August 2010 VT & HT Messages

Both the Visiting Teaching & the Home Teaching Messages this month are on temples.  We got our creative experts together and decided that we wanted to do something a little bit nicer for both messages this month... so here they are:

Visiting Teaching Message:
All wrapped up inside this beautiful floral print paper is the VT message along with a book mark that reads: "Always Temple Worthy" and a pretty little charm of the Salt Lake Temple.  A nice keepsake your sisters are sure to love!  {How easy would it be to add this charm to a necklace or a bracelet?}

  

 

Home Teaching Message:

For the HT message, we went along with the same keepsake thought and created a postcard magnet of the Salt Lake Temple.  The postcard magnet and message are all wrapped up in cellophane and tied off with a lavender bow and a gift tag.

 

 

Both of these messages are available in-store and online all month long.  Hurry, they are sure to go fast!

{Also available is just the temple postcard... be sure to check it out!}

New Decoupage: Transforming Your Home with Paper, Glue, and Scissors by Durwin Rice

Decoupage is pretty fun. It’s fun to look for just the right images and colors and fit them all together. I made a couple of pieces as gifts and one for myself and I enjoyed doing it, but I did not know about this book at the time and I didn’t have any instructions. I just dove into the project and didn’t know the right kind of glue and if my project needed a sealant. Durwin Rice is the acknowledged expert on the art of decoupage. He leaves behind the tedious methods of Victorian decoupage and brings the art into the present, making it fun and easy. I own his book now and when I do another decoupage project, I will know exactly what to do. With decoupage you can make a beautiful work of art for your home for not very much money. I love hearts and cherries so I incorporated both into the decoupage piece I made for my home.

QUICK LINKS:
New Decoupage: Transforming Your Home with Paper, Glue, and Scissors
Click here to see a great selection of decoupage books and supplies

Sunday Sweets: Fabulous Faux Flowers

The next time you see "fresh flowers" on a cake, look more closely. They might actually be gumpaste.

Made by LynnInSingapore

I love the yellow and purple flowers on this one. I'm not very good with all the names, but I think they're daisies. And the photography is stunning, too.

Made by Abbie Tabbie

These aren't on a cake yet, but I thought Abbie's work on that top flower was especially fantastic. (Pretty sure it's a daisy.) Check out the blending of the pale green!

Next, we have the work of Ellen Bartlett:

She makes a mean daisy.

See more of Ellen's work at Cakes To Remember

You know you're dealing with skilled artisans when you have to email them to make sure the flowers aren't real. (I did. They aren't.)

Our next cakes were made by Lyndsey Gamble:

I love the big bunches of flowers. Daisies.

Not only are the flowers fantastic, but check out the lace and ribbon work! (Yes, those are sugar, too.)

I love the contrast between the orange and the purple.

Just look at the veining in the petals! Wow. Those are some sweet daisies.

Such a cool design: the minimalism of the cake makes the flower burst really "pop."

See more of Lyndsey's work at Elegantly Iced

As a guy who's spent the last three years staring at some the of the best and worst cakes in the world, I often wish that I could go back to our wedding day and get a more memorable cake. Of course, knowing Jen, we'd then have to choose between a beautiful cake like this - only covered in poppies - or a perfect scale model of a Borg cube inscribed with "Resistance is futile."

Speaking of which, we're looking for more Sci-Fi Sweets! So if you have one to nominate, be sure to send it to sundaysweets (at) cakewrecks.com. Thanks, and wreck on!