Safari baby shower cake

Here is my latest creation...a Safari themed baby shower cake for a little girl. I loved these little guys!! This was a chocolate (yummy) cake covered in buttercream and fondant. This past weekend my brother -in-law, John, and his wife, Christine, came to visit us. John couldn't resist jumping in one of the pics :) Hey guys!! We miss you a ton already and please come back very soon. Thanks for being some of the few people who read my blog!!

Goodbye Karoline and Happy Birthday Dave!

These two cakes were made for my best friend, Karoline's, goodbye party. I can't believe she moved to Boston over a year ago! She is a big NC State fan and is now attending Boston College. I miss her a ton-o-rama, but I am also really proud of her!!

I made this soccer ball cake for my hubby! In about a month I will be making him another b-day cake.... he is getting soooo old. I also made some sport cupcakes to go with this cake (baseballs and basketballs) but sadly I don't have a picture. Happy 28th Birthday Dave (a year later)!!

Lovely Ladybug

This is one of my favorite cakes to make. I think ladybugs are sooooo stinkin' cute!! I made this one for baby Mia's 1st birthday.

Monograms!

Here are lots and lots of monogram cakes! These are perfect for wedding showers, birthdays, graduations...the list could go on and on.

Highway Patrol Groom's Cake

This is my most recent cake and it was quite a challenge. The order: groom's cake made to look like the groom's police badge, hat and hand cuffs. The mother of the groom sent me some pics and here is the final product. I usually like "cutsie cakes" but I always end up loving the challenge of realistic cakes!

Oops, don't look at our really messy kitchen table!! When I'm making cakes the house gets a little messy...

Here it is all put together and safely at its' destination. Delivering cakes is always a little nerve-wracking and I didn't have Dave with me to calm me down this time.

Monkeys!!

These little guys are some of my favorites (and Dave's!). This was a birthday cake for two twin boys who were turning two! The theme was "monkeys and beachballs"....how cute is that?! Dave helped me make the 24 beachballs for all of the cupcakes. He was a well behaved student (for the most part).

Wonder Pets

So, I really had no idea who the Wonder Pets were until I got this cake order! I did a little research, found some pics and created the little critters. This was the first cake I made with little 3-D characters. This cake is iced with buttercream and all the details are done in fondant.

Happy Birthday Whitt!

This cake is a two tier cake made for Whitt's First Birthday! I think some of a favorite cakes are made for kids. Whitt's mom, Holden, went to Meredith with me :) Holden sent me a picture of a shirt she bought for Whitt to wear on his special day and I used the shirt for inspiration. The number one is carved out of fondant along with the "happy birthday Whitt" Thanks for letting me be a part of Whitt's special day!

Yoda

This cake was made for a 7 year old's birthday. I must admit, I am not the biggest Star War's fan, but this little guy is so ugly he's cute! I did the shading with brown food coloring and his wrinkles were actually a lot easier than I expected. He is vanilla and covered in buttercream awith a layer of marshmellow fondant. Yummy! I hope the little boys had fun eating his eyeballs.

Mercedes SL300 Groom's Cake

This is a Mercedes SL300 groom's cake I made for Chad and Raeanne. Chad loves Mercedes and has quite a few of them that he has fixed up. Raeanne surprised Chad with this cake on their wedding day! A few months before the big day, she emailed me a picture of the car and I did some measuring, carving and molding to make a replica of the real deal. This is a vanilla cake with buttercream icing and fondant. Everything is edible, even the writing!!

Alisa and Alex's wedding cake

Fondant with buttercream dots

Erin-Elizabeth and Matthew's wedding cake

Vanillla, buttercream, covered in quilted fondant...this was my first time doing the quilting technique!

Ellie and Keith's wedding cake

Buttercream covered with fondant with a fondant ribbon

Ellie wanted a ribbon on her cake to match her bridesmaid dresses. She sent me a swatch of fabric from a dress and I matched the colors up!

John and Christine's wedding cake

John and Christine's wedding cake. This one made it all the way to New York (cause of a little secret)!

Brian and Christine's wedding cake

This was the second wedding cake I made (November 2009) and I think it is still my favorite. I LOVED Brian and Christine's wedding colors (green and chocolate brown). We miss you both!! Thanks for letting me make your wedding cake.

So, this is where it all began! Dave and I got married on March 28, 2009 and we made almost everything ourselves...from the invitations to the cake.

Before our wedding, one of my best friends, Dianna Culbreth, told me I should start making cakes. I think she was watching Food Network (maybe Ace of Cakes?!) and thought I might like working with fondant. In college, my favorite Art class was ceramics and I discovered I really enjoyed working with clay. I love creating anything 3D using the handbuilding technique (not the pottery wheel!). I decided to give fondant a try and made a
few cakes here and there for friends. I fell in love with it. Thanks Di for encouraging me!

Ice Cream and Packages

There are two things in my life that I will never get tired of....ice cream and getting a package delivered to me! On Monday, I received my box of business cards. I always get so upset when a package gets delivered and I am not home to receive it. This time, I was home and now I have my FREE business cards from vistaprint.com. Like my blog, they have been in the making for quite some time. I am pleased with them, but the font a little too small and sort of difficult to read. I feel like I am really in business now that I have a card! Now when people ask me for my information I will loook oh so professional as I dig through my purse and hand them "my card".

Checked the blog off my "to do" list!

Finally, I have gotten this blog up and running! Well, sort of. It is still a work in progress, but it's a start! I have had the blog for quite some time but honestly it overwhelmed me (technology and I don't get along). I am a super big perfectionist and well I wanted my blog to match my business cards, the header to be centered, the colors to match, the font to be cute, blah, blah blah. I am trying to get over my perfectionism and this is a start!
Over the last year, making and designing specialty cakes has become a huge part of my life and I am hoping this blog will help out those who are interested in my cakes :) I'll be back to write more later, but I must sign off for now so I can go make dinner for my hubby. Stay tuned for cake pictures and who knows what else! Kar and Di, this blog is dedicated to you both!!