A Mouse Cake and a Camouflage, Army Dude Cake!

We had our annual birthday BBQ for our children yesterday, and as with every year, I made special cakes for my kiddies. All 3 of my boys  have anaphylactic food allergies, so this is my special way of making something completely safe and special for them. And it is really fun to see their expressions and the hollers of delight as they bound down the stairs and burst into the kitchen to see what I have made for them.

This year the party also happened to coincide with my Aunt Sharon's birthday as well, so I decided to make a mouse cake for her and my daughter. My aunt collects mice and I thought it would be fun to try to make a cake just like the little mouse in my blog header. I thought it would be funny to have one rubber boot off with a bare foot, just as my daughter would do. I painted the fur using food colour paste, but I had to make this mouse brown as my black paste kept appearing pruple when diluted. Here is a close-up of the head.

She was a fun little mousy to make, and the little girls at the party seems very smitten with here. And my daughter and wonderful aunt liked it too. Yeahh!!!:)

This camouflaged, army dude, creeping on the ground was lots of fun too. I had made a tank last year and this year the boys had said they wanted an army man cake. They are really into history and anything army related, so I thought doing a sniper type guy(minus the gun of course!) creeping along the ground would be interesting. I had to do my research online for this one, and find some photo references of a "ghillie" suit. That is what they call those crazy, hairy-looking, leafy jackets that completely camouflaged them into their surrounding. Hmmm, I learned something new too-haha :)

Here is a picture of him from the back. I even included tread and laces on the boots...I just love details! My fingers and forearms are still a bit sore from pushing all that fondant thru my clay extruder, but I think the effect worked well, and the boys really loved it! A few people said I should open up a cake business (wow-thanks!), but I said it was just a hobby, as I would be absolutely stressed and worried, trying to delivery these cakes-ekk. I am quite the clumsy, goof at times. No thank-you, I think I'll stick to plasticine, as I can always correct that without having to start all over.

Now the kids are already thinking about next year....:) 

IF- Immovable

The sea-battered pirate growled a hearty "ARRRR". He was an "immovable" force guarding his prized treasure.

This is my plasticine illustration for this week's Illustration Friday theme, immovable.  I have been working on a series of illustrations depicting a boy playing pirate, and his grand imagination.  I thought it would fit perfectly with this week's theme. I hope to share the grouping with you all soon. This is the close-up of him with his sneering "ARRRRRR". I tried to make him a little less mean and a bit more cute, I hope I succeeded. His expressionwas a bit too scary and mean at first, so I reworked. Please let me know what you guys think! :)

BTW, tomorrow we're having our annual birthday bash BBQ to celebrate all of my kiddies birthdays( as they were all born in the summer time). So I have been up late for the last few nights working away on some really fun cakes...I can't wait to share them with you! Hopefully I won't be burning the midnight oil to late again tonight :)...

IF- Atmosphere

The atmosphere during story time was electric with the children's wild imaginings of fantastic, underwater worlds.

This is an older plasticine illustration, but a real favorite.  I thought it would be a fun fit for this week's IF theme atmosphere.

:)

Dog Days of Summer

"Dog Days...First jump off the dock with the encouragement of big brother"

I arrived home yesterday evening after 4 days of awesome productivity at my cottage! I worked my butt off and managed to complete 3 new plasticine illustrations, and start on the background of a 4th!! Yipeeee!! It was so nice to really get into the groove and get lost in my work for hours at a time with the music cranked and the creativity flowing. My wonderful hubby held down the fort and was sweet to send updates via text message so I didn't feel too out of the loop.

The illustration you see above was based on this months "Dog Days" theme over at the We Love To Illustrate for Children Group Blog . It is so fabulous of the ladies over there to open up the floor to all of there followers, and encourage their participation...such fun. And it is really cool to see everybody's interpretation of this month's theme.

I hope you like it! Dog Days made me think of those hot summer days at the cottage watching the kids learn new things like taking that very first leap off the dock into the deeper water. It is aways so heart-warming to see siblings offer encouragement and support to the younger ones. It is a universal " moment" I know all parents of multiple kiddies savour, as it often only last a little while and then they are back to bugging each other (geesh).

Snorkel boy, bird feeding frenzy...and other random cottage snaps...

After beautiful sunny weather all week at the cottage, we were hit with torrential rain on Sunday...all day. After trying to entertain the kiddies inside for the day with baking, crafts etc, we decided to head home a day early :(.  We had a menagerie of birdy families visit our dock...maybe they spread the word to each other that our dock was "the spot" for free cracker and bread crumbs??? We had ducks, mergansers( see above) and  even one lone ducky who was brave enough to swim around with my boys in the water.

 

My second youngest amazed us all, he is only 4 yrs. old, but he was swimming all around the bay with my hubby in his snorkel, mask and fins....my little fishy.

I got a cool photo of this gigantic dragon fly. Not to bad for a point and shoot camera....oh I can't wait to buy a Canon DSLR soon. This little guy would make a great sketch!

I also snapped a photo of the flower box on the boathouse....flowers in full bloom are so pretty.

We had a great time at the cottage and I am very lucky( thank-you my most wonderful hubby!!) to be going up again this Friday for a few day SOLO...yes that's right...by MYSELF!!! Yippeee! My hubby is "manning the fort" for a few days to let me go up north for some uninterrupted "art time" to get some portfolio pieces finished. Then I can hopefully get my website up and running??!!

Rachelle Anne Miller Giveaway!!!

Rachelle Anne Miller is having an adorable giveaway over at her blog here. She is an amazing illustrator (one of my favorites actually) and does the most adorable artwork...if you haven't seen her work before then here is your chance! Hurray on over to her blog as she is offering a great giveaway until this Wednesday...if you comment on her blog you get a chance to win one of these super cute backpacks from Dante Beatrix.  Aren't they so adorable? And they come with the most hilarious names! Enjoy! 

Going to the cottage for a week!

I haven't been able to post as much as I would like this summer, as the hustle and bustle of having everyone home has left me little time for blogging and artwork. But as summer is quickly evaporating, we have decided to go up north for a week or so with the kids to soak up some sunshine, and get water logged in the lake.
Then the following week I plan to return SOLO :) for a few days, to get some artwork completed. It will be so refreshing to get up north again!!! Yipppeeee!!
So I guess I should get starting folding my piles of laundry so I can get packing- argggg
I also wanted to wish all my fellow Canadians a Happy Civic Holiday today!! Yeah long weekend! :)
See you in a week or so!