Chocolate Chip Cookie Cupcakes

The latest from "Cupcakes by Heather & Joanne" - a chocolate chip cupcake with vanilla frosting garnished with a mini chocolate chip cookie and mini chocolate chips.

Cupcakes + Cookies = YUM!

PS) Stay tuned for a hip new out-of-this-world collaboration between cupcakes & muffins a la Ready, Set, Craft! and Mega.Crafty! Get excited, people!

I'm knitting a teddy bear!

My Mum subscribes to Crafters Choice. For those of you that are unfamiliar, it's a book club for solely crafty and cooking books. It's pretty sweet. Through her, I got one of those deals where if I joined I could get four books for 99 cents. I jumped at the chance! The shipping was $11 - but still, four books for $12? You can't beat that!

Here's what came in the mail this week...

If you follow this blog even sort-of regularly - you know that I, along with my partner-in-crime Heather have a SERIOUS cupcake thing going on!


Now that I'm knitting, I absolutely want to learn how to crochet as well!


You know how I like quick and easy projects, and you may also remember that I'm getting a sewing machine for my birthday. I can't wait to give some of these projects a try!

Now, the final book I ordered kind of on a whim...


Look at it - it's adorable. Knitted bears! How sweet! Plus, the book gives all kinds of patterns for clothes and costumes for the bears. I ordered it will full knowledge that I am nowhere near skilled enough to knit a bear. I'm still such a knitting novice! I figured I'd keep it until I got better at knitting and could actually use it.

WRONG!

Turns out that there are patterns for "simple" "intermediate" and "advanced" bears. And you know what? The "simple" bear is just knitting, pearling, increasing, and decreasing. Amazing! I've only been working on it for two days and look how I'm doing...


You have to ignore all the floating strings - the pattern told me to leave long tails for sewing. And yes, he's missing a leg - it's in progress and will be done this evening. If all I did was knit constantly, I swear I could knit up this entire little bear in less than a day easily.

The instructions for assembling and finishing the bear are a little vague - so I'm a bit intimidated about that part. Reads like it will be more complicated than the knitting. BUT, we'll see. I'm just happy to be knitting more than scarves!

Stay tuned, you'll be seeing this little fella again soon... and hopefully he'll have two legs and a face by then! : )

Claire's Hat

I finished my second baby hat. This one actually has a home. It's heading to baby Claire in the morning.

All packaged up and ready to go!

Flower Headbands

Thank you all, so much, for your support. All of the comments, e-mails and messages have been out of this world. I truly appreciate your support as I work through this sudden change in my life.

I still don't have my blogging mojo back yet, but wanted to share something from last week. I'm teaching a jewelry/fashion art class with a friend of mine from the Y and last week we used
THIS TUTORIAL and made beautiful flower headbands!



They turned our exceptionally cute. Now all I need is the right outfit and I'm sooo rocking it out.

Chocolate Cupcakes with Vanilla Frosting...

The last 24 hours have been hard for me. I found out yesterday that I was losing my job - being laid off due to the awful economic situation that we're battling nationwide. It was a complete shock, of know fault of my own, and absolutely devastating.

I haven't been able to put much into words yet - although I plan to do so on my personal blog in the next couple of days. I do know that I am incredibly thankful for our friends and family near and far who have rallied around us to provide comfort and support during this tough time.

It's hard to know what to do first, or at all. But today when everything was still so fresh I figured - "hell, if cupcakes can't make a girl at least a little bit happier - what can?" so I went over to Heather's and we whipped up a batch of chocolate cupcakes with vanilla frosting.

Everyone agrees they're the best we've made so far. Probably because so much heart went into them.