Addicted to Retro...

Who else here is hearting the awesome retro app atm?  I love it like a fat kid loves cake!!  I'm bridging obsession...lol.  My hubby has the app on his phone, and I use it all the time!  Here are a few examples I took of our Christmas tree one night...just for you to see what kind of awesomeness it offers!!

Pretty cool, huh?  If you dig the old look, then get this app!  You won't regret it!!  My bestie is currently obsessed over it, too...hehe.  She has taken some pretty amazing pics of her niece Amber with it.  Of course, whenever I get the chance, I take some of my boys (and when I say 'some' that's an understatement...don't worry I won't post all of them up to save you...hehe).  Anyway, here are my three kings...

Javaughn Canaan

Javier Stanley

Carlyle Micah

So, go on!!  You know you want to give this cool app a go!!  Best of all, it's free!  So, what are ya waitin' for?

xo

Popular Posts of 2011...

I'm joining the bandwagon on blogdom by posting up your fave posts for 2011!!  I know, I'm a tad late, but better late than never right?

Ok, so here we go...from the most popular we have...

ONE
Ribbony madness - the Pinterest Challenge I joined in along with some of my fave bloggers Sherry and John from YHL and Katie Bower from Bower Power.

TWO
Teen birthday tiger flower cake I made for my hubby's colleague's daughter :-)

THREE
My New Iron Man - as featured in Better After (another one of my favourite daily hits).

FOUR
All Blacks Birthday cake for my nephew Landon James.  Such a sweet memory of our nation's victory in the Rugby World Cup 2011.

FIVE
MJ tip-toe shoes for Kimberley and the Vibe One Dance Company.

SIX
Butterfly Rosette cake for my sister Jamie's birthday.

SEVEN
Vintage cake for my Mum's birthday.

EIGHT
Breaking Dawn gold class cinema experience with family and friends.

NINE
Starbucks mug birthday cake for my li'l bro, and a special birthday cake and cupcakes for me and my brother made by my wonderful sister-in-law, Gaile.

and of course...

TEN
My creative Christmas streak - which I linked up with Jenn from Clean and Scentsible (yet another one of my favourite daily reads).

But the fun doesn't stop there guys!  Now, let's see who my top viewers were for 2011, shall we?  From the most views...

ONE - my country New Zealand!!
TWO - United States
THREE - United Kingdom
FOUR - Australia
FIVE - Canada
SIX - Russia
SEVEN - Japan
EIGHT - Germany
NINE - South Africa
TEN - Ukraine

Wow!!  Thank you to all of you that regularly read my blog!  You guys rock!!  Remember, if you haven't already, show me your love by joining my blog and be the first to see what goodies I have in store for you.  I also want to start including some giveaways once my blog grows more members (here's hoping), so I can give some of the love back to yaz!!  Love all 'round!!  <3

xo

Ch-ch-changes...

Hey guys!  Notice something different?  Well, if you didn't spot it already, I made some changes to the look of my blog.  It's pretty dramatic - from blue to white (ish).  I also added a different colour combination to the text - minty green, retro yellow, and pink.  Sure, I may change the look again, but for now this is what I'm rolling with.  Oh, and I also adjusted the widths, so now the left side is a lot wider and the pictures appear even larger than usual.  I heart it because it feels "so fresh and so clean clean".

What do you think?  Do you like the changes around here?  What changes have you made in this new year?  I would love to hear and see some of your projects, so do share them with me and we can have a link party!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Wow, talk about late!  It was my Dad's birthday on the 6th, but I was still on a blog-break so I never got to post his cake!!  I decided to try something new and make Caramel Swiss meringue buttercream with my most sought-after chocolate cake recipe.  Let me tell you, it was delicious!!  A bit of a mish to make, but totally worth it!  The smooth satin texture of the icing is to die for.  I really do prefer it over icing sugar buttercream recipes.

I didn't get to take many pics of it, and not even with my trustee camera.  I was in a rush.  I did, however, manage to snap up two pics using the cool retro app on my hubby's phone on our way to Dad's place.  The cake was on my lap, you can probably see a bit of leg in the shots, lol.  Anyway, enjoy!!

Happy Birthday Dad!!

Hope you guys enjoyed this post!!  Enjoy the sun and see you again soon!!

xo

Happy 8th birthday Chanel!!

Good morning everyone!!  I have to say, it's nice to finally feel summery again!  We've had nothing but rain lately so it's such a breath of fresh air to wake up to sunshine!  Lovin' it!!

Today I wanted to share with you a special cake I made for my niece Chanel's 8th birthday.  On the weekend we celebrated her birthday with family and friends and of course dogs!  She loves dogs and any kind of animal really.  She wanted a dog theme, so that's what she got!  My sister Jamie and her husband Stanley really did an amazing job organising this doggy birthday, even with the predictably unpredictable Auckland weather causing them to move the party later in the afternoon, they still managed to pull it off.  Well done guys!!  Everyone had a wonderful time!!

Back to the cake...originally I was going to make a Chanel bag with a dog in it.  But then I changed my mind and ended up with a Chanel bag (that's totally made up btw) and a dog in a round box.  Here are some pics for you to enjoy!!

And here is the awesome dessert table we set up!

The cupcakes and dog sugar cookies were made by my talented sister-in-law Gaile.  She also let us borrow the awesome beehive drink dispenser for our cordial juice.  Looks great!!

Click after the break to see more pics of the birthday!!

December in a glimpse...

So, what went on in December 2011?  Let's take a trip down memory lane and look at all the fun we had!

1. I was featured here!

2. Our fun Christmas craft-ivities here, here, and here!!

3. Of course, we had sweets along the way, here, here, here, here, here, here, here and here!!

4. Let's not forget my friends at Photobooth Auckland!  That was a whole heap of fun in a box!!

5. And my very talented son Javaughn and his works of art.

6. And our fun Christmas card for 2011!!

Wow, talk about good times!!  I am sooo excited for this new year!!  Lookin' forward to sharing many more fun times with you all!!  Thanks again for all the love and support you've shown in my short time here in this blog world.  Appreciate it!!

xo

Chanel for Chanel

Hey everyone!  I am so delighted to share with you my first cake order for the year - a Chanel cake.  What a lovely way to start the year!!  I've been wanting to try something pretty and elegant and of course vintage inspired.  That's why I was so excited when I was given the thumbs up to do my own thing.  Kenneth (my friend who ordered the cake for his girlfriend) sent me a picture of another Chanel cake as an example of what his girlfriend wanted.  I simply used it as a guide as I wanted to create something different but equally as stunning for him to present to his girlfriend.  Here's how it turned out...enjoy!

And now for the lovely details...

Each pearl was handmade (one strand round, one strand oval) as I do not own a pearl mould.  Definitely one of many things I would love to buy to make life a bit less complicated when it comes to cake decorating :-) 

I really love how my rose turned out!  This was actually my second one as my youngest twin Carlyle decided to eat the first rose for breakfast.  It's funny now, but it wasn't funny that morning I was working on the cake, especially after not sleeping the night before.  Grrr...

I'm sooo glad to have chosen to scatter petals around the cake instead of adding more flowers and pearls.  I think it made it look very elegant and chic.

Best thing was that Chanel herself loved the cake and thought it was better than the original pic that her and Kenneth had picked out.  The original was already stunning so for mine to be considered  better would have to be the best complement ever :-) 

Thank you for stopping by and taking the time to read my blog.  It really means a lot to me, especially in this new year!  I really look forward to the fun times and challenges that are in store for us this year.  Bring 'em on 2012!!

xo

Happy New Year!!

2012!  Can you believe it??

Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones and a wonderful new year celebration!  I had an amazing time with my family.  We ate, we laughed, we ate some more, and laughed even harder.  It was an awesome break from everything.  I actually enjoyed my time away from bloggin' (as much as I love it).  It was nice to just focus on nothing but the family and what fun we were going to get up to each day.  Thank you Lord for the abundant blessings!!

Now that I'm back from my much-needed break, I can't wait to share some Christmas highlights with you all!

First, let's look at the crafty Christmas costumes my family and I got into for our Christmas Eve celebration  (or as we call it the noche buena).  Our theme this year last year was GAMES.  So my son Javaughn thought that our family should come as PLANTS VS ZOMBIES.  Lui and I jumped onboard (mainly because Lui didn't like my idea of coming as BAKERY STORY where we would've had to come dressed up as cupcakes and other sweets, haha).  Lui was our Zombie (he had no choice in the matter, heehee).  I was the sunflower.  Javaughn was the gatling pea.  Javier was the sea-shroom.  And Carlyle was the puff-shroom.  You're probably wondering "huh?" well, here are some pics to help you understand :-)

From left to right: Conehead Zombie (Lui), Sunflower (Me), Gatling pea (Javaughn), Sea-shroom (Javier), Puff-shroom (Carlyle)

And now, my family as Plants vs Zombies...

All our costumes were made out of cardboard, masking tape and a lot of paint.  We used whatever was available to us to avoid more spending.  I did, however, buy a red tie and an orange cone from the dollar store for Lui's costume, but that's about it.  I painted some white stripes on the red tie, to copy the actual character.  It needed several coats which was a bit of a pain, but at least it looked great!!  My green dress was actually made by my Mum for my best friend's wedding in Rarotonga (Mum's amazing at sewing).  I didn't have time to iron it though, oh well.  Here are some progress shots...

Javaughn painting his helmet (aka mixing bowl, lol)

Thanks for visiting my blog this new year!!  I'll be back some time this week to share more Christmas and New Year's highlights!!  I look forward to another exciting year with you all!!

Enjoy your holidays and see you back here soon!!

xo,
Jackie