Five months ago my friend posted a link to a Globe and Mail article about gelatin and it’s commercial counterpart, Jell-o are becoming trendy again. At the top of the article, a strikingly beautiful rainbow jell-o made by Victoria Belanger the Jello Mold Mistress of Brooklyn. I fell in love instantly. I had never thought of gelatin in this way. I knew about jello molds, about 1970’s aspics (ewwwww veggies/meat and gelatin) but never once had I thought about creating something that would garner the awe of others through rainbow gelatin. I knew as soon as I saw Miss Belanger’s picture that I must create one of my own. By the weekend I procured the bundt pan that I knew would be the perfect vessel for my own rainbow delicacy. I read other blogs from people who created their own. I saw on Flickr the many successful creations made with gelatin and was awed each time and what people had been accomplishing with what I had always thought of as a humble childhood treat. Despite all the awe and wonder, I took no steps forward to creating my own until two weeks ago when invited to a crafting afternoon with my girlfriends. I went out and secured the colours of the rainbow, the sweetened condensed milk and began mixing the layers.

Following the Momofukufor2.com Recipe I began late on a Thursday night ( I do not recommend starting late at night) I made the first five layers and put myself to bed at about 2 a.m. Making the jello over two days isn’t wise because I ended up having to use 2 cans of sweetened condensed milk because after adding the gelatin, there is no stopping it from gelling up! I finished up on Friday night and on Saturday morning my creation was ready!!!

I was most nervous about getting the creation out of the pan without ruining all my hard work (like 6 hours!) so I had greased the pan previously with a tad of olive oil and read that gently warming the pan with warm water or a warm towel would allow the gelatin to slip out. I clearly warmed it up too much because as you can see in the picture, the top of my jello began melting down the side =( Alas, once it happened, there was no way to fix it. So beware future jell-o enthusiasts!

Still, I think it turned out great and I was very proud to bring it to the crafting party where the girls (and guys) fawned over it. But the real moment of truth for any food is how it tastes, so I was still a bit nervous not knowing what condensed milk mixed with gelatin might taste like. It tastes like a sweet dream let me tell you. The jell-o was well-enjoyed, and with each slice taken, the layers looked even more lovely.

I will make this again. I will make other desserts with gelatin. I will buy Victoria Belanger’s book when she publishes it this year and I love every moment of it because as it turns out, gelatin is back and it’s better than ever.

Posted: February 13th, 2011 under Cooking, Jello, Uncategorized, rainbow.
Comments: 3

I feel very blessed to have received photos pf the butterfly bouquet in action on my client’s big day. She added fresh baby’s breath on the morning of the wedding, and I think it really added a delicate beauty to the finished product.

I also was very excited to be a part of a butterfly themed birthday celebration for a young lady in another country. Her clever mom put together a beautiful day centered around butterflies and included a hair piece from my Etsy shop! I’m tickled pink to see the end result ( want to see more? Check Out : http://katydiddys.blogspot.com/2010/06/butterfly-birthday-party.html )

Posted: September 14th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
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At some point last summer I found myself steering aimlessly (as I often do) through the world wide web looking for ideas, inspiration and (truth be known) killing time. It was during this time that I came across a beautiful butterfly bouquet on the Martha Stewart Weddings site I was mesmerized with the beauty of this idea. I saved a copy of the picture to my hard drive and filed it in my ‘to do’ list. The whole wedding spread in this section is terrific ; I am in love with the garden motif they used

Time escaped me ….as if often does…and while the bouquet remained in my files, I had done nothing with it. At Christmas time I made my annual ‘to craft this year’ list and put this bouquet on it.  Within weeks of mentally deciding to do I received an email from an Etsy (www.etsy.com) client who wanted to do something similar for her summer wedding.

I began by putting together a butterfly board of potential winged candidates for the bouquet

Over the next month or so I wrapped the floral wire in white tape and began piecing together a bouquet . Soon I was able to send a picture of the first mock-up While I liked it, I found it lacking in shape or something. it wasn’t my vision, it wasn’t MARTHA enough and I tucked the butterflies away not sure what to do with myself.

I decided part of my problem is a lack of larger butterflies. Recently I acquired a few more butterflies I thought might help with my vision.  I took a part the original bouquet, sat down and began again. Last night, the bouquet I am happy to say I made has now been bride approved.  I am very pleased with the outcome of this arrangement. I look forward to seeing it finished with a ribbon wrapping and in the hands of the bride! I will be boxing this fluttering fashion up and sending it off to the UK later this week. I hope that I will get to see it’s final destination in picture or two!

Posted: June 7th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 1

Every month or so, my island girlfriends and I get together to create and “crush a cup of wine” (Act 1 Romeo and Juliet). Creating with others is a very energizing task. Simply by being in the room I find myself inspired to do more than I would if left to my own devices. In fact, during the school year I often struggle with finding the time to create so having this time set aside can literally be the difference between making something or drooling on the couch!

For our last get together our host requested that we bring a raw dessert, some old t-shirts, and our sewing machines. I am a big fan of t-shirt alteration, and while I am not a telented seamstress (yet) I truly enjoy sewing, cutting and planning. For my dessert I brought chocolate coconut macaroons. Made from dates, shredded coconut, coconut oil and cocoa powder these little treats are a very tasty companion to a bit of red wine.

Posted: June 4th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
Comments: none

There is nothing like the sunshine to inspire new designs and creativity. All the blooms here in the beautiful Pacific Northwest and the hum of busy bees have  inspired my latest round of hair accesories!

Spring critters like butterflies, bees, ladybugs and singing birds are amongst my favorite lifeforms here on the planet. It’s no wonder they are finding their way into my Spring fashion!

Posted: May 14th, 2010 under Uncategorized.
Comments: none

In an on-going effort to learn to create beautiful things and make what I would once buy, I have discovered the joy of cookies. I have long known the joy of eating cookies. Along with cake, cookies are on the top of my sweets priority list. This past year I have been deeply inspired by the work of many talented cookie artists on Flickr.com.

Snowflake Cookies Uploaded by irresistibledesserts

Snowflakes for a Dinner Party

Uploaded by Mad About Cookies

Snowflakes 2009 Uploaded by AMasterCreation

My cookies do not show the same delicate finesse these amazing inspirations do, but they were quite tasty. More importantly, they opened up the door to cookie decorating possibilities in the future! I look forward to continuing to hone

my skills as a cookie decorator.

Cookie decorating skills I am going to need since my best friend got me some very cute wildlife cookie cutter from Ikea ! They are the Drommar Cookie Cutters

Posted: January 1st, 2010 under Uncategorized.
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snowflake cookies

Originally uploaded by JILL’s Sugar Collection

these cookies are truly magical! They look as though they are made from actual snowflakes - they are true works of art. I bet they tasted good too! With practice, perhaps I too can bake and decorate something so whimsically beautiful.

Posted: January 1st, 2010 under Uncategorized.
Comments: none

Where would a little girl be without her imagination? In a world without possibility that’s where, and I for one have always had my mind drifting in the clouds of possibility. I have always been able to close my eyes and go Wonderland.  My affection for Alice has been life long. This year, I finally felt the pull to become the little lady that could for Halloween.

This year, along with one of my closest girlfriends we will be attending the Alice in Wonderland Festival at trout Lake  (www.aliceinwonderlandfestival.com) For years, I have either been away, or unable to attend due to extreme forgetfulness. This year, finally I will be there and though it is months away I am looking forward to it already. Why? Because I know it will be filled with other fun loving individuals like myself!

Posted: November 8th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
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             Perhaps one of the highest compliments of all for an artist is the request of a custom piece. A merger of two unique points of view into one piece created by an artist envision by a client. To trust someone else with your visionis an amazing thing that can have a wonderful result. To see what you have imagined brought to life by someone else is really amazing. Rarely will the two visions match exactly, but somehow there seems to always be a harmony - a melded vision that takes shape.

I have been fortunate enough these past months at the behest some of my clients with to create some beautiful pieces for their events. It has been very exciting for me to take their ideas and create the combs that they have wanted. I have also done some feather work for clients recently, and I look forward to seeing pictures from their events. I thought I might share some of my recent custom requests. Feel free to drop me a line if you have something custom in mind as well.

Posted: October 4th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Comments: 2

This summer has brought a lot of positive attention to my little Etsy shop. It seems that people are enjoying my recent creations and have been using them in their treasuries. I’m very excited to see my work through the eyes of others - it pleases me to no end to know that others enjoy what I do. I was absolutely blown away to find that I made it to the Etsy front page 3 times this summer and am currently in the Etsy Hallowe’en guide.

Being on the the front page wasn’t only  great for my eg, it was great for my store’s popularity. I am now up to 370 favorites, gaining over 40 new fans in one day thanks to this most recent Front page with my Golden Butterfly Mosiac. I am sad to say that I have not had the pleasure of discovering myself on the front page - I deduced it had happened when the views on this item went from 200 to near 700 in a day. Searching through the archives that Etsy keeps on Flickr, I discovered that my hunch had been correct.  I hope that my work continues to garner attention and that my ideas remain fresh so that people will continue to get excited about my work.

Posted: September 14th, 2009 under Uncategorized.
Comments: none