2010 Recap

In 2010...

Baking took up most of my time, especially during the last couple of months.  I never ever imagined I would be asked to make a cake for someone outside my family, much more, get paid for it.  Now I don't even have time to bake for them!  I learned a lot of new techniques and honed my cake decorating skills a litte bit more.



Just a few of the cakes I made during the year.  The top row are the cakes which I am most proud of!

I think my most popular post for the year was the one with the Ube Macapuno Cake recipe.  I received heaps of emails asking for help and advice, as well as, messages of thanks for sharing my recipe.  Really, this is one popular cake among Filipinos!

Sadly, sewing had to take a back seat.  I wish I had more time and more new ideas.  I came out with only two new patterns for my Etsy shop.  But definitely, sales were better than ever before.  Thank you to those who bought eBooks from me.  I hope you all were completely satisfied with your purchases.  Keep on sewing!

Digital camera and toilet paper roll cozies

I just had a trip to Spotlight and purchased some great materials.  My fabric stash is growing and really needs to get moving.  Hopefully, inspiration will set in very soon.

I finished a few more sewing projects but the two I absolutely loved were my daughter's school laptop bag and my black mini messenger bag.

I sewed the mini messenger bag back in September and have been using it everyday since.

Overall,  2010 was a very good year.  I am grateful and thankful for everything, despite the fact that I lost one of my brothers in May.  I am aware that I am not getting any younger (and will in fact turn another year older in a few days) but I am more fulfilled now than in years past.   I have a loving and supportive family.  They are very happy with my little successes as I am with theirs.  We are all healthy and materially blessed as well.  I need not ask for more.

I know we all have things to thank for and lots to look forward to.  May we all have a blessed 2011!

Christmas greetings

From my family to yours...

Warmest thoughts and best wishes for a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year!

Thank you for a great crafting and baking year!

PS.  Here are a few pics of the Christmas cake I made for my family. 

I am really getting a hang of (and enjoying) gumpaste moulding!  I love how my Santa turned out and how he sits on a golden base.



Modesty aside, I'd say this is a remarkable improvement from last year's cake!

Giveaway day winner

The response to Giveaway Day was overwhelming!  My iPhone's Wi-fi actually broke down and I believe it was because of the tremendous amount of email notifications (for every comment posted) that were being pushed from the server to the phone!  Anyhow, a big thank you for taking time to participate.  Hopping from one blog to another was quite fun, wasn't it? 

Thank you, too, for sharing with me your personal Christmas wishes.  I love the fact that many of you weren't asking for anything material.

It's been a tough past few days for me, having to finish several cake orders over the weekend and also having to deal with my youngest son being sick since Friday.  He's been feverish due to a throat infection and has also been vomiting.  As he is always the life of our home, seeing him weak, in pain, and very quiet just breaks my heart. 

In a big way, my son's sickness is helping me see this Christmas for its true meaning.  I have momentarily forgotten about the presents and have been concentrating on nursing my child back to good health and assuring him that he will be well real soon.  Having a healthy and happy family (as some of you expressed in your comment) is definitely greater than any material thing anyone can offer!

So now, going back to the giveaway, I am happy to announce the lucky new owner of my patchwork pouch, as determined by the random number integer...



And comment #54 was...

Congratulations, Stefanie!  I will be getting in touch with you shortly.  I do hope your Christmas wish comes true!

Before I go, let me just share with you this one cake I made this past weekend...a Lightning McQueen cake! It was for a 2-year old boy's birthday.

I actually received this cake order way back in early November, so it really seems I have been thinking about it forever.  I had several ideas in mind but in the end, I opted for simple gumpaste decorations...a round base with a black and white checkered pattern, flags with letters spelling out the birthday boy's name, and a trophy candle holder.

As usual, making the decorations were pretty much a trial and error thing for me.   I knew my skills would not be able to handle making a gumpaste Lightning McQueen so I played it safe and used a real toy instead (which the birthday boy got to keep afterwards). I really liked making the Piston Cup candle holder.  It was my first time painting over gumpaste and the gold colour turned out pretty neat.

So, there you go.  Another Giveaway Day over.  Another crafting year to look forward to.  Till then, I've still got some more cakes to bake for Christmas.

Enjoy your week!  And just in case I don't get to do another post before Saturday, I want to wish you now a very Merry Christmas! Peace, love and joy to you all!

Giveaway Day 2010

It's that time of the year again.  I've actually been anticipating this day for the past couple of months now but when I finally found out at Sew Mama Sew! when it was actually going to be, I caught myself unprepared.

I've been so busy baking cakes lately that I have not found time to do anything specifically for this purpose.  If only I could ship you one of my cakes, I would.....but Giveaway Day must go on and so, for this year, I am sharing something I have made and showed you in the past instead.  I am pretty sure many of you will be interested in this one...

I blogged about this pretty patchwork pouch sometime ago here.  I couldn't decide if I wanted to sell it or keep it for myself, but here it is now, up for grabs!

To have a chance to win this, just leave your name in the comments section and please don't forget to include any form of contact information (blog URL, email address) so I can easily reach you in the event that you win.   While at it, why don't you share with me what present you guys wish to receive this Christmas?  As for me, anything I can use for my baking/cake decorating or sewing would be most appreciated!

Giveaway starts on the 13th and will run until Sunday, the 19th.  Everyone and anyone can join...I am willing to ship to anywhere worldwide! Winner will be determined through random number generator next Monday and will be posted here shortly after.

Have fun and join as many giveaways as you can!  For a complete list of all Giveaway Day participants, click here. Hope you all win something!



P.S. While you're here, you might also want to sign up to be a Heart of Mary follower (if you aren't already).  Browse around a little longer...you just might find something of interest to you!

ENTRIES NOW CLOSED. WINNER TO BE ANNOUNCED SHORTLY, THANKS.

Isabella Rose...

If not for her, I wouldn't have dared to try making anything with fondant or gumpaste.

Earlier this year, I was asked to make cupcakes for this little girl's baptism.  The baby booties topper was my first taste of modelling with fondant/gumpaste.

Since then, I've tried to mould several other things from gumpaste.  Not much really...mostly just flowers...but I welcomed each learning experience with much eagerness.

Even though I was given such a short notice to make a birthday cake for Isabella Rose's first birthday, I happily accepted.   I could have just made a very simple cake but I wanted to make this one quite memorable.  

This is my FIRST ever gumpaste figure.  Inspiration for this came from this video.  I was apprehensive to do it at first but it all worked out great!

To support the skirt while it dried, I put a small single muffin mould underneath.

Below is the finished cake which I absolutely am very thrilled about.  Apart from the candle (which I stuck into a rose), everything is edible.  I actually placed a small inverted cupcake under the girl's skirt for added support. 

I've never met Isabella Rose.  I've just seen pictures of her.  But I will forever remember her as she grows older because of what I've learned and accomplished as I made cakes for her!