Happy 2nd Birthday Jayce!!

My practice characters...came out ok!
(please excuse the sugar on the table)

Oh how I LOVE  a challenge!! My classmate Tseige is always giving me a challenge for her kids' birthday parties.  First it was the Cookie Monster & Elmo cupcakes now Yo Gabba Gabba.  She sent me a picture of what she wanted them to look like...and I was intimidated.  My husband was wondering why I was staring at the computer with tears in my eyes. I told him that I didn't think I was going to be able to replicate this picture. There was no way in h-e-double hockey sticks my beginner level fondant skills were going to do this...I was defeated and I hadn't even tried.  So last week I got up the nerve to make the fondant (YES I MAKE MY FONDANT FROM SCRATCH!) and practice the characters from the picture AND I DID IT! Needless to say, I felt confident with this order.

When I delivered the cake & cupcakes this morning, I could see that she was more than happy with how they turned out (as was I).

Cake & cupcakes

I love this cake & these cupcakes SOOO much.  They allowed me to step outside of my box and showcase my fondant skills.

Jayce is 2!!! 

Yo Gabba Gabba rocks! 

Well I hope everyone has a great weekend! I am preparing for Little Mermaid & Angry Birds events next weekend.  Cannot wait to show those pictures off.

PEACE, <3, & CUPCAKES
i.a.m.

Happy (belated) Mother's Day!!!

I hope all the moms out there had a fantabulous Mother's Day because I sure did.  My husband and our girls did such a wonderful job making my day special. From breakfast in bed to handmade cards and pictures, I was spoiled and loved every minute of it.  But my day of being spoiled was short-lived because I had to go and spoil the two women in my life that I can't live without...my mom & grandmother!!

My mom and grandmother are my world and I am more than blessed to have them in my life. As an added blessing my great-grandmother is still with us and we are 5 generations strong...YES I SAID 5 GENERATIONS!! So Mother's Day is always a big celebration because of this!!

In honor of these women I decorated the cake I prepared with roses.   I've decided to call this cake "5 Generations of Roses' cake! It is a lemon cake with lemon buttercream frosting.  By far, the most beautiful cake I've seen (and yes I'm bragging!).

"5 Generations of Roses"

Hope you like the pictures I've included of my mom, grandmothers, and my little girls!!

Peace, Love & Cupcakes

My grandmother and great-grandmother

My mom and I

My granny and I

My great-granny and I

Alyssa (aww!)

She loves to act goofy w/ me! 

The loves of my life!!

Amaya (laughing in her sleep!)

Quality time w/ her great-granny!

She always had this look on her face! LOL!

This picture makes my heart melt!

<3 my divas!!

Alyssa's 1st day of Kindergarten

Riding through the Seattle airport

Expansion is the key!

This is my absolute dream bakery!
*sigh*

Vanilla cake w/ vanilla buttercream frosting

My ADD has kicked in and of course it involves cupcakes.  My passion is to open up a very trendy but successful bakery that looks like the one pictured on the left, but until then I will be content in my kitchen with Martha (my Kitchen-Aid mixer, lol!) So back to my ADD, I've been wanting to try new ways to both package and creatively sell my cupcakes. I've been seeing people advertise cupcakes in a jar lately and decided to jump on the cake wagon (I'm so corny!) Well, here you have it...my cupcake in a jar.  If you are interested in having these at an event please contact me for pricing. :)

Jazz's Baby Shower

Being that I know I'm not going to sleep anytime soon, I've yet again come across some pictures that I've yet again failed to upload (SMH)

My neighbor and her husband are expecting a little girl in the next couple of weeks.  Her name is Princess Sheilaya <3 and I can't wait to meet her.  This baby shower was a surprise and it was very hard for me not to mention anything to Jazz because I see her EVERYDAY! But nonetheless, I kept the secret and glad she was surprised when she arrived at the event.  Jazz had a favorite cupcake of mine that I knew I had to make her...my strawberry shortcake with fresh strawberries and whipped cream.  I also did a chocolate chip cupcake with a baked chocolate chip cookie on top.  The last cupcake I did was a chocolate cupcake with vanilla buttercream.  I topped the chocolate cupcake with chocolate baby booties in pink and white. Her mom was so happy and I'm glad that I could be apart of the celebration for baby Princess!

Cupcake Shoe

Ok, I lied!! I said I was going to bed but after uploading pictures I came across one of my cupcake creations that I had not posted!! I had a lot of fun making this...although it was very nerve wrecking.  For Valentine's Day my husband bought me the book "Cupcakes, Cookies, & Pies, Oh My!" I contained the very popular high heel cupcake that hit the internet.  So of course I had to try it...and I think I did a wonderful job! Ok, now I'm really going to sleep :-)

Autism Speaks Event

Hope everyone had a great week!! Can't believe tomorrow is my birthday...time flies when you get old (lol!)

A couple of weeks ago, while getting over the flu, I received a very sweet phone call from a gentleman that works in my office building.  He was thinking of having an event for autism awareness and wanted to have some type of "fundraiser" but without going broke doing it.  Now, this gentleman kindly explained to me that he was a very big fan of a famous cupcake bakery located in the Inland Empire and had not been back to their store since tasting one of my cupcakes!! YES MY MOUTH DROPPED OPEN TOO!! I have heard very generous compliments from both family and clients alike, but I have never been compared to an actual established bakery! Needless to say, I was more than happy to provide cupcakes for his event :-)

So while I was on my new favorite obsession (www.pinterest.com) I came across a very interesting pin with some cupcakes in a cup (http://pinterest.com/pin/89157267593287499/)... *cue light bulb over my head* and thought to myself, "why not do that for the Autism event?" Excitement consumed me...yes I get excited about stuff like this (lol!)

After baking 4 dozen cupcakes (red velvet, chocolate, and vanilla) it was time to place them inside of the plastic cups.  I didn't know if I wanted to frost them in the cup or frost them outside of the cup, then try putting them in there.  I opted for my 1st thought, frosting them inside of the cup, that way I don't risk messing up the frosting. And boy was I glad I chose to do that... *whew*

I had fun preparing these cupcakes for such a special event.  When you get a chance, please visit www.autismspeaks.org and read about how this disorder affects the lives of so many.  The reason he throws this event is because his daughter has autism.  An estimated 1 out of 54 boys and 1 in 252 girls are diagnosed with autism in the United States.  It makes it just that more special.

Well, time to turn in and look forward to this wonderful event tomorrow!! Adios!

It was all for a good cause...would do it again in a  heartbeat <3

This is how I set them up for the event! 

Side shot of the set-up

Fondant is my friend!!!

I am in CAKE HEAVEN!! Thanks to a friend of mine, I have decided to venture off and start baking and designing cakes.  A couple of weeks ago I took a fondant class at my local cake supply store, and I loved it. I was always scared of fondant because I was the kid in school that didn't like to play with Play-Doh (LOL!) But anyway, after taking the class and feeling extremely comfortable using fondant and decorating the cake with it, I knew it was time to expand my horizons!!  Below is the finished product :)

For this to have been my 1st cake I think I did pretty darn well!! 

Last night the cake bug struck again!! I was sitting at work looking at potential birthday cake designs (yes, I am making my own birthday cake!) and I came across this BEAUTIFUL zebra print cake with a splash of pink in it...and I was in love. I figure, why buy something that I can make. One thing about me, I am a Taurus and when we have our mind set on something we don't stop until its done...hence this cake. I youtubed (is that a word) "ZEBRA PRINT CAKES" and found a helpful video that shows how to cut zebra stripes from the black fondant. I played around with the layout of the stripes and found that there really isn't a right or wrong way to put them on, so I just had fun with it. And of course I had to add the pink bow on top (also made of fondant)!!

My finished "Zebra Stripes & Pink" cake