An April birthday cupcake

There are lots of April birthdays among my family and friends, so I have been repeatedly reminded that I don't have a "birthday card" image in my portfolio. I often use this one as a kind of all-purpose card, but a cupcake with a candle seems to say "Happy Birthday" much better.

I went in search of  a "classic" cupcake and ended up with this carrot cupcake from Whole Foods, as I liked the swirls in its icing. (I actually bought two—just in case one got smooshed on its way to its modeling gig. And also so my husband and I each got our own.)

Now for its "birthday suit": I scraped off the little icing carrot, sprinkled on some very old non-pareils that I found in my pantry, and donned a little blue candle, and...

...my little cupcake was ready for its close-up!

I decided to make the cake part look a bit more like chocolate, and realized that a person could easily get carried away baking drawing all sorts of cupcakes! And, as often happens, I started making WIP scans and then completely forgot to do more.

After I gave it away on several birthday cards, I realized that it looked a little forlorn sitting there unlit, so I added a little flame. (It's "optional" because I drew it separately and laid it on top in Photoshop.)

Make a wish!