Beatrix Potter Cake

the aftermath...

My first (solo) cake attempt "gulp" and gift to Duncan's niece, Kyra, for her first birthday. A more adorable child I am yet to meet.

Star Wars Cupcakes

Birthday Boy, Sam (aka Luke Skywalker)

Jedi Training

Nick (aka Obi-Wan)

Sophia (aka Princess Leia)

One of the best themes for any party! Birthday boy Sam's mom, Marion, was kind enough to send me some of the shots taken at the party. Totally love the ingenious pool-noodle light sabres!

Making these cupcakes was an interesting process. Most importantly I found that our living room floor doubles as a cupcake decorating factory, complete with quality control - that's you, Duncan Bell!

Anyway, I had a lot of fun with this and I think it shows :)

images courtesy of Marion Brian © 2012

Cupcakes galore!

Vanilla & White chocolate cupcakes for Father's Day

Vanilla Marshmallow cupcakes for Connor's 1st Birthday

Red Velvet cupcakes for Vaughn's 6th Birthday

 This new hobby has yielded some interesting results over the last few months and I've included some of my favourites in this post. Be sure to pop back soon, there are many more to come!

Spoiler alert: Star wars cupcakes and Beatrix Potter themed birthday cake on the way! 

Thankfully Duncan has embraced his all-important taste-testin' & spoon-lickin' responsibilities thanks to my new-found love! And the endless supply of chocolate at our house means there's always a little something sweet when the cravings hit - dangerous!

For quotes and orders, please send me an email by clicking here or leave a comment on this post with your email address and I will get back to you.

Prices vary according to design complexity, which is something we can decide on together. I do my best to accommodate all orders, but I need adequate notice ; at least a week per dozen. I can also accommodate gluten free.

Lisa...

© 2012 Tania Whiteley

Met someone really interesting yesterday who got me thinking about doing more of what I love. Despite my countless pursuits of fleeting joy, I have always loved to draw.  I rarely have enough consecutive hours allowing me to lose myself in a sheet of paper these days,  but despite the bustle, I managed to squeeze a little something out of my pen last week. Joy.

Vanilla 'Loverboy' cookies

I followed a standard recipe for sugar cookies and just added a drop of vanilla extract for some extra flavour.
Mmmm... love tastes good, especially when dunked into a hot cup of tea!

© 2012 Tania Whiteley

© 2012 Tania Whiteley

Fashion Cupcakes for Sarah's 8th Birthday

Last month I had so much fun helping Duncan’s sister-in-law decorate a magnificent Pirate cake for her 3-year-old son, Caidan. The response was overwhelming and it gave me the idea to start decorating cakes and cupcakes from home.

I’m always nervous when I begin working with a new medium, and it’s no good making something that doesn't taste as good as it looks (it should always taste better!) I am not a domestic goddess by any stretch of the imagination, so this was going to be a real challenge for me.

I used my birthday as an excuse to test my own red velvet recipe (adapted from Martha Stewart and Nigella) on some colleagues at work and I am proud to report that they have been dubbed the tastiest red velvet cupcakes to cross the Lisof threshold!  And if you’re thinking they were just being nice to me on my birthday…

…have a look at the cupcakes I made for my boss’ daughter’s 8^th birthday party - the most fashion-forward 8-year-old I know. And they tasted pretty good too!

© 2012 Tania Whiteley

© 2012 Tania Whiteley

© 2012 Tania Whiteley

my new toy - "Penny"

The Olympus Pen E-P1 - my beauty!!

image: http://www.imaging-resource.com/PRODS/EP1/ZFL14FLASH.JPG

© 2011 tania whiteley

I have pretty much had a camera attached to my hip for years. Since we met in 2006, my trusty Canon SLR and I, have been on many interesting adventures together! Sadly I dropped him while in Elands Bay in February and I just haven't been able to have him repaired. In the meantime I've been shooting on my Holga - but that has left me with the job (and expense) of processing and developing the film, followed by the task of scanning and colour correcting the images... missions.

So whilst surfing around, looking for inspiration for a project I'm planning for my 3rd years, I happened upon a camera review for the Olympus Pen E-P1. It's a 12 megapixel, compact digital camera with interchangeable lenses and full HD video capacity. Wow. Needless to say, I swiftly fell head-over-heels in love with the little guy! So, I decided, 'it's time'. I initially thought the whole 'vintagey' look was super cool, and apart from the fact that it feels so nice in my hands, it also shoots so easily and beautifully. I think it suits my needs a bit better than that bulky old boy, mister SLR. Not a waste is he, though... after a little TLC he'll be raring to go, just in time for a little stop-frame animation project I have in the works... 

Whoops, did I type that out loud?

Later ;)

Ps: I found Penny at  Kameraz, a fabulous camera dealer in Rosebank (Johannesburg). They can find you just about anything and they're a second-hand camera dealer, too... The Olympus E-P1 retails at around 7k, brand new, but I got Penny at half price, and he's barely used.

TOMS: One Day Without Shoes

Lisof bares it all for charity...

© 2011 tania whiteley

On April 5th,  Lisof joined a global community of bare-footed supporters for 'One Day Without Shoes', a social awareness campaign launched by TOMS Shoes in 2010, in favour of their One for One™ mission; for every one pair of TOMS shoes sold, one pair is donated to a child in need.

When I heard about this a couple of weeks prior (and I must credit Jessie Nossel, a third-year design student for this), I was determined to spread the word. Little did I realise how many people in South Africa were already wise to the idea. Students from Tuks and Wits also knew about the campaign, and we saw more than just 'Lisoffians' walking around barefoot! Thanks to the helpful resources provided by TOMS, there was very little to do other than to get more people on board. After showing the promo video to staff and students, we printed posters to pin up all over the Design District building, as well as Hatfield square! We also had some foot-stickers made (massive thanks to Richard Jermyn of Creative Brands for his help in getting the stickers made and delivered at such short notice!)

We were all so inspired by the initiative, that we decided to host a shoe-drive in support of 'No Shoes Day', as it has since been dubbed. We managed to collect around 500 pairs of good quality second-hand shoes for charity. Despite the damp and chilly autumn weather (hello winter!), the participatory response from staff and students was just incredible.

Thanks to everyone involved for the support! Next year's ODWS is going to be even bigger!

© 2011 tania whiteley

© 2011 tania whiteley

© 2011 tania whiteley

© 2011 tania whiteley

 

 

© 2011 tania whiteley

 

 These shots were taken around 9am in the morning, but we continued collecting shoes throughout the day and also for days after... a truly profound response from both students and staff. Around 500 pairs collected!

elands bay...

My favourite place in the world...

© 2010 tania whiteley

© 2010 tania whiteley

© 2010 tania whiteley

© 2010 tania whiteley

© 2010 tania whiteley

I admit I am not exactly the most devout blogger around. I suppose time is a rare commodity for any chronic procrastinating-workaholic-perfectionist. However, I have decided to change my ways and promise to deliver a proper update in due course... I have much to share with you!

In the interim, I hope you enjoy this series of photographs I took last weekend in Elands Bay, following the Design Indaba. Needless to say, I was feeling pretty inspired - in more ways than one. Anon.

Marike

© 2011 Tania Whiteley

My beautiful friend, contemplating life.

the kitchen sink...

© 2010 Tania Whiteley

...of the house I grew up in.

you can find me up here

losing your marbles

featured in Migrate magazine

phantasmagori-folk

illustrations for Migrate Magazine

Coming out of the Starship Closet

[ Illustration for Migrate Magazine ]

 

© 2010 Tania Whiteley

  Title page for an article written by Alison Hingle for Migrate Magazine...

MIGRATE - Obsess

 

© 2010 Tania Whiteley

Thank you to the über-talented Alison Hingle, and Creative Director Roanna Williams (I want to be an Astronaut) of Migrate magazine for including me once again.

When I heard about the theme of the latest issue 12: “Obsess”, I was super excited to contribute! I'm sure you can tell I had a lot of fun with it - enjoy!

(Migrate is available at Exclusive Books. It features some really great work by local and international creatives. Get it - you won't regret it)

 and there she is... 

 

sneaky peek... HOT new local T-shirt label!

watch this space... that's all I'm saying...

© 2010 tania whiteley

making of/ teaser shots - Lisof shoot: Main Street Life

 

photograph: © tania whiteley

 

photograph: © zele angelides

 

photograph: © zele angelides

 

photograph: © tania whiteley 

 

photograph: © tania whiteley 

Just a couple of "making of" shots taken at a 'surprise' shoot I arranged for my 2nd year students, atop the Main Street Life building here in Johannesburg. I recruited two wonderfully talented friends, photographer Maritz Verwey and graphic designer - slash - photographer, Zelé Angelides to take some shots of the students wearing hand-printed tees (that they designed and silk-screened themselves - yes!) We were fortunate enough to be granted access to the roof for the shoot by owner and developer Jonathan Liebmann, and what an ideal location it was. We also took some out on the street. Man, i love living in the city!