The ugly cake

I tried out a new cake recipe a couple of weeks ago that was reticent about coming out of the cake tin. When it finally did, it did not prove to be the most aesthetic of bakery products. I put some vanilla buttercream between the layers but it still looked pretty damn ugly - even claiming the 'homemade' look was deliberate couldn't really excuse this travesty!

As I had some chocolate couveture that was nearing its date, I melted this over the top. Unfortunately this didn't help matters:

Not wanting to admit defeat, I melted some white chocolate I had and made some cool swirly patterns. I actually think it turned out ok! Looks aside, the cake was very tasty!
Next time I use this recipe though I think I will try and get some proper cocoa powder, and not use hot chocolate powder; the slight anaemic look doesn't help matters!

Birthday card

Below is the birthday card I made for my niece's 5th birthday. I hadn't realised how little children orientated craft stuff I had until I came to make this one. Or pink things. The number 5 on the card was originally blue, but I dabbed it with a pink ink pad and went over it with pink glitter-glue to make it more feminine. The wording was meant to be a purple rub-on, but typically it didn't transfer properly so I went over it with a souffle pen. I don't know why I keep bothering with rub-ons; in my experience they just don't work!

I will be posting a couple more cards soon, just waiting for the recipients to receive them first!

Mother's day cards

A little late, but here are the Mother's day cards I made last month for my mother and mother-in-law:

For the first one I wanted to steer away from the usual aperture opening used for cross stitch cards, so I used torn paper as a border. I also contrasted the bright yellow of the sunflower with a light blue theme, which I think gave the card a much softer feel.

The above polar bear design was initially a bit of a headache as I realised I was missing some thread colour from the kit a bit late. The bear is actually supposed to be beige. Fortunately, my mother-in-law likes polar bears, so it worked out well! I'm a little disappointed with the ribbon border as it is barely staying on (see top left corner), but I made the best with the adhesive I had to hand.