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| What I've been making for Peo (and Corran's work Christmas party, despite his inability to attend since he's in Oz, but Peo still wants to go) for the past day and a half: ( large pics under the cut ) | ||||||
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Blatherings
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December 18th, 2009
December 15th, 2009
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| In the last 48 hours, my watch band has broken, my beaded lip-balm-holder-keychain fell off my keys, a rock chipped my windshield, my passport photos were rejected, one of the four pack of outdoor bulbs I put into the new fixtures blew as soon as I turned it on, one of the two lights on the new range hood failed to turn on at all, the big toe of my "good" foot has turned into an ingrown-nail ball of pain, and a potential $3800 error regarding my foot surgery has cropped up. Know why? Because I was counting on getting lots done on my show cake this last week of Peo's school, and Corran is out of town until December 28 (family emergency), so as many possible things to cause havoc in my life appear to be piling up. So today I took Peo to school, went and got new passport photos taken (it wasn't the photographer's fault, it was because I was wearing a white shirt, but the photographer offered me free replacements which was nice, but I paid anyway since it wasn't their fault...and I've heard they're the only place in Austin that does Canadian passport photos right), got home, inhaled a quick breakfast just as the range hood installers arrived, listened to them complain and work for about half an hour because it turns out this fancy new hood is "professional class" which is translation for "does not fit into the standard hole cut into the underside of the cabinet", then called the podiatrist's office to discuss the weird billing error stuff that came from the insurance company (they think it's an error too but can't be sure until they see their version come in), then went outside to plant the replacement trees the Arbor Foundation sent since the last ten died (they arrived on Saturday so I really had to get them in the ground today or tomorrow), then weeded the garden since the weeds were killing my plants and I haven't been able to weed since the surgery, then sprayed not-very-eco-friendly RoundUp on the weeds that have taken over the xeriscape and swallowed Peo's sandbox, then cleaned up all that stuff, then removed the good and bad bulbs from their fixtures and put them back in the box to return, then had a shower, then had lunch, then put together the package with the passport photos, then got in a WHOLE 45 MINUTES of sugar work, then went and stood in line at the post office for 45 minutes (which is why I bloody well avoid the place in December and had been oh so sensible in sending out Christmas packages weeks ago), then realized it was too late for me to make it to the podiatrist's office to pay them the remaining deductible they've been waiting for pending the resolution of the previous insurance error (I told them I'd be in today or tomorrow), then picked Peo up from school, then battled insane stupid-people-cutting-me-off traffic for 40 minutes back, then returned the box of light bulbs to Costco, then did Costco shopping and almost forgot to get more bulbs, then got home and put the new bulbs all in (they all work, yay), then put the groceries away, then made dinner with Peo (hot dogs wrapped in store-brand crescent roll dough, but I let her cut out Christmas cookie shapes...only as I opened the dough did I notice that there was some crusty dough on the outside of the can so I went with the theory that it was from something else and cut off a bit from that end of the roll just to be safe and we're all just going to assume it's fine because I was so not up to dealing with her mega-angst if the promised special dinner didn't happen), and now... *wilt* *droop* I still need to make cookie dough tonight, though, because it has to chill for tomorrow night Peo can make cookies for her teacher so we can take them to school on Thursday, which is her last day before the holiday. And my feet hurrrrrrrrrrrrrrrt....*whine* Did I mention that I got in a whole 45 minutes of sugar work? Yay me. I learned that with certain spherical objects that have an indentation on one side, when you're making the line that goes around the middle, you have to turn the sphere against the knife and not the other way around or else the indentation makes your eye want to slope the line and then it looks all wrong and you have to do it over again. At least Peo is funny...she keeps singing Christmas carols with entirely mangled lyrics. I don't mean Jingle Bells, Batman Smells, either (although I sang that to her and she was amused)...I mean like "a faybe is worn" for "a babe is born" and "you'll go down in this tree" for "you'll go down in history". She only believes my corrections about half the time... And the Lion King is over now so someone is demanding her stories before bed... eta Forgot to mention the wonky iPod...first it got stuck on shuffle driving home from the overlapping Christmas parties I had on Sunday and Peo was in tears because she only likes the songs, "IN THE RIGHT ORDER!" Since then, it has developed a habit of the music player crashing out at the worst times...like the wee hours of the morning when it's on as a white noise machine so I get woken up by the ticking of the fan, or when I was in the middle of doing the gardening today, or when driving on the highway with Peo and she's finally happy that the songs aren't shuffling... | ||||||
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December 12th, 2009
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| First I saw this really cool photo on the Consumerist Friday Flickr post (the second one from the bottom): http://consumerist.com/2009/12/consumer Then someone in comments directed me to this video that uses the same sort of technology to make real-size things appear to be miniature: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LkrtYRxG And watching that led me to the creator of that video's website, where he's got more cool videos: http://keithloutit.com/ And then I noticed the Consumerist commenter had also linked to this guide on how to make these kinds of photos yourself in Photoshop, including lots more cool examples: http://www.visualphotoguide.com/tilt-sh And that's about when I realized, holy crap, I meant to go to bed half an hour ago...so I'm posting it now as a break between cookie-making and Peo-wrangling. Now we can all sing together: She's actual size but she seems much | ||||||
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December 9th, 2009
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| Meh, Maker has announced their 2010 Faire schedule (came to me in email because I requested to know about Austin): Bay Area May 22nd and 23rd, 2010 San Mateo County Event Center San Mateo, Calif. Detroit July 31st and August 1st, 2010 Henry Ford Museum Dearborn, Mich. New York September 25th and 26th, 2010 New York Hall of Science Flushing Meadow Corona Park Queens, NY So I guess Austin is out for next year too. :( | ||||||
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December 1st, 2009
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| I am now a woman with a blow torch. Muahahaha. (I must've looked like hardcore DYI plumbing lady at Home Depot today, buying flanges and PVC bits and a blow torch, and it's all for cake! Well okay one bit was actually for the shower hose...) | ||||||
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November 29th, 2009
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| I stopped knitting long enough to update my knitting gallery, since it's been almost a year and a half since I last did that. Whoops. Heh. Plus there are now so many things in there that I broke up the Quick Find at the top into categories, so it'd be more...um...quick. http://kimberlychapman.com/crafts/k I'm not going to list everything out individually but everything from Elephant Girl down is new. Enjoy. | ||||||
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November 28th, 2009
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| GIP. Sticker art by Peo. Corran and I are endlessly amused by this. | ||||||
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November 27th, 2009
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| Check out these funky knits...eyeballs and intestines! http://bencuevas.wordpress.com/ | ||||||
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November 25th, 2009
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| Here's a quick frugal cake decorating tip: If you're making your own fondant and use up the standard 2lb bag of powdered sugar, you can store the fondant in that bag with the top twisted shut and held with a twist-tie. It's got a sugar-dusted lining so it won't stick too much, it's good thick plastic, and the perfect size. Then when you're done with that fondant, you can chuck the bag knowing that you got a second use out of it and didn't need to use virgin plastic. | ||||||
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November 22nd, 2009
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| Wow, this is some impressive knitting: knitting from nothing, rug by WWII prisoner of war - "The former prisoner of war, who spent more than 19 months in Germany’s World War II prison camps, not only survived interrogations and torture but managed to knit arguably Australia’s most valuable war artefact, outside a museum." | ||||||
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November 19th, 2009
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| Remember the cupcake version of Kerry Vincent's surprise birthday cake from a Food Network Challenge I made for a Cake Wrecks event? I got email from Kerry Vincent today praising it and thanking me for it. How cool is that? You know, I've got pretty high exposure for a total amateur... | ||||||
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November 4th, 2009
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| You know those dreams where you're in a class you either would never take, or appear to have forgotten about, and all of a sudden it's exam day or there's some other factor that you're not ready for, and it's all super-stressful? I had one of those last night, but under fairly unusual circumstances... Yesterday I put in my registration for February's cake show in Austin, including paying for the Sunday demo session featuring Lauren Kitchens, Kathy Scott, and OMG *swoonforthecakeGOD* Mike McCarey (you can sign up for this and other classes/events too!). I considered taking one of McCarey's longer classes, but I really need that second one about structures NOW, and will have to learn that stuff myself in the next few weeks for my show cake. Plus since I'm not selling cakes, I can't cost-justify it, but oh man oh man I really wanna... Anyway, I decided to be responsible and settle for the demo during the show. But last night I dreamed that I had signed up for one of the other classes somehow by mistake or something, and when I showed up a couple of days before the show to help do setup (as I will be doing), I saw the people going into the class and someone told me I'd better hurry or I'd be late. I had the sinking feeling of having spent the money I didn't mean to spend, but it was too late to get it back at that point, so I then had the giddy rush of getting to go to the class. But then another sinking feeling because I hadn't brought whatever we were supposed to bring along (which isn't actually much for those classes, but for some of the others I considered, you need to bring a cake dummy with fondant and/or other things). So then in the dream one of the nice people from the cake club (I.H., waving at you if you read this which you probably don't) started giving me her extra supplies, which saved the day even though I still felt like a dork. And then, of course, just as the class was about to begin, I woke up. Damn, almost had free-dream-class with Mike McCarey, Cake God. How cake-nerdy is that? PS The show still needs volunteers and there are perks for putting in lots of hours. There's a meeting tonight at All in One Bakeshop (8566 Research Blvd Austin, TX 78758) at 6 pm. The announcement on the Meetup Group says, "Please make plans to attend the next meeting of the 2010 That Takes the Cake Show planning meeting for Committee chairs, members, and Volunteers. The group will be reviewing current plans for the show, discuss the budget, and potential classes. Anyone interested in participating in this planning process is encouraged to attend." So if you're interested in volunteering, come on by. Plus, my previous offer of potential time sitting in my kitchen watching me make stuff for those who promise to volunteer at the kiddie table with me still applies. | ||||||
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October 30th, 2009
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| Halloween pumpkin and costume under the cut: ( Read more... ) | ||||||
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October 27th, 2009
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| Hrm...after combing through a book of concept art done for the LotR movies, and then copious Google searching on top of that, I have come to the conclusion that there doesn't appear to be much, if any, stained glass in any of the three movies. Or if there is, it's offscreen and just used for lighting. Corran's theory is that WETA didn't have any stained glass folks on the team. Have any of you noticed any stained glass art in the movies? Because you'd think at least Rivendell would have some... | ||||||
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October 17th, 2009
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| *squee* Cake Wrecks posted their Austin wrap up and even though I couldn't go to the rescheduled version (since that happened alongside Peo's birthday party), I sent them the pics of the cupcake wreck I made and they posted a couple to the blog: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/1 Woot, that's twice I've been on the good side of Cake Wrecks. I should open a business or something. Except for the part where that's actual work... More pics were here for those who missed it: http://kimberlychapman.livejournal.c PS Thank you to those of you who let me know about it...I actually saw it really early this morning but this was my first chance to post about it. :D | ||||||
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October 8th, 2009
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| The Cake Wrecks tour has been rescheduled for this Saturday at 2 pm, right in the middle of Peo's birthday party. So obviously, I can't go. If there's anyone in town going and who would be willing to take my cupcake wreck in for the competition, I'll let you keep any prize that's won...I just want the fame and glory! So far it seems everyone I know who is interested is busy and not going. :( | ||||||
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October 4th, 2009
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| Photos of what would have been my Cake Wrecks Cupcake Wreckplica entry today if the event hadn't been cancelled (and they've just updated to say that John is sicker than they thought, so best wishes out to him because that sucks big time!): ( Read more... ) | ||||||
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| *headdesk* I spent the last three days making a Cupcake Wreckplica of epic proportions for the booksigning tour of the Cake Wrecks blog. But Jen and her husband have gotten really seriously sick (he's in the ICU!) so they had to cancel the Austin trip. The poor things are no doubt run ragged. I feel awful for them. But selfishly, I feel awful for me too because I really really really put a lot into my Wreckplica and I doubt it'll survive long enough for a potential reschedule, since it's got actual cupcake in it, and much of it is exposed as part of what it is emulating. And I doubt I can find time for another one what with Peo's birthday party, then holiday stuff, plus I really need to get going on stuff for my show cake soon. I'll take lots of photos and post them later. eta pics up here: http://kimberlychapman.livejournal.c | ||||||
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September 27th, 2009
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| OMG, check out the awesome Alien wedding cake on Sunday Sweets today: http://cakewrecks.blogspot.com/2009/0 | ||||||
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September 16th, 2009
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| Lego knitting machine | ||||||
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Blatherings
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