1 Year - Blog Anniversary

Well, it's hard to believe that one year has passed since I frantically put together my first blog post.  I had my very first how-to being published in Amy Power's Inspired Ideas Birthday Issue and because I was doing a give-away of my prize ribbon project, she thought I better have a blog.  Ugh!  Helana came to my rescue and in a few minutes had me all set up.  It wasn't much, but over the past year I have learned so much about photography, graphics, editing, promotion and this great community of supportive friends.  Okay, I still have so much to learn - but it's a start.

I wondered how I was going to celebrate the day and thought it would be fun to make some special cupcakes.  I wanted to highlight some of my how-to's but I didn't want to use fondant.  I have been wanting to try making marshmallow fondant and let me tell you it is so much fun!

Truth be told, my back was breaking as I created all these little guys but I had the Celebrity Apprentice on and that passed the time.  The girls pitched in as well.  It was fun. I wish I had known about this recipe ( Clockwork Lemon ) years ago.  I can't wait to try to decorate a cake for an upcoming special event of some kind.  It is really easy and next time I am going to try adding lemon extract for a little more flavor.

I knew that my linen prize ribbon was going to be my star cupcake but then I took a look at the past year and came up with some examples of other tutorials that I have put together.

The guest post on ms. glitter pie (top) was alot of fun.  I couldn't figure out how to make the chain out of the fondant (below) but you get the idea.

I didn't quite get the ikat bag down (top) perfectly but the color is pretty close to the bag I printed with a stamp made from a potato (bottom picture)

It is really easy to make shapes like the macarons (top) from marshmallow fondant but not so easy to capture the texture you get from felting knitted ones.

The quick and easy nest I made with yarn and felt balls was pinned by Ez of Creature Comforts to two of her boards.  She has alot of followers (over 1 million) and so that seems to be my most popular post for the past year.

I had a few misses to get the look of my felt flower rings (top picture)

This was probably the least effective of my how-tos as a cupcake topping. (picture left)  It is hard to keep the needles from flopping down and my yarn could use some work.  But - I still like to use the felted heart knitting needles (right) - they make me happy.

All in all, it was fun to look back at the past year and appreciate some of things I have done.  I've had a great time putting together posts and diy's and I think I have learned alot.  I am starting up a new blogging course next week so I look forward to a wave of inspiration in the coming year.

Thank you to all the vistors for stopping by, leaving comments, pinning pictures and generally making my day.  I wish I could make a cupcake for all of you but this cupcake love is going to have to do...for now anyway.