Happy 6th Birthday Lolly!!

Happy Friday guys!  I hope you're all having a fantastic week, despite that scary storm we had in the middle to shake things up a bit.  It definitely kept my little boys and I up in the night that's for sure.  I'm just grateful it didn't put us in harms way as well as damage anything on our property.  However, I did witness a few road blocks and countless trees and power lines out of place on my way to dropping the kids off to school that morning.  I really hope you were all okay!

Today I will be sharing a Planes themed birthday cake I made last October for a sweet girl nicknamed Lolly.  I have been making cakes for this beautiful Princess for years now, and I always look forward to what theme I get.  This time Lolly's Mum Helen decided to opt for a buttercream iced cake {instead of the usual fondant-covered cakes she gets from me}.  I made it extra special by adding lots of girly sprinkles on the borders and topping it off with a handmade fondant Planes character, Rochelle.  I even made a custom logo with Lolly's name and age to really bring the theme to life!  I loved the final outcome!  I hope you do, too :-)

Have a fab Friday and a wonderful weekend guys!!  See you back here next week!!

xo,
Jackie

Sharks birthday!!

Earlier this year I had such a blast making a super cool sharks themed birthday cake for Sarah.  Normally I get requests like this for kids birthdays, but this one was for an adult!   Sarah wanted her birthday cake to be enjoyed by her own kids :-)  I thought this was such a thoughtful idea and perfectly suited for the pool party they were having!

Here are some pics for you all to enjoy! :-)

I definitely LOVED this cake!!  I enjoyed sculpting all the edible details.  Can't wait to make another one like it!  Anyone interested? ;-P

Hopefully I get to share a couple more cakes with you this week!  I still have a lot to share with you all :-)  Until then, have a terrific Tuesday!!

xo,
Jackie

Happy 30th Birthday Pearl!

A couple of months ago my dear cousin Pearl turned 30!  Her hubby organised a surprise birthday party for her, and of course that included cake!  I wanted this 30th birthday cake to be extra special, so I came up with a design that fused her love of the Bulldogs and glamour.  I wanted to incorporate the Bulldogs shield but not make the overall cake too masculine.  I decided some 'pearls' on the cake would help with this {pun intended}, as well as some other feminine finishes.  I really loved the final outcome, and best of all, so did she :-)  And everything was edible so HOORAY!!

Please excuse the quality of the pics...I had no time nor good lighting at the venue!  I'm just glad I got to snap at least a couple of shots for my own record!

Pearl giving the cake two thumbs up! :-D

And for your treat, here's a little peek at my progress...

Painting progress of my bulldog :-)

I hope you enjoyed today's cake feature!  I will do my best to keep 'em coming your way!  Aiming for at least a couple posts a week.  Thanks for sticking around!  You guys are the best!  :-)

Have a wonderful Wednesday!!

xo,
Jackie

Happy 5th Birthday Ava!

Finally catching up on my posts!  So much has happened that all the blogging has been neglected put aside.  But, I'm gonna try my best to give you something each week...fingers crossed :-P

Today's cake feature was from back in August!  I know!  {Don't judge me :-D}

I made it for my wonderful neighbours Adam and Rad's daughter, Ava, who turned the big 5!  The cake was inspired by a paper plate!  Here are some pics for you to enjoy xo.

Some lovely details xo

And here's the beautiful Ava with her cake!  Happy fairy five Ava!

I hope you enjoyed today's cake feature!  It's been a long time coming, I know, but I'm just glad I finally got to share it with you!

xo,
Jackie

Gatsby-inspired 21st Birthday Cupcakes

Before I wrote this post, I wanted to get into the right head space...in this case, I needed to bust out some moves to Fergie's "A little party never killed nobody {all we got}".  Fun times...hehehe.

Anyway, today I am excited to share with you a Gatsby-inspired cupcake tower I created earlier this month for the beautiful Amber-rose.  I think it's such a fun 21st birthday theme, definitely a great way to go crazy on pearls and bling and anything glam!!  Maybe an idea for my 30th next year?  We'll see...

Amber-rose's Mum was actually the one who contacted me and told me about the birthday theme, so I was so excited to get working!  I created everything from the cupcakes to the toppers.  It was labour-some but fun, and the end result - so worth it!  Here's how she looked!  Enjoy xo

Let's check her out from the top, shall we?

I just love how the acrylic tier stand makes this whole thing look classy!  So worth investing in one!

Some of the cupcake had toppers with Amber-rose's initials and age...and some had fun tassle flags.

Here are the cupcakes packed up and ready to go...

Cupcakes were chocolate with chocolate ganache center and fluffy vanilla bean buttercream frosting, and red velvet with a light whipped cream cheese frosting.  Nom nom nom!!

I hope you enjoyed today's SECOND post!  And, nothing related, but just cute to share.  Since I started writing this up this morning I had my boy Carlyle on my lap.  He is very clingy to Mummy today.  I love it but my leg is dead...hahaha.  And now enters Javier.  Definitely not gonna be able to use my legs today.  LOL.

Have an awesome day guys!!  See you back here tomorrow with maybe another double post!

xo,
Jackie

Katrina's Princess Sofia Birthday {Part 2}

Hello!  I'm back.  I know I left you with a promise that I would return with Katrina's second birthday cake when I showed you her first one last week, but blogging gets neglected when much more important matters come up.  My boys have been unwell {and are still unwell but waaaay better than a few days ago}, so blogging was definitely out of the question.  Of course, in my down time {which I had very little of} I managed to squeeze in some DIY projects that I'll share with you next month.  My aim for now is to clear my back log of things to post for the months of June/July/August.  I'm getting there...let's hope I get heaps done before the weekend!  That'll all depend on my boys' progress.

Anyway, back to Katrina's second birthday cake!  As already mentioned, her first birthday cake I shared with you last week was Umizoomi's Milli!  Today, I am happy to introduce Katrina's second birthday cake - my {second} Princess Sofia the First cake!  The first time I made this Princess Sofia the First cake was in April this year, for a sweet girl named Emma.  It's always scary trying to recreate something, because my cakes really are just one-offs.  Surely, there's no way I could exactly replicate another one of my cakes, but I definitely wasn't gonna say no to trying!  I think in some ways, the second one is even better!  Or the same?  Well, definitely not worse, so I'm glad.  

Here she is.  Enjoy xo

   

 And for some lovely details and angles...

And a progress shot just for fun...

 I hope you enjoyed today's cake feature!!  I'll do my best to get you some cupcakes tomorrow, Gatsby style!  Til then, have a safe and wonderful Thursday!

xo,
Jackie

Katrina's Umizoomi Milli Birthday {Part 1}

Last month I had the pleasure of making not one but TWO cakes for a very lucky girl named Katrina.  She turned four and her aunt Moka always buys not one but at least TWO cakes for her very lucky nieces and nephews, no matter what age they turn.  I wish she was my aunt, hehe.

Anyway, the first cake I'm gonna share with you is Katrina's Umizoomi Milli birthday cake.  Like a lot of my {girly} cake requests, I have NO CLUE what or who the characters are.  So, I turn to my good friend Google :-)

So, without further ado, here's my cake version of Milli.  Hope ya like it!
{Note: I ended up finishing the cake in the evening so my lighting was poor...:-(}

And here are some progress shots...

Chocolaty haven...nom nom nom

I hope you liked today's cake feature!  Come back tomorrow for Katrina's second birthday cake!  Have a gray great day!!

xo,
Jackie

Happy 21st Birthday Ryan!

Happy Wednesday everyone!!  Today I am thrilled to share with you a tyre cake I made for a 21st birthday last month.  It was my very first time to make a tyre cake, so I was all giddy about it!  {I get crazy excited when I get to attempt new things}.  I must say, there were lots of learn-as-you-go moments, but still beyond happy with the end result.  Hope you like it, too.  :-)

I personalised it even more by making a RYAN21 cakeboard border and flag.

Fondant checkered tiles and plate number.

Progress

I hope you enjoyed today's cake feature!  Can't wait to share many more cakes and DIY with you this week!  Have a wonderful Wednesday!!  Be kind to yourself :-)

xo,
Jackie

You are my sunshine, my only sunshine...

You make me happy

When the skies are grey...

Hey guys!  Sooo happy to be bloggin' again after such a long time away!  Been super busy with life, but lovin' every day of it.  Of course, I've missed you all so much that I couldn't wait to share another cake with you!  Today is very special because I'm sharing a cake I made for my sister Jamie's birthday {on Monday}.

I'm actually surprised at the way this cake turned out to be honest.  I had very little time to put it together because the plan was that we would celebrate my sister's birthday on the same day as their house warming {which is still a couple of weeks away}.  So, when I found out that we were going to put a last-minute party together, I had to whip something up quickly!  Talk about stress!  I swear it felt like I was on NZ's hottest home baker or something {which my very talented friend Gemma is on by the way}.

I drew inspiration from one of my favourite cake decorators Jessica Harris.  Her sunshine cake is truly awesome, and I hope I did it enough justice.  The only thing I did differently is that I made the rays out of coloured paper as opposed to fondant {because of the time frame I was under}.  It was such a rush!!  I know I'd like to make this cake again and do a few things differently for sure.  :-P

Anyway, with that said, I'm sooo happy it turned out better than expected!  It truly represents my dear sister because she is always full of smiles and can brighten up anyone's day...just like a sunshine!!

And here are some fun pics of my sis and her wonderful family xo

 Oh, and I forgot to bring a birthday candle...so she had to blow out one of her own :-P

I hope you enjoyed today's cake feature!!  Keep warm and stay safe this long weekend!

Stay blessed and see you back here soon!

xo,
Jackie

What's at the end of a rainbow?

Better than a pot of gold.  A love story.

Now, you're probably wondering why that title?  Well, I'm not gonna go into any detail, because I think this particular love story needs to be told by the couple themselves, but what I will tell you is that it involved a Rainbow's End...the theme park :-)  

I am so happy to share with you a beautiful love story I was sooo blessed to have been a part of!  My friend Judith married her husband Colin in the beautiful Rarotonga not so long ago, then had their NZ wedding reception this past weekend at our church.  I absolutely love the story of how they met, and I think it would make a great romantic comedy!  Blue painted toe nails and all :-P {private joke}.  

Judith knew exactly what kind of cake she wanted.  Simple.  White.  And it had to represent Rarotonga.  That's where the yellow and pink frangipanis come into the picture.  She also wanted a yellow ribbon around the bottom of each tier, to incorporate her chosen theme.  I was sooo excited to make another wedding cake!  My second Rarotonga-inspired frangipani cake!  It's been a while :-)

So, here you go peeps!  I hope you like Judith and Colin's wedding cake!  I really enjoyed whipping up this sweet creation for them xo

Top

Side

Left

Right

And now, the beautiful couple and their cake!

If you like seeing progress shots, here are a few for your viewing pleasure...

The cakes were red velvet with cream cheese and moist chocolate with ganache...YUM!

I hope you enjoyed today's wedding cake feature!  I'm so glad that I finally got to share it with you.  That's all I wanted to do but had to wait!

Have a lovely day and I'll see you again back here soon!

xo,
Jackie

Manuia lou aso fanau Cynthia!

Talofa!  To those of you who have no clue what that title is all about, it says 'Happy birthday Cynthia!' {in Samoan}.  Let me tell you, I was beyond excited when I received this cake request a month ago.  My friend Lupe emailed me requesting a cake like the Pasifika one I made for the lovely Asa's 70th birthday last year.  That cake was truly one of my proudest and most defining moments as a self-taught cake artist.  It's something that I haven't seen before and I'm just so proud to call it my own.  

This cake is very similar, but with more of a Samoan twist.  What makes my Pasifika cake so special is 

the woven basket and hibiscus flowers {all handmade and edible}, which I definitely had to include in this cake.  Having to work with two tiers, I needed another design element to bring this cake to full life.  So, I decided to include some Samoan patterns in the mix, and my inspiration came from the 'taulima' {which is the Samoan tattoo} and 'tapa cloth'.  I also included a Samoan necklace that I draped on the side of the bottom tier.  I own this particular one {being married to a Samoan I was bound to have one in my jewellery collection hehe}, so it was really great to have on hand to work off.  

Cynthia actually went to my high school, so I know her, which makes this cake that much more special.  So much heart went into the creative process of this cake, so I really hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoyed bringing it to life! xo

I also made a dozen chocolate cupcakes and decorated them with edible images.  Now, I don't print on edible sheets {I don't have the equipment for that}, so I had to order these in {and Lupe provided me with the photos}.  What I did have to do was cut the pictures out individually then adhere them onto a piece of white fondant so that they don't just melt into my chocolate buttercream.  Please excuse the blurry photo below :-/

Here is a collage of the cake's progress for those of you who like to see these sort of details...

Well, I hope you enjoyed today's second post!  I'm so happy to have finally shared these two cakes with you before the weekend!  I've been so busy with my own family that trying to get these two posts out today were a real mish.  But, never mind that!  The important thing is we got there in the end and I hope it was worth the wait!

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!  Stay warm and dry and keep smilin'!  God bless you all!

xo,

Jackie