4 months worth of wedding cakes!

Here ya go! This is what I get for being a slacker. Here are 4 months worth of wedding orders for you to look at.

Cake info

Hi everyone! Sorry to leave you hanging since September! I've spent the last few months taking a break from the cake world to focus on my pregnancy and family. I'm in the process of downloading and then uploading all my new cake creations to my blog and website. Please keep an eye open for pictures within the next few days.

Please keep in mind that I will not be taking order for the months of March and/or April 2010. I am due to give birth to my baby GIRL in March so I will be taking a much need break. I won't be available for wedding cake consults until May as well.

Hello strangers!

It's been a very long time so I thought I would update everyone.

The reason why I've been cutting back on my cake work, appointments, taking extra time to respond to emails and phone calls is that.......

I'm 11 weeks pregnant and everything is looking great! I've had two previous miscarriages within the past year so I've been doing everything I can to have a very healthy pregnancy. Sometimes, this can interfere with my cake decorating obsession. I've had to turn away several orders, cancel some, and just take the time needed for myself.

This is why I won't be taking any orders for the month of March or April since I'm due at the end of March.

Also, I'm cutting back to just about 2 to 3 cake orders a month. This may not sound like a lot to some, but when it takes time away from my family, it's a lot to me. Plus, I'm going to have to prepare for when I have a second little one around.

Unavailable dates in 2010

Hi everyone,

Just a note to let you know that I will not be available to take any orders for the months of March and April 2010. I will be available by appointment only for tastings and consults during certain days in that time frame. A more detailed explanation will come later. Don't worry, it's all GOOD! LOL

Ankita and Jatin's wedding July 4, 2009

Ankita and Jatin are having the first traditional Indian wedding ceremony in Ames. I am very honored that Ankita chose me to take part of her special day. When I first met Ankita she showed me a sketch of a 5 tiered cake that was going to be white buttercream with scrolls in various parts of the cake. However, she then found the very pretty pillow wedding cake from Cake Lava that was shown on MSN as an amazing wedding cake. I then took that cake and used it as inpiration for Ankita's. Her colors were turquoise, lime green, and reddish orange. I wanted this cake to be very elegant and ornate with lots of gold piping and gumpaste molds.

This is what I came up with. The cake tiers are Italian cream with fresh raspberries, Red velvet with pinapples, Italian cream with strawberries, my yummy chocolate cake with strawberries, and the bottom tier is chocolate with pineapples. I also did a back-up sheet cake that was my darn good chocolate cake with chocolate mousse and covered with chocolate ganache.

Haylee's ladybug 1st birthday

Here's a cake I did for Haylee's first birthday today. It's my white almond cake. The ladybug is actually her smash cake which I carved from a smaller cake and covered with fondant.

Happy birthday Haylee!

Enchanted Sweets is now an official LLC!

It's official, Enchanted Sweets is now an LLC. The paperwork was filed with the Secretary of State this week and now it's done. Time for me to add the LLC at the end of my logos and names now.

Brooke and Eric's wedding

Here's Brooke and Eric's wedding cake from today. Let me just tell ya, Brooke is going to have one beautiful wedding. She was getting married in her parent's backyard in Bondurant. Their home and land is just stunning!!!

Brooke chose brown and green as her wedding colors, very earthy tones. She brought me a picture of a cake that had a chocolate wrap with various shades of brown and greens for me to use as inspiration. It was a difficult job putting on all the individual fondant stripes, but I did that so it would have a 3d look to it and not flat. Brooke and Eric chose the flavors of german chocolate and butter for their cakes.

I think it turned out great!

Up and coming creations

These next few weeks are going to keep my busy. First, I have a 3d sculpted cake of a giraffe for Kelsey on the 24th. Brooke's fondant brown and green striped wedding cake will be for the 27th. Then, I have a few days off until July 4th for Ankita's ornate Indian ispired wedding cake. I am soooo excited to do this one. It will be 5 tiers and the colors will be reddish orange, lime green, turquoise with gold accents. It will be inspired by the gorgeous pillow wedding cake from Cake Lava that was posted on MSN as one of the most fabulous wedding cakes. This cake gave me the excuse to buy some new fancy gumpaste molds and a new cake level from Agbay (which is like the Cadillac of all levels). Also around the 4th will be a ladybug inspired first birthday cake for Jessica's little girl.

Cindi's daughter Delaney will receive a 3d carved hula girl for her birthday on the 10th. Also on the 10th will be a 3d sculpted horse cake for Layla's 6th birthday and her brother Alex will receive a 2 tiered Thomas the train cake. On July 11th Nicole is going to have 200 cupcakes for her wedding. On July 24th, Rebecca is going to have an under the sea mermaid cake for her daughter's birthday. This will be cute because I'm going to make a gumpaste figure of her daughter as a mermaid. On July 25th I will be making a classic and elegant wedding cake for Nicole.

ONly 3 weddings scheduled for August right now and I'm going to keep it that way since I will be gone a week to Hawaii. I am so ready for that trip.

As you can see, I am keeping fairly busy with this cake business and I love it!

Hello to my potential brides!

Just wanted to make a shout out to my potential brides (and grooms too) that I met with this week. I met with Krystal, Anna, and Lyndi this week. Krystal was inquiring for May 2010 and Anna and Lyndi are September of this year. Between the three of them we tried white almond sour cream (my favorite and most popular flavor), red velvet, darn good chocolate cake, Italian Cream (another favorite), amaretto (you can never go wrong with a little amaretto to get you going, and Madagascar vanilla. This profession is hazardous to my diet!

Upgrading website

It's come that time where I'm getting the idea to re-d0 my website. Currently I have flash template from Winklet Web Design (portfolio 25). Paula has a new gorgeous template I can buy, number 30. All these templates are totally customizable and so easy to use.

On the other hand, I am interested in a flash template from Blu Domain. I really like the Madison template.

Right now I am weighing my options of which one to do. I'd really like to get a Blu template and host with them also, since I've been having so much trouble with my previous hosting company (which I won't name, but would really like to). However, I'm paranoid about having any downtime, or something go wrong if I change servers.

Changes to come soon!

Laura and Kobi's wedding

Here's the wedding cake from today, June 13, 2009. Today is Laura and Kobi's wedding, with a reception out at Hickory Hilltop Center in Ames. I truly love this design. Laura entrusted the details to me and this is what I came up with. The sizes are 6, 8, 10, 12 and 14 and everything is covered with my special fondant. The one layer tiers are Kobi's groom's cake and it's mint chocolate. The other tiers are my popular white almond with raspberry mousse. The colors matched Laura's decor perfectly.

Kendra and David's cupcake wedding

Kendra and David's wedding was absolutely beautiful! The colors were a fuschia pink and lime green. I love how the Parish Hall at St. Anthony's was decorated. Sooooo beautiful. Anyway, here is an order for 400 cupcakes; white almond sour cream with raspberry mousse filling, darn good chocolate cake with caramel, and lemon cake with strawberry mousse filling. The cupcake tier stand was built by my husband and father-in-law and is massive!

Congrats Kendra and David!

Charity and Jeremy's wedding

This was definately a fun cake to do. Charity contacted me in a panic after her original cake vendor was unable to do her wedding cake. Charity and Jeremy love the beach and chose this as their theme. The cake is 3 tiers of champagne cake with cream cheese filling. The cake is covered in my special buttercream with all fondant accents. The shells are fondant.

Congrats Charity and Jeremy!

Aaron's Graduation cake

Here is a 3D snare drum cake that I did for Aaron's graduation from Valley High School. His mom requested the cake to be a vibrant orange for Valley's colors and the logo to say Aaron, VHS 2009. This was a chocolate cake with fresh strawberries and buttercream filling. Covered in fondant and painted with silver luster dust to look like metal.

Goodness!

Seems like it's been awhile since I last posted on this blog. I have to admit, I forget about it all the time!

I've been keeping busy since my last post. I had a family vacation to Disney World in April which kept me busy. I've also scheduled a trip to Hawaii to visit my husband during his military training there. Between time with my family, work, all my cake orders.....I barely have time to spend on the computer (unless it's Facebook). LOL

In the meantime, check out some of my latest creations:

Dawn and Alex's wedding May 23, 2009:

Jordan's graduation from Ankeny High School:

My son graduated from preschool and this is the cake I did for his teachers:

My summer will be busy with about 8 weddings and several birthdays!

San Diego, here I come

I am so excited yet anxious to go to San Diego for some training this week. I leave tomorrow, but I'm not looking forward to leaving my husband and son. It will be nice to have some sunshine though!

I will hopefully be able to take my laptop with me and I'll be able to check my email. Also, please feel free to call my home phone number.

I will return to Des Moines in April 3rd.

New cakes for this week

This week was full of cakes, cakes, and more cakes!

Here is a special cake for an 80th birthday. A feminine design with spring colored flowers was requested and this is what I created:



In that same order was a Thomas the train cake for a 2nd birthday. Thomas is formed by cutting out seperate pieces from fondant:





Last, but not least was a fun baby shower cake. Darcy from Ohio wanted a special rubber ducky cake for a baby shower today. I sent her some examples and she chose the style and the colors. I bought an actual rubber ducky to put on top so they could keep it as a keepsake for the baby. The bow and booties are made out of gumpaste.

Owning a home bakery in Iowa

When I first moved to Iowa 7 years ago from Kentucky, I wasn't sure if I would find my place to fit in. I was leaving my home where I was born and raised and going to a brand new state. I'm still getting used to the stupid winters up here and I'm glad to say I'm getting experience driving in the snow!

However, moving to Iowa gave me the best stepping stones in my life. Most importantly, I gave birth to my son the year after my husband and I moved here. He's the highlight of my life.

Second, thanks to the rules and regulations in the state of Iowa I was able to start my own cake decorating business in my home. Ever since I was a little girl, I always wanted to decorate cakes. Luckilly, when I started I found that I actually have a talent!

Iowa home bakers are very lucky in that there aren't strict rules in having your own home bakery. In states such as Texas it's actually illegal to sell cakes prepared in your own home kitchen. In Iowa, you don't have to be licensed by the State if you're only going to sell non-potentially hazardous foods (no cream fillings, no cheesecakes). However, I chose to get my license because I like that I can tell my potential clients that I do have a licensed kitchen.

Also, I found it very stress-free to register my business with Polk County and register my logo as a trademark with the State. Enchanted Sweets is my legal business that I've always dreamed of!

Business is growing, I'm excited to take on any cake order, I love the willingness of customers who give me full creative reign with their design. I love it! I highly recommend this route to anyone who needs a creative outlet.

Consults from this past weekend

I met with Nicole and Allison (and the grooms too of course) over the weekend. Nicole tried my butter, butter pecan, and white almond sour cream with caramel, raspberry mousse, and lemon mousse. Allison requested white almond sour cream, chocolate, and lemon cake and she also had the raspberry mousse, lemon mousse and caramel fillings. I hope you all enjoyed the samples!

Family updates

A lot of interesting things happening in the Barber household. My husband and I attended Kindergarten orientation last night for our son. OMG.....can this actually be happening? I vividly remember the day my mom took me to my own Kindergarten orientation. I have to admit, I got a little sad last night. Anyway, Brennan is a growing boy and is the highlight of my life.

My husband is beginning his 4th week of training on patrol. I'm anxious for him to start his regular shift in June, which will be 3rd Watch.

Wedding season is fast approaching and I'm almost booked for wedding cakes for the rest of the year. Also, I will be heading to San Diego on March 31st for about 4 days of training for my regular, full-time job. I'll be learning more about our Crime Analysis/Crime Mapping program.

My family is getting ready for a fun-filled week in Disney World in April. This will be a much needed and deserved vacation!!!!!!!!!!

Hello to my brides!

Just wanted to say hello to Stephanie, Ashleigh and Charity. These are three brides I met with this past week and had a great time! I'm also meeting with Allison this Friday evening.

Some of the flavors at the tasting were white almond sour cream with raspberry mousse, chocolate hazelnut with caramel mousse, vanilla rum with kahlua mousse, and a yummy butter pecan.

Each bride had their own different theme and it was so fun to discuss design ideas and options. We had a very classic and elegant scroll design, a modern art-deco style, and a tropical theme. These will all be fun to do!

I'm looking forward to being a part of your special day!

Stupid internet service

For some reason my internet has been causing me a lot of problems today. I've been having trouble accessing my site and email. It's been causing me a headache all day long! I'm really needing to access my email so I can send a potential bride her price quote!!!!!!!!!!! I host my site through a certain company and this isn't the first time I've had this sort of problem. I think it's about time to change webhosts. Anyone have a good recommendation?????? HELP!!!

What a Whimsical wedding!

Ali and her fiancee were set on having a mad-hatter, whimsical, topsy turvy style cake for their wedding. Ali was having pastel colored tulips and gave me that idea, along with a picture, of what she wanted. Here's what she got!

Totally 80's!

This was a fun cake to do. It was for Erin's surprise party she was throwing for her husband. We worked on several ideas for what was 80's and this is the final design. Brings back a lot of memories! LOL

Surprise cake for my husband's 40th birthday

I was actually able to pull off a surprise 40th birthday/welcome home party for my husband in December. I wanted to make his cake extra special. He's a total Harley nut so this is what I came up with:

Enchanted Sweets is back up and running!

Again, I must apologize if my medical situation put anyone in a bind these past few weeks. It was something that I could not control, and it just takes extra time to get your mind re-focused after a miscarriage. Things are back underway at Enchanted Sweets and the orders and wedding cake tastings are underway!

Terrible news

Unfortunately, I have to announce that I miscarried for the second time over the weekend. Needless to say, I had already cancelled several orders throughout 2009 and turned away several wedding consults due to my pregnancy. I apologize if this caused any inconvenience. Enchanted Sweets will be back on track in taking on orders soon!

2009 prices

The prices in 2009 will be:

$2.25 per slice for buttercream
$3.50 per slice for fondant
$1.50 per plain cupcake
$2.00 per cupcake with filling

St. Anthony's bridal show cancelled

There will be no bridal show at St. Anthony's tomorrow. It's been cancelled.