Food Art: Oreo Panda Cupcakes

Learn how to make these adorable Oreo panda cupcakes! I created these with my little cousins when I was babysitting so they aren't perfect in presentation but were still fun to make :)
Ingredients Chocolate cake mix Ready to roll icing  Oreo biscuits Chocolate buttons Chocolate Spread Silver ball decorations
Method 1. I used a ready made chocolate cake mix to create the cupcakes

2. Break Oreo biscuits in half. This can be very difficult! I found that the biscuit shattered when I tried to cut them so I warmed them in the microwave for 1 minute before cutting which helped

3. To create the panda heads we used ready-to-roll icing. This was mainly for decoration as I don't recommend eating loads of icing. If you want a topping that can be eaten along with the cake you could create the heads out of cake too and cover in white chocolate or make a truffle.

4. Create a ball by rolling some icing in your hands

5. Slit either side of the top of the ball to insert ears

6. Cut a chocolate button in half and stick into the icing panda head using chocolate spread as glue. You can also use mini Oreos here instead of buttons

7. Using dark chocolate spread to create the pandas face

8. We used silver balls to decorate the eyes but you could use any chocolate you want

9. Spread some chocolate spread onto the middle of the cupcake to help stick the panda head on

10. Spread some chocolate onto the underside of the half Oreo pieces to stick on the arms

Finished!

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Where to Find Creative Design Inspiration

The internet is a BIG place. So when it comes to finding inspiration for creative projects it can seem like a daunting task and you often have to trawl through irrelevant sites before stumbling upon something really inspiring. So I thought it would be a good idea to share some of my favourite websites with you:
1. Patternity This website is one of my most recent finds and I absolutely love it! Great quality images of different patterns found around the world. As I was scrolling through I was prompted to sign up with my email address and then I was able to view the whole archive. I recommend this as I haven't been bombarded with any emails from them. http://patternity.org/

2. This Is Glamorous This is a design and lifestyle blog about the most glamourous of places and things. Beautiful photographs of luxury and exquisite design within decor, fashion, travel and food. http://www.thisisglamorous.com/

3. Trendland

Trendland delivers new ideas and style notes daily with some great imagery to go with it. Areas covered are fashion, design, photography, art, culture, music and video. I often discover new photographers and artists that I love here.

http://trendland.com/

4. Patternbank

This website gives design inspiration for print, pattern and graphics as well as supplying fashion trend forecasts.

http://patternbank.com/

5. Charlotte Audrey Owen-Meehan

This tumblr is only a recent find but if you love colour you'll love this blog too. Charlotte posts pop-culture style, brightly coloured photographs with a very contemporary feel.

http://charlotteaudreyowenmeehan.tumblr.com/

6. OBI Scrapbook Blog

If you're into vintage illustrations this site is for you. OBI brings you beautiful illustrations from old ancient books.

http://scrap.oldbookillustrations.com/

7. We Love Illustration

Another new find, this blog is a source of creative and inspiring illustrations and artwork from a range of different artists.

http://weloveillustration.tumblr.com/

8. Trend Hunter

An old favourite of mine, Trend Hunter is a great place to find even the most bizarre collection of images you could think of. A great site to use if you are searching for a particular style of photography or artwork, such as 'whimsical' or 'gothic.' It covers a large subject area from fashion and design through to technology, culture and ads. A great site to have a look through when stuck for inspiration.

http://www.trendhunter.com/

I hope you have found this post useful and have discovered new websites to find creative research on :) And if anyone else has any great sites they know of, do let me know!

Collection at Cagecity Press Release

This week I attended online store, Cagecity’s first ever press release where my collection was showcased. Cagecity is an up and coming company who provide new designers with a market to sell their handmade designs as well as selling some vintage clothing. The event was held at an underground gallery at Charing Cross and was a great way for designers, bloggers and the team to meet and network.

The venue was bright, fun and colourful and definitely eye-catching.  Free drinks were served all night, and a colourful selection of penny sweets and cupcakes was provided. Along with this, there was a nail artist and decorate-your-own-beanie stall which everyone took advantage of and it added to the creative atmosphere.

All the designers’ work was displayed on rails for people to look through and get a feel for the style of clothing available.

This is where my graduate collection was displayed and it was great to be given the exposure and opportunity to be involved:

My work was displayed as a preview to the Spring/Summer 14 capsule collection I will be creating for Cagecity next season. Head to their website to view the amazing handmade designs already on sale or to find out more about the company and their work: https://www.dresscagecity.com/index.php