Shiny New Look!

Wooooo look at me!! Swanky new blog - what do you think?

I've wanted a customized blog template for quite a while, I knew how to do a few bits - but not exactly how I wanted it so I sent my friend Pip at Open Door Media a mock up of what I wanted it to look like and BOOM here it is! She had this knocked up in a day!

I chose the colours - I wanted to stay blue (my old blog was blue so didn't want to stray TOO far from that.) and I created that 'mini me' picture in Photoshop. A HUGE achievement for me because I can do diddly squat in it so was quite chuffed how it came out :)

I practically live in my military boots and have a dumb expression on my face most hours of the day so its quite fitting! It is rather pastelly and 'pretty' which isn't usually my style but I have thrown brains and skulls in for good measure.

I have neglected my blog LOADS these past few months. I rarely have time to sneeze most weeks but I'm hopefully sorting the business out so I actually have abit of 'me' time. Blogging, films, Xboxing, other creative outlets and time with the family are seriously lacking in my life!
It will mean my cake prices go up, it is afterall my full time and only job, and I'm working 7 days a week for WAY less than a normal 5 days pay. But less of that for now :)

Hopefully as a result of a business change around I may get more time to blog AND add some tutorials for you guys!!

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee! Heres to hopefully abit of blogging action :)

Never underestimate the power of parcels!

Hey guys!

I still have so much to write about, Cake International, the awesome EWE2 wedding fair, the amazing Van Gogh project I was lucky enough to be involved in....
But I only have time for a small post today, and Im feeling the love (must be the easter eggs I had for breakfast!)

When it comes to these things I'm quite naive and just expect my posts to be taken as they are written. I never see how things I write could be taken in a different context as I'm just so simple and straight forward :). So I'm trying to be more aware of this fact, and would just like to say this post isn't a 'look at me, I'm showing off' but more of the fact I want to thank these people publicly for being so generous and amazing in the past few weeks and what impact its had :)

SO lets kick things off....

Firstly I want to show you what sits ontop of my fridge:

Yep thats alot of bottles! And no I'm not planning a party.
These bottles have all kindly been given to me by customers and friends. I haven't opened any of them, they just sit there ontop of my fridge to remind me how lovely some people can be. You are probably thinking I'm stark raving mad, why haven't you opened all these bottles and drank them already!?! That maybe because I'm more of a cider drinker ;) BUT that doesn't mean I appreciate them any less, it means I get to look at them everyday when I start baking. They are almost like little caking trophies :D

Then comes the really personal gifts, these are the people who know my personality, we have become friends through cake, they have been out shopping and spotted something which reminds them of me. THAT is utterly amazing. Majority of these gifts will of course be skull themed ;)
     I have no idea what I do to deserve gifts. A simple thank-you and a few words about their cake is more than enough, just knowing I have done a good job for them. I don't deserve such awesome gifts!

My lovely friend Lorna bought me the above. A pair of skull socks and a skull scarf, and such a lovely card! Blown away. Thank-you Lorna :)


Then more skulls!! Check out that awesome bit of paper eye candy!!
It came with a sugar skull scarf and an adorable cupcake necklace. This was bought by the mummy of the adorable twins Jasper and Archie, whose cake was a cartoon castle :)

As most people reading this will be cake makers you will understand the feeling of a parcel dropping through the door and thinking 'hmmmm what did I order?!'
I will always order things off impulse if I come across something for cakes but ALWAYS forget. So when that knock at the door comes and the postman hands you a parcel you can't help but think what cakey tool is this? What did I buy again!?
You can imagine my absolute shock at finding things like this inside, and with the most gorgeous notes/cards/letters too. Thank-you Amy :)

Then there are the simple words written on an envelope that make me grin from ear to ear.

Again, its all a case of people knowing just what I'm like :) Thanks Catherine for brightening up my day :)

Then get this, a customer baked ME some cakes! I NEVER get cakes baked for me! And they were yummy too :) Again a few simple words in a card...JUST amazing XD Never fails to make me smile. Thanks Joanna!

I am the luckiest caker EVER, I have some of THE best customers around! All laid back, generous, fun and quite a few nutters thrown in ;) I always did attract the nutters...ha ha :D

But these next two are special too, do you know why? These aren't even customers! These are two people I met through the EWE wedding fair, confirming what I already knew, 'alternative' people are the best :D

Firstly Jaime and Pete from Jamball, they make some kickass button and felt bouquets and have just branched out into some amazing felt brooches! The story? It's as simple as turning upto the EWE2 wedding fair and being presented with a cute pink and white striped bag. Inside?........

LOOK AT IT!! Its handmade just for me and no-one has one like it! Its cherries, it has a skull face on it, it has Jack style stitches for the mouth and freakin BUTTONS FOR EYES. I mean SERIOUSLY! So much awesomeness in one bag and this was given to me...'just because'! Jaime and Pete, you guys rawk. Thank-you so much for the unexpected surprise!

Want to see what else they can do?...

Yep that's handmade, and yes it will look awesome at your wedding :)

*sigh* People are amazing.

The next gift is also handmade, by one VERY special person. I must talk and waffle on alot for all these people to know my personality and what I love (I don't even realize I'm doing it!). One of my other loves is Adventure Time. Yes its a KIDS cartoon on Cartoon Network but I think it has a bigger adult following than children...

It comes as no surprise either that I'm also Zombie fan.
Cue the most epic mash-up....a ZOMBIE FINN...

I mean how talented is Jen?! She makes fab wedding cake toppers and keyrings: Little Ruby Red
Handpainted to perfection in all its Zombie glory.

I met Jen at the first EWE where we just instantly fell into a natural geek-filled conversation and we kept in touch on Facebook where I ordered Adam the most fab set of keyrings for Valentines Day!

Squeeeeee!

Now to say I've had a tough month would be an understatement, there's been family illnesses involving various hospital trips which is still ongoing, an immense amount of work to be done in such a short amount of time ranging from the general cake orders, to my first competition, and a wedding fair to get ready for, and then I got ill myself. There were no hours to spare so I basically worked around the clock and exhausted myself.

Then during this another parcel arrived. It had the most gorgeous letter in I've probably ever received. It basically said she was planning to give me Finn at the EWE2 wedding fair but thought I needed it now during my busy month. I mean come on...HOW NICE IS THAT!? Not even a customer, we only met once and I feel incredibly lucky to call her a friend :D She wrote the letter basically giving me a kick up the bum, made me believe I COULD do all this and not to give up.
With that I finished all my jobs (didn't get them entirely finished like I would have liked but still...I did it)
I think I owe Jen big time.
At the time of writing this she's fairly poorly, so if you like her work shown here so far PLEASE go and check her out on Facebook, I'm sure some of you lovely people can cheer her up with a 'like'!

Little Ruby Red

Thanks Jen, never change xx

        So you've got this far, have you needed a sick bucket yet from all the soppiness?! ha ha sorry but I need to thank these people, I am not showing off at how many gifts I've got or 'look how many friends I have' I'm genuinely blown away every time something drops through my letterbox. And thank-you to all those people have sent me cards too, I am not forgetting you! I'm just showing the most recent. THANK-YOU for all your lovely words and lovely paper eye candy! I've kept them all :)

Yesterday I had ANOTHER parcel...yes more!

Inside was a 'scream' magazine (horror magazine) My lovely friend Lorna has sent me 3 of these now, off her own back, paid the postage and paid for the magazine to read herself. ITS LIKE CHRISTMAS!

Usually the only thing to drop through my door are bills. For years its either been bills, junk mail and LOTS of takeaway menus! I had started to forget that people actually still send things through the post, what with social media ready at the fingertips. Just a card with a stamp on it can leave me grinning for a week.

Never ever underestimate the power of parcels and letters. You might just make someones entire month  xxx

Thanks guys xxx

I Love EWE2

Hey guys!!

I've been majorly busy here at Little (and Black) Cherry Cake Company, so busy that so far I haven't told you about this weekend! Yes Sunday the 24th March!

I'm going back to Birmingham for the second Eclectic Wedding Extravaganza....EWE 2!!

Was so chuffed to be asked back and this year looks even better than last year (which is saying something because last year was simply AWESOME!)

So what is EWE?

This is no ordinary wedding show, the suppliers aka the Baad Ass Mother Flockers have been chosen and invited based on their personalities, the quality of their end product and the fact that they offer something unique. White linen covered trestle tables are discouraged and hard sells are banished, we want you to come along, have a drink and a good old natter to the Mother Flockers that catch your eye.  The Mo Flo’s are being challenged to create stands that are totally unique and interactive. As well as having awesome Mo Flo’s at the show, we will be running some competitions, having a fashion walkabout/ramble and organising a treasure hunt!

So we are putting a call out to all you gamers, goths, geeks, rockabillies,  psychobillies, off the walls, mods and rockers, steampunks, new punks, old punks, flappers ,happy clappers, hipsters and hell-raisers, bohemians, folks who are inked and pinked, or if Ewe just want YOU to shine through.

Yeah how awesome does that sound!

I cannot WAIT to go this year and meet all the old and new suppliers, and you just KNOW I'm going to end up buying something! I've been working hard on part of my stand so much that I haven't got the cakes ready to actually put ON my stand yet... But I'm working on it and I can't wait to see ewe all there ;)

Want cheaper tickets? Of course you do....buy them online NOW!! And don't forget to come and say hi!!

ALL ABOUT EWE

2013 is coming!!

Yep, it will be here before we know it! Plenty of New Years resolutions being made I bet?

2012 was a little crazy,...crazy busy! I have no idea how I came out of it alive but I'm actually hoping 2013 will be a little less stressful :)

First of all, I managed to make roughly 160 cakes. Doesn't sound like a lot in 12 months....but when your a one woman show who has 2 young kids and day to day life to contend with it feels more like 1600!

Here are my faves over the months:

And one of the last cakes of 2012? the Walking Dead!!

 What else happened in 2012 besides a hell of alot of sugar and butter?! My boy turned 6...and Abbi turned 3 and started nursery!
 I have a six year old?! Man that goes fast.

 Abbi talks WAAAAY more now than she used to. She loves singing and dancing the best but often gets her rhymes mixed up.

Including : Hickory Dickory Dock, the mouse ran up the spout.

Jack fell down, and broke his crown, and couldn't get up in the morning

There's a worm at the bottom of the garden and his name is....Pete.

5 cunner buns in a bacon shop, round and back with a cherry on the top...

And the only song shes sings that isn't a nursery rhyme is Bruno Mars - Marry You. Which is odd as we don't listen to it all that much apart from when its on the radio. Again...words are subject to change ;)

This year I also did my first wedding fair, which was....an experience to say the least!
I then did my second wedding fair in a place where I felt right at home...an Alternative Wedding Fair. It was an amazing day and I met some awesome people which I'm looking forward to working with in 2013 hopefully ;)

2012 also brought one of the most shocking stories of all time...ADAM WATCHING ZOMBIES.
You all know how much he hates horror, I mean REALLY hates it. But he watches the Walking Dead, which is great as we can actually sit down and watch something I enjoy just as much!
In fact the more I think about it, the more amazing it is LOL He has a serious fear of Zombies so to watch this of all things is like a miracle!

I also did my first 'constructed' cake. Which needed lots of power tools to make it happen!

2 and a half foot in height..and an 8" cake 'house' balancing on a tower.

SCARY.

We also made a bucket list with some of the most random things on it....which I'm happy to say a few we've managed to cross off. Including the one 'eat a krispy kreme donut'
In fact what became something I had never done.....actually turned into a regular occurrence XD ha ha Too many donuts and I now have to hit the gym.

Then last but not least, the biggest event for us of 2012 was getting married. It dominated every second of the year which made making those 160 cakes even harder!

Over a year of planning went into that day, and when it was over (and no honeymoon to look forward too) I was so depressed I had nothing to plan! I snapped out of it eventually and I'm now looking forward to a New Year of more cakes, wedding fairs, blogging, collaborations, and maybe....just maybe I can squeeze in more 'me time'.



What do you think? Can I pull that off?




No I don't think so either...lol