Storybook Tea Party + Styled Shoot

When the ever-talented Julie from Juju's Tutus called me to create a styled shoot for her newest lines of darling tutus. I couldn't wait to get started.  I had been waiting for the chance to have a Tea Party, and this was the perfect setting.

I discovered Creekside Estates through the contracting business that my husband has owned and operated for 30 years here in the valley.  We have created some unique natural stone items and counter tops in this beautiful residence over the last few years. The owners graciously allowed a whole "gaggle" of giggly little girls to take over their home for a gorgeous day full of tulle, bouncy curls, doilies and cups full of pretend princess tea.

The inspiration for a "Storybook" theme really took flight when I spoke to Desiree from Paper Candee.  When she told me about her dream of a mirror invitation delivered to the special little princess in it's own fairy tale story book!  I instantly saw the entire shoot in my head.  Sometimes it takes just the right element to fire off all of the vision for an event.

 

It was the perfect storybook tea party setting – romantic and sweet.  This lovely shoot was full of cute tea party tutus by Juju’s Tutus.  Perfectly shabby chic and so romantic, these tutus will be perfect for flower girls and birthday girls.  The adorable tops, leggings and bloomers were a perfect compliment made by Makmay Designs.  Featuring vintage China from Tea Crockery, (a great new find) cookies by The Baked Equation, romantic florals by The Garage by Ivy (love the toadstools and succulents), and a tea cart rental by Modern Revival. 

Polishing off the little models were hair accessories from Princess Pie Boutique and necklaces by My Sassy Sister, and adorable hair styling by Mariana Marie.  The cake was one of my favorite elements. 

 I had been waiting for an opportunity to do a "naked cake"  Stacked with pale pink frosting and topped off with Ivy's beautiful fairytale flowers, and surrounded by little pearls, I am loving it!  As always, Angel Cakes Bakery, my own creations, provided some yummy little mini treats like mini french macarons, meringues, and cake truffles.

Diana Elizabeth and her fairytale camera captured all the magic, as usual.  In a perfect, fairytale land, Diana would just follow me around and make my world all mystical and magical and stuff!  Until then, I'll just keep dreaming of my very own Tea Party, and by the way, my grand daughter is one of the gorgeous little models, which made the day truly MAGICAL!  OK, I know I just used the word magic 4 times in the same paragraph...and I am not sorry!

 

Please visit these vendors, most are located in Phoenix but most all do business nationwide and we had items flown from these talented vendors.  Whether it’s for a birthday party, shower or wedding, these vendors can supply everything you need for a unique and gorgeous party.

Venue: Private Residence at Creek Side Estates / Event designer, custom linens: Angela Saban Design / Paper goods: Paper Candee / Tea Party Table and vintage China: Tea Crockery / Gluten Free Cake: Angel Cakes Bakery / Cookies: The Baked Equation / Florals: The Garage by Ivy / Tea cart, candy tins: Modern Revival / Hair styling: Mariana Marie / Tutus: Juju’s Tutus / Jewelry: My Sassy Sister / Hair accessories: Princess Pie Boutique / Tops, leggings, bloomers: Makmay Designs

Baby Bum + Baby Shower Cake

I have a confession to make...I watch Cake Boss.  No surprise right?  I just love to watch them throw together a super-sized, over-the top, crazy a** cake, and then see them struggle to deliver it.  It's my life, only on steroids!  Last week, I bit off a little more than I should have and ended up with a 4 tier wedding cake and full wedding design package, a two tier gluten free wedding cake, and a sculpted (sort of) baby shower cake.  I still can't believe that I did all that!  I could here the music fro Mission Impossible playing in my head the entire week.  And, I slept 12 straight hours from Saturday at 6 pm until Sunday morning 8 am.

It was all worth it, everyone was happy, and I got the first pictures back from the baby shower.

 I first saw a "baby bum" cake on Cake Boss, then pictures started showing up on Pinterest of other Baby Bums.  A very cute concept, until my grand daughter asked me why the baby had his face buried in the cake?!

Still, it's a very cute idea.  The cake was a delicious combination of Almond and Orange with Vanilla Butter Cream.

Hand Painted Wedding Cake

My Grandmother, Mother, and my brother were all painters, my brother loved illustrating, but I've never had the desire to put pen, pencil, or paintbrush to paper or any other medium until I stumbled upon Three Little Black Birds Bakery.  Then, she was featured on Craftsy's website with a hand painted cake tutorial, and I was hooked.  After watching the class and mixing lustre dust colors with airbrush sugar colors, I gave it a shot on the Lion King Cake.  Tedious, yes, intricate, definitely, right up my alley for sure.

Just the thought of transferring the patterns and illustrations in my head to a cake was fascinating.  Now, I am obsessed.

 
































I found the perfect opportunity with Melissa's cake.  A simple, small cutting cake for the bride and groom, turned into a hand painted project that consumed me for several hours, OK I admit it, a couple of  days.
The groom, Kenneth sent me his original outline of the couples' faces. A graphic designer, he had created this design himself for their wedding invitations. The open rosette design is a Frank Lloyd Wright design that I used to mimic the bride's gown, which featured an open rosette pattern on the skirt.  Painted with a silver, champagne, and white-on-white pattern, I covered three sides with the pattern.  A ruffled border and silver  finished the simple, elegant design, which is one of my favorites. Modern, retro and classic.

The cake pop stand, created by my wonderful husband, who puts up with way more than he should from me and my hair brainded ideas, was spectacular.  I love it! 120 cake pops, half were dark chocolate with peanut butter butter cream, and the other half were lemon with lemon curd and lemon butter cream.  Sparkly, elegant and smelled absolutely heavenly.  Thanks Melissa, for making me a special part of your day, we've been talking about it for so long, and today, you lived it!!  Hope you have a blast in Hawaii!!!

Couture Birthday + Bridal Shower Gift Box

So every week seems to hold a new cake surprise, like the gift box bridal shower cake and the couture first birthday cake.  I had a slight plan, but realistically, this has been such a busy month so far, that I barely knew the plan for these two cake orders.  They just sort of unfolded throughout the evening and very early morning.  I slept in most of Saturday afternoon and evening, which seems to be the norm lately.

The bridal shower cake was for a beautiful bride to be that I have already been in touch with.  She is celebrating her wedding at The Wright House in Mesa next month.  A vintage with a twist of bling design led to this elegant gift box cake which happened to be gluten free and dairy free.  I know, skepticism mounts, right?  Can a cake with no regular wheat flour and no milk or butter really please a roomful of women?  Apparently, yes, as I got a text from the bride's aunt expressing her delight with the cake.  She actually said that it was amazing and everyone loved it.

And, across the valley, and still in the beginning phases of her soon to be amazing life....a little girl turning one had a couture first birthday party with a yummy chocolate and raspberry birthday cake.  I have been wanting to make a cake with this little ruffle, and the perfect opportunity came along.  Happy Birthday Ellie.

Bridal Shower + Another 1st Birthday

Another busy weekend of cakes, brides and birthdays.  A really fun Bridal shower cake inspired by BEES and a first birthday celebration inspired by The Lion King.

The Bridal Shower Cake for Melissa was gluten free Vanilla cake with fresh Lemon Curd and Vanilla Bean Butter Cream with a Blueberry filling....

And the Lion King cake was way overboard for the cost, but I really wanted to try a painting technique that I learned on Craftsy recently. The smash cake was an added bonus for a dairy free birthday boy,

Little Pet Shop Cake

When my friend Ivy told me that her daughter was having a "Pet Shop Birthday"  I immediately thought of The littlest pet shop toys.  But, no, this was going to be an "adopt a pet party"  Each guest would adopt a furry little stuffed pet.  So I started to think about what a cute little six year old would find fabulous when it comes to cake, besides the frosting!  My grand daughter loves her little princess castle and the tiny little dolls, furniture and animals too, so I got the idea to make Oak her own little fairytale pet shop.  Because, lets be honest, if I was six, I would have a pet shop like no other pet shop.  The animals would be free to roam around, roll in the grass, enjoy the sunshine.  So, I gave Oak a little dream, and for a few hours, I got to be there too, I sort of got lost in the details, and the tiny little modeling chocolate animals. 
My grand daughter, Promise helped to make all the tiny little flowers, she's learning young, and is very talented already.  But, at seven years old, she already has her own plans...to be a Pediatrician, an American Idol, ballerina,  we'll see, as long as she's happy, and we can bake together every now and then.

Mickey Mouse + Winter Onederland

This weekend kicked off the year with a couple of very fun cakes...

Both of the cakes were for a First Birthday Party, which makes me feel very privileged! 
A Mickey Mouse Cake for 40 (plus) was awesome to create just because of the size of the cake board.
A 20"x20" to hold this big head was covered in yellow fondant to highlight the black letters. Hand cut pieces of fondant for his face makes this Mickey totally edible.

The second cake was for a little girl's Winter Onederland Party...what a great theme.
The little penguins, polar bear and mr Snowman were a lot of fun to make and resided on the work table for quite a few days before their snow covered cake became their new home at last.  The little one slipping down the second tier was my favorite.  Covered with silver sparkling disco dust and big chunky sugar made me wish it was snowing outside...not really, I really don't like the cold weather we are having right now.