Icing Class

Last Saturday I headed off for Christchurch at 6.20am.  I had a all day class to go to learning some skills and how to make a Bride and Groom.
I dropped off the cake that I had made from my earlier post and made it to my class 25 minutes early but that was a bonus as i got to have a good chat to Lindy our tutor and have a look at some fantastic magazines that she had.
Lindy supplied morning and afternoon tea and also lunch - I wish I had taken a photo of the cupcake's that she made OMG they were good!  They were white chocolate and Lime - SO delicious! (and I now have the recipie!)
Anyway after a full day here is what I made:

Now the grooms head is a little small as the instructions were wrong and it looks like the bride has a bulging neck (which is because I was not happy with what i had done and did a crap job of fixing it as it was nearly set) but all in all I was very happy with what I did.  I learnt SO many tricks, techniques and just fun things really!  Take a look at the detail on the brides dress and those flowers which look fantastic and were so easy to make:

I was the first there and the last to leave because Lindy now has her whole shop in Christchurch so I was like a kid in a candy shop!
From class I went out for tea with two gorgeous friends who Bronwyn and I met at SENZ a few years back.  I didn't take any photos with them which is a shame, but because the next day was my birthday they had a little treat for me - take a look at these fantastic cards:

This photo does not do these cards justice, Elvina's purse is patchwork and is just stunning (just like the patchwork that she does on material)  Anne did the butterfly/flower card the flowers are done in flower soft with the butterfly popped up.  I know how many hours goes into making these cards and girls - LOVE you to bits.  And check out the presents they gave me:

Do you think that they might just know me?  

AND we went out to tea - OMG it was Divine - it was at the Bush Inn, I can't remember what it was called but it was something "spice".  I ate 3 courses (PIGGY I KNOW)  I had prawn and banana filo triangles with a yummy sauce that Phillip and I drank!  For mains we had stir fry chicken and cashew nuts - now this was a cross between Tai, Indian and Chinese it was Delicious.  Desert I had a tiramisu OMG again SO delicious!

I can very much reccomend you go and try it out!

Anne was very NAUGHTY and paid for my meal so to say I was SPOILT is an understatement!

Anne's daughter Emma and her son Harry came out to tea, what a wee darling Harry is - he is 18 months old and such a good boy!  Harry also made me a card and gave me a pressie - a bag of chocolates and he gave up a packet of his favourite tiny teddies ;-)

Didn't he do a fantastic job - stickers and all!

So I had a great day and made it home to Timaru around 11pm - I left Christchurch just ahead of the rugby traffic so it was a nice smooth run home!

Thanks again for stopping in :-)

Another Year Older

You know - age does not worry me - I am happy with ageing as with it come a sense of knowing who we are and accepting it!
And because I have such amazing family and friends I was spoilt rotten and loved every minute of it ;-)
Abby had spent Saturday while I was away in the Kitchen and the scrap room.
I was greeted with this stunning card that she had made on Sunday Morning:

Isn't it just stunning, she didn't quite use all the flowers that were in my collection but since she doesn't really like sitting and making I was very honoured to have this card made especially for me :-)
Inside it was some money that the kids had put in from there own savings and some from Nigel so I didn't feel to bad spending the day before on decorating "stuff" because now the damage wasn't looking so bad lol.
Mum had made an early lunch for us as Jamie was heading off to work at 12 so we were eating a roast at 11.20am!  Abby brought out the cake she had spent the day making for me.  She did a great job and I didn't even get a photo - gutted because it was SO yummy and looked Divine that we nearly ate it all up at lunch!
Mum had taken my recipe book which was falling apart and brought me a new one (with cupcakes on the front) and re wrote all the recipes into my new book in her hand writing - don't you just LOVE the handmade gifts.  Mum and Dad gave us a new BBQ which was Nigel and my present so she was naughty as well!
Nigel and I went and did some heater shopping in the afternoon and after getting some nibbles, Bronwyn came over with this stunning card:

gorgeous (BO you really need your own blog!) and a gave me a envelope template to make for our big cards - again SPOILT!
Diane had left me a beautiful card also, Abby had hidden it and gave it to me on Sunday morning, here is Diane's card:

The little love heart on there Diane made with clay and the birds and vine up the top were done with a template and some paste - very clever lady!
Chrissy, Phil and the Boys also came over so Bo, Chrissy and I opened a bottle of wine and just had a relaxing afternoon catching up(Chrissy was naughty and gave me a voucher to Divine Cakes - there is a theme happening here!).
Jo also popped in with a lovely card (see her blog for pictures).
I had many txt's and phone calls, and on Monday my boss took me out to what used to be the Denheath House Custard Square place in Pleasant Point for a LONG lunch - so I have to say I had such a lovely weekend and was SPOILT rotten! 
So you see getting older is not such a bad thing!
A big thank you to my amazing family and friends - bring on next year ROFL

Cake & Card

I seem to always be busy but I guess that is how I like it!
But it is also nice to get a day like today when I have not done a lot either, the weather has just turned nasty so the best place is inside keeping nice and warm.

First up is a cake that I made for a family friend, this time I had a go at making a spray with some flowers so after I had made the basic flowers here is what I started with:

These are meant to be 5 minute roses - ROFL mine did not take 5 min!
Then again a big thank you goes out to Faye for showing me how to put these together to make this:

I then got out my card making stuff and copied a card layout that I have done before but for someone that is a bit older it just works, so this is what i delivered when I took the cake to Christchurch to be delivered!

I was very happy with the outcome, although you can't tell from these pictures but I didn't do a very good job at covering the cake this time - another lesson learnt.  See making cakes for family and friends is a good way to start learning!
I went to Christchurch to do a Bride and Groom icing class - this was FANTASTIC and I loved it!  There is always one in a class that does your head in though isn't there - one that wants the opposite to everyone else and holds everything up lol but it was a great day out and I am going to do another class again with them in the future - but more on that tomorrow!
Thanks so much for stopping bye - I hope you are all having a great weekend and are staying warm and safe.

Take care