October // The Outsiders



I was born on Halloween and I've always thought that says a lot about me. Growing up, and all through my teens, I was always trying new styles, fashion or otherwise, and even trying to be someone different. I always enjoyed being seen as the weird one, liking the things that I wasn't supposed to like, from socially unacceptable things to just silly superstitious things (my favorite number has always been 13). In that way, I always loved and related to The Addams Family because they reveled in the odd things that everyone else shied way from.
October, to me, is always the excitement of my impending birthday, seeing fun Halloween decorations, costumes and items in stores, watching the leaves change colors, that distinct smell of a chilly Autumn night, pumpkins, scarecrows and other Autumn decorations. Halloween is the one day of the year that everyone tries to be an outsider, but I'm a Halloween baby, and I was born this way. ;)



Watch: Ruby Gloom 
I came across Ruby Gloom a few years ago when it was still fairly new. I instantly fell in love with it. Just the animation style, the character's style. It's so adorable! This show is like The Addams Family but a group of kids (teens?) living in a big house together in Gloomsville, where the sun never shines. But they're all the most happy characters! (Except for Misery. Misery is her thing.) They're always having so much fun and crazy adventures! The characters are all so different and odd! Iris is the out-of-control crazy one, Frank and Len are the stupid rocker dudes, Poe is the uptight serious one, Misery is a walking disaster, and Ruby is the cheerful glue that holds them all together. I just love it so much, guys! If there's one family of outsiders I'd want to be a part of, it would be this one. (If you're not convinced you'll love it, just take a look at the show's intro.)

Listen: Marina and the Diamonds
I got both of Marina's albums a couple months ago, and I am still listening to them. That's quite a long time for me to be consistently listening to one artist/album/playlist and not get sick of it. Her music may be a good dose of pop, but Marina's on the outside of the other pop stars. She makes fun of those fame-seeking girls in 'Hollywood'. Her lyrics are so much more than "pop". Her first album stays away from love songs and instead focuses on Marina's social observations. "Girls are not meant to fight dirty / Never look a day past thirty" Her second album focuses on archetypes ('Homewrecker', 'Teen Idle', 'Primadonna') with more personal lyrics. I love Marina's music for its dance-pop catchy-ness and its thought-provoking lyrics. I love when an artist can combine intelligent lyrics that I can relate to and also enjoy singing and dancing along to the fun beat.

Read: Alice, I Think
When I had to choose a book on my theme "Outsiders", odd Alice first came to mind. Alice is the stereotypical awkward social outsider. Joining public school after growing up home schooled by slightly hippie parents, Alice finds herself in all sorts of awkward teen social situations made even more awkward by Alice's lack of social interaction with peers. (Think Cady in Mean Girls but even weirder.) The descriptions of her thrift-store outfits alone make it clear what a freak this girl would look like walking down the street of her small Canadian town. Throughout the three books in the series, Alice finds herself faltering through many typical teen situations including boys, a local beauty pageant, friends, family, school, and her on-going quest for the strangest outfits she can find. (If you're not much of a reader, Alice, I Think was also briefly a Canadian TV show.)


 Last Fall // I've started collecting skulls // Halloween props // A wig just for fun

Looking Forward to...
My Birthday (and a whole week off!)
It's only a month away! I still don't have definite plans, but I have lots of ideas that just need to be confirmed. No matter what I plan, I know I have the entire week free! I felt so grown-up booking "vacation time". Am I grown-up? Is 23 grown-up? Do grown-ups say "grown-up"? I'll be using the week for fun birthday and Halloween plans, of course, and I'll also try to fit in as much baking, photo shoots, video shoots, and blogging as I can while I have the time! I have a very busy month ahead of me and it's not going to get any less busy as we head into the Christmas season!

Halloween
I've got everything I need to make my costume, so that's my project this month! I'll leave the costume a surprise, but I will say that I didn't want a pre-made costume because I'm doing my own interpretation of this... character. It's been a long time since I put effort into making a costume, so I'm excited to actually have a proper costume and celebrate Halloween this year, not just my birthday. (Which is on Halloween. In case you didn't know that. I'm sure I've mentioned it before.) My friend and I are also working on Halloween party ideas. Like I said, I've never really had a Halloween party, as I always try to make the day more about my birthday, but this year I'm trying to embrace Halloween. (Not that I don't like Halloween, I'm just very self-centered.)

Autumn Weather
The weather changed very quickly this year! It seems that September began and- BAM! It was colder, the leaves were falling, and it got darker an hour earlier. I'm enjoying workin' it in my new leather jacket on my walks to work and the smell of chilly Autumn evenings on my walks home. I'm all for Autumn- but Winter better hold off as long as possible! It better not snow on my birthday like two years ago! Last year I was still riding my bike at the beginning of December- let's do that again. Yay, for global warming, right?!

New Camera and iPhone 5!
This week I am buying myself a (well deserved, I think) early birthday present- a new camera! I've been putting off all of my video ideas for months (years!) because I didn't want to waste good ideas on my crappy, old camcorder. Soon I'll have lots of HD videos for you! I have a few photo shoots & videos planned for this month already, so watch out!
It's also time for me to upgrade my phone to the new iPhone 5! I've had the iPhone 3GS for three years, so I'm due for an upgrade. I am very excited about having not one, but two HD cameras on my phone! (Second camera for videos & no need to carry around a separate camera in order to capture spontaneous moments in good quality photos!)
Aside from the excitement of these new gadgets, just the fact that I'm earning enough money to buy these for myself is pretty exciting to me!

The Bakestress in September

After a few months of brainstorming, drawing, web design, graphic design, and uncertainty in my goal, I have finally unveiled an official The Bakestress website. I originally wanted just an information website, but any design felt incomplete without the blog aspect. I decided to go back to my old standard that I know and love (and know how to design), Blogger. It allowed me to combine every aspect of The Bakestress: professional (as possible) photos of cake projects, making-of photos, how-tos & DIYs, information on how to order from me, and information about the Wilton classes that I teach. I think I was able to combine my online Bakestress with my offline Bakestress with a relatable, yet professional website.


While previous baking posts will remain in this blog archive, any future baking posts will be only on The Bakestress blog. My baking posts always felt disconnected from this blog, anyway. Not because it's not possible to incorporate all of my interests into one blog, but because sometimes my baking posts are just- Here are photos of a cake I made. And that's okay on a blog that's made just for that, but felt unfinished sandwiched between fully formed articles about movies. So, if you are interested in my baking life, hop over to The Bakestress blog and follow it in whichever manner  you do.

I don't want to completely disconnect the two blogs, though, so I'm going to do a monthly round-up of Bakestress goings on here on the blog. So, if you're not ready to fully commit to following a baking blog, you can just catch up with these posts and see if anything peaks your interest.



Polka Dot Cake


Wilton Display Board Cakes


Instagram



Keep up with me on Instagram @tishchambers or search #TheBakestress.

Pinterest
How to make a cupcake bouquet! I love this one that looks like hydrangeas.

I love these display ideas! I've started collecting pretty dishes to create displays and stands.

Wilton Display Board Cakes



A couple months ago, the frame on our Wilton display board in the classroom broke and the display fell down, crushing the display cakes. Tragic. Except that it meant I was able to make a new, even prettier, display board!
After weeks of planning and being too much of a perfectionist for my own good, I finally got to work and put together my display cakes. I used styrofoam circles as the base, covered them in fondant, and attached my flowers with either royal icing and/or wires (for the gum paste flowers). 
I also spent many hours in the classroom measuring, re-measuring, double-checking and finally cutting out all the titles and information on paper. (I think I'm just as, if not more, proud of my precise layout & design of the board as I am of my cakes.)
When my manager asked me to do the new display board, she said she had a beautiful red mat for the frame, so that started my brainstorming of a color scheme. It wasn't until I saw a black, white and pink cake that I was inspired. Black and white look so bold together. It would be a dramatic change from the dull and predictable purple, pink and white of the old board. Of course, I would use red on the cakes because of the red background, but I found as I was trying to design flower arrangements that I would need another color. I cruised Pinterest for inspiration and saw a picture using the colors black, white, red and golden yellow. It was beautiful. So, I incorporated golden yellow into my designs.
For the rest of the display board(s), I stuck with the red, black, and white. I was very picky about fonts and text layouts. I was so glad to find a rounded-corner paper punch in the stash of supplies in the classroom because that is exactly the look I wanted. I also had the scrap booking instructor help me use the Cricut machine to cut out the big title letters (in a font as similar to the Creampuff I used on the board as we could find).



I designed the cakes with a central arrangement so that they would all look similar and keep the design of the whole board very symmetrical. My friend, Kim, pointed out that each cake was like the same design at a different level. I guess without really thinking about it, that's what I was doing. I had the same colors, the same centered design, and the same flowers (at the different skill levels).
The first two cakes' flowers are made with royal icing and the second two are gum paste. They are each using only flowers that you learn in each course. I tried to use as many different flowers on each one as possible, while still maintaining a clean design. Each cake only has two or three different flowers. If I had tried to put every flower and technique on each cake, they would have looked crowded and tacky. I wanted a clean, minimalist design. Less is more when it comes to cakes, I think.

Course 1: Decorating Basics
Ribbon rose, swirled drop flower and leaves.


Course 2: Flowers & Cake Design
Wilton rose, primrose, apple blossom and leaves.


Course 3: Gum Paste & Fondant
Rose, calla lily.
 

Course 4: Advanced Gum Paste Flowers
Lily, sweet pea, and stephanotis.

You can see my display board in the classroom at Michaels Pinecrest (2685 Iris St. Ottawa) when you come in to sign up for classes with me! Right? ;)

Polka Dot Cake



This cake was also an experiment with using Wilton's White White Icing Color in cake batter. For this cake it wasn't that I wanted a white cake, but I wanted a white "canvas" to start with before I added the bright colors, so they would be as bright as possible. There was no major disaster with the cake other than the strange texture that the White White Icing Color adds to the cake (as I mentioned in the previous post).



I wanted to try out a multi-color-swirl cake like I had seen all over Pinterest, so I chose a color combination I liked (as opposed to the traditional rainbow colors). To get the colors all swirled somewhat evenly throughout the cake, I took turns pouring some batter from each bowl around the pan. It was quite messy, but got the job done.
You can see above how the cake actually came away from the side of the pan after it was out of the oven. A strange side effect of the White White Icing Color, I assume. You may also be able to tell from the last photo the strange white opaque layer/sheen that it gave the cake.



To decorate my colorful cake, I colored fondant in the same four colors that I used for the cake batter and cut out circles in four sizes using circle fondant cutters and a large round piping tip as a cutter. (Sometimes you have to use your tools for something other than what they were made for- be inventive!) Starting with the largest circles, to cover up the most space, I placed the circles all over the cake. The first layer of fondant pieces stuck to the buttercream icing, but after that I used some "gum glue" (a small amount of gum paste with water added to make a thick 'glue') to make the smaller shapes stick on top of the other fondant.

  

I took a piece of each cake for myself before giving them away, but I didn't end up eating them. I actually don't like cake with icing! I will happily snack on cake scraps when I'm making a cake, and I love chocolate cupcakes with a chocolate glaze, but icing just ruins cake for me. (Although, I do have some interesting icing recipes that I need to try out- maybe I just need the right icing!)

Paisley Confetti Cake



This cake was a bit of an experiment. A bit of a failed experiment. The experimental part was adding Wilton's White White Icing Color to cake batter to turn my off-white cake into a white cake. The point of experimenting is to learn something, though, right? Well, I learned that that product is definitely not for cake batter. It works great in buttercream icing, which is its intended use.
The reason I wanted my cake to be very white was because I wanted to make a homemade version of Rainbow Bits/Funfetti cake mix. White cake + sprinkles = rainbow confetti, right? Well, you can see how that turned out...



See, this is the problem with experimenting with two factors: When something goes wrong, you're not sure which is to blame. As you can see above, the cake did not come clean out of the pan (even though I used Wilton's Cake Release, which is pure magic and has never let me down) and looks a bit like a big Rice Krispie treat. And now I can't be sure what the problem was. I suspect the sprinkles are more to blame, though, as I used the White White Icing Color in another cake and it did not have the massive air bubbles or stick to the pan (as much). So, perhaps adding sprinkles is not a viable option for confetti cake. 

And the problem with the White White Icing Color? It gave the cake a very strange texture. It's hard to see in the photos, but it's just a bit... off. The word "spongy" comes to mind. In a bad way. I think it also made it taste a little off, too. I used a lot.

This cake was for a class and I didn't have time to make another, so I had to use it despite it being a horrible example to show my class! In class, I do a simple icing job to show the students. Sometimes I leave my class cakes in the break room for my coworkers to devour, sometimes my friend, Kelsey, claims a cake for herself, but this time I decided to take my cake home to have some fun decorating.



I found this pretty paisley pattern on Pinterest and decided to practice my piping skills and just free hand copy the pattern. It's not my most proud work, but I had fun just piping freehand, without any planning (which I always do for cake orders, but this was just for fun) other than looking at the pattern. If I was doing a detailed pattern like this for a cake order, I would do at least the basic shapes in fondant, and then pipe the details so it would look a lot neater. Again, with the experimenting and learning!



Despite my experimental additions to the batter and my quick decorating job, when I did take the cake to work to share, I heard it was delicious and pretty. (Even though it slid against the side of the cake caddy on the way there.)

Tag- I'm it!

I was tagged by Mandy of Chocolate & Cream Cake for this eight questions thing. She chose some good questions, so I felt it would be rude not to share them and my answers.

What's the best gift you've ever received?
(Read the story here.)

What book are you most looking forward to being released?
Fart With Headphones On: The Book by Michelle Vargas. I should be getting it emailed to me today!

If you had the superpower that allowed you to shapeshift into an animal—but it could only be one animal—which animal would you choose?
I would be some sort of water bird. I know that's not very interesting, but I figure- if I'm going to turn into an animal, I want to get the most out of it, right? Animals can do stuff that humans can't. If I was a water bird, I could fly and swim and walk on land. It's a 3-in-1 deal!

What cancelled TV show would you most like to see rebooted? 
Firefly! I only just watched it this past year after years of hearing about it from geeky friends. One season and a movie was not enough! I'm not usually a sci-fi fan, but this "space western" (and Doctor Who) is the exception. 

What's your dream vehicle?

Would you rather travel forward in time or backward? 
Forward! I can learn all about history if I want to- yawn. But, it actually makes me really upset that I am only going to live, like, 70 more years. I won't be able to see what becomes of the Earth and the human race hundreds or thousands of years from now! (I blame Doctor Who for making me so jealous. Only living during one century of human existence seems like such a rip off!)

What is your favorite shape or pattern? 
Stripes are always a bold choice (lately, I'm into black and white) and I also love a damask pattern.

If you could trade places for one week with a famous (or quasi-famous) person, who would you choose and why? 
I think I would like to be in Gala Darling's place for one week. I don't completely want her life, but it would be fun for a week. I'd like to dress up in all her tutus and glittery clothes, hang out with her fabulous friends, go to fun fashion events, travel all over the country, and be a writer. It would be a fun change for a week.


Now, I'm supposed to play by the rules and tag eight people to answer eight questions I make up, but I don't know eight bloggers! But, if you want to play along, feel free to use these questions by Mandy and link back to me and/or her. (And leave a link to the post in the comments, so I can read your answers!)

Apartment Tour // Dark Art Wall

I have to start this post by introducing the latest addition to my wall...

One of my dearest, bestest, sweetest, most amazing friends, Jason (who lives on the other side of the country so I've only seen him once in the four years since we went to college together) sent me something in the mail for the first time ever.
 
 [I couldn't get a picture without glare! Argh!]

Is that not the most amazing thing ever?! He painted it based on a badass photo of myself (that you can see in this post). I squealed with glee and shock for about five minutes when I opened it. I was so excited to find a frame for it and add it to my wall so I could see it everyday and think "Damn, I'm cool." and "Damn, I love that boy."
[P.S. If you're into art 'n shit, you may care to know that he used spray paint and paint markers 'cause he's so talented 'n shit.]

Here is the rest of my corner...



The only real drawing I've ever done. It's Paris Hilton. I did it in high school for art class. // After seeing Adaptation., I found this beautiful photo of a ghost orchid. I've had it saved on my computer for years. I'm so glad I found a perfect frame for it.


This is one of those scratch art things. The picture is printed on the black, so you just have to scratch where it's grey. So, I can say that I did that, but also, don't be too impressed, it's not like I drew a wolf. // A collage I made of fashion-related things. Yes, that's another picture of me. // Another favorite picture, though more recent. I found this on Pinterest when searching "kites" before I made a kite for a kite-flying competition. I love jellyfish!


A tiny frame with a picture of Edie Sedgwick. A pin from a dress. Two Halloween decorations. // An Angie Wrona print. My friend Addie gave this to me, just because. Her mom is friends with Angie. I was so happy when she gave it to me because not only do I love Angie's art, but I loved the big, fat, detailed frame.


Also spotted: my mugshot card from this photoshoot.

The three smaller frames are actually Halloween decorations I bought last year and only recently figured out how to hang these heavy, table top frames on my wall. From there, it was a case of finding the perfect pictures for the frames.

[P.S. I am aware that I have not one, but two, pieces of art on my wall featuring my own face. And that in both photos I am doing a silent scream thing.]

Bonus: to the left of this area of my wall I recently made a magazine inspiration collage, something that I haven't done in years.




Stay tuned for more peeks at my little apartment!

Movie Marathon // New to School

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I used to love the pre-back-to-school time of year. Shopping for cute new school supplies?! Yay! Everything seems great. You've got your new wardrobe, new hair-do, new stuff, new you! Until you actually get back to school and you realize it's going to be the same shit with the same people all over again. Right?

Well, that part I definitely don't miss about school. But the excitement of a new school year? Yes! Or even more exciting/terrifying- Being new to a school. You get to try to completely reinvent yourself, make new friends, create a reputation, be the center of attention or the mysterious new kid... Oh, the possibilities. 

I think, as with most situations in life, the best idea is to just be yourself. Otherwise, you might end up in sticky situations like all these characters who were new to school and tried to be something they're not. Luckily for us, it makes movies a lot more fun, though.

The Musical:

Grease

(1978)

You know what makes watching this movie even more fun? Watching this movie with two guys who admit to having been in a performance of Grease in school and can't help but sing along with every song (even the girl parts). Remember that the moral of this story is that you can get a guy to like you if you dress in an all-black spandex outfit. With really big hair. At a school carnival. And sing at him.

The Sandler:

Billy Madison

(1995)

I still get quotes from this movie stuck in my head involuntarily. Every time I say something is "so hot", it turns into "Soooo hot! Want to touch the hiney!" in my head. And every time

I'll Tumble for You

by Boy George comes up in my iTunes shuffle I do Billy's little jig on the stairs. Writing all this "back to school" stuff for the blog means that "Back to school. Back to school. To prove to my Dad I'm not a fool." was sung in my head very often. I don't always like Adam Sandler movies, but Adam Sandler in the 90's? Yes, please.

The 90's Classic:

Clueless

(1995)

This movie had a big influence on me as kid. (I'm sure every girl alive in the 90's can relate.) I remember wanting to coordinate outfits with my best friend. She would wear her pink dress and I would wear my blue dress. With matching shoes, of course. Fortunately, my young mind just ignored all of the not-so-PG moments of the movie. When I watched the movie later as a teenager, I noticed all the drug references and was amazed that I had no recollection of those scenes as a kid. (And it wasn't because they took them out for TV, either. I can remember the bong donation scene, I just didn't know what it was.)

The SNL:

Mean Girls

(2004)

A movie about high school girls came out the year I was in ninth grade. The school organized a trip to take all the girls in school to see this movie. They thought it would teach us a lesson about cliques and bullying. We thought it was hilarious and discussed who were "The Plastics" of our school on the bus ride home. I'm pretty sure this is one of the most-quoted movies of the past decade. Thank you, Tina Fey. I'm not the only one who has seen this movie more times than I can remember, but still finds it funny, right? And sometimes we need a nice reminder of what Lindsay Lohan used to be. Sigh...

The LOL:

She's the Man

(2006)

Amanda Bynes is her own special brand of comedy. I never watched her TV show, but I find this movie (particularly her)

so

hilarious. The plot is based on the Shakespeare play Twelfth Night, which involves a lot of cross-dressing and mistaken identities. For the majority of the movie, Bynes' character is pretending to be a boy. Which means she is hilariously awkward in scenes with a delicious shirtless Channing Tatum. Hilariously awkward. Yup, that pretty much sums up the movie.

The Teen Dream:

Bratz

(2007) 

When Bratz dolls came out, I was too old to be playing with dolls. But that didn't stop me. I played with them, made up stories with them, dressed them up, ruined their hair trying to style it. I loved Bratz. For my fifteenth birthday, the Bratz movie (not this one, the first little animated DVD) was on my wishlist and I got it. And I loved it. I'm pretty sure I made a friend come with me to see this Bratz movie in the theatre and then anxiously awaited the DVD release.

I love Bratz, okay?!

This movie has everything. High school drama, friendship, cliques, fashion, a Super Sweet Sixteen party, love stories, musical performances! But seriously, like,

which Bratz are you?

(I'm Jade. Obvy. She wears a lot of black, is really into fashion, but is also a big geek.)

10 Reasons to Watch Thoroughly Modern Millie

1. Girls being sold into white slavery!
Delightfully racist, the Chinamen are behind it.

2. They have to dance to make the elevator work!
 

3. It's a delightful blend of 60's and 20's fashion.

4. Carol Channing!
This was my first introduction to Carol Channing. At first I didn't know what to think of her, but she makes this movie!

5. Spontaneous moments of silent film narration!

6. It's thoroughly modern!
Making out with boys you don't intend to marry, worrying about your ample bosoms ruining the line of your beads, and planning to marry your boss for his money.

7. Classic 60's madcap comedy mix-up!

8. Cross-dressing!

9. This guy's glasses!
 

10. They beat up the bad guys with an acrobatics routine!

September // Too Cool for School


That's right, kids. I'm too cool for school. But I'm definitely not too cool for learning. I love learning! I love learning about space with series like Wonders of the Universe. I love learning about religion reading books like The Everything World's Religions Book. I love learning about people, places, news, science, history, movies, everything! That's what the Internet was invented for, right? Sharing information. I'm going to share some information with you right now.
Whether September means back to school for you, or not, I bet it still feels like the beginning of the year. We grow up with this yearly cycle and never really lose it. This time of year also feels like the beginning of the year and time for fresh starts because I'm reminded that my birthday is a mere two months away. In a lot of ways my birthday is my New Year. It's a new year, a new season, it's time for something new. So go do something new. Enjoy the last weeks of Summer, enjoy the beginning of Autumn. Learn something new. Start something new. Plan a kick-ass Halloween costume. Plan a kick-ass end of Summer party. Or just read, watch, and listen to this stuff. It's like school but better because you don't really have to go.


Read: Please Don't Kill the Freshman by Zoe Trope
I was fascinated by this teenage memoir when I was a teenager. Living my fairly mundane teenage life, any movie/book/story about a teen with a different, more interesting, life was very appealing to me. In this book, where the characters are all referred to by odd nicknames, our author describes her teenage world of high school, relationships (gay, straight and otherwise), zines, independent publishing, parental angst, and indie music. It's probably too "young" for you if, like me, you're long out of high school. But it's not immature or impossible to enjoy beyond the angsty teen years.

Watch: Gilmore Girls
Something about this September, back-to-school, Autumn's-coming time of year reminds me of Gilmore Girls. Mostly just Autumn. Actually, it's more that Gilmore Girls makes me feel Autumn-y. Despite being filmed in California and set in Connecticut, featuring a consistently sunny climate, even with the faux-snow on the ground, Gilmore Girls doesn't feel like a sunshiney California show, or a even a well-represented quadro-seasoned show. It's an Autumn show. Perhaps it's all the Autumn-themed DVD covers they make to try to maintain the impression that this show actually takes place in lovely Connecticut, where there is indeed Fall foliage.
What is my point? Especially when we all know that September is most definitely not Fall foliage time of year. The Autumnal Equinox may be this month, but it's hardly sweater season yet. It is, however, back-to-school season. And Gilmore Girls is not actually about fake New England climates, it's about school. Well, it's not about school, but Rory is in school. A lot of stuff happens at school. There are a lot of school uniforms, school books, mentions of studying and how much she loves Harvard/Yale. So, come September instead of going to school, I watch Rory go to school. (Rory Gilmore. Not my brother who also happens to be named Rory. Although, I think my brother is going back to school this year. But I won't be watching him. Because he lives far away. Thank god.)

Listen: Music from Glee
Glee is the only high school show left that I watch. I'm too old to watch those silly high school shows. Except Glee. It's silly in a musical way not an "Oh-em-gee! So much drah-ma!" kind of way. Lucky for you, in three seasons of the show the Glee kids (and adults) have covered a wide range of music genres for you to enjoy. Most of my favorites from Glee are the songs that they really "made their own" including their famous mash-ups. (Surely, you've heard the epic Adele 'Rumour Has It'/'Someone Like You' mash-up.) If you're not already a Glee fan, I suggest using iTunes or YouTube to preview their songs and see what a variety they've done. Also, just watch the show. Just do it.


[Looking forward to more of this in the last days of Summer and into Autumn. My favorite place to visit, the cemetery. Captured with the Hipstamatic app on my iPhone.]

I'm looking forward to...
The Weather Cooling Down- Only Slightly!
Just enough that I can wear long sleeves and maybe even a light jacket in the evenings. I'm not ready to give up my shorts, but I like jackets and sweaters. And I can let my hair down! Be free, hair! Blow in the cool Summer breeze!

Michaels Open House - Sept. 8th
As you may or may not know, I am a Wilton Method Instructor. I teach Wilton cake decorating classes at a Michaels store. A few times a year Michaels has an "Open House" to advertise all of the classes they offer. We're always trying to make the event better each time to get more people to sign up. This time, we are holding the event outside! Although it is a strain and a drain on my social skills to be an outgoing, charming, small-talking salesperson, I love my job as an instructor and love telling people about the classes and getting them excited about them! I think the day will be a lot of fun and at the end of the day we'll be proud of our success. (If you're in Ottawa- here's more information.)

My Birthday/Halloween Is Only Two Months Away!
I always obsess over my birthday plans. Every year I try to make it amazing and every year it disappoints me. (Except my 20th. Thank you, Addie.) This year I plan to take an entire week off from work (something rarely possible since I started teaching 4-week cake courses). I had a plan, but wasn't able to save enough money for it. So, now, I'm brainstorming affordable, probably local, ideas.
Last year my Halloween costume was Knives Chau (from the Scott Pilgrim comics/movie). This year, I'm fairly decided that I'm going to be Snow White. I've thought about being Snow White for many years, but this year I finally have her "hair as black as ebony". And Kelsey is going to be Pocahontas, so we've got a Disney Princess thing going on.

Addie & Family Are Here!
My best friend, Addie, her husband and two (TWO!!) kids are here (within an hour of me) for the month. I am so excited to hang out with my best friend, play with her almost-two-year-old son and meet her brand new daughter!

TV
DOCTOR WHO IS BACK!!! Season 7 premiered last night on BBC (I downloaded it and will watch it later today). I have been avoiding any spoilers or previews or news about it so I can just watch it and take it all in. The biggest spoiler I've seen is a picture of the new companion. (New companion?!?!)
The Mindy Project premieres September 25th. (You can view the first episode online for free somewhere, but I might as well wait.) I'm hoping I will love this new girl-centered comedy in the same way I love New Girl. Which is also returning on September 25th. (Yay!)
Other returning shows: Parenthood, Glee, Private Practice, and Grey's Anatomy. (If my Googling of premiere dates proves accurate.)

Darth Vader Cake




Before starting this cake, I looked at a lot of Darth Vader cakes online. Most of them look like they all used the same directions and/or copied each other. Well, I'm guilty of that, too, now because I used the photo the client gave me as a guide, which was one of the cakes found online that looked like all the others. Also, I thought they all looked absolutely horrible! (I even had a short-lived obsession with Darth Vader's neck chain, because most cakes seemed to feature one, yet movies stills and costumes did not.)
Turns out, the joke's on me because Darth Vader's helmet is really difficult to recreate out of cake and fondant. Although, I'm pretty happy with how this cake turned out, I am also swallowing my pride after thinking it would be a masterpiece compared to all those other Darth Vader cakes. After an afternoon of staring at pictures of Darth Vader's head, trying to recreate it with fondant pieces, I never want to see it again! Oh, wait. The same client ordered Star Wars cupcakes from me for this Saturday... Luke, I hate your father...

Falling Back in Love with Hipstamatic

I first got the iPhone app Hipstamatic a couple years ago and loved it, but somewhere along the way (Instagram) stopped using it. Well, I'm back at it in full force and loving it. As well as their new app D-Series, which offers the unpredictable filter effects of Hipstamatic combined with the charm of a real-life disposable camera. (Remember those? Cameras outside of your phone?) You have to take your 24 photos before you can "develop" them and see them all. I had some fun trying it out on a walk to the store. In the rain, it turned out.

[Clockwise from top left: awkward pose, awkward pose, my brolly, all bundled up (after weeks of 30 degree weather, it was down to 12 that day), my new heavily studded belt.] [It wasn't actually that cold so the hair had to go up, I opened the door to find rain, a lost S, celtic knot in someone's garden, Ba-ba-ba-ba-Barbara Ann.]
 [Trees & flowers outside my house, walking home, exit sign in the hallway, flowers.]

I like to combine more than one photo app. I took some photos of my outfit one day with Hipstamatic, combined them into one image with Diptic, and then Instagram'd it.
 [My attempt at a feather hair piece, I cut up my black skinny jeans even more because I'm so bad ass, my face, a hand-me-down Harley Davidson shirt, black nail polish making a rare appearance.]

Yesterday was Canada Day and I chose to use Hipstamatic to capture some memories. Much more fun and lightweight than bringing my proper camera with me.
[Kelsey is excited, Rideau Canal, all alone in my photo because I was fifth wheel with two other couples, Me & Kelsey with friends creeping in the background, Kelsey and Greg.]
[A Parliament building?, walking  in downtown Ottawa, I love the old buildings downtown, the Parliament building with Feist playing on the big stage in front, a street performer.]

[We picked a bad place to view the fireworks from, so we saw the right half of them.]

My Current Jams

I tend to get new music about once a month when I realize I'm bored with everything I have, am craving something new, and finally give myself time to do an iTunes search for the list of music I've been meaning to check out. Which means when I get new music I get several albums and/or several artists complete discographies in one go.

Last week, my artists-to-check-out list was Sia, Kimbra and Marina & the Diamonds. I had had a few songs from Sia & Marina for a few years, but had never heard Kimbra other than on the Gotye song.

These artists have sounds more similar than I was expecting. They can all bring the catchy pop when they want to, but also have their distinct and varied styles. Sia ranges from beautiful ballads to super-fun dance & pops songs, Marina brings her unique twist and insightful lyrics to fun pop and Kimbra surprised me with songs ranging from R&B, soulful ballads, and catchy tunes.



In addition, I recently found TV Girl, thanks to Marissa A. Ross. The song Marissa posted on her wine blog was Misery, which instantly caught my ear because of it's catchy 50's-60's beach party feeling. The rest of the album carries similar vibes, but also some fun electronic-lite songs. Lucky for you, you can listen to it for free here.

My current favorite dance jam: Clap Your Hands by Sia.

Tips for Making the Most of Pinterest

Are you on Pinterest, yet? They say Pinterest is the newest social media, I've seen countless articles on how to use Pinterest for your business, and I've seen people get into long discussions in the comments, but for me Pinterest is what it was originally designed to be- a digital pin board. If I see an image I like, I can keep it somewhere that I can look at it again for inspiration. Even better- I can organize all the images I like into boards, so I can soak up some visual inspiration specifically for fashion, crafts, unicorns, my favorite movies or people.

After using Pinterest for a while, I've created a good system for myself of how I make the most of Pinterest, keep myself organized and stay inspired. Pinterest is only as useful as you make it. I hope these tips help you out if you're feeling overwhelmed by this new site so full of images and ideas for just about everything.


Get some Pins
Browse by Category
If you've just joined Pinterest, you're not following any boards yet, so take a browse through the categories. You can scroll through "Everything", or categories like "Women's Apparel", "DIY & Crafts", or "Geek". Don't just go for categories that seem obvious to your likes, try categories you wouldn't think you would like. You may find something you didn't know you liked, plus people don't always label boards correctly, so you'll find a lot of off-category pins.

Search Bar
Try typing in a word or phrase in the search bar. Scroll through pins with that word in their description, or click on "boards" to find boards (collections) named with your word. Sometimes looking through boards with the title you're interested in can be more helpful because pins aren't always labeled with specific words, but people will put pins in a board with a specifically descriptive title.

Who to Follow 
While searching through pins/boards, you may find a board that has a lot of pins that you like. In this case you may want to click "follow" that board, so any new pins added to that board will show up on your main page, for you to see (and then pin in your own boards, if you like).

You can follow individual boards, or if you find a person who has many boards you enjoy, you can click "follow all" to see all of their new pins. If you're an avid fashion/design/craft/baking blog follower, like I am, you will probably find your favorite bloggers on Pinterest and enjoy following their boards.

The Pin It Button
At the top of the page click on "About", then "Pin It Button" and get yourself a plug-in for Firefox that allows you to "pin" any image from any webpage you visit. 

As you may have noticed from checking out pins, if you click on the image, it takes you to the original webpage where it was pinned from. This makes it easy to pin DIY projects, for example. You can pin the image of the finished product, rather than bookmark the page, and when you click on that pin, it will take you to the page with the instructions to make that project.

You will probably find images you like as you go about your regular internet routine, or if you want to create a board with a specific theme, try good old Google image search to find what you're looking for.


Organize Wisely
I'm an organization geek, so this is important for me. I have a lot of boards because they all have a specific visual theme, or are devoted to a specific person/thing. I could just have a board for pretty girls, but I have specific boards for some of my favorite girls like Audrey Hepburn, Mary-Kate Olsen, and Skye Sweetnam. 

Keep in mind that when you're pinning, your boards will be listed alphabetically in the drop-down menu. That's why I've named similar boards with their broad category first, then their specific category. (ie "Fashion // Style", "Fashion // Shoes", "Fashion // Jewelry", etc.) so they're easy to find. (However, you can arrange your boards in whatever order you choose on your profile page.)

If you can't decide between two categories, pin it in both! I have a lot of double pins because I might pin something in "Home // Things" and also "DIY".

If you have a board that is really full, try dividing it up. I started with one board "Fashion" which I later divided up into Style, Shoes, Jewelry, Fancy, Swimwear. This makes it easier when you're browsing your boards for inspiration, or looking for a specific image.


Keep It Going
Don't forget to pin! When you first start using Pinterest, it may take a while to get into the habit of thinking "Pin it!" when you see something you like online. You may end up changing your internet habits from bookmarking pages to just pinning your favorite image from the page, which will be a link back to it from Pinterest.

Regularly review your boards to soak up your inspiration. I'm guilty of forgetting to do this. I spend a lot of time on Pinterest, and am always pinning anything I like online, but I need to take the time to actually look through my own boards to enjoy all those images and be inspired. Don't be hesitant to delete anything that no longer turns you on. This is not the place for hoarding. Keep your boards fresh and not clogged with mediocrity. If you don't love it, you don't need it. (This applies to everything in life, but I can get into that later.)


Now, get out there and start pinning! Don't forget to follow me!

Dexter Cake

 
My best friend Kelsey chose her favorite TV show, Dexter, for her birthday cake theme. It's about a guy who is a blood splatter forensic expert by day, serial killer by night. While not specifically referencing anything from the show, I figured any sort of severed limb would be on-theme and just freakin' cool. 

Here's a bit of how I made it: I printed out Kelsey's name in the Dexter logo font, traced it onto parchment paper, cut out the parchment paper, and then traced around each letter with a gum paste cutting tool on rolled fondant.


I colored piping gel red to use as blood. I used liquid food coloring, as opposed to gel icing color, to thin the gel as well and make it easier to splatter around.


In an attempt to make the cake as bloody and gory as possible, as per Kelsey's request, I piped some of my "blood" between the two layers of cake. My theory was that, when cut, it would look like arteries of blood through out the leg. It wasn't exactly gushing and gory, but it looked about what I expected it to look. Spots of red in the middle of the cake.


I didn't have quite enough fondant to cover the toes nicely, but I tried my best to shape them. I used Wilton's White White Icing color (which is used to make off-white icing really white, but I used like paint) to paint on the toenails. Kelsey's favorite part was the ripped skin around the end.


More cakes, cupcakes, cake pops & more on The Bakestress Facebook page!

Movie Marathon: Time Travel

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Even before I became a

Doctor Who

fan a year ago, I've been fascinated by the idea of time travel, and therefor, interested in any time travel movies. I think the reason it most fascinates me is because it is simply impossible. That's why most movies do a horrible job of using it in their plots; they just can't make sense. However, there are some really smart movies that work time travel into their story and manage to keep it comprehensive. Even if it requires a second or third viewing for you to understand it. See if you can keep up and keep track of these time travel movies.

The Dark & Twisty:

The Butterfly Effect

After I watched this movie for the first time, I had to sit on my bed in the dark for a while and just take it all in. (I can be a bit dramatic.) It really will blow your mind, if you're clever enough to keep up. Evan Treborn suffered from blackouts, when he remembers nothing, throughout his childhood. Years later, in college, reading from his old journals, it triggers a jump back in time, where he is back in his thirteen-year-old body living the time during one of his blackouts. Evan continues to trigger these mental time leaps, going back in time to figure out what happened during those blackouts, and then trying to do things differently to improve the lives of himself and his friends. However, this movie demonstrates the theory from which it gets its name, the Chaos Theory, often explained with the saying "

Something as small as the flutter of a butterfly's wing can ultimately cause a typhoon halfway around the world.

" Which means we don't know what the consequences will be of even the smallest actions. This movie inspired me to want to learn more about the

Chaos Theory

and fun stuff like that.

The Romance:

The Time Traveler's Wife

The problem with being in love with a time traveler; meeting in the wrong order. (*See

Doctor Who

, below.) Clare first meets Henry when she is a young girl and he is a grown man. When she meets him again, in college, she knows him very well, but he has not yet traveled back to those times when she was a child. Are you keeping up so far? They fall in love and all that, but all the while, he is- and here's what makes it different-

involuntarily

time traveling at random moments. It's a gift, it's a curse- Well, mostly it's a curse as it gets him into trouble most of the time and leaves her worried about him. You'll cry. Just warning you.

The 80's:

Back to the Future 

This movie demonstrates the basic principle of why we know traveling back in time would not be possible: The Grandfather Paradox. The paradox is; if you were able to travel back in time and kill your own grandfather, you would never be born, so who went back in time to kill him? In this movie Marty McFly watches himself fade away as he tries to get his parents to fall in love so they can get busy and make him. Scientific flaws aside, I think we can all agree that, if time travel were possible, we would want a DeLorean to be the way to do it.

The Indies:

Donnie Darko

&

S. Darko

Some people may shun me for including the "continuation"

S. Darko

with the original masterpiece,

Donnie Darko

, but I don't care! I like it, okay?! They both use the same time travel principles which include worm holes, rewinds, countdowns, fate, and creepy dead messengers. In

Donnie Darko,

the titular character is guided by a guy in a creepy bunny mask named Frank, who tells him to do scary things, but it's only because he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, so time got screwed up and he has to go back to fix it. Basically. Seven years later, Donnie's little sister, Sam (played by

Daveigh Chase

in both movies) is experiencing the same time travel symptoms as Donnie, but so are other characters. It takes the original principles and makes it even more complex, not necessarily making it a better, smarter movie, but I still enjoyed it. (Okay, it may be mostly because the first scene is

really pretty

and I have a crush on Daveigh.)

The Anime:

The Girl Who Leapt Through Time

I don't consider myself an anime fan (I really don't know much about the art form/pop culture.) but I can say that I am a fan of

Hayao Miyazaki

, the Japanese writer/director of such moves as

Spirited Away

and

Howl's Moving Castle

. Oh, wait. This isn't a Miyazaki movie. But if you're a Miyazaki fan, like I am, you will also love

Mamoru Hosoda

. In this anime feature, a girl accidentally discovers a device that allows her to, quite literally,

leap

through time. It features the typical time travel movie tricks such as re-doing scenes several times to try to get it "right" and dealing with the consequences of using time travel to mess with people's lives.

TV Bonus

Doctor Who

: There are two types of people in the world: Doctor Who fanatics and people who have never seen Doctor Who. For the latter, Doctor Who is a British series about a Timelord (called, simply, The Doctor) who travels throughout space and time usually just for fun but he also ends up saving the world (whichever one he's on). Go watch it right now or we can no longer be friends.

Into the Universe with Stephen Hawking

: If you want to know the science behind these time travel ideas, watch episode two of this three-part documentary series. Stephen Hawking explains how time travel to the future is theoretically possible (if we could travel faster than the speed of light) and invites his future self to travel back in time to attend his own party (Spoiler Alert: It doesn't work.)