Superheroes

I realized I haven't posted about my cakes in a while.  While I have been busy baking, I don't really take pictures anymore unless there are special decorations involved. Here are two of them.

AVENGERS-THEMED BIRTHDAY CAKE

I wish I could have done 3D figures.  That would have been challenging and really cool. But as I was only given a week's notice, 2D was the only way to go.  Lucky, I found a helpful tutorial here so the job became a lot easier.  I did change a few bits here and there.

See, I made the Hulk angry rather than cute and I gave Thor his long, blonde locks.

The cake was for a joint father and son birthday party.  The boy just turned 4 and barely had any idea who the Avengers were so I guess it was probably the dad who really wanted this cake...

There must be tons of Avengers-themed parties going around these days as these photos were viewed in my Flickr so many times in so short a time.  People were most likely searching for ideas. Who wouldn't want a theme like this anyway?

ESSENDON BOMBERS-THEMED CAKE

Just for the information of those who aren't Aussie, the Essendon Bombers is one of the most popular among the 18 Australian Rules Football teams.  We do live and breathe our footy over here, most especially in Victoria (where I am) so it's no surprise that someone would request a footy-themed cake.  If you were a star-struck 6-year old, you would certainly want to be portrayed wearing your hero's jersey and number, wouldn't you?

Making people figures has never been one of my strengths but I was quite happy with this cake topper.  And so was the boy's mom who was so excited when she saw the cake.

There is really nothing more gratifying than being told how you made a little child happy.  And of course, being told that you did a magnificent job too!  It makes all the hard work worthwhile and definitely gives you the inspiration for things yet to come.

I'm looking forward to making a Christening and also a simple wedding cake soon.  Can't wait.

Till next!

Homesick

Feeling a bit homesick today.  I made this short video (to the beautiful music of Carole King's Home Again), a compilation of some old family photos. As you will see, I belong to a very big family.  I am the only girl and the youngest among 9 children.  Mom and my brother Rey have passed in recent years.

Old photos are so special, aren't they? Especially the black and white prints.  They just transport you to another place and time.

Things were very much different then.  Kids are not the same these days.

Good times.  I do miss my family very much.

Long overdue iPad case

This project has been in the drawing board since late last year. (We got our iPad2 in November.)  To be honest, we didn't really need an iPad case.  The only reason I wanted to make one was because I wanted to learn how to.  

As expected, what held me back all these months was the thought of installing the zipper.  Zippers are in fact always on top of the list to avoid when I am thinking of something to sew.  In this case, however, it was particularly important to me to have a zippered closure.

Yesterday, as I was throwing away piled up scrap papers, I found some of the notes I had made before.  I actually had my measurements and steps already written down and I had forgotten all about them.  

It was about time I tried.

The result is not super great but still very pleasing, considering the fact that again, my overeagerness led me to some bad stitching here and there.

The outer cover is denim lined with fusible fleece.  I printed out an Apple logo and used it as a template to make my applique.

The interior is quilting weight cotton lined with light fusible interfacing. I used a continuous zipper cut to length for this purpose.  As with my other recent projects (cosmetic bag and travel wallet to be specific), I opted for bias binding to give the cover a nice finish.

Most of the handmade iPad cases I've seen on the net are either simple padded sleeves or just larger versions of cosmetic type/zippered bags.  In saying that, I reckon my case is quite a nice change....with elastic corners to hold the iPad and zippered all the way around for greater security!

What do you think?