Zebras are HOT!.....and Tinkerbell's pretty awesome too.

This week's adventures:

It seems like the theme that I've had requested the most during the past several months is....HOT PINK & ZEBRA!  Girls are lovin' them some zebra this year, and if you pair it up with hot pink it is really H.O.T!  I made 4 cakes and 3 dozen cupcakes this week.  Of the 4 cakes, 3 of them had Zebra stripes. 

Another thing that is really popular right now is a pearl sheen that can be sprayed on with using an airbrush.  It's a fun way to jazz up a cake.  This cake is the one of the cakes that I made this week with Zebra stripes.  It was for a girl that Brent goes to school with.  The first picture shows the cake before the pearl sheen has been applied.

This picture was taken after I sprayed the cake with a pearl sheen using an airbrush.  The effects of the sheen are most notable on the black fondant pieces (like the number 9).  Just a little added sparkle....what girl doesn't like that???

Another Zebra cake that I made this week was for a close friend's daughter.  Happy 18th Birthday Onyx!!!

Hmmmm....does that make me old?  A dear friend has an 18-year-old kid?!  What?

Anyway, it turned out really cute.  Zebra stripes paired with polka dots.  How fun is that!

The last Zebra cake that I made this week was blue and green instead of pink.  Still lots of fun!  Throw in some leopard print and a little pearl sheen and you're ready for a b-day party.   This cake was also for a student in Brent's class.

...and a matching sheetcake in purple.

Here are some other Zebra cakes that I've made in the past.

As you can see, everybody loves Zebra!

And if Zebra isn't for you, then it seems that Tinkerbell might be.

I did another Tinkerbell cake last week.  As the mother of three young boys, I'm not too into the whole girly-girl scene.....but, I have to say, for froo-froo girly stuff, it sure is cute!

Here's a view from the top, looking down.  This cake also has the pearl sheen airbrushed onto it.  I love the way it looks on fondant!

This cake was fashioned after a cake that I made for my Great-Niece.  Wow!  That title makes me feel really old!  I thought you had to be an old lady to be a Great-Aunt.  Hmmmmm...I guess if the shoe fits, I should wear it.  I can't possibly be old enough for that!

Here it is, along with a few other Tinkerbell cakes that I have made in the last couple of years.

 Happy 4th Birthday to my Great-Niece, Savannah!

This cake was for my cousin's daughter, Zainah.

I made these two cakes for a family in my church.  They have FIVE daughters!  I cannot possibly imagine that....I don't think I could even attemp to wrap my brain around it.  Between all the weddings, showers, and birthdays, I believe they could singlehandedly keep me in business.  Sometime soon I'll do a post that is all cakes that I have done for this family alone.  Yeah for the Ryherds!  :)

Smash cake to match the larger sheetcake.  

This week, I also made a birthday cake for an apparent chocolate lover.....chocolate cake, chocolate frosting, chocolate curls on top....and some peanut butter filling in the middle.  YUMMM--My kind of cake!

Here's how it went:

Chocolate cake with yummy peanut butter filling.

I could eat that filling with a spoon....very yummy!

Here it is with the chocolate frosting added......even more "Yummmm".

Chocolate curls.....definitely "Yummmmmm!"

The finished product:

Happy Birthday Alisha!

The other order that I did this week was for a K-State themed party.  My customer wanted some simple cupcakes that would go with the K-State color theme.  So, this is what I came up with.

The next couple of weeks look to be busy also, so, more to come soon. 

 Until then, "Have your cake and eat it too!"





Cowgirls, trains, and surfers.....Oh my!

This past weekend provided me with a fair amount of creative opportunity.  One baby shower cake with matching cupcakes, and two birthday cakes.....all very different from each other in style and theme. 

Here's a picture of the Thomas cake that I made for my neighbor who lives a couple of miles away.  Funny, we didn't even realize how close we live to each other until she ordered this cake and I gave her directions to my house!
 

 I also made a Phineas and Ferb birthday cake for one of Brent's classmate's younger siblings.  I also made a K-State cake for his sister a few weeks ago.  I really enjoyed doing both of these cakes.  This type of cake is something I get a lot of satisfaction out of.  I love it when I finish all of the separate components and it all pulls together into a fun and exciting cake that makes the recipients eyes light up.  Here are pictures of both of those cakes. 




Both cakes are iced with buttercream and then decorated with fondant pieces.  The only item on the Phineas and Ferb cake that is not edible is the surf board with the two of them on it. All of the pieces on the K-State cake are edible.  I made all of the decorations for these cakes out of fondant.  It's a relaxing medium to use...as long as it's doing what I want it too!  Kind of like playing with playdough.  :) 

That leaves the baby shower cake.  This was probably my favorite baby shower cake that I've ever made.  It very different than the usual pastels associated with most baby showers.  Maybe I just like it because I have a soft spot for the "Toy Story" movies. 

The original design called for Jessie to be sitting on the cupcake on the top.  My client provided the Jessie doll and it turned out that she wouldn't bend into a seated position as originally planned.....so we had to be flexible since Jessie was rufusing to be!  The cupcake came off and she was placed on the top of the cake on her stand.  Turned out really cute anyway!  I also made some matching cupcakes to go with this cake.  This was such a fun cake to make!

This is a picture of the cake when I finished it......before we knew Jessie wouldn't bend.  She was supposed to be sitting on the cupcake.  (Note the circle of black dots around the base of the cupcake.)





This picture shows how the finished product looked.....cupcake removed and Jessie standing inside the circle of dots.  I found it amazing that the stand for the Jessie doll fit perfectly inside the dots that I had put around the base of the cupcake!



These are the cupcakes that I made to match the "Jessie Cake".  This was a last minute design idea that sprang into my head.  I was trying to figure out how to decorate them so that they would coordinate with the main cake.  I thought of this idea when I realized that I had a small amount of red and black fondant left over from the big cake.   I think they turned out pretty cute!



That's the sum of my adventures for the past weekend.  With a calendar booked full of cakes for the coming weekend, I'm sure there will be no time for bordom any time soon! 

Here we go!

Welcome to my blog!  This is something completely new to me that I've recently been inspired to do.  I think it will be a tool to document some of the memorable moments in my life....the ones I never want to forget (and maybe some of those other ones, too).  So, let me tell you a bit about myself and my family.

In May of 2000, I married my amazing husband, Mark, and together we have 3 sons:  Brent (age 9), Michael (aka Mikey)(age 6), and Zackary (age 3).  Here is a recent picture that I took using the timer (for the first time) on my camera.  I find it amazing that it turned out so well with 3 young boys and a timer involved!  As you can see, they knew that Santa was watching are really calm and well-behaved.

Mark works in the Auto Restoration industry and restores vintage Rolls Royce, Bentley, and other high end automobiles. He loves the work that he does.  Every day it is something different and he enjoys making parts for the cars that are no longer available on the market.  His boss chauffeured us on our wedding day in the first car that Mark ever restored--a 1929 Picadilly Rolls Royce.

We are very active members of The First Freewill Baptist Church in Wellington.  Mark runs the sound and I am the VBS director.  I also am the head cook at our church camp (something new that I just took on last summer), along with a few other projects that I take on from time to time.

I stay at home with the boys and operate a small bakery out of my home.  I make several different bread products (cinnamon rolls, dinner rolls, kolaches, breadsticks, white bread, french bread, etc.), cookies, iced sugar cookies, and cakes.  I love it all, but cakes are my passion!  I do anything from simple (and some not-so-simple) birthday cakes to more elaborate wedding and special occasion cakes.  It's is an awesome creative outlet for me.  I'll be posting some of my cakes on this blog.  Working from my home allows me tremendous flexability that I wouldn't get with a storefront....it allows me to schedule around important events that I don't want to miss....I guess it lets me be a mom first and that's important to me. 

Well, I guess that's about it for now.  More to come soon.....hope you enjoy!