Pressed Flower Cards

This is my PIF (Pay It Forward) project for 2014; I've been working on it all summer. When we bought flowers for the flower bed I tried to pick ones that would press nicely. Then I dried flowers using my flower press that I got for Christmas last year. It worked really well, much better then using phone books.

My original plan was to make coasters, but they didn't turn out very well. I used Mod Podge and stuck the flowers to tiles. Initially, they looked so nice but as they dried the colour of some of the flowers faded away. They looked awful. So I scrapped that idea and decide to make cards instead. I wasn't really looking forward to coating them 5 million times with Mod Podge anyway.

I have this collection of card paper for card making, complete with stickers. I picked out some paper that I thought went with the flowers and after that it didn't take long to put them together.

I made up some envelops and stuck the matching stickers on them,

bundled them up and mailed them to my PIF friends!

I like them! Next year I'll be drying more flowers!

Cute Pink Birthday Bear

This past weekend I made a cake for my coworker's granddaughter's 1st birthday. She brought a card to work of a cute little brown bear wearing a pink skirt and asked if I could make a bear like it. I said I would try!

Using the 3d teddy bear cake pan always is a little nerve racking. I'm never certain if it is going to turn out, but once it is in the oven there is nothing you can do but wait! I always put in a more cake batter then it says to a make sure it fills the whole pan. Luckily it turned out pretty good even though I had to bake it a little longer, because the cone inside was a bit crooked and it wasn't baking evenly. It is hard getting that cone in there! You have to put it in, and then twist it around to be able to get the tabs caught under the pan so that it doesn't rise out with the cake.

Despite the challenges it is one of my favourite cakes to make and I get to use my favourite tip #233 that makes the bears looks so fluffy! It takes a little time, but it is worth it when it turns out looking so real.

I had to recruit my husband to help with the skirt. He's such a good sport! I had this really long piece of fondant and I couldn't hold it with out it pulling apart and attach it to the bear at the same time. He held it for me while I stuck it on, trying to bunch it up to create a ruffled look. I was really happy with how it turned out, I was a little anxious about it!

Such a pretty pink cake for a pretty little birthday girl! Thanks for asking me to make it and I'm happy you liked it!