Cookies with Sweetambs!

Where has the time gone?  Oh, I know...to the kids and the cookies.  Yup, it's been a bit hectic.  I've learned a bunch of new things, including just how many cookies I can handle per week.  That was NOT a fun lesson, but a lesson well learned.  So, I'm going back in time to April so I can discuss the amazing class I took with Amber from Sweetambs !!

I've always loved drooling over Amber's cookie designs, so when I came across her post about teaching a weekend class at Mother of Cakes, in PA...I had to do it.  And it was a win-win situation, since my in-laws live 20 minutes from there and could help watch the Peas for me! 

The Mother of Cakes Academy was a really nice space to work in, and the staff were wonderful!  It was such a refreshing feeling to be in room with 17 other people that love cookie decorating as much as you!  Amber was her usual amazing self.  Over the 2 day course, she taught us about her cookie and icing recipes (yum!!!), as well as border, quilting and filigree techniques.  Here are some photos that I took throughout the 2-day class (I am NOT a camera phone genius, so these photos aren't the best quality!)...

Amber prepping before class

Flooding 101

 

Working on quilting and royal icing transfers

 

End of Day 1 (wet-on-wet techniques, quilting, and filigree (my nemesis)!

 

Day 2...filled with "detailing" (brush embroidering, basket weave, etc)

 

The final products!!

 

 

Thank you Amber!  I had an awesome time!! 

 

Amber recently opened up her own studio on Beacon, NY.  If you're interested in taking a class, check out her page .  Maybe I'll see you there!

 

 

The good, the bad and the crunchy

In a perfect world, beautiful designs would just pour out of my squeeze bottles onto my cookies...all the time.  In reality, I mess up...a lot.  That's why I make a couple of extra cookies with each order.  I almost always mess up at least one cookie.  I never post about it because the end result seems to turn out nice, and no one knows about the few "oops" cookies! 

Well, I have to post about a big order "oops" that happened recently.  One of my good friends (and really, if I had to mess up, I'm glad it was for a friend so we can both laugh about it now) placed an order for Cub Scouts cookies.  She really liked the Chocolate Chip Roll-Out Cookies I did back in December, so she asked if I could make them instead of my normal vanilla sugar cookies.  Sure, no problem. 

I also took this time to try out my new airbrush machine.  My friend needed some filler cookies to go along with the Cub Scout logo cookies, so I had an idea in my head that I wanted to try...and she's my friend, so I wanted to make them super cool with my awesome airbrush machine that I have never tried.  I probably should have gotten a few airbrushed cookies under my belt before I did this...but I digress...

The Cub Scout logo was pretty difficult.  I just couldn't seem to have a vision of how the layers of icing should work.  And for some reason, the blue airbrush coloring didn't dry as evenly as the gold did.  So, for my perfectionist self, they didn't live up to my standards...I was not happy.  Okay (holding my breath)...here they are:

 

I love my friend.  She still said they were awesome, even though I KNOW she's seen better from me.  I felt a little better, until...

 

I got a text from her that the cookies were a bit "hard".  Well, "a bit" is an understatement.  I don't know what happened.  The cookies tasted fine without the icing, but sometime after I iced them they made a turn for the worse.  She was already at the Cub Scout event,  where all of the parents and kids had an opportunity to try the cookies.  I was so upset!  She told me that one kid went over to his mom with a tiger cookie and said, "Look how cool!!  You can eat it, but be careful not to break a tooth"!

 

Ugh.  Epic fail.  Well, at least we can laugh about it now.  And the chocolate chip cookies are out until I can figure out what happened!!

My New Buddy

This is my new buddy:

Mr. Dehydrator

 

I recently came across the subject of dehydrators on one of my favorite blogs (LilaLoa).  Wait.  How did I miss this important piece of information?!  It's supposed to keep the cookies a bit shinier, dry them faster AND prevent cratering?  Buddy, where have you been for the past 2 years!

 

After researching the different brands and sizes, I decided on the L'Equip 528 Dehydrator.  It has 6 rectangular trays and it seemed to be easy to work with.  It definitely didn't disappoint.  All I have to do is plug it in, set it to the lowest setting (95 degrees) and turn it on.  Easy Peasy.

 

Here's my buddy in action:

 

 

I really should have taken photos of the same cookie air-dried vs. using the dehydrator...good thing Bake at 350 did it!  There is definitely a difference with the amount of shine.  Now, I didn't leave my cookies in for more than 20 minutes per layer, so maybe I could have achieved a shinier cookie...but I was very afraid of them drying out.  After a taste-test, I was able to rule that out too.  Not dry.  Still yummy!

 

My buddy also helped me save A LOT of time decorating!!  Let's use my fun spring cookies (with character designs by Dorky Prints)...

 

 

Without my Buddy, my first step would be to "base" the cookies (flood the cookie with a solid color of icing to create a "base" for my design).  This would usually need to sit overnight, or at LEAST a few hours to allow the icing to set and harden.  Usually I'd do this at night, then in the morning start the next layer, which would be the start of the design.  For the sheep, I'd do the white first, let that dry for another hour before putting the gray on top.  Then I'd wait again to start the watering can, which needs to dry about 15-20 minutes between each piece, so the icing wouldn't run together and create a "glob" of a watering can.  See how all of this adds up?

 

These cookies were done with my new Buddy.  I based the cookies and popped them in my Buddy as I completed them, then I would start taking them out after 20 minutes.  Now, they wouldn't be completely dry all the way through...

 

 

If I pushed down on the icing, I would get an indentation, like the picture above.  BUT, the cookies were dry to the touch, which is all I needed to begin my design on top!  And so begins the assembly line...add a layer, put it in the dehydrator, and by the time the tray is filled, I can start taking out the first cookie and add another layer on top!  MUCH faster!!

 

Normally, when I'm working with small spaces, I get something called cratering (holes in my icing)...you can read about it on Sweetopia's blog.  It's very frustrating and I could never figure out how to prevent it.  My Buddy to the rescue!  I worked on 3 different orders using the dehydrator and NONE of them had craters!!

 

Look Mom, no craters...

 



 

My Buddy has been an excellent addition to the cookie family!





Valentine's Day

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!  I think that if I add "belated" before everything, it would sum up my life right now.  All of this snow is not helping!  Between the Peas being sick and all of these snow days / delayed openings, a girl can go out of her mind!  This photo about sums it up...

The Pea on the left is clearly upset because he couldn't find matching flip flops to wear.  In winter.

And Baby Pea has just pooped through her outfit, that had been on her body for all of 5 minutes.  I shoved burp cloths behind her to avoid a mess on the couch.  Yup. 

 

Somehow I managed to get some Valentine's Day cookies done!  I created little mini hearts for the neighbors and teachers...

 

 

Luckily, my Preschool Pea's Valentine's party was postponed due to snow, so I was able to get these little Valentines done just in time...

 





I found these cuties as a digital clip art set from Dorky Prints.  Love them!!

Quartermania Cookies

The first Quartermania was a success!  This event was a fundraiser for the Bristol Lions Softball team.  I created 4 auction baskets, one of which I forgot to take a photo of!  I had created cookie pops of the Lady Lions logo.  They turned out really cute, but I guess I had too many late nights decorating cookies, which resulted in memory loss.  Ahhh well, at least I took photos of the other items!

The first item was my "Six More Weeks" platter...

Cardinals, Snowy Bird Houses and Holly Leaves

(bird house cookies inspired by Haniela's)

 

The second item was the "Peacock Platter"...

 

(Awesome tutorial by Montreal Confections )

And I was able to try out my new airbrush!!

 

The third item was my "Henna-Inspired Valentine's Box"...

 

 

And of course, my fourth item was the Cookie Pop display.  No photo.  Oye...I won't make that mistake again!

 

We also had a table, where we could give out our info and sell other items.  My Cookie Canvases went over really well...more on those in a future blog entry!  I also created these "Mini" Peacocks for sale.  I loved the platter so much that I had to make a smaller version!!

 

 

Unfortunately, the next two Quartermanias were canceled.  BUT, I just signed up for a new one at the end of March!  More details to come!







Criss Cross

April and May were just C.R.A.Z.Y...too many Cross cookies to count (I was going "cross" eyed)!!  I was so thankful for all of the Communion orders, but I thought my hand was going to fall off!

I needed an order to get my creative juices flowing...and as luck would have it, I got one!  Now, this did end up being a Communion order, BUT unique.  I had a customer who contacted me and gave some unique descriptions of her son (nicknames, interests, etc)...and here was my creation:

Karate Frogs!!

 

This young man (nicked name froggy as a baby), was not only celebrating his Communion, but also he orange belt in karate!!  Congratulations!! 

 

 

(For those of you who know me, you know that I love frogs...so this was especially fun for me).

Oops...

Okay, we're going to forget the last few months happened.  I've been a pregnant, chaotic mess.  We now know that Pea #4 will be a girl, and she is due to arrive on October 4th (at least, that's when the C-section is scheduled).  All of the peas are excited, especially Pea #1 because she will now have a sister.  Our family will now end in a tie...2 boys and 2 girls (well, unless you count the dog...then girls win!). 

So, the past few months have revolved around lots of cookie orders!  I will get to all of them, but I will start with the end of the school year...

I decided to make my daughter's teachers some fun cookies as part of their gifts.  As usual, Sweet Sugarbelle has AMAZING ideas and tutorials, so I looked to her blog for inspiration.  She never lets me down...here is one of her posts on the cute cookies I made...

The apple cookies needed a little something extra, so I made some caterpillars.  I LOVED the "Bookworm" cookies and just had to try them!  So fun!

Over the next couple of weeks, I will add more of my cookie creations.  Thanks for looking!

News!

Well, it's been a crazy couple of months for me.  I have been receiving more cookie orders, which has been wonderful!  I also have other news....

Yup, there's another pea that will be joining our family in October!  It was a shock, but we're very excited and happy!  Stay tuned to hear if it will be a boy or girl pea!!

Last Tuesday we returned from a great trip to Florida!  My parents live down there, so we were able to relax and check out some places we wanted to see (Legoland, Lowry Park Zoo, etc).  Just a quick tip:  DON'T go to Legoland on Good Friday.  EVER.  The Peas had a great time, but it was ridiculously crowded.

I had three cookie orders to finish in three days...a bit scary, but I got them done!  Here they are...

 

Pirate Birthday Party

 

 

Painter Palette for a Birthday Party

 

 

Madagascar Themed Birthday Party

 

This weekend I'll post about the bowling cookies I'm making for Saturday...then it's Communion time!!  Tons of cookies to make for Communions.  Luckily, my orders don't have Communion on the same weekend...it's pretty evenly spread, starting next weekend and ending May 19th.  

 

Quartermania Tomorrow!

Tomorrow's the big day...Quartermania!!  If you want more info about the event, click here for my post.  I think I am ready.  Just need to label everything and pack up all my goodies. 

Two of my auctions will be cookie baskets...here's a preview of them:

Spring theme...

St. Patrick's Day theme...

 

I hope to see you there tomorrow!  Just remember to tell the person at the door that you're here to see Three Peas and a Dog!

Happy Belated Valentine's Day!

I hope everyone had a nice Valentine's Day!  It was a close one, but I was able to get all my heart cookies done for the Peas' classes!  I think I was happier with how the larger love bugs came out...

I'm sorry I've been MIA, but it's been a bit crazy around here!  Now that it's calmed down a bit (hopefully), I am going to catch up on sewing inventory (and maybe cleaning and laundry).  I finished two more cookie orders...Mario cookies (you can see what they look like here) and R2-D2 cookies...

 

The R2-D2 cookies were new for me...and fun to make!  A huge thank you to Sweet Sugarbelle's tutorial on how to make these cute cookies!

 

Communion season is coming up, so I've started practicing some cross designs.  I have a few orders already, so I need to be prepared!  I think I've figured out the cross design for the girls, so now onto the boys!

 

 

Okay...I'm exhausted!  Until tomorrow...



Surprise party cookies

Last week I mentioned that I was making cookies for a surprise party (find that post here)...the party was today, so now I can post the rest of the cookies!!

Starfish

Surfboard #1

Surfboard #2

Surfboard #3

Sea Turtles

 

As you can tell, the party was a luau theme.  I loved making all of these designs, but I think my favorite was the sea turtle!

 

Coming up this week...

 

Valentine's cookies

Mario cookies

R2D2 cookies



Cookie Crazy!

Phew!  It's been a busy week!!  I've finished an order for a surprise party, and I have two more orders (plus mass amounts of Valentine's Love Bugs) for next week!  Communion season is also coming up, and I am starting to finalize my Cross Cookie designs.  Lots to think about...too bad laundry and cleaning aren't part of my thought process.  Sorry family.

Here is a sneak peek at the surprise party order...can you guess what the theme is?

 

Tonight I will be bagging and tagging these cute cookies...I will post the others this weekend.  Next weeks orders will include Mario and R2D2.  I'm super excited to work on them!

 

Now it's time to get to the bus stop to pick up the oldest Pea.  Here's to hoping I can get her to sit down and get her homework done...

Love Bugs

Between the scrapbooking crop yesterday and Superbowl Sunday today, it was the perfect time to keep experimenting with my Valentine's Day cookies!  I served up some love bugs and lace hearts yesterday, and I will be doing the same today...

 

I also made larger heart cookies...I'm thinking the love bugs might be better using a larger cookie.  My goal this week is to try a larger love bug and lace cookie to see which look better...then it's mass production time! 

 

But first...Superbowl celebration and decorating cookies for a surprise party!

Just playing around...

Valentine's Day is coming up, so I thought I'd play around with some cookie ideas!  I have a plan to make some conversation hearts, but I was also intrigued with lace.  Sweet Sugarbelle has another great tutorial...this one about piping lace onto cookies! 

Here are my first experiments...

 

They were a lot of fun to make, but I think next time I will use a slightly larger decorating tip...the #0 tip I used showed EVERY little shake of my hand!

 

I think I will make these, along with the conversation hearts, for the Peas' school Valentine gifts.  Fun!

 

 

 



Birthday cookies!

Now I need to focus on something else besides my photos...I know!  Cookies!  I had two orders for today, both for birthday parties.  The first order was wrapped yesterday, 2 dozen in all.  Here they are, ready to go...

Day 24:

The next batch to go out was a dozen Lalaloopsy cookies.  This was my first time making them.  They were a lot of fun, and the tutorial from Sweet Sugarbelle was a huge help!  I would definitely make them again!

Day 25:

 

Next up is a surprise party!  I will post about that order AFTER the party happens...I don't want to be the one to blow a surprise!  You'll be hearing more about that in a couple of weeks.