Amelie Paper Doll Poster

i finished my Amelie Doll Poster and i love her! The movie is so stylish. Amelie's style is a shortcut to her character so i really wanted to make some art inspired by the film. From her bobbed hair to the repeating colors of red, pink, brown, black, and spashes of green- everything harmonizes. I love her cute  fashion. Did you know she never wears pants in the movie? Or that she actually has 2 red/burgundy skirts? One has a lace panel at the bottom and one is plain. And her shoes are the same kind the director, Jean-Pierre Jeunet wears. Can you tell i've seen the movie a lot? Soooooo many times. But, honestly it never gets old. 


It was very difficult deciding which clothes, costumes, and props to depict. I had to leave out some of my favorites, like her pale pink polka-dotted shirt with the peplum. 


This poster/print is for sale over at my redbubble store. She is technically not meant to be cut out & played with, although if you do wish to, you could probably cut her out & glue her to card stock.


one of my favorite subplots involves Amelie's father and his traveling gnome.

TARDIS cake for my husband

so, yesterday was my husband's birthday and i wanted to make something special for him. he's been really into Doctor Who {and has gotten me into it too- which is totally what i need, another obsession, right?} i knew i wasn't going to be able to make him one of those fancy vertical cakes, but i figured i could manage a sheet cake. 

first i made a template of the TARDIS in photoshop from pic i found on the web. then i printed it out on 8.5" x 11" paper. you can right click this one if you need a ready made template :D

i cut it apart.

in a 12" x 8" pan, i baked a yellow cake from this recipe. let it cool. placed my template on it and cut around it. bc my template wasn't big enough i added the botton of the TARDIS. i also used a piece of cake that i had cut away for the light at the top. i attached it with frosting.     

then i made this frosting, with milk instead of orange juice, {and added blue food coloring} and applied a crumb coat. then popped the cake into the freezer for an hour.

next i applied another layer of frosting over the crumb coat. i placed my part of my cut up template on the cake and with a knife, marked where the doors are. then i took up the template and resmoothed the frosting. i placed a ribbon tip in a decorating bag and filled a bag with frosting. then i added a few strips of frosting to simulate the top and side. i placed my paper cut outs {in retrospect, i should have coated them in clear tape} of the windows and sign on the cake and piped the doors over them. then i finished up with a writing tip and white frosting, "happy birthday Mikael" 


this is the first cake i've ever used any tip other than writing and it was very exciting. my grandmother used to make beautiful cakes with buttercream and royal icing. i'll never even rival hers, but this was a really fun project :D 


for more information, take a look at Wilton's Cake Decorating. my grandma used to get their catalogs and they were amazing! talk abt daydreaming! 


And Happy Birthday to my wonderful husband, Mikael!
even though these lyrics are sad, they still encapsulate everything i love about him. He is my shining star who ensures i never lose my way. He keeps me connected to humanity when i could comfortably slip into paintings and books for my entire life.

Well I woke up today
And the world was a restless place
It could have been that way for me

And I wandered around
And I thought of your face
That Christmas looking back at me

I wish today was just like every other day
'Cause today has been the best day
Everything I ever dreamed

And I started to walk
Pretty soon I will run
And I'll come running back to you

'Cause I followed my star
And that's what you are
I've had a merry time with you

I wish today was just like every other day
'Cause today has been the best day
Everything I ever dreamed

So have a good life
Do it for me
Make me so proud
Like you want me to be
Where ever you are
I'm thinking of you oceans apart
I want you to know

Well I woke up today and you're on the other side
Our time will never come again
But if you can still dream
Close your eyes it will seem
That you can see me now and then

I wish today was just like every other day
'Cause today has been the best day
Everything I ever dreamed

I wish today was just like every other day
'Cause today has been the best day
Everything I ever dreamed

ps- this is sung by Neil Hannon. He collaborated with Yann Tierson and co-wrote as well as sang, "Les Jours tristes" on L'Absente. He also appears on Tierson's, "Black Session" where he sings "Geronimo" and "Life on Mars."

new sketches

So, we moved back to Northern California. I love it here! Every house is pretty much the most beautiful little thing you've ever seen. They're all victorians or craftsman. I'll post some photos here or on my flickr soon. In other news, I finally finished a commission. However, i'm unable to talk about or post art related to it until it's closer to being published. This is still probably a year or 2 in the future though. 
In the meantime, here a few recent sketches~ 

a medieval maiden. i'm still immeshed in "Game of Thrones" and it's entire series so i have a fierce case of medieval madness! If you love the series swing by my utterly ridiculous twitter. I tweet as Jon Connington, doomed knight from "A Dance with Dragons." My Jon had a nervous breakdown and travels Westeros in search of the perfect party. 

my other ongoing obsession: Mad Men! A sketch of Don Draper giving someone his patented, "you're a idiot" glance.


See you later!

finally moved!

finally moved in! blogging will resume maybe next week :D

disney cinderella~ retta scott edition

this is another cinderella i remember from childhood. While i didn't like it as much as gordon laite's, i did like it better than the standard disney version of cindrella. for one thing, i liked the dress here much better. while i appreciate the animated cinderella's dress now, when i was a child i found it a little plain for my taste. {right click to enlarge}

her hair is pretty spectacular. in many ways i prefer the animated cindrella's strawberry blonde hair, but the yellow hair here is charming.

yellow dress? adorable!

i love the slivery beauty of her gown and the tiny roses. 

the moon and clouds are amazing!

wow, could she get any cuter? in your face mean stepmother and ugly stepsisters!

i love that she's short! they kind of remind my of my brother and his wife. not to mention, the post war domesticity illustrated here is funny. this could be my grandma and grandpa in front of their house in the 50s.

retta scott? she's really pretty! she looks like her cinderella! check out her shoes!

{photo via michael sporn animation. check out the link for more information on Retta Scott!}

according to wikipedia: "She was hired in 1938 and assigned to the Story Department, where the ambitiousBambi project was being developed. Her stunning sketches caught the eye of Disney himself,^[3] so when the film went into production she was assigned^[4] to animate scenes of hunting dogs chasingFaline. This was a significant coup for the young woman, since at the 1930s-era Disney studio, women were considered only for routine tasks: "Ink and paint art was a laborious part of the animation process, and was solely the domain of women . ." ^[5] She worked under the film's supervising director, David D. Hand,^[6] and was tutored by Disney animator Eric Larson.^[7]"

karl's super 2nd birthday!

my son celebrated his 2nd birthday january 5th. we threw him a super birthday party. i made felt masks and sewed elastic to them. i also made karl a yellow cape for derring do!

the day before i made an yellow cake from an amazing recipe i found {see below}. it recommended using shortening in the place of butter and an extra yolk to keep the cake moist. i half and halved the shortening with butter bc i wanted a little more buttery taste.

the frosting was an orange buttercream that i'd made before by winging it. again, it uses half shortening and half butter for perfect whippyness!

the silver cat took pictures

super karl is on the scene!

waiting for the heroes

wonder woman, grey owl, orange owl, red phoenix~ older children's masks younger children's masks

crimson star, twilite cat, solar flare, grey hawk, green lightning, blue devil

sugar cookies and caramel cookies {recipes below}

yellow cake with orange buttercream frosting {recipes below}

ok, so this picture took a while to take. i usually take the photos so my husband isn't familiar with our camera ;) do you see my smile? my smile asks, "diiiiiiid yoooooouuuu taaaaake it yeeeeeeet?"

green wolf is on the prowl {for snacks}

mr. and mrs. owl, twilite cat, and the red phoenix. unfortunately i didn't get any clear pictures of wonder woman :( and after this i put the camera down to socialize.

singing happy birthday to our wonderful little man!

 

good-bye til next year~ same cat time- same cat channel!

~recipes~

caramel cookies*

1/2 c unsalted butter, softened

1 c packed dk brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 large egg

1 3/4 c whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

preheat oven 400* F
with mixer, cream butter, sugar, egg, vanilla together. add remaining ing and beat thoroughly. Scrape dowl from bowl on plastic wrap. roll into log abt 2 1/2" wide and chill in fridge an hour {i put mine in the freezer for 20 mins, then transfer to the fridge.} cut dough 1/8" thick and arrange on ungreased cookie sheet. bake 8-10 mins. cool cookies on sheet 1 min then transfer to wire rack to cook completely.
*my mother in law got this recipe from weight watchers.

yellow cake

i used this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/four-egg-yellow-cake/

it was fantastic, except i used 5 egg yolks instead of 4, 1/2 cup shortening and 1/2 c butter and beat the heck out of the mix! mine looked like whipped cream.

orange buttercream frosting

1/2 c butter softened

1/2 c shortening

4 c powdered sugar

2 tbspn milk

3 tbspn fresh squeezed orange juice {from an orange}

cream butter and shortening until super creamy. sift in powdered sugar slowly. cream well to prevent lumps. add milk and orange juice. continue to mix for at least 3 minutes until creamy. really, really creamy.

the biggest mistake you can make with homemade frosting and yellow cake is to skimp on mixing. baking from scratch is different from getting something out of a box. but when done correctly the texture and flavor of your cake and frosting will have a depth missing from commercial mixes. good luck!

moving!

we're in the process of moving, so posting will be be erratic for the next few weeks :D