Wedding Wheels and..CAKE

Hello there, oh the weekend is nearly over. I am sorry my intention was to update you on Friday but the piping on the cake kept me busy for many hours. I know why wedding cakes cost so much I put nearly 36 hours of labour into that cake.
It turned out great though and the bride and groom were delighted with it.

Top tier fruit cake which will be kept for the couple’s first child Christening, a nice tradition. Second tier from the top a layer of luscious lemon cake and this is just fabulous a moist and tangy cake, very fresh my favourite ever. Then third tier a brownie like chocolate truffle cake, again melt in the mouth not need a cup a tea with it type of cake. And the biggest layer was polystyrene, by far the tastier option out them all LOL and calorie free>
I dislike seeing small wedding cakes, to me the cake should be tall and grab attention and make a statement! Photographs look much better if the cake is taller etc. etc. but most weddings do not need layers and layers of cake, and of course the bigger the cake the bigger the price tag. So with this in mind I talk everyone into faking it for the sake of the above reasons. Now a days you really can have it all, you can indeed have YOUR CAKE and EAT IT !!
Here’s a close up of the detail, it was hard work and took me hours to do I am definitely rusty as I am not making them as often as I used to.

I did the fresh flower posies as well
And here’s the card I made for the couple. I really didn’t want to see or make another cake after the real one LOL so I have mounted the single A la Carte stamp from the Stampin Up mini catalogue called Wedding Wheels and set to work.

Is a very unusual combo for me but the wedding was held in a very pretty and traditional English Garden inside the most beautiful and luxurious marquee I have ever seen  so green sprung to mind for this reason.
I love the retro feel of the stamp image and for some reason I wanted to frame it so the Notably Ornate stamp set provided me with a very ornate frame and I love the effect. The black injects some drama and makes the card look very crisp. Basic Phrases set was used for the sentiment, here’s a close up.

Supplies: all Stampin’Up! unless otherwise stated.
PAPER: Basic Black, Pear Pizzaz and Whisper white card stock, Hostess Level 1 Designer paper stack in Pear pizzaz
INK: Basic Black and Pear Pizzaz
STAMPS: Wedding Wheels, Basic Phrases, Notably Ornate
TOOLS: Big Shot, Vinatge wallpaper embossing folder, scallop oval punch, large oval punch, word window punch
ACCESSORIES: rhinestones, white satin ribbon
Measurements:
Basic Black card base 15cm x 15cm.
The designer paper measure 14cm x 14cm. Take a strip of Black card stock and cut at 14cm x 7cm. Take a piece of Pear card stock measuring 6.5cm x 14cm and emboss using the vintage wallpaper folder and the big shot.
Stamp the frame in black and using the Stamp a ma jig position the wedding couple inside the frame. Cut the frame out then add a layer of black card behind that.
Stamp the sentiment then punch it out with the word window punch. Next punch a layer of pear card using the large oval punch and adhere to a black scallop shape. Add the sentiment on top and add two rhinestones at each end before positioning  on the card.
Thank you so much for joining me I will see you again soon. Till next time hugs xxx

Technorati Tags: Big shot,stamping and cardmaking,business opportunity,stampin up demonstrator uk,wedding wheels

Still Alive..

Hello, gosh what a week I ve had !!!!! Keep saying this lately don't I? lol, but honestly I was.
The Launch of SWUS went with a bang last Friday and we are having so much fun already, we had nothing but good feedback from the attendants which is a wonderful thing as we were pretty nervous about meeting their expectations, and we are only a few days into it. You can still join in the fun as all the projects will be available on the site until the end of May. Here s a photo of my first class a hinged box with 5 fresh cut decorated notes.
The colour combo is Always Artichoke, Bashful Blue and So Saffron, the fresh cut notes are decorated in similar colours for a coordinated look. This class planner is now available as a single purchase. For £7.50 you will get a PDF with step by step instructions and clear photographs, a list of all the materials used as well as a shopping list so that if you are a demo you can easily at a glance price your class. Use the buy it now button below if you would like to purchase this planner

I also had to make a Christening cake for a sweet little angel called Charlotte. I designed this two tier creation in white and Pretty in Pink. I have used SU pretty in pink striped grosgrain ribbon to edge the tiers as I though it looked more stylish then the satin one I had for cakes, and a few piped dots were all the decoration needed, I was really pleased with the result and I am hoping Charlotte's mummy was too. When we first discussed details I was thinking of pink bootees with white ribbons but Christine asked if she could have white bootees with pink ribbons instead, I couldn't see it at first but I am so happy she did ask for white as I think they are a better choice definitely. Here s a close up


Bottom tier was a fruit cake the couple kept from their wedding day (frozen for the last two years), and the top was a plain vanilla sponge with luscious vanilla butter cream. It looked so very cute and stylish. Then Saturday straight after work we travelled down to London for the weekend to spend some time with this little chap and to chill out a bit.
Not sure about the chilling out bit I returned home shattered he sure is energetic and he s idea of an early morning and mine are miles apart, 6.30 he was up and straight into our bedroom looking for us and shouting Mimi and Pete, not impressed as there s only one 6.30 in my life and that s pm not am, but surprisingly I was fully awake at the first sound of his sweet voice, I do love him more than my own life I have to tell you, he is Mimi's precious little diamond. We are in Hyde Park here and he was going through the routine of one of his favorite nursery rhymes. Something on the lines of 2 little sausages sizzling in the pan... here is ready to do the *POP* bit, bless him.
Right then I am sorry for my long absence once again, hopefully I will be a better blogger from now on. Hugs Monica xx

PHEW!!!

What a week!. Lots and lots happened. Firstly at the beggining of last week I found out that my beautiful friend Claudia had safely delievered her first ever so gorgeous baby boy Joshua John Fatzinger a healthy and very big baby, I forgot exact weight but over 11 lbs. He is just adorable and I so wish I could jump on a plane to Seatlle right now only so that I could smell him.

Welcome into the world little one and BIG congrats to mom and dad, their lifes will never be the same again. A huge lot of love to you all.( photo shamelessly knicked from Leigh's facebook)

Then work, and then work some more after work on a wedding cake.

A simple but elegant design, and it was those flowers and leaves that took a bit of time. I was pleased with the result( and the very smooth, flaw free finish wich is important when the tiers are almost bare) and the bride and groom were too, which was the crucial bit. uhu it was>

Friday me and hubby went to see my uber talented Passionette Julie in Sweeny Todd, well all I can say is WOW!!!! the show was FANTASTIC and Julie equally brilliant, a true pro and I have enjoyed seeing her wearing a different hat so to speak.

Then Saturday was spent between work ( notice the pattern? that thing keeps getting in the way of things), delivering the cake attending the wedding service and take a few photos, then went out in the evening with some girlies till the early hours, Sunday was spent with family and recovering ( I just can't do it anymore, mind you I m not sure I ever could DO IT!!)And then Monday I HAD to clean the house because it was BAD. There bored yet?

I did made a card. It was a comission for someone s girlfriend.

Baaad photo as it was taken just as the day disappeared and no amount of clever editing would make it better but you get the idea. I am a bit tired of brown-pink combos, as yummy and as gorgeous I think they are.... and they are, but I was asked for pinks so that's what I did. *Crazy for cupcakes* image coloured with markers, sentiment framed by one of the frames from *Frames with a Flourish* and *girlfriend* was cleverly stamped with the aid of the SMAJ. Clever huh? Matching *Sweet Always* papers, pearls and choc chip grosgrain ribbon. Oh and the other colour used is Apricot Appeal.

Ok what else have I got to tell you? Oh yeah, do you live near me? DN14 9QZ? Cos if you do and you would like to see me in action, I would welcome you to a SU party at my place on Friday 27th of Feb. What s more exciting is not only you will get to see and drool over my extensive collection of SU stash( more or less the whole catalogue LOL), get a chance to touch and even use lots of it, you will also get the chance of winning all the free hostess benefits collected on the night, I am planning a mystery hostess party. So do you fancy a fun night out? bring your crafty friend along and let me entertain you( I know you re thinking Robbie Williams at this point, I am too). I am even baking little fancy's LOL. Email me at telemech01 at aol dot com

Hugs M xxxx

WILL YOU MARRY ME?

he asked?.......yes of course I will she responded !!!! So they were now engaged and everybody got together to celebrate their exciting news and of couse they needed a CAKE.... and I ve MADE them one..lol.

It was a two tiered heart shaped cake with one tier fruit and the second a luscious almond and white choc filling madeira cake. Kept the design quite soft and I m just in love with using anything pearly on my cards at the moment so I ve used it to edge the tiers. They love d it!!

Carmaking wise I ve managed a few more cards, I m really busy with preparing for a Craft Fair in Leeds next weekend, I will be demonstrating an explosion box and a card so I m trying to get everything done, but I ve got a few bits I can share. Today some good friends of our are celebrating their 12 th anniversary I ve made them this

MM papers, sizzix die cut hearts(can t wait for my new Expression machine!!)Autumn Leaves stamps, some bling, grosgrain ribbon, and some of those fluffy balls. My sentiment is a bit wonky but it was too late last night to try and pull the whole card apart, and is supposed to be hand made right???

Our other friend needed a card too so I ve made a diferent one for her, she loves brown so I ve paired it with the teal blue wich is such and exquisite combo I personally love it!!

I ve used Daisy D papers, a stamped image that I can t remember who made it,organza dotty ribbon and fabulos wide grosgrain(I love this ribbon soo much) prima flower, some bling again, microbeads and my scalloped punch.

Now have you subscribed to the new GOGO kit? If you did well done you are gonna be delighted with it!!!Septembers kit is gonna be launched on the 4th of this month but if you haven t signed up yet I m afraid you ve missed out as september s kit is sold out already. Lorraine and Janice are releasing sneak peaks over on UKS keep an eye on that too see what fabulos projects this DT have come up with. STUNNING WORK!!!

Next time hopefully I ll have some Christmas cards to share with you. SEE YA!!

GROMIT!!!!!

Look at what I ve been up to yesterday!!! Isn t it just the cutest cake ever? I love it and so did the customer I ve had some very praising comments from them,is a good job as it took the best part of 6 hours to make. And he evens have a bowl full of water for when ..well for when he gets thirsty..lol.I ve been so very naughty this whole week. Let me explain..all I ve done for the last few weeks was drooling over the expected new realeases over in the states at CHA,yummy papers ,rub ons,gorgeous chipboard and lots of othere yummies ...you get the idea, so now after all the hype and lots of mental notes(must get that!!..ooooooooooohhhh that looks like is so my style will have to get that etcetera etcetera) finally is all been released and I just went for it,boy did I!! Big time!!spent loads got the new Love Elsie ranges,Basic Grey,Crate papers,7Gypsies,Crate and I m sure theres loads more,so now I m just awaiting them eagerly and praying I m not gonna be hit too hard by custom charges!!
Well I ve done a layout last night,it was a rushed one as I ve realised pretty late on that it was my friend s little girl birthday and I didn t made her a card,so I ve printed some pictures I ve had on my puter from a day out,and took the weekly challenge from UKS,wich was
use 6,9 or 19 buttons or flowers
use chipboard or bling
leave some white or black space
use circles.........................................................................so this is what I ve done
She was thrilled with it bless her,I however I m a bit annoyed as I ve used diamond glaze over the chipboard star and handwriting,but of course my slick writer run out last week(I ve got a shrpie on his way)consequently last night I used a bog standard fine liner,completely forgot put the glaze over it and of course by this morning it all smudged a bit.Is not too bad is a little soft around the edges but I much prefered it sharp.Oh well....... she really like d it!!
Off I go now to get a nice bath and an early night I think,unless I get trapped on the net ..AGAIN lol!!! SEE ya!