Not a card, but a very PINK cake!

After the circus themed wedding cake, I was under instruction from my little girl to make a "9 inch cake with 5" top layer mud cake with pink icing and flowers" for her birthday back in April.  Well, I wasn't planning on making a multi-tiered masterpiece, but the other bits were fairly easy to achieve! Under the Buttercream 'dirty icing'/crumb coat there is a rich, dense chocolate mud cake.

 Next we have a pink fondant layer, very pink!  Probably a hang-over from the circus cake that was very brightly coloured, I dolloped in a generous blob of paste colour, then realised that it was probably a bit toooo much!  Never mind, when you are 7, 'Pinkie Pie Pink' is about as good as it gets! There are a few lumps and bumps in this, but I was without my cake smoother tools so I was still fairly pleased with how it turned out.  I used a magic plastic mat set to roll the fondant, so it wasn't super thick. 

 Decoration is fun when you have a cricut cake machine!  I intended to use this with paper, but had no idea that cutting icing would be as fun and easy as it is, so it is yet to see anything non-edible!  Very green icing this time, rolled onto the cutting mat, ready to go into the machine.

 Here are the first two layers of the design, they are cut separately and then added together.

 Here is the finished cake, with some (wonky) swirls around the sides.  It is much harder to position things vertically than on the top surface!

The birthday girls, with some of Grandma's macarons for more yummy treats.  Next cake will probably be for Master 10 turning 11 - I wonder what the request will be??!!

Today's Goodies! Want some? Read on...

Here's a pic of the collection of items I have created for today's Party at Vanessa's.  The two cards at top and right are our Make and Takes, and the lower card and treat tube are demonstrations and will be gifts for lucky attendees, amongst other stuff.

Vanessa's friends will be learning a few new techniques and will each get to take home at least 2 completed cards.  Sound like fun?  Want goodies for yourself?  I can show your friends how to make beautiful cards at your own Stampin' Party - within ~ 1hr travel time from Cherrybrook, North Western Sydney.  Call me, 9484 9447 or email to book your date - Extra Hostess dollars promotion runs until 31st July - best time to book for maximum goodies!

Best finish packing!

Owl punch, Pennants and Calypso Coral

This was a bit of fun, I hadn't played with the Owl Builder punch since late last year (maybe the 60 Santa Owls I did for the kid's classmates turned me away for a while??).  I also wanted to use "Calypso Coral", an In Color for 2012-13.  I was pleasantly surprised when I saw it for the first time, as I was not a fan of "Cameo Coral" that retired with the Colour Renovation project.  Combined with "Pool Party" and "Daffodil Delight" it makes a bright yet sophisticated combination that is very on-trend at the moment.  This colour combination was inspired by the "Attic Boutique" Designer Series Paper in the Autumn/Winter Mini.  At first glance you'd never think this paper would work for a fun card, but the patterns are remarkably versatile. Here I have simply hand-cut small triangles and strung them along a piece of "Calypso Coral" bakers twine with Stampin' Dimensionals to make them appear to float in front of the card.
Mr Owl is punched from scraps of Calypso Coral, Daffodil Delight, Baja Breeze and Soft Suede and glued together with 2-way glue pen (ideal for fiddly little bits like eyeballs!)
The top layer is Whisper White, and the backing layers are a piece of retired specialty cardstock "Parisian Breeze" and a scrap of fabric that was a good match for Daffodil Delight. The sentiment is from "Curly Cute", a versatile font that fills a card nicely, stamped in Soft Suede.   So quick, so easy, I went on to make a few more. (But not 60!)

Here's a list of some of the items I used here:
118074 Owl Builder Punch - $33.95
100425 2-Way glue pen - $6.50
125573 Calypso Coral bakers twine  - $4.95  (Autumn Winter Mini - one month to go!)
121500 Curly Cute (wood) - $34.95
125407 Attic Boutique Designer Series paper pack (12 sheets 12x12, double sided) - $18.95 (A/W Mini!)

Off to finish prepping for a workshop PARTY! tomorrow, looking forward to it!