Portrait Custom Cookies

Last year, when someone called me and said, "can you please make a cookie of my daughter?", I shivered in my boots. 

I used to paint and sketch portraits of people during my artistic younger days, and the responses always varied. Portraits are a sensitive topic. Regardless of one's quality of artistic skills, a portrait is really about how an artist see you. Drawing from just a photo, usually ends up with a portrait that lacks emotion and character. Unless you know the person or sketch them with them sitting in front of you, you lose a lot of realism, even if its just a cartoon of the person.

However, its never a win win situation. If you personally know subject, they might not like what you see in them, or what they see in themselves through your work. Many great artists had famous and great powered people ripped up their work as they cannot face what stares back at them in their own portrait, ... or maybe its just a really ugly portrait LOL!!!!

So you see my dilemma?  

But! I do love a challenge. I love cookie projects that is fun and challenging. A cookie that stresses me out, and makes me wonder before, during and after completion.

Little Leila's photo had her sitting in a bath tub with bubbles. (Sorry, it has taken me so long to update my blog due to a very heart breaking year which rendered me 'speechless' for a while and was so empty I had nothing to share; I had accidentally deleted Leila's photo from my files)

She is CUTE as a button. With the cool hair do and engaging big bright happy eyes, her character jumped out of the photo. I had her mum tell me more about Leila so that I can do justice to her portrait. The option of painting a realistic picture of her was, well, not a very realistic option. It would have taken me literally forever with the number of cookies she required. So I concentrated on the 2 features that popped off the photo, her eyes and her trendy little hair do :0) and made a cartoon version of little Leila.

Her mum also told me that she loved making the "LOVE" sign (how adorable is she right???)

So here they are, custom cookies of gorgeous little Leila. 

Leila and her mum were very happy with it, so I shall mark this portrait as a success!

 Little Leila

PS: found Leila's photo!!!!! view here :O)

Here's a recent portrait of little Rachel <3 with a photo of her attached.

What do you think???

Shivering in ma' boots....

Little Rachel

Its Halloween again.... Boo!

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving, a photo by Cookievonster on Flickr.

Hi everyone. here's wishing you all a happy thanksgiving weekend.
May you have great company, scrumptious food, lots of laughter
and joyous memorable moments with your family and friends.

Teachers need to feel the love sometimes too

A new year of school begins this week, but in BC, Canada, 

teachers are starting the new year by going on strike.

To be honest, I have no children, so I haven't really paid much attention to what all the hoopla's about.

But!

I believe teachers are beacons to children's future and they hold the key to tomorrow's state of humanity.  I hold teachers in the highest regard and feel that their contribution to our children and society is of the utmost importance.

Deep.....

LOL!

But! Seriously.

Teachers need to be more appreciated. 

An appreciated teacher is a happy teacher. 

A happy teacher will genuinely love their job, and if they love their job, they will give their very best at all times to every single child.

A teacher gives knowledge, shares their experiences, guides and disciplines.

A good teacher inspires, encourages, and will have a profound effect on a child's life forever.

I'd also like to thank my high school teachers from Mowbray College, Australia; 

who inspired me, guided me and positively influenced me.

Mr. O'Shea for being my rock when I began a new life in Australia as a scared little girl.

Mr. Winder who taught me individuality and that it was ok to simply be me.

And most importantly, Mr. Graham Vohmann, if by change you ever read this, I never had the chance to tell you this personally, but you were my father figure, whom I will respect and remember with fond and grateful memories, forever.

Thank you all.

Give your teachers the recognition, honor and respect they deserve.

Give your teachers the recognition, honor and respect they deserve.

"Back to School" cookie special

Order at info@cookievonster.com

Come visit me this weekend :O)

Guess where Cookievonster will be this weekend??? Come join us at the "Leila Likes" launch party. It’s going to be an AMAZING event with vendors bringing in their overstock/sample/last season KIDS products and the sales are up to 70% off!

http://www.leilalikes.com/2011/08/22/leila-likes-launch-party/

Cookievonster menu for this weekend

- mini brown butter chocolate chip cookies
- mini apricot almond oatmeal cookies
- mini peanut butter marbled chocolate and caramel cookies
- mini raspberry melting moments
- double chocolate cupcakes with butter frosting.
- fresh apple cupcake with butterscotch butter frosting.

- banana strawberry cupcakes with strawberry cream cheese frosting.

Mini 3D cookies

I was baking some custom cookies one day and had a small piece of left over shortbread cookie dough. I would have automatically thrown it into the bin but I could hear my angry grandmother's spirit yelling at me for wasting even the most microscopic amount of food.

I could also hear my dad's voice in my head repeating over and over again about sending me to Ethiopia when I was a child if I didn't finish off the last grain of rice on my plate.

So, without any thought, I just rolled it up into a ball and stuck it into the oven with the rest of the cookies that I was baking and I'd eat it. There!

Grandma would be proud!

When the cookies were done, I pulled out the tray and lo and behold!

The ball of dough... stayed in the shape of a ball!

WOAAAAA..... I had a cookie epiphany!

It was a sunny day in September, ( I don't really remember what kind of a day it was, but being that happy with my new discovering, might as well be a sunny day eh in my story telling), I thought to myself, "What can I make? What can I make????"

Thanksgiving was near so... why not mini Pumpkins????

Why not!

So I did... and I posted them on Facebook and I ended up making over 1000 mini shortbread pumpkins that October for Thanksgiving and Halloween.

I love'd them! So cute! I boxed them with some home made shredded soy wax paper and it looked like pumpkins on a field of straw :O)

Mini 3D Shortbread Pumpkins (Thanksgiving / Halloween/ Fall)

Then came the holiday season, and I thought... if I can make them into a ball.... wonder if I can make them into a box!

A box was much harder to make and trickier to mould in order to hold its shape, but it worked and I was happier than a pig in poop, because they were even CUTER than the pumpkins!

Mini 3D Shortbread Gift Boxes

My excitement led me to think.... if a shortbread dough can be made into a 3D cookie.... wonder if my Gingerbread dough would do the same too.

And... it did!

WOAAAAAA.........

Happiness!!!!!

So I made some gingerbread Christmas Puddings to go with the shortbread Gift Boxes.

Soooooo CUTE!

Mini 3D Gingerbread Christmas Puddings

By now I am addicted to coming up with ideas for mini 3D cookies.

Easter rolls up and while I was doing some research, I came across this picture of a bunny and bam!

A BUNNY, for Easter. Why not.

I tested a sample of the bunny and it looked really cute, but it also looked lonely :O(

So I decided to make him a friend.

A chicken, a cock to be exact, I tried to make a plain chic, but it looked, well, plain and simple, and I cannot do plain and simple.

I also made a bed of chocolate noodles for it to sit on so it didn't look so lost.

Mini 3D Shortbread Easter Buddies "Sam & Esther"

(Esther the bunny because its Easter; I know, it should be a cuter name but, hang on, my niece Esther, she's super cute, so Esther's a cute name; and Sam the chicken, because, it just looks like a Sam to me)

Does anyone have more ideas of mini 3D cookies for me to try out???

Drop me a note :O)

Cheers!

Please Help Cookievonster Grow

http://contest.eatdrinkbelocal.com/contest/listing/131

Hi everyone. Little favour please .... could you please take a couple of minutes to vote for Cookievonster in the "Eat Drink be local" contest and help Cookievonster grow.

The winner will receive assistance from various professionals in setting up their business with creating a logo, free membership to the Forum for Women Entrepreneurs (FWE), website audit and traffic assistance, a public relations, communications and social media consulting package, and a Fast Track website hosting package too.

This would be very valuable to the growth of my little business as these are not aspects that I am familiar with, but do require to grow Cookievonster into a proper business.

I would really appreciate it if you could take a few minutes to register with "Eat Drink be local" and vote for Cookievonster.

Every vote counts, and every vote is much appreciated.

Thank you!!!!!!!

:O)

Cheers and Have a fab day!