January

Wow...  I can't believe how many enquiries I've had over the last few days.  I've even had to turn work away...  and believe me, that hurts, LOL!

Tomorrow, I'm working at the after school club, just for a couple of hours.  Then I have a BSG meeting in Romford at 7.30pm.  I'm really looking forward to this...  the demonstration is on how to make 'wonky' (or as they're also known, 'whimsical' or 'topsy-turvy') cakes.  I love these, yet despite having seen a couple of 'how to' articles on-line, I haven't been brave enough to try one...  perhaps by actually seeing someone do it, it will give me the confidence to have a go?

I've got a cake for Thursday.  It's for my friend; she wants a cake to remember what would have been her baby's 1st birthday.  I can't believe it's almost a year since she lost Isabella {{hugs}}.

23rd I have an order for a football shirt.

I have an order for 24th.  25 cookies and 23 cupcakes with fairies.  

I MIGHT also have a really big booking for the 24th; I'm just waiting to hear.  If it comes off, it's 7 x 3 tier cake dummies, iced.  One of them is to be decorated.  I'll also need to make 120 cupcakes; get 30 boxes; lots of piping nozzles; lots of piping bags; enough icing for 30 girls to decorate the aforementioned 3 tier cakes; enough icing and decorations for 30 girls to each decorate the aforementioned cupcakes and also spend the day in London.  I'll have to drive to the venue (I've never, ever driven into London)  It'll be a lot of work.  A heck of a lot.  But we'll see if it's to go ahead, before I start panicking!

I then have two cakes for the 31st (I didn't originally take two bookings for the same day...  one was supposed to be for the 28th - but then the customer phoned me up to say that although her husband's birthday is the 28th, she actually wants the cake for the weekend....  the 31st)  AND a cake for the following day, 1st Feb.  Actually, I lie.  It's not two cakes for the 31st...  it's three, because I said I'd do a small one for my sister's husband's birthday.  She'll let me know nearer the time how to decorate it, but it's to be a carrot cake.  I said only on the condition I can bake it this week and freeze it.  Otherwise, I don't have the time.  She said OK!!!

Little Mermaid Cake - finished!

I couldn't have done it without my dear friend Kelly's help. As mentioned in yesterday's post, not only did she send me her mold to make the head, body and arms of the mermaid, but she was on the end of numerous emails, texts and even on the end of the phone! Every now and again, it just happens that you get a mental block/panic about doing a certain aspect of a cake... and this happened to me. I couldn't have done it without Kelly! Thanks! {{hugs}}

Happy New Year

Coooo.... 2009 already! Even my 9 year old son said he can't believe how quickly 2008 came and went!

Well, I'm currently working a cake for delivery tomorrow morning. I'm copying it from a friend of mine http://www.craftyconfections.net/ - it's a cake with a model of Ariel on. Kelly very kindly sent me the mold that she made, so that I could use it to make Ariel... but even with that, it's still not easy.

I want to be Kelly when I grow up! ;o) I'm a huge fan of her work!!!

Right. Back to work.

Cookies!

Has it really been over a month since I last posted? Ooops!

What have I been up to?

Cookies!!!!

I've had an order for 1020 cookies.

Fortunately, they weren't decorated and they weren't all at the same time, either. It's for a party organiser who is doing some corporate Christmas parties (for children). One of the activities is cookie decorating. So I provide the cookies and everything else that's needed to decorate them.

I'm just preparing my last batch. The thing that takes the longest is rolling the dough and cutting out the shapes. So I've been doing that and then open freezing them. Once they're frozen, I put them into freezer bags. They cook beautifully from frozen. So that saves a lot of time.

My last lot is being baked on Sunday, ready for collection on Monday morning. I've got 345 to do.

I've also got a cake for 29th December. Had it not been for the ruby wedding anniversary of a family friend, I wouldn't have done it.

Then a cake for 3rd January. I've had an enquiry for another cake for 3rd January - just waiting to hear back on that. Then 60 cupcakes for 11th January (same customer that's order for the 3rd Jan.)

So already a few things on order for the beginning of the year. I had an enquiry for 30th December, but I turned it down. I need some "me time". We're not doing anything New Year's Eve, so I guess I'll have a couple of days to myself then.

If I don't update before-hand, I'd like to wish you a Happy Chanukah / Merry Christmas and a happy, healthy New Year.

"See" you in 2009

Suzanne x x

Shhhhhh!

Shhhh! Don't tell Steve I'm here posting a message. I should have finished tidying up ages ago. And I should have had a shower and been in bed by now. But as he's working nights, he'll never know (because I certainly don't think he reads this blog!)

I decorated two cakes today. One's being collected in the morning and the other one I'm delivering tomorrow night. Both are for Saturday, but I had to bring them both forward a day, because I'm going away for the weekend! :o) It's "work" related. I'm going here:

http://www.ichf.co.uk/cake/

I'm leaving home at 6.30am on Saturday morning and driving to St. Albans, where I'm meeting someone I know through the British Sugarcraft Guild. OK, so when I say I 'know' them, we haven't actually met before. But she sounds normal on the phone... You know... she doesn't sound like a mad, axe-wielding murderer, LOL!!!

From St. Albans, she's driving us to Birmingham. We're staying in a B&B, 'cause we're going to the exhibition both Saturday and Sunday. I've got tickets for a workshop and a demo whilst I'm there, so I'm really excited. Hopefully on the Saturday night we'll meet up with some other people from the BSG for a meal or something. And I've found out that a friend I met through Babyworld is going again this year! It'll be lovely to catch up with her.

Got a busy time coming up.

Back from the NEC on Sunday evening.
Monday 17th, decorate a cake.
Tuesday 18th deliver a cake in Hemel Hempstead!
Friday 21st I've got a cake.
Tuesday 25th meeting a friend in Bluewater
Saturday 6th Daniel's birthday
Sunday 7th Daniel's party

Then, I've got a LOT of cookies to do. And when I say a lot, I mean a lot. Between 12th and 23rd December, I've got 1020 cookies to do. Thankfully, I'm not decorating them. But I DO need to make a start on the cookie dough. It freezes beautifully. I can and will cut out a lot of them and freeze them raw (subject to space!) But, thinking about it, I won't have space for all of them.

I think that's everything for now.

I'll report back after the weekend. But now, I'd better tidy and get to bed!!!!

Fame Again!!

You know the football shirt cakes I did for the 90 year old twins?

I got a phone call from the customer earlier today to say that there's a small article about them in the Jewish Chronicle and that my cake's in the picture!

This is the photo:

And this is the article:

http://www.thejc.com/articles/spurs-fan-twins-do-party-double

Shame I didn't get a mention, LOL!!! But, coo, look at me... published twice in one week!!! :o)

Fame!!!

Well, OK, not quite.

But I'm so excited... like a kid at Christmas!!!

There's a magazine called "Wedding Cakes - A Design Source" and I sent in my wedding cake photos. And some of them have been used in the magazine! And I'm just so proud of myself. Nothing like this has happened to me before.

Lots and lots of people get their cake pictures in this magazine. I'm not unique. But I used to buy it and look longingly at the cakes, wishing I could produce things like that (I still do look through it, wishing I could produce some of the amazing cakes). And now, my cakes are actually in that very magazine!!!

I was working at the youth club today (making lunches for the children) so my mum went to buy the magazine for me (it was only published today!) I got three copies! LOL!! One to keep in pristine condition, one to show off with ;o) and one I've sent to my Auntie in Canada.

And the best thing is that I get my business name and website details listed in the magazine. It'll be wonderful if I get some business from it!