Sushi anyone???

Yes, this is my latest cake...a sushi cake!! I made it today for my brother in law's b-day tomorrow!! I had more grand plans for the base (it was supposed to be not as thick, and then with legs), but I was in a time crunch!! I LOVE how this came out...totally awesome! It's ALL made of fondant, cake and rice crispy treats (well, except the chop stick...which I wanted to make out of fondant, but I didn't have time for it to set up and harden, so my sweet husband ran over to the closest Chinese restaurant and grabbed them for me!) I'm loving the new buttercream frosting as it is giving me a nice base for the fondant. I rolled all the little rice out of fondant...even the wasabi is fondant! It was soo fun to make. AND, I just got back from delivering it to my brother in law and he LOVED it! So, that made me soo happy!! Fun times! This is my last cake for a bit...mama is tired...and I'm sure my husband needs me out front helping him dig ditches for our fence!! :)

The wood grain effect is from mixing vodka with brown food coloring. When it dries, the vodka evaporates. Also, I rolled brown and white fondant together and when I rolled it, it made a little of that wood feel in the fondant itself. A fun effect!! :)

Dice Cakes

Ben and I are heading out to a game night with Portland's Rip City Game Club. Ben goes every month or so, but I've never been. I guess there are some SERIOUS gamers and even a designer or two that pops in. So, I'm excited. A little date night...hopefully I won't embarrass my husband!! :) I made these little cakes to take with us because I want to make sure they like me! :) hehe - and if I win all the games, they won't be mad!! LOL! There are three dice cakes made with 4 layers of brownies and 3 layers of buttercream frosting...completly wrapped in fondant (they are about 3"x3" - although, not totally square). I made a new buttercream that the pros use (took FOREVER to make), but it was definetly the type of buttercream to use for sculptured type cakes...it's SUPER stable! So, that was cool to find out. My fondant job wasn't so great...I realize I really need to clip my fingernails as I continually dug into the fondant. And, I used a new recipe for brownies and they were too sticky and I couldn't get a good cut for the sharp edges...so, next time that will be better. I am happy with them though, they're totally cute!! I hope the gamers enjoy them!! :)

10 Years ago today...

I married my best friend!!! Happy Anniversary Honey!
Here's a "short" video about how much I love you - it's your birthday card!! Sorry to all you bloggers out there...it might be a little sappy for you!! But I wanted everyone in the world to know I married the BEST man and I love him truckloads!

Yes, I was recording when I was holding the camera...so, it makes my head look funny! But it's all in the name of love so I don't care! :) hehe :)

A Dharma Cake

My sweet friend Mindy turned 30 last weekend! YEAH...now she joins the world of the 30-somethen's!! :) To celebrate, I thought I'd make her a Dharma cake since she is a BIG Lost fan - well, who isn't right!? Happy Birthday Mindy...We love your sweetness and pray the Lord's blessing on you and your growing family this year!

Just incase you want to know, here are some cake facts on this one...I made it from brownies since Mindy doesn't like cake. It's two layers of brownies and one layer of frosting. I baked them in a 9" round pan and used a template I made of foam core to cut out the octagon shape. Then I fondant'd it. I cut out the Dharma design after the cake "rested" over night and then poured melted chocolate into the design. I thought the chocolate would level out, but it didn't...I should have added some milk to make it smoother...but, you learn! :) I put the "numbers" around the sides to finish it off...again, using the melted chocolate to draw the letters on wax paper and then when they were dried, I put them on the cake with a dab of water. The bottom boarder was little dots of melted chocolate around the base. That's it! SO fun...can't wait to make more!! :)

My baby turns 4

Four years ago yesterday, our sweet princess was placed into our arms and I fell in love! I can't believe it's been four years!! It's been an amazingly fun, wonderful, hard, joyous and rewarding four years!! She is the most amazing little girl I have ever met and we thank God for her!!
Today we had a princess tea party with a few close friends and family. I made a tea pot cake for her and some tea cup muffins for her friends. I was actually pretty pleased with how everything turned out...of course, nothing is perfect, but mama was happy! :) Here are a few pics of the cake and one with me and my sweet girl!

I baked the cake mix right in the cups...makes for some easy tea cup cakes! :)

I learned a fun trick for all the chocolate swirls and lettering. You take some choco chips and melt them in a zip lock bag (slowly...20 sec at a time). Then, get out some wax paper, snip just the tip off the zip lock bag, and start "drawing" with the chocolate on the wax paper. Once dry, you can just peal them up...whalllllah...yummy chocolate writing/letters/swirls! :)

My bath boy

Easton is a kick in the pants! He makes me laugh soo much and is soooo much like his sister it's weird! I know they say that siblings' personalities are usually polar opposites, but my kids have more in common (as of now) than is usually expected! They both are so full of silly faces and joy...they LOVE to make me laugh! Easton was having such a fun time in the bath the other day, so I grabbed my camera and here's what I got...I couldn't decide because there are SO many faces, and each one has a story behind it! You'll just have to guess the story, but it's all fun!!

ARRRGGHHHHHH!!

My little pirate girl! She found this "alfit" in her drawer back from her cousin Ryder's b-day party!! I couldn't get any good ones of her with the patch on...she liked posing without it because "I can't see mom!" :)