Thank You Cupcake

I've spent a semester working on my first project with my first architecture firm and have been relocated as of tomorrow. It's daunting heading into place where you will belong at the bottom of the ladder for some time due to incompetency of how things work in the workplace and knowledge in general. 

There's a threshold one has to pass upon starting at a new place, when productivity outweighs needing to be taught and I think it is safe to say I'm very well on my way to feeling comfortable doing what I'm asked to do as a student employee. 

I can't imagine the burden I would have been at times when it came to crunch time where people just wanted things to get finished and I sat infront of the computer screen like a lost child trying to comprehend what to do. For the team that helped me across into the land compentency, I'm grateful to them and are in definate need of thanks hence the Thank You Cupcake.

The only thing that makes this a Thank You Cupcake is the flag (and of course your attitude when you give it to them :D) and it is simple as to make. Tooth pick, paper, pen, scissors, glue and you're good to go.  

Flag Making Advice: The end stuck to the tooth pick should be slightly longer to be able wrap around and put glue on. 

Bake what ever cupcake you fancy and chuck the flag in there!  

Cupcake Baking Advice: Make sure you set your oven to Fan Forced not Fan Forced Grill or your cupcake will turn out looking like a pimple!

I think it's important to say 'thank you' once in a while in what sometimes seems like a thank you-less world. The people you work with aren't nobodys, they have feelings just like you. So treat them how you would like to be treated.

 

Matt Corby - Made of Stone

18 days till...

Valentines Day! or better yet, Singles Awareness Day. Regardless of whether you're single or not, have an admirer or don't, it's such an opportunity to show people that you love them. I've made a list of Valentines Day gifts to make. These are teeny tiny love letters that I'll probably end up mass producing.

During high school I went to a christian convention called KYCK, where around 4000 kids would be chucked (note: the verbs I use are sometimes quite violent, but they aren't meant negatively even in the slightest) into a massive shed. It was tradition for people to bring pegs, perhaps write a little note or a bible verse on them and secretly peg someone without them noticing. I guess this is where I got the idea from.

What you'll need:
- Scissors
- Red Felt (sometimes you find them in the bargain bins at your local fabric shop!)
- Tiny Wooden Peg (or normal sized ones, buy them for cheap at your $2 shop)
- White Paper
- Pen
- PVA glue

Simple to make as per usual:
1. Cut out a heart from the red felt
2. Write what you want on the strip of paper (important: leave some room at the beginning to put glue and WRITE SMALL!)
3. If you want to be fancy, cut the end of the strip of paper to make it look like the end of a neat ribbon
4. On the side with writing, put a thin layer of glue at the beginning of the strip of paper and stick it to the heart
5. At the end of the peg, put a thin layer of glue and stick the heart to it

So make a couple or many, give say 2-3 people 5-10 each and tell them to start love pegging!

Enjoy the song, it's beautiful!

Switchfoot - Your love is a song

from: melbourne

Here are a few happy snaps from Melbourne.

There are many things I enjoy about the captial of Victoria, waiters have a genuine willingness to serve customers, compliments are given with no hidden meaning, beautiful doors and architecture, appreciation of aesthetics, ability to experiment with different materials, and the love of good food to say the least.

Thing to try at home: growing money trees in mini tins (baby food tins perhaps)

A Melbournian place worth mentioning: The Little Creatures Dining Hall on Brunswick st.

Grab the homemade chips with garlic aioli (+ an extra aioli) and an apple cider and you're pretty much set for a cruisy lunch with a friend.

Watch out for: little artistic gems found on the streets from shop front walls to doors to the light poles.

Feeling up for a cocktail: Cookies on Swanston st. 

Make sure you go to the cocktail bar where there are kids picture books around for your entertainment. Ask for the cocktail menu and take it from there!

Emma Louise - 1000 Sundowns

Harmony to my heartbeat

Every year there is the intention of personalising every single card I send out, except it gets all too hard with all the glue and cutting out textured paper and no one ends up getting a card because I've tragically given up.

Solution: ditch the glue if possible, at most have only one object to stick down.

Doing some casual strolling through Vinnies, actually more like running away from writing on my nonexistant Christmas cards, I found these fabric Christmas bow decorations which I have a feeling are intended for Christmas trees because of their two metal things that stick out and have the ability to cling to things. They came in a pack of 10 for 50c!

Don't shy away from $2 shops and even Op-shops when it comes to scrapbooking and decorating cards, neither should you under estimate the power of the basics: textas, pens and coloured pencils. There is something quite beautiful about a handmade card, well even in this day and age a handwritten letter is a phenomenal sight. They ooze love and willingness to take time to seriously reflect on one's relationship with the recipient.

What you'll need:

- Cardboard (I used 1.5mm boxboard from the panic over buying of model making materials)

- Black pen (felt tip, inky preferable)

- Dark Green and Light Green Pencil

- Scalpel and Cutting Mat (or scissors or hole puncher depending on the thickness of cardboard)

- Bow Decoration (ribbon tied into a bow in which you'll need super glue to stick down)

- Metal Ruler

Method:

1. Cut cardboard into the size of a postcard

2. With the black pen, draw a circle of leaves to make a wreath (Tip: use a pencil to draw a circle as a guideline)

3. Colour in the leaves (Tip: keep it consistant, colouring all the inner side of the leaves dark green/light green and the other side the other colour)

4. Go over the leaves again in black pen (it makes a very big difference in how much the picture pops out of the page!)

5. With the bow pictured, make use of the two metal things by cutting two holes at the top of the wreath such that the metal can go through and tie up at the back.

5. With a bow made from a normal piece of ribbon, glue it at the top of the wreath with super glue.

Sally Seltmann - Harmony To My Heartbeat

Silhouette in dreams

I hope your preparations for Christmas are well under way! If you are bashing your head for last minute gift ideas and don't want to spend a fortune, here is a really cheap and personalised gift idea - Aluminium Embossing. You can make Christmas tree decorations, necklaces, badges.

What you'll need: (for a Christmas tree decoration)

- Scissors

- Dead Ballpoint Pen

- Aluminium Tray (the ones you use for bbqs and buy from $2 shops)

- Nice String or Ribbon

It's quite simple to make!

1. Carefully cut out your intended shape. (You can print off a google image stick it on to the aluminium as a template)

2. Decorate the aluminium by drawing with the pen. (It's better to do it over a slightly padded surface so the aluminium has room to dent)

Note: The side you draw on is not the side you present (which I did incorrectly) So if you want to write a word/s on your aluminium, you will need to write the word/s mirrored. 

Kimbra - Cameo Lover