Party Spotlight: Fall Wedding Shoot by Cupcake with Character

Hey Ya'll!

I'm back with another party spotlight today! This spotlight is on Shauna Krantz who is the owner of Cupcake with Character. Cupcake with Character is based out of Rocklin, California but her business is almost exclusively online based so anyone, any where can access her event services. Shauna specializes in printable and professional printed products via her website as well as a specialization in social media and promotion. She helps others grow their brand through various methods. This woman is multi-talented to say the least. Did I mention she is also a mother of 3 with a K-6 MS Teaching Credential and a MA in Educational Technology! Smart, savvy and uber friendly is how I describe Shauna:) She is also on Facebook, you can find her here.

I had the pleasure of working with her on a fall wedding shoot a couple of months back. The shoot was picked up by Hostess with the Mostess! Which we were all very excited about:) You can find more information about that here. I have worked with Shauna on a number of different parties and she is an absolute pleasure to work with.

Credits:

Styled by: Cupcake With Character www.cupcakewithcharacter.com

Photographer: KTMOFFITT Photography www.ktmoffittphotography.com

Cupcakes, White Cupcake Boxes, Cupcake Wrappers and Mini Heart Cherry Pies-Cupcake With Character www.cupcakewithcharacter.com

Pumpkin, Fall Leaves and Acorn Toppers- Fondant Fantasy https://www.etsy.com/shop/FondantFantasy?ref=shop_sugg

Fall Grape cookies and Toppers- Kima's Konfections http://kimakonfections.spidersitebuilder.com

Fall Leaf Sugar Cookies- Sugarbee Goodies https://www.etsy.com/shop/SugarbeeGoodies?ref=search_shop_redirect

Paper Flower Boutique- 2CLVR4UDESIGNS https://www.facebook.com/2clvr4UDesigns

Gourmet Marshmallows Smores- Kimberley's Kitchen http://www.kimberleyskitchenonline.blogspot.com/

Favor Boxes- Fancy and Fold http://www.bellessweets.com/

Printable Menu & Place Cards- Sunny by Design https://www.etsy.com/shop/Sunnybydesign?ref=shop_sugg

Gold Glittered Vase and Monogram K- Triple M Good Parties www.triplemgoodparties.com

Kraft Love Stickers- Katarina's Paperie http://www.katarinaspaperie.com/

Dessert Bar Burlap Banner- Simply Creative Printables https://www.etsy.com/shop/bketler

Chocolate Leaf Lollipops- Autumn Lynn's Chocolate Sins http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/autumnlynnssins

Wedding Cake- Tasty Fusion https://www.facebook.com/TastyFusion

Burnt Orange Table Frame- Print My Picture Online www.printmypictureonline.com

Truffles/Brigaderio- Simply Brigaderio http://www.simplybrigadeiro.com/

I hope you enjoyed today's post. Check back this week for some awesome Thanksgiving printables from Shauna for free! 

Peace & Blessings 

Party Spotlight: Honey Bash-Mermaid Abby Party

Good Afternoon Ya'll! 

In an effort to blog more, I am going to be doing a few different things. This post will be showcasing another party like my last one. Since I am on contact and work with a lot of different party stylists, I thought it would be nice to showcase some of them a week times a week. I will also for November highlighting some Thanksgiving related printables/items from party folks. This blog will be evolving into something a little more than a place to showcase my work, it will be a place to go for all things cake related whether its new products, printables for cucpakes/cakes or parties! 

This post will showcase the work of Holli who is the Founder of HoneyBash based out of Washington. HoneyBash is a printable shop where you can purchase different printables for your party. Everyone knows the printables help tie the party together! Holli also do party styling and I will be showcasing her Mermaid Abby Party. Here is what Holli had to say about her Mermaid Abby Party: 

When the Mother of my daughter’s best friend asked me to plan her daughter, Abby’s 4^th birthday party, well of course I jumped at the opportunity.  I know Abby loves mermaids, so immediately I knew we would be using the printables from my “Under the Sea Mermaid” collection.  When planning a party, I always start with an inspirational piece, a theme or in this case a color palette to compliment the obvious theme.  Abby loves pink and the color blue was the obvious choice to set the tone of the party. 

I wanted to create something that had movement and was sophisticated yet adorable enough for a bunch of 4 year olds to get lost in their own imaginations.  Immediately I knew I wanted to create a sweets buffet and I was just looking for a reason to repurpose my old hutch.  With just one coat of Annie Sloan Chalk Paint I was able to achieve that aged beach look I was looking for. Because this hutch was chalked full of sweets, I strongly advise to always offer a treat bag, or in this case a treat box which I adorned with a simple starfish, for the kiddos to take home.  I also handmade white chocolate shells, which I already had the molds from my own wedding and I handmade the white chocolate blue “under the sea” lollipops from simple molds I found at Party City. A couple of my favorite finds were the gorgeous French meringues and the turquoise foil wrapped honey mint chocolate disks I found at Trader Joes.  I found a ton of fun candy from yours truly, Kara’s Party Ideas and I picked up the rest of the candies in the Easter sale section at Target. 

When planning an event, I always like to hand make something special for the guest of honor to keep.  I learned how to make paper medallions at my monthly girls craft night, hosted by the amazing and talented Melaine Thompson of My Sweet Savannah….so I simply embellished with a starfish, “wish” carnival tags, painted pink matting and a simple Ikea frame.  What a sweet way for the birthday girl to remember her 4^th birthday.  I also painted and glittered a cardboard crown from Hobby Lobby and topped it all off with this handmade blue ribbon garland, mixed with multiple colors and textures, to add that movement I was looking for. 

One of my favorite aspects of this whole party was the gorgeous, gorgeous ruffled table cloth, designed to mimic the colors of the ocean, made by my dear friend Uriah Gentry.  To vertically flank the food table, I created length with these handmade tulle and tissue poms, mixed in with blue paper lanterns.  With this party, I tried my hand at many DIY projects (for all you DIY’ers) and tried to repurpose my printables for multiple uses.  These beautiful blue glitter vases are actually pickle jars, which I painted the insides with Modge Podge and topped off with Martha Stewart fine glitter I had on hand.  My bottle wraps were used for these Starbucks glass jars (yes I drank them all), and were wrapped around pretty ruffled pink ribbon.  And I just adore these cute little seahorses I cut on my Cricut, which wrap around these paper straws perfectly. 

The cake table may be one of my favorite elements of this party…so simple, yet delicious.  The cake was made by my favorite local bakery.  Miss Aspen, of Oven Monkey Bakery, always sends me out the door with a smile on my face.  In this case, she mimicked the design on my printables to top the cake off perfectly.  Abby’s Mom and I made these yummy pink ombre cupcakes and I found these amazing candelabras at a garage sale to display them on.  Since my straws were already in a happy place with the cute seahorses, I used the paper straw flags to create this simple flag garland.  I love this effect and could be so cute used as cake bunting as well.  Now these tricky little medallions were harder than they look (hint: measurements must be perfect).  I found this fun little tutorial on The Tomkat Studio blog. 

Each girl was sent home with a full candy bag, mermaid bubbles (wrapped in the “Under the Sea” bottle wraps) and sweet flower soaps.  Abby is already planning her 5^th birthday party, time to start planning!

xoxo,

Holli Fedewa

Party Styling – Holli of HoneyBash

Printables – HoneyBash, www.honeybash.com

Photography – Lena Peterson, http://lenapetersonphotography.com/

Cake – Oven Monkey Bakery, http://ovenmonkeybakery.com/

Ruffled Table Cloth – Uriah Gentry, Creatively Chic Studio, http://www.etsy.com/shop/CreativelyChicStudio?ref=shop_sugg

Paper Lanterns – Target, www.target.com

Candies, Kara’s Party Ideas & Target, www.karaspartyideas.com

Jello glass containers – Kara’s Party Ideas

Glitter jars, birthday medallion, ribbon swag, paper straw bunting, tulle and tissue poms, sea urchin pink lanterns – Holli of HoneyBash

Stay tuned to see what I have for you tomorrow!!

Peace & Blessings 

Halloween Photo Shoot with CapesNCrowns

Hi Ya'll!

Sooooo I know it has been the longest and I mean the longest time since I have blogged! Life gets in the way and so does work and cakes. I have been collaborating on a lot of parties lately for photo shoots so that has filled up a lot of my time I would normally do things like this blog. So I wanted to take the time while I had some down time to blog about one of the photo shoots I participated in. You will see my toppers on the 3rd to last page from the bottom of the blog:)

Lauren from Capes and Crowns who is located in Alabama has a hand for the dramatic in a tasteful, creative way with her parties that she styles. She is quickly becoming a household name in the party styling sphere and to her credit she is one of the sweetest people that I know:) She has become so popular in a short span that Pottery Barn and yes I SAID Pottery Barn has brought her on board to use their products in her styled shoots. I happened to be one the lucky collaborators who participated in her Holy Monster'mony Styled Shoot that is now gracing the front cover of Party Style Magazine! I know Lauren is excited over all of the exposure the shoot has gotten and she deserves it because it is absolutely stunning.

Since Halloween is done every year it takes some serious talent to figure out a new twist on this holiday. Lauren has that in spades:) So without further ado here are some of the pictures from the photo shoot. If you would like to see all of the pictures please head over to Lauren's blog  and please feel free to leave a comment. Oh and that cute little Frankenstein is her son:)

Win a $1,000 Photography Dream Shopping Spree or cash prize!!!

Great news Ya'll! I have partnered up some great other small businesses to host this FANTASTIC giveaway! Yes I said giveaway!!! Every month Spaceships and Laserbeams (great blog for ideas on boys parties) partners up with different businesses to host a giveaway and this time I decided to get on board:) It's a simple idea to introduce you to some great moms who run small businesses and win some great prizes. This giveaway y

ou have the opportunity to win a $1000 Photographer's Dream Shopping Spree. You can pick out anything you like from DSLR cameras to camera bags to accessories and lighting and more. Or you can opt for $1000 USD transferred to you via PayPal so that you can shop to your heart's content.

There are quiet a few amazing bloggers and vendors who came together to make this amazing giveaway possible including Spaceships and Laser Beams, Yumtastics, Go Against the Grain, Life Revolves Around Them, Mimi's Dollhouse, Not Just A Mommy, Angelina´s Dream Parties, Twinkled Spice Boutique, Hello My Sweet, Party Snobs, Inkberry Cards + Design, UR invited, Petite Bebe, Party Printables, Unlimited Party Themes, Party On! Designs, Vanessa Hankins Photography, My Garden Party, Dorothy Kurzydlowski Photography, Sugar Sugar Cakes, DimplePrints, Creative Juice Cafe, Miss Party Mom, PaperCandee, Creative Designs by Toni, Paige Simple Studio, Calamity Kate's Kitchen, Simply Creative Printables,The Way The Cookie Crumbles, Michelle's Party Plan-It, Paper and Style Co., And Everything Nice, Samantha Walker Designs, Simply Sweet Parties, Events by Kate, Cupcake Wishes & Birthday Dreams, One Inspired Party, Kima's Konfections,This Nest is Best, Triple M Good Parties and Myour Stories Designs. And that's not even everyone!!!

More than 60 people are contributing to this contest. To see the complete list, take a look at the Rafflecopter form. As small businesses and blogs, we would never be able to offer such a cool prize, so it's a lot of fun to be able to combine forces and giveaway something so special.

Prize Details: The winner can select up to $1000 in camera equipment or supplies (including all sales taxes and shipping) to be delivered to the single destination of their choosing. The winner has the option of receiving $1000 USD in PayPal funds in lieu of receiving their prize.

The winner will be selected randomly via Rafflecopter. The odds of winning are dependent on the number of people entering. Should the winning entrant(s) not respond within 48 hours of being emailed, another winner(s) will be selected. Please ensure spaceshipsandlaserbeams [at] gmail [dot] com is on your safe email list. We would hate to have to redraw another winner!

Rules: This contest is open worldwide from May 17, 2013 at 12:01am EST to June 6, 2013 at 11:59pm EST. All entrants must be the age of the majority in their own country. Should unforeseen circumstances occur, this contest could be cancelled at any time. Void where prohibited by law.

Enter Using Our Rafflecopter Form

Good Luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Disclosure: This blog did not receive any money to participate or promote this contest. This giveaway is in not way associated with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, PayPal or any camera-related company. As one of many participants, we are not responsible for logistics or prize delivery. If you have any questions, please contact Stephanie at Spaceships and Laser Beams by emailing spaceshipsandlaserbeams [at] gmail [dot] com.

I'm Late..I'm Late...for a very important date:)!

Hi Ya'll!
So I'm not late for an important date...lol...but that little verse does set the tone for my blog post in that I will be talking about Alice in Wonderland! So I adore the original Alice in Wonderland like I'm sure most of you do.. I can't say the same about too many of the remakes that has made their way to the big screen..but I did most enjoy Tim Burton's remake of Alice in Wonderland with Johnnie Depp. I also love how Wonderland is one of the many different worlds in the series Once Upon a Time (oohhh I just love that show). So I thought it would be fitting to do a post on the theme of Alice in Wonderland.
Now if you are into cake decorating like I am then.. you have surely seen the spike in the number of cakes that have popped up on Google over the last year in that theme. I don't know the reason why but I love to see the different interpretations done in cake:)

Now this one for instance (no I didn't do this one...but mine is coming..hehehe) is the typical Alice in Wonderland theme cake you would see...with Alice falling into the rabbit hole and the clock for the late bunny. The stripes represents the Cheshire cat. This cake was done by Lilo Cakes .

Or you will have some like this.. that just takes a few elements like the cup from the Mad Hatter's tea party and Cheshire cat and completely make something different. This cake is ultra feminine while staying true to the theme of Alice in Wonderland. It also has a extra something in that it is in the topsy turvy style. This cake is by Design Cakes on Flickr.

Or you can have great artistic version like this. I saw this one and fell in LOVE with the characters on the cake. I love how the rest of the cake is an elegant background to the detailedness of the characters. I do figures on some of my cakes..but these are extremely well done. I want my figures to look like that when they grow up:) The figures are very Tim Burton in style. This one was done by a designer across the pond, Sweet as Sugar Cakes in the UK is on Flickr as well.

So here is my version of Alice in Wonderland:)

As you can see mine has many classic characters of the movie like the Cheshire cat, the smoking worm and playing cards. This cake was topsy-turvy as well.. though not from this angle of the picture (trying to show off everything on the cake) and I will probably doing a sharper angle next time I do a cake like this but I do love the way everything came together on the cake. This was also for a baby shower which is why some of the colors are on the lighter scale. I also made "Alice" black since the mommy to be was black. I like to take personal elements of the person who the cake is for and put them into the cake. The most fun was making Alice and the top of the cake which is of course the Mad Hatter's hat:) The mommy to be loved the cake and everyone was so impressed with all of the characters I was able to get on the cake. Next time I would like to add either the Mad Hatter himself or the Queen of Hearts. Overall I am pleased and think I did a pretty good job... don't you???

Peace & Blessings

Avengers Party!

Hi Ya'll!

I have just been plain ole busy lately with working full time and cake orders and now my little is in preschool full time learning things with homework...my 3 year has homework! Needless to say my time for extra things like blogging has been put on the back burner once again. When I don't have orders I just exhale and don't want to do anything at all! And I am pretty sure there are many of you out there with me on that.

In the mist of all that... I have worked with some party planners and collaborated on some awesome kids parties! First one I did was with Oh So Printable, if you haven't seen her work then you must hop right over and see her Facebook page. Her parties are soo cool and most of her printables she uses in her parties are available for purchase! How cool is that?? So she sent out the call a while ago for vendors to help on an Avengers party project. So of course I hopped right on board and said what can I do.. I ended up donating a dozen Avenger themed cupcake toppers. I absolutely loved working on this project and have been bitten by the bug so now I want to do work on other projects:) So I have some more posts on coming down the pipeline about some other parties have collaborated on.

And now for your viewing pleasure... pictures of the Avengers Party! Oh and if you want a custom theme for your next party do not hesitate to ask Jessica. She is very sweet and I know you will enjoy her products:)

Ohh I almost forgot the best part of it all.. The party was blogged about on Hostess with the Mostess.. you can find that link here:)

Peace & Blessings!

Icing Smiles

Well hello ya'll!
I know its been more than a month since I last blogged but between working now full time, my now 3 year old, my hubby and working cakes in between all of that my days can get pretty full and of course things like my blog is pushed to the side. But I have still been working on cakes and other special projects here and there:) One of those special projects was getting my first call to action from the organization Icing Smiles. If you don't know the organization Icing Smiles and you are a cake decorator (novice or professional) you need to haul yourself over to their website to see all the great work they do! Icing Smiles is a non-profit organization that, "provides custom celebration cakes and other treats to families impacted by the critical illness of a child." So basically they hook up families with very sick children with bakers who they call Sugar Angels to create a special birthday cake (or cookies in some areas) for that child's birthday. It may not always be on the child's actual birthday (as in my case) due to many of these children are in and out of the hospital constantly so its a matter of working with the family's schedule. Well let me tell you.. I was soo excited when I got my initial call to action email for the PA Rep Susan! Since I signed up almost a year ago I have been sitting just waiting to create some yummy cake goodness for an Icing Smiles child. So you know when I finally did get my email  I was all on board:)

My Icing Smiles recipient's name is Ronnie and very sweet 3 year old who has had a very hard life. Ronnie is blind and deaf as well as has quite a number of mental and physical impairments. He also during emailing his mom back and forth about the cake suffered a minor stroke. Well needless to say I told Ronnie's mom not to worry that I was going to create a nice cake for her son's 3rd birthday and she didn't have any thing to worry about on my end. She told me Ronnie loves Barney so that was the theme of the cake. With Icing Smiles we do have some restrictions in order not to bankrupt the bakers on the cakes we make so the cake couldn't feed no more than 40 people so I went right up to the 40 serving size by creating a 2 tier cake. In my initial design it was just a 2 tier but while baking I decided to throw in a smaller middle tier to add something extra to the cake. I made a 3D Barney figure and some birthday balloons with Barney holding one of them. Well I can tell you Barney is a difficult figure and his particular color purple is hard to match! But in the end I was very pleased with the cake and so was Ronnie's mom!

Here are two pictures Ronnie's mom took, one is of the cake and one is of Ronnie and I.

You don't have to be a professional cake decorator to be a Sugar Angel so please if you want to help out a great organization and make some very sick children happy please sign up. If you don't bake cakes you can also help out Icing Smiles by donating financially.

It was a great experience and I  can not wait until I get my next call to action!

Peace & Blessings
Kima