variations on a theme

These guys aren't terribly exciting, but wanted to get them up as an example for a couple who would like something clean and modern, but pretty.

I love the whole theory of "less is more", and I love doing cakes that way.

My favorite one at the shop right now is similar, black and white, 1 large flower cluster.

Anyway, off to caking, we have one of our busiest weekends since the summer wedding fest.

Seems this is the weekend to have Christmas parties so have a safe and happy holiday weekend!

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...

gettin famous

Oh my!

I follow this blog and let me tell you, so do like a million others.

So imagine my surprise to see little ole me carving my cupcake pumpkin.

Then, minutes later this pops up! our little ghosty's!

And then wormies here...

All thanks to tumblr. Which after spending a little time looking into, I still completely do NOT understand.

Whatsoever.

But seriously, with a blog, facebook, website, and twitter, do I really need another outlet? Me thinks no.

Well...for now.

I also think you want to see some pretty cakes. So here's one I did for one of my staff's parents who got married a couple of weekends back. Gave me free reign on the design :)

lace appliques, satin ribbon and bling.

Lovely.

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.

my third baby

Good morning my dears :)
Hope this blasted hump day is treating you well. Tis a long day for me as it usually begins my weekend orders. Sorting out details, grocery lists, supply lists. Looks like this weekend is a little calmer than last. Gives me the opportunity to potentially see some friends. While I love my unconventional schedule, it does get hard to interact with the real world...

I'm really excited for the consistency that the shop will bring. Regular hours, having a "work day" instead of kind of working all the time. Very exciting. Granted, days will be long, but that's expected. To be able to have work at work and be me at home is very much needed.
We're planning on being open for business everyday except Sundays. Need a day of rest :)
Hours look like they'll be 10/11am until 5/6pm. With our area, I'm sure the foot traffic will increase and decrease based on the weather, the season and the day so we're planning on being flexible. Play it by ear.

Originally the plan was to open space that would be used for myself and my staff, not so much from the customers aspect. A place to work on my custom orders and some wholesale work. Now I find myself thinking about cupcake displays, door bells and take out bags. I've been working on a business plan that keeps getting pushed to the side. At first I was crediting this to my workload; must bake now, can write later. Now I'm realizing I'm not writing it because it's not done forming in my head. It's been two long years of evolving. Growing. Changing.
For lack of a better analogy, it's like being pregnant all over again. But I need to get this out of my head and be done with this stage. Move on to cuddling and coddling my newest addition to our family.
So this weekend of a few cakes instead of a dozen has come at the perfect time. Time to hanker-down and work on this birth plan...er...business plan...it is almost spring after all...

(the above cake was from a small wedding I did last month. Lovely house reception. It's a 6" and 9", finished in rolled fondant with gum paste roses, made by moi for a change :)

Here's the stationary....

Here's the cake, based on said stationary. So pretty and simple.

join the handmade revolution...

So many things to touch on with this post...where to begin...

Let's start with the owls. Am feeling the owly love around these parts lately. Owls to me, remind me of fall, and fall has certainly arrived. I haven't seen the sidewalk for a couple of days now.

I had the prestigious opportunity to be in my first wedding show this weekend, and with none other than Madeline of Madeline's Wedding's herself. It's been a real honour to work with her and her team as their "cake girl" and appreciate the lovely couples they send my way. Knowing their cake will be in a stunningly decorated room makes me even happier.

Madeline's hosted her very own wedding show, with her hand selected vendors at the St. Boniface Golf Course this past Sunday. I did up two cakes for the event and this is one of them.

So pretty.

Back to the owls...

In my excitement to do up some demo cakes with no limits to the design, I hit up etsy for some topper inspiration. I knew I wanted some cuties for the top and cuties I found. The world of handmade has exploded and places like etsy are a treasure trove of fun. I like to look through the "shop local" category and find some local artists. That's how I came across Heather Bays. I contacted her with some pictures and asked if she would consider making me these adorable owls for this show and away she went. These little guys arrived in the mail a couple weeks later and the rest is history. To see what else she makes and some other fabulous cake toppers, go here. Isn't she great? Just lovely work :)
Thanks Heather!

I heart John Cussack

The latest wedding cake.
Think she's made my top five list.
I tend to keep top fives for most topics, cakes are no exceptions.

My friend and co-caker Michelle made these for me.
Thanks Michelle :)

This style of cake, the gift or present cake, is getting its moment in the spotlight lately. Seems I've done a number of them and for good reason. It's a charming little cake, no? Keeps one from having to search out that perfect gift. And besides, this one comes already wrapped :)

Oh let me tell you about this week...where do I begin... Perhaps I'll first start by thanking all of you who allow me to make them cake. For those wanting a unique cake, a tasty cake, and one that may even steal the show a bit from the birthday person. (This kind of feels like an acceptance speech). That being said, I'd also like to thank the Academy....


But seriously, I do want to send out a big thanks to all of my customers. Without you,I couldn't spend my days tinting fondant and cutting out 400 tiny little circles :) ....Wait, I was being serious. Without you, I'd have to find myself a "real" job, and work for someone else (shudder). I wouldn't be getting away with spending countless hours browsing pattern and print blogs, wedding cakes and fabric stores. I'm living the dream folks, living the dream....


This week went from one cake to six in a matter of hours. 6. No small feat. The above cake may be the favorite of the weekend. Favorite on a couple of levels. As you can tell from the inscription, it's Claire and Angie's 18th. Happy Birthday you two. Thank-you for the energy, love, compassion and creativity you share with my girls. They really look up to you. (And I was watching Claire play with her toys the other day and she named two of them Claire and Angie). Awwwww....Have a great 18th year!


Now onto the cake...we have a two tiered beauty. Marble cake (vanilla & chocolate) with orange butter cream. The flavours together taste like a creamsicle, with a hint of chocolate. Mmmmm. Finished in rolled fondant. Lovingly cut and paste, in true arts and craft form, for the girls who bring glitter to my house.....

Today we have a little photo collection of a birthday I did last weekend. A cutie little two tiered number for a first birthday. Included were cupcakes and cookies. The cake is vanilla cake and banana cake, both great for kids.

I like to draw inspiration from sources unrelated to cake. Fabric is my latest obsession. Well, latest doesn't sound right. Perhaps constant. Fabric is a constant influence on me. I am often found spending my scarce free time standing and staring it. It's crept into my basement too. It followed me home.

It wouldn't be fair to leave it there. Anyway, this cake was actually inspired from some stamps. Another dirty secret I'm stashing away in the basement. Is there therapy for this?

Here's a little diddy I made up as a sampler cake. The cake is made up of four layer s of cake, each one was different, well actually there were three cake flavours..anyway...they are white chocolate cake, dark chocolate cake and then the two made into marble. Then we tried a variety of fillings. We have vanilla butter cream, vanilla butter cream with raspberry preserves, and then raspberry butter cream. Each slice creates a beautiful taste sensation on each plate. Also allows you to quickly challenge the flavours against each other. Thought I would decorate it a little, can't let an opportunity slip by!

Since wedding season is still far away for most, I thought I would continue to feature the cakes I've been doing lately, which for the most part are birthdays. Popular out there now are cakes that look like presents. This little gem is a 10" cake, made up of chocolate cake, filled with vanilla butter cream, covered in rolled fondant.

Today we have some lovely little cupcakes. Done in daisies, chrysanthemums and roses, with a 6" cake to top it all off. I don't have many comments about them; I like them, they're cute, delicious etc. What I do appreciate is that the entire cake is just for the birthday girl. All she wanted for her birthday was cake, and when I'm celebrating my 90th, I as well, would only like to eat cake. All day :)

Here's a cake I did over the holidays for a dear friend of Jeff (my husband). It was her 25th wedding anniversary yesterday, Happy Anniversary Shawnalee! It's inspired from a stamp set that I have, simple bold lines, yet still pretty. The cake itself is three layers, chocolate, vanilla then chocolate again, creating a very pretty plate when cut. The outside is done in rolled fondant.
Pretty, simple, sophisticated. Done in a muted palette of roses and taupe's.

Happy 35th

As I contemplate what to write as I stare at the photo, I'm overcome with nostalgia. I remember fondly the late nights at the Evans house. My parents would be over on a Saturday night for cards, while the five of us girls ran like maniacs all over the basement. No sooner had we built the laundry room haunted house, would we all be ushered upstairs for teeth brushing and pyjamas. Falling asleep to the sounds of parents laughing and cards shuffling, we'd later be carried home, just across the street.

This past weekend celebrates two points to the above. One was the 35th wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Evans. I am humbled to make this cake for you both. And thanks to Deedee, who is one of my most favorite customers.

The second point was our daughter Claire's 3rd birthday. As the night wore on and kids tired out, pyjamas were donned and teeth were brushed. I smiled as I made Anthony and Claire a pillow fort on our bed. Cheers to many more nights spent with good friends.

Personally if I could get married again, I would in a heart beat. (To you honey, don't worry). This time it would be a fall wedding. Deep jewel colors, crisp air, everything in dark chocolate. Mmmm, I can taste it now. This beauty is just that. The top tier is simply chocolate cake with a fresh raspberry butter cream. The bottom two layers for the guests are chocolate and vanilla marble cake with vanilla butter cream layered in. It's covered in rolled fondant and is decorated with butter cream. Wrapped with pretty paper ribbon and red grosgrain ribbon.

something about red...

Three lovely cakes were done in red, must be the colour of the season. Is it? I'm really into grey. Isn't the cheeriest of wedding cake colours though. Maybe I'll try to work it in on the next one. In the mean time, here's a lovely little creation, fondant covered, wrapped in a red grosgrain ribbon. Little clusters of dots give it a quilted/fabric pattern feel. The bride had a topper, I'll show you in a future post. Little bride dragging the groom by the neck. It was sweet.

Simple, yet enough

Hello faithful on-lookers, droolers and friends. Having been away from the city for so long now I have oodles of pictures. Well, that's only half true. I have done a number of cakes through the summer, however I have only brought my camera to set up twice. Twice! Sigh. Perhaps I'll dig up my 35mm and keep it in the car for occasions such as these. I'm now at the mercy of moms, brides, and friends for any picture they can spare me. Must make more lists!


On to the picture now. here is a new one, four layers, carrot cake with cream cheese filling, with my own fondant covering it. (which is so delicious and soft, not like the premade) .Each layer is wrapped in a burgundy ribbon and the flowers are freshly cut lilies from where else, Neepawa Manitoba. There's a perk of having to drive the cakes in from Clear Lake. I can stop and pick up custom items along the way. The cake itself is modestly decorated, as the table makes up for it. There were rose petals, twinkle lights, candles and a ceramic "I Do". Hand made by the brides father I believe.