I heart the All Blacks!!

Raise your hands if you're a proud Kiwi right now?  (Both hands up!)  I am sooo happy and proud that our All Blacks were victorious against France at the RWC 2011 grand final on the weekend.  It was the longest and most excruciating 80 minutes of my life.  I had the pleasure of watching the game with my dear husband and other family members in the city.  It was a great atmosphere and a thrilling experience.  Everyone held their breath in the last few minutes of the game, it was so nerve wrecking I felt as though I was about to pass out.  It was very still and all you could feel and hear were the hearts of the nation beating.  I kept praying and claiming our victory.  God answered my prayer and the rest of New Zealand's, too, so all the praise goes to Him!

I have sooo many cool pics to share with you all from the weekend, but I haven't uploaded them yet.  Check back later as I will be updating this post.  xo

A sweet engagement...

Last weekend I had the pleasure of creating an engagement cake like no other - a snow mountain.  The lovely Jenny contacted me a while ago regarding this cake she wanted to surprise her son (Scott, who is a twin) and her future daughter-in-law (Emily) with.  Scott actually proposed to Emily on a ski slope, which is why Jenny decided to go for this idea.

I had planned on carving the cake really mimic a snow mountain, but I decided to give Jenny more cake instead.  This cake ended up being sooo heavy I struggled carrying it off the bench for its little photoshoot.  This was one of three cakes I completed last weekend.  Let's just say I was without sleep...hehe.  Now, without further ado, here are some pics of the snowy (and rocky) cake!  Enjoy!!

Click after the break to see more pics...

Another quickie...

Hi guys!  Sorry for the late post, but today's been a busy cleaning day for me.  Plus my brother and nephew Malachi are here so I'm also playing host.  Today's cake was made on the weekend for a lovely lady named Sally.  She goes to my parents' church.  We call her Nanay (which means Mother) Sally.  She is such a nice lady and she always makes me smile.  She is super sweet and I love her to bits!

My Mum asked me to make a small cake for her.  I had been up all night working on two other cakes (which includes the All Blacks one here) that I totally forgot about this one!  I had already baked the cake though, thank goodness!  My parents came over to collect the cake and I was like "what cake?"  OH BOY!! (as my Grandmother would say).  I quickly grabbed the cake from the fridge, iced it in buttercream, then rolled some white fondant and covered that baby.  Then I quickly rolled some other coloured fondant (that I already had on hand) and grabbed my daisy cutters and cut away, placed them on the cake, piped some writing on, added a gold candle and a gold bow and VOILA!  Done baby!  All in less than ten minutes, which I think is not bad at all!!  This quickie was a lot quicker than my last one (here).  Mind you the last one was done in a car, so I had less room and materials to work with.

Here are some pics for you all to enjoy!  Please don't be too harsh now...remember, this one was a quick job!  I still loved how it turned out, though.  :-)

I hope you enjoyed this post!  Have a wonderful Wednesday and see you again tomorrow!!

xo

All Blacks Birthday!!

On the weekend (when the All Blacks triumphed over the Wallabies) my nephew Landon James had his All Blacks birthday party!  What a great day it was!  All the kiddos (and the adults) rocked up with their All Blacks jerseys and RWC related clothing.  Let's just say Chipmunks was blacked out with all our kids!  It was definitely easy to tell whose kids belong to what party, hehe.  It was such a fun day for our family and all those who were there to celebrate his birthday with us.

Of course, it wouldn't be an All Blacks party without an All Blacks cake!  So what better than an All Blacks jersey for a cake!!  Here are some pics for you to enjoy!

I was so stoked to have found these super cool RWC taffy at a candy shop!  They had all the countries involved at this year's Rugby World Cup, which is awesome!!!  I loved how the vibrant colours of the candies added a wow factor to the very black cake :-).

Click after the jump for more pics of the cake at the party, including some with the birthday boy himself...

All Blacks!!

Well, that's all I can talk about today!  I still have my AB tattoos on my face from last night, hehe.  What a great performance by the All Blacks!  It was definitely worth losing my voice over (sorry to my family who were a little bit freaked out by my passionate screams).  Ahhh!!  I still can't get over it.

Wallabies' dreams fade to Black.
Source: The Australian

What a thrilling experience it was!  Credit goes to all the boys for working together in a tactical running rugby game.  And of course, special credit goes to Aaron Cruden - you the bomb!!

Image source: NZH

For such a young man (and don't forget a new member to the AB squad), you shined like a star last night.  A right-footed Dan Carter?  You definitely showed us that you have what it takes to wear that number 10 jersey.  (To read an article on Aaron Cruden's performance last night, click here).

And don't forget about my man, Cory Jane - wow, you definitely deserved man of the match!  You caught all the high balls Oz bombed your way with ease and style.

Image source: 3News

My man Piri, although you didn't get all the kicks and you were feeling under the weather, you still managed to do your job well so BIG UPS for that.  You did your nation proud and your Granddad, too.

Image source: Super Sport

I could go on all day about each player, but I think I'll save you the time (hehe).  I'm just sooo proud of our boys!!  And to be a kiwi right now!!  Can't wait for this Sunday when we face the French!  All I can say is FRENCH TOAST!!

Well, that's it from me this glorious Monday!!  I'm in such a good mood that the cloudy sky isn't bothering me one bit!  See you all tomorrow!  I will be sharing more All Blacks goodies - this time in cake form!!  So tune in guys!!

Me and my eldest son - ALL BLACKS ALL THE WAY!!!

xo

MJ tip-toe (part 2)

Good morning peeps!  Today I would like to share with you a cake I made last month (that I totally forgot to blog).  Remember my friend Kimberley from Vibe One?  She ordered the MJ tip-toe shoe cake and the Carrier pigeon cake from me a couple of months ago?  Well, since being abroad for quite some time she wanted to surprise her dancers with a cake for her arrival.  Of course, what better than Michael Jackson himself!  Well, kind of...half of him anyway...

Here's the image she wanted me to recreate into cake, but with hot pink instead of blue.  Pretty cool, huh?

Now, here's the cake!  I hope you like it!  I added some glitz and glamour to it just to spice things up a little.  The photo doesn't really do it any justice though...oh well, it looked good up close and personal.

This cake was actually very challenging because of the intricacy of the simple-yet-very-complicated design.  If I had decided to pipe royal icing or buttercream instead of cutting every little detail out of fondant, this probably wouldn't have taken as long as it did.  But, as per usual, I had to opt for the option that was most challenging.  It's the only way I can improve on my skills, so I hardly shy away from such challenges.

Sure, it didn't turn out 'perfect' but I'm still very pleased with the final outcome!  It took such a long time and a lot of patience and careful cutting in order to achieve the 'figure'.  Glad to have experienced it so I know what to do for next time.

A small and subtle message under 'WELCOME BACK' that reads "FROM THE V1 TEAM" just adds that personal touch to the cake to make it more special.  :-)

I hope you enjoyed this post!  I still can't believe I almost forgot to share this cake with you.  Luckily I was going through my photo archives and stumbled upon it.

Have a great Friday and an awesome weekend guys!  Show some love to the All Blacks as they face the Ozzies.  You can do it boys!!

xo

Kev's garage

Yesterday I had the pleasure of making a cake for one of my friends, Kevin (if you are reading this, happy birthday!).  His sister Kat (who happens to be my sis-in-law) asked me last week if I could make a red velvet car cake for his birthday.  She wanted to have half of his current car (which is a 1985 blue starlet) with his legs sticking out of the bottom and a sign that reads "Kev's garage".  What a cool idea!  So, with the help of google, I searched for the car and was glad to be able to find some pretty cool images online to work off.  Here are some pics I snapped quickly just before she came over to collect the cake.  Enjoy!

Close ups

In the box ready for collection

I just received a text from Kevin this morning -

Hey thank u for the cake!!  It lukd mean and tastd awsome!  I loved it:)

I'm glad you liked it Kevin!!

Well, that's it from me today guys.  I hope you enjoyed this post!  See you again tomorrow!  Have a lovely Thursday!

xo

 

Cake spy

Hey guys!  I was up all night working on a cake... I need sleep so will keep this super short and sweet.  I saw this image a while back from CakeSpy and thought it was worth sharing with you all.  :-)

I told you I was gonna keep it short and sweet!  Will be back tomorrow to share the cake I made today.  Thanks for stopping by!

xo

A little monkey business

So, what is this monkey business about?  Well, on the weekend I had the pleasure of making my neighbours' youngest son's first birthday cake!  Wow, that was a mouthful!  Jordan (a.k.a. JJ) is a little cute monkey who just turned the big ONE!  He is super adorable and cuddly!  I was excited when Lisa (JJ's pretty Mama) knocked on my door a few weeks back asking if I would make his cake.  Uhmm, yeah man!  They are such lovely neighbours there was no way I was going to say no!

Lisa handed me a copy of the birthday invitation - pure cuteness!  I absolutely loved it that I used it as inspiration for this cake.  I really wanted to make this cake as close to the invitation as possible.   So, after a sleepless night (because I had a pretty busy weekend I couldn't work on it any sooner) this is what the cake ended up looking like!  I hope you like it!

 Click after the break to see more pics...

Happy bunting

Today, I am excited to share with you a crafty project I did last week for my twin boys' bedroom.  For about a month now my hubby has been bugging me to put something on the wall on top of their closet.  Now, you're probably wondering why?  Well, our son Javier has been having some issues with that blank wall for a while now.  Before we put him to bed, he would stare at that blank space and cry.  To be honest, it freaked us out a little, but we prayed it out.  This would happen almost every night, so we decided to have the lights off when tucking them in.  This seemed to work, but we wanted a better solution so that we didn't have to omit reading to them before bed (whilst in their bedroom).  So, (finally) I put my crafty hat on and got started.  I knew I wanted colour, but wasn't sure what?  I contemplated putting some canvas art up there, but I wasn't too excited about it.  Then I thought of putting up a poster, but that wasn't getting me all excited either.  Then I thought 'bunting' - that's it!  That got me super excited!!

After rummaging through my craft box for inspiration, I decided to use some of my collected paint chips for this project.  It's the perfect solution for adding colour to a room.  Don't you love it when light bulbs start working?

The best thing about this project is that it cost me NOTHING!  I already had paint chips, a single hole puncher, scissors, and some wire...oh, and command hooks, on hand.  Oh yeah baby!  I just used the same bunting template I made from here for this project.

Click after the break to see more pics...

Lolly's Fairy birthday cake

Originally, Helen wanted a Tinkerbell doll cake for her daughter Lolly.  After struggling to find the perfect doll to use for the cake, she decided to change the theme to Fairies.  Not too drastic a change as Tinkerbell is also a fairy.  Thankfully, Barbie has a great selection of fairy dolls at the standard size (not small like the Tinkerbell selection).

I will never forget Lolly's reaction to her cake when she walked into my house to pick it up last Saturday morning.  Her eyes widened and she immediately said "thank you" in her sweet and shy voice.  Sooo adorable!  She didn't want to cut the cake either.  Luckily her Mum thought ahead and baked a second cake to cut and share with her family and friends.

Here are some pics of Lolly's Fairy birthday cake.  Enjoy!

Click after the jump to see Lolly with her cake...

Basketball cake for Malachi

Good morning guys!  Thanks for dropping by.  Today I get to share with you my nephew Malachi's 6th birthday cake I made last weekend.  A couple of weeks before his birthday he requested a basketball cake.  Fortunately, nothing as complicated as his dad's cake here.  He wanted a court with a figure of him in it.  Of course, I wanted to make his birthday wishes come true.  So, starting at 6am that very day the cake was needed (at 12noon) I started his cake.  I could have started sooner but I also had another (bigger) cake to make due that morning, and those strawberry cupcakes I shared with you here due that morning, too.  Talk about overbooked!  Funny thing is, I have a diary to keep track of all my cakes so I know whether to decline or accept orders.  It's a bit different if it's family, though.  So, how did I manage to make all that?  By not sleeping of course!  (I do NOT recommend this to anyone btw - you need your sleep!)

Okay, so what did Malachi's cake look like in the end?  Here are some pics for you to enjoy.

 Unfortunately, we had a little accident with the cake on our way to Malachi's party...let's just say 'Malachi' ended up legless :-(  I know, I should have taken the figurine off the cake after snapping the pics and attached it at the party.  Lesson learnt!

Click after the break for more pics!

Cupcake fun!

Are you all ready for a cupcake-packed Wednesday?  I hope so, 'cause that's all I have in store for you today.  Here we go...so, last week was one busy cupcake week.  To get this party started, my cousin (in-law) Trisha wanted mini chocolate cupcakes for her colleague's birthday last Tuesday.  She wanted something girly with a message that read "Happy 21st birthday MJ" (which is supposed to be a joke because her colleague is actually an older lady).  So, with some paper crafting involved, this is what I came up with...

Want to see more cupcakes?  Simply click after the break...

SPCA Cupcake Day surprise parcel

One morning last week I opened my front door to a lovely surprise parcel from SPCA.  I had won the Most cupcakes baked by an individual contest for this year's cupcake day (woot woot) and as a prize I got a box full of goodies!!  I'm sooo excited to share them with you.  I also can't wait to use them on my baking!

So what did I get exactly?  Well, I could list them out, but I think in this case a picture (or a few) is worth a thousand words.  Click after the break to see all the goodies!!  Excited much?

September in a glimpse...

It's October already?  Where did time go?  What a great September we've had together.  I hope you've enjoyed it as much as I have.  And now for your monthly treat, here's September in a glimpse...

Most Generous goes to Summerland Primary for allowing me to hold a bake sale for SPCA Cupcake Day at their school.  What a great turn out we had!

Most unique goes to these boxed mini cupcakes that went down a treat oh-too-quickly.

LOL (Labour of love)
DIY stuff I managed to squeeze into this busy caking month included the hanging floral lantern and paper bunting and also our Project Monogram.

Most blogged-about has to go to the Rugby World Cup (with a bit of league in there, too)!  You can find them here, here, here and here.

Best Day Out goes to our Fathers' Day here and here.  That was one awesome weekend!

Most birthdays celebrated goes to a busy month for our family with JR's thirtieth, Jan-Jan's and mine.

Most significant goes to my decision to switching from regular eggs to using only SPCA approved uncaged eggs.

Most proudest moment goes to the graduation cap to celebrate my friend's sister who graduated from University!  Well done!!  What a great accomplishment!

Most organised goes to my ribbony madness solution!  Ha, let's see how long I can maintain those pretty little things, hehe.

Most scrumptious goes to my red velvet cupcakes!  Talk about delish!  Mmm...

Most ARRRsome birthday cake has to go to Wacky's pirate ship!  What a fun cake that was to make!  And to top things off, what an arrrsome pirate party!!  Ahoy!!

Wow, can't believe we squeezed all that fun into one month!!  Let's hope this new month of October is just as fun (or even more)!  So stay with me as we continue our sweet journey into this world of caking and creating!  I hope you're as amped as I am!!

Blessings!  xo