As I checked this eBay shop just moments ago, all the stolen photos of faux cupcakes were completely removed. I believed that the original owners have taken action, reporting this violation as well.
I find it weird (and funny, and irritating!) that this seller, after removing my photos, would still have the guts to continue to use other people's photos. Are not my "friendly" messages (which they ignored) and my eBay report serve enough warning to them?...that they MUST remove all photos they stole from other people! And that they should NEVER use other people's images and claim as their own! I can't believe that they have to wait for the other original owners to take action, before removing all the rest of stolen images.
Anyways, all is good now! Our photos were completely removed. I hope all the remaining images left there are their own property.
Thanks so much to those who contacted the other owners.
**If you wish to purchase faux cupcakes, please purchase directly from the original sellers/makers. There are a lot of faux cupcake sellers/makers you can find on Etsy. Please purchase from us there.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
Update on My Stolen Photos on eBay
The two eBay (auction) listing that used my faux cupcake photos ended yesterday and today. However, the items can still be viewed and my other fear is that this particular eBay seller may re-list them again.
Despite the couple of "friendly" messages I sent them, they refused to reply and take the images off their shop. I decided to report them to eBay since they decline to cooperate in removing my photos.
I reported the seller to eBay this morning, informing and directing them to my Etsy shop and Flickr account where they can find my original images uploaded. I'm very happy that eBay takes urgent action regarding such matter. This afternoon, I checked the eBay shop of this seller and I'm glad that my photos (and the listings where my photos were used) were completely removed.
However, this seller is still selling faux cupcakes using other people's photos. They did not remove those images. According to eBay, they cannot do anything about it unless the original owners will report it to them.
I'm still trying to find out who the other owners are so I can contact them and inform them about unauthorized use of their images.
Please check this eBy shop! And if you recognize any faux cupcakes or other items, or if you know the original owners of the images used in this shop, please kindly inform them!
Despite the couple of "friendly" messages I sent them, they refused to reply and take the images off their shop. I decided to report them to eBay since they decline to cooperate in removing my photos.
I reported the seller to eBay this morning, informing and directing them to my Etsy shop and Flickr account where they can find my original images uploaded. I'm very happy that eBay takes urgent action regarding such matter. This afternoon, I checked the eBay shop of this seller and I'm glad that my photos (and the listings where my photos were used) were completely removed.
However, this seller is still selling faux cupcakes using other people's photos. They did not remove those images. According to eBay, they cannot do anything about it unless the original owners will report it to them.
I'm still trying to find out who the other owners are so I can contact them and inform them about unauthorized use of their images.
Please check this eBy shop! And if you recognize any faux cupcakes or other items, or if you know the original owners of the images used in this shop, please kindly inform them!
Monday, June 1, 2009
An eBay Seller is Using my Photos without Permission
I developed this habit of googling "faux cupcakes" just to see if my name would come up, or to see if there are people who blogs about my creation. I'm happy about the fact that there are a few who were nice enough to feature my creations on their blogs.
But just moments ago, after googling the words "faux cupcakes", I found this particular link
Those faux cupcakes were from the first faux cupcake batch I've made. I made them as samples for my customers who were looking for wedding favors. And those plates are still sitting on my moms cabinet! See my original images here!
And that's not the only photo this eBay Seller stole. Here's another one stolen from me, my faux cupcake ornaments....which this seller would like to call **VANILLA SCENTED FAUX CUPCAKE FAB GIFT OR FAVOUR**
View my original ornament images here.
I reckoned these photos were snatched from my Etsy shop, my Flickr account or on other people's blog which featured these items. I don't really mind people using my images for blogging purposes. In fact I appreciate it. But to steal them, claim and use as their own...I'd like to call that hitting below the belt.
I already contacted this seller reagrding this matter, but I'm still waiting for their reply. If they don't wish to reply, I expect them to remove not just my photos but all the other stolen photos as well....otherwise I'll report them directly to EBay.
There are other faux cupcakes being sold by this seller, on which the images they used are not their own. Please pay this eBay seller a visit, browse through their shop and if you recognize any images or know the original owner...please, please contact them about this atrocity.
But just moments ago, after googling the words "faux cupcakes", I found this particular link
***FAUX CUPCAKES UNUSUAL AND UNIQUE PLACE SETTINGS*** on eBay ...
And for some unknown reason, my finger just clicked on it. And to my horror, there I saw the photo on my faux cupcake creations. This eBay seller stole my photo and using it as their own. I did not gave permission to use of this photo.
And that's not the only photo this eBay Seller stole. Here's another one stolen from me, my faux cupcake ornaments....which this seller would like to call **VANILLA SCENTED FAUX CUPCAKE FAB GIFT OR FAVOUR**
I reckoned these photos were snatched from my Etsy shop, my Flickr account or on other people's blog which featured these items. I don't really mind people using my images for blogging purposes. In fact I appreciate it. But to steal them, claim and use as their own...I'd like to call that hitting below the belt.
I already contacted this seller reagrding this matter, but I'm still waiting for their reply. If they don't wish to reply, I expect them to remove not just my photos but all the other stolen photos as well....otherwise I'll report them directly to EBay.
There are other faux cupcakes being sold by this seller, on which the images they used are not their own. Please pay this eBay seller a visit, browse through their shop and if you recognize any images or know the original owner...please, please contact them about this atrocity.
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Macaron Chaos
I have recently been obsessed with French macarons....like the same obssession I have with cupcakes. They're all mesmerizing to look at, and anyone can never contain themselves to devour one.
We don't have Ladurée or Pierre Hermé here in the Philippines. But I got my first taste of French macaron from Bizu Patisserie.
French macarons are very different from the macaroons that my mother loves to make, which uses desicated coconut as the main ingredient. And it is spelled with a single "o". French macarons uses "tant pour tant", or the combination of almond powder and powdered sugar, folded in whipped egg whites or what we know as "meringue". It is then baked until the "foot" comes out. Foot, you ask? Yes, a French macaron is not a French macaron without it's famous feet...it's a cracky ringlet surrounding the sides. I found this photo of the anatomy of a French macaron from Serious Eats:
Anyways, this post is about my chaotic trials of making these French delicacy. I've had about 4 tries so far...and I'm getting there! Yay me! :)
I've read tons of recipe and instructions on baking French Macaroons. And boy, how I thought it was as easy as 1, 2, and 3!
One of my Etsy customer (and friend!) Marie Christine, was sweet enough to send me a cookbook of French biscuits, with a macaron recipe in it. The whole book is in written French though, but it's not so hard to understand because there's a step by step pictures in it...and not to forget about Babel Fish online to help with the translation.
There are two ways to make French macarons, one is to use Italian meringue which requires boiling of sugar before adding to the whipped egg. The second one is using dry sugar on the whipped egg.
On all of my 4 trials, I used the "dry" way, because boiling of sugar needs to be precise and I don't have a candy thermometer for that. But I've read that using the "boiled" technique makes the meringue more stable than just using dry sugar.
1st Try: "Humidity" is the culprit?!
My first try making French macaron is a complete disaster. I swear I followed the instructions exactly and weighed each ingredients exactly...heck, I even used a digital scale! Folded the dry ingredients on the whipped egg until it can fall off down the spatula like a continuous ribbon. Piped it on parchment paper. Set it aside for 15 minutes. Baked it at 190C. And voila! It came out flat, no foot and became even flatter as it cooled. And not to mention it got stuck on the parchment paper. And it's funny that I blamed it on the "humidity". Some people here in the Philippines (and some others from Singapore) who also tried and failed, blamed it on the "humidity". So yeah, I thought "humidity" is the culprit.
2nd Try: I apologize to "humidity"...sorry! :P
Since I thought that "humidity" is to blame for my first failure. I brought all the ingredients and tools (except for the oven, hehe!) up in my air-conditioned room. (and this actually enraged my mother! LOL!) I mixed and prepared everything in my air-conditioned room. Set it aside, this time for 30 minutes. Brought them back in the kitchen to bake again at 190C...this time it's no longer flat, but alas, still no foot. So, I guess the "humidity" is NOT to blame this time! :P
3rd Try: The wonderful Silpat...and Calphalon!
I've got an email from my French friend and she said that I should let it stand or set aside for 1 hour ... not 15 minutes, not 30 minutes, but 1 hour. And that it's better if I use a Silpat.
A Silpat is a French brand of silicone baking mat you put on top of your baking pan/sheet. It helps even out the heat and it's non-stick.
I couldn't find a Silpat here in Manila so I settled for another brand that I found, Calphalon...it's not cheap! :P And guess what? After purchasing Calphalon, I passed by this shop that sells Silpat! And it's 600pesos cheaper than Calphalon, and also comes in different sizes. I still bought one, though!
So, on my third try, no more air-conditioned room just plain old kitchen...I either under whipped the meringue, or over folded the ingredients and the meringue, making everything a bit runny. (And I accidentally put a lot red food coloring! :p)
But I still continued and piped it on the silicone mats I bought. Let it stand for 1 hour. And then baked it on 180C. The recipe said to bake it for only 8-10 minutes, but it had passed already and I'm still not seeing any foot. So I baked it for another 10 minutes. And at long last, there I saw the glorious feet ...and I jumped for joy! Woot! Woot!
But my joy ended after I took it out of the oven. The outer shell cracked, the inside is wet and soggy, and all of it got stuck on both the Silpat and Calphalon ....non-stick, huh? blah!
4th Try: Never Say Die!
I still have some almonds left from my third trial so I might as well give it another shot. I'm getting there, I saw already them macaron feet!
This time though, I tried David Lebovitz recipe of chocolate French Macaron. And this time I didn't fold the ingredients into a "continuous ribbon, runny consistency." I just made sure that it is smooth, folded well so that no egg whites is showing. Piped it on the silicone mats, and let stand for 1 hour. Baked it a 180C for 18-20 minutes.
I made an experiment with this trial. I took out the upper rackof the oven, and placed my Silpat (with the piped macaron meringue) directly on top of it (no baking pan/sheet), then placed back in the oven.
(^Macarons baked on middle rack at 180C: cracked and no feet.)
After that I took them out and let cool a bit. The macarons seemed to be stuck on the silicone mats.
(^Macarons stuck on Calphalon and Silpat.)
So I poped them right back in the oven for another 15 minutes at 170C. Took them out of the oven and let cool completely. Now it's easier to lift them off the silicone mat, although some still sticks a little specially on the middle part.
(^Macarons baked on a Silpat on the top oven rack.)
I filled them with chocolate ganache. And, tadah!....My "I-almost-got-it-right" French macaron! :)
The outer shell looks perfect and smooth. The feet is there (yay, me!) even though it's not that high or evident. The outside is crunchy and the inside is soft and chewy, almost-meringue like texture.
Making French macaron is not so easy at all. For those who got them right on the first try, are either geniuses or just plain lucky. The temperature and baking time alone may vary depending on the size of the macaron. And not all ovens are created the same. I only have a small oven and it's nothing like those industrial ovens that professional bakers use. I guess, if one should fail the first time, they should try again with a different temperature or baking time until they get it right.
I'm quite happy with my last try. But I will definitely try making these macarons again until I get it perfect and right!...Never say die! Tomorrow is another day! =D
Here is a link of Macaron recipes from Tartlette (that I also have yet to try out!):
http://tartelette.blogspot.com/search/label/macarons
We don't have Ladurée or Pierre Hermé here in the Philippines. But I got my first taste of French macaron from Bizu Patisserie.
French macarons are very different from the macaroons that my mother loves to make, which uses desicated coconut as the main ingredient. And it is spelled with a single "o". French macarons uses "tant pour tant", or the combination of almond powder and powdered sugar, folded in whipped egg whites or what we know as "meringue". It is then baked until the "foot" comes out. Foot, you ask? Yes, a French macaron is not a French macaron without it's famous feet...it's a cracky ringlet surrounding the sides. I found this photo of the anatomy of a French macaron from Serious Eats:
Anyways, this post is about my chaotic trials of making these French delicacy. I've had about 4 tries so far...and I'm getting there! Yay me! :)
I've read tons of recipe and instructions on baking French Macaroons. And boy, how I thought it was as easy as 1, 2, and 3!
One of my Etsy customer (and friend!) Marie Christine, was sweet enough to send me a cookbook of French biscuits, with a macaron recipe in it. The whole book is in written French though, but it's not so hard to understand because there's a step by step pictures in it...and not to forget about Babel Fish online to help with the translation.
There are two ways to make French macarons, one is to use Italian meringue which requires boiling of sugar before adding to the whipped egg. The second one is using dry sugar on the whipped egg.
On all of my 4 trials, I used the "dry" way, because boiling of sugar needs to be precise and I don't have a candy thermometer for that. But I've read that using the "boiled" technique makes the meringue more stable than just using dry sugar.
1st Try: "Humidity" is the culprit?!
My first try making French macaron is a complete disaster. I swear I followed the instructions exactly and weighed each ingredients exactly...heck, I even used a digital scale! Folded the dry ingredients on the whipped egg until it can fall off down the spatula like a continuous ribbon. Piped it on parchment paper. Set it aside for 15 minutes. Baked it at 190C. And voila! It came out flat, no foot and became even flatter as it cooled. And not to mention it got stuck on the parchment paper. And it's funny that I blamed it on the "humidity". Some people here in the Philippines (and some others from Singapore) who also tried and failed, blamed it on the "humidity". So yeah, I thought "humidity" is the culprit.
2nd Try: I apologize to "humidity"...sorry! :P
Since I thought that "humidity" is to blame for my first failure. I brought all the ingredients and tools (except for the oven, hehe!) up in my air-conditioned room. (and this actually enraged my mother! LOL!) I mixed and prepared everything in my air-conditioned room. Set it aside, this time for 30 minutes. Brought them back in the kitchen to bake again at 190C...this time it's no longer flat, but alas, still no foot. So, I guess the "humidity" is NOT to blame this time! :P
3rd Try: The wonderful Silpat...and Calphalon!
I've got an email from my French friend and she said that I should let it stand or set aside for 1 hour ... not 15 minutes, not 30 minutes, but 1 hour. And that it's better if I use a Silpat.
A Silpat is a French brand of silicone baking mat you put on top of your baking pan/sheet. It helps even out the heat and it's non-stick.
I couldn't find a Silpat here in Manila so I settled for another brand that I found, Calphalon...it's not cheap! :P And guess what? After purchasing Calphalon, I passed by this shop that sells Silpat! And it's 600pesos cheaper than Calphalon, and also comes in different sizes. I still bought one, though!
So, on my third try, no more air-conditioned room just plain old kitchen...I either under whipped the meringue, or over folded the ingredients and the meringue, making everything a bit runny. (And I accidentally put a lot red food coloring! :p)
But I still continued and piped it on the silicone mats I bought. Let it stand for 1 hour. And then baked it on 180C. The recipe said to bake it for only 8-10 minutes, but it had passed already and I'm still not seeing any foot. So I baked it for another 10 minutes. And at long last, there I saw the glorious feet ...and I jumped for joy! Woot! Woot!
But my joy ended after I took it out of the oven. The outer shell cracked, the inside is wet and soggy, and all of it got stuck on both the Silpat and Calphalon ....non-stick, huh? blah!
4th Try: Never Say Die!
I still have some almonds left from my third trial so I might as well give it another shot. I'm getting there, I saw already them macaron feet!
This time though, I tried David Lebovitz recipe of chocolate French Macaron. And this time I didn't fold the ingredients into a "continuous ribbon, runny consistency." I just made sure that it is smooth, folded well so that no egg whites is showing. Piped it on the silicone mats, and let stand for 1 hour. Baked it a 180C for 18-20 minutes.
I made an experiment with this trial. I took out the upper rackof the oven, and placed my Silpat (with the piped macaron meringue) directly on top of it (no baking pan/sheet), then placed back in the oven.
In the middle rack, I place the baking pan/sheet. On top of that baking pan/sheet is the other silicone mat with the piped macaron meringue.
At 180C, after 8-10 minutes the feet already showed on the macarons at the top rack. On the middle rack, however, there's barely any feet and started to crack. I let them stayed in the oven for 10 more minutes.
(^Macarons baked on middle rack at 180C: cracked and no feet.)
After that I took them out and let cool a bit. The macarons seemed to be stuck on the silicone mats.
(^Macarons stuck on Calphalon and Silpat.)So I poped them right back in the oven for another 15 minutes at 170C. Took them out of the oven and let cool completely. Now it's easier to lift them off the silicone mat, although some still sticks a little specially on the middle part.
(^Macarons baked on a Silpat on the top oven rack.)I filled them with chocolate ganache. And, tadah!....My "I-almost-got-it-right" French macaron! :)
The outer shell looks perfect and smooth. The feet is there (yay, me!) even though it's not that high or evident. The outside is crunchy and the inside is soft and chewy, almost-meringue like texture.
Making French macaron is not so easy at all. For those who got them right on the first try, are either geniuses or just plain lucky. The temperature and baking time alone may vary depending on the size of the macaron. And not all ovens are created the same. I only have a small oven and it's nothing like those industrial ovens that professional bakers use. I guess, if one should fail the first time, they should try again with a different temperature or baking time until they get it right.
I'm quite happy with my last try. But I will definitely try making these macarons again until I get it perfect and right!...Never say die! Tomorrow is another day! =D
Here is a link of Macaron recipes from Tartlette (that I also have yet to try out!):
http://tartelette.blogspot.com/search/label/macarons
Saturday, May 2, 2009
I Got My First DD!
I've only been a member on deviantArt for only a month, and this one (photo above) got me my first Daily Deviation!
At first I thought it was just a glitched on the deviantArt's system after seeing messages by the thousands! And then I read messages giving me kudos on my DD!
Heck, I didn't even know what a DD (or Daily Deviation) is! LOL! :p
According to deviantArt, The Daily Deviation is a daily feature chosen from the galleries on deviantART.
A small assortment of submissions are chosen each day by a select group of staff/volunteer members who wish to showcase an image which they found impressive or otherwise interesting enough to deserve being brought to the attention of the community-at-large.
The staff/volunteer members responsible for selecting submissions for the daily feature often are open to suggestions and individual community members may direct their attention by noting the appropriate gallery moderator or staff member with a direct link to the deviation which you are suggesting and a brief description about why you think the work in question should be featured.
So I guess, those faux cupcakes of mine were interesting enough to be featured on Daily Deviation. Hehe!
So there, my first DD! Yay, me! :)
And since I got a DD last April 23, my DD is included in this month's feature news article Artisan Crafts DDs for April 2009. Yay, me again! Hehe! :)
Super thanks to oliverat for her suggestion!
And super thanks also to Kitten-of-Woe for DD feature!
Sunday, April 26, 2009
A Poor Man's Makeshift Studio
Yes, I am poor. I don't have a fancy studio which I still dream of having one someday. I only own a lousy, obsolete model, point and shoot digital camera. I do own a manual Nikon camera which I still love...but in this day and age, we need to work fast. And digital is the answer! ...plus it'll save us more money since there is no need to buy film and have it processed. I wanted to buy a new Nikon digital camera, and I am drooling over D90. But school will open again in a few months and I have to pay for my son's tuition fee. (I'm not just poor, but also a single mom trying to make ends meet! :p)
So here is my setup:
- colored vellum sheet to use as a background
- desk lamp
- white tissue (japanese) paper to diffuse the light from the desk lamp
- styrofoam board to bounce some light
- sturdy table
- a wall (...ehehe) to stick the vellum onto
- scotch tape (...ehehe) to stick the vellum on the wall
- metal ruler to use as a weight on the vellum, because it keeps on curling! LOL!
- and a digital camera :)
...I'm pretty amazed with the ouput! It's not that bad at all! =D (click on the images to enlarge!)
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Coolest Kitchen: Le Patisserie Style!
This is the coolest kitchen I've ever seen so far. My eyes just went big with envy watching this on TV.
I've been meaning to post this after seeing this on Rachel Ray...but I got caught up with some orders that I needed to finish.
Anyways, this kitchen was featured on Rachel Ray Show's America's Coolest Kitchens. And the kitchen's theme...Le Patisserie. The whole kitchen is painted in yummy colors of pink, brown and white. And everything screams "FRENCH"! Faux or fake cakes were even used to accessorize the kitchen.
I would love to do something like this on my craft/work space! :) ....if I have the budget! :p
To watch the whole segment on Rachel Ray Show, here's the link: America's Coolest Kitchens: Le Patisserie
I've been meaning to post this after seeing this on Rachel Ray...but I got caught up with some orders that I needed to finish.
Anyways, this kitchen was featured on Rachel Ray Show's America's Coolest Kitchens. And the kitchen's theme...Le Patisserie. The whole kitchen is painted in yummy colors of pink, brown and white. And everything screams "FRENCH"! Faux or fake cakes were even used to accessorize the kitchen.
I would love to do something like this on my craft/work space! :) ....if I have the budget! :p
To watch the whole segment on Rachel Ray Show, here's the link: America's Coolest Kitchens: Le Patisserie
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