cards.

Tonight I made some new cards. Check these out (just a few...gotta keep some a surprise :)

Flower Photography

This is only a fraction of the crop (pun intended), but I have sooo much photography I have taken and so much of it being foliage, I thought it was time (during these ridiculously snowy months) to share it with you! More to come another time.

Pam.

I saw this commercial recently and thought it was funny. Not much else to say, but it caught my attention - and in that I think it is a successful ad. Not quite the usual, and actually has a story behind it that could be relateable.

Sa-weeeet!

While looking for images of Wayne Theibaud's art work a few weeks back for my post on his art, I came across another artist- a sculpture artist I have never heard of before. His name is Peter Anton and his style, not necessarily his medium, reminds me of Jeff Koons' kind of sculpture. However, his subjects remind me of Wayne Theibaud's paintings. Most if not all of his sculptures are of different, larger-than-life types of food. I think they are very fun and realistic looking - AND I love his philosophy of why he chooses his subjects- he says that "food is what brings people together". I think that alone is a great reason for art his art. And it is quite sweet at that. Check out some of his artwork:

Dole Ad.

It has been a while since I did a post on magazine ads....probably because my friend MW isn't around to go to B&N to sit and page through mags and books with! Here are some ads I have had saved in my photos for a few months now. I can't remember which magazines these Dole ads were in, but I am thinking it was Better Homes and Gardens. I know these are not the best of pictures to give them justice, but some ads I see in magazines seem impossible to find online - which really surprises me. However, I am sharing these with you because I think these are simple, yet effective ads. The point of the series seems to be that when you buy dole fruit cups, you don't have to worry about your fruit going bad, because it is sealed in a cup. You are not restrained by time, and the imagery of time and fruit blend well in a creative manner in these ads with the kitchen timer orange and the berry hourglass. I love fruit haha but that is besides the point - and BONUS there is a coupon! Enjoy:

Watercolor Paintings

Ha! I found my watercolor paintings, I did happen to have photos I took of them on my Facebook. Here they are. These are ALL the paintings I did for my watercolor class at GCU:

Jeff Koons

I would like to share with you an artist named Jeff Koons. I do not know too much about him, but he is a sculpture artist of sorts. He doesn't always have his hands on all the art he "creates", but he is the idea behind all of it. I am not a fan of all of his work...because some of it is that kind of art where you question why it is art. However, last fall at a trip to the MET in NYC with my friend MP, we saw a Jeff Koons exhibit on the rooftop gardens and I really enjoyed his works there. It was part of a series of metallic balloon animal-looking sculptures. Here are the three we saw that day:




I would love to see more of these. I really love them a lot. I love their larger-than life feel and the colors. The metallic feel is awesome, it reflects the surroundings which really adds to the art. A cool thing about Jeff Koons art is how it is usually random, nontraditional object put in tradition or realistic surroundings which makes it pop, even when in a modern setting, his art stands out. Here are some more to feast your eyes on that I found online:

pretty present.

I love being crafty, so why not be crafty with gift wrapping. It is fun to make the wrapping for a gift look as special as the gift inside, for the special person you are giving it to. I have a baby shower for my friend KK I will be attending in a few weeks which I bought the gifts for the other night. I wanted to wrap it in a cute and pretty way. I went to the dollar store- YES the dollar store and picked up a few things and wrapped the gift up (it only cost 3 dollars and I have plenty of supplies left to wrap several more gifts in). It looks pretty cool in my opinion, but I will share it with you after the occasion- as to not spoil it for the gift receiver! But, this did get me interested in different ways that other people wrap gifts. Here is what I found in my creative explorations of the subject:

Orange Cupcakes.

We have been having a LOT of snow lately, actually it happens to be one of the snowiest winters in the history of Philadelphia and beat the snowiest winter in my lifetime - The Blizzard of '96. During the latest storm, after working home for the day, I decided to make cupcakes! I really wanted to make orange cupcakes, so I found this recipe online for "Creamsicle Cupcakes". The night before I got snowed in to my apartment I went out and bought the ingredients, knowing I wouldn't be able to get out during the storm. I decided to photograph the various stages of making the cupcakes and the cupcakes after they were decorated as a sort-of photography project following a story and creation of beautiful, delicious little cupcakes! Please enjoy and make them for yourselves as well! I already have my next cupcakes in mind ;)



Ingredients:
1 1⁄2 sticks (3⁄4 cup) unsalted butter, softened
1 1⁄2 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp vanilla extract
4 large eggs
21⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup milk
1⁄2 cup orange juice
2 tsp grated orange zest



Heat oven to 350°F. Line 24 regular-size (2 1⁄2-in.-diameter) muffin cups with paper or foil liners. I need to invest in some muffin pans.


Beat butter, sugar, baking powder, vanilla, orange juice and zest in a large bowl with mixer on high 3 minutes or until fluffy. (Mamma should be proud, I used my mixer :)


Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each.


On low speed, beat in flour in 3 additions alternately with milk in 2 additions, just until blended, scraping sides of bowl as needed.


Spoon evenly in muffin cups.


2 to 25 minutes until a wooden pick inserted in center of cupcakes comes out clean and tops are golden. Cool in pans on a wire rack 5 minutes before removing from pans to rack to cool completely.*Notice the funky square shapes because I didn't use a muffin pan. Also, I threw mine in the freezer before icing.



I did not use their recipe for frosting, I used Betty Crocker in a plstic bag with a corner clipped like a pipping bag.