Bright Star

I am by no means a movie critic but I saw a movie that was just beautiful and had to share. Bright Star. It's about Keats the poet. The story made me cry even though it was no surprise that he was to die. The acting was wonderful and touching. But... what was really so beautiful were the costumes. The opening of the movie is a super close up of Fanny, Keats love interest, sewing. She makes all her own clothes. I found the movie incredibly inspiring - the detail of the work. There was a crocheted sweater in the beginning of the movie that I would love to make. The color and pattern are amazing. And a wonderful shawl that kept popping up. It looked like granny squares in these super rich colors.

I found a great write up with beautiful screen shots of different outfits. It makes me want to sew! The textures... the colors. I am not a good enough writer to do it justice. All I know is that I would love to dress like that and I hope you find this as interesting as I did.

What happened to February?

Seriously. What the heck happened to it? It started with some stress with B's birthday but really it just flew. I have spent the majority of January and February in a not so healthy state so I'll just blame it on that. And by the way, why do they make Nyquil wrappers so that the people who really need them can't open them? Have you ever tried to open those things while feverish - when you most need it? I had to use a fingernail clipper to crack it open because I was too weak to get it. Pathetic.

So here is B's cake. Char and I make a go of it the night before with some drinks. It's become quite the tradition and we have a great time. It's funny though as we usually only do this for B's cake and not Pepper's. Her birthday is March so maybe we're over cakes by then with my birthday in between. She usually gets cupcakes. I'll have to make more effort this year...

This was my first go at fondant. I've never been interested before but he wanted a trasformer cake. I have been missing out! I used marshmallow fondant and it was easy and tasted good. I will definitely use it again. It was so smooth I just wanted to keep petting the cake as I was putting it together! Sick. I used boxed cake (which I was sorry for but needed the extra time that day) and homemade buttercream icing tinted orange. I searched transformer cakes and used this one as inspiration.

It was a huge success. B actually kissed it when he opened the fridge in the morning and saw it. What can I say... he loves me. Or is just transformers he loves?

It traveled well as the party was at an indoor play place. The kids liked the cake and we ate it all. Even the parents ate some. What was interesting was that the kids seem to either eat all of the fondant and left the cake or they ate the cake and left the fondant.

Acorn Box

These are amazing! I just love how intricate they are. I'm thinking that they would be fun to try to make but I don't think I want to go there. It would be better to get one as a gift I think...