Hiatuses and Hermits...

Hello my friends, I know I've been gone for a wee bit longer than I said I was going to be, so I figured it was about time that I come out of my hermit hole and let everyone know what has been going on. Before I do that, let me first thank all of you that emailed or left comments of concern! I'm sorry that I didn't write back, but I did read all of them. As a matter of fact I haven't been doing a whole lot of anything until recently. I've been hiding out like a true hermit! But I am starting to feel better.

A little bit of a back story about me. I have something called a Chiari Malformation. (if you want to learn more about this condition here are some links www.asap.org and www.ninds.nih.gov ) I've had the surgery and for the most part I can get along with day to day activities without too many problem but about once a year I do something stupid and injure myself and irritate the condition. This time it was doing an exercise program that involved too much jumping right before Thanksgiving. Once this happens, I end up with horrible head pain, neck pain, and headaches 24/7. Then the fun starts with trying to adjust my medication with my neurologist so we can find a happy medium were I'm not in too much pain but not overly medicated. On a good note I've been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Ok so not a good thing normally, but he was able to put me on a new medication that has helped me with a lot of other problems I've been having!!

So this is where things stand at the moment with me. I have been baking again and I hope to start blogging about that, but the Tuesday toppers are still on hold until I can get back into the groove of things, which I hope is soon, but I'm not giving any guarantees ;D.

Julie :D

Tuesday Toppers: Holly and berry cupcakes

I know it may seem a bit early for a Christmas topper (although I admit I've already listened to Christmas music and watched some Christmas movies with the family. I LOVE CHRISTMAS :), but this is going to be the last topper for the rest of the year. Right about now life gets very hectic for me. With making Christmas present, baking, sewing for clients, and everything else that comes with the holidays I'm going to take a short break from the toppers. I won't by any means be gone. I have my gingerbread house that I plan on posting pictures and tips, and of course the cookies and candy will have pictures and recipes! Gingerbread cookies, sugar cookies, mexican wedding rings, fudge, and so much more. After all of the madness subsides, I'll get right back to doing toppers.

Now on to the holly and berry topper, here is what you will need to make one:

-Fondant smoother
-Leaf veining tool
-Metal piping tip (any will do)
-Green and yellow fondant

-For the berries, make 3 small balls out of the red.

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-For the leaves, divide a 1" ball of fondant into 2 pieces. Roll into logs and taper both ends.

-Flatten with a fondant smoother

-Take the piping tip and make cutouts all the way around. Two at each tip and 1 or 2 on each side in the middle.

-Using the small end of the leaf veiner make a line down the center and 3 veins on each side.

These would make great decorations for a cake too!

See you all soon! Happy Tuesday!

Tuesday Toppers: Pumpkin Pie Cupcake

Well it looks as though the flu has returned its ugly head again! My husband and youngest daughter have it now and unfortunately the girls didn't get to go trick or treating because of it :(. I guess there is always next year. Fortunately I had this topper that I did last year so I didn't have to try make one in this house full of germs, lol. This is actually the topper that started it all when I did a tutorial to put on cake central last year. So keep that in mind when you look at the pictures :D. Here's what you will need to make them:

-Fondant smoother
-Rolling pin
-Ball tool
-Knife
-White, tan, and pumpkin colored fondant.

-To make the "whipped cream" take a small ball of fondant and roll it into a log and taper at one end.

-To make the dollop, fold down the wider end about a third of the way down.

-Then start wrapping the tapered end up and around.

-For the "pumpkin filling" take a 1" ball of pumpkin colored fondant and form into a triangle with your fingers.

-Take the fondant smoother and help shape it.

-Pushing the backside with the fondant smoother.

-and pinch all of the edges to define them more.

-Roll out some tan fondant to about 1/8" thick

-place the pie filling on top.

-Cut along the front sides.

-Then cut straight back and with a little water fold the pie back onto the crust.

-Trim the back crust to about 1/2".

-Fold the crust over.

-Then ignore the cookie cutter! I'm not sure why it was even there, lol. Take the small end of a ball tool, and using your thumb and index finger and the ball tool crimp the edges.

Hope everyone is having a great (and healthy!) Tuesday.

Happy Halloween!

Just wanted to wish all of the ghost and ghouls out there a spooky Halloween! This is the cake I made last year, I had hoped to get one made for this year, but ran out of time.

The cast iron gate is made out of 50/50 fondant and gum paste and the cobblestone is fondant.

The signs, mouse, and pumpkin are made out of gum paste.

The Haunted house and tree are gum paste too, and since I've had a lot of requests on how I made the tree i'll give you a few quick tips. I took a 1/4" dowel rod and some thicker wire and wrapped the wires around the top. Then I took gum paste and wrapped that around for the trunk. For the branches i made took some more gum paste and wrapped it around the wires. For the face i just took some modeling tools and made the nose, eyes and mouth and highlighted them with some black gel paste.

I hope everyone has a spooktacular Halloween!!