Last night was my final class in the brand new Wilton Decorating Basics class. I have to say, it was a success!



Just two years ago I hosted a baby shower for my sister and had a friend ice the cupcakes for me for fear of ruining them myself. More recently I purchased a cupcake decorating set myself and followed the directions on the Wilton website and taught myself some cupcake basics. But as I prepared for this class, I realized that I had never baked a cake before - I didn't even own a cake pan!

So with that in mind, here is my final project. The taste was fabulous (I am SO eating cake for lunch today!) - I used a Duncan Hines French Vanilla cake mix but substituted Moscato (a really yummy sweet wine) for the water... it makes for a scrumptiously moist cake. I sliced it into three layers (OK, so there were 4 to begin with, but the plain cake was just so yummy, The Princess and I ate an entire layer before I could assemble it!) and filled the layers with ooey-gooey milk chocolate icing. Mmm...

My favorite (and most successful) flower from the class was the Shaggy Mum, so I knew I'd use it for my final cake. I pre-iced a handful of Vanilla Wafers with the same white icing that covered my cake so that in class I could focus on the flowers themselves.



They came out great, if I do say so myself! My technique is far from perfect, but it's good enough for the people I'll be baking for - and the cake underneath tasted FABULOUS (which is what really matters anyway, right?)!

I have exciting news to share! I have been selected to join the design team at My Life and Scrap!

That means that you'll soon be able to find my digital scrapbooking products in the store there - WOO HOO! :) In the meantime, I am loitering in the forums and look forward to seeing you there, too!

I am an all-around crafter, and I hope to share those crafty exploits with you here as time goes by. However, one of my favorite areas of craft-ivity these days is digital scrapbooking.

I've been a scrapbooker for the better part of a decade, and when I became mommy to The Princess (aka my beautiful daughter!) I realized that time and space would become a rare commodity! Digital scrapbooking gives me the best of both worlds; there's no space other than my laptop and no mess to clean up when I'm finished. Plus I can work in snippets whenever I have a moment of free time, which is more difficult with traditional craft mediums!

I am currently looking for a store home where I can share my digital designs. In the meantime (and of course, even after my store is up!) I want to share digital freebies with you here!

For the first, I thought I'd offer a free photo mask that follows right along with the theme of our lives right now... FAITH! We are trusting in God to provide for us, to guide us in our decision-making and to open and close doors as He sees fit. This pretty photo mask sums it all up in one little word! I hope you enjoy!

Click on the preview image or Click Here to download the freebie!

Talk about walking by faith!

God has moved mountains in our lives and turned our world upside down (in a good way!) over the last 6 months or so. For the first time, my husband and I are committed to living for Christ and growing our family closer together and closer to Him. Though we still have a LOT of growth to go, He continues to chip away, moulding us into the people He designed us to be.

In July we will celebrate our 7th wedding anniversary (and 9th year as a couple). In the almost-decade we've been together, I've adamantly declared that I will not leave Kansas City. No way, no how. Over the years The Deputy (aka my beloved husband) has investigated job opportunities with the Coast Guard, Border Patrol, and various other employers with offices across the country. And I have successfully thwarted each and every attempt to rip up my hometown roots.

Until now. Until God stepped in and changed my heart!

We've tried our best to listen to God's direction for our lives, and so far He has yet to steer us wrong. Every decision that we've prayed on and sought wise counsel for, we've felt like we made with His help and blessing. As you follow me on this journey I'm sure I'll get into even more details, but suffice it to say, each decision (even many made prior to our recommitment to our faith) has led us to the point we are at today!

To make a long story short (oops, too late!), the Deputy tentatively (knowing my past history for emphatically vetoing all such suggestions) mentioned that he'd been considering the Reserves. He explained that the signing bonuses and pay would help pay off our debt, and ran through the list of other pro's and con's that he'd been considering.

I don't know who was more shocked when the next sentence came out of my mouth: "Why would you do the reserves when you could just go in full time?"

WHAT!?!

That's right... I suggested that we leave our hometown, our friends and family, our church home and wonderful Community Group. Or, as I firmly believe, God suggested it through me. That is my only explanation for my response, as it was completely out of character for me.

That was a month or two ago, and I am 100% committed to it to this day. We both believe that this decision is God-directed, and we are walking by faith through the process. Whether or not he makes it into the Navy, we feel like we are being called to move away and move on.

I'll keep you posted as we get news on the process of enlisting in the Navy (and fill you in on where we've gone with it so far). I hope you will enjoy following our little family on this exciting new roller coaster ride called life!