Sugarcraft Wedding Cake

When downloading the new photos from the digital camera some strange photos were nestled amongst the new ones. Even though the card thought it was deleted, when I downloaded it onto lightroom some pictures from my brother's wedding appeared.

I was proud to be asked to make their wedding cake. Although in all honesty everyone else groaned, because sugarcraft can be quite a stressful occupation. It takes weeks to make all the flowers and leaves. Then when you've decided on an arrangement so many things can destroy it. Every cake I've ever made has had a series of disasters inherent within it. This one was no exception.  

As the big day arrived I had a team of people knocking out ivy. Normally I have complete creative control, but time was not on my side. I prayed that when they were all together the overall effect would be convincing. It was. This was the cake that made me realise I had to let go. That everything couldn't always be perfect and people rarely notice the tiny mistakes. 

The wedding was in a woods on a rainy day in October. 4 months of slaving away, sanding and moulding. Late nights -the occasional tantrum- and stress related insomnia. And I arrive on the site where obviously there's no electric, therefore no lighting. People could barely see the thing! I'd also failed to realise that the cake would essentially be kept outside. Anyone who sugarcrafts knows that unless it''s a sunny day, the damn thing will melt. 

I have to admit I felt extremely upset. I realised I had quite possible wasted a lot of my time. I watched on as the michaelmas daisies- each with two layers of intividually crafted petals- melted in front of my eyes. 

We quickly took the picture before it was too late!

In my brother's speech he had to tell everyone that the flowers were in fact made of sugar. I think the drooping daisies actually made it look more lifelike.

In the end, I was glad that I made the gesture for my brother and his wife. However, I learnt a valuable lesson. Don't invest your soul into a cake. It's not worth it. The harder I tried the more the flowers looked real, therefore why not just put real ones on it? I've made cakes since, but I know now that even if there's a crack in the central rose (always a crowd pleaser) people rarely even notice!

Christmas tree ornament

Every year I try to add some new ornaments to the tree. Obviously my favourite are those made by the children.  Every year when my husband gets the Christmas box down from the attic, I get quite excited. It’s like seeing old friends. There’re always ones which I’ve forgotten about – and the memories come flooding back.  I see myself in 30 years sitting in a fireside chair and looking at my Christmas tree. A memory of every past year.    

This year one of my new ornaments is this Christmas robin. His PDF pattern is also going onto Etsy, as soon as there's some natural light for the photographs. He's the perfect size, like a large bauble. He'd make an excellent Christmas gift as well. Buy a decent size box (or make one out of cardboard), cover it in fabic or wrapping paper. Wrap the Robin in tissue and put it inside the box. After all, I think the most important thing about presents is the wrapping!

How to blog

I'm still researching the fundamentals of how to write a blog. It seems that crafters are highly prolific in this. Top tips seem to be

• Use bullet points.
• Keep it snappy
• Have an  interesting point of view ;)
• Include keywords.
• Link to other bloggers.

It's a real shame about the including keywords thing. I know why it's a necessity but it seems very clinical. Hopefully I'll get used to it. Going to go off now and find other bloggers who are doing the job well. Shall mull over the keyword issue.

Fabric roses

Ok so here're the other roses, white satin for that wedding vibe and pink patterned.

A Day spent in frustration.

Learning to edit my photos has not been a barrel of laughs. Photoshop's free trial didn't download properly and neither did something called "GIMP". When I tried to edit the photo online, I ended up with this.

Not entirely unpleasant but not the standard I am aiming for.

So I took some more pictures when the light was better and downloaded Lightroom. What a frustrating process that is. Not exactly user friendly. However I have managed to cobble together a photo of another or my fabric flower series. The Denim fabric rose. When I searched the internet for "how to make a fabric rose" I came across many tutorials. None of which were satisfying for a perfectionist like me. So I set about to design my own rose. Unlike the fabric daisies, the rose is not especially simple. In fact it takes quite a while and is a little fiddly.

However I believe it is totally worth it. If I were to make my own wedding bouquet then these roses would be perfect.

With cut edges, they fray ever so slightly. Giving that shabby chic look. I am a massive lover of denim, but I have made this rose in a variety of  fabrics. I'll post a couple more when I've managed to edit the pictures. Let me know what you think.

Fabric Flowers

Research of how to be a good blogger is underway. I know it wont be impressive to everyone, but already 11 people have logged on. And only 6 of those are friends of mine ;) Absolutely addicted to the stats.

My biggest fear for my blog is poor quality photos. Having recently designed a fabric and button daisy, I thought I'd have a go at photographing it. If it is popular I'll consider a post as a free tutorial. Here is the photo un-edited.

Going to download some free software and will repost the edited image.

MiY first Blog

What percentage of blogs start with a blog about blogging? I've never really read any blogs, nor followed them either. I don't really know what is to be expected of me, or will anyone ever read this? 


Perhaps I should explain my name. As for the ramblings, I assume that's fairly obvious. I was worried about it's "walking" connotations, however too long spent procrastinating over every decision  is what always holds me back. So this blog is my new leaf. Some structure to encourage a progression in my work. What work? Well essentially craft -although I can't stand the word. 


For years I've made endless objects, cakes etc. for friends, or just to solve a problem I was presented with. For instance, I was making my own clothes from age 9. Why? Because I was too tall! It's a different world now, where virtually every shop has a range of longer length trousers. But living in coastal Cornwall throughout the eighties and nineties meant that I couldn't get that latest fashions in my size (think ali barbar pants, baggy tartan trousers- cool dude). 
Once a year a special trip to a basement in Exeter to buy special shoes (size 8/9 freaky clown). 


So my mother showed me how to follow a sewing pattern and I was off. I don't spend much time making clothes any more. Unless it's a special occasion. I made my wedding outfit and the occasional skirt. It's no longer cheaper to make your own clothes. I love the left over trimmings but if you make a mistake ( me- never!) then the clothes start to cost more. 


Now my clothes making experience is mostly used to make dressing up outfits, or to fix the rubbish I buy from Primark! I hope to share some of my children's outfits with you. It really is a rewarding pursuit. 


So that explains the Ramblings (!). But what of the MiY? Well MiY stands for Make it Yourself. Pronounced My. I'm trying to develop a lot of my projects into patterns and tutorials. Some you will be glad to hear are free. Others will be available on Etsy, then afterwards hopefully on my own website. I would love to hear your comments on whatever tutorials I post. But please be kind.