We love being designers – even down to branding our family’s homemade salsa.

We have received $2000 in support over the last week! While the journey that Christ has taken us on this summer has been slow and tough, it has not lacked success or blessings. As we step forward in faith, we are confident that God will provide. Please continue to pray that we will trust Him with this endeavor. We know He is capable of things beyond our understanding.

We now have two masters in the house. A couple weeks ago I finished classes for my Masters in Visual Arts. It was quite a different experience coming from the architecture world. Artists are very self-driven, which took some getting used to. Architects are driven, but their work comes from other people. I learned two things in grad school - 1. Vocabulary for the graphic design world. 2. I am a designer, not an artist.

The best part of the year was probably planning for my thesis exhibition. My show was about the ephemeral quality of desserts and relating it to contemporary culture (read more in my artist statement). From the beginning I knew I wanted to provide sweet snacks for visitors at the gallery. I decided to replicate 2 of my sets of work – mini chocolate cupcakes and mini apple pies. They were a hit. The show went well, too! Thank you to everyone who could make it!

Mini Chocolate Cupcakes
Honestly, I used a Duncan Hines box mix for the cupcakes and they tasted so good! I did, however, whip up some cream cheese frosting. I even bought some tips to make the frosting look like the one in my artwork.

Makes enough for 4-dozen cupcakes
6-oz cream cheese, room temperature
6 tbsp butter, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla extract
1-2 tbsp milk or cream
2-3 cups confectioners’ sugar

In a large mixing bowl, cream together cream cheese and butter. Beat in vanilla and milk (start with 1 tbsp and add additional if you wish to thin the frosting), then add in the confectioners’ sugar gradually until the frosting reaches your desired consistency (make it a bit stiffer if you wish by adding additional sugar).
Fill a pastry bag with a star tip, or a ziploc bag with the corner snipped off, and pipe frosting onto cooled cupcakes.

Recipe adapted from bakingbites.com

Mini Apple Pies
Recipe adapted from www.noveleats.com/dessert/mini-apple-pies
I had 2 alterations with this recipe: I didn’t peel the apples, and I added some lemon juice in with the apples.

Thanks to the Digital Corps I had the opportunity to be certified in digital media software.  Proficiency in Photography, Visual, Web, and Rich Media Communication exams validate skills corresponding to Apple Aperture, Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, and Flash Professional software.  I want to thank Ball State Emerging Technologies for a great Graduate Assistantship and for providing such a rich and fun experience in a design workplace.