A Lesson Learnt

This week has been a somewhat disappointing week in my world of cakes.  For Christmas this year I was generously given a cake airbrushing kit, complete with compressor, the airbrush and several colors.  I had wanted one for some time so was super excited about this BUT was also slightly nervous and daunted about picking up this new skill.  What if I was terrible at it?  Suddenly I built it up in my head to be a huge thing and so the kit remained in the box looking at me with a sad face every time I went past it.  "Please use me!" it would say, but I would rush away, pretend not to see it and ignore it.  I was not ready yet.

Finally this week, I built up the courage to take it out of the box and have my first attempt.  The kids were in care and so I was a free woman with the day to spend airbrushing.  I read the manual and even called my husband to double check the voltage.  I plugged it in and she was ready to go.  I started my first sprays and so far so good, I might be able to do this I thought to my self.  All of a sudden the compressor stopped and the airbrush wouldn't go anymore.  I looked up from my work to see the compressor smoking and a sinking feeling hit me.   I blew it up.  The voltage was wrong.  I had read the manual and thought I had read the voltage right but failed to look at the actual compressor and written on it was the voltage 110-115.  We have a voltage here of 220-240 (the compressor had been bought from the States).  What a disappointment!    It was a lesson learned to wait for my husband when using technical machinery for the first time. I did have a good cry and felt a little better when I learned I would have had to buy a transformer to use it which could have cost more than buying a new compressor here.  This afternoon we will go hunt for a new compressor so watch this space for cakes coming up with some airbrushing hopefully!  In the mean time, have a look at a few of the cakes I did the last few weeks.  One was for an off road runner who loves my cakes pops and the other was for a friend of my daughters.

Happy Valentines Day

I knew today was going to be a busy day.  Every second was planned out and needed to go perfectly or it could be problematic.  I woke at 6:45 to find my two angels still fast asleep.  Already the day was looking up.  Usually they are bouncing out of bed at 6:15.  When I finally heard them stir, I went to let them out (because we lock them in) and my daughter had climbed into my sons bed and they were giggling over a book.  Such little things give you such joy.  Oh happy valentines day to me!  It was going to be a good day!  And it was.  Everything went like clockwork.  The kids were superbly behaved, I got everything done that needed to be done and I even fit in a phone conversation with my mum and my sister.  Days like these you feel like super mum ready to conquer the world.  Days like these give me strength to get through the days that go completely wrong.  

Part of my day was to make 40 cupcakes and a small birthday cake for my daughters kindergarten.  Because it was started on Valentines Day, hearts play a big part for the centre.  I used the logo as part of the cake and love the ombre ruffles up the side.  The afternoon was a beautiful high tea for all of the kids and the mums.  They even served the kids their own tea in cups and saucers.  A wonderful party for a special day.  Happy Valentines everyone.  

  

Back to cakes!

Its been a few months since I have done a cake and what a way to get back to it then with these three fun cakes!  The Xtreme cake was so much fun to make as I love wakeboarding and snowboarding.  This was made for a 21st.  The tuxedo/board shorts cake was also for a 21st and was made to fit the theme casual/formal.  Sounds like a fun night!  Lastly the super cute truck was for a 1st birthday and I have to say was my most challenging cake to date, BUT I am super proud of how its turned out.  Its great to be back.

Holiday Update

Its been quite some time since I have posted anything.  So much has happened and life has been a bit full on since November. Christmas in itself is always busy but this crazy baker undertook making 1500 cake pops in December.  I had no idea if this was achievable but I was hoping like mad that I wasn't crazy.  When I found out at the end of November that 1000 of the cake pops were needed in one week and not spread over three weeks I initially panicked.  How was I going to manage?!? After a moment however I had a sense of peace and knew that there was a reason for this and that I would get it all done.

I don't talk about my faith much here but this was so significant to me.  I felt Gods gentle voice of reassurance and knew he had it sorted.  He had my back.  I took a deep breath, got my wits about me and went to work.  Within less than one week (with the help of my mother in law, friends and my amazing husband) I managed to make 1000 cake pops, two cakes and spent several hospital visits with my precious Grandma.   At the end of that week on a Sunday night my dear Grandma went to be with her maker.  Had I had to make cake pops in those weeks following I would have been a wreck.   There were other little things that fell into place as well that I won't go into but I am still emotional over the fact that God showed such great love for me by sorting out the little things for ME?

Its so hard not to focus on the bad things that happen and wonder WHY God?? How could you allow this to happen?? Why did you take my Grandma before we were ready for her to leave, why have 26 young children been shot at a school or why did parents of 10 children and a young vibrant 19 year old lose their lives while serving you?? But bad things do happen and unfortunately no one is exempt. Good can come out of the bad and God can use it and I am so thankful for that but what I am also learning is that God is still showing up and walking amongst the wreckage.  He may not be able to erase the horrible things that happen but he cares about each and every one of us and he is taking care of the little things, loving us in the little ways that we don't and may not ever see or understand.  

This is a heavy post I know but right now my heart is heavy and that's why I haven't written much lately. I am still sad about my Grandma and have found it difficult facing the idea of making any more cakes since Christmas.  I know that in time it will get easier.  Eventually my heart wont break every time I hear the word Joy or see a photo of her beautiful face and one day I know I will see her again.   I have hope in a Jesus who loves me and is taking care of the little things that are more significant than I will ever realize.

Birthday season!

I love birthdays.  Especially my kids birthdays.  Its the one day a year that you can really celebrate who they are as people.  So often as a mum I am focusing on how I can help my child grow and improve upon the things that they may not be doing well (listening, sharing, etc).  Birthdays are the one time I put aside all of that stuff and just celebrate them for who they are and who they are becoming.  They are a wonderful reminder and to be honest I should be doing it all of the time.  It is so easy to criticize your own kids when you see things that you don't like in them and not just let them figure it out on their own sometimes.  I so often have to stop and remind myself to just "be" and just enjoy watching them and enjoy them.   I also think that sometimes I am so worried about sounding like I am boasting about my child that I forget to lift them up and talk about what they do so well at.

My daughter turned four this week and I will stop and tell you what I love most about her.  Maybe as a reminder for myself and also for her to know as well. She is my bright spark, incredibly enthusiastic and encouraging with an incredibly thankful spirit.  Just on her birthday morning she looked at me and said "thank you for my birthday mum".  It melted my heart.  She is one of the boys most of the time, loving to run around and get dirty and willing to give most things a go.  She is a little artist and loves building with blocks, especially LEGO.  I love watching her concentration when she undertakes what she loves to do. She shares so well because she just wants people to be with her and have fun with her.  My dear girl is an incredible older sister.  She adores her younger brother and they are the best of mates.  She loves to teach and to help other kids.  She fills my heart with so much joy just being with her.  Happy Birthday to my little buddy!  Mummy loves you dearly. xx  

What do you love most about your kids??  Stop for a minute and think about it and maybe write it down.  They love to hear it and will love to read it one day. 

Here are some photos of the birthday party (a joint one for her brother and her) as well as the cake made for kindy!  Enjoy. :)

Homesick blues

Homesickness has a way of sneaking up on you out of no where.  For me it always happens in a public place which makes it somewhat worse.  Years ago it was the supermarket.  All I wanted was a specific ingredient to make a special recipe my mum always makes for Christmas and when I found New Zealand didn't carry it I was a mess.  A couple years later it was the post office when I was told I couldn't mail peanut slabs to my mum for her birthday.  Yesterday, it happened to be the post office again.  I wonder if the post office has many cases of the homesick blues but somehow I think I'm probably the only one that's broken down over not being able to send cookies.  I am pretty sure the lady thought I was crazy.  I mean cookies?  But these were very special cookies.  Time and love went into these cookies and I was SURE I was able to send them.  I had done my research and was sure it was OK    A lesson very much learnt as next time I will phone before I get so excited.  What I have figured out is that its OK to bring baked goods into the country but not to send them.  Next time I will have to hop on a plane to personally deliver them.

After my breakdown I decided I had to give these cookies away.  They were making me too sad.  I was almost very tempted to give them to the ladies in the post office to show them the love that went into them, BUT they delivered me my very bad news so decided it wasn't in me to make their day.  In the end I decided to deliver them to one of my aunties (the next best thing, or third best thing after Grandma).  This particular auntie had had a birthday in the weekend and was burgled twice in the last two weeks so thought she could use some extra love in her day.   It made me feel much better visiting her and I am now only tearing up mildly as I write this (I might have been a blubbering mess).

Anyway, HAPPY BIRTHDAY Mum.  I was sending you these cookies but some mean people at the post office said I couldn't.  Something else is on its way but no where near as exciting. Love you heaps!

Parties with Mrs Woolleys Cakes!

My daughter enjoyed cupcake decorating so much with the kids in the street that I had another group of people over to decorate.  What fun we had!  I love sharing tips of cake decorating because I find it so much fun myself and a cupcake class is where it all started for me.  Even more so, I am passionate about sharing my skills with the younger generation.  When you find something that you know you want to do for the rest of your life you want to be able to share that "aha" moment with everyone.  Part of me would have loved to have learned this skill at a young age.  I might have gone to pastry school and have taken art classes.

In light of all of this, Mrs Woolley has decided to start doing cupcake decorating birthday parties! One day I will have a studio for this, but for now, I will come to your house, bring all of the supplies and take the mess with me!  The kids will spend anywhere from 45 mins to an hour and a half depending on their age decorating cupcakes to fit in with the theme of the party.  They get an incredible amount of pride decorating their own cake and whats even better is they make their own birthday cake which saves you a job!

Parties are for kids ages 6-14 (I am happy to do younger but if younger, children will each need a helper to decorate).  I charge $60 for up to 6 kids for a 45 minute session.  For every additional child the price is $10.  For older children, you may wish to increase the time of decorating to an hour and a half as they may not wish to stop after 45 minutes.  The price for this is $85.  If you are interested in more information regarding these parties you can contact me on 0211613072 or email me at mrswoolleyscakes@gmail.com.

Here is a sample of the cake decorating done in the weekend and what the kids may come away with.