Cupcakes – Creative Juice by Loni

On our last trip to Washington, D. C. my husband and I decided to step into the Hirshhorn Art museum, as it was one of a handful of Smithsonian buildings we hadn’t yet visited. It was a short tour, as most of the modern art didn’t appeal to either of us AT ALL. My personal philosophy on art is that it should do one- if not both- of the following:

Uplift and Inspire
Make the viewer happy

Big talk coming from a person whose biggest art influence was the game “Masterpiece” (do you remember that??) however, that’s my opinion and I stand by it.

One exception to my ambivalence toward modern art is Pop Art. I am attracted by color (no surprise) and bold images of pretty (or in this case, yummy) everyday objects!

Since I have a special offer (see below) for customers who purchase the Circle Sayings bundle from my Stampin’ Store, I wanted to show a card using the stamp set WITHOUT a circle. The cupcake image is my “food spirit animal” so I channeled my inner-Andy-Warhol to give you an eyeful of BRIGHT sweets!

Each section alternates between being raised by black dimensionals or having just the cupcake raised on a color adhered flat to the card:

Good thing card stock isn’t as dangerous as the food coloring it would take to make frosting in that color! These are the Stampin’ Up! colors I used: Calypso Coral, Tahitian Tide, Daffodil Delight, Melon Mambo, Parakeet Party, Gorgeous Grape

Here’s a special just for you:

Purchase the bundle from my Stampin’ Store and you’ll receive 3 never-seen project tutorials PLUS the consumable supplies to create all three projects! You’ll get the tutorials via email and the supplies in the mail by June 30th. Offer valid for U.S. customers only.

The Circle Sayings bundle includes a photopolymer stamp set and a NEW coordinating 2-3/8″ circle punch.

While I’ll send you all the card stock, paper, ribbon, etc. to create the projects from my tutorials, you may also need these items (found in my store, as well):

Memento Tuxedo Black ink pad
Tahitian Tide OR Azure Afternoon ink pad
Lost Lagoon ink pad
Colored Pencils (I used Stampin’ Up! Watercolor Pencils)
Suggested Stampin’ Blends combos (could use colored pencils or Stampin’ Write Markers): Lemon Lolly, Tahitian Tide, Berry Burst, Medium combo
OPTIONAL: Wink of Stella pen
Scissors and adhesive, clear blocks B, C & D for the stamps

Last week was my mother’s 70th Birthday. She is a humble, sweet, endearingly good and righteous elect lady in all ways imaginable. She would blush at that compliment and protest that she has many faults, but as her children, we don’t see any. We all feel greatly blessed to have had her as our mother!

My sisters decided that she needed a party…and it needed to be a surprise. And boy, was it ever! Dad played his part perfectly and convinced her they were going to a 50th Wedding Anniversary celebration for some friends. She felt a little mortified that there weren’t any other people in the hallway coming to wish the happy couple best wishes and was very afraid that when they opened the door, there would just be a handful of people sitting around a table:

We knew she wouldn’t want a big group, so it was just our family there to give her all the love she so deserves. My sisters really went over the top with tons of pictures of mom blown up all over the walls (“It’s perfect: She’ll hate it!” Megan gleefully proclaimed) and my contribution (since I’m 3 hours away and my family made it just in time for the party) was a Happy Birthday Banner.

While you can see it in the picture with my silly sisters, here’s the banner I made up close:

I was so tickled to have this picture with all my siblings and parents: I love my family!!

And the whole family (minus 4)):

Funny story: Megan baked Grandma’s delectable German Chocolate birthday cake and the DIVINE Almond Joy cupcakes. My son Braden is a pretty picky eater, but one bite of that cupcake and he ran to his dad and said, “DAD! YOU HAVE GOT TO TRY THIS!!! This cupcake was made by JESUS!” Certainly Jesus would have appreciated Megan’s baking skills and agreed that she is a heavenly baker 🙂 I’m not sure we lighted ALL 70 candles on the birthday cake, since they started lighting them from the outside circle. But it tasted delicious even with a layer of wax!