Creative Cucina

I found the recipe for this cupcake and knew I had to try it–Samoas Girl Scout Cookies are my favorite. The brown sugar cupcake recipe is excellent, as is the caramel filling (I made my own salted caramel sauce) and chocolate ganache. The coconut topping got a little too firm (I think I added too much toasted coconut–next time I’ll try a little less to keep it more runny).

I decorated some of the cupcakes with piped ganache (while it was still a little warm and liquid). The others were topped with a red fondant flower.

Notice the flour and sugar canisters in the background. I bought them from Williams Sonoma (wide mouth glass canisters) and added Stampin’ UP! Decor Elements to the front (retired Hostess set of 4–flour, sugar, coffee, and tea).

As you can see from the picture above, I formed the coconut topping into a patty and topped the cupcake. Below, I made the patty a little bigger, which was overkill in my opinion–and I really love coconut! If the topping was runnier, it would have definitely been easier to eat.

This was a test run. Now I know what I’d like to change next time I make them. My daughter’s 4th birthday party is a luau theme and this is one of the cupcakes I planned on making.

Yes, that’s right, I said ONE Of the cupcakes. Coconut is one of those ingredients people either love or hate. I’ll have a safe choice too–it will definitely involve chocolate!

I was in the mood to play with my Copic Markers so I stamped this dahlia from Fall Flair (retired Hostess set) multiple times onto Whisper White card stock. After coloring the flowers with my Copics, I sponged Baja Breeze ink around the edges with a sponge dauber. Next, I layered the white onto a 4 1/4″ square of Apricot Appeal card stock.

The base of the card is Baja Breeze, with a strip of Poppy Parade DSP from the Prints Pack (hostess level 1) across the front. I like this striped paper, and in this instance, it reminds me of the wide striped grosgrain ribbon in the new catalog.

For the sentiment, I stamped the “so glad we’re friends” stamp from Best Yet (retired Hostess set) onto whisper white and punched it out with the 1 3/4″ Circle Punch. The edges were also sponged with Baja Breeze ink and a sponge dauber, then adhered to the card with stampin dimensionals.

Whoa, I love the way this card turned out. It was very hard to part with it, but I guess I can always make another one! I love the Elegant Soiree DSP so very much–this pattern especially.

This is another Gate Fold card (see this post for measurements) using the Word Play stamp set. I especially love the “happy I do day” sentiment, which I colored with Baja Breeze and Basic Black marker. That was stamped on Very Vanilla card stock and I added a Basic Rhinestone accent to the diamond ring. The very vanilla was paper pierced before being layered with Basic Gray and Baja Breeze card stock.

The card base is Baja Breeze, and the front panels are layered with Basic Gray and Elegant Soiree DSP.  After adhering paper to the front panels, I attached the stamped portion to the left panel using a small amount of Sticky Strip. On the other side, I used a small magnetic closure.

Inside, I layered Very Vanilla on Basic Gray card stock and adhered it to the base. The sentiment is from Goody Goody Gumdrops. Across the bottom, I used some scraps to make a pocket. I put mini glue dots along the bottom and sides, keeping the top open for a gift card, money, etc.