Cake Believe 2014 Hiatus

As we are approaching the end of 2013 and looking forward to the new year I have news I would like to share with you all.   

Beginning  January 2014, Cake Believe will be taking a hiatus.

First and foremost, I would like to thank all of my wonderful clients who return to me each and every year to help celebrate those special moments in their lives.  I would not be the cake artist I am today if it weren’t for your faith in me.  Many of you I consider friends and I love seeing your kids as they grow, helping welcome babies to your families and being a part of celebrating the loving moments of weddings and anniversaries.  I am so grateful you have chosen my art to be a part of your special days.  Business has really grown beyond the work of one person and I have spent many months considering this change.

The things I am looking forward to:  1) SLEEP!  Most weekends I operate on very few hours of sleep and lots of caffeine (I never thought I would still be pulling all-nighters so many years after college!)!  2) Family time on the weekends. 3) A kitchen that isn’t covered in SUGAR! ;)

Things I will miss: 1) Meeting new people and seeing familiar friendly faces. 2) The great smiles and looks of wonder as someone first sets eyes on their cake!  That has been the priceless gifts I have received when delivering cakes.

When I started this venture it was to give birthday cakes to my own children that were homemade with love only the way a mother can make.  As a hobbyist caker, I have put so much of myself into each and every cake, whether for my child or someone elses.  I have grown tremendously as a baker, cake artist and as a mother.  Recently I found as I was sorting through my pictures of the last few years, they are mostly cakes/cookies and the like and very few of my own kids and family time.  As we sometimes get reminded in life, each moment we have together is a gift AND kids grow up WAY TOO FAST.  I want to be able to spend more time with my family before the kids are leading their separate lives and moving on and up in the world. 

So while I have loved every moment of creating special cakes and goodies to help other families celebrate, this hiatus will allow me to spend everyday moments (especially weekends) with my family.  I can’t wait to see what my photo downloads are going to contain.

I don’t know what the future holds and when or if Cake Believe will begin operating again.  But I thank you all for your faith and support of my business.  I love you all!

Thanks for thinking “Cake Believe”!

Photo Upload Trouble!

I have been TRYING to update my blog.....honestly!  But apparently blogger is having problems.   I promise to keep at it and hopefully it will be fixed soon.

If you can't wait to see what I've been doing....why not follow me on Facebook??

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Cake-Believe/178228806725

Thanks for visiting and I hope to be telling cake tales soon!

Happy Belated New Year!!!!

I hope you are all still following me, even though I have been remiss in posting cakes for quite a while now!

I'm sure you all know how it is with the holidays, school being out, visitors, vacation trips and the like....

But I'm back!!!! 

I'll share more cakes from the last month or so and then maybe I'll be back on track to share with you as they leave the kitchen!

Hope you all had a nice holiday season, a safe New Year celebration and are well on your way to keeping your resolutions! 

And if I haven't said it enough.....thanks for following!

Monkeying Around

If you have been following me for awhile, you know how lucky I feel to have made my niece's birthday cakes for her 1st and 2nd birthdays.....

well my luck continues because I was able to be there and make her 3rd birthday!

Her mom, my sister, said that the cake needed to include a MONKEY!!! 

Well I was thrilled to hear, because I have been coveting one of the cutest cakes ever on flickr by Chocomocakes! 

(Mine are no where near her amazing talent, but a girl can aspire!)

I love the little monkey she made, so I wanted to style my monkey in that fashion. 

Now traveling and decorating aren't always the best companions.  There were a few tools that I forgot and there wasn't a flat surface to work on at the cabin, so I'm using those as my excuses reasons why my cake doesn't look like hers!  Ha Ha.

When I asked Leah what her favorite color was she told me "pink and yellow", so that settled it.  Pink was a definite color.  I added the yellow flowers and the monkey's yellow banana and yellow lettering.  The other color I like with pink is lime green so for the bottom tier I added pink and green stripes.

Here is the beautiful birthday girl with her cake.  Oh how I hope to make her cake again next year!

I love you Leelups!!!

1000 Ideas...

I have been holding off telling anyone about this.....

But I can't contain it any longer.

Available October 1st....

AND......

I actually have a cake that was chosen to be published!!!

I know it's only 1 cake out of 1000....but still!

My first ever real publication!

I am getting several copies.....so be on the look out for a GIVEAWAY when I get them in my hot little hands!

Thanks for following me and sharing your ideas with me too.

Cake friends are the SWEETEST!!!

Out of Sorts

We are in the process of re-doing our floors in the house....not in the kitchen, but because the furniture from all the other rooms needs a place to go....the kitchen is CROWDED!!!

We thought it was going to be a simple exchange from carpet to hardwood and yet we have found several bumps along the way....LITERALLY.

Needless to say, my bake kitchen is out of commission until the floors are in and everything is back in it's place.....so no new posts from me for awhile.

I'm still baking in my dreams and I do have some real pictures to share, but even my computer is not able to be connected to the WWW.

So I have to live through all my cake friends online when I get to the library or my hubby's pc comes home for the night.

Mortarboard Mayhem....or Mad Cap Grad Cap...the story continues....

Okay, maybe I jinxed myself by calling this post Mortarboard Mayhem or Mad Cap Grad Cap.....but the Fed Ex shipment wasn't delivered today!

ARRRGGHHHH! I can't even tell you how frustrated I am! I spent good money to make sure the package arrived TODAY!!! Now it's sitting overnight at the local Fed Ex in Nebraska. Tomorrow is the graduation and now someone will have to rearrange their schedule to get the package before the ceremony.

I guess I'll post the HAPPY ending once the cookies are in hand!

(See what I did there???....I'm setting it up for a good outcome!.....crossing fingers)

Mange Takk!

I thought you all might like a Norwegian lesson today!

Just kidding....Jeg snakke litt norsk. (I speak a little Norwegian)
But I will say that I DID study conversational Norwegian when I was in college.
My family tree is deeply rooted in Norway and my older sister and I thought it would be fun to learn a bit.
My grandparents spoke it, my Dad knows a little bit, so it makes for interesting banter over the phone!
Anyway, the reason I bring it up is because my new cake blog friend Elin is in Norway! She blogs in English as well as Norwegian. She had a give away a couple of weeks ago....and I was the lucky winner!

Some really cute bunny patchwork cutters!(the first set of patchwork cutters I own)She was so sweet and sent some yummy candy in the package as well!See the cute little skiing gummies!It was such a nice surprise in the mail!
So now I have to come up with a great idea for Easter.....I'm brewing something up right now!

Mange Takk (Many Thanks) to Elin.
Please visit her blog to see her amazing work with sugar! And maybe you can be a winner on her next giveaway!

Maybe I should have a giveaway.....hmmm....what would you like to win???

Aaahhhhhh.....a MONSTER!

I can't wait to share this with you all!

I was able to take a class this weekend with Ashlee Perkins at Minette Rushing's Custom Cakes in Savannah GA. If you watch all the cake competitions on TV like I do, then you have seen Ashlee before. She most recently competed in the Beauty Pageant Cake Challenge.

This is Ashlee with her monster model that the class was based on.There were 10 of us in the class and we all made our own monster. I tell you I could get used to having someone else get all the prep work done for me!

We started out with a base structure so our monsters could stand on their own 2 feet! Hee Hee.
Then we gave them legs using modeling chocolate.Next comes the cake!And of course the arms!The heads were made of styrofoam....if I make this cake again I would use rice krispie treats.....I really like to use as much edible material as possible. But for the purposes of learning this worked and was faster!This is where I got busy working and didn't take my camera out.....so now you see her fully covered in fondant

And here she is in all her glory! Horns, fangs, claws and all! Have a name suggestion???

Happy Blogiversary to Cake Believe!

Yeah! I can hardly believe it has been a year since I have been blogging my cakes and other sweet creations. I have enjoyed "meeting" so many fellow bloggers that share the same passions. I appreciate the kind words you share with me and I love to get inspired by all of your wonderful talents!

So even though it's my blog anniversary.......I wish I could bake YOU a cake!
I am bowing to you all for sharing this wonderful journey with me!
I look forward to sharing another year with you all!

Thanks!
Karen <3>

No, I love YOU more!

What an amazing weekend I had! We traveled to the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee and stayed in a cabin for a few nights. It's the perfect time of year, the boys are off school for fall break, and the leaves are changing colors.....AND it is almost my little niece's 2nd birthday!

Put that all together and you get a car loaded with suitcases and cake decorating supplies heading north! See, I was blessed with the opportunity to make her first birthday cake....

And when the timing worked out again this year....I jumped at the chance. Now you have to know that Leah's first word......was more than likely......SPONGEBOB. It's crazy but this little girl is enchanted by Spongebob....maybe it's the music, maybe the bright colors or maybe she is mature beyond her years (all 2 of them) that she just has to get a good laugh in every once in a while.

'Are you ready kids?'

'Aye, aye captain!'

'I can't heeear you!'

'Aye, aye captain!!!'

'Ooooooooooooh, who lives in a pineapple under the sea?'

'Spongebob Squarepants!'
(I hope you're singing with me!)

So Spongebob it had to be! I had some great guidance from Cake Fixation (check out her tutorial on her blog) and some of my own ideas and this is what I created!

When Leah saw it she knew right away who it was...(thank goodness, whew~).
He was sitting on my cake turntable and she spun him around, she thought that was fun.

Of course when I HAD to get a picture of her sitting next to him (like last year) she wanted to spin him again.....only this time she ended up with fingers full of buttercream! She was surprised to say the least, and she was a little bit nervous. She wasn't expecting to touch something so squishy! We cleaned her up, said no problem, we'll fix him.....she still wasn't sure she wanted to sit next to him anymore.

Then auntie let her taste spongebob's yellow coating and then she didn't mind sitting there (just a little bit nervous). When I was smoothing out the mishap Leah wanted to "taste spongebob" again so I let her swipe her tiny little finger across the spatula. She did this with ease and straight to her mouth.....one more little taste for good measure....sure!
Then I said "all done" and she looked at her other index finger as if it weren't fair and she needed to taste from that finger also! Too funny!

After dinner it was time to light the candles and sing Happy Birthday!(I totally made her Mom break the rules and said she had to STAND on a chair to blow out the candles!)

Birthday girl always gets the first slice!

(This year she used a fork instead of fingers!)

I know it's crazy, I made a giant cake and there were only 7 of us. So my sister took Spongebob home and I'm hoping he survived the car ride into work today so she could share with her office. When the girls left the cabin yesterday, I kissed Leah and said "I love you!" and her response in her cute little Leah voice was "I love you mooore!" ~ I melted right there.
(In the interest of full disclosure, I believe she will say this to anyone who says "I love you".....but I know this time was really meant just for ME!)

I can hardly wait for next year!

Wonder what Leah will want then.......

A Fun Present to Show You

My DH went overseas to The Netherlands for business and after a long 10 days he returned bearing gifts for us all. The kids got some cool soccer jerseys and some other little things. I got a bag from a jewelry store! So I wanted to share with you this fun experience. Really it was quite surprising.....I don't usually get jewelry as a gift!

I had never heard of Thomas Sabo... and after some research on the internet, found that they do not have stores in the U.S. nor do they ship direct to the U.S. You can buy his jewelry through other retailers, you just can't buy direct from them and ship here.

Inside the big bag was this cute smaller bag.

Thomas Sabo's Charm Club seal.

Inside the sealed bag this totally cute little round striped box!

See how cute this box is?

Cute! I tell you.

Here is the charm I received. Want to see closer???

A chocolate brown with a silver swirl and a pink dollop on top! My own little cupcake charm!

Here it is next to a dime to give you an idea of just how CUTE this little charm is!

I don't have a charm bracelet, but I think I just found the cutest reason ever to start one!
Thanks honey....I LOVE it!

Party Maker Storewide Clearance Sale

This post will stray from my normal cake postings. I felt I needed to share this information with my local readers so they can take advantage of some sale prices.

I have been getting cake boards and boxes at Party Maker since they opened. They are close by and have great prices (which helps me a LOT). I am sad to say they are having to close their doors. The economy has taken it's toll on everyone and unfortunately party sales have suffered.

The owners of the store, Jay and Kezia, are a very nice family and have been great business people to work with. I am sad to see this happen, but am wishing them luck on their next venture ~whatever that may be.

So as a friend, a fellow room mom, a neighbor or cake customer ~ I know you all need party supplies at one time or another. Right now the entire store is 25% off and all of the holiday items are a whopping 50% off! Hurry in before the supplies are gone! Plates, napkins, cups, favor bags, decorations, etc!

If you're like me you might want to get some of that shopping out of the way before the holiday nears. Since I signed up for room mom this year, I went ahead and got the supplies for Halloween, Christmas, Valentines and Easter! They have all the major holidays out and that includes St Patrick's Day, Thanksgiving and New Years! Or maybe you have a milestone birthday coming up or a baby or wedding shower ~ there are so many party themes to choose from. They also have all the solid color party ware in all shades of the rainbow. If you are a sports mom, maybe get supplies in your team colors.

It's really a win win situation. It will reduce their inventory as they prepare to close and you can get some cute party ware at sale prices! So don't delay ~ the inventory won't last long! Tell your friends, neighbors, teachers, PTO members and room moms so that they may also take advantage of the sale prices!

Now I need to go find somewhere to stash my party supplies!

Have a great day!

~Karen