mother's day 2011

call the shop at 612-9866 to order yours today!

empty promises

Alright, back to the wordy blogging. I've veered away from chatting too much as we've been really swamped. My poor little blog has really taken a back seat and as I'm writing this, I know I've written that same line over and over. Time gets tight, the blog seems to be the first thing to go. Weeks later, I write an apology blog post and promise I'll do more, promise I'll do it weekly, promise I will stay on top of it. My game plan this time is to get help with it and have our shop girl, Jaime post pics too. I'll do the wordy thoughts-in-my-head posts, she can do the pics. Fair trade. I'll sprinkle in some cake pics too for you, as I can't imagine you're just here to read about the life of Pam....

Business has been booming like mad over here at the shop, and we are super thankful for that. It's also a nice problem to have when it comes to advertising and people wanting us to put ads out. I can simply say "no thanks", and that's not a usually easy thing for me to say. We did do a couple promo's though and I have to say there is nothing quite as satisfying as seeing your work in print. I'm making a scrapbook :)

And it's not just print. We've done a couple cakes for wedding planners, event coordinators and the like and seeing them on blogs and twitter feeds and websites is also super exciting. Just yesterday a wedding shoot was featured on a blog down in California. Fancy.

Signing off now, but we will chat soon! Thanks for following us!

oh little princess

One of most requested themes.....princess's.

And who can blame you all? Our darling ladies in our lives are all princesses, no?

Some queens...

you know who you are...

out of context

I'm in the process of sorting pictures.

Sigh.

Digital photos to me means 15 shots of the same cake, one or two useful ones. Then hours of sorting and tweaking, labeling, tagging, filing.

As you can see we're working on a summer month...

A little out of context for three days before Christmas, but with this weather I like to think of warmer times.

And of course, random uploads to the net. These particular are for a fellow caker, who wanted to see some of the not so fancy cakes. The fun ones, like she does over here on her blog...Check it out, awesome cakes :)

45 years

I get really nostalgic whenever I do cakes for anniversaries. I love making wedding cakes as well and I look forward to doing cakes 30, 40, 50 years down the road for them.

Wait...

That'll make me like 80...

Well shoot. That won't work at all. I plan on retiring soon.

Very soon.

Not going to happen, but hey, a girl can dream...

wordless friday anyone?....

Up to my ears in cake and fondant, but wanted to keep at the ole' blog.

Thanks for all the wonderful feedback, thanks for coming by!

wordless wednesday....almost...

In lieu of it *not* being Wednesday yet, I'll do a couple posts for ya ;)

wedding show!

This week will go by quickly, as they always do when there is LOTS to do!

Check it out here.

Come on by to see us and say hi!

the variety cake show

Here's a couple of cakes that were ordered for various parties, a wedding, a wedding shower...you get the idea. Nice sophisticated cakes suitable for any event really...

All three are very different as well. The first is finished in chocolate ganache. Ganache is some nice dark chocolate, melted and whisked with whip cream. You let it set up in the cooler then when you are ready to use it you whip it up.

So divine....

The second and third are both done in fondant, the first showing off some spectacular gum paste roses, the last showing off some lacy cutouts.

prettiness

Just a quick blog today, must get down to Toad Hall to get something for my darling daughters birthday (5!!). Wowza. Nothing like kids growing to make you feel old...

Anyway, nice party cake, swirls, flowers, I believe it was for a wedding shower. Very sophisticated :)

Snap, crackle pop I do!

How cute is this?
An entire wedding cake made from rice krispie cake.
When my delightful bride and groom asked me if I would consider doing this I jumped at the chance. I love rice krispies! And how fun to be a guest at this wedding...I could so easily bribe my kids to eat their dinners knowing this was for dessert.
We did one trial run with the bottom layer to work out the glitches and it was as easy as we hoped. We used a ten inch pan, the one we would have used for the cake layer, made three batches then stacked them up together. We put some weight on it and let them set, using the extra bits to fill in any holes or gaps. Repeat three times, stack them all up and voila!
A rice krispie wedding cake.
I want to mention as well the custom cake topper they had made, in the likeness of themselves and all their furry family. So sweet!

castles in the sky...no wait, sand?...no wait...

How's this for fancy pants...the castle LIGHTS UP. One step closer to that ever fateful day where we will be setting off explosives in cakes, lighting them on fire and using fireworks.
It will happen...trust me, in due time...

Here's a close up of the pretties.
Oodles of tiny little flowers, roses and leaves...
Crystal path leading to the castle...
Very pretty I think.
This cake came together so wonderfully, each flower and leaf we added seemed to make it better and better.
And the best part? The thank-you from the happy couple...

Hi Pam... wow was that the best cake I have ever eaten!!!!!! I just want to thank you for all your hard work, and to let you know that my caked looked great and tasted even better. Thank you for the amazing cake.
Melissa and Dan

Our pleasure!

my most wonderful time of the year....

Ahhh...weddings...
My most favorite time of the year. This year so far we've (personally) only had one wedding. Which is sad. I love weddings as a guest. I like to look at it as a custom date night, we dress up nice, dinner is already planned out for us, there's a bar, music, dancing and the best part is that there are friends and family there too. We have no other agenda but to take in the evening.
Love it.
And now with our girls getting bigger comes the fun of fancy shoes, pretty dresses and spinning with daddy on the dance floor <3 aww...

nonsensical flowers

I have come back to this layered nonsensical flower again and again. I really love the effect of the texture of it and how it creates some dimension. I also LOVE light aqua pale blue and deep red. We have a wedding show this weekend and my feature cake will be in those colours. love them!

simplicity and lace

I have found a reoccurring theme this year in wedding cakes. Tone on tone (whites/champagnes/ivories) or complete contrast. Here is a nice example of a cake done in all ivory. So elegant and simple, I adore it. And she's tall enough, grand even, that she doesn't need more. This one is a set of 6"/8"/10"/12" round cakes, the 8" layer is doubled in height.

oh those cakettes...what can't they do?

Who doesn't love a good deal? Two for ones? I'm in! Buy one get one? I'm in for that too. This little photo is both cake AND cakettes. Brilliant, no?
And yes, the worms are edible...

michelles birthday

Here's a little (well actually she turned out to be quite large in the end) ...cake I made for my friend Michelle's birthday a little while back.
Best birthday parties ever.
This year was a make your own pizza party.
Awesome.
Next year I vote for bowling :)

stagette & a speech

Moving up from my building inspector post, I wanted to stay chatting about business if that's okay with you folk. I have had the opportunity as of late to be chatting about my business quite a bit. And like anything, confidence comes with practice.
Practice, practice, practice.
I played the organ for ten years. I hate practice. The beauty of the practice now is not in the repetition, the mundane scales and triads and the same songs over and over. Now I can tell my story, pitch my idea and chat to a broad audience. From family, friends, customers and past clients, to all the new folk that I have met while setting up shop. Scott from OnBusiness, Martin from Barter, Jason from Kijiji. The list is becoming quite long. What I love most though, is that classic Winnipeger line..."oh ya, I know that guys brother"...or sister. Or his neighbour, used to work for the guy, then my cousin went into business blahblahblah....everyone knows everyone. Which is awesome.
It is, as you know, a small world after all...

But I digress. The point of my practice speech was how I have built confidence in my business, in who I am, what I do, how I do it. The choices I've made. My business did not start on a specific date, it's been growing and growing for two years now. It's a hard way to start out, but strategic thinking in this industry is crucial, so I am glad to have had the time to plan, to think, to learn. All while practicing. Practicing the consultations, the cakes, the designs, the baking. As I sit and wait for my consult this morning, I'm no longer shaky with nerves. The adrenaline saved for a new task.

Sweet 16

Here is a great example (in my very humble and modest opinion :) on how to do bold, bright colours without looking childish. Very basic colours, but done in deep jewel tones, that get punched up with some simple bright white flowers.
Another thing this cake is a good example of is size. It's a 6" cake and an 8" cake, only serving about 20 people. That's it! So if you think a cake like this would be too much for a small family gathering, don't! It's a great way to make the birthday person feel super special.

Besides, leftover cake makes the best breakfast...

A little number for a birthday I did. Love the layered flower thing lately.