Adventure in Sugar Flowers

It was not an easy journey, but I am embracing it.  Breakages, tears, some wires pushed through the petals, and my 2 year old smashed them on the table were all part of the "fun."  Lesson learnt and we're moving on. 
It's so exciting to seeing the petals all there as I am waiting for them to dry up. There's a sense of urgency in putting them together. And just like that a flower is born.
Sugar flowers are something new and exciting for me.  Creating and imitating what nature provides for us is quite an adventure.  I always intrigued with sugar flowers, of how sugar flower masters like Nicholas Lodge, Alan Dunn, and Ron Ben-Israel do it.  I slowly learned how to make them.  I pored through books and online picture tutorials of how to make them.  Then, I found craftsy.com, is where I learned to make sugar hydrangeas through the fabulous teacher, Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes.  She is a fantastic teacher and I was very lucky to be able to learned from her in one of her classes during Cake Love 2012.  What an eye opener that class was.  When I looked back to the craftsy online tutorial, I was more confident with the technique and although my flowers are far than perfect, they are significantly better than before.  I braved myself to make more flowers and bought another tutorial from craftsy again, and this time it's making sugar orchids with James Rosselle.  I ended up making about 5 of those sugar orchids.  By orchids no.4, they look much better than no.1 or no. 2 and 3. 
I used the sugar flowers as part of my Mom-in-law's birthday celebration.  She wanted a show-stopper cake and a table spread.  We looked at what we have at home and we did a simple yet effective table spread with a very minimal cost.
Here are some photos from the event, and the picture of the cake that I made for her.

table spread with the view of the red velvet cupcake tiers

side view of the cake with sugar orchids and hydrangeas

"beauty shot" of the cake

close up of the sugar orchids

Interlude, Educate, Contemplate

It's been a whirlwind of excitement and change in Sugar Penguin's World.  I've been taking a step back in caking as I am now back in the work force.  I've limited myself in caking as you can take only so much in a month as I want to spend a lot of time with my family as some of them has been dedicated to work.  Back to work has been a tons of fun, meeting my old friends, my old customers (who still remember my name!), and making new networks.
Though I've been taking a step back, but it really means another step forward for me as I am educating myself in more intricate techniques and sugar flower making from craftsy.com.  I have learned so many things these past few weeks through the classes I enrolled.  The first lesson I learned is that patience-which I am lack of- is definitely a must in making sugar flowers.  At one point I was too excited to put the wired petals together and ended up remaking all the petals again as they all broke (the wires pushed through the semi-dried petals) **SIGH** But all is well, I really enjoy my journey in making sugar flowers.

Here are a couple of things that I made in October:
A cake for my buddy at work (an avid golfer and he has a mini schnauzer named Tonk)

Then, this one is my favorite, making a figurine topper for a co-worker's granddaughter's first birthday:

  

Cake Love 2012

I've been waiting for this event to come for a whole year!  This is the second year of The Vancouver Cake Society held the "Cake Love" conference.  You probably read my previous post in regards to this fabulous event back in July and FINALLY, it's here!!  And out of the days that I got a soft tissue infections, this was the week that I had to endure.  *SIGH*  The rain and the pain did not dampen my spirit and I decided to make the most of it.  

The first workshop I took was with James Rosselle.  What a delight to finally met him in person.  I have admire his works as he was not one, not two, BUT THREE times Food Network Challenge champions.  He is very down to earth and we had such a great time in his class, the Ba Da Bling! Mini Wedding cake.  He was very patience with us, who kept on dropping those super pretty dragees (DRA-jays).  Nevertheless, we ended up with a cake that it very, very pretty and glamourous!  Thank you, James, for sharing your knowledge with us! 

My finished cake and with James Rosselle

Ba Da Bling! Mini Wedding Cake with James Rosselle

My next class, it's the class that I've waiting for, for years!  I've been a BIG HUGE fan of Jacqueline Butler's work.  I was dying to learn from her.  I took her online class with Craftsy.com, learning to make hydrengeas and filler flowers.  I love how she is very precise and methodical and the result is just breathtaking!  Thank you, Jacqueline, for being so patience with me and sharing your tremendous knowledge in making your signature open peony.  Thank you!


The very awesome Jacqueline Butler

 

My peony from Jacqueline Butler's Petalsweet Open Peony class

All of us were so grateful for Norm and Zane for spending an hour (and more) of their time by giving us a free demo.  Norm and Zane have a valuable bag of tricks that they shared with us.  I had a whole day class that day and exhausted, but I am SO glad that I went and met with two of my cake heroes!  Thank you, Norm and Zane!

With one of my cake heroes, Norm R. Davis

with the wonderful Zane Beg

I had a lot of fun when I took Ruth Rickey's "Blings, Bows, and Fantasy Flowers."  Ruth has a lot of fantastic and neat tricks up her sleeves that have added a whole new level of knowledge for me.  Ruth is very kind and generous and I loved every single minute we're at her class!  Thank you, Ruth!

(will add picture from Ruth's class later) 

with the awesome and fun Ruth Rickey

This is my display cake.  I wished I have done a bit more "wow" to it.. The cake was done in less than 4 hours altogether.  I had 4 months to do it, but between kids, work, and cake order, and myself being the biggest procrastinator, I left it to the last minute.  Lessons learnt.  Nevertheless, Norm was giving me a very kind criticism, and I know he is being kind to me.  He said that my work is very clean, and "clean" is awesome!  The only thing he would add is a few flowers by the bear.  Thank you, Norm......

My display cake at Cake Love 2012's display room

BIG kudos to all the ladies and gents at Vancouver Cake Society for bringing this awesome event to Vancouver!  I had the most fun weekend, I was exhausted, but absolutely inspired: new sets of skills acquired, new bonds of friends formed.

Looking forward to Cake Love 2014!



September Round Up

It's been a whirlwind of a month!  It feels that the month of September breezed right through me as I was kept busy with me going back to work, more cakes to make, and of course, James's 2nd birthday.  I still can't believe that my little one is TWO!  This month we also had a lot of birthday milestones celebration from our clients: RJ who turned ONE, Maddy whose Mom and Dad are a good family friends of ours, and one of the wonderful ladies, a woman of God, who we knew from church.
Happy Birthday to RJ, Maddy, and Tante Ance... and also my baby James! 

Mickey Mouse/Mickey Mouse Clubhouse-themed cakes.  When I was designing this cake, I was steering away from the recycled ideas of putting Mickey Mouse Clubhouse as the main focus of the cake.  I decided to take the element that was in the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse, that is the Mouskedoer with the clockworks.  I chose the bright colors for the cakes and also the clockwork,  Boy did I ever had so much fun in making them!  Then handmolded Mickey, Pluto, and the letters were added at the end.

For Maddy's birthday cake, I worked with her Mom of knowing what she likes.  I decided to make a bedroom scene for her and added her favorite things like the guitar that she received from her Dad.  I kept the color in the blue tones, and I thought blue ombre tones will be so pretty with the ruffles!

Tante ('Auntie') Ance's cake was inspired by the Kumon website.  I made some Kumon books, and handpainted the cake and added some numbers and letters in between.

Max of "Max and Ruby" for my darling James was unfortunately made at the last minute... I made the figurine is less than 20 minutes.. new record for me!  I was happy that the birthday boy was able to recognize his favorite character!  *PHEWWW* 

Calling Occupants of Interplanetary Craft

All week long I have been waiting impatiently to make my Angry Birds Space cake my a dear friend's son who turned 3.  Funny how she and I met.  We met through an ad about Panini stickers exchange on Craigslist.  She and I have lots in commons, including the two boys and of course, "Take on Me" by A-ha.  It was meant to be :)
It was such a privilege to be able to make the cake for her son.  I collaborate with my son, Robert, in making this cake.  He got very excited and he told me to make the rocketship for the King Pig.  And thank goodness for the Michaels store that stocks clear plastic ornaments before Christmas! 
I am very happy to report that it was a delicious success and the birthday boy loved the cake!

Happy Birthday Owen!

   

Easy Like Sunday Morning

Well, I wished everything is easy like Sunday Morning... But, with us, is nothing but.  Last week was my official first day back to work after 2 year of parental leave, first day of school for my oldest son, without me.  It was bittersweet for me to go back to work and leave my boys at home with their Dad.  In the other hand, I was happy to see my old co-workers and be back in the work force.  Life hasn't been all cherries and ice cream for us, but I am keeping the Faith, knowing that He is in control and He has a beautiful plan for us.
On the positive sides, I met my old friends and meeting new ones, being a part of a birthday party and sharing my passion with them, and last but not least, those who tirelessly support and encourage me every step of the way, in life and in my cake adventures.  I thank God for each one of you (and you know who you are).
I am sharing a few pictures from the fun workshops, the cake decorating party, and my recent cakes.  Enjoy!

  

August and Everything After

I can't believe is August, and soon enough, it's back to school time.  It's crazy how time flies.  My oldest is going to Kindergarten next year in September, and in about a month, my youngest will be two years old.  

This week's cake was a lot of fun to make!  The wonderful lady who ordered the cake for him told me that Mervin (the birthday boy) is a very hands-on kind of person, he can do anything, from fixing computer to cutting up chicken.  Making the details of the cake was tons of fun!  The chicken was my favorite!  And I am happy to report that Mervin loved the cake and the details!  

Happy Birthday, Mervin!

01100011 01100001 01101011 01100101

I hope I did it right, it should spelled "cake" in binary codes!  I had the privilege to make a cake for Olivia's husband.  I met Olivia when we were both in one of my close friend's wedding party.  Olivia asked me if I can make another Android-themed cake (see the other Android cake here)
Olivia's husband created this android 2D  images to represent their family.  It's just the most adorable thing, specially the baby Android with the pink binkie.  Ah, I should ask them to make one for me with a cake on hand.. haha..
After a few exchanges of emails, Olivia came up with a genius idea of binary codes that said "I love you" for the side of the cake.  I am no genius in math and numbers, and she gave me a little lesson in binary codes... I am a geek at heart, so this is so much fun for me!  The binary codes on the side should say "I LOVE U."  Attaching the numbers were not as easy as it looks, I had to make sure that they're straight and aligned, in one single motion, hold your breath, attach, and exhale (even as I type this, I was holding my breath).  

01001000011000010111000001110000011110010010000001000010011010010111001001110100011010000110010001100001011110010010110000100000010000110110100001110010011010010111001100100001
(Happy Birthday, Chris!)

C'est La Vie, C'est Si Bon

I can't believe how time flies.. Our darling niece is celebrating her 2nd birthday!  It seems that not too long ago, she gave us a little surprise to all of us by showing up early to this world.  But praise the Lord, she has grown to be a healthy, brilliant, and adorable little girl!  She charms all of us with her infectious smiles, quirks, and laughs every time we see her.  

The bear was again inspired by Paige Fong, a brilliant cake artist.  I simply can't get enough of these bears!  I was thinking of Paris when I decorated the cake.  Pink and black is just one fabulous combination.  Then, to perfect it, I picked up a gorgeous paper at Zing Paperie & Design during my afternoon out with my son, Robert.  Oh, the chandelier is just so perfect for this cake!  Tres chic!

Happy Birthday Alyshia!

It's Gonna be Bright Sun Shiny Days

I had the honor of making a surprise wedding cake for my friend Ivan, who lives in Taiwan, and they're going to have an intimate wedding ceremony in the beautiful British Columbia.  I met Ivan when I was working at the dealership.  He has been such an ambassador for my cake.  He has been very supportive, generous, and kind.  I still remembered his order when I haven't gained my confident just yet in cake decorating.  But he encouraged me and giving me feedback.  I am grateful for him.

Ivan left the design up to me, with a few key elements that need to be included in the cake: bride and groom figurines, yellow (his wife's favorite color), and Snoopy+Woodstock.  I modeled the figurines of "them" from the beautiful photoshoots they did in Taiwan.  Both of them looked like a couple celebrities, according to my Mom-in-law!  She had this fabulous asymmetrical ruffled/tiered dress on.  Oh so fabulous!

The weather was perfect for their wedding ceremony with beautiful blue skies and gentle breeze.  The Van Dusen Garden provided a perfect setting for their wedding ceremony.  And I know that they would have amazing pictures as their photographers are the Bebbs, from Bebb Studios.  They took our wedding pictures for our wedding back in 2005.  What a lovely coincident!

Such a lovely day for a lovely couple!
Congratulations  Ivan and Joyce!

To Bear, with Love

This weekend, I had the privilege of making cake and cupcakes set for Chloe, who celebrated her first month!  I got the privilege to know her Mom too, who is an avid bear collector.  She has an extensive collections of adorable bears from plushies to chopstick holder that she collected since she was little.
My inspiration came from EVE N' arTistry who created these beautifully made and adorable hair clips.  My heart was set on these beautiful clips that she created (you can get them through her Etsy store).  I can only oogle at her beautiful products as I only have two rambunctious boys who even refused to wear their "handsome" hats (the only accessories I can get on them).  The other inspiration came from Chloe's photo session with Athalia's Photography, who always take gorgeous pictures of babies and weddings.

Happy One Month Old, Chloe! 

When Smurf Met My Melody

I pulled it off!  I managed to keep things under wraps, with only a few people knew about the surprise birthday cake for my brother-and-sister-in-law!  My sister-in-law loves cute sanrio characters, and My Melody is one of her favorite characters.  I was thinking of making them each an individual cake with a character on top the cake.  I was thinking of making another lego character for my bro-in-law, but my husband said, 'you gotta do smurf."  So I made the cake with "When Smurf Met My Melody" theme. The Smurf is so smitten with My Melody and presented her with a red rose.  I almost had to do an all-nighter since my plan to make the cake on Friday was interrupted by the kids and my husband being in-and-out of meetings all day.  BUT, I did it since I got the two characters ready.  I had to do the apple tree with a "carved" of their initials just for the fun of it.
I reckoned the suspense was building up during our yummy dimsum brunch and I managed to capture her surprised look on her face when she opened the box of cake!

Happy Birthday Anna and Assaf!

Fifty Shades of Pink

Sorry to disappoint, no, it's not the prequel of much-talked about books.  Ha!  It's more like I've been wanting to work with ombre colors on cake for a while.  I finally got the chance to do it!  In the middle of the hustle and bustle of making the cake for Charli, I got a request for an express cake, to be picked up the next day.  Simple cake is what I had in mind, but once I sat down and look at my cake "canvas," and I said to myself, I want a beautiful cake, I want to bring a smile on the recipient of the cake, and in this case, Hailey, who was turning 4.
Those pink ombre colors is just very, very lovely on a cake.  I think I simply have to make more later!

Happy Birthday, Hailey! 

California Dreaming

This was my song when I was prepping for this week's birthday cake for a cute little girl named Charli.  Her Mom emailed me more than a month ago with this brilliant idea of a beach-themed cake for her daughter's birthday.  I was very excited as we're keep on waiting for the beautiful sunny days to (finally) arrive in Vancouver.  June, or shall we say, "Junuary," has been dreadful with rain and gloomy days.
Once Charli's cake finally put together, I just felt like to sink my feet with her in the sandy white beaches, making sand castles, and sit on the chair under the umbrella and read my one-chapter-a-day Storm of Swords from the "A Song of Ice and Fire" series.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHARLI!

Yesterday Once More

Here's another take of the world's most beloved kitty (see the other ones, here)!  There's something about this cute, cute kitty that everyone loves.  With two boys at home, I have no chance in making Hello Kitty cake for any of them.  My son, Robert, just looked at it and said oh, that's cute, and walked away.  Such a contrast compare to the Lego ninjas that I made for my BFF's son the other day.  Nevertheless, Hello Kitty never fails to provide me with challenge.  It's never easy to make her, but it's always satisfying to see the end result.
Well, summer is finally here and I hope everyone enjoy gorgeous sunny days as much as we do!

Happy Birthday, Evelyn!

The Ninjas Did It

I had my fun this week as I was asked to make a Lego cake by my BFF for her son's 7th birthday.  My husband and I grew up playing Legos and our son too, starts playing Lego.  After I had no reason whatsoever kept on having this Honda commercial song in my head ("I"m a Ninja"), of course, I had to include the ninjas into the cake.  My husband was my biggest critique, he made me re-do some of the "blocks" just because the size was off.  Oh hubbly bubbly (got the nickname from my darling friend at Bluebay Desserts)....

I didn't come up with the original design though (I think it was Duff's Charm City Cakes who came out with the peek-a-boo legos), it's more like my interpretation of the ones that are out there.  The ninjas not only they were fun to make, but they seem to have characters of their own.  I didn't think the green ninja liked the sword that I "forged" for him.  It broke after I tried to attached it to him... tsk tsk tsk...
Then I had to part with them... *SIGH*  It was so hard to part with the these ninjas.. even my son was literally begging me so that he can take a picture with the cake.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ETHAN!