Studio 5: Picture Perfect Cards & Plating

Oh gee...I hope my Mom isn't watching, she has a morbid fear of snakes. I mean, she won't even go in the snake building at the zoo! I will NEVER, EVER send this card to my Mom...but I did email it to a friend today who was in need of some encouragement....immediately, otherwise I would have sent in the mail!

Hope you had a chance to watch Studio 5 today, but if not, as usual, I've posted the videos here with links to my articles at the Studio 5 website. Please read my article on Photo cards and get links to all the free downloads and information. You can also access the FREE downloads here...ALL seven cards!

Editing and printing photos can be a fast and creative way to make cards. And if you're like me and belong to a card club (12 cards a month), these can be a great last-minute card to make...which is just what I did with my BIRTHDAY COLOR CARD.

So, here's my challenge to you. Start creating your own photo library with pictures you think would make great cards. I would love to see what you've created, so please email me your photo cards. If I get enough, I'll post them here on the blog.

Alright, on to Picture Perfect Plating...I promise, this is not a fussy, high-falut'n kind of plating. The principles I share with you are for the home cook...from a family dinner to a dinner party.

You can read about my four principles of good plating here. I can't resist, however, sharing the fourth principle of good plating with you here: Garnishing. Gone are the days of lemon wedges and radish roses. Today's garnishes have a few guidelines that will really help to enhance your meals.

Make sure your garnishes are edible, otherwise it's confusing and potentially embarrasing. Everything on your plate should be edible.
Also make sure your garnishes fit the meal you've prepared. Often the garnish you're using is already in your dish or similar. Repetition is a great way to pull a meal together.

Garnishes can be that finishing touch that completes a meal and covers all the notes on your palate. This is Butternut squash/carrot soup; pretty sweet. By adding a little sour cream drizzle, we constrast the sweet with tang.

With the croutons and the Frico we're contrasting the flavor with salty and the texture with crunch. Such a tasty and pretty way to garnish your meals. Of course, these are just a few examples, but visually you can see what a difference a garnish can make.

For all your paper crafters out there, think of garnishes as embellishing a meal. Was that an aha moment for you?

Studio 5 Sneak-peek winner: Heather Vincent! Congrats! Please email me with your mailing address. A lot of you had parts, but Heather had the most complete answer. Thanks everyone for participating, it's always so much fun for me to read your comments.