BUG BITS - Cake Face

If there's one thing I love almost as much as chocolate, it is cake. It is my lighter, more spongy best friend. So you'll understand when I tell you that I was more than a bit excited when the delightful Mignon from Cake Face came my way a little while ago.

Mignon wanted to spread the word about Cake Face, and showcase her flair for bespoke wedding and special occasion cakes. In short, Mignon needed a media kit.

Here's a deliciously light, melt in your mouth taste of what we came up with:

...and the bio page:

If a taste of Cake Face is simply not enough, you can find out more here.

I never knew it was possible to create cakes like these. Mignon's gallery of cake extravaganzas really is a sight to behold. Treat yourself and take 10 mouth watering-minutes to take a look.

I am a cake face!

Jen x

Dot's Gigglespot #12

What message are you sending to your audience?

Is it relevant???

Jen x

Grammar on the Porch #10

Is it just me or do high school English classes slide further and further away with every year? Thank goodness we have "Grammar on the Porch". Good old Grammar loves to visit The Letterbug from time to time for a nice cup of tea and a natter about the English language. She knows you know - really she does. But just in case...

Image kindly supplied by Toni Grote - visit http://www.artisttonigrote.blogspot.com/ to see more of her beautiful artwork.

Good morning dears! Grammar is so pleased you've joined us here on the porch this morning. Don't you just love the scent of freesias hanging in the air on such a sunny spring morning? It reminds me of a high tea I once attended at a manor house as a young lass. My my, spring fever was in the air that day... but that's a story for another day, he he he.

Today let's chat about the past. I hope by now that Grammar has passed on some valuable tips to you here on the porch. Over the past year or so we've nattered about there, their and they're, sipped earl grey over that vs which, me vs I, its vs it's and many more grammatical conundrums. Well, here's another beauty for you to consider...

Past vs Passed

Which past/passed is which? How do we use them? What time is morning tea?? Sorry dears, ignore that last question! Let Grammar shed some light on these two words for you:

Past - the word 'past' locates something in time or space. It can be an adjective, a noun, an adverb or a preposition. Following is an explanation and examples of each.

Past – adjective: gone by or elapsed in time
- It was a bad time, but it's all past now.
- the past glories of the boot-scooting craze.
- during the past year.
- three past presidents of the bowls club.

Past – noun: the time gone by
- Grandpa could remember events far back in the past.
- our bowls club's glorious past.
- Sometimes it's better to forget the past.
- That tattoo is a reminder of the past.
- When he left prison, he put his past behind him.

Past – adverb: so as to pass by or beyond
- The parade marched past.

Past – preposition: beyond in time; later than; after
- It's past midnight; nearly half past twelve!
- The pub is just past the petrol station.
- We went past your house by mistake.
- Grammar is past the maximum age for sky-diving.

Passed - is the past participle of the verb 'to pass'.
- To proceed, move forward, depart; to cause to do this. This can refer to movement forwards in time, in space, or in life (such as 'to pass an examination').
- The car passed us at extremely high speed
- I passed all of my exams
- He passed the basketball with an effortless flick of his wrist.
- The time passed so slowly while you were away.

Now then Grammar hopes that this will help to clarify the different uses of the words past and passed. Speaking of which, it is high time you passed the Tim Tams over to Grammar - all of this chit chat has made me hungry. Who would have thought, eh?!

See you next time...

BUG BITS - Lumina Motion Pictures

The Letterbug loves weddings, so while we're on a roll with wedding projects let me tell you about the project that made me cry. Often. I cried a lot while this project was on the go.

Richelle and Shane Kerr from Lumina Motion Pictures create the most beautiful wedding day films that I have ever clapped eyes on. These are not your average daggy wedding day videos, people! These are film-clips, motion pictures - beautiful, joyful, cinematic love-stories.

And every time I flitted over to the Lumina website and watched a teaser of their work, IT MADE ME CRY!

I don't know the brides or grooms featured in any of Shane and Richelle's work, but apparently it doesn't matter if the film is created by skillful cinematographers who share a love of weddings...

..sniff.

So anyway, Richelle and Shane wanted me to write a communication for them that outlined the different packages offered by Lumina Motion Pictures. Along with this we also needed to get the message across to brides and grooms-to-be that Lumina does weddings like no other videographer can. Have I mentioned the whole crying thing yet??

Here's a snippet of what we came up with:

For more information about Lumina Motion Pictures, click here.

I can't help myself, I simply HAD to include one of Richelle and Shane's gorgeous clips here at the Letterbug too. Enjoy!

Jen x

Kelly & Steven from Lumina Motion Pictures on Vimeo.

BUG BITS - Polka Dot Bride

I am quite a curious person, so you can imagine the effect it had on me when I took on a writing project for an anonymous blogger! The deliciously elusive Ms Polka Dot recently asked me to give her a hand while she worked through the super-exciting task of revamping her blog, Polka Dot Bride.

We worked on a range of different writing projects, one of which was an email to her advertisers to introduce the new look Polka Dot Bride. The vast new site has SO much to offer anyone interested in weddings. The key for this project was to outline all of the necessary information in a way that a) made sense, b) was easy to read, and c) didn't completely bamboozle the reader.

Here's a confetti-coated snippety snip of the email we put together:

This email goes on to cover many more fantastic features, all of which are now firmly in place at Polka Dot Bride. To go and explore this treasure trove of weddings, click here.

Note: Can you believe I still have NO idea about Ms Polka Dot's identity?! I can tell you that she is delightful, clever and witty. Her ability to sift out the most beautiful wedding inspirations is amazing, and she is about as intriguing as they come. I am just as curious now as I was before this project came about. Thanks Ms Polka Dot!

Jen x

Dot's Gigglespot #11

Wow! The Australian Army must have some really awesome camouflage painters...

Amazing!
We've missed you Dot - come back with more giggles soon.
xx

Grammar on the Porch #9

Is it just me or do high school English classes slide further and further away with every year? Thank goodness we have "Grammar on the Porch". Good old Grammar loves to visit The Letterbug from time to time for a nice cup of tea and a natter about the English language. She knows you know - really she does. But just in case...

Image kindly supplied by Toni Grote - visit http://www.artisttonigrote.blogspot.com/ to see more of her beautiful artwork.

When the porch is ravaged by wind and rain for weeks on end, Grammar doesn't visit much. It's been awhile, but with just a hint of spring in the air Grammar thought she ought to pop in for a quick cup of tea and a chat.

There are numerous words in the English language that sound the same as each other in speech, but have their own unique spelling. These words are used with ease when talking, but often bring our writing to an abrupt halt as we puzzle over which is the correct spelling for our particular purpose.

Grammar is going to set the record straight on a couple of these words this afternoon, while we wait for our English Breakfast to draw...

Practice vs. Practise

Which spelling is correct? Which word do we use when? You mean there is more than one spelling???

If you've ever stumbled over 'practice' and 'practise', I have the simplest of solutions. You will never mix up these two little lovelies again! So here it is:

Practice is a noun, a thing. Something you can put 'the' in front of. E.G. I have an appointment at the medical practice in 20 minutes.

Practise is a verb, an action. A doing word. E.G. If I am ever going to get faster at knitting I need to practise.

So how can we remember which practice is which? Easy!

'ICE' is a cold slippery thing, whereas 'ISE' is not a thing.
So, just remember that practice is a thing and practise is a doing word:

"The only thing Grammar doesn't like about bowls practice is practising her drive."

Special bonus extra from Grammar: Another similar confusion is advice and advise. Fortunately, the same rules apply.

Now then, that breeze is going right through me out here on the porch. Grammar's going to nip inside with an Iced Vo-Vo and a nice brew.

See you soon!