MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!

To my two lovely followers and to everyone who has hit on my blog - thank you and I hope you have the best Christmas, and New Year brings you health and happiness (and wealth if it makes you happy!)

Cake Note 49: "“The best years of a woman's life - the ten years between 39 and 40” - anon

Getting later on parade unfortunately - I can only blame it on getting ready for my wonderful son, his wife and my beautiful granddaughters coming from Australia for Christmas. This is my final cake of 2011 -  except for a couple of personal cakes for Christmas. It is for my good friend and frequent buyer, Becki, who was 40 at the beginning of December - and now you understand why I'm saying I am late on parade! Sorry Becks......here's your cake, designed by your lovely daughter (with a little bit of tweeking from me) - I know you had a great birthday and I am pleased to have been asked to make your cake :)

The technical details - this is a 10 inch round Death by Chocolate cake, iced in white with blue accents - fantasy flowers made with flowerpaste, wired and fixed into the side with a posy pick - bead fountain, and rolled sugarpaste pearls around the base - oh and a card to represent Becki's skill and love of crafting!

Cake Note 48: "To a father growing old, nothing is dearer than a daughter" Euripides

And how often do those of us who have lost their Dads, wish we could turn back the clock. I loved my Dad but it wasn't till I was much older, that I realised just how much.

This cake is for a special Dad - someone who has a daughter who loves him enough to organise a special cake for his 80th birthday. Instructions were, fruit cake, big and he loves gardening - but vegetables not flowers!

To be honest, I do struggle with cakes for men, but wanted to make a decent job of this one so, it's a 10 inch square rich fruit cake - dowsed frequently in Brandy:) ....and iced with a gardening theme - well I hope my representation of the daughter's instructions make her Dad smile on his 80th birthday. Sir, I don't know you but I wish you MANY happy returns:)

The shed is made of chocolate paste which was a bit of a mistake, as it wouldn't firm up enough when left to dry, despite adding CMC powder - so I hit on the idea of making a rice crispie model of the shed and this enabled me to stick the pieces on without them bending! All the veggies are made of sugar paste:)

Cake Note 47: "How amazing you're already One - what a precious person you have become!"

You'll notice I've had a run of family cakes to make.....1 niece, 1 great niece and now 1 great nephew! This little lad is one year old, so I've had the pleasure of making a bright and cheerful cake for him....I wasn't able to do it exactly to spec, but overall. I like the end result! And so does Seth and his Mum which is more important:)

Cake Note 46: "There is no more lovely, friendly and charming relationship, communion or company than a good marriage. ~Martin Luther"

A very special friend of mine got married today and I was lucky enough to be asked if I would make her wedding cake - absolutely! I always planned on making it, but never with such short notice:) Anyway, it all went well, the Bride looked beautiful, and my cake......well, what do you think?

Cake Note 45: Have to say, no Quote today!

But only because this is another cake for another niece - my little Kat who is 5 on 31 st October but had her party yesterday. She is CRAZY about Belle, the Disney princess in Beauty and the Beast, as been since she was 2. So, she needed a cake and her instructions were - 'Yellow, a castle, with Minnie Mouse and Belle'

And that's what she got! Minnie unfortunately, is plastic, but Belle I made from Sugar paste - helped by my ex Tutor, thanks Paula!

I'm happy to say, Kat was very happy with her cake :)

Cake Note 44."Nieces are the children that we borrow, intending not to raise, but merely love" Unknown

It seems an age since I last posted! Well, it's a couple of months at least and in between, I've been to Australia to visit my lovely granddaughters, been ill for a week or two and been really busy at work! I am also getting ready for my lovely family comiong home for Christmas - my two granddaughters on English soil at last - I am SO excited!

So, I have a cake or two to finish before they get here, and today's  cake is for my niece who is soon to be 40!  So that makes me....err, we'll leave that bit. This is one of two cakes I'm making this week for two neices...Katharine who is 40...and Katherine who is 5!

This is the first time I have tried my hand at making a shoe - not as easy as I expected and the next one I make will be better! Just hope my niece likes it:)

By the way - the colour looks coral - it's actually hot pink! Like the one of the shoe being made:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KATHARINE!

Cake Note 43: "Some people, no matter how old they get, never lose their beauty - they merely move it from their faces into their hearts. ~Martin Buxbaum"

Not bad is it?  I think this is a really nice quote for an aging lady!Yes, this is the second cake this week for an 80 year old lady - it's for my friend Maggie's Mum. She loves freesias, so freesias she's got! Shame that I can't make the sugar flowers smell real:)

This is  a 10 inch rich fruit cake which weighs really heavy!! it took me all my strength to lift it - it must be the whisky in it - she likes whisky as well as freesias:)

So - the inlay is done by impressing Marion Frost Patchwork cutters 'blossoms' into the soft paste, then flooding the impression with white edible dust, mixed to a paint using alcohol.

I'm quite fond of this cake because I love making flowers best of all - hope Maggie's mother has a lovely 80th birthday and loves her cake and freesias NO MORE blogs for a few weeks - I'm off to see my lovely granddaughters, take care all and thank you for looking at my cakes xxx

Add caption

The impression was repeated on each corner of the cake and the oard

Cake Note 42: "Lying about your age is easier now you sometimes forget what it is!:)" Unknown

Eighty years old! What a wonderful age - and this cake is...for a lady who is 80 this weekend!

It's similar to one I did for my friend Becki's Mum, except this owner wanted sage green (Mum-in-Law's favourite colour) and a bead shower too. I wasn't too sure about the beads - it's quite a busy cake on its own, with the satin effect flowers, but to be honest, now it's done, I love it!

The original design is by Peggy Porschen, one of my favorite cake designers - her cakes are so feminine and pretty - just the kind I like to do!

It's an 8 inch rich fruit cake with sage green sugar paste, petal paste flowers, hand rolled (YES, HAND ROLLED) pearls, and a pearl and diamante bead shower with diamante 80. I hope the birthday girl loves it:)

It's cold, dull and wet here, so I do hope that my cake brightens the day of my watchers - YES! I have watchers who have viewed my blog from all over the world - a big thankyou and please, leave me a message if you'd like !

Cake Note 41: "You do live longer with bran, but you spend the last fifteen years on the toilet. Alan King"

Good evening everyone, or is it good morning - yep 10 past midnight:)

I've  had a busy week one way or another, not least I have become a Grandmother for the second time:) I have another beautiful granddaughter who was born on Wednesday and I can't wait to fly to Melbourne to see her and my other little Tinkerbelle!

In the meantime I have 3 cakes to finish - well two because the one today is finished! It was for my daughter's partner who has a bit of a toilet sense of humour - and when you see the cake, you'll see what I mean:)

The main cake is an 8 inch chocolate cake, and the toilet is carved from a small madiera sponge! The toilet mat is sugarpaste extruded through a garlic press, and the water in the toilet is blue-tinted piping gel

Cake Note 40: "My idea of exercise is a good, brisk sit" Phyllis Diller

Can you remember her? I used to watch her with my mother, she was SO funny! I have to agree with her  views on exercise though.....I seem to be getting a few brisk sits...it's usually after I have had a LONG stand baking and icing cakes! Honestly, I never got so tired when I was running a busy ward!

The point of this of course is my latest cake. A 10 inch madeira cake with the briefest of instructions which I had to DRAG out of the owner....needs to be a Gymnastic cake....yeah..colours? Oh anything....girl/boy ?,,,girl...name???? oh yeah... she's 10

Well I got to the bottom of it, did my own thing and here it is.....I know NOTHING about gymnastics or what 10 year old little gymnasts do....but my friend the world wide web helped me enormously! I'm quite fond of the final result - I hope the vague owner is:)

Thank you for looking....2 of my favourite cakes to do next...Fruit cakes with flowers:) Roll on...

Cake Note 39: "I never worry about diets - the only carrots that interest me are the carots in Diamonds!" Mae West

Diamonds.....30th birthday girl with no diamonds on her fingers.....

Well she has some Diamonds for friends - one in particular, my lovely daughter! ' Mum I need a CAKE'...again! She's got loads of friends and it seems to have become a trend that she gives them a cake for their birthday...lovely idea!

Anyway, I can't aford diamonds for her friend, but, I did make  Tiffany cake box with a few 'diamonds' on it!

Not QUITE the box shape I wanted as it was difficult to do the top bit...so I improvised. Hope she likes it - Happy Birthday :)

Cake Note 38: Life is a great big canvas, and you should throw all the paint on it you can." Danny Kaye

Never a truer word!

Well I am sorry to say I am a lapsed Blogger - haven't posted in ages and I apologise for that. Even though my lonely follower is the only one who comments!

I have been so busy finishing my Level 2 City & Guilds Sugar Craft and Decoration course, I've hardly had time to turn round.  I've had cakes coming out of my ears and to be honest, I think I have 'thrown LOADS of paint:).

So, just a few of my latest  creations in the cake world and the odd bit of modelling and flower making too. If I repeat myself, I'll say sorry now......but when you're slinging paint on your canvas, you sometimes forget you've already posted that cake:)

Soon be the longest day - hope you all enjoy your paint throwing:)

The LAST foootball cake I intend to make

Modelling day with my Tutor -

My PIECE DE RESISTANCE! My lovely daughter's 30th birthday cake

Chris's 18th -He likes accoustic guitars

The Lovely Leanne's 10th birthday cake.....she is SO full of life, she can lift the lowest spirits! Thnak you Leanne!

Cake Note 37 "We're supposed to have just a small family affair" Prince William to his prospective Father-in-law

OOOhh WHAT a day! We might be starchy, stiff upper lippy and utterly emotionless, but BY GUM don't we know how to do a Royal Wedding! Hasn't it been great and didn't she look stunning?


I was lucky enough to be invited to spend the day with some friends, to have brunch, lunch and wedding watching....really enjoyed it but couldn't hear everything for all the women yakking!


Anyway, my contribution ot the day was an 8 inch brandy soaked chocolate cake, filled with rose water buttercream and brandy infused blueberry jam......Oh it was DEElicious - even though I say so myself:)

Wishing Catherine and Willaim a long and happy marriage and........


 God Save the Queen!

Cake Note 36: "Molly, my lovely Molly, my sweet Achusle dear - I'm fairly off my trolly my lovely Molly, when you are near"..Foster and Allen

Very short notice order......Molly is eight. She's not girly, she likes Horrid Henry (I don't) but can I make her a non girly cake? Oh no!! I said I'd have a think...

Another phone call.....No Horrid Henry...she love Bruno Mars (who?) and her Mum wants lots of love hearts and music notes...and hot pink....she wants girly...Molly must be growing up:) which I'm pleased about although I'm not a fan of edible images on cakes, but since I'm not clever enough to make Bruno Mars, a photo it had to be.

So, I think I managed to cover the brief, NOT my favourite cake but the owners seemed thrilled.....haven't hear what Molly thinks though and to me...that's the important point of view! Either way, Happy Birthday Molly....xxx