A Cinderella Coach Cake fit for a 5 yr. old

       

Well I finally got to do another specialty cake. I really enjoy creating birthday cakes and I especially like brainstorming for the next one. Before I committed to going back into the studio to make artwork, creating cakes and baking was my only form of creativity. Looking forward to making childrens' theme cakes the most, I had freedom to make what I wanted for my oldest's first birthday cake only. All the rest of the cakes I've had to have "help" from my two daughters. So needless to say,  it has sometimes been very frustrating trying to tame what I want to make and accomidate their skill level and have them help. I have to say that making marshmallow fondant with a two year old is very messy and not fun at all. How did she get it everywhere?

So this year my oldest daughter said she wanted a Cinderella Coach cake for her birthday party. To research as to how I could possibly construct this cake, I went onto Cake Central.com right away. This is a fantastic and addictive site fully of some really highly skilled artisans. I didn't find too much though except the cakes made with the character molds. Instead I did a search on Flickr and found a few cakes of the coach cake in 3-D. Armed with an idea as to what might be required, I borrowed another baking friends Wilton small sports ball mold and baked off a boxed chocolate cake mix. I usually always make my cakes from scratch but my first attempt at the coach cake with a Betty Crocker bake-n-fill proved to be a waste.

I broke the steps down to be done on several different days so I wouldn't get overwhelmed with trying to finish the cake and get the house ready for our first kids birthday party. My daughter was so excited to decorate the cake and kept asking for days beforehand if we can "decorate today". Things were going quite well with the kids and my daughter even helped create the dog driver, but it was too much for my youngest and she wasn't into decorating anymore. That meant everyone else was supposed to stop too. A quick call to Grandma and I was able to get some time alone to finish the cake. I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out as it has been one of my more adventurous cakes. I'm already planning the youngest daughter's cake. If only I can get her to make up her mind as to what it will be.

Below are some photos I took during the process.

 Marzipan dog with an already broken leg.

Putting in the cookie seat.

  The finished cake.

Just for fun I thought I would add the wordsearch my daughter created as a "party game" for her guests. Please feel free to right click it and print it off.

Is it spring yet?

  March has finally arrived and everyone seems to be itching for spring. I'm already thinking about which flowers I will plant out on the balcony. I went to the garden centre only to find the plant tables completely bare. Patience, patience.

Well, once we have to move our clocks ahead next week, that will surely kick things into gear and we'll be able to celebrate spring for sure. 

Some of my fellow Etsy sellers have decided to get together and mark the transition of the seasons with the "Etsy Spring Fling" at the Cambrian Welsch Hall located at 215 E. 17th Ave., just of Main St. The 30 sellers will be showing off their new wares from 11-5 on Sat. March 21st. I for one, will be sure to attend. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the creative talent that Vancouver has to offer. Although Etsy may not have a large presence in Canada on the west coast, perhaps events like this one will change that. Hooray for handmade!   

Below is a sneak peak of some of the vendors and their items.

   A Farmer's Daughter   

    Smeeta            Lil Sticks Woodworking

  Lucky Troll     A Cagey Bee

Urban Harmonie  My Little Eye

 Lynn Krestel

Valentine's!!!!

So like most people lately, I've been thinking about Valentine's Day. Although I haven't been able to spend much time with my loved one I have been thinking of him. It's not that he lives in another country or city but rather that we have two young children. All those of you who have kids know what I'm talking about. The two minute conversations we've been having are just not enough and we've made a date for Valentine's. It's an international holiday! We have permission to spend time together. Let's hope we can find the time and space again before next Valentine's.

Thinking back to our pre-child days, I remember how we used to make each other birthday dinners (always something we've never made before) and go out to a different fine dining restaurant for our anniversary. Now we're thinking of take-out. No more time for the three hour dinner. Sigh.

On our third anniversary we decided to go to Bishop's on 4th Ave (www.bishopsonline.com) and although now I can't remember exactly what I had, I do remember it being one of the best meals I've ever eaten. If someone else was willing to foot the bill, I would be there in a second. I took a look at the menu online and now John Bishop has a large portion of his ingredients grown for him at Hazelmere Farms. Local and organic are his passion and who could say no to "Beef Tenderloin with turnip souffle and butternut squash puree with red wine jus" followed by "Pink Lady fritter with salted butter caramel and buttermilk ice cream."? Yum!

Oh well, not this year. Perhaps  I can satisfy my cravings with a little bit of the sweet stuff. I think Thomas Haas (www.ThomasHaas.com) chocolates would be at the top of my list of decadent gifts to give. Probably one of the top pastry chefs on the west coast if not one of the most well know. 

As I am partial and interested in anything requiring large amounts of sugar, I have found myself browsing Etsy for some tasty looking treats. I have seen some fantastic things there. As shipping is a requirement for the products being sold, it is mostly cookies and candies being advertised. I found one seller, Sugar Cookie Couture that has some wonderful Valentine cookies listed.They've stolen my heart. www.sugarcookiecouture.etsy.com

While on Etsy I also found another seller who stole my heart with her fantastic necklaces. Anabella Designs (www.AnabellaDesigns.etsy.com) makes these really cool sterling silver pendants right here in Vancouver. While I can't ask my sweetie for one right now, I will be putting one on my birthday wish list.

 After looking at so many great valentine gift ideas online, I too wanted to create something for the holiday. While I'm still hashing out some ideas I found it pretty tricky to make an image that wasn't cliche or sickly sweet or plain boring. I found one printmaker that has done a wonderfully subtle Valentine's image that I just love. Justin Miller at Bound Staff Press (www.boundstaffpress.etsy.com) created this linocut image and he's definitely a printmaker I plan on following.

My first blog

Well.... here I go deeper into the depths of the Internet. I'm not quite sure what to say as I'm a little shy when it comes to such new things.

I guess I could say that I was thinking I would like to thank everyone who made it out Hycroft House for my show opening.

On Jan. 18th fellow artist Andrea Chamberlain (www.andreachamberlain.org)

 and jewellery designer Teresa Smed ( www.dottedloop.com) and I had the opportunity to show new work in the amazing and historic Hycroft House. Although I thought I create fairly large print pieces, I saw them shrink in size in relation the expansive ceilings and walls of the house. Talk about living large!

For this show I did a series of landscape monotypes which is a new genre for me. I found it really enjoyable and it's a subject I think I will go back to. For those not familiar with monotypes I will give a quick explanation. I do what is considered a reductive monotype in that I roll the whole plate with black ink and then “draw” into it with rags, cards, fingers, etc. to achieve the whites and grey tones. Once I feel the image is complete I lay a piece of dampened paper onto the plate and roll it through the press I keep at home. Now all the ink has transferred onto the paper and the image is in reverse. This will be the only print I can pull.

 For the Hycroft show I added hand-colouring to the prints with chalk pastels. I use high quality Sennelier pastels in thin layers to make sure I can maintain the tones created in the print. I'm really enjoying this technique and have a host of images that I plan to use it on.