries to come next week since it's not so work-filled like the last!

Sunday Shots: Week 34

What a week!


Finally Sunday, and I haven't really had the energy or motivation to do much... The week has been pretty busy at work, I've been getting a good number of packages in the mail (YAY!) and today I've been getting ready to send a pair of packages with presents for the family abroad, as well as the Christmas cards!


I'm hoping to take a few more pics tomorrow, since I have the day off (remember what I say about no Monday blues for nurses?) ;) and since I've decided to make the switch to shooting RAW and developing the photos on Lightroom, my editing process will slow down till I get the hang of it.


My Sunday Shot this week was not the one I had intended at first but something I managed to take after my camera scare today and my first Lightroom edit! And G's shot is a good reflection of the highlight of the week in Winsconsin!






And I leave you with these, hopefully some more blog entries next week!

Sunday Shots: Week 33

Sunday again!


And as usual, back come the Sunday Shots! I've managed to get mine done at the very last minute, cause I was too busy this week with work, and this weekend having some social life!


But here are both Gaurav's and mine shots! A lil winter-y themed btw.






I'm hoping to write a pair more blogs next week!

Sunday Shots: Week 32

Hey there!


Luckily, Sunday Shots have arrived in time this week too.


G got his shot ready yesterday and I racked my brain this morning to decide what to try, and managed to meet the deadline, so here they go!:


Just a warning... don't be scared! G is really a sweet guy!






More next week, I promise! I have some Holiday cards I need to rave about! ;)