Peppa Pig Cake and Cupcakes julie desmeules 7:30 AM

This theme was so much fun to work with! Peppa Pig is such a cute and colorful show. I wanted to make a cake that would be just as vibrant. My client asked to have Peppa in an outdoor picnic setting, so here she is with her blanket and lunch under the sun! The cupcakes have more food elements, smiling Peppa and flowers.

Strawberry Shortcake julie desmeules 6:48 AM

Just for fun... I've been a long time fan of Strawberry Shortcake and her friends. I remember carefully choosing her on the shelves of the toy department when I was about 5 years old. I remember her scent, her pretty straight hair, the feel of her clothes, and not to be forgotten, her cute pink cat. Each of my friends had a different one, and we would get together to play Strawberry Shortcake, for what seems to be hours.

My one and only Strawberry Shortcake doll was well played with, and was lost sometimes as I grew older. I kept her little cat in a souvenir box.

Any one who knows my daughter knows how much she adores cats. So when she was 3 or so, I dug into the souvenir box to find Custard (the cat). She, too, fell in love. Then we went to Target to find my beloved Strawberry. We were in for a surprise... She was made of plastic from hair to clothes, her hair going all the way down her back with glamourous curls at the end (what's wrong with shorter straight hair?), and the outfit was, well, every other doll's outfit.

So I went on eBay and there she was, the way I remembered her. I've since added to our collection (it's my daughter's really, and she knows how unique the dolls are!) when birthdays come around. Yes they are more expensive than the 2012 version, but oh so much more special to us. Enjoy the pictures!

Soft Pastel Colors julie desmeules 6:30 AM

 Here are pictures of some recent projects. Enjoy!

Winter wonderland cake

Sugar lollipops
(oups! just noticed the little smudged dot in the middle... it happens!)

Sugar fairy

Blue bubble cake

Lots of flowers for a "pinkalicious" party at The Coop

More pink for the equestrian themed cake

Loving Instagram julie desmeules 10:08 AM

Maybe I am a little late joining the fun, but I am so happy to finally have taken the time to play with Instagram! After my friend wrote about it last week, I said this is it! Finally I can do something fun with the pictures from my phone (because trust me, there are a lot!). And the result is magic... Such pretty images, that I would have never been able to share before. Some of my favorites from the past few weeks...

Princess Hello Kitty cake on top of a cupcake tower

My dog, Sir Lancelot

Quick sketch I made of the Superhero cake

Baby shower cake (captured by my client with her phone)

Wedding cupcakes on their way out!

Chocolate cake

Pretty in Pink julie desmeules 10:35 PM

Even if pink isn't the color of the season, I would still like to share two cakes I've done recently. The first one was made to go with this lovely printable by Parties by Hardie (printable available on Etsy). My goal was to duplicate the clean and modern look of the printable, which I was so thrilled to use as inspiration!

Pink and brown birthday cake

Pink Birthday Printable, photo by Parties by Hardie

I had created a similar pink cake design recently to top a cupcake tower where the cupcakes were decorated with more sugar flowers and pearls. When I received the request for a ballerina cake, I just thought it would work perfectly with a figurine topper. I added a second tier to add a few inches and voila! The picture was taken in the box just before the client came to pick up the cake, but I liked it to not take a quick picture!

Ballerina Cake

Hope everyone is having a wonderful month of December! Thanks for stopping by!

Snow White Fairy Tale julie desmeules 12:10 AM

A woodland Snow White party

Leave it to Leesa and the Send In The Clowns team to transport you into magical places with their fabulous kids parties. The latest is a Snow White fairy tale. No details were forgotten on the kids tables, were party guests found sweet and savory treats, wands, and tutu dress bags (how cute are those?) to save their treasures in the most fashionable way. Wood pieces and containers were use to create an enchanted forest feel.

And the cake... I needed a LOT of convincing before accepting to do a doll cake, especially when I had this woodland tiered cake design in mind! Thanks to my daughter for letting me borrow her Rapunzel doll to take measurements, test out the dress and how I would "glue" the fondant on the shiny plastic (not a medium a cake designer is use to work with!)... It was a funny sight, I should have documented the process!

Snow White doll cake

Leesa created Snow White's kitchen, complete with tools and ingredients to make apple pies and cookies.

And she did not forget the boys with this mine like adventure. It all looked like so much fun!

Little Cakes, Big Changes julie desmeules 12:08 AM

I feel like this post is long overdue.  Not sure where to start, but here it is anyways! Last Spring, I announced that our family was going to move out of state. The timing was perfect: I was extremely overworked and sleep deprived (moving would give me the chance to rest!), both kids would start school (first grade and kindergarten), we would be able to afford our dream house and best of all, have real winters!

So I made plans to move out of my commercial space, broke the (very hard to announce) news to my employees and clients, lined up the moving company and found to perfect neighborhood for our family to move to. 

But life being what it is, the move did not happened as planned. It did not happened at all. My husband just could not see the picture of our lives over there coming together. He was very nervous, felt like we would be putting our family at risk. I was heartbroken to see that dream go, but at the same time relieved that I could keep Blue Cupcake alive, and keep doing what I adore.

At the same time, I had learned enough during the past three years to know that things could not go back to what they were. I remembered reading this post from a fellow mom-baker-business-owner about how overwhelming it is to manage the business and family life. Every sentence describes what my life was, week after week. Yes, I was that mom too. And it was not okay.

So after taking some time off this summer, doing a lot of thinking, and missing my passion for baking and decorating, I decided to accept orders again. But the conditions are now very different: it is just me, in a much smaller space, doing only a few orders every week, and taking my time to make them as perfect as I can, because I LOVE IT!

And on the other side I get to drive my kids to school every day, meet again with friends I haven't seen in a few years and make new ones, visit my family on the East coast, volunteer at the school garden, cook for my family, enjoy time with my husband, be a healthy person again, be a family again. And I LOVE IT!

To my dear clients, thank you so much for your understanding. And to my readers, thank you so much for stopping by every week. THANK YOU!!!