Happy 18th birthday Kaira!!

Good Monday everyone!!  I was supposed to share today's cake with you last Friday but I had FOUR sick bubbas to look after that day (that includes my hubby).  There was no time to sit in front of the computer and blog.  Thankfully, it's now down to only two sick bubbas...I can't wait 'til my household is back to good health!!  Definitely feeling the chill of winter these days...yay to snugly nights and nay to the winter flu!!

So, today I will be sharing with you a birthday cake I made for a lovely young lady named Kaira.  She turned 18 (which is a big deal in the Filipino culture) and had a 60s themed birthday party.  Of course, she wanted to also incorporate the 60s theme to her birthday cake, so we brainstormed a few ideas.  She wasn't really sure of what she wanted, so I threw some ideas at her along with some inspiration pics.  She loved my ideas and wanted to incorporate the whole orange, yellow, pink, red theme that was prominent in the 60s (well, in the pics I found on google anyway).  Here are my inspiration pics for this cake:

{Source: Left and right}

 Kaira loved the colour palette and the flowers, so I made sure I incorporated those on her cake.  It was such a fun cake to make because it was girly and unique.  I especially loved mixing the different colours together, creating a really cool effect.  Here's the final cake!  Hope you like it!

Hope you enjoyed today's cake feature!!  Be back with more goodies this week!!  Have a mad Monday!!

xo,

Jackie

*P.S. Kaira and her family loved the look and taste of the cake!  Yay!!!

Happy 1st birthday Hosea!!

Today's cake feature is one I made for a boy named Hosea who turned the big ONE this past weekend.  His Mum Shaye ordered his cake from me all the way from Brisbane!  She had seen one of my cakes at our mutual friend Ashleigh's facebook page and wanted to know who made it.  Soon after, she sent me a private message asking if I could make her son's birthday cake.  As my week was clear (with only one other cake to do) I happily accepted the challenge.  She knew what she wanted and sent me a pic for inspiration.  Such a fun theme - Sesame street's Elmo and Cookie Monster!!  I was sooo excited to make this cake!!  

I actually had to make sure she didn't expect me to 'airmail' the cake over...lol.  She confirmed that she and her family were coming over to NZ to celebrate with family and friends.  Phew!  I know it seems crazy to think that, but you can never be too sure...hehehe.

So, without further ado, Hosea's Elmo Cookie birthday cake!!  Enjoy!!

Click after the break to see close ups...

Sick bubbas...

Today I'm keepin' it short as I have two sick bubbas to take care of.  Poor things...their eyes look so droopy.  I'm just glad they've been seen by their doctor and are now on the road to recovery (thanks to their meds).  Still, any parent don't like seeing their children sick, especially when they don't have the words to communicate clearly how and what they're feeling.

One of my two sick bubs - Javier with his most loved Thomas blanky...

So, last night, I made a hearty meal for my family.  Even Mum came over to have some of the Italian dish I prepared.  It's from 'Everday Italian'.  Mum and I were watching the food channel a couple of days ago at her place when Giada was on.  We were salivating at what she was making and thought 'we have to try this'.  Of course, we did!  I forgot to take photos (silly me) but it pretty much looked like this...but instead of having bread, we had rice with it...typical, hehe.

{Source}

Then, I decided to make dessert, too, just because it seemed easy enough and didn't take too long to put together.  It is called Apple Zeppole with cinnamon whipped cream.  You can find the recipe here, go on, try it!!  This I managed to take a photo of, using the retro app on my phone, because I couldn't be bothered getting my camera.

Sprinkled with icing sugar and accompanied with cinnamon whipped cream

I still have some batter left over, so I might just go fry those up now!!  Have a wonderful Wednesday!!  And if you have sick bubbas, I feel ya!!  Just keep them warm inside and offer them plenty of fluids (especially if they're not eating).  They'll be back to normal before you know it!!

xo,
Jackie

Wedding preparations...

I wrote a lot yesterday...so today I've decided to just show you pictures, because as the saying goes 'a picture is worth a thousand words'.  So here you go, enjoy!!

With my awesome make-up artist and friend Margaret

Click 'READ MORE' below to see a lot more pics of my preparation...

10 years later...

...and still crazy in love...

I'm here!!  Don't worry, I've been better than fine!  Just had some time off the blogdom to celebrate my love for my hubby Lui.  It was our 10 year wedding anniversary the other week, and we renewed our vows in the presence of God, family and friends.  It was a beautiful day and I couldn't have asked for a more handsome groom!

The ceremony was very special, and emotional.  From the minute I started walking with my parents to Lui, and our dear friends AJ and CJ were singing me down the aisle, tears of joy came flooding down Lui's eyes, and naturally down mine, too.  It was probably one of the most beautiful moments of the day, seeing Lui at the other end, waiting for me...and then feeling his warm touch as we joined.  It was like a fairy tale.

The beginning of the waterworks...

Could not stop the waterworks...I just wanted to be with my man!

Together at last...we just wanted to kiss right then and there...but we had to wait...it was sooo hard...

You're probably wondering about our wedding cake?  Well, yes, we had one, and yes I made it...THAT MORNING!!!  Let me tell ya, I had no sleep whatsoever!  Talk about crazy bride, huh?  I was up all night at my parents making bouquets for my bridesmaids and flower girls...then went home and started on THE CAKE.  Sleep was definitely no longer part of the equation.  I decided that a two-tier cake was the most I could do with the time I had.  I had two cakes to ganache and cover in fondant.  Oh, and decorate!  But I also had to be at my sis-in-law Kat's place by 7am for my hair!  That only gave me about 3-4hours to bake, cool, fill and frost, and cover in fondant TWO CAKES.  I only managed to get up to the frost part, so the fondant had to wait until after my hair.

Yikes, got home around 11am from getting my hair done, and not to mention some last minute errands I had to run WHILE I HAD MY HAIR UP!  I'm sure people at Spotlight and The Warehouse were thinking my hair was a little too done-up for the attire I had on (which looked like pyjamas, haha).  I didn't have time or energy to care.  Had to get crackin' on the cake.  Before covering the cakes in fondant I had to smooth out the ganache.  I was working as fast as Flash at this point in time.  Why?  Because I had to be at my aunty's for my makeup and preparation by 12.30 (take away the 20mins travel time, that really only left me with one hour to work with).  I managed to cover the top tier in fondant, and even add some very quick pleat work (in an attempt to mimic to top part of my dress).  Got to my aunty's, I really had no time to cover the bottom tier, so I asked my sis-in-law Gaile to do that for me.  She makes cakes, too, so I was sooo happy to have her there.  She was stressing out, so she got my brother to roll out the fondant for her, then got my cousin to fan her as she covered the cake.  Apparently, she was sooo hot!  Poor thing, I just had to throw that one at her.  But at least that's all I asked of her.  Nothing fancy, just cover the bottom cake in fondant, and that's it.  I'm sure she would've appreciated a much smaller cake to cover...hehe.

I didn't really care so much at this stage about how 'perfect' it looked, I just wanted a covered cake that was presentable enough to have at our wedding, hehe.  I think I did a pretty amazing job, considering the time and circumstances I had to work with.  I loved the final look - simple elegance.  The fresh roses and baby's breath really 'finished' the look of the cake.  Sooo happy with the way it turned out!!  God is great, and without Him this cake wouldn't have even existed!!

Click 'READ MORE' to see the cake!!

Blast from the Past - Part 3 - BEES!!

Yikes!!  So much for Blast from the Past week!  I've been crazy busy I didn't get to post anything yesterday!  I hope this nappy cake feature will make up for it...I call this BEES!!  (Please excuse the quality of the photo, it was taken a while ago before I owned a dSLR).

This consisted of a nice cloud fleece baby blanket with nappies on top.  I think this is such a sweet cake and the bees are a cute touch.  I actually want to create an edible version of it...I'll find an occasion and do it!!  Just watch this space!!  hehe

Hope you enjoyed tonight's post...hopefully be back tomorrow...if not, then definitely next week!!!

xo,
Jackie

Blast from the Past - Part 3

I know it's super late...and almost Tuesday...but I'm here.  And it may be like this all week, but I'll be here.  I know, it's probably my longest unannounced absence to date.  I've been busy.  With what?  Well, that is a secret that will be revealed in due time.

In the mean time, let's check out some of my old creations that haven't been shared before, shall we?  And the special thing about this series, is that we will be looking at my non-edible cake creations!  So, things like nappy/diaper cakes!  Verrry exciting stuff!!

Today is DAY ONE of Blast from the Past - Part 3, here we go!!

 I made this mini flannel cupcakes for my cousin's baptism.  These were the favours that were given to all the guests.  Something small and sweet.  My aunty added toothpicks with flags (that included my cousin's name and date of birth, as well as date of baptism).

Hope you enjoyed today's tonight's Blast from the Past non-edible cake creation!!  Stay tuned this whole week for more!!

xo,
Jackie