Checking in

Life can really get in the way of art, or hobby at least. I helped with Teacher Appreciation week at the middle school, which took an impressive amount of time. Then my cousin Donna, who is my sister stand-in (since I don't have an actual sister), came to visit for a week. Soccer, cake decorating lessons. . .stuff just happens.

.I did finish the second part of the Wilton cake decorating course. I have a beautiful "cake" to show for it. I use the term "cake" loosely since I suffered from cake failure about an hour before class. In a panic I ran down to the craft store and bought a sheet of styrofoam, which I cut into 4 oval layers, stuck together with toothpicks, and iced. Everyone in class was very impressed when I sailed in (late) with my cake. "Wow, your's looks GOOD, my icing is all full of crumbs!" I 'fessed up right away, and found out a couple of other women had the same trouble I did, underbaked cake that sank in the middle, but they threw theirs back in the oven. Evidently the oval pans they provide in the Part II kit need more baking time than 8" rounds, but I had tested mine, I swear.

Certified. . .

I am a CriscoCream and certificate wielding graduate of Part I of the Wilton cake decorating course. Yes, I can make a Wilton rose, and my icing consistency is "excellent, really excellent." I start Part II tomorrow. I don't know if leaving the preparation for class until the last minute is stressing me out so that I'm not relaxing and enjoying it, or if I'm just not into the frosting arts. I'm reasonably proficient, but I'm not having fun. I have some warped idea that it's a skill I should have.

Despite having cut out my stuffie for BackTack, I picked up yet another black and white fabric, and am thinking about substituting it for the panels I made out of the gorgeous but unstable challis I made one side out of. I also picked up some mysterious magnetic things to experiment with, which may or may not end up on the finished project depending on whether it works and hides well. We'll see.

Crafty Wonderland is coming up at Doug Fir in Portland May 14. I'm planning on going again, for the arts and crafts, despite the fact that the first one was DARK and CROWDED and not really conducive to browsing as it was rather like getting herded around obstacles with the other cattle (in the dark).

Post Birthday

The car is cleaned out. The duffle bag is almost empty and the laundry is almost done. The girls' trip to Renton was a smashing success, except that I shut my purse in my car door after dinner on the way home and dragged it down I-5 for a number of miles at 70 mph before a kind gentleman pointed it out to me. So I am down one lime green leather bag that suffered irrepairable road rash, a pair of sunglasses, and Audrey's digital camera. The loss of the digital camera with all of her pictures taken since Christmas, including the birthday trip, was a tragedy that threatened to end the whole 30 hour expedition on a sour note. We backtracked and recovered the severely mangled camera, with the memory card intact, and all was well. The trip went something like this: leaving after school, we drove, we shopped, we ate, we swam, we watched Animal Planet until 1:00 AM, we slept for 8 hours, we ate, we walked aroud Renton waiting for the train to board, we rode the train, (we ate,) we took the winery tour, we browsed through a pottery show taking place at the winery, we stopped back at the Salvation Army thrift store discovered durning the pre-boarding roam, we drove, we ate, we drove. We dropped off girls at their respective stops and didn't get home until almost ten ourselves. Who knew that the Salvation Army Thrift Store would be a highlight for a bunch of 11 year old girls? Everything was 50% off and it turns out my daughter has very clever and practical friends.