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Silhouette Sketch Pen Starter Kit Special // Silhouette Portrait Giveaway

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Silhouette Portrait GIVEAWAY // It's my favorite time of the month… It's Silhouette Promotion time!! The time each month when the lovely folks at Silhouette share a fabulous deal with everyone AND I get to give one of you, my favorite friends a Silhouette Portrait of your very own!!

Silhouette Portrait Giveaway at Whipperberry

This months Silhouette Special is featuring their new Sketch Pen Starter Kit…

Silhouette's new sketch pen combos

I made a fun banner for spring with the Sketch Pens, it turned out so cute.  My kiddos walked in the door from school and asked if I had drawn it myself. They were ooooohing and awwwing, saying I did such a good job… I of course told them I did. Well, I did!! I used my Silhouette CAMEO with my new Sketch Pens. I did confess and told them that I had a little help, but they were still impressed.

Silhouette Sketch Pens

Check out the fun detail that you can create with these pens…

Silhouette Sketch pen designs

I just made this quick banner, but I can now think of all kinds of fun things I can use these pens for. How about your Project Life journal cards. Yea… totally doing that. Cards, invitations, wall art… So many fun things you could make. Silhouette has a fabulous deal this month that includes the Sketch Pen Starter Kit…

Silhouette March Promotion

Yep you got it… $269.99 for a CAMEO and a sketch pen starter kit (a $49.99 savings)  //  $139.99 for a Portrait and a sketch pen starter kit (a $79.99 savings)  //  and you can get the Sketch Pen starter kit all by it's self for just $12.99 (a $7.00 savings)

Click HERE to visit the Silhouette March Special Site and don't forget to enter WHIPPER at checkout to receive this amazing deal!!

Now, raise your hand if you would like to WIN a brand new Silhouette Portrait? You would? Well here's what you need to enter to win. Follow all the steps in the Rafflecopter box below, cross your fingers and toes, think winning thoughts and make someone else day. If you do all of that, you'll feel so good about yourself and you may get lucky and win a Portrait too!! WIN, WIN!!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

How to Protect Your Phone // iPhone 5 GIVEAWAY

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iPhone 5 GIVEAWAY // When I was a girl, one of my favorite books was a book about what people did for work. I wish I could remember what it was called or who it was by, but I don't. I loved this book!  It talked about all kinds of people doctors, teachers, engineers, but my favorite section was about the lady who worked at the telephone company. They showed her working on the lines and then where all the lines went. Several lines went to homes and businesses and then they showed a little girl talking on the phone in the car. That just blew my mind!!! Now keep in mind… this was the late 70's early 80's (yes, I know I'm dating myself…) Cell phones weren't even around as far as my young mind knew but, the idea of talking on the phone while in the car was aaaaamazing!! I thought that would be the coolest thing EVER!!! 

By the time I was in my early 20's I had my very first CELL PHONE! I had one way before any of my friends and family, because I wanted to be just like that little girl and be able to talk on the phone ANYWHERE! So, yes… My phone means a lot to me. It was one of my 1st dreams that actually came true. 

WhipperBerry's iPhone 

Over the years, phones have become smarter and as sad as it is to say… my phone is my 2nd brain at times. I don't even know my husband's new cell number… Because my phone, "Hazel" knows it for me. Hazel keeps track of all my appointments and assignments. Without her I would be even more of a mess than I already am. She is my lifeline to my kiddos, my connection to my sweetheart, she is the way I stay in contact with family who live hundreds of miles away from me. She is like life blood in the middle of an emergency, when I am scared or panicked, I know I have Hazel and she will help connect me to the person I NEED at the time. Even if that is just a reassuring word from a loved one or a game of Angry Birds to calm my nerves and pass the time. 

Where would we be without our phones? Hazel is like my 5th child. I feed her each day and make sure that she has all the power she needs. I clothe her in her protective case to hopefully preserve her life as long as possible. There is nothing worse than that feeling between dropping your phone and that long fall down, pleading with the universe… "Please don't let this time be the time my screen shatters!" My oldest daughter Hales a.k.a Lil'Whip, has an iPhone as well, and managed to drop it off a cliff a few years back. She was rappelling with the other youth from our church with her phone in her skinny jeans (I don't recommend this method of travel for poor phones.) With all of the climbing and wiggling, her phone shimmied out of her pocket and right at the worst time fell out and took the tumble of it's life. I can imagine how Hales felt as she watched her phone fall and hit rock after rock on it's way to the bottom of the cliff. Crazy as it sounds, after the fall… The phone still worked, it was just that the screen was in about a 1000 pieces. Hales never wanted to protect her phone with a case, because it wouldn't fit in her skinny jeans with the added bulk of the case. She learned her lesson that day!!

Now I know, that even if her phone had been wrapped in bubble wrap, it wouldn't have survived that fall. But, how many times a day do our phones come face to face with the concrete in the parking lot, the corner of the table, worse yet… a toddler! Some days, my only goal in life is to just keep my phone out of the toilet. So, why do we leave our phones unprotected? These are our babies, our lifelines to our loved ones. In most cases they represent a significant investment. Is it vanity? We look at the smooth sleek lines of the phone, the shiny surfaces and we don't want to cover up it's magnificence? Well, that's… dumb!  They won't look as pretty with little nicks and scratches.

Dueltekk iphone case 

Our phone is our life, why are we not protecting it? PureGear’s DualTek® Extreme Shock Cases provides the best protection against bumps, smacks, and knocks.  

For a chance to win a iPhone 5 equipped with a full line of compatible PureGear’sDualTekExtreme Shock Cases, click here and enter your email address!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of PureGear DualTek. The opinions and text are all mine.

iPad Mini & $50 iTunes Gift Card GIVEAWAY

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Easter is coming, but who said the kids are the only ones that get the good stuff in their Easter basket?

Wouldn't you love a new iPad mini?
For FREE!?

ipad-mini-giveaway
Of course you do.  And we want to give one to you!  Here's all it takes:
#1) Click on each image below and FOLLOW each web site on Pinterest

 

familyshare-Pinterest 4-men-1-lady momendeavors Im-Topsy-Turvy whipperberry-pinterest Just-between-friends utah-sweet-savings CraftaholicsAnonymous.net
#2) Fill out the form below:

*This promotion is sponsored by FamilyShare.com and is in no way affiliated with Apple, iTunes, or Pinterest.  We hereby release Pinterest and Apple, Inc. of any liability related to this promotion, the receipt of prize winnings, etc.  The giveaway will run from Friday, March 22nd at 12:01 AM MDT and ends Friday, March 29th at midnight MDT.  Once the giveaway ends, winners will be chosen using Random.org and contacted via e-mail within 24 hours. Winners will then have 48 hours to claim their prize or another winner will be chosen.  This giveaway is open worldwide except where prohibited by law.  Winners must be of full legal age in the jurisdiction in which they live.  FamilyShare is only responsible for sending out the prize.  FamilyShare is not responsible for loss, damage or theft once the prize is shipped.  Participants will be responsible for any taxes, tariffs  duties, etc. due upon delivery of the prize.

Spring Blog Hop // Link Party

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Link Party // Happy Friday!! Friday Flair is going to be an even bigger party this week. I've teamed up with some fabulous ladies for a fun Spring Blog Hop. So we are going to have all kinds of fun friends visiting.

Spring Hop Button.500x800

Now it’s time for you to share! We will be pinning your great projects, so be sure to follow each of the bloggers, there Pinterest accounts are next to their names!

 

If you are viewing this post in your email or RSS feed, you may need to pop on over to see all the great Spring projects added to the party!

Cake Decorating Made Easy

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Cake Decorating // Let's face it, we all see those amazing cakes on Pinterest and it deflates us a bit. How on earth can we create a cake so stunning. Are you less of a woman if you can't? NOT AT ALL!! I'm not a professional baker but I have found a few tricks that help to create some fun cakes for my family and friends on their special days.

WhipperBerry's Cake Decorating Secrets

This is a cake that I made for my little guy's 3rd birthday. It looks pretty and… It was pretty easy to make. Over the years I've learned a few tips to make things a little easier for those of us who aren't professional bakers / decorators. Here are a few of my secrets…

The Cake

I have made many different types of cake in my life; homemade, box mix cakes, doctored box mix cakes and I've even… bought naked cake!!

From Scratch // Homemade can be challenging if you don't have a lot of baking experience. In my early years when I was aspiring to be just like Martha, I made my first from scratch cake for a friend's party, and it was a disaster. The cake was dense and awful!! I had to go back to the drawing board on that one. After a little more practice, I can now make a much better from scratch cake, but I don't have a fabulous go to recipe just yet.

Box mixes // I have been a cooking show junky for years and many different chefs / bakers on various different shows have said that todays box mixes are as close to perfect as you can get. They say there is no need to try any other method.  I have to agree with this as well. Don't feel any shame at all when you use a box mix. You can even take a box mix to a whole new level by doctoring the mix a bit. One of my most popular posts is a post that my friend Janeen helped me create. She has an amazing recipe for a doctored chocolate cake that is DIVINE!!

WhipperBerry's Most Amazing Chocoalte Cake

Naked Cake // Here is my favorite cake secret… When in a pinch, buy naked cake from your favorite bakery. Yep, you can do that!! The week of Gage's birthday was super crazy, and I really wanted to make a fun cake for him. I just didn't have time to bake and decorate a cake so I went to the bakery at my local market and asked to buy three cake rounds. They always have cakes in the freezer waiting to be decorated. However, if you have a specific flavor in mind, you may want to call a couple of days ahead. On the fly, you kind of have to take what you can get. My bakery charged me $5 per round, not bad considering the time that was going to save me. 

The Frosting

My sweet friend Lara from Less Cake… More Frosting would say, frosting is the most important part of the cake. Others may say, they can take it or leave it. For me, you need to make sure you have a fabulous frosting. That means… steer clear of the store bought brands and learn how to make a signature frosting that can act as a good base for many different flavors. My signature frosting is my Simple Vanilla Buttercream recipe…

vanillabuttercream017

It is a perfect, easy to make frosting that even a beginner baker can't mess up. For Gage's cake I went a step further and added the paste from a vanilla bean to the frosting to make it a little extra special. I just love the little flecks of vanilla in the frosting. I order my vanilla beans from Beanilla. They have some of the best product around. Steer clear of the dried-up, stale vanilla beans you find for a premium price at the super market. 

WhipperBerry Vanilla Bean Frosting

Building the Cake

Here are the boring mechanics that many people like to skip.  Since the inception of Pinterest, there have been a ton of blogs out there who's main purpose is to see if you can recreate what you see on Pinterest. They LOVE to show-off if they have a fail and they want everyone to know that the feat is impossible. Case in point…

slide_265764_1805033_free

img source // I wish I could find the original source, I would love to show them how easy it is!

Here is how you can avoid this mess.

  1. Make sure you have a good frosting that will hold up to a layered cake. That frosting looks more like a glaze, not the type of frosting that will hold a layered cake together.
  2. Freeze your cake. A frozen cake is much easier to work with. 
  3. Trim off the dome of the cake if it has one, creating a nice flat cake. Then flip the cake over and have the bottom be the top of the cake. That way you have a nice flat surface to work with.
  4. Place a small amount of frosting on the cake plate to provide a stable base for the bottom layer.
  5. Skewer your cake. Add a few bamboo skewers to the cake to keep it stable. 
  6. Create a crumb layer. What is this you ask? You will frost the cake with a thin layer of frosting and then place in the fridge for a bit to create a clean work surface.
  7. Take your time, work clean and your cake will look like the top cake. Rushing before you've mastered a skill is the bakers worst enemy. 

IMG_5938

Decorating the Cake

Here is where the fun begins! For Gage's cake I worked in stages. First I frosted a crumb layer and then put the cake in the fridge for a bit to create a clean, solid, workable surface. Next, I frosted the smooth layer of the cake with a small off-set spatula and since the cake was cold, it made that process really easy. I then used one of my favorite tools a jumbo star decorator tip that I purchased at Sweet Baking Supply. Having the right tools makes all the difference. Those small decorator tips that you can find at your local craft store will not do the trick for this cake. You NEED to have the jumbo tips which I have only been able to find online. Then all you have to do is create a large rosette with a small circular motion. It's really easy, just practice a few times on a plate. When you have the technique down all you have to do is scrape the practice rosettes back into the frosting bowl so you don't have to waste the frosting. 

Large rosettes

Another tip… If you mess-up on a rosette, take your off-set spatula and carefully take it off the cake and start over. Frosting is very forgiving!

I found these lovely blue gum balls at Target and bought several containers because I knew I would find something to make with them. They are so pretty!  I thought they would be the perfect addition to the cake around the base and on top of the rosettes. I loved how they turned out. 

WhipperBerry Vanilla Cake

Now, hind sight being 20/20 I would've left off the polka-dot straws. I was wanting something vertical and something that showed that Gage was turning three. If I had to do it over again, I would've just stuck with the extra tall candles, but that's just me. Just keeping it real.

Now, keep in mind… I'm not a professional, far from it. These are just some of the tips and tricks that I've learned over the years that have made my cake decorating what it is. I hope they can inspire you to try something fun and different the next time your loved ones have something to celebrate!

What are some tips, tricks or secrets that you've learned when it comes to cake decorating? Let's all take a minute to share, so we can all become EXPERT cake decorators.