Creativity Bootcamp Day 5

For more inspiring thoughts and creations for this Creativity Bootcamp, you can look here
My notes from my journalling follow along the threads of the challenge to write about our hopes and dreams and the expectations of life and a trip down memory lane with the music we loved growing up.
If I share with you some of my hopes and dreams I had growing up they included being married with children and serving God in some way. I dreamed of living in a house in the country with dogs and cats and a big family table for us all to sit around with friends gathered.
The trip down memory music lane was fun. I tried to be all neat and tidy and come up with a list of my top 5 or my top 10, but couldn't. I am not tidy, so my list is here: my top 14.
1. U2
2. Simple Minds
3. The Waterboys
4. Blondie
5. Eurythmics
6. Everything But the Girl
7. Depeche Mode
8. Madonna
9. Ultravox
10. Madness
11. The Police
12. Sting
13. Bruce Springsteen
14. Abba
Thinking and writing about some of my hopes and dreams with the prompt word: GROW was interesting too as I put the finishing touches to the wedding cake, last week ready for the wedding last weekend.
The wedding cake for my niece.
My "ex-niece" strictly speaking, I guess, as it is my ex-husband's family, where I would see my ex-husband for the first time in 16 years. I have stayed in good contact with the rest of my ex-family all these years and love them dearly, but not seen the ex for all this time. Weddings always bring back memories and are quite emotive events, aren't they? They are for me. A big trip down memory lane right there. Memories of hopes and dreams broken and shattered, tossed aside and trampled on, some still yet to be replaced and renewed.
And yet, the amazing reality and contrast perhaps, that the last 16 years have been with amazing growth, joy, peace, safety, love, kindness, increased friends and family, creativity, opportunities and adventures and new hopes and dreams too, for me. Wow.
My hopes and dreams have taken on whole new meanings and twists and turns.
Some I never thought would have been possible.
Some of it has been excrutiatingly painful, some wonderful moments of experiencing mourning into dancing, lovely surprises and some renewed dreams and rediscovering of gifts, talents and creativity.
New adventures, new possibilities, new promises and possibilities and surprises.
So, here is my tribute to the word Grow is right here in the wedding cake.
All 3 tiers.



I want to continue to grow, don't you?

The Pretty Spectacular Wedding Cake

I have just returned from my nieces wedding, where I did the wedding cake for them. The first wedding cake I have done.
I think the finished cake was pretty spectacular and felt very proud and pleased with the overall effect.
I hope you like the end result, too.
The bride and groom loved it and everyone said it tasted delicious.
Phew!
The finished bride and groom...


I was so relieved that it arrived safely, as I had to drive the cakes for 3 hours and then the next day transport it and set it up at the venue.

Thankfully, I had my brother in law with me to help cut the dowel rods, measure with the spirit level each tier we did and help move the cake boards so that they sat central to the level below on the pillars. It would have been really tricky on my own and he also helped calm my nerves too.

After the cakes were in place, I was left to add the fresh roses I had bought to go in between each tier.
Beautiful and delicate akido and ocean song and avalanche roses.



I decided that as Mr. Groom, the surprise footballer, has become legless several times over the last few weeks to leave him with 2 cocktail sticks at the back to help him remain upright the whole day. Noone ever knew and at least in the heat he remained upright all day and evening!

Congratulations Aaron and Charlotte!

All About The Cake.

It is all about the cake this week for me. I have the week off from work so in between relaxing, meeting up with family, friends and catching up with life, I am cracking on with the wedding cake for my niece.
She wants tiers and a mix of fruit and sponge cakes.
A huge and heavy 12" fruit cake, a 10" and 8" sponge cakes and then the cake topper is on a 6" base. I used recipes from these books.

The sponges will be Madeira sponge cake recipes, using the Cakes to Inspire and Desire book I borrowed from my friend Abbie. The Madeira sponge will stay fresher longer than sponge cakes. It will also be denser to balance in tiers, successfully. I hope.
I made the fruit cake a while ago, using the recipe from my Sweet and Simple Party Cakes book and have since added a bit more brandy to keep it moist!
I have been buying bits like cake boards, ribbon, icing, marzipan, edible glue (as I am nearly all out of glue), some essential cake boxes to transport the cakes to the venue and an edible writing pen to write a small personalised plaque for the big day.

The flowers will be fresh roses in a variety of sizes and shades of white and lilac: avalanche, ocean song and akito. I will lay them on top of each cake layer in between the pillars.
Pillars.
The bit that gives me nightmares.
I imagine doing a cake "toppler" and it all ending in tears and not a cake "topper" at all.
For the cake topper, the bride to be wants a bit of a surprise for the groom.
You might remember, she wants him to be wearing a football kit in his favourite team, West Ham United. Their colours are claret and blue. I have been worried that if I did a claret groom that it would clash with the purple and lilac theme, so I am using a little artistic license and using a purple shade of icing.
I have been working on the cake toppers.
The bride was lots of fun and I am very pleased with her.

I added a few blue flowers to connect her to the grooms colours.

The groom has been a challenge for me. Ideally he would need to remain upright (at least for the photos, right? and for the speeches, traditionally, eh?)

I made him in pieces, adding denture fixative powder to the icing for his body. This brilliant idea came from Sheila, who led the cake decorating course I did last year as evening class. She was full of cheap and practical tips like this one! I left him to dry for a week or too and he really is like porcelain!
The pieces are then sturdy enough to stick together. In theory. The arms seemed to go on OK, but the legs attaching are a bit of a cross your fingers and hope, thing. I have him balanced upright against a jar of jam at the moment, to encourage his legs to adhere to his body!

I just have to fix the happy couple in place, with all the lettering, spelling the word "UNITED" and the plaque with their names and the wedding date and add the football team emblem on the front. I keep making one, painting the castle in "cream" which looks gold in neat form, but then I keep splodging it before it dries, so have to re-do it! 3rd time lucky,eh?
Today I am going to bake the Madeira sponge cakes.

Tins ready.

To Teeter or Totter, What do you think?

I got new shoes for the wedding in 2 weeks time.
Remember the shoes I couldn't walk in last weekend at the hen do?

They are way higher than those pink ones.
They are even higher than the red ones, my favourite shoes.

New shoes?
That is easy to answer.
My justification is simply this.

I want to wear this lovely turquoise/ chocolate dress, last worn to Emily's wedding in October, where I wore dark brown suede court shoes.
I decided that as it is a "Summer" wedding in June (hahaha)- in theory at least -bearing in mind that I went out in boots and an umbrella in the rain to buy these shoes at the weekend.
The theory in my thought process was that the chocolate brown suede shoes would be too heavy and dark for a "summer" wedding. Pink shoes sadly wouldn't do, or the lovely favourite red shoes. What to do? My black sandals clashed horribly.... so new shoes it was to be.
They were fairly easy to find. Tried on 3 different pairs, quickly discarded because white patent looked tacky and the beige suede ones with the bow looked horrid. After a slight glance at some this season's ankle sandal /boots that I hurriedly dismissed, feeling that next season, this season's would be so out of season.
Then I saw these.

These are ridiculously high.

Gorgeous.

Beautiful.

Elegant.

I couldn't resist them.Is that bad?

I love them.
Really love them.
I now have 2 weeks to practise walking in them.
I have to walk in them and have THE wedding cake to take too.
I could make quite an entrance, as I teeter and totter in.
I can't walk in them, yet, of course.
Determination is a wonderful gift.
Clomp, clomp, clip, clop off I go.

A Bit Of A Hen Do - Part 2!

So the presents for the Bride to be arrived in one piece.
Phew!
We went out to eat here:

Eat as much as you like.
Buffet style.
Hummus, crispy duck pancakes, curry, mint mouse, cheesecake and sweets and fruit.
Delicious.
Yummy food.
Stuffed.
Too busy eating to get some pictures of the food.
Sorry.
The Bride to be(my niece):

loved it all.
A lovely Girls Night Out!
I wore my lovely posh shoes, of course.
I teetered and tottered, bravely, pretending I was "fine" and tried to keep up with everyone who had worn sensible shoes, convincing myself that I was walking eligantly and not going at a snails pace.
The Mother of the Bride to be(my sister in law) couldn't walk in her shoes either...
but they do look great don't they?

It was lovely spending time with my "ex-family", whom I love dearly and remain close to, perhaps surprisingly, despite being divorced for many many years.
It doesn't generally follow a break-up to maintain good friendships with the in-laws, sister-in laws etc, but this family has a special place in my heart and they would say I the same in theirs too, I think.
It is fun to break the rules, anyway isn't it.
We love to laugh and see people's faces when I am introduced as "the ex-sister in law". We wait for the cogs to turn in people's heads and then say "Oh," and still look perplexed.
We just giggle.
It really is a story of mourning into dancing.
Maybe I will tell you one day.

A Bit of Hen Do! Part 1

i am off to my nieces Hen do this weekend. Her Wedding is in a few weeks time. I am making THE wedding cake and it is a work in progress but this weekend it is all about having a bit of fun with the Bride to be and friends and family.
I am trying to get a few gifts wrapped for her...

and would like to get them to the Bride to be in one piece!

Wish me luck!

Here Comes The Bride

The bride is finally finished.
I really like her.
Do you?

I did the flowers purple, lilac for her bridal colours and added some blue flowers to link in with the groom who will be in West ham football kit.
He, is still un-clothed, naked and in pieces and will have to wait to be clothed in his football kit when I return from the hen weekend this weekend!

The Wedding Cake Begins

A couple of months ago, my niece asked me to make her Wedding cake.
I said yes!
The Wedding is in June.
This year.
Soon.
We chatted about ideas and she looked at some of the pictures of some of the cakes I have done previously(although a Wedding cake will be a first for me!)
She decided on a cake done in tiers and I am hoping that it will not all end in tears as I have never balanced cakes before on pillars.
She wants pillars in between the layers with fresh flowers in the bridal colours laid on top of each layer.
Lovely!
I did a little practise over the Easter holidays to see how it might all go together and remain balanced and upright and if the Bride to be liked it!She loved it and so this weekend I have begun.
The base cake is a huge fruit cake.
I used a recipe from this recipe book.
You can check out the author's blog for other fabulous ideas too.
So, today, I had a smashing time.I came up with an ingenious bowl to use.I am glad I have recently joined a gym as the cake was really heavy!My niece wants a cake topper Bride and Groom with a surprise for the Groom!
I have begun making the Bride and Groom today too.
I used the same design as for my Merry Monk I did a few months ago and am trying to be creative with colours and clothing, as the Bride would like the groom to be wearing something like this.

So I mixed, purple and blue and the Bride is coming together nicely. Just have the roses to attach next for her bouquet.
The Groom is still in pieces. I used some denture fixative powder to strengthen him. I am leaving him in pieces to dry before clothing and sticking him together.
I really really hope that he will be upright in the end - or he could look very drunk as a cake topper, photographed like that for years to come. Imagine.
Friends suggested helpfully that he could be kneeling in prayer or leaning on the Bride but I fear he might end up flat on his face!
I will keep you posted with how this project develops over these next few weeks.
The remaining layers of cake will be sponge cakes, so I will do those in several weeks' time.

wedding colours and creations revealed

So yesterday was the lovely Emily and Jamie's wedding.I am now able to share with you some of the creative things we have been planning and doing this last week, as in true traditional fashion, emily wanted the bridal colours to remain a secret!
I had lots of fun helping Emily's Mum do the flowers in the church and wanted to share with you the arrangemnets I made for each of the windows and the front porch.


Emily made the cake and asked me and my friend abbie to help decorate it. We had fun making the deep purple (we used a grape violet colouring) and of course dyed our hands in the process!

The Demonstration

I was quite surprised when my sister asked me if I wanted to got to a demonstration with her a few weeks ago. My mind immediately went to placards and billboards, chanting and marching. She said it was to be at our local cathedral and I thought maybe it would be one of those silent vigils with candles and that it must be something quite significantly important for my sister to want to be part of it and for her to ask me to go too. I must have asked her something really stupid at this point, as she gave me one of those big sister is bemused looks.I managed to muster well what sort of demonstration is it, I mean I might not want to demonstrate against it as I might not agree with it?
She then got the giggles, which was most unfortunate as we were in church at the time. In between giggles, she began to tell me that it was chocolate. Aaah, a chocolate demonstration. Watching someone make delicious things to try and copy and eat... with chocolate. Not marching, or billboards or silent vigil then. No. Aaah.
The demonstration was this week.
Sadly, the chocolatier had broken his leg and was unable to hobble along but we did watch and make: earrings, a flower corsage and a merry monk!

The merry monk could easily be adapted to be any figurine such as an angel, a shepherd or a knight or Darth Vader I think with the appropriate colours of fondant icing. To make your own cake topper: use a cube of fondant for the base(we put a dip in the middle of the front of it for the arms to rest on), the head is oval shaped, a circle cut out for the gown, sausage shape for the arms. add features like hands, wings, helmet, hands, eyes, hair.
I will wear one of the pairs of earrings and the corsage at my friend Emily's wedding tomorrow.

Tudur at the vets

Yes, the time came for Tudur to go to the vet, for the all important "snip". Today. All done. He was very brave and everyone loved him at the vets. ( My proud cat owner moment). They said he is the best cat they have had there ever and that he brought them such joy. The receptionist then said how he had "bopped" the vet on the head with his paw! - he does it to me too, when he is trying to get my attention.... he did it to me this morning, when he thought, perhaps, that I had "forgotten" to feed him! I thought he might come home and be sleepy, cry and walk all wonky and dizzy for a few days..... he has, however, run around chasing ribbons and been jumping in and out of a box!
Just as well, as Emily and I have been busy decorating her Wedding cake!

Hunt the chocolate game, with a bridal favour twist.

Last night, a few of my friends - we call ourselves the groovy girlie cake chicks, gathered to celebrate with Emily, who gets married next week! We usually eat cake together and laugh 'til we cry. Sometimes we make creative things or spontaneously pray for each other, but last night was in honour of the Bride to be.

Emily really likes cheese, so we had a wonderful selection of cheese and biscuits, pickles and I made bread, with my new breadmaker, from my friend Rachel. (Olive with rosemary and Italian herb bread, which I made with oregano, basil and thyme).
We often play traditional British childhood favourite games together, as girlie chicks when it is someone's birthday. Hunt the chocolate is a firm favourite! To give the game a bridal twist, we put the chocolate and sweets/candy into some netting cut into squares, like bridal favours and tied them ribbon.

I hid them around the house before everyone arrived...

..... and then everyone dashes off and grabs (literally!) as many as they can.



We then count them, to see who has the most.












Last night we threw them all into the air....



.... like confetti!

Have a lovely wedding Emily!