Brighter Days!

The last week in May was certainly a hectic one here.

Not only did I have some great cakes to transport all over SEQ- I also was blessed to once again go to the RBCH Oncology Siblings day and make cupcakes....... plus a little extra this time too :)

Like we (Myself and one of my Fantastic Helper Sisters) normally do at the Siblings day- we piled the car high with cupcakes, icing and more sugar decorations than you could handle ;-P so that the Brother's and Sister's of the RBCH Turner and Banksia Ward patients could ice and decorate cupcakes to share to their hearts desire.

As well as this afternoon of fun- I was also asked if I would mind giving a one on one to a very special inpatient- who would love to become a baker :)

OF course I jumped at the chance. I felt so very special to be asked to work with such a worthy recipient. I don't normally offer lessons, purely because I feel like in many ways that I couldn't teach anything well, coupled with the fact that I am not sure I have much to offer either.

I only had limited time with Bridie- so choosing a cake design that was achievable in the time frame, and also suited her personality was not a super easy decision. I called upon my FB friends to help me concur the decision to go with a handbag/makeup bag cake!

So in an hour- Bridie had decorated a sensational bag cake. She learned how to make a bow and finished it all off with pearl luster!  

 She was meticulous in her attention to detail- a true natural!

It still makes me smile, and teary- thinking what courage and determination this young lady has. A true inspiration indeed!

Whilst Bridie and I were having fun with the cake decorating- My baby sister Alex was up on the wards with the inpatients and their parents icing and decorating cupcakes.

Many of these kids are in hospital for months, and it was an absolute honour to hear of one particular patient who hadn't left her room in the month she had been in hospital (bar for medical reasons) - who, along with her mum and dad, got out of bed and came in to where Alex was hosting the Cupcake making! Needless to say she had a ball! and for that short hour her mind was focused on all things sugar, and she was smiling- ahhh it is a true blessing to be able to share something as simple as sugar and make others happy. 

 

After we had both worked separately- Alex and I joined forces and headed down  to the Siblings day activities to do more cupcake decorating!

The Brothers and Sisters seem to really enjoy the icing and decorating of cupcakes.

Just like the photo that was circulating Facebook last week- Cupcakes make people happy!

And happiness need not mean intricately decorated cupcakes that are produced by the most credible and noted cake decorators around the globe- it means ones that are decorated with love and enthusiasm, by kids with an array of decorations at their disposal.

My eyes are truly opened with this style of decorating- when normally I opt for less is more- I think this shows definitively that more is obviously more :)

Not only was I proud of what all the Kids (and some parents and staff) created that day- I was also so very proud of my sister Alex. She is not well herself, and despite her struggles is an absolute champion. She cast aside her own concerns to be able to brighten someone elses day. Such a huge heart indeed!

So that was Friday afternoon...............we both slept well that night for sure :)

The weekend arrived and it was all about the cake deliveries once again.  

It was an early delivery start- with one wedding beginning before lunch at The Landing at Dockside.

This three tier soft iced cake was decorated with gorgeous flowers by Jennine from Florabella Design. 

The next cake was a simply decorated three tier design. Hand made pearl decorations and thin ribbons wrapped around each tier. Fresh flowers by Karen from Bliss Floral were placed over the tiers to complete the cake.

The image above was kindly taken by Karen :))

Then I scooted up to Toiparies @ Beaumont House for the  next soft iced cake!  

This pale green iced cake was finished with Fresh Poppies - supplied by Roberta from Green and Bloom flowers :)

That night I had a Special combined 18th and 16th Birthday party cake to make and deliver.

Black and Bling was the theme- and it was fun and funky too!

So a Very Happy Birthday Remi and Savannah!

Whilst I am on a roll with blogging - I'll also share my two faves from the first week in June.

The first was taken down to NSW (North Coast) for a wedding reception.

Stunning Black and white with a feature Magnolia Spray- sitting simply atop of the cake.

 Classy- elegant and a tad contemporary with the chosen colour scheme. Once again proving that Simple almost certainly = Elegant

The next cake was another that I just kept returning to have a good stare at.

The bold colour- combined with the intricate side design detail was just magic!

The Big full blown blooms went from a deep fuchsia colour through to a bright orange on the outer petals.

 Love Love Loved IT!!

Well I hope that you got through this mega post!

Thanks again for reading- and remember please feel free to leave your comments below :)- or on Facebook!

Take it easy

SJ

P.S. If you have read this and thought- How can I help the RBCH, donations can be made to the Working Wonders Foundation

Round about May

Nearing the end of may - it was still a very busy wedding season indeed.

Like most weeks during theses hectic times- I had wedding across many days of the week, not just the weekend.

That weeks delivery run started on Friday to Victoria Park, where I delivered this three tier cake complete with cake topper family!  

The Bride and groom Stood proudly on top of their cake with their pet dog too :)

Flowers to match in with the wedding were also supplied by the clients florist and placed over the cake.

The next to leave was this pretty lilac version of a popular stencil design.

Colour really works with this style of design- very pretty indeed!

My love of all things monochromatic was certainly accomplished with this next cake for Indooroopilly Golf club.

This Three tier White Classic design with sugar Roses and Orchids clustered across the tiers is a perfectly fitting timeless design.

I also had cupcakes at The Landing.

This Black and Ivory themed wedding was completed with this blinged cupcake tower.

 The Bride and Groom had sourced the toppers and the little flags to go around the tower.

Personalised messages on the flags were very cute indeed!

I was modelling up a frenzy for this weeks cakes, with another set of toppers of this Tower of Cupcakes at Baguette Restaurant.

I really love this restaurant for receptions. It has beautiful atmosphere! The decor is warm and inviting- it really feels like the Couple are intimately entertaining their closest friends and family whenever I see it all set up.

Last but not least was a 1st Birthday Cupcake tower for Twins!

This Noah's Ark Cupcake tower- inspired by the beautiful Debbie Brown's Original Noah's Ark cake- complete with matching animal face cupcakes :)

Made for Twin Boys- Will and Sam, for a wonderful party organised by their parents, complete with a baby animal farm! Too cute!

As well as delivering all of these beautiful cakes above, I also had an Anniversary cake to make for one of my past clients. The ever decadent Chocolate fruit cake- the recipe is a family one that Celeste (Bride) used every year, and on her wedding day had me bake it for her cake! Then on her Wedding Anniversary I was asked once again to bake a tier for them to enjoy! Such a privileged to make :)

Well that's all folks- for today anyway!

With Just over a Month before I head off on leave- I look forward to the final Cakes I have to create! Wow how this year is flying by!

Thanks for reading

SJ

Inspiration from all!

 If you were a past frequent reader of my blog you may be sitting here thinking- "My Lordy- SJ has finally got her butt back into gear and is blogging again" and you would be right.... kind of. I never actually stopped blogging, sadly time just got in the way. But once again I am on the diligent path to bring the blog back up to date- sharing many of the wonderful cakes I get to create each week.

So now that I am up to almost the middle of may- albeit 6 months ago- I feel like I am moving in the right direction and getting this blog under control.

The first cake from the week in question is one that I have not done before. It is in fact a Julie Whitehead design. I don't routinely "copy" cakes, but this client was referred to me by Julie (as she was unavailable) and I was asked to recreate a version of one of her cakes.

This Two tier chocolate creation was for a christening.  

Miles of chocolate lollipop hearts exploded from the top! This cake makes me wonder how tempting grabbing just one heart from the top would be for the guests! The smell of the white chocolate alone is enough to fill the room- so would be hard to resist I would think.

Other than the above Christening cake, all the other cakes are for Weddings :)

The first is a combo of a few cakes I have made before.

Vanessa and Heath chose to combine a cake I had done previously that had varied thickness black ribbons and a personalised couple, with a cake that I had done with Daisies trailing down one corner.

I love the effect of the ribbon going from a Thick band at the base then by the time it is at the top there is 3 varied sized ribbons banding the cake.

The groom looked very snazzy in his grey suit and glasses too!

I had a second cake with personalised toppers that week too!

The couples florist added flowers to this cake at the venue.

 This time it wasn't all about the Bride and Groom- there was also the couples two little dogs too!

How cute is it that one has really big ears too!

But wait...... There's more!

A final cupcake tower complete with another set of cartoon cake toppers!

It is weeks like these that I am kept on my toes with which Bride belongs to which groom :)

  This cupcake tower was finished with a Bold Red ribbon trailing down the tiers

I had Two cakes for the River room that weekend.

The first was this pretty variation of the Pearl lines design.

I opted for a double board and a larger silver stand with this one.

I think it certainly gave an added touch of grandeur for sure!

The last cake for the week was definitely something very special.

The side design on the tiers of the cake was hand drawn by the Bride, and was used in the wedding stationary.

I reproduced the design in a Black Brush embroidery and applique technique on the walls of the cake.

A Hummingbird and big bloom design was a striking yet elegant statement on the cake.

Whilst still maintaining an elegant feel this cake was certainly unique to the wedding.

I hope you enjoyed seeing the cakes on this blog!

Thanks for reading

SJ

Mothers Day Weekend

 

The Mother's Day weekend is one which is always highly popular with Weddings. The second weekend in May, where the weather is still lovely, the bout of public holidays is over and also a lovely way to incorporate how much you love your mum :)

The first cake that left Cake That! was a two tier Fishing/shopping themed cake! Headed up to Bagara for a wedding- it was fun and light hearted ,capturing what both the Bride and groom were renowned for.

The next cake was also a Novelty Wedding Cake.

A variation of the Bride in Waiting design, which made it's way to Woodford for a wedding held at a Private Property there.

This design seems quite popular, I'm guessing the groom passed out on the floor resonates  for many couples alike LOL!

OHHHHHHHHH So very pretty is the next cake, which was for a Wedding at Lurleen's Restaurant- Sirromet.

Sugar brooch and Brush embroidery, along with sugar ribbon banding the tiers made this one elegant cake.

Once at Sirromet the wonderful Julie form Julie Vine Flowers had some gorgeous roses to place on top. 

The Next stop on the list was Brett's Wharf.

This three tier cake with Quilted centre tier and monogram initial toppers always looks classy indeed.

After the load of Traditionally iced cakes it was time for come luscious soft iced creations.

The First had some pretty purple Orchids delicately placed across the tiers.

This cake was delivered out to Topiaries @ Beaumont house.

The Next cake was a three extended height tier cake, which included layers of the couples favourite Orange cake- all topped off with a set of wooden personalised toppers.

 The above cake was apart of possibly one of the most themed wedding set ups I have seen this year. Dressed by Amini Concepts- you can see the entire wedding of Fiona and Troy on the Amini Concepts blog!

Last but not least for the weekend was a gorgeous soft iced creation for the Tattersalls Club.

The Clients supplied both the fresh flowers and the Gold Monogram toppers for this cake.

So once again I was delighted to produce a vast array of cakes for a variety of tastes and themes.

What one was your favourite??

Thanks for reading

SJ

Rounding off April and Moving into May!

 

Easter is a very popular time to get married. I gather with the long weekend it is the best time to get all your interstate guests "available" to come to the wedding.

This Easter was a little different though, as Anzac day also coincided with the Easter long Weekend- making it a double whammy for Public Holidays.

I had weddings on Both Good Friday and Easter Saturday this year, and reserved Easter Sunday for family time. It was straight back to work on the Monday for me though- with Weddings Fri/Sat/Sun the following weekend. No rest for the wicked LOL!

Good Friday saw me head to Bretts Wharf to deliver this three tier butter iced cake with fresh antique roses.  

 

Soft Pretty and understated.

Just lovely!

Saturday morning was a busy day of consultations before headed over to Walkabout Creek to deliver this bold Beauty.

A three tier Hexagonal cake, with an extended height base tier and Bright yellow rolled roses across the cake! I Loved it!

The pop of colour really looked super classy.

After my one days rest on Easter Sunday- I was back on board to get ready for another huge wedding season week.

Luckily I had enabled myself to consume copious amounts of chocolate over Easter- so that I had plenty of energy reserves to get on with the job at hand!

The first cake was Delivered down to Southport- to a magnificent Private home- decked out gloriously to host a truly elegant wedding reception.

This cake featured extended height base and mid tiers and sugar ribbons draping down from the top.

The ribbons were finished with a pearl coat too.

Back in Brisbane I had This Classic Elegant three tier cake to deliver to the Summit.

Sugar roses clustered across the tiers and sugar ribbon and satin ribbon banding the base.

 I love the simplistic elegance of this design. Undoubtedly timeless.

I had a true pretty that weekend too.

A cake with a piping detail design that was replicated from the invitation transparency.

 The monochromatic design was just beautiful. It is cakes like these that really impress me once they are complete. It may not be grand in size- but the detailing certainly makes a statement.

Right down to the fine piped icing pearls around the base of the sugar ribbon. Each and every decoration on the cake was edible.

I had two identical cakes that weekend- so I will just share one image- as not to make you do a double take LOL!

This three tier chocolate creation was ordered for both a Wedding at Victoria Park and The River room- Southbank.

Karen from Bliss Floral Added fresh flowers to the River Room version.

This is one of those cakes where people feel compelled to touch it- just grab a tiny little scroll of chocolate from the channels- it is all  too tempting hehehhe!

I was certainly all over the place with Deliveries!

I had this next cake to deliver out to Glengariff at Dayboro.

The Purple colour was matched in with the Bridesmaids fabric. I finished it with a purple pearl lustre that looked really fun too!

The Clients chose this design from a display cake that I had in my studio. With changes to the size and height of the tiers- as well as the colour combo- they made it their own.

After Glengariff I headed over to the Bardon Centre to deliver a three tier cake with client supplied toppers.

 The cake was piped all over the tiers with sugar roses and draping across the entire design.

The centres of the roses were dusted with a pale lilac colour to match in with the wedding colour theme.

 I am unsure as to who made the Polymer Clay toppers for the couple- but they were certainly cute!

I then headed back across town to Customs House.

I love going to Customs house. It is such a gorgeous venue :)

This cake was a three tier butter iced cake with Fresh flowers in between the layers.

This cake was Whimsical and Pretty- Light and Fresh! A Delicate wedding center piece indeed!

It is not my usual practice to have client supplied blooms for this style of design (especially from a florist with whom I have never worked with)- as it is imperative to have them prepared, and also plentiful to complete and create the support structure of the design.

I do provide directions on how the blooms need to be supplied and also a suggested amount in order to have the final product finish seamlessly. 

Without going into the sordid details- I soldiered on and remarkably finished the cake (soundly) with what I was given to use.

 Overall I was delighted to be able to create a stunning cake for my clients despite being let down by a co vendor. I feel really proud to have been able to get on with the design and have all flow smoothly for the Bride and Groom (and the Venue).

I LOVE my job so much and respect my clients special day, and in the end delivering a show stopping stunning cake is what matters most :)

The last cake for the weekend was at the Glen Hotel.

A cupcake tower with a Blue and Lemon theme.

The smell of the cupcakes always fills the room a deliciously moorish scent for the venue staff to breath in whilst setting up the room :)

 

Well it was a big couple of weeks- but I made  it though with a smile :)

I hope you enjoyed the flashback to April LOL

Thanks for Reading

SJ