• SWEETS FOR A SWEETIE…

Cake - 07.11.09

Lisa contacted me a few weeks ago about a cake for her daughter.  She picked out a few cakes I had done recently to go by and told me she liked jewelry boxes. She wanted little girl colors and for the vanilla cake to feed about 30.

After going through all of the info I decided to combine all the cakes she liked and add the jewelry box as the main focus.  I went with a 3 tier cupcakes stand with the bottom two tier being cupcakes and the top tier being the box.

I bakes 3-6″ Round pans for the box.  I stacked two of the three for a 4″ box and covered them in pink buttercream.and then put the 3rd 6″ round cake on a board and did the same.  I wrapped hot pink ribbon around the bottom of the round box and piped cornelli lace of the lid.  I placed 5 dowel rods in the bottom to lift the lid 1″ off the box as it it were open.  I placed pink necklaces and bracelets where they draped out onto the sides of the cake and filled in the open space with pink/white daisies.  I tied a bow in the hot pink ribbon and placed on top.  I then baked 24 vanilla cupcakes and piped with pink buttercream.  A few days earlier, I made the “A”’s for Anniston out of royal icing so they could harden to add to the cupcakes and topper. After I placed them on tope, I added hot pink sprinkles.  After placing all the letters on top I placed little daisies around the stand tie the top and bottom tiers together.  After 5 hours baking/decorating it was complete.  Happy Birthday Anniston!  Hope you have a wonderful day!  Thanks, Lisa, for the opportunity to play a part in her spoecial day.

• THE TASTE OF SUCCESS…

Cake - 06.30.09

Lisa contacted me a couple weeks  in regards to a cake for Jeff Knott who will be the new “Dover City Manager”. I was bookedfor the next few weekends, but since this was a weekday cake, I decided to add it in.  She wanted a cake in the shape of a Desk Name Plate to feed about 75 people.

So with this info, I took off.  To feed 75, the cake came to about three feet long.  I did half vanilla and half chocolate.  I started with 2 11×15 cakes, cut them in half, stacked, and carved the slope of the name plate  (thanks to Ben and his genius idea of creating side guides, this was a breeze).  I covered the sculpted cakes with buttercream and then with brown tinted fondant.  We hand-painted the wood grain and placed a black strip of fondant on the front.  A few days earlier, I made the gold letters out of royal icing so that they could harden and easily be added to the cake.  After all the wording was in place I rolled up gold fondant beads and placed them around the black face plate. After 8 hours baking/decorating, the cake was complete.  Congrats, Jeff!  And thank you, Lisa, for the fun cake challenge.

• A FAIRY TALE BIRTHDAY…

Cake - 06.20.09

Jennifer contacted me a few months back about doing Emmy’s second birthday cake. Last year we did the pain palette for her for the theme of “Paint Your World”. This year’s birthday theme was books with a fairy tale vibe. She went with all buttercream and a funfetti flavored cake to feed 30.

I began by preparing the boards for the cakes. I first wrapped a flat board with silver paper and then sized the book cover and folded in to the spine so that it would be lifted on the sides as if you were holding the book open to read it. I wrapped the bard in a maroon paper and placed two cardboard pieces under the sides to prop it open and hot-glued everything in place. I baked 2 rectangle sheet cakes. I placed the first on top of the opn book, filled with buttercream and then placed the second cake on top. I then card the cake into an open book shape. I mixed up buttercream so that it have blends of khaki and brown to match the antique style invitations she sent out. I piped small lines on the edges of the cake to resemble pages, a green border around the edges of the page and the lettering of “Once Upon A Time Emmy was 2″ that matched the invitation as well. She wanted a fairy tale theme for the second page so Ben dre me out the outline of a castle and I piped it on the cake. I came back and piped leaves and flowers and then added sparkles to the cake. For the finishing touches, I added a silver bookmark ribbom to match the base board and sparkly wool batting to look as if the book was sitting on clouds. After 5 hours, it was complete.

Happy Birthday, Emmy! And thanks, Jennifer, once again for the opportunity. I always love to work with your creative themes. Emmy is one lucky little girl!

• A TOWER OF GOODIES…

Cake - 05.30.09

Beth contacted me quite awhile back about doing her wedding and grooms cake. She had picked out a cupcake wedding  and a sculpted trooper’s hat and badge for the groom. Her main color was green with white, pastel pink yellow, and orange flowers. The 75 cupcakes were to be  in vanilla with green buttercream and a fondant 6″ topper to match for the bride and groom to keep.  The groom’s cake was chocolate with buttercream and fondant. So with all the details in hand, off I went.

Cake #1 – Groom’s Cake

I baked an 11 x 15″ chocolate cake and sculped around the edges to form an oval badge. I covered it with buttercram followed by tan colored fondant and free-handed the golden and red details on top to make the state trooper patch. Next I baked a 6″ round cake and a ball shaped cake and stacked them together. I placed them on top of a 12″  cardboard circle to act as the brim of the hat. I scuplted the dips in the top of the hat and then covered with buttercream followed by green fondant that draped over the cakes and the 12″ board. I made up black fondant and wrapped around the hat as well as gold luster dust painted fondant as the cords. I placed on the final black and gold embellishments and it was complete. I leaned the hat upon the badge as soon as we got to the reception to keep from damaging during transport.

 

Cake #2 – Cupcakes!

My wonderful Aunt, whom I might add taught me all I know, decided to surprise me and bake all 75+ cupcakes while I was at work. This turned out to be such a blessing because they tunred out gorgeous and such a time-saver. I started with the 6″ topper cake by covering in buttercream, then green fondant. I came back with green buttercream and created leaves and vines. My mother and I rolled out white, pink, yellow and orange fondant and cut out flowers for each cupcake and the topper. After placing the flowers on the topper we rolled up little white balls and places them in the center of each flower.

Then, it was time for the cupcakes. I made up a huge batch of green buttercream and piped a large beehive-like swirl design on top of each cupake. I then came back and piped the leaves to match their topper. We then placed a flower on each cupcake, and they were  finished. After 9 Hours/Baking/Decorating I was complete at 1 AM Saturday morning. Ben and I delivered the cakes to the beautifully decorated recpetion hall and left the tower of goodies for the happy couple.

 

Congrats to you both! May God Bless you in the many years to come.

 

Specials thanks, again, to my wonderful Aunt, Parents and Ben for all their hard work and helpful hands. You’re all such troopers!

• A ZOMBIE WEDDING…

Cake - 05.23.09

Dan and Colleen asked me over a year ago to do their wedding cake. They already knew they wanted to incorporate zombies and themselves as the topper. So I’ve had a year to dream up this unusual but absolutely amazing idea of a cake for two of the most wonderful people in the world.

Over the past month we’ve worked out the major details for the cake and decided on the following: Green, three tiered round cake to feed 80, 2 zombies climbingup the cake, the happy couple huggingon top, purple flower accents, with alternating cake flavors of yellow with buttercream and triple fudge chocolate with chocolate hazelnut cream cheese frosting all covered in homemade marshmallow fondant. With all the details sorted out, I was ready for the challenge.

Ben and I started sculpting the zobmiesa week ago with clay, but after creating such realistic disturbing zombie faces, we decided they were just not right for the cake. So Monday and Tuesday, I pulled out photos of Dan and Colleen and created their faces along with the zombies. For Dan and Colleen’s faces, I rounded out flesh colored fondant and made indentions for the white eyes to sit in. I used a black edible marker to dot in their pupils so that they would be looking at each other when placed on the cake. I used the end of a straw to make the shape of their smiles and rounded up a small ball of fondant for their noses. I used a toothpick to press in the nostrils. For her rosey cheeks, I put pink luster dust on my hand and rubbed it around to get just a hint on my fingertip, and then applied it to her cheeks. For her eyelashes I used the black edible marker and drew a line over her eyes out to the eyelashes. For the zombies, I rolled up gray fondant for their faces. I made their eye sockets deeper and colored in a dark circle before putting their eyes in place. After attachingtheir noses, I used a tool to poke in their mouths so that they would look like they were open. And finally it was time for all their hair. I purchased an amazing tool about two weeks ago that creates things such as this. You mix up the color hair you want with fondant and add a bit of crisco. You add it to this pump-like tool and it creates small strands of fondant that push out the end. You then take and cut it to the length you want and place it. This seemed to take forever, but gave me the look I was definitely going for. After four hours, the four heads were complete.

For the cake, I made 2-6″ and 2-12″ Round Chocolate Cakes with Chocolate Hazelnut Cream Cheese for the top and bottom tiers. The middle tier was 2-9″ Round Cakes that were Yellow with Buttercream. After frosting each of the tiers, I mixed up green marshmallow fondant and covered each layer. I then stacked the tiers and was ready for the decorations. After Wrapping each tier with black satin ribbon (used to match the black around the waist of her dress) I used the hair tool to make the grass that went around the base of each tier. This took about 2 hours to create, but definitely worth the extra time. I then rolled out purple fondant and created the flowers followed by little white balls to fill the insides. After all the cake was put together, it was time for the bodies of the figures. This was the tricky part.

Ben created a wire frame for me and used aluminum foil to build up the stability of the bodies. I then took fondant and wrapped around the wire until they were fully covered and ready for clothes. We cut out white for the shirts and wrapped black pants with rips around the bottoms of the legs for the zombies. For Dan we used a photo of an army-style jacket Colleen had sent a picture of. We created his white button-up shirt with a collar underneath and placed the black jacket on top with all the pockets. For Colleen, she sent me a photo of her wedding dress that was a beautiful shade of green with a black band around the waist. I wrapped her upper half with flesh-tone fondant and wrapped the green fondant around her torso, followed by the black band.  We created Dan and Colleen in two separate pieces for easier transport. We attached the bottom halves of their bodies on top the cake and would place the top halves on when we set up the cake at the reception. Finally after staring at 1PM on Friday afternoon, we finished about 2AM Saturday Morning. So for a total of 20 hours Baking/Decorating, the Zombie Wedding Cake was complete. We packed up the car and headed to Nashville for the Wedding at the Belcourt Theater followed by the reception at the Cuisine of India. What a beautiful day filled with such an amazing amount of love. To the happy couple, I wish you all the best and cannot tell you enough how much you guys mean to us. Love you both!

Special thanks to Ben for spending so many hours planning and sculpting with me and to my parents for the extra help baking. You all mean so much to me. These cakes wouldn’t be possible without your artistic hands and helpful hearts. God Bless

• WEEKEND FULL OF WEDDINGS…

This same time last year I booked two wedding cakes and a grooms cake and swore I would never do it again, due to the strenuous work and deadline of the weddings.  But I did it again with two wedding cakes and a grooms cake that all fed the same amount as last year. I guess I felt like I was up for the challenge and I went to school with the ones getting married, so I was a bit excited to play a part. With the help of my wonderful parents helping me bake and my lovely Ben’s artistic eye for weenie dog cakes, the cakes were much easier to complete. So it all began…

Cake #1 - 05.16.09

Amanda booked her wedding cake with me awhile back. She had the cake picked out that she liked so it went rather smoothly and quickly. She decided on a four tier round cake with alternating yellow and chocolate cake flavors. It  had a wide ribbon with a smaller ribbon around the bottom, second and top tiers and had an elegant monogram design on the third tier. Her colors were light blue and black and the cake was to feed 150. So with all the info, I took off.

We baked 2-14″, 2-12″, 2-9″ &  2-6″ round cakes. The top and second tier were chocolate and the bottom and thir tier were yellow.  After covering the cakes with buttercream, I stacked the first three tiers. Since the cake would be so tall, we left off the top tier and would later take it to the reception hall to place it on top there. I placed a 1.5″ blue satin ribbon around the bottom two tiers and the top followed by a small black satin ribbon. I then placed a blue satin bow in the front of the three tiers. I mixed up some black buttercream and  freehanded the monogram design on the third tier. After piping the shell border, it was finished until we arrived at the reception hall. I placed the top tier on, piped the border and it was complete after 8 hours baking/decorating.

Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Justin Zellers! God Bless you both!

 

 

Cake #2 - 05.16.09

Brandy called last year to book her wedding cake and grooms cake. For the wedding cake she decided on a light pink square vanilla cake with darker pink accents to feed 100.

We baked 2-12″, 2-8″, 2-6″ square cakes. I covered the cakes with light pink buttercream and stacked the tiers. I piped the swag design on the bottom tier and the ribbon design on the top tier. For the middle tier I used a stencil and scraped dark pink buttercream over the openings to attach it to the cake. I then peeled off the stencil and was left with the elegant scroll design. I finished it with a dark pink shell border around it tier and moved the cake aside for the good ‘ole grooms cake…

Cake #3 - 05.16.09

Brandy decided on a weenie dog in the shape of a “G” for their last name. I was a little worried about this cake, but knew I was up for the challenge and repeated to myself, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” So after lots of praying and sketching possibilities, Ben joined me in on the fun. The cake was made from a 14″ round chocolate cake. He carved the general shape of the dog for me and handed over the knife so I could make a complete mess. After cutting here and carving there, we had us a weenie dog in the shape of a “G”. I then mixed up reddish-brown fondant and covered the dog. We shaped it’s ears paws and tail with the same color. We then made it’s nose, eyes and collar out of fondant. For the dog tag, we shaped a heart, painted with luster dust for a silver shine and carved a “G” in the middle. After 12 hours of baking/decorating, both cakes were complete.

Congrats Brandy and thanks so much for bringing on such a fun challenge.

As I’ve always been told, something bad will eventually happen to one of the cakes, and it just so happened that today was the day. After we delivered the pink wedding cake and weenie dog cake to on eof Brandy’s friends, she was to take the cakes to Murfreesboro, which is about 2+ hours from Dover. The cakes were in the back of her SUV. Even after using many dowel rods for support, lining the vehicle with padding and non-slick mats, the sun and heat were not so  easy to work with. The buttercream could not compete. Brandy contacted me after the cake arrived and said that it had shifted and the icing had cracked. Even with so much support, and air-conditioning, the direct sunlight can wreak havok through windows. They decided to serve the cake from the back and use a dummy cake for the wedding. I hate so bad this happened, but at least they still had the cake to serve.  Risks are involved in long distant transports and anything can happen. I just hate this happened to you guys. I hope you had a wonderful day and many more happy years to come. God Bless.

• WEAR YOUR CAKE AND EAT IT TOO!

Cake  - 04.25.09

Last year I started doing Jennifer’s children’s birthday cakes. She always has a nice theme picked out and again this year, she wanted a Clone Trooper Helmet for her son, Eli. She wanted a chocolate cake to feed at least 20. She sent his clone trooper helmet my way, and I’m telling you, this thing was large enough for me to wear, which gave me nice details to work with. After pondering over this cake for many days, I picked up the helmet and inspected it one more time to get a good idea of where I may need to start. unaware that this heap of plastic could speak, I unknowingly pushed a button on the side of its helmet and the mass spoke, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this, Sir” and I just froze. He knew exactly what I was thinking. This definitely gave my mother and I a good laugh, but I somehow came up with a plan.

I started with baking 2 – 9″ round pans that were 3″ thick. I then baked a Soccer Ball pan that would round out the top of the helmet. After stacking the cakes and placing a layer of buttercream in between each one, I was ready to sculpt. I started by shaping the ears and cheeks and continued by creating the slope of the face. After all was cut up and the kitchen was a complete mess, I was ready to cover the sculpture in buttercream. When sculpting cakes, plan on using a lot of buttercream if you do not plan on using fondant. Since it was chocolate and carved, small brown pieces of cake mixes in with the icing which must be covered up. I mixed up a batch of marshmallow fondant and covered the helmet. I came back with the white accents on the helmet such as the round pieces on the ears and buttons. I then tinted some fondant black and cut out the eyes and mouth piece followed by the black stripe around the top. Jennifer specifically wanted this blue to be above the black instead of the usual gray so after it was in place, I was ready for the top part of the helmet. I took what was left of the white fondant and shaped the long piece on top. I cam back with a fondant cutter and gently pressed it into the cake to created the creases. After 6 hours of baking/decorating, it was complete!

Happy Birthday, Eli! And thank you, Jennifer, for another fun challenge. Look forward to Emmy’s! God Bless you and your family.

• SCHS PROM 2009 – WINTER WONDERLAND

Cake  - 04.17.09

My high school art teacher called me awhile back and booked me again for the Prom Cake. After last year’s Paris, France theme, I was so excited to see what this year’s prom had in store. She told me it was a Winter Wonderland theme with all shades of blue with silver and purple. The gym was going to be decorated like a castle and the cake was to be places in the :dining room” of the castles with elegantly decorated tables. She left the design up to me as long as it fed 200, so I hit the drawing board immediately. I kept seeing a castle, snowflakes and sparkles. So off I went.

Days before I decorated the cake, I began the preliminary work such as preparing a castle and snowflakes. I found a wooden castle which my father so nicely painted white for me. I created snowflake designs on paper and then placed a piece of wax paper on top. I mixed up royal icing and piped over the design on paper. I created small, medium and large snowflakes that would dry for four days before the Prom.

Being that I have a new job and timing for cakes isn’t as easy, my wonderful mother and aunt baked cakes for me until I could get home. I went with a four tier design (16″-12″-9″-6″.) since it was to feed so many. I made up 10 pounds of ice blue colored buttercream and covered each tier. I stacked the bottom three tiers and placed the castle in between the third tier and the top tier for elevation and to work in the castle theme. My father drilled holes in the top and bottom of the castle for the dowel rod support system that ran through the entire cake. I then placed the silver ribbon on the bottom tier and the third tier. I piped white frost-like designs on the second and top tier, followed by darker blue cornelli lace and a bead border. I cam back with the ice blue buttercream and piped a shell border on each tier. For final touches I added the sparkle to each tier.

 As Friday came, my aunt, mother and I packed up the vehicle and headed to the High School to set up the cake. We placed blue shimmery fabric on my cake stand followed by silver sequin material. We set the cake on top and began placing the royal icing snowflakes here and there. We added the top tier and the dangling crystal topper and it was complete after 15 hours of baking and decorating.

Thank you so much, Mrs. Peacher, for the opportunity to participate in the SCHS Prom again. I love the creative themes and challenges. And many thanks to my mother, father and aunt for all their help. I couldn’t do it without you!

• SPRING SHOWER CAKE

Cake  - 04.17.09

I was contacted by one of my favorite cake lovers about a bridal shower cake for her sister for whom I will later be creating a wedding and groom’s cake for. She wanted a springy-looking cake with pinks, purples, yellows and sage green. She went with the usual vanilla cake with buttercream icing to feed 30 people.

Since she left the design up to me, I decided on a two tier basketweave cake with grass and gerber daisies.

I started with 2-6″ and 2-8″ cakes, which my lovely mother helped bake, and covered them with buttercream. After stacking them together, I piped the basketweave design on the edges of both tiers followed by the green grass. After creating the topper with pink, purple, yellow and white daisies, I placed it on top and it was complete in about 4 hours.

Congrats, Brandy! Can’t wait until the wedding and grooms cake! And thank you, Misty, for always keeping me in mind when it comes to the sweets!

• M-I-CROOKED LETTER CROOKED LETTER I-CING ON THE CAKE

Cake  - 03.14.09

April contacted me awhile back about doing her wedding cake and grooms cake. She wanted a chocolate Ole Miss football cake to feed 30 for Scott and a wedding cake to feed 175 decorated with hot pink, orange, red, yellow, and white gerber daisies. So off I went.

For the Grooms cake, I began by attaching the Ole Miss logo to the board.  I baked two football cakes and stacked them on top of each other. I covered them with brown tinted buttercream and piped the white on top. I came back with green icing to create grass under the football, and it was complete.

For the wedding cake, I decided on a three tier square cake since she left the design up to me. My lovely mother helped me bake 2-16″ square strawberry cakes, 2-10″ french vanilla cakes, and 2-6″ strawberry cakes.  I iced the cakes with buttercream and placed the dowel rod supports before stacking. After the cake was put together I wrapped a hot pink ribbon around the center of each tier followed by a white ribbon. I placed the colorful gerber daisies on each tier and created a topper bouquet of the same flowers.

After 11 hours, baking/decorating the cake, it was all complete. Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Wallace! I wish you nothing but love throughout the years to come. God bless you both.

• AN EYE FOR DESIGN…

Graphic Design – 02.10.09

I was contacted by our local and my favorite optometrist about a new logo for his business. I was told to just run with it and create anything, given no colors or theme. Being that it is the Dover Eye Clinic, I based my designs around the shape of the eye.

After sending him 6 or 7 logos, he picked his favorite, we tweaked the font, and it was complete. Thank you so much, Dr. Maria for the opportunity and being such a blessing to this community. God Bless.

• A CAKE TO MATCH THE DRESS…

Cake  - 01.03.08

A great friend ’s sister asked me earlier last year to do her wedding cake. The reception was originally planned for The Riverfront Plantation in Dover, but due to a terrible fire, the historic building was destroyed just a month before the wedding. She moved her reception to Rose Ella in Dover and went with a golden theme. She wanted a vanilla cake with buttercream to feed 30. She went with a square shaped cake with the design of her dress decorating the sides. She provided the top monogram and off I went.

I began with  2-10″ and 2-6″ square cakes. After icing them in buttercream and stacking the cakes I free-handed the gold luster dust tinted buttercream on the sides of both tiers matching the design on her dress.

After 5 hours baking/decorating it was complete. After we delivered the cake we placed the monogram topper and piped the gold beads as accent on the letters.

After attending the beautiful wedding at our church, my mother and I headed back over to the reception to dine with the family and cut/serve the cake. It was such a beautiful evening and such a pleasure to be a part of. Special thanks to Mrs. Gail Morgan for the wonderful dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Elliott for the wonderful company, my mother for the help  and to the Bride and Groom for allowing me to play a part in such a special day. God Bless you both.

• BUSINESS IDENTITY PROJECT…

Graphic Design – 12.23.08

I received a call from Jonathan Anglin about a logo package for his new business. I did a logo package for his Landscape/Concrete business in the past so I was looking forward to working with him again.

The business was titled Middle Tennessee Inventory. They work with home inventory in case of disasters for insurance purposes. With this information, I ran with what ideas I had to visually portay this business through a logo. After tweaking the design just a bit, he decided on the logo below as well as the business card and letterhead to match. Congrats and good luck on your new business, Jonathan!

• TASTES LIKE TEAM SPIRIT…

Cake  - 12.20.08

I received a call from Cyndi for her wedding cake. She was marrying the football coach for the Stewart County High  School Rebels and wanted a Black and Gold themed cake based on the school colors and a football cake for the groom’s cake. She went with a vanilla wedding cake with buttercream to feed 150. For the groom’s cake, she went for chocolate with buttercream to feed 30. 

 Cake #1
I began with the groom’s cake. I prepared a gold covered board and baked two football shaped cakes and stacked them together with buttercream in between the layers. I then covered the entire cake with brown tinted buttercream. After smoothing the icing, I piped the white on top of the football followed by the green grass around the bottom. Finally I sat the cake and board on top of a stand covered with black material to match the wedding cake.

 

Cake #2
Next came the wedding cake. She went with a designer’s choice cake and let me run with any ideas I had that went along with the Black and Gold. I went with a 16″ – 12″ – 8″ tiered cake – bottom two tiers stacked with a 4″ tall separator decor followed by the 8″ top cake and black and gold rose topper.

I began by placing black satin material over the base followed by the clear cake plate. I placed the 16″ on bottom and iced the cake with buttercream. I repeated the steps on the next two tier and kept them all separate in the beginning stages. After all the cakes were covered with buttercream, I created a border stencil that would have 1.5″ from the top edge of all the cakes. Next, I placed the 12″ cake on top of the 16″ and began to pipe the black bead border on the stenciled line followed by black cornelli lace. I placed the separator plates and columns. I draped black satin over the plate to match the base of the cake. Finally, I added the top tier and the rose topper. I came back with gold ribbon and wrapped around the base of each tier and then added a see-through black ribbon and placed in the middle of the gold. Lastly, I added the black buttercream bead border and it was complete.

 

After 12 hours baking/decorating, the two cakes were finished. Saturday afternoon came and I attended the wedding and cut and served the cake at the reception. I’ve realized that there’s nothing better than to create one of the most memorable desserts that there will ever be in a couple’s life which makes cutting into it feel absolutely wonderful. Congrats Mr. and Mrs. Holliday. Thank you so much for asking me to play a part in such a beautiful day. I wish you all the best. God Bless.

• POLKA DOT BIRTHDAY…

Cake  - 12.12.08

Ben’s little sister, Tessa, turned 12 this past Monday. Tomorrow she is having a skating party and wanted a green and navy blue french vanilla cake. She picked out the cake I did for prom and wanted a smaller version to feed around 30. So off to the kitchen I went.

I baked 2 – 8″ Square cakes and 2 – 6″ square cakes. I frosted them with buttercream and layed the quilt pattern stencil on all sides. I placed green ribbon on both tiers, came back with a small navy blue ribbon in the center and piped the green buttercream dots. Finally, I drew a 12 on cardboard, cut it out, wrapped with aluminum foil, and piped navy blue and green on top, and placed it in the center of the cake. After 4 hours it was complete.

Love you lots, Tessa. I hope you have a great day and enjoy the cake!

• MIGHTY MORPHIN BIRTHDAY CAKE…

Cake  - 11.11.08

I received a call from Misty for a Red Power Ranger Birthday Cake. She wanted a vanilla with buttercream ranger helmet to feed around 30. I started researching the design of the helmet and found there to be so many different red rangers throughout the last 15 years so I went with an original helmet.

I began by baking a 11×15 sheet cake and carving the silhouette of the helmet. I used a knife to round out the edges and then applied a layer of buttercream. I drew out the outlines for the eye area and mouth and covered them with a smooth layer of buttercream in the needed colors. I piped the lips and came back with an outline to clean up the edges for both sections. I tinted the rest of the buttercream red and piped little tiny stars all over the cake. After 4 hours baking/decorating it was complete.

Thanks, Misty, for allowing me to take part in another special birthday. I hope Rye has a wonderful day and enjoys his sweet treat! God Bless.

• A GOLDEN TOWER AND A CHOCOLATE DELIGHT…

Cake  - 11.08.08

I met with a couple earlier in the Spring about a November wedding. She had many ideas for the cake so we sat and went through designs and photos until she came up with the perfect cake. We met one more time to decide on sizes and grooms cake design and finally we were all set. Since her wedding colors are red, gold & ivory, she went for an ivory four tier wedding cake with roses between each tier and gold detailing. The grooms cake was to be a Chocolate lovers dream, two tiers of chocolate cake with chocolate ganache poured over top dripping down the sides with a monogram design on the top that was used in their invitations. Both cakes were to feed 296 People.

Cake #1
I began with the Grooms cake. Because the top monogram design was to be made of royal icing, I made it up a couple nights in advance. I piped the design with icing and let it sit 24 hours to harden. I then covered it with gold luster dust and it was complete.

The Grooms Cake was to feed 62 people, being two tiers (8″ & 10″).
8″ - Chocolate Fudge Cake with Hazelnut Filling
10″ - Chocolate Fudge Cake with Hot Fudge Chocolate Buttercream

After frosting both cakes with brown tinted buttercream, I made up the chocolate ganache. I poured the ganache on the 10″ and let it drip down the sides. Next, I placed the dowels in the bottom tier and one long one to go through the middle of both tiers. I lowered the top tier onto the bottom and then poured the remaining ganache on top. As the ganache hardened, I piped a buttercream bead border around the cake. Finally I placed the royal icing monogram design on top and the Grooms Cake as Complete.

 

Cake #2
The wedding cake was to feed 234 people and be 4 tiers, including many different flavors:
10” : Apple Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Filling (saved for anniversary cake)
12” : French Vanilla Cake with Vanilla Buttercream Filling
14” : Yellow Cake with Chocolate Fudge Buttercream Filling
16” : Apple Spice Cake with Cream Cheese Filling

I began by piping a “dam” of icing around the center layers of the the cakes. This was to keep the different fillings from flowing out into the outer icing. After all the filling were included, each cake layer was put together and iced with ivory buttercream. I then placed a different stencil to each tier and piped gold buttercream detailing. After all the accents were finished, I placed quite a few dowels in the bottom three tier cakes for support since they would have 3″  between each tier and so much weight to hold. The separator plates and columns were then added to the top of the bottom three tiers. Finally, I piped a golden border to the base cake. After 16 Hours Baking/Decorating the cake was complete and ready for transport.

We lined the car floor with a non-slip runner and a large foam mat. We placed three wedding cake tiers on the foam and held the grooms cake since it was two tiers and the wedding cake topper. As we arrived in Clarksville at the Riverview Inn, we set up the Grooms Cake on its desired table and began stacking the wedding cake tiers on its own table. After the four tiered cake was put together, I piped the gold border on the top three tiers and began placing the red roses between the tiers on the separator plates as if each tier was floating on a bed of roses. After placing the roses on the top tier it was complete. Special thanks to Tim for helping us with the roses. You’re awesome. Also, major thanks to my mother and father and Ben for helping with the cake, delivering and setting up.

Congrats, Mr. and Mrs. Hopson! It was such a pleasure meeting you and working with you on such a special cake. I pray the Lord Bless you both with an incredible marriage and many happy years to come.

• FAITH & GRACE…

Graphic Design – 11.03.08

I received a call from a nice young woman for a Church Logo. They wanted the logo to represent their church and what they stand for. They wanted the logo to be incorporated onto a flyer/card for invitations, sympathy cards, etc. as well as business cards for the Pastor. She had the idea of the four emblems put together in one logo: Bible, Dove/Flame, Nail & Wave. So off to the drawing board I went.

After coming up with 3 logos, we tweaked & altered the basic design into many more samples until we came up with the final Logo Flyer/Card & Business Cards below.

God Bless you and your Church family. I am so happy to work with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ.

• SPOOKY CUPCAKES…

Cake  - 10.30.08

Misty, called and needed 3 Dozen Halloween Cupcakes for her children’s Halloween parties. She wanted Vanilla Cupcakes with Buttercream Icing and any design that went with the Halloween theme.

I decided on six different designs: Skeleton, Pumpkin, Dracula, Spider, Ghost & Mummy.

The Mummy Cupcake  - white icing with white overlayed buttercrem mummy wrap with black buttercream behind the yellow eyes.

The Ghost Cupcake  -  piped grass with white buttercream ghost with black buttercream eyes and mouth.

The Spider Cupcake  -  white icing with black buttercream spider body and legs.

The Dracula Cupcake  - green icing as the face  with black buttercream piped hair, eyes and mouth with white buttercream teeth.

The Pumpkin  Cupcake  – piped grass with orange buttercream pumpkin with brown buttercream pumpkin stem.

The Skeleton Cupcake - white icing with black buttercream piped for the eyes, nose and mouth.

After 4 hours baking/decorating, the Spooky Cupcakes were complete. Thanks, Misty for always keeping me in mind when cakes are needed. I appreciate the support and kind words and look forward to the cakes to come!

• BABY BOOK SHOWER INVITATIONS…

Graphic Design – 10.29.08

I had a very close group of friends. We were all in Girl Scouts growing up and we’ve seemed to keep it going throughout the years. We went from weekly meetings to camping trips to NYC & Washington, DC, etc. Most troops end around graduation, but we’ve managed to get the group together on a few occasions, As each girl prepares for a wedding, the mothers and daughters throw a Recipe Shower where we bring our favorite recipe and prepare the dishes. We give the bride-to-be a recipe box filled with our recipe cards and all the ingredients and dishes she needs to prepare the meal. After three recipe showers, we’ve finally come to our first Baby Shower. A good friend of mine suggested a Baby Book Shower. So we ran with the idea. Each girl and mother are to bring their favorite children’s book for Jess to start Baby Crutcher’s own library. At the shower, we will also present her with a bookcase to keep all of the books collected.

For the invitations she gave me scrapbook papers she used to make nursery rhyme picture frames to match the foods we’ll be eating so that I could make an invitation for all of the girls and mothers.

Since Jess is expecting a boy, I went with an all blue background card stock paper with a small white polka dot border where the next paper would be attached. I created a template to look like a library book insert where the invitation card would slip into. After designing, folding, taping an gluing the insert in place on the background sheet, I made the card look like a library card with all of the Baby Book Shower Information and slid it into the pocket. And Voila!

I love my Troop 1420 and am so happy to remain so close throughout the years. They mean more to me than anything. I love you, Jess, and am so happy to welcome a new baby boy into the clan. We can’t wait to see his beautiful face. May the Lord continue to bless your family.

• THREE TIERS OF JOY…

Cake  - 10.26.08

So the time has come for Jamie’s baby shower. I spoke with her last Sunday at church and she wanted a Designer’s Choice Cake. So to the drawing board I went. The cake was to feed 75. The invitations I made earlier for her was my inpiration for the cake. I went with 3 tier buttercream cake with fondant accents. The top and bottom tier were strawberry and the middle tier was french vanilla.

I began by baking 2-6″, 2-8″ & 2-10″ cakes. I covered each in yellow tinted buttercream. Next came the stacking. I inserted 8 dowels in the bottom to tiers as well as one long dowel rod that went through all three tiers. After they were stacked, I mixed up fondant in the needed colors. I used various size circle cutters and placed polka dots around the cake on the top and bottom tiers. I then cut out small flowers from pink fondant, shaped the petals and placed them around the cake. I came back with yellow buttercream and piped three dots in the middle of each flower. I left the center tier yellow with no polka dots. I wrapped it in a pink satin ribbon and attached a bow to the front. Finally, I piped the pink pearl border with buttercream. For the topper, I layered strawberry cake in the shape of baby booties, covered with pink buttercream and piped yellow laces. I placed a small pink and yellow rocking horse by the bottom tier as the finishing piece. After 7 hours baking/decorating, it was complete.

Congrats again, Jamie! Not too much longer! God Bless you and yours.

• BRIDAL TEA INVITATIONS…

Graphic Design – 10.22.08

I was contacted a couple weeks back by one of my good friend’s mom. There was a young lady getting married that went to their church and they needed 75 invitations for the Bridal Tea they were hosting. The colors were Apple Red, Gold & Ivory.

I came up with four invitations that incorporated the colors and were based around an elegant yet young design.

Design #1- (top left) Is a 2 page design. The top piece contains the info and design and is attached to the red cardstock paper with a red satin ribbon.

Design #2- (top right) Is the simplest of the 4 designs. The info is printed on ivory paper with no design. The top border is printed onto ivory card stock and cut to fit the bottom sheet and attached with a gold satin ribbon.

Design #3- (bottom left) Is the most complex of the four design. It is made up of four layers. The bottom sheet is  ivory card stock with a red border. The second sheet is ivory card stock with text. The third layer is a strip of ivory paper with an elegant scroll-work design. The fourth later is a small square with the groom’s initial. The bottom two pages are glued together. There is two slits punched into the third layer and red satin ribbon is pulled through and then glued to the second layer. The top layer is attached with a 3D dot that lifts it up off the rest of the layers.

Design #4- (bottom right) Is a single page design with the text and red border on each side of the invitation. Then a small rectangular piece with the bride and groom’s first initials was cut and attached with a gold satin ribbon.

 

The ladies ended up choosing Design #3. After two evenings of printing, cutting, gluing and attaching, the project was complete. Thank you so much, Mrs. Tracy, for the opportunity! May God Bless each of you as well as the happy couple.

• CELEBRATING 50 YEARS…

Cake – 10.18.08

I received an email from a nice young lady about an anniversary cake for her grandparents, which so happened to be Ben’s great-aunt. She sent me a photo of a cake with the colors she liked and went with a  three tiered red velvet cake to feed 100.

I placed the cake on Golden paper to bring out the topper and accents. I baked 2-14″, 2-10″ & 2-6″ round cakes that will feed a total of 103 people.  I cut a small hole in the bottom of each board the tiers were sitting on for the dowel support system. I  began by icing each tier individually. After the 14″ base was on the board, I placed a dowel rod through the middle of the second tier cake and lowered it onto the  top of the base tier, and again with the top tier onto the second tier. Each tier had smaller dowels inserted into them to support the tier above. After all cakes were iced and stacked, I wrapped each tier with a pink ribbon, followed by a gold ribbon.  Next, I made stencils go around the cake to make guidelines of the perfect size swag so that each tier would come out perfectly. I piped on the swag pearls and then mixed up golden icing and piped the cornelli lace to add elegance to the top of each cake. Finally, I piped the bead border around the bottom of each tier and placed the pink roses around the cake. For the topper, I used a round piece of Styrofoam and inserted different shades of pink roses with tiny gold flowers. After 8 hours baking/decorating, it was complete. Ben and I packed up the car and set off for Erin, TN to deliver the golden goodie.

Thanks, Briana, for the opportunity to play a part in such an amazing celebration. Congrats, James and Wilma Gier! I know your love is an inspiration to many as it is to me. May God bless you with many more loving years to come.
 

• CLONE TROOPERS & GOLF BAGS…

Cake #1 - 10.11.08

The first of two cakes this weekend was for a friend’s son. I recently did the Halloween invitations for her and now it was time for the cake. She wanted a marble cake to feed around 30. Her son, Hayden, wanted a cake in the shape of a head of a Clone Trooper from Star Wars, as shown below, so a Clone Trooper he got.

I began with a 11×15 sheet cake and carved out the silhouette of the head. I then carved into the cake around the cheek regions so that it had a 3D appearance. I applied a thick layer of buttercream and began to smooth out the surface. I was then able to press the buttercream into the carved pieces and form smooth angles. I mixed up some black and gray buttercream and piped in the design on the helmet. Lastly I wrote his name and his age of “6″ to personalize the Clone Trooper Helmet. After 5 hours baking/decorating, it was complete.
 

To match her invitations and decorations she had for the party, I made up a dozen strawberry cupcakes tinted orange to surprise her with. Thanks, Rebecca for the opportunity to use multiple creative skills on the invitations and cake. I hope Hayden has a wonderful birthday! God Bless.

 

Cake #2 - 10.11.08

I received a phone call from one of my long lost best friends. She was throwing a bridal shower for a friend that she attends church with. She wanted the cake to feed around 20 and gave me the following things to go on: feminine, golf, pink, beige/brown, beach. This young lady is said to be an amazing golfer. She is getting married on a beach with the color scheme of the wedding being beige and brown. We thought we’d work some pink into the design to give it a feminine appearance. I did a strawberry cake to add to the feminine touch and because it taste just like candy.

I began with a 11×15 sheet cake. I carved out the shape of a golf bag with two side pockets. I then baked a 8″ round cake and cut it in half, using each piece as a front pocket of the bag. I covered the cake with a layer of buttercream and placed the two front pockets on top and finished with another layer of buttercream to attach the pieces. I then made up a batch of homemade marshmallow fondant and tinted half of it beige to drape over the bag. I then mixed up some pink, pressed a quilted pattern into the fondant and placed as a accent on the pockets. I used what was left of the beige fondant and tinted it brown. I attached a strip on top and bottom of the bag, along with all of the trim down the front.

I was then ready for golf tees, golf balls, towel, flowers and golf clubs. I began with pink and white fondant to sculpt the golf tees. I then cut out little flowers using the same pink. After curling them in the palm of my hand, I let them dry while I began on the golf balls. I rolled up a ball of white fondant and used the end of a paintbrush to press the little holes into the sides. I used a rectangular piece of white fondant and draped it over the golf bag as a towel hanging out of the top. Finally, I hand sculpted the golf clubs and painted with vodka and silver luster dust. And it was ready to be put together. I began by piping little white pearls on the corners of the quilted pattern of the pink pockets. I came back with the little pink flowers and placed them around the bag with a small buttercream pearl in the middle of each. I then crushed up Graham Crackers to be used as sand for her beach theme or as a sand trap and spread it around the bag. I used white buttercream to pipe “Congrats Lindsey” and green buttercream to pipe grass around the edges and finally placed the golf balls, tees and clubs. It was complete after 6 hours baking/decorating.

 

Thanks, Meagan, for this cake challenge. I love you to death and am so happy to help in anyway I can. God Bless You in all you do.

• POLKA DOT BABY SHOWER INVITATIONS…

Graphic Design – 10.05.08

I have a beautiful young lady in my Sunday School Class who is expecting her first child in December, therefore, she needed a baby shower cake and invitations. Her shower is October 26th, so it will be a couple weeks before the cake will be up to view, but she wanted to match the following magazine clipping to both the cake and invitations:

 

I came up with three invitations that incorporated different elements of the room pictured above, such as color, polka dots and stripes.

Design #1- Pulls the striped background from the back of the blanket. It has a pink piece of card stock with baby tea details attached with two ribbons. I rounded out the corners of both sheets to give it a soft look.

Design #2 -Pulls the whole design from the front of the blanket. The background features the polka dots while the center pink sheet contains the information attached with ribbons. The corners are right angled like the blanket.

Design #3- Pulls from the border on the wall. The background is pink with the information. I designed a small strip of card stock with the polka dot design of the border and attached with ribbon.

 

Jamie ended up choosing Design #2  so I printed 75 invitations, cut out design which included the shower info, punched holes, tied the ribbons and stuffed envelopes. Thanks to my lovely mother helping me thread ribbons through the holes and stuffing envelopes, I finished much quicker than doing it solo. Always nice to have her helping hands and never-ending support. Now, we’re looking forward to the matching cake!

 

Congrats, Jamie! We love you and we can’t wait to meet her! God Bless.