we watched anyway...

Sure, the heat index was 108, but we still went to the Phils game.
Cheesesteak? Check.
Flying Fish beer? Check, check.
Water? Triple check.
Graham Slam ice cream...goes without saying.



The Phils had the game pretty much locked up and by the 7th inning, we called it quits. A shower never felt better that evening. But, it was so much fun.

Things have been pretty busy around here. I'm currently trying to finish this book for book club - clear it out of the way so I can put all my focus in getting my assignment done for my photog class.

My husband reminded me that I need to rechannel some of my attention back to the basement, which we're currently organizing and getting ready to turn into a multi-purpose area that's mainly a rec-room of sorts for the kids. My craft section off to one side. And, yeah...a bit of a retreat. Complete with circa 1970's wood paneling. How sweet is THAT? ;-P

So, no, sadly no layouts right now. Photog class has been my priority...getting every nickel and dime out of it, just like I did with Karen's class last year. We finished up Composition last week and I was able to learn a bit more in the realm of photo-editing, which is awesome. I learned some fun basics on photo composition last year; now, I got to build on that...by trying to incorporate more than one of those fundamentals in a photo. Here are a few of my "comp fundamentals" photos that I edited using photoshop (PS):

Frame with a Frame + Rhythm + Leading Lines

Circle + Triangle (main flower, the flower beneath the main and the flower to the right forming a triangle)


Rhythm + Leading Lines + Negative space

Rhythm

Rule of Thirds

Circle + Rhythm + Leading Lines

So...fun stuff...I'm still working with my photo editing stills. It's been slow progress, but I really enjoy tackling it when I set aside the time.

Now on to Depth of Field...and more photo-editing, of course! ;-)

On a completely random note and end to the post, what better time to chat about July 4th...other than at the END of July. (Well...I guess you could've answered with "December" and that would've been true, too).

Here are some fun, little cupcakes I made, inspired by this bakery and their Patriotic cupcakes. Yum, right? (Not sure if their World Cup Cupcakes are still up there, but if they are, you need to check them out...).

(Photos courtesy of phone...so the photos are not the best, but...trust me, these little suckers were more delish than they may look!!!) .

If you're sitting there thinking: "There's no way in heck I could make those..." THINK AGAIN. You CAN. It's many steps, but if you through each one and tackle it piece by piece, it's not so bad. Here's how:

Tools you will need: A pastry/icing bag, a pastry/icing tip with a large hole at the end (sorry, I do not know which number, but make sure it'll allow for a large, even flow of icing to come out); red, white & blue sprinkles; muffin/cupcake pans; cupcake liners; a sweet tooth. ;-)

Step 1: Make vanilla cupcakes - from scratch, if you're feeling industrious; from a good, old-fashioned box mix if you're a time-saver.

Step 2: Make a chocolate ganache filling (hmmm...no picture). Don't have a recipe? Try this one or do a google search. I promise you - there will be plenty of ganache recipes to choose from.

Step 3: Stuff those little buggers with the chocolate ganache. How? Easy! If you have an icing set, take an icing bag and find the icing tip with the biggest hole at the end that you can find (I know this is very professional of me. If you're using Wilton or Ateco, I'm not sure about the tip number...); attach the tip to the bag with a coupler. Fill the bag with the ganache. Shove the icing tip into the cupcake and fill.

Step 4: Make vanilla icing or just buy a can of the pre-made stuff. Tint it to the desired shade of blue. OR...simply leave it white if you want. Frost your cupcakes.

Step 5: Make some star-shaped sugar cookies. Yeah you can do this from scratch. OR get a tube of sugar cookie dough from the dairy section of your grocery store. Roll the dough, grab a small star cookie cutter and make your stars. Once you bake the cookies, let them cool. You can ice them like I did...leave them plain...dust the edges of them with sugar crystals. Whatever your little heart desires. Be creative. Play with it.

Step 6: Grab some sprinkles. I got a red, white & blue assortment of shapes, sugar, regular sprinkles and dumped it into a bowl. Take your frosted cupcakes and roll just the edge of it in the sprinkles. You should have a blue middle free of sprinkles when all is said and done.

Step 7: Top each cupcake with a cooled, decorated sugar cookie.

Viola!

Done.

And delicious.

What are you waiting for? Go make some (because it's still July...!). =)