The online portfolio of Page Redford
Happy Friday! And a warm welcome to my newest postcard design! This is part of a new set of postcards I recently made available in my Etsy Shop! Cards are glossy on the front and matte on the back for easy writing. Just add postage and drop in the mail…they also make fun artwork for your home or office…and fit perfectly in a 4x6inch frame.
Working on a new typographic illustration for Valentines Day! I hope to color this and make it into cards and prints. 
I thought I would try something fun this year for Valentine’s Day. I’ve been spending the last few days making tons of Heart Pieces pinback buttons, so I thought I ought to keep the theme going through the weekend. I made these adorable Heart-Filled cupcakes and I want to share the recipe with you!
The perfect Valentine’s Day treat!
Last year I made some Star Wars cutout cookies that were delicious, but a little tricky to make. I’ve seen some similar recipes online to the one I made tonight, but I thought I would give it a go. So grab your aprons and let’s get started!
STEP 1 GATHER YOUR SUPPLIES:
I got most items from Trader Joe’s. Of course!
1 Box Trader Joe’s Vanilla Cake Mix (it has real vanilla bean flecks in it!)
2 Eggs
1 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Oil (recipe called for butter, but I wanted a lighter color)
Red Food Coloring (I used magenta gel food coloring. I would not recommend it)
Nonstick Cooking Spray
Frosting
Cupcake liners
Sprinkles (optional)
Small heart-shaped cookie cutter
Sharp, small knife.
Whisk. Mine is silicon on the whisk part…brilliant idea. It works almost like a spatula too.
Non-stick baking sheet (*small one if you do 1 batch, medium or large if you make a double batch)
Cupcake baking pan
*I made a double batch because I wanted to make more than 10-or-so cupcakes. Feel free to make as many or as few as you like.
STEP 2 PREPARE THE CAKE MIX:
You can see the real vanilla bean flecks in this mix!
Preheat the oven to the temperature listed in the baking directions for your mix.
Follow the instructions for your boxed mix. Add wet ingredients together into a large bowl and blend well. Stir in dry mix until incorporated.
Once mixed, divide the batter into two parts to add food coloring to the part that will become the hearts. I divided mine in 1/2 and that seemed to be a little too much for the heart mixture. I would suggest 1/3 to be red and 2/3 to be plain. Set aside the bowl of batter that will not have coloring added to it.
Mix well before adding more color.
Take your batter and add food coloring one drop at a time and mix it until you reach the desired shade. The mix will darken slightly once baked, but I would o err on the side of “too much” food coloring so as to create enough contrast in the finished cupcakes.
This reminds me of The Shining…
Once you’ve gotten the mix to the correct shade of red, pour into a prepared non-stick pan. Spread evenly and place in oven. Bake at 375 for approximately 10-15 minutes, turning halfway through. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out mostly clean. Do not over bake as these will be baked once more inside of the cupcakes.
STEP 3 PREPARING THE CUPCAKE LINERS:
This scoop (from my protein powder) was the perfect size.
While you are waiting on the red cake to bake and cool, complete this step. Fill each cupcake liner with approximately 2 TB of batter. I used a scoop from my protein mix that measures 2TB. You can use a big spoon or ladle, but I found that this scoop worked splendidly. Placing a shallow layer of batter in the cupcake liners will help make sure that the hearts stay in place when they bake. If you were to try and insert the red hearts straight into a full tin of batter, it would make a huge mess.
STEP 4 ASSEMBLING THE HEARTS:
You could even cut out the shape with a knife, but the cookie cutter is easier.
Remove the red cake from the oven and let cool COMPLETELY. Once cool, begin cutting out small hearts to fill the cupcakes. I used the small cookie cutter shown in the photograph above. Unfortunately, I found that it was too tall for the cupcakes and ended up trimming each piece with a sharp knife.
Make enough hearts for every cupcake…and then make a few extra.
The finished hearts. You can see that they are slightly shorter than the cookie cutter. Make sure you double check that your hearts will fit inside of the cupcake paper with very (or none) of it sticking out of the top. You will want to prepare at least a dozen of these little hearts at this time and have them ready to go. The next step is a little tricky.
STEP 5 ASSEMBLING THE CUPCAKES:
Don’t go breakin’ my heart…
This step requires a little patience (and would be best with an extra set of hands). One at a time, you are going to be placing the red hearts inside the partially-filled cupcake liners. Then you will evenly pour enough batter to fill the cupcakes a little more than 3/4 full. And make sure to pour some of the batter over the heart. I used my little 2TB scoop for this part too and it helped evenly distribute the batter on either side of the heart. If you pour the batter only from one side, it is possible that the heart will fall over or even crumble. I had 2 break and crumble on me during this process, so please make sure you cut a few extra hearts ahead of time.
You’ll want to fill them a little more than this
You want to make sure that each of the hearts is facing the same direction as well. This will help make the end result much more striking. I used a mechanical pencil to make a small mark on one side of the paper liner where the middle of the heart is. That way if you were to cut right where the little line is, you would cut the heart right in half and both cupcake pieces would have a heart in them (which is what we’re trying to do!). *Once the cupcakes are frosted, it will be hard to tell where that midline is.
NOW BAKE!
Follow the package directions for the baking time. Mine took approximately 13-15 minutes with one rotation half-way through. Keep an eye on the cupcakes in the last few minutes so as not to burn them.
A few are less than perfect, but I’ll just eat those ones…
Here is what a few of my cupcakes looked like after baking. Some of them were perfect, a few of them got a little wonky. The ones that did not turn out as well either had the heart fall over during baking or just did not have enough batter in the tin. Most cupcakes turned out like the two up top.
Allow the cupcakes to cool a few minutes in the tin and then transfer to a wire rack. Cool completely.
If you have any remaining batter and hearts, make another batch.
STEP 6 DECORATE:
If you haven’t marked on the paper liner where the midline of the cupcake is, you should do that now. Again, I just used a small pencil line so that I will know where to cut to get the best result.
Now on to the fun part: decorating!
You will want to prepare your frosting. I used a pre-made frosting that I added food coloring to. You can use any type of frosting you like, but I would suggest that you apply it with a pastry bag. They’ve changed my life.
The pastry bag is a lifesaver. Perfect frosting every time!
I use disposable pastry bags from a small kit that I bought at the grocery store. I am sure somewhere like Michaels or Bed Bath and Beyond sells a fancier version, but this one works very well and doesn’t require much maintenance (and cost me about $4). You could also look online for cheaper DIY versions.
Scoop the frosting into the pastry bag and start at the outer edge of your cupcake. Work your way around the cupcake and towards the center. It should look something like soft-serve ice cream or Fro-Yo when you are done.
Pink and white swirls are easy to make.
**Optional: To achieve the lovely pink and white swirl shown on the cupcake in the middle, follow these directions. Put a little pink frosting in the pastry bag and spread it around the sides of the bag with a long spoon. Make sure it is enough to line the sides of the bag. Then open up the bag and add the white frosting. You will want a little pink frosting on the outside and lots of frosting white in the middle, then apply to the cupcakes normally. As the two colors pass through the bag, they will create the lovely swirled look.
Add sprinkles.
Mmmm. Sprinkles.
Be sure to come up with an Instagram-worthy presentation…
STEP 7 THE MOMENT OF TRUTH:
While everyone loves cupcakes, these ones are something special and you deserve to show off your handiwork!
Let them eat (cup)cakes!
Making the cut: This is where the marking on the cupcake liner will come in handy. Make sure you have a sharp knife to make this cut. I used a sharp, flat-bottomed knife that is a little larger than a paring knife. Make a quick cut and carefully separate the two halves of cupcake and remove the liner.
Perfection.
Happy “Dia De Los Muertos”, Everyone!
Today we celebrate the “Day of the Dead” with a new tote bag from Pink Toe Press! This bag was designed by Yours Truly and was hand-printed in Burbank, CA. This new bag design is currently available at Rocket Fizz Burbank and in my Etsy shop! This bag is a great tote bag for Day of the Dead, of course, but the design is great for using all year round! Bring a bag to market for your groceries or fill it with books for class. The bag itself measures 13 inches by 13 inches and is made from durable cotton canvas, so you can tote just about anything in this great Calavera Tote Bag!
This Christmas I decided to make a gift for my Honey. He generally gets the things he needs (new clothes, new games, etc.) when he needs them, so sometimes it can be hard to find the right gift in the stores. I really love old maps and globes especially, and when I found this little globe, I just knew I had to have it. I was a little disappointed in the size of this globe at first (it’s pretty small), but now that I see it on his desk, I know it was just the right size!
The lettering was designed and hand painted by me.
The words are from the Carpenters’ song “Top of the World”.
I love Printmaking. In school, my favorite classes were traditional printmaking classes. There’s something wonderful about the attention to detail and the tactical nature both in the creation of the blocks and plates, and in the prints themselves. I loved working with intaglio plates and hand-carved blocks. Unfortunately I do not have access to a studio here with some of the necessary resources…on top of that, I feel that the chemicals used in intaglio may get me in trouble if used in my residence in L.A. (I have a friend who is a potter and she has to go out of the city to fire her clay due to regulations!) Although I never used the process in school, I’ve taken up screen printing. I bought a small wooden framed Speedball starter kit a few years back and really liked it. My prints were pretty simple at the beginning, but I really loved the process.
The design was hand-drawn and screen printed.
Print measures 11 by 17 inches.
I now am very fortunate to have a very nice Screen Printing press, a wonderful gift from my wonderful boyfriend. It is a 4-color machine, and really fantastic! My only complaint is that my cats like to sleep on the platen when it’s not in use and they get pretty miffed when I use the press for printmaking. I had taken a little break from printing for a while because I “couldn’t find the time” but now I’ve made time and made this lovely little print.
The lettering was hand-drawn by yours truly. The gold leafing was added to the flourish at the bottom after printing. It was painted on by hand.
I designed this print for my wonderful boyfriend. :-)
Stay tuned to purchase these prints in my Etsy Shop and at WWW.PINKTOEPRESS.COM
This pen and ink drawing of the sun and the moon is one of my new favorites. I think I’d like to make this piece in to a tattoo (or temporary tattoo!). This was hand-drawn on paper with only a ballpoint pen. This drawing is Inspired by Italian and Mexican folk art.
There is a framed original for sale at the gallery.
Valentines Day is just a little over a week away. I can’t believe how fast this year is going already!
If you’re looking for a great gift to give that special someone in your life, mosey on over to my online shop… I’ve added a few new items that might make great gifts. If you don’t need a gift for your Valentine, perhaps you have a friend in need of a housewarming gift, a birthday, or a spring wedding to attend. These embroideries make lovely, unique gifts for anybody. If they strike your fancy, click on the links below the picture for more information.
These embroideries make great additions to a home, office, dorm room, and more… they are lightweight yet durable and can hang on most any wall!
**SPECIAL BONUS: Any orders placed during the month of February get a free “LOVE” postcard with their order.
I finished the “Love Birds” Painting! I am so pleased with how these pieces on wood turned out. I am really excited to hang this and my other pieces in the gallery! I’ll be sure to show the full painting soon.
Detail shot of the heart and birds from my “Love Birds” painting.
Well, it seems that painting on wood is my new favorite thing. It’s wonderful fun. This “Love Birds” piece will be part of the “Piece Riot” show coming up next week. This piece measures 2 feet by 2 feet and is painted on a lovely birch panel. Right now, I’d say this piece is about 80 percent done, so stay tuned to see the final piece and for several more paintings on wood panel.
Please stop by the “Piece Riot” show the 14th, 15th, 16th here in Burbank! I’d love to have you see my work in person instead of on a screen.
Page Redford 