Fireman Sam

    I hadn't heard of Fireman Sam until I was asked to do this cake, but it's a really cute kids show similar to Bob the Builder, but Sam is a fireman- "The Hero Next Door"...and the show's British, for the win. ;)
I watched an episode or two for reference. It was originally clay animation, but has now switched to CG. : / I modeled my cake after the claymation version, because it translated better to the materials I use. There isn't that much difference, but as a fan of great claymation such as Shawn the Sheep and Wallace and Gromit, I have to say that is my preference. :) [somebody please ask me to do a Shawn the Sheep cake sometime!]

This pic is not quite the finished product - unfortunately, I didn't get a better top view pic when I finished! :( I was kinda in a scramble to get it done. I did get these of the front though:

I had a lot of fun with this one! Fireman Sam is cute. :) And I LOVE anything I can add a lot of details to!

All Fuss and Feathers!

     First of all, I guess I should've posted something about my summer break from cake making. I am sorry. :) Cake making, as much as I enjoy it, is only a very small fraction of the elements of my life right now, and I needed to focus on other things for a few months. I'm still kinda there actually...but I am starting to make cakes again, thus I blog. :) I also needed some time for my arm to rest and heal- I have tendonitis in my right wrist/forearm. :(
So to catch you up:
This fluffy pink creation was made for my little girl cousins' combined birthdays last summer. It's the last cake I made last year. Chocolate cake with buttercream, strawberry cupcakes, and tons of pink feathers to decorate. :)

Royal Blue and Silver Wedding

 I'll let the pictures do most of the describing, but this is a buttercream -frosted cake with modeling chocolate roses (painted and glitter dusted), piped scroll-work, and royal blue and silver ribbon wrapped around the bases.
I also couldn't resist adding some pictures of the adorable cake topper :), and the beautiful table decorations. I was so thrilled when I was told what the colors would be- royal blue and silver is one of my favorite color schemes for a wedding! :) Maybe someday I'll have a wedding with that theme...though I'll most likely have someone else do the cake...;)

Ford Lover's Groom Cake

First of all, this is not the only cake I've done since Curious George...I'm afraid I've been a little remiss in my posting of late. :/ I do apologize!

However, here is my latest- a groom's cake for the Ford man. :) I did a combination of my painting-on-modeling-chocolate thing :), and cookie crumb gravel, and LOTS of chocolate frosting...;)

Okay- above is the almost finished cake - before I added the "Built Ford Tough" sign...:)
Here is an interesting (or odd) bit of trivia about me: I can look at this cake, especially the picture, and know what was going on in the house around me while I did that particular part of the painting. For example, I had National Treasure II on, to have something to listen to, and I could tell you what part of the movie I was hearing when I painted what part of the picture...:)

 

And here we have it - the finished product!

I loved the idea of "Built Ford Tough" for two reasons: first, because every Ford man loves that phrase, :), and second, because it spoke of the couple's relationship - built Ford tough. :)

And I know Ford men because I live in a house full - my Dad and my brothers are all Ford lovers. :)

Now, I wish you could've seen the inside of this cake...moist dark chocolate cake stuffed in between with rich, luscious chocolate ganache, and loaded with chocolate buttercream...it smelled aMAZing, and was any chocolate lover's dream as well. :D

Curious George

I had a lot of fun with this cake! :) I based the design on a picture from the movie, and carved and stacked George out of yellow cake. It's iced in buttercream and his face, hands, and feet...or are both sets technically feet? Monkeys confuse me with that - I mean, they all look like hands to me. Oh well. ;) anyway - they were rolled out modeling chocolate, and I painted the features on. I really like the way it turned out. :) Besides, I am not generally a fan of monkeys, but I love Curious George. He's just so cute! ;)

A Root Beer Truck and Skippy :)

This is the cake I made for my brother's birthday party on Tuesday. He wanted an old truck, and wanted his theme to be root beer floats - and his dog, Skippy. So, I invented an A&W root beer delivery truck from 1949 - a Ford F-2. I found a reference pic of the Ford delivery truck, and a pic of the A&W logo from around that time, and married the two...As with the last cake, I painted the picture (using food coloring & vanilla extract) on rolled out white modeling chocolate. He loved the result, and it was so much fun!! :)

                                                                   Root beer logo detail...

Ford F-2 - classy looking trucks! My grandpa owns a standard pickup - I painted a picture of it (not on a cake) which you can see here.

And Skippy!!! Our family -and especially my brother's-Border Collie. :)

60th Anniversary

       This cake has quite a story behind it...you'll understand the picture better when I tell you. :)

Over 60 years ago, there was a young girl who lived on a small farm in the country, and she had long dark braids - so long she could sit on them! She was about 14 and rode a bicycle wherever she needed to go.
There was a young man living not too far away; he was 17 and quite a spunky fellow, and worked on his family's farm.

One fine day, the girl was riding her bicycle to town, braids flying merrily behind her, when suddenly - OW!
The young man had been sitting in a car parked beside the road, saw her coming...and couldn't resist the temptation to reach out and tug those long braids.
"She was the prettiest girl I ever saw!" he says today, "Still is. But now she's mean!" he teasingly adds, and she laughs.

Yes, he has been married to her for 60 years now. At the time of the braid incident, he told a friend who was with him, "I'm going to marry that girl!" to which his friend replied, "Not that one, you're not!"
At first, one would think his friend was right - she didn't want anything to do with "that wild boy". :) But time changes things, and he wasn't so wild after all, and they fell in love and were married. :)

This couple is very dear to me - although they are not really related, they have known me since I was a baby, and I went to stay at their house sometimes when I was a toddler. I call them "Grandma and Grandpa Moo-Cow" because when I was about two, I loved to stand at their front door and call to their "moo cows" grazing in the field in front of their house. They always called me their "Moo-Cow baby". :) They are the sweetest people, and I was so glad to have the opportunity to do this cake for them! :)

      Now for the details: the cake was chocolate and yellow with buttercream, and I covered the top in a sheet of white modeling chocolate. Then I traded my chef's hat for an artist's beret...I painted the top like a watercolor, but instead of water, I used almond extract (some people prefer vodka, but almond or clear vanilla is what I use, and besides - it smells a-MAZ-ing!) and gel food coloring, and painted the picture - some from reference (the car is a 1951 Chevy Bel-Air) and some from my imagination.