CUPCAKE DECORATION CLASSES

Well I just wanted to let you all know that the cupcake decoration classes are going really well and the ideas keep flowing. I have now completed two designs for the forthcoming Christmas workshops and I thought you might like to see the photographs.

There is quite a lot in the melting pot at the moment, with a plan to do On-line cake decoration classes, so those of you who are outside the UK and would love to learn how to create the perfect cupcake and decorate them - this will be perfect for you.

If you would like to register as a follower on my blog and also add a Like to my Facebook pages I can keep you posted.

Ann xx

http://www.facebook.com/CreativeCakeAcademy

http://creativecakeacademy.blogspot.com/

CATH KIDSTON STYLE CUPCAKES

This is just one of the 12 cupcakes that I have designed in the Cath Kidston style for my forthcoming Cupcake workshops - The Creative Cake Academy - at Farncombe Estate, Broadway in the Cotswolds this coming Sunday 2nd October.

More details here:
http://www.facebook.com/CreativeCakeAcademy
http://creativecakeacademy.blogspot.com/

Ann xx

CUPCAKE WRAPPERS - A NEW DESIGN

These are a new range of Cupcake Wrappers called Rose Garden. They are in a pdf digital download format and come in a set of 3 wrappers, matching tags and a sheet of pretty matching spotty paper to print on the reverse of the wrappers. The beauty of Cupcake Wrappers that are digital is that you can print as many off that you want, whenever you like, so you never have to keep paying for the wraps over and over again. They are shortly to be released with some freebies on offer, so if you are interested in knowing more about them please register as a Follower on this blog page and on our Facebook page to be kept informed of their release.

http://creativecakeacademy.blogspot.com/
http://www.facebook.com/CreativeCakeAcademy

There will also be a really pretty range of Digital Craft Papers and tags following the Rose Garden theme which will be released in the near future - again in a download format.

Ann x

THOUGHT YOU MIGHT LIKE TO KNOW WHAT I AM DOING!!!!!!

Well it has been quite a while since I uploaded a card onto this blog page, but for those that still follow me, I thought you might like to see what I am now doing in continuing my love of creating beautiful things.

Come over to my new blog and let me know what you think.

Ann xx

http://creativecakeacademy.blogspot.com/

A LA MODE – THE NEXT LEVEL – CHALLENGE 6

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The Challenge this week at The Next Level is a theme - Buttons and Bows. I decided to make my card with a new stamp from Stampington & Company, Fairytale Couture, Flora 2 and also to keep the design of the card fairly simple. I used a gorgeous digital range of papers called French Linen Collection from ScrapGirls.

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The corners are metal embellishments - I am sorry I cannot remember where I got these from, part of my stash. They are silver, but I coloured them with a Black Copic marker to give a more vintage look. The gingham ribbon is american folk art style from my local garden centre.

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The inside I have matted and layered with toning dotty paper, and featured again the range of papers from the digital kit. The chandelier is a digital image from Chandelierious Brush set No. 1 from Designer Digitals.

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I cannot make a card without an envelope as I am sure you are aware by now - lol - but I decided to make this a very simple one as the beautiful papers from the kit really do speak for themselves.

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If you stop by to look, if you have the time, please leave feedback, I would love your thoughts.

Thank you, Ann xxx

ROSE GARDEN - THE NEXT LEVEL - CHALLENGE 5

At The Next Level this week, our Challenge is a really pretty Sketch, and it is amazing to see how each DT card has a completely different take on this and is really inspirational.

I decided to go 'old fashioned' and produced a really 'girly' card, which I have to admit are my favourites, with another one of my h'Anglar images, the cute little hooded girl sitting on a branch. The papers I used this week are predominantly from a digital kit called Summer Cottage Collection from Raspberry Road Designs. The really pretty flowers were from Joanna Sheen and I used a Fiskars punch to create the circle.

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The image was layered up to create dimension and was coloured with Copic Markers.

The inside again used another image and featuring the papers from the kit. The rose spray stamps are from Magnolia

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I made a thick box envelope to fit the height of the card and embellished this with a matching tag and string to follow through the garden theme.

Thanks for looking, Ann xxx

HAPPY CUPCAKE DAY - THE NEXT LEVEL - CHALLENGE 4

The Challenge this week on my magazine blog, The Next Level, is to create either a Stair Step Fold card or a Pop up Freestanding Card. I chose the Stair Step Fold card to showcase because I just so loved this new set of h'Anglar stamps, I thought this would be the perfect way to use them.

For details on the dimensions for the Stair Step Fold pop over to The Next Level tutorial section where I have put the basic information on how to create this shape and style of card. What I will do here on my own blog is just to add a little more 'meat on the bones' on the individual make up of this card.

First of all I started with a choice of just 2 papers that I wanted to use as my card base, two very simple digital checks, but with colouring that would follow through to the images to complete the overall look. I cut out the cardstock base and the top layer and then did a zig-zag stitch on the sewing machine to seal them both together (following the amazing Tutorial that True did in Issue 2 - which really helped me get my stitching right!!!). I then scored the card following the sizes on the tutorial and this made up my base.

I wanted to have my images all standing proud of the folds on the card, so at this stage I needed to make sure that the backs would look good. With Copic pens, which is what I used to colour the images, you usually get a bleed through to the back of the paper. I thought this would not look good when the card was flipped over, so I stamped the images on my check paper, scanned them and loaded them into my imaging programme, then flipped them horizontally. This meant I had a stamped reverse image that I could cut around and they would paste on the back of my coloured images and be a perfect fit. Now I know this sounds complicated, and a much simpler method is just to stamp your images on the back of your patterned paper, and when you cut round them you will have the same effect, but without the stamped finish, but the correct shape in your patterned paper to mask the rear. I did this method on a couple of the images and finished the rear effect off by adding some faux ink pen stitches. It does take a little time and effort to do this, but I am sure you will agree that when viewing the card from the rear if does give a much more finished effect. I also added a little cupcake to pretty the rear up a little.

To close the card fully so that it would fit nicely into the box envelope, I folded a ribbon right round the card and put two pins where the ribbon met, and stitched this on the sewing machine. I added a little bow to the front, and this now slides on and off completely.

I also made a box envelope that is three-quarters of an inch deep which takes the full thickness of the card with a little room and completes the gift card.

I hope you have enough detail here to help you make one of these cards if the fancy takes you. If you have the time and you stop by, please leave a comment to let me know what you think.

Ann xxx