R2D2

This weekend I had my very first order for a cake from a client, I have done a couple of cakes as you know but they have pretty much been for friends or family.  So that made this one pretty nerve racking!
I had taken Friday off as we were meant to take Jamie to Canterbury University for a look but I didn't realise the dates were the same for this cake.  Nigel took Jamie and I was ever so pleased I didn't go as there was a 4.9 aftershock while they were up there and I would not have been a happy camper!
So I spent yesterday making the chocolate cakes - all 7 recipes of them, that is the problem when you need the cake to be the same size and you only have one tin!  But by the time the boys got home from Christchurch I had this done:

The top picture is the rice bubble and marshmallows mixed and shaped to make R2D2's legs!
Then today I was up at 7am ready to go and it took me until 2.30pm non stop to get the finished article done, but I have to say I was pretty happy with how it turned out - and I forgot that I had not had breakfast or lunch lol:

Now I have cleaned up the kitchen - I can get in the scrap room and have a play as I have a new Nestability and a couple of new images that need to be played with!

Hope you all have a great weekend and thanks so much for stopping in, as always it is much appreciated.

Cheers

Rachel

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

 

Secret Cake Business

Yesterday my Mum and Dad celebrated 50 wonderful years married.
They were not going to do anything to celebrate so I decided that at least we should get my brothers down from Christchurch and go out for a meal.  last Thursday mum rang and said her and dad had been thinking about it and since it was really a bit of a milestone she wondered if she should ring the "boys" and see if they would come down - so much for my surprise!
But I have been making them a card for a little while and so here is my effort:

So when you lift the lid off this is what is on the inside, I just LOVE the Mo Manning image of the "old couple" on the bench.  I have decided to enter this into the challenge this week as the theme is "travel" and they sure have travelled the last 50 years together!
My present for mum and dad was cake, made just like the one I had made in the card, right down to the pearls on the bottom.  I have to say a BIG thank you to Faye from Homestead Motel & Lodge (if you are in Timaru and need a great place to stay - here is the best)  Faye is the president of our local cake guild and showed me how to make the Mo Manning image in icing - not to mention advice on everything else as well - so from the bottom of my heart Faye - Thank you!
Here is my cake:

Mum & Dad today cutting the cake :-)

Last night our family went out for a lovely meal at the Steam on Inn at Pleasant Point - it was DELICIOUS beautiful meal and not to expensive, lovely open fire roaring and some Glen Campbell playing in the background - perfect for our occasion.

Today I had organised a "Surprise" afternoon tea for them at their place which I told them about last night, it was organised in a rush as I had been really busy the last couple of weeks making cakes, but we had about 30 for afternoon tea so this morning we made 4 dozen cupcakes, we had chocolate mint, chocolate caramel, carrot and cream cheese and boysenberry.  Abby helped me decorate and this is what we ended up with:

The photos don't show it that well but there was lovely little gold hearts sprinkled on the carrot cupcakes, the boysenberry had gold flowers and the caramel has the gold "50" we decided to do the bride and groom ones and in the middle is mum and dad's initials and the "50" years - 50 wonderful years is such an achievement but of course the best achievement was ME! ROFL.
My mum and dad mean the world to me, they love us all unconditionally and have ALWAYS been there when I have needed them and I am truley blesssed to have them as my parents - LOVE you mum and dad!

Thanks so much for popping in, have a great week!

Cheers

Rachel

Playing Cake

I have been busy for the last couple of weeks playing with trying to make a mountain bike cake.  WHAT a mission, the mountain bike I spent five nights putting together and in the end it broke and just had me beat!  So yesterday I made a make shift bike and ended up having to glue it to the side of the cake.
I made a three teared cake the bottom layer was chocolate with chocolate butter cream in layers, then carrot with cream cheese icing in layers and top was chocolate with gnache again in layers.
The cake ended up looking ok even though the day in the kitchen was a complete DISASTER!
My carrot cake broke in half (because i was impatient!) , the bike broke I honestly thought it was going to beat me, but in the end it looked ok!
Here is the picture of the man i was trying to copy:

 And here he is on his cake - not the best picture:

And here is the cake in full:

I have just had a txt to say it survived the car trip and i was most impressed, that it was still standing this morning lol.

Now I am off to do secret cake business again it will be a full on week and i will be able to share the card that I have made and hopefully the cake that will match the card!
Have a great week everyone!

Thanks so much for stopping on bye!

Rachel

Happy Mothers Day

To all you Mothers out there I hope you had a nice relaxing day doing what you best like to do!

I have spent the day catching up on the groceries and then playing in my "room".
But last night I made this card for my mum:

I just love this fairy from Mo's Digital images - she is just so "real"  Mum loved her card and I brought her 4 cushion's that she had seen at Smith City - lucky for me they were on special as at $40.00 each she would not have got the four that I managed to buy - now I am the favourite daughter - LOL I am the only daughter!
Abby made me a gorgeous card and a cd with my favourite music on it with a poem recorded in her voice with background music at the beginning of the cd, Jamie came home at tea time from work with a box of my favourite chocolates and they both gave me some cool new "icing toys" to play with also.
So to say I was spoilt is an understatement - lucky me :-)
I have been playing all afternoon and made a cyclist which is still drying but since this is my first "real" figure that I have made I am really happy - I will share with you later.  I also iced a two tier Christmas cake which I can't show you for a couple of weeks as it is a "surprise cake" for my family.
So that's all from me for now - happy mothers day and thanks so much for stopping on bye!

Rachel