I made it!

Hallelujah! I'm SO SO SO glad May is over! :o) I'm going to randomly post my favorite works from the month throughout the blog because it just looks better than piling them at the end.

It was my busiest month so far - *thank you faithful customers* - but I am definitely wiped after May. Mother's Day, a trip to Wisconsin with the family, a few graduations, a few birthdays, and the end of the school year! (Not that the school thing matters a ton to my family, but it does signify some freedoms - pools/splash pads opening, friends/family off work for the summer, zoos, trips, theme parks, reading program.)

While I'm am VERY thankful for how quick things have picked up for me, I will be taking fewer orders over the summer so that I can enjoy time with my family before winter hits again and has us cooped up! So, get your orders in early! I don't need exact times or exactly what you want - but I do need approximate dates.

I will say, I cannot wait for the day that my children are old enough to help make things. My older two are *dying* to help decorate and bake and we do that for our own desserts - but no customer orders. They haven't yet gotten it down that we don't lick, eat, blow on any of the food products that are for customers. : p So they aren't ready for that yet. They are great helpers in other ways though. Using my kitchen as frequently as I do, now requires MUCH MORE cleaning!! Doing the dishes and sweeping and mopping the floors are their jobs, and they do a pretty good job. Of course, they still get the "job" of testing new recipes too. I would probably guess that's their favorite...

Thanks for reading! Until next time!!

Company Logo

I had a pretty busy weekend. A couple of cake orders already booked. Then a shorter notice, but small and simple cake order for Monday. Then the same day I got that small cake order, I received a request for 4 dozen decorated sugar cookies with a company's logo for an expo they had -- ready by Tuesday afternoon. : D Now, keep in mind, I run a one woman show...out of my home. Someday I should post pictures of my kitchen, because it is a small kitchen with few counters. I would *love* a kitchen like my mothers -- counter space galore and a HUGE island to work on. I love it. Alas, we can't really afford to move right now, so we make do! 

I enjoy baking cookies, and my sugar cookie recipe is excellent. My husband thought I was crazy to try to fit everything in, but this is what I do and love. I managed to bust them out (with the help of said husband watching the kiddos) and they turned out great.

The company's logo below:

Falling in Love...

I received this fabulous order for a bridal shower cake that was fall themed. I knew about this order over a month in advance and it was through a great lady at my children's piano lessons, so we kind of talked about ideas for it weekly. :) Initially, we were thinking of doing a cupcake cake in the shape of a tree - with fondant leaves on about half of them. I thought it was an awesome idea that we collaborated on together (her idea the tree, my idea the fondant leaves), BUT given the amount of servings needed, she wasn't comfortable with traveling and arranging them all herself. Which is definitely understandable! Traveling with decorated items is still probably one of my *least* favorite part of the job.

Final decision was a decorated 1/2 sheet with leaves details. Now, my first idea was to do something similar to a flower spray on the corners, except with tree branches and leaves. I loved it, mapped it out (I always sketch cake plans at least a few times), however....something always tends to go not as planned. With about 90% of my cakes, I have a plan on how I will arrange, build, decorate it and it doesn't work the way I first thought. I usually have a moment of stress/panic, but I ALWAYS figure it out! And I always end up loving the changes.

My obstacle with this one is I kept getting a crease down the middle of the cake. (I don't currently have a 1/2 sheet pan, so I put together 2 - 1/4 sheets - thus causing this crease.) Obviously I can't have a crease in the middle where the writing is supposed to go. So.....look below and see how I adjusted the design to the obstacle.

 Ta-dah!! I *love* how this one turned out...love love love it. The "carved" heart and initials in the tree was a last minute "duh" to add in, and I think it just turned into such a sweet cake. Not to mention, pretty unique for a bridal shower.

Oh....and it was Rainbow cake inside. :)

Longest week ever...

It's only been a few days since my last post, but it honestly feels like it's been a couple weeks. Last week was a busy and emotionally taxing week. We lost a family member this week as a result of a car accident - my father's fiance. It is completely devastating and hard on us all, but I worry about my father the most. They were genuine soul mates, and absolutely perfect together. And she was taken much much too soon. I am grateful that he got a few last days with her, and she was able to communicate in a way with him - but it's just awful. This whole week I've been thinking about him -- about my sister that was able to visit and help (they live quite a few states away) -- and about how fast something like that can happen to anyone. Thinking about my own life and family. It's made me appreciate that we've chosen to live like we live - spending almost all our time together being a SAHM and homeschooling family. Too many of us, probably all of us at some point or points in our lives focus on money and things. None of that goes with you once your gone. Your kids won't remember that you made six figures a year....they'll remember that you weren't home. I want to build memories with my kids...not things. Yes, more money would be fantastic and "easier" and if someone were just handing it out, I'd take it in a heartbeat. :) Having less money just means being more creative with our time and resources we do have. So, be sure to appreciate what you have already, let go of grudges and resentment, and take that extra time with your kids and spouses.

On a good note with the business, had quite a few orders for cakes and jars. It was a lot to do, but it all turned out fabulous. I love when my customers are happy!

This was a cake for a little girl's baptism and I *love* how the design turned out. :) Scroll work truly is probably one of my favorite things to do. It turns out so nice on fondant!

This one was actually for my sister Alex - she officially turned "old" in her eyes. Hahaha, right! When I turned 25 she did not let me live it down -- even my birthday bag said 30 on it. I tried out a new recipe. Calling it Berry Vanilla -- it was 3 layers, 2 mixed berries and 1 vanilla with vanilla buttercream and raspberry filling. I heard it was yummy and refreshing! The design you would call ombre I guess (it's fairly popular for a lot of things right now) and I colored the layers to match. Unfortunately, I had to leave early and missed the cake, but my sister got a picture of the inside. Can't wait to see!

NOT a year later.... :D

Progress! It hasn't been a month since my last post, YAY!! What's been going on lately? March is a busy month for family/friends birthdays, so we've had a lot of cakes to make....and a lot of parties to go to! I got in a creative order of some cupcakes for St. Patties Day - Rainbow colored inside and I chose to spray and sprinkles the frosting in GOOOOOOOOLD!

Unfortunately, it looks more yellow in the photo - but in person it was definitely a metallic gold. I also had an order for a bachelorette party that I got to have some free reign with and I did a corset design. I'm currently obsessed with the pearl looking sprinkles!

March was a pretty good month - nice variety. In addition to the above I had a fun LEGO cake, a pretty sweet Wonder Woman torso, and TONS of jar cakes went out. I still haven't been able to really get a good picture of these yet, but it's butter cream, cake, and add ins layered in an 8 oz. jar. Very convenient for on the go cake eating! And great for shipping out for far away birthdays!

April is going to be a little slower, which I'm kind of looking forward to actually! May is going to be busybusybusy. Birthdays, a wedding, graduation and Mother's Day all in May. Lots of booking already and it's just little ol' me making, baking, and decorating!! I'm excited, but I know it will be stressful. It REALLY makes me want an actual bakery. Have the staff do the making and baking so I can concentrate on the decorating -- which is my true passion! Someday.....

(If anyone is looking to anonymously donate to the cause of my bakery - just let me know! Hehehe...)  ; )

Playing catch up!

Okay, so I have quite a bit to catch up on that's happened. Still new to blogging and it's not the first thing I think of to do in my spare time. I must say there is something beneficial to it...mentally...emotionally. Being back to my job as the stay at home parent and my husband officially starting a new work schedule (often random hours - 2nd and 3rd shifts) --- I'm back to having mostly children to talk to. I adore them, I do, but adult conversation is greatly missed some days.

I've had some fabulous cakes over the last few weeks. Valentine's Day was busy enough this year, and I can't wait for next. I made some great rose cupcakes that were beautiful --- SUPER thankful for the 1M tip I finally bought! If you decorate and don't have this - get it. Also, my favorite cake order for the season was a heart shaped cake with some scroll work on the sides. Which turned out beautiful. I also used a pearl red airbrush spray, but I really wasn't impressed with it. In fact, none of the pearl sprays have really been worth it yet. They usually just end up kind of wet looking. HOWEVER, I have yet to try the spray on fondant....so we'll see.

Oh, and an update on the sugar free debacle. I found some better recipes - but the new ingredients basically broke even on the order. They still weren't fabulous (still ended up a little dry), but they worked. Lesson learned: I will not be making any future orders sugar free. Sorry, but it's just not my expertise. :)

I have some more great pictures coming. I just haven't uploaded them yet! So keep an eye out. I'm going to attempt to do a MUCH better job of updating -- hopefully at least once a week. Let's be honest, it can't get much worse. Once my youngest starts doing a better job of sleeping on his own, that should help too.

Sugar Free Vent!

Okay, so yesterday I got a request for some sugar free cookies for a diabetic fundraiser. At first I was a little wary because I've actually NEVER made any desserts sugar free. (Imagine that, as a dessert maker!) ; ) But, I always have sugar substitute on hand for my coffee, and I vaguely recalled that "all" you have to do is replace the sugar, matching the measurements.

Boy was I wrong!

I really wish that I had taken some pictures, but I was too irritated to even consider it. The cookies ended up super dry and they didn't flatten out at all. Now I will admit, looking at the bag afterwards, it does say to cook cookies for 3-5 minutes LESS than the recipe calls for. I missed that, which probably is the reason they were so dry. However, it doesn't say anything about flattening the cookies out ahead of time. They literally ended up staying in the same ball shape when I put them into the oven. Two batch of cookies dumped - not to mention 3 cups of sweetener wasted....and that stuff isn't the cheapest.

So, I spent at least an hour tonight looking up some new diabetic/sugar free cookies recipes. And ya know what - there really isn't much out there. At least not too many with good reviews. I found some decent looking ones on eHow.com. (With actual videos that show that you need to press out the cookies -- they WON'T flatten out on their own.)

Now here I am - I'm not wasting anymore time or energy tonight. I'm leaving my kitchen a mess and I'll deal with it all in the morning! ***Crossing my fingers they turn out AND taste good!***