why does this blog exist? why?!!

well guys.  this blog is all about the cakes that i get to make.  i am lucky to have people ask me to make cakes for them.  i have done plenty and hope to create many more.  i am sort of on the verge of having an actual bakeshop.  actually, that brings me to a very important point that i'd like to make real quick.  through my adventure of opening a shop, so far i have realized a few super important things and learned some huge lessons:

    
     people will ALWAYS give their two cents.   amidst so much positive energy and well wishing, there are still some people that will attempt to bring you down.  try to convince you that your vision needs this or that.  maybe even try to copy you or take over.  this really took me by surprise.  i am just not a cut throat gal that wants to take out any competition.  i honestly just like making treats.  honestly. 
     owning and operating a business is HARD WORK.  i am trying to figure out if i am up for the challenge.  i am fortunate to be able to stay with my children while my husband makes his dream come true.  and although there are times that i want to run out of my house screaming, i recognize how important this time with my family is.  am i willing to be at a shop all of the time?  i dunno.  

    the money part of it all is a headache.  this is a battle with me.  doing something i love and putting a price tag on it is hard for me.

so while i figure this all out, i will keep doing what i do.  i love to make cakes.  while i am carving a cake, from the beginning to the very end, i am thinking about who the cake is for.  i absolutely love making birthday cakes.  most of the time, i do not know the particular individual that the cake is for but I think of the party that the cake is going to be making it's debut at.  and it totally makes my day if it...well..makes their day.  am i a cheeseball?  yup.  most cakes take me a few hours (some take a LOT of hours) to make,  and the clean up is uncool.  but it is all worth it.

so this blog will show some cakes that i absolutely loved making.  the pictures are not good.  i am TERRIBLE at taking pictures.  sometimes i will do a little play-by-play while i do a cake.  while i typed that, i actually yawned.  is that a sign that this will be totally BORING?!!  

well here goes.  the first cake i want to post about is one of my favoritest ever: 

this cake was made a long time ago but it was one of the first ones that i totally loved.  it was made for my pal Carni's friend that was turning 21.  he wanted a puppy dalmatian that looked sorta like a 101 Dalmatian.  i stacked 4 round cakes up and carved a body.  then frosted with yummy buttercream and covered with fondant.  next, i made a ball out of rice crispy treats and covered it with fondant. (this was way before i started making and using modeling chocolate) i jabbed a wooden dowel in the bottom of the head and then stuck that down the body of cake, careful to make sure the dowel was straight.  the super fun starts when the details are added.  i esp like adding black accent lines.  that's when you can start to notice if your cake is gonna actually look like it is supposed to.  if someone, oh i dunno..YOUR SIGNIFICANT OTHER walks in before the details are added and then points out that it doesn't look right then bad stuff will happen.  very bad stuff.  

usually, at least one thing goes wrong. this one actually had nothing go wrong.  it didn't take long to make, the fondant didn't dry out, the dowel didn't go straight through the top of the head and then make the body collapse.  this was when i really realized that a good straight dowel or skeleton is the key to a cake that will not fall down.  and that is super important to me.  a cake that will not fall.  these are cakes that i did before i knew this and could have fallen at any moment:

 but, i loved these cake and they stayed put. since then, i have had the opportunity to make similar ones to these that i wasn't scared of falling :)

so there ya have it!  a tiny glimpse into my cake world!