Cookie-a-Day - Days 15 & 16

Yes, I know it looks like I cheated by not posting a cookie yesterday, but I swear, I finished it yesterday!  By the time I was done last night, it was just too dark to photograph them.  (Don't you hate this time of year?  Dark by 5:30pm....ugh!) 

So, here is Day 15.  I like how these turned out.   I think the blue shading adds a nice touch.

And Day 16:

These were inspired by Ali of Ali Bee's Bake Shop.  She kindly gave me permission to attempt to reproduce her gorgeous package cookies.  Thanks Ali!

And the winner is.....

Ellen!  Congratulations Ellen!  If you email me your address, I'll get your new book put in the mail!  :)  Thanks everyone!

Cookie-a-Day - Day 14

Its been a long, busy weekend.  Feels like its taking awhile to get everything back in order after Thanksgiving!  So this will be a quick one.  :)

Corset cookies for a "naughty and nice" bridal shower.  I think they turned out well! 

Cookie-a-Day - Day 13

I took a little break from Christmas and did something with more of a New Years feel.  :)  My hubby and I are taking a vacation over New Years...we'll be in St. Augustine, FL...one of our very favorite towns.  So I have New Years on the brain now!  :)

Next week I start on Christmas cookies to send overseas to our troops.  I'm really excited about it!  If it brings the smallest smile to one of their faces, I'll be thrilled.

The Day After - and Cookie Day 12?

I'm starting to lose track of the days!  :)

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I hope all of you did too.  This is the very first Thanksgiving we've had at home.  We've traveled every year since we've been married....16 years!  This year, my mom and her husband Dave came down, so we actually got to have our own Thanksgiving dinner.  And I must say...it was pretty darn good!  My husband did an incredible job with the turkey.  I had the perfect biscuit day too, which is a rare and beautiful thing. 

My beautiful mother, me, and my two gorgeous daughters, Tessa and Chelsey.  (Not a shabby looking lot, right?)  :)

And of course, we have the "big game" approaching, so you'll be seeing lots of these:

And on to the cookie of the day.   These were both inspired by ornaments.  The cookie sheet I found at Hallmark...they have some adorable baking ornaments this year!  I'm going to put them all on a little tree in my kitchen.  :)  And the other was inspired by an ornament my friend Diane found and drew me a sketch of!  I used fondant for the little rolling pin. 

Maybe this will inspire you to start your holiday baking....or order your holiday cookies!  :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I hope everyone is having a very Happy Thanksgiving!  I thought I'd get my cookie posted, before the family arrives and the festivities begin.  The turkey is in the oven, the pies are baked, the house is clean....nothing to do now but enjoy the rest of the day.  (And a few hundred dishes later!)

There are so many things to be thankful for this year.  My family is incredible.  I am married to the most supportive, wonderful man any woman could ask for.  My children are both moved out and doing really great on their own....they make me so very proud!  I also have the joy of doing what I truly love to do for a living.  I am truly grateful for each and every day that I have!

Cookie-a-Day - Day 10

No, I did not forget about posting my cookie for the day.  I swear I didn't.  I did not get all caught up in pie making and house cleaning and errand running, and actually FORGET about my cookie!

Okay, yes I did.  But here he is.  And he is the last penguin you will see this year.  I almost promise!  :)

Not the greatest picture, as by the time I remembered to photograph him, it started raining and icing outside. 

I hope everyone has a very, very Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

Cookie-a-Day - Day 9

The Penguin Series... Part 3.  :)  I like this little guy.  I made a mess at the end of his scarf, but I have company in from out of town and didn't have time to redo him, so please pretend its not there!

I like how his little skates turned out! 

Cookie-a-Day - Day 8

This is definitely the first cookie that I am full on disappointed in.  I'm not sure what I did wrong with this poor guy.  I've had this clipart saved for months and months and was so excited to finally make a cookie out of him!  Maybe I was in too big of a hurry.  But...its either post him or break my "cookie a day" streak.  :)  Tomorrow....another day and a much better cookie!  :)

Cookie-a-Day - Day 7

I made it through my first full week!  Not too much of a challenge, but next week will be difficult with Thanksgiving and family in from out of town!

My friend Diane sent me the idea for this one....I think it turned out cute!

My hubby and I went and saw "Morning Glory" last night at the movie theatre.  Loved that movie!!!  Very cute, very funny....I've always loved Diane Keaton though too.

Don't forget to sign up for our free book give away a few posts below. 

Have a great Sunday!

Cookie-a-Day - Day 6

I really like how this set turned out.  Its a little different for me, but I'd like to concentrate a couple days on doing some more simple, elegant designs. 

Also this week was the 3D diaper bag cake.  I made it to match the mother's actual diaper bag, which had to be plaid, the most difficult pattern to replicate!  :)  She was great about the pattern being simplified though, so hopefully she'll be happy with how it turned out.

And a cookie order:

That's it for now.  Have a great weekend!!!!

Cookie-a-Day - Day 5

When you make so many cookies, some are sure to NOT turn out as well as you'd like.  I guess.  Or so I keep telling myself.  :)  I almost didn't post this one, but heck, who hasn't had a bad cookie day, right?  And I learned a couple of lessons on this one, which made it worth doing.

So first, my inspiration.  This is my buddy.  I love him sooo much!  :)  We got Farley when he was six weeks old.  He's a pure bred Australian Shepard.  He is such an amazing dog. 



He's a blue merl, so I thought his coloring would be interesting to try to do in a cookie.  Yeah, definitely interesting!  And here's the end result.....

One of the main things I would do differently next time is to have a thicker consistency of royal icing.  I gave him a flooded look, and I think if it had been thicker, I could have used a paintbrush to pull "fur" from him, and he would've looked alot better.  I think flooding an animal cookie is only good for a short haired animal.  Or at least that's what I think now!  :) 

Stay tuned for Day 6 tomorrow....I'm working on an idea that my friend Diane sent me that is just adorable!!!

Book Giveaway!!!

I ordered this book on my last CK order, not realizing that I already had it!  Its kind of a pain to return, so I thought it would be easier to give it away.  Its brand new.  All you need to do is become a follower of my blog, then leave a comment under this topic letting me know that you did.  I'll draw a winner on November 30th and get it mailed out to you, in plenty of time for your holiday baking!  :)

And if you're already a follower, just leave a comment here to be included! 

Cookie-a-Day - Day 4

As I get towards the end of the week, the cookies will definitely be a little more simple, as I do actually have to concentrate on my cake orders!  My friend Diane just sent me the coolest idea for a cookie though, and now I am so anxious to get started on it!  :)  Thanks, Diane, for feeding my obsession! 

I admit, these are pretty simple and not real imaginative, but I do like the bow on the candy canes. 

Tonight will be yoga at the gym, then watching the new episode of The Office.  Yes, I am addicted to that show.  The Office and the Food Network are the only reasons I still have tv. 

Have a great day!

Cookie-a-Day - Day 3

Still in Christmas mode, apparently!  :)  I'm hoping to change that later this week.  But I liked how this one turned out.  The gumdrops are real....I just cut them in half and stuck them on for some added color.
My friend Diane loves to make cards and often sends me photos of stamps, etc.  This design is based off a stamp she sent me. 

And we think we may have found our shop!!!!!  Its located in Old Hilliard, right on Main Street.  The parking is good, location is good, rent is good.  We're really hoping we may be able to open the first or second week in December!

Cookie-a-Day - Day 2

I had a little time on my hands yesterday (I love Mondays!).  So, I actually got to play around with a more detailed cookie design.  I am so happy with this little guy!

I should try out some non-Christmas designs, but I seem to have Christmas on the brain already.  I remember when the stores used to wait until after Thanksgiving to put out the Christmas stuff, or at least before they started the Christmas music!  Maybe it's a good thing...I actually have some of my Christmas shopping done, which is pretty early for me!

Cookie A Day

One of my fellow cookie enthusiasts on Flickr has challenged those of us insane enough to take on the project to complete at least one cookie per day for a year.  I'm not sure about the year part, but my goal is to go through Christmas.  Today is my first day, so I tried out one of my new cutters from Ecrandal, the cake slice.

I'm really excited about this project.  There are always cookies that I want to try that I never seem to get an order for.  There are so many ideas rolling around in my head, its actually a little frightening!

Yesterday started out with an hour long yoga class at the gym.  Since I quit smoking (four months now, yay me!), I've put on about ten pounds that I'd like to see vanish, so yoga has gone from one time per week up to three times per week!  I normally like to exercise in the evening, but I have to admit, I forgot how exhilarating a morning class can be!

From there (after a shower), we headed to German Village.  German Village is my VERY favorite part of Columbus.  The homes and businesses are all brick, there are tons of original brick roads and sidewalks...it just has a charm that is totally unbeatable.

Two of our favorite places in German Village are right next to each other.  The Book Loft is the coolest bookstore you'll ever find.  It has 32 rooms of books.  And the rooms are odd shaped..some may have been closets...the whole store is like a maze.  I love it there.  And we always stop into our favorite coffee shop which is right next door...Cup of Joe.  Its a great place to pick up a wonderful dessert too.

We also grabbed some lunch at the Mohawk Restaurant.....all I can say is WOW!  My hubby had their bratwurst sandwich, and from the speed with which he devoured it and the moaning that went along with it, I would say it was a gooood sandwich.  I had the vegetarian black bean burger, and it was absolutely delicious! 

Tune in tomorrow for Cookie, Day 2.....hopefully......

AVA Walk - Bucyrus, Ohio

Last year, my mom found the coolest organization. They're called the American Volkssport Association. It's essentially an independent walking club. The AVA members map out walking routes all over the country that are normally either 5K or 10K. You can pick up the directions at a designated location and enjoy a beautiful walk that will normally take you through some very interesting areas.

Yesterday, my hubby and I did our 18th AVA walk. Well, I guess it was MY 18th AVA walk. He goes on almost every walk with me, but I have done a few with my mom. We've done AVA walks here in Ohio, but also on vacation in Florida, Tennessee, Indiana, and Kentucky! After Christmas, we plan on doing one in Savannah, Georgia that should be gorgeous. We try to do about one a week, although that will be really hard with winter settling in! :(

So, yesterday we went on an AVA walk to Bucyrus, Ohio. My hubby stopped at a cupcake shop that he knew of on the way to pick us up a treat. The owners of the cupcake shop also build monuments (yes, like cemetary stones), and the businesses are housed in the same building. So the name of the cupcake shop is.....

Somebody definitely has a cool sense of humor!  We bought two cupcakes and they were pretty good too!

Bucyrus is a relatively small town, but the walk was really cool.  They have a couple beautiful murals that take up the entire side of two buildings.  The detail is absolutely AMAZING!  It was worth the hour and a half drive just to see them!

Yes, my hubby is trying to take the newspaper from that poor little boy!

And yes, my hubby forced me to pet that dog!  :)

And this is the most gorgeous mural I have ever seen.  Every single face of the soldiers are different and they're all in different war period attire. 

So anyways, that was our adventure yesterday!  We have done so many of these walks.  It just saddens me that I never thought to take any pics before.  We've seen some really interesting places this way.  And if anyone would like any information about AVA, I'd be happy to answer any questions you have.  Their website is http://www.ava.org/.  They do have a list of available walks on their site.  Currently there are over 1800 walks through the United States!

And the baby showers continue....

And oh no, I am not complaining! I love doing baby shower cakes. I am just shocked at how many I've had in the last couple weeks and how many I have in the next few weeks! It definitely makes my work week alot more fun though. :)

Go Bucks!

If you live anywhere near Columbus, Ohio this time of year, it is all about OSU football! I've never lived anywhere where the fans are so dedicated. It's pretty cool. So, of course, we get a ton of requests for cookies and cakes that are OSU themed. It gets difficult to come up with anything new, but I did recently find this buckeye leaf cutter that I think looks great. The jersey is also new, and I finally found a way to do a more simple helmet to keep the cost down. What fan wouldn't love a package of these?!

On a side note, we're going to look at a building for rent in Clintonville this evening. I would LOVE to know how my customers feel about that area, whether you'd be willing to travel there for cake pick ups. We've looked all over Hilliard and just can't find anything that will work for us. :( Feel free to leave a comment or send me an email!

Pie Anyone?

This time of year always makes me a little pie crazy! It's amazing how I can go alllll year without a hint of pie, but as soon as the leaves start to turn color and the temperature dips a little, pie is foremost in my mind. At least I'm not the only one...my daughter has asked me half a dozen times where her pumpkin pie is. Maybe I should mail her a few of these! :)

These are my favorite cookies in awhile! The apple was a little difficult...and I'm seriously hoping it really does look like apple. If not, I'm okay with being ignorant. I also really like the chocolate silk one! Anything with sprinkles is aces to me though.

Baby Shower

It seems like I've been getting a ton of calls for baby shower cakes recently. Which is great, since they're one of my favorite occasions to design for! In the next couple weeks, I have another pregnant belly cake and also a 3D diaper bag that I'm looking forward to. And its a nice break from the holiday designs!

Fall Cookies

Well, fall is definitely here! The frost on the windows in the morning is always a sure sign and a reminder that winter is right around the corner. I feel like I'm behind, just posting Thanksgiving cookies. I was shopping last night and all the Christmas stuff was out. It seems too early for that! Ugh!

Two weeks left until Thanksgiving, so now is a good time to get your cookies ordered. We have a maple icing this year that is absolutely delicious! We also have spiced molasses cookies that can be substituted for the sugar cookies. Yum!

Last Halloween Pictures!

Last Halloween pictures of the year! I had to post these though, as I think they are my very favorites!

This week I'll be working on some Fall cookie sets, so hopefully I'll get those posted at the end of the week. I hope everyone is enjoying the weather!