Media Mayhem & Royal Ridiculousness

Happy Sunday! 

I have two things I’d like to share today for my weekly bloggy blithering.

First….I have something I need to get off my chest, and could really use some advice.

Then…a {little bit} of shameless bragging!  That’s okay, right?  After all, I have to share my successes too!

So…advice.  Yes, I need help!  I have a hard time admitting that I need help, but here, I am just at a loss.  For all my fellow “mompreneurs” out there, how in the world are you keeping up with all the social media networking??

I am actively promoting myself and networking via:

1 – Facebook

2 – This blog

3 – Martha Stewarts Dreamers into Doers  

4 – The Children’s Party Network

5 – Twitter @tstCookies (but haven’t been on it in like 2 weeks!)

6 – I also am constantly visiting others’ pages on all of the above and   leaving comments, “liking” them, entering contests, etc….

I can easily spend my entire day on my laptop or iphone, and I still don’t feel like I am catching it all!  All this networking has been outstanding for The Sweetest Thing!  I have almost 600 fb fans {HOLY COW!} as of this writing, have met many fabulous women, and even discovered I can use cookies as currency! I have traded cookies for {cake pops} from Dreamin’ N Details Design, an amazing {custom picture frame} from Creative Flair Art, an adorable {hand knit hat} for my daughter from Buggies Beanies…and have more in the works!

So…the problem is this:

How do I feel like I can stay on top of all these different media outlets so as not to miss opportunities, yet still maintain a balance so that I have enough time in my kitchen and with my family?

               

PLEASE, I AM BEGGING YOU TO LEAVE ME SOME SUGGESTIONS IN THE COMMENTS!

Now that I’ve said all that, it’s time for some bragging! (Do I seem modest here? I am, really!)

Huge thanks to Natalie of Southern Belle’s Charm for the referral on this job.  I was contacted by a woman to do custom cookies for a Sweet 16 party.  The party, styled by Natalie, sounds like it will be gorgeous!  Custom decorations and invitations in purple, silver, black and white….damask…rhinestones…chandeliers…so beautiful!  Anyway, the woman who called me asked if I can make a cookie to match the chandelier on the invite that Natalie designed, as well as some with the birthday girl’s monogram, E.  Of course, as usual, I said, “YES! Of course I can do that!” 

…Then I looked at the invite!

This is the chandelier and the E is a beautiful, looping font called precious.

 E

Well, of course, I had to do this, and I knew I could, I just wasn’t sure of the best technique to use yet.  For the E, I knew I had to do a pre-piped letter.  It was a challenge to keep the letter in one piece as I placed it on the cookie, but it worked!

The chandelier was more of a challenge yet!  First I tried piping in the black into the wet flood icing and manipulating it with a toothpick.  It just didn’t come out how I wanted it though.  Then I tried just using black gel icing color and hand painting the design.  Turns out, I am not that great of a painter! Lastly, I decided to try applying the black icing on top of the completely set white background.  I piped as much as I could, and used my {toothpick} to move the icing around to get the points and the extremely narrow curls the way I wanted them.  I am pretty pleased with the results and hope the birthday girl likes them too!

Oh, and since the invites have a damask print layer, I thought I’d try that as well. 

Here is the resulting set, and I sure hope Katie and Elana like them as much as I do!