{ Big changes are afoot }

On Monday August 1st, this blog, and my website, are changing... to a new name, a new brand, a new domain, and a new blog.  I do hope you will all come with me, I love having so many of you follow along what I post here.

So, what prompted the change?

Well, after I got {another} nasty shock of one day seeing my business name again replicated {just two words switched around to make it different enough to register} , I thought to myself 'how do I switch it up and make myself unique?  I really love the Sweet! component of my name - the rest was really just a descrptor of what I offer... then it hit me, it's not about what I offer, it's about who I am.  This business and what I create is really all about me (as are all small/micro businesses all about their owners)... and the new name came pretty much about about 5 - 10 minutes of throwing abround different combinations of words - what do you think?

So, that's the new name... this is the new website:

Please come along and check it out... the new blog link will go up over the weekend, and I'll post it here, so those of you that follow along now, can do so on the new blog as well {at least, I really hope you will!}

Thanks everyone, I look forward to seeing you on the new blog - and you can catch me on facebook too!

{ A couple of this week's projects }

{ Custom dessert order for a birthday celebration }

{ Recent Projects}

{ Christening Cake }

 A recent project...

A Christening cake for Isabella, in tones of pink and ivory, decorated with mini butterflies, a pearly teddy bear, and some swiss dot piping.

{ Pretty, Pretty Cupcakes }

Here are some photos of what I have been up to lately:

As it's the afternoon just before Easter, I'm in a bit of a rush to get things done (but really, when is anyone not busy??!), so will leave this with just the pictures for you to enjoy - have a great Easter everyone!

{ Little Wed Hen Featured Interview }

There is a new blog on the wedding list, Little Wed Hen, run by the lovely Stephanie Campisi.  I was very furtunate to be interviewed by Stephanie for a feature on LWH, and it was good enough to run over three installments, which I am pretty happy about!

I think I sound like a bit of a nit on part 1 (let me know what you think!!), but 2 and 3 is definteily more like the 'real me'!

Head on over to Little Wed Hen and check it out - you can follow along on facebook too!

{ Marie Antoinette Shoot }

A little while ago, I was commissioned to create some giant cupcakes (not cake sized, literally giant, regular, single serve cupcakes) for a photoshoot... the only brief was pretty, pale pink, pale blue, and must, absolutely must, feature my signature ruffled blooms.

I am more than a little gob-smacked by the resulting photos!  Stunning doesn't quite say enough - spectacular, perhaps?  Hmm, still not quite there... I'll let you be the judge!

These images were shot by Vanessa at Wildberry Studio (you may remember Vanessa from my cookie bunting and centrepiece cookie photos), and the entire photoshoot (get ready for some serious eyecandy!) was picked up on Rock and Roll Bride, which you can see here...

{ Support our Troops this Anzac Day }

I dislike war.  Immensely.  It achieves nothing but death and leaves nations scarred and destroyed.

However, I support our troops and they jobs they do 110%.  They put themselves in harms way in order to serve our Country, and, by association, us.  So, to all our past and present Armed Forces Personnel, Thank You.

My Grandfather was a digger.  A Galipoli Digger, aka "an ANZAC".  He was one of the few who came home.  Home to a family shredded by the Great War, he had to rebuild his family and start over, meeting my Nanna at the boarding house he was housed in on his return to Melbourne.  Would Pop's service have been made easier had he received care packages from home?  Possibly.  After all, these very diggers were the men behind the creation of the iconic Australian biscuit, the Anzac.  Did he receive them?  I'll never know... but what I do know is this - our modern-day Diggers are flung far and wide, serving their Country, and this Anzac Day, I will be doing my part to support them in a small way, and sending them my 'Thanks'.

This is how you can send them your 'Thanks' too:

This Anzac Day, you can send our Armed Forces a care package, post paid.
Simply use a box no larger than an Aus Post BM size, and keep the parcel to no more than 2 kg in weight.
Lodge in person at any post office (for security reasons you need to lodge with photo ID)

What to send:
Books
Magazines
DVD's
Chocolates
Personal care items
A hand-written note of thanks

Don't forget our 4-legged service personnel!  Send some doggie treats, a chew toy, funky (large) collar etc.

Address your packages to:

Middle East:


An Australian Soldier/Sailor/Airman/Airwoman
Anzac Day Mail
Middle East Operations
AFPO 60
Australian Defence Force NSW 2890




East Timor


An Australian Soldier/Sailor/Airman/Airwoman
Anzac Day Mail
East Timor Operations
AFPO 61
Australian Defence Force NSW 2890




Solomon Islands

An Australian Soldier/Sailor/Airman/Airwoman
Anzac Day Mail
Solomon Islands Operations
AFPO 62
Australian Defence Force NSW 2890




For 4-legged care packages, mark the boxes "Canine Care Pacakge"!

This service is running now until last post on 15 April.Please do your bit to support our troops, and the jobs they are doing on our behalf.
 

{ What the White Wabbit Ate}

I was commissioned to create these veggie cupcakes for an upcoming Beatrix-Potter-esque photoshoot, and couldn't resist snapping a picture of my own before delivery.  Sugar carrots, radishes, cabbages and peas in pods all rest on edible dirt over chocolate fudge cupcakes.

{ Are you a Portobello Bride? }

If not, this is a little of what you missed out on seeing this past weekend:

More details to come soon of my stand, my cakes, and some of the amazing people I met, and that you need to talk to to create your own amazing events!

{ The Keys To My Heart }

Here's a little project that I've had in the back of my mind for a while now, and got to create them this year for Valentine's Day.  Hope you like them.

| Sweet! Cupcakes and Treats | Macarons! |

I have an amazing project coming up next week with some other amazng vendors (that's all I can share - it's a BIG secret!!), and one of the requirements is macarons.  Now, I'm no fan of these little meringey-almondy-thingies at all, so in the past have not put much effort into knowing about them, let alone figuring out the best way of creating them!  But, needed they are, so create them I must... and I'm pretty pleased with them so far.

(These aren't the macarons for the project!)

| Sweet! Cupcakes and Treats | Dinner Party Dessert Table |

Recently I had the pleasure of creating a dessert table for an anniversary dinner party.

It's unusual to create a table for such a small event, but I do love a challenge!  There isn't always a call for a full-scale table (especially if you only have 8 guests!), so it was great to take on the challenge and scale a small table to look gorgeous!  I started with the basics - the 'table' was actually a large-ish butlers tray, on top of a cast iron Singer sewing machine table.  To cut the darkness of the wood finish on the tray, I draped over a length of sequinned fabric on the diagonal, so there were tails draping to the floor, rather than a square edge.

Then came the fund part - the dressing!  Using my vintage glass pieces, I created the stage, balanced the height with some gorgeous hydrangeas (source: The Bouquets of Ashca Jolie), then set about filling the pieces with goodies.

Used for this table:
Vintage Mallow Wafers
Gingerbread Sugar Cookie Bows
Pink Vanilla Bean Meringue Clouds
Raspberry Prairie Fudge

| Sweet! Cupcakes and Treats | Melbourne's Wedding and Honeymoon Expo |

Come and visit us tomorrow at stand No 1!

| Sweet! Cupcakes and Treats | Oprah's Baby Shower |

So, Oprah's Baby SHoer has come and gone, screening last night on Channel 10 (Aus).  We received an entire segment (about 3 minutes) on the Shower, which was wonderful.  I'm not sure exeactly what I was expecting - and to be honest, up until the moment the show went to air, I didn't even know if I would be able to watch.

As some of you may know, I was very conflicted about "the 'O' effect", but in the end, decided that it was over and done, just roll with it and see where it leads.  After all, I myself had ben telling people that I was involved!

So, you can imagine my surprise when bang! up on the screen for a full screen close-up, were my signature floral cupcakes!  I believe I did squeal, ever so slightly (OK, nor "ever so slightly", but when you are my age, that's as much as I will admit to!!!).

It's still very surreal, and I don't know what, if anything, will come of it... and I am very happy with that.  Things will be the same (just like my prices!) now as they were pre 'O-Day'.  It's funny, the question I have been asked most is "I'll bet your prices will go up now, right?".  Wrong!  My product is my product, being featured on a TV show does not grant an automatic licence to rip people off (even though there are many that do just that).

So, here are my pictures first, and then some photos taken by Sharnel Dollar, of Sharnel Dollar Designs, who was the stylist of the entire "do".

Aren't these flowers stunning?

They were styled and supplied by The Bouquets of Ascha Jolie.

In case anyone missed it, or is looking for that "something special" for a new or impending arrival, the Shower was held at Bebe, in South Yarra.  Thanks Bebe!