Wedding Cakes

These are wedding cakes I did for my best friend and her new husband, Bryan and Shelia Easley.

The brides cake is vanilla with vanilla pudding filling and buttercream icing. It is four tiers with the top and third having a ribbon border and the second and bottom with a diamond impression and edible pearls at each corner of the diamond pattern. These tiers have fondant pearl borders. There is a fondant 'E' on the top tier for Easley. The flowers, though, is what I think make the cake.

The grooms cake is chocolate with chocolate chips. It is iced with chocolate buttercream and then impressed with the diamond pattern. It is topped with chocolate ganache and accented with chocolate dipped strawberries and grapes. The top has Ephesians 3:20 written on the top.

This was definitely a labor of love. If I ever doubted what God revealed to me about the baking business not being His plan for me, it was confirmed through this cake. It was very time consuming and very stressful. I placed all of the stress on myself because I wanted it to be perfect...which it wasn't. Don't get me wrong, I was happy to do this for my dear friends that I love so much and I have talked to Shelia about doing her wedding cake one day for years. But, I couldn't do this all of the time for people who really do expect perfection. Thankfully, Shelia loves me and did not expect perfection...she was so gracious (and brave) to give me this chance and be my guinea pig. I've always wanted to do a wedding cake and now I can say I have. But I know that on a daily basis my focus, time, and attention is meant to be given to my family. So, thank you Shelia and Bryan for believing in me, but I think I'll stick to birthday and special occasion cakes that I can do in a couple of days :)

PS...I had to include a picture of me and the beautiful bride :)

Fire Truck to the Rescue

These are cakes I did for my friend Dana's little boy. He is really into fire trucks so needless to say he got a fire truck birthday cake. We were concerned there would not be enough cake with just the fire truck so we came up with a plan to have a house on fire. (For all of you who are as much of a perfectionist as I am, yes it bothers me that the house and fire truck are not proportionate to one another.) Hope they enjoy!

A Revelation

Well, this will not be my typical blog entry. You will also notice a change in the blog title. God is doing a fresh work in my life and just yesterday gave me a great revelation. This will probably be a long entry but I want you to understand things.

I have had this dream of opening up my own little "business" of making and decorating cakes for a while with the end result being my coming home to be a stay-at-home / homeschooling mom. I could not foresee how to be at home without supplementing my existing income even if we made lifestyle changes. So, two days ago I contacted the Lowndes County Department of Public Health to see what I needed to do in order to make things happen. Much to my disappointment, I found it would be far more of an investment than I ever wanted to make. So, I began to pout. "I'll never get to come home."

I kept telling God I just didn't understand. There is no doubt that He is calling me home. Why is He not allowing my plans to work? My husband began to pray. Close friends also lifted me up as I slumped into discouragment. I attempted to take a nap but couldn't. Still my heart questioning God. As the hours passed, God spoke softly and tenderly to my heart. He gave me a revelation.

The conversation went a little something like this...
God: "Is your dream to stay home and serve your family or to own a cake business?"
Me: "To stay home with my family."
God: "Are you sure?"
Me: "Yes."
God: "Then why are you pouting? I am not sensing you being grateful for what you have. I don't see contentment."
Me: "I'm pouting because how else am I going to stay home if I don't supplement my income somehow?"
God: "Oh, so you are saying I'm not big enough to handle that?"
Me: "No, I'm not saying that. I just don't see how it's going to happen."
God: "So you're saying I'm not big enough to handle that?"
Me: becoming ashamed...also began reading about opening at home cake business and realizing from person after person that there is so much more to it than baking and decorating a cake....
God: "If you are so consumed in running a business, does it really matter if you are at home? Will you be able to still have the time to teach and mold your little girls? Will you have time to make your home a sanctuary for your family? What will be left for your husband at the end of the day? So, will you really be accomplishing your 'dream'? Furthermore, who gets the glory for your 'success'? If you go home because you made something happen to accomplish your goal, you get the glory. When you go home because I have provided the means, I will get the glory. Are you living for your own glory...or Mine? Would you rather be home baking, decorating, and stressed or would you rather be home loving and serving your family?"

A REVELATION

First of all, thanks be to God for speaking to my heart...for allowing me to hear....for removing the blinding scales from my eyes...for giving me hope and peace....for being concerned about my little world when there are so many bigger things happening in this big world. It's quite humbling. I am overwhelmed by His unfathomable love.

Second, I am excited to see what He is going to do. I passed by a church who's marquee said "do not sacrifice the future on the alter of the immediate." If I do things my way, I more than likely will be sacrificing the great blessings He has in store for me by forcing my plans which will be less than what I "dreamed."

Third, I do enjoy decorating cakes. So, I still plan to do that for my friends and family. But now I will enjoy it more. No pressure to make it so great others will want to "use" me. It really can be just fun now.

Fourth, my friend Dana pointed out that even the Proverbs 31 woman worked and had a craft to support the family. I am interested to see what God is going to develop in me. I very much want to learn to sew, paint, etc...now I can diversify my artistic side with things that aren't so regulated.

God has been doing this fresh work in me for a few months now. Speaking to me through His word, through music, and other Godly people. Just the other day on my way to the hospital He spoke to me through a song by Avalon ... You were there. He was there when Abraham was about to sacrifice Isaac and He provided the lamb at just the right time. I was weeping in my car...cried my make-up off even before my day began. The same God who came through in mighty ways thousands of years ago is the same God who comes through for me each and every day. He loved me enough to die for me....to save me from myself. He loves me today and will love me tomorrow. He is here...holding me in His arms...surrounding me with His love.

So I am excited to give up my "dream" to follow His lead....

Reese's Cup Cakes

These are a couple of Reese's cups cakes that I've made over the last month. The first one I made for my mom and then my best friend needed the same. So, it's the same cake, just one is square and one is round. It is my chocolate cake (with chocolate chips baked in) filled with a chocolate peanut butter filling then poured with a satiny chocolate glaze. Then, of course, topped with Reese's cups. Talk about a rich cake! Milk is a must with this one! But it is oh so yummy!

Drums

This is a cake I did for a friend of ours' son, Luke. He is a wonderful self-taught drummer and we are going to celebrate his birthday tonight. So naturally, I attempted a drum cake. The drums are iced in buttercream and I made fondant accents. The cake I modeled this one after was done entirely in fondant. It did look better than this one but I'm not a fondant fan (as far as texture and taste). So, needless to say, it could look better but since I'm partaking in this one, I'd rather have taste over looks. I made the drumsticks and cymbal from gumpaste. I hope it will be a good surprise for him!

Lemon and Rasberry

This is my version of a cake that I enjoyed made by a friend of mine at church. She had made it for another friend's baby shower. It is lemon cake with a rasberry filling. I was suprised because I personally would not have thought to put those two flavors together...but it was soooo good. So I tried it for myself. The cake is lemon with a homemade lemon frosting. And it has three layers of a rasberry preserve filling. Oh so moist and yummy!! Thank you, Christi, for the inspiration!

Are you ready for some football?

This is a cake I did for a co-worker of my mom's. It is for her husband's 50th birthday and he is a huge Alabama fan. The bottom is a 9x13 sheet with the "yardlines" noted down the side of the cake. Note that I made the 50 yard line marker bigger because of it being his 50th birthday. Then there is a football shaped cake on the top surrounded by grass. I made the "A" out of fondant and stuck it in the top of the football.

Chocolate and Fresh Fruit

This is a cake I did for a friend of my husband. It was for his wife's birthday. The cake itself is chocolate. I used a filling of whipped cream icing mixed with Nutella (the chocolate hazelnut spread...mmmmm). Then the cake is frosted in a chocolate ganache. It is topped with fresh cherries, strawberries, rasberries, and blackberries. I sooo wanted to taste this one for myself. I didn't, though, but got back rave reviews. The best comes from his 6 year old nephew who said, "This cake rocks!" Too funny ;)

A Celebration Cake

This is a cake I made for a little girl in our church to celebrate God's goodness. She had fallen while swimming and needed stitches in her chin. While at the hospital, they did a CT scan and incidentally found a brain tumor. Within a week she was having brain surgery. The surgeon anticipated her having some deficits just from the surgery itself. So many people were praying for this sweet little girl. God is so faithful and He answered our prayers. Not only did she have no neurological deficits from the surgery, but also the brain tumor was not cancerous! I had told her I would make her a surprise when she got home and so I made her this cake. The scripture is Psalm 188:1 "Oh, give thanks to the Lord for He is good." It is so true!!

Presents

This is a cake I did for a lady that my mom works with. It was to celebrate her sister's 50th birthday. The colors were primarily pink and black but she specifically wanted the bottom "box" to be white with pink polka dots. It is all buttercream except the dots and bow.

Zebra cake

This is a cake I did for a lady that I work with. Her daughter is turning 15. She wanted a zebra print cake with pink on it as well as her initials. This is what I did. I like it!! Usually, I'm pretty hard on myself, but I like this cake. Certainly there are a few things not perfect, but hey...I'm not perfect! The bottom tier is done in a zebra print with a section in the front having her initials on it. The top is done in polka dots. Then, of course, there is the big pink bow with curlee-q's. I was really nervous about doing this at first as I have wanted to do the zebra print for a long time but just never had the chance. But, I'm pleased with how it turned out. I hope they like it as much as I do.

Green Eggs and Ham

We had a Green Eggs and Ham party for my sweet baby, Leah's, third birthday. There were days I read Green Eggs and Ham three times a day. So, this is a cake taken directly from a page in the book. I also included a picture of after the cake had been cut into to show that I colored the inside of the cake green...it was a suprise to all. Time really does fly when you are having fun. I can't believe my baby is 3!!! She is such a precious blessing. She is also a little clown...she has a great sense of humor and is so silly. Like her big sister, she is also very sweet and sensitive to others. We can see so much of her personality even at this young age...she is very detail oriented and meticulous. Not to mention, she is quite a cutie!! Charles and I are truly blessed to have such amazing girls.

Blues Clues....sort of

This is a cake (or 4) that I did for my precious little nephew, Robbie, for his first birthday party. He was having the theme of Blues Clues. For those of you unfamiliar with the show, you get three clues throughout the show and then the answer is revealed. So, for the first cake (clue), I put the June 2009 calendar with his birthdate in red and it was surrounded by summer stuff...waves, the sun, a sailboat, and a beachball. The second cake (clue) had an alarm clock that stated "It's almost time..." and was surrounded to look like spring time with grass and flowers. The third cake (clue) was a repeat of the first except that it was the June 2010 calendar. Each clue cake had a blue Robbie footprint on it made from an edible image. Heather, his mommy, had scanned his baby footprint in and emailed it to me. I copied it, colored them blue, and had them made into edible images. (Each time Blue gives you a clue, it has his paw print on it....we had a Robbie print!) Then there was the final answer cake that stated it was Robbie's first birthday and was covered in celebration balloons. A dear friend of the family wanted to make Robbie's cake that he dove into so she made him a cake that actually looked like the dog, Blue. Can you say lots of cake?????

Mickey Mouse

This is a cake for a dear friend's little girl's 4th birthday. All I was told is make it Mickey Mouse. I took an image from google images, enlarged it, printed it, traced it with piping gel, and filled it in....viola! Come on, sing it with me, you know you want to....M-I-C-K-E-Y-M-O-U-S-E, Mickey Mouse....

Cinderella

This is a cake for my best friend's little girl. It is a Cinderella doll cake on an elevated tier. Then a 10 inch square bottom. On one side, there are 4 hearts (1 in each corner) then a 'C' in the center....could be for Cinderella or Colbie! On the other three sides there are 3 hearts (one big one and two smaller ones on either side). I also made a fondant/gumpaste fantasy flower to sit in the middle of the columns.

Polka Dots

This is a cake I did for two little girls who were going to be sharing a birthday party. Their moms just wanted a girly, polka dot cake, similar to the invitation. It is a 10 inch square on the bottom, then an eight inch and six inch round tiers. I took all of the colors from the invite ~ pink, green, purple, and teal ~ and made letters and polka dots out of fondant. The cake is iced in buttercream with the same for the border done in the same color combination. I put each girl's name on a tier as well as the age they are turning. Hope they like it!

Daisies for my friend...

This is a chocolate cake I did for my friend, Dana, for her birthday. I torted the cake and filled and iced it with chocolate ganashe. I've never made nor used ganashe before, but it was very easy, very yummy, and a perfect compliment to this particular cake. I cut out her initial in a fondant/gumpaste mix as well as daisies and a ribbon border. The initial turned out bigger than I had needed because it was actually supposed to sit on top of the border but I had to adjust. Overall, I'm pleased and can't wait to get a slice for myself tonight!

Peter Pan

This is a Peter Pan cake that I did for some friends of ours children. The cake ended up looking a little to "boy-ish" due to all the blue, so I added a some dots of color to help incorporate Tinkerbell's colors and make it a little more "girl-y". The image is an edible image (printed smaller than I had hoped). I couldn't find a treasure chest candle that didn't take 2-3 weeks for delivery so I decided to try and make one from a fondant and gumpaste mix. I hand painted it with icing color. I even put in "gold" (also from fondant). I really don't think the picture does it justice (I liked it). There are many things that did not turn out as my mind had envisioned it, though, but I hope they will be pleased nonetheless.

Ladybug

This is a ladybug cake I did for my friend, Christy. She loves ladybugs so this was my gift to her. I used a rounded cake pan for the body and made one cupcake to be the head. It is all buttercream except the eyes and mouth which are fondant. This was probably one of the easiest cakes I've ever done but I must say, too, it is one of my favorites!

Alvin and the Chipmunks

This is a cake I did for Zoie's 6th birthday. Clearly is it Alvin and the Chipmunks but she wanted to also include the Chippetts. She found this picture on the computer and wanted it to look like that. So, since I'm no artist, I enlisted the help of an edible image. I took the printed picture to the grocery store and they printed me an edible image that I transposed onto the cake. I added fondant accents but the majority of the cake is buttercream. She was excited and I enjoyed doing it for her!