Pretty Cake Madness!

I don't usually go in for making "pretty" cakes...but this all started when I was asked to make a 3 tier wedding cake decorated with Black Watch Tartan (if you've ever tried to re-create this tartan in 12th scale, you'll have some sympathy for me!!....eventually, I had to settle for simply marking each edge in black & putting black stripes vertically down the ribbon...this took me a WHOLE day to do!!)The end result though is quite effective.
Little did I know that this wedding cake was going to lead to an entire collection of "pretty" cakes! There are only 4 pictured here, believe it or not, there are another 2 3 tiered wedding cakes & 3 more "pretty" cakes loitering in my completed stash! I now have to somehow figure out how to create heather & thistles to complete the commissioned wedding cake! HELP!! Heather in 12th scale....OH DEAR..all suggestions welcome!

More fun in the mini workshop!!

Guess who's been having more fun in the mini sweatshop! For some reason, I'm having real difficulty settling down to do what I HAVE to do & I hope you'll all be there to encourage me when I finally realise that I've got so much to do that I just don't know where to start! LOL
Another "little" cake that I just couldn't resist making in miniature! This one features a tiny woven picnic basket, topped with a gungham cloth & filled with marzipan fruits! It's sitting on a "grass" cakeboard & a couple of the marzipan fruit characters have fallen out of the basket!



The cake is 25mm high & the board 25mm



Oh dear...ANOTHER favourite!! I Love it!

The "Over The Top Cake"!!

Carrying on the theme of "having fun" in the mini sweatshop...despite the fact that I know I'm going to regret it over the next few weeks when the WHOLE family (all 3 daughters with attendant kids & husbands/boyfriends)descend for the Christmas holidays & I just KNOW that I'm going to be desperate to get to work to complete orders etc, I just had to re-create this very, very over the top cake that I'd seen in a book somewhere. I think the full sized version was made by Christine Smith....but, allowing for the ever creeping senility that's engulfing me, I wouldn't bank on that!! It's quite amazing how I'm capable of "rabbitting on" isn't it....so, here's the cake! It took me 3 days off & on to complete &, as usual, my photographic skills just don't do the real thing justice! I Love the way it turned out, so thought I'd share it with you!






It measures 38mm in height to the top of the tallest flower...each flower at the top is individually wired & can be repositioned if required...& the icing covered base is 25mm in diameter. It really was fun to make!!

My Critique From IGMA

My critique on the Fellow submission arrived this afternoon so I thought I'd share it with you. You never know, it might help any future candidates out there to be successful! Reading it gave me an even greater "High" than the email telling me that I'd made it! OK...enough prattling on...here it is:-
Positive:
Outstanding use of accessories.

Some of the most realistic food I have ever seen. Thoughtful & powerful variety & presentation.

Truly exquisite work. The pastries are making me hungry-fabulous crust on pie & the croissants are amazing. Love the asparagus.

Lovely to look at. Colors re unbelievable.Shading is perfect.

Clams are well done & love the sea urchin.

Absolutely love the cherry pie-cherries with pits! Very nice asparagus. Wonderful variety & presentation.

There is a sense of scale with the tiniest details that I don't often see in foods. Delicacy of berries, cherry pits, croissants-wonderful!

Beautiful shading & colours on most-lovely food choices/variety. Catch of the day-nice choice.

Areas of improvement:

Leaves in the fruit basket need more variation of shape & color & are too thick. The blackberries are a little large compared to the apples & the apple stems are too fine.

Diameter of the asparagus is large in scale, but borderline to the largest we've ever seen. Lemons on asparagus crown are too bright.

The fish seem to be an odd color. The fish are poorly detailed compared to the other pieces. The lobster is too bright blue & the body seems too narrow.

The seafood is the weakest part of the submission.

All the pastries, though lovely scale, look "burned" in the oven. The pastry dough seems too dark brown.

When you read the areas of improvement it's amazing that I ever "made it"!!! The committee have obviously never seen my homemade croissants!!!!

Time for some 'Fun'!!

I know I'm going to regret this in a week or two when the family all arrive for Christmas, but now that the pressure of making pieces for Kensington is over, I've been enjoying myself in my mini 'sweatshop' by actually making something that I wanted to do rather than what I Have to do! A couple of months ago,while flicking through a cake decorating book (cake decorators are SUCH talented people!) I came across a cake by a lady called Karen Goble that she had called 'Santa's Sleigh Ride'...I just couldn't resist trying it in miniature!...I LOVE the result! It measures 40mm x 25mm x 25mm




The photo just doesn't do the cake justice I'm afraid (& if you look carefully you'll spot the deliberate mistake on this one..yes, Santa is facing the wrong way!)AND, instead of the traditional 9 reindeer pulling the sleigh, there are only 3....the others must be taking a day off! LOL. I made 2, one for my own collection & one to sell but I'm still trying to decide whether or not to list it on eBay as I'd hate to see it sell for less than I think it's worth! A dilemma!! LOL