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Making a baby blanket from a Patchwork Cutter how to video

9 Oct

Here is a new how to video that I posted to youtube showing how to create a baby blanket from a patchwork cutter, I hope that you enjoy learning how to create this project!!!

 

 

 

 

 

Trick or Treat Figurine

9 Oct

The fall season has officially begun and we are now seeing colder weather and the holidays are just around the corner which has me thinking of some great cake projects. I love creating holiday themed cakes and such. Right now I am working on a upright standing Trick or Treat Bag Cake it is a fun cake to make and one that is soo exciting to decorate!! I will be sharing this cake with all of you very soon once I finally get it all finished and ready for viewing….

I have been making my favorite halloween figurine again this year and that is my little trick or treater….. here is a picture of him in case you did not get to see him last year!

 

trickortreatfigurineby donna lane

Princess Cake for Senea!!!

6 Oct

We recently celebrated my neice Senea’s birthday she just turned a year old….Being the little princess that she is there was nothing more fitting than making her a Princess birthday cake, The smaller cake was her smash cake with a couple gumpaste butterflies and a gumpaste tiara that I made myself. The other cake was done in purple and pink accents with gumpaste butterflies as well with a purchased tiare sitting on top, I had made 3  royal icing different tiaras for that cake however they all broke on me so off to the store to purchase a tiara which I must say is the first I have purchased someting to go on a cake instead of making it myself

 

Seneassmashcake

 

 

 

Seneascake

My new website www.gumpastefigurine.com

27 Aug

 

Learn to create this Bumble Bee Figurine on dvd at www.gumpastefigurine.com104_9067 copy

 

I recently created a new website for those who are interested in purchasing my how to videos on dvd. The website is www.gumpastefigurine.com  this website is all about gumpaste figurines of course, and I have many of my pictures posted over there as well as gumpaste and fondant info for those who are just getting started in created figurines. If you have any questions as always just let me know and I will get back to you as soon as I can.

I hope that you are all enjoying the summer as it is quickly coming to an end which I must say just makes me so sad, I do not want to see winter just yet. I love the fall months it truly is my favorite time of the year but it just does not last long enough. I have already strated thinking about what it is I plan to create for the upcoming holidays…I cannot believe it is almost here when you think about it we only have less than 4 months left in the year of 2009 wow where did all the time go this year. It seems as though it was just spring, and now here we are approaching the month of september. As much as hate to see winter I just Love the holiday season as most of you do too! I love the baking  and creating. This year with my cake decorating teching site I get to share how to videos with my members  for the upcoming halloween and christmas season. I know it will be alot of fun sharing with them how to create figurines and cake projects that are perfect for halloween as well as christmas so I do have all of that to look forward to. As always I will share all of my photos and such with all of you as I do them.  Most of all I know that the holdiay season means family time and that is the most important part to me. I look forward to all the get togethers and the memories that will be created with the holiday season.

I hope and pray that 2010 will be a much better year for our economy and all those who have had to deal with some very tough times over the past few years. The most important thing is to remain positive about all of it and don’t allow it to steal your joy!!! It is so easy to watch the news channels and get all wrapped up in the issues I have found that listening to all the negatives things sometimes causes me to get a little down so I have learned to stay away from it. I figure all I need to know is the basics. After many years I now know that if I say things are going to be bad they usually are so I now say things are getting better and better in my life and you know what they do! The things you say have a huge impact on your life so as a little experiment over the next week start watching what you say out of your mouth, watch and see how it really does impact how things in your life are effected! That saying you have what you say is soo true! If the entire world got more postive about our economy and the things in life could you image how much impact it would have on the world we all live in!!!! I am going to start speaking great things for my life in 2010…It is going to be the best year of my life!

Well I have to run for now but will check in with all of you a little later, have a blessed weekend, it’s going to be a good one!!

Donna

Blue and White Cross Baptism Cake

27 Aug

I recently created a Baptism Cake that was in the shape of a cross for a little boy who was the sweetest little thing! It was a strawberry creme cake covered in buttercream icing done in a blue and white theme. I also created little gumpaste shoes to finish off the look! The border on the top of the cross is one that I have been working on for some time I get tired of the same ole thing when doing cakes so I was playing with some icing lately and was trying to come up with something that was more appealing than the plain border outling the top of a cake. The border is done in 3 layers and gives a very nice look once complete.

 

Cross Cake

 

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Mini Dress Cake on a Gumpaste Hanger

21 Aug

I created this mini dress cake recently and what alot of fun it was. You can do so many great designs on the dress which is the greatest thing that I love about cake decorating. If you want to do a simple look you can just cover the dress area with buttercream, then if you want to get really fancy you can do that by covering in fondant and adding flowers, pearls and the many other things that are available.

 

Miniature Dress Cake

Bumble Bee Love–Gumpaste Bumble Bees Cake Topper

6 Aug

 I just love creating gumpaste bumble bees, one day while trying to come up with a cute cake topper for a summer cake I decided to create Bumble Bees but made them in a larger size and I must say that I am very happy with the results.

You can learn to create these adorable gumpaste bumble bees

Available for purchase on DVD… http://www.gumpastefigurine.com/Purchase_Dvd_s.html

 

bumble bee love

                                                                                           Bumble Bee Love

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bumblebee

Gumpaste Baby

17 Jul

Here is a Gumpaste Baby that I recently created.

pink baby

Hat Box Cake with Sugar Flowers

17 Jul

I love making Hat Box Cakes because you can do soo many awesome things with the design. This cake was made with Gumpaste Roses, Blossoms Carnations and other various small flowers to fill in the different areas. I also made sugar pearl bracelets to have hanging out of the hat box cake, I think this gives it such a nice touch! I created a large Rose for the top of the Cake.

 

HAT BOX CAKE

How to make a Sculpted Dog House Cake with a Gum Paste Puppy…..

23 Jun

I recently created a Dog House Cake instead of the typical Dog in a dog house, I decided that it would make a great fathers day theme.

We have all heard the saying about Dad being in the Dog House! So I thought, wow…this would make a great cake theme and something that you don’t see everyday. This cake has quickly become very popular and is soo much fun to create.

 I thought I would share the how-to details for this cake!

doghouse6

Look at Dad’s face, he is not happy being in the Dog house, nor is the Dog he wants his house back! LOL

dh

Supplies to create this cake!

Baked 11 x 15 cake

Buttercream

Fondant in white, blue, green

Gumpaste, white, black, tan, orange, flesh

Knife

Cookie Cutter

Tape measure

Brown food coloring

Paintbrush

Toothpick

Ball tool

Veining tool

 

1). To get started you will need an 11 x 15 sheetcake cut into 4 squares then stacked and filled with buttercream. Then place the cake into the fridge for about 20 minutes to setup.

2). I sculpted the roof area of the cake by cutting small sections going down the sides of the first 2 layers of cake only, then I squared up the sides making them nice and straight.

3). Cover the entire cake with a thin coat of buttercream icing, make sure you smooth the butterceam out so it does not show through the fondant when its put on the cake

4).To  cover the entire cake in fondant….

5). Measure each side of the cake then cut out a piece of white fondant for each side of the house and the roof area as well.

               a). Before attaching the fondant to the cake, I used a knife to make lines going up and down on all of the wall pieces so that it would look like wood slats.

               b). Once you have done this then you can attach fondant to each side of the dog house cake.

 

6). The roof is the last area to cover in fondant and you will need to measure both sides of the roof so you will know the size of the fondant you will need…. you can use any color you would like for your roof. I also made lines in the fondant pieces for the roof before attching them to the cake.

 

7). Once all the fondant is on the cake use a knife to cut out a door area on the front of the dog house and put a piece of black fondant in the area, you can see eactly what I did by looking at the pics above.

 

8). You will need a brown food coloring (I used Wiltons dark  brown color), and a paintbrush. Put some food coloring in a small bowl with and then add water do this until you get the color you want to use to paint the dog house. Paint all the walls making sure to get the coloring into the cracks of the lines that you made with your knife it will help to make the walls look more like wood.

 

9). I used a house shaped cookie cutter to cut out a piece of gumpaste for my sign that said Happy Fathers Day, Dad your entitled to come out of the dog house for one night because of fathers day!

             a). I inserted a toothpick into the gumpaste house so it would stand up.

             b). Make a small ball of gumpaste to use as a stand to put your sign in but, let it harden up for several hours before putting the sign into it!

 

10). Create the grass by using green fondant rolled into long snake shapes and take a knife to make lots of small cuts in the fondant then place it up against the house.

 

11). Create a teardrop shape of fleash colored gumpaste to make the body for the dad figurine, then place it in the doorway area of the house.

         a). Roll a ball shape to create the head, you can attach the head to the body with water once you get the face all completed.

         b). For the arms roll of a long flesh coloered snake shape and cut in half, shape the ends smooth and use a knife to make the fingers,

        c). Make 2 holes with a ball tool or end of a paintbrush to create the eye sockets then place small ball of fondant in each socket.

        d). Roll a small ball of flash gumpaste to create the nose and attach, and do the same for the ears.

        e) To create the mouth I use the end of veining tool, or you can use the end of a icing tip to imprint a mouth.

        f). Roll out a small amount of black fondant and use water to attach to the head and use a knife to imprint lines to create the hair.g

       g). Use a black edible marker to fill in small circle shapes on the eyeballs, then make eyebrows just above the eyes.

 

12). To create the body for the puppy begin with a teardrop shape of gumpaste and do the same to create the head, just much smaller…then glue them together with water.

     a). Roll a small sausage shape to make the tail and attach to the dogs body.

     b). The eyes are done the same way as we did on the dad figurine above.

    c). For the ears on the puppy start with a flat circle of gumpaste and thin the edges with 2 fingers until you get the shape you are looking for.

    d). Roll a small ball of black gumpaste for the nose on the puppy

    e). To create the mouth on the puppy I used the veining tool  just like I did on the dad  

13). I used the same color gumpaste that I did the roof  in to create a large dog bone, start with a rectangle shape and use the end of a paintbrush to push inward at each end of the rectangle which will help to begin to shape your bone. Once the bone is all done I used small letter rubber stamps to imprint the words “Dads House” on the bone, then I used watet to attach the bone to the front of the dog house.

Thats it for the directions to complete this cake! I hope that you get a chance to create this cake…it can be modified to go with many other themes instead of Fathers Day.

Have Fun!!!

 

 

 

 

2 Tier Baby Shower Cake and Gumpaste Baby

17 Jun

 

Babyshowerwithbabyfig

 I created this cake a while back and has become one of my most requested cakes because of the color scheme,  I was asked to create this cake for a great friends baby shower, the babies room is being done in a chocolate, green and a pink color so this cake was the perfect match for the baby shower theme. Sitting on the top of the cake is a sculpted gumpaste baby wrapped in a blankie and a bottle to finish off the top of the cake. 

Just a little update!

9 Jun

Hello to all!!

I must say it is so great to wake up each day and enjoy the warm weather, I love summer time, there is so much to do but things look so pretty the trees, the flowers, everything  just comes alive in the summer time!

My son gradutated from high school and we had his graduation party this past weekend, it was soo great to get to sit and visit with family and friends that I have not seem in a while. I am so glad that it is over and now its on to getting my son all prepared for college this fall. Wow time flies when your having fun! I am so thankful for all that I have been blessed with in life… 2 great kids, an awesome husband, and all the great people in my life and even here on the web. I have met soo many sweet people over the past year that I have been doing this blog… I just love it!  Those of you who just write me to say hello and thank me for sharing my love of cake decorating are just soo awesome, thanks for taking the time to let me know that you appreciate the info that I share with you, it does mean alot to me!!! I do hope that you are enjoying the warmer weather and getting a chance to spend time with those that are important to you! Life is very short and we should take the time to let those around us know that we love and appreciate all they do. Have a great week and happy cake decorating to all!!!

Donna

Another Set of Sugar Sneakers and a Gumpaste Monkey

18 May

Here is another set of sugar sneakers in yellow this time and a Gumpaste Monkey for a Baby Shower Cake, I am happy with how they turned out the yellow sneakers are just so cute, then I did a display of the 3 colored sugar sneakers for a friend too. It seems lately all I get done making is my sneakers and my animals but I am not complaining since I love doing them soo much, there is nothing more rewarding than the finished product.

 

yellow shoes. figurines 112

donna's gum paste monkey

bottom ofyellowsneakers

yellow shoes. figurines 117

Whats the Difference??? Tylose Powder…CMC Powder…Trag Powder….Gum Tex…

12 May

I receive many emails everyday regarding the different “Gums” as they are called available on the market! I know it’s all quite confusing especially to those who are just getting started in working with Sugarpaste also know as fondant or gum paste.

Let me point out that when I say sugarpaste I am referring to fondant or gumpaste, because both are made with is sugar and just a few other ingredients and is a dough like paste that is used to cover cakes, create flowers and my favorite of course which is creating hand sculpted figurines.

When I say sugar flowers as I do often times I am really talking about gumpaste flowers.

Now lets talk about all the different “Gums” as they are often called.

First one that we will discuss is Tylose Powder and the one that I always use. Tylose Powder is less expensive than most gums on the market however it can be tough to locate since it is mostly avail. through the internet, you can find it at some of the specialty cake supply stores but not at Michaels Craft Store or Joanns. Tylose powder is used in some gumpaste recipes but you can add it to plain fondant to create a quick version of Gumpaste for  my creating figurines and sugar flowers. Tylose powder is a  fine powder you can work into fondant to make a really quick transition to gumpaste.

To create a quick gumpaste with fondant just Add 1 -3 tsp of Tylose powder to 1lb of fondant. Dry humidity areas use less Tylose - High humidity areas use more Tylose. Knead it in very well to your fondant. If you are using a pre-made Gum paste you don’t need to add any Gums to your paste because it already has some form of Gums in it. I usually don’t use a pound of fondant at a time when creating my figurines so I use small pinches of tylose powder to my fondant until I get the consistency I am looking for.

Gum Trag or the long version of the name….. gum tragicanth is another gum additive used in many different recipes to make gumpaste and pastillage. It add strength and stretch to the final product.

 Gum Tex is more readily available to most and is made by Wilton. Like gum tragicanth, gum tex is an ingredient to make gum paste pliable, elastic & easy to shape.

Gum Arabic - a versatile hydrocolloid that has many applications. A superior emulsifier, widely used in the production of beverage and flavor emulsions and meal replacers. Its low viscosity and adhesive properties, meanwhile, make gum arabic an excellent ingredient for coating cereal, confections, and snack foods. For bakery products, the gum’s binding and emulsification abilities aid in the formulation of icings and frostings as well as baked goods like cakes and muffins. Beyond foods and beverages, gum arabic has been long used in lithographic processes and pharmaceutical products. A natural gum additive that can be used as an edible glue to stick pieces of modeling paste together when mixed with water. This additive can also be added into Royal Icing to give it more strength.
Mix 2 tsp. of Gum Arabic with 2 ounces of water to make a gum glue. Gum glue is used to Gumpaste figurines, bows and other objects together

CMC Powder or sometimes referred to as Super Gum and  CMC Gum, and the technical name  Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose Gum, or just Cellulose Gum is frequently used as a thickener and a texture ingredient in many applications throughout the food service industry. Food grade and industrial grade CMC Gum is also known as cellulose gum. It is derived from purified cellulose such as cotton linters. CMC Gum helps products retain moisture. CMC Gum is a man-made gum. CMC produces the highest cohesiveness (such as sticking together).  CMC is frequently used as a thickener and a texture ingredient in many applications used in the food service industry.  Also CMC gum helps products retain moisture.

Hopefully I did not confuse you even more with all this information, I know that many are not sure what each of these are for so I thought I would list each one to give you a basic idea, for future reference.

Mr. Peepers The Kitten in a Box Cake

29 Apr

Here is the latest cake that I created, it is a Kitten is a Box Cake, I named the Kitten Mr. Peepers but I did not let him know that I put him in a pink box, lol…. so don’t tell him he may be upset that he did not get a blue or yellow box!!!  I just laid the box top to the side so that I did not mess up the icing that is on the kitty, this cake was sooo much fun to create!!!

 

Kitty in a Box Cake

 

 

Kitten in Box Cake

Meet my newest Gumpaste Puppy Named Scuddles

21 Apr

Hello Sugar Friends

I wanted to share my newest gumpaste spotted puppy complete with her very own gumpaste dog bones, ohh she is just soo cute isn’t she??

My puppy’s name is Scuddles and she is very happy to meet you!!

To Add Blush to Your Figurines  Many have asked so here is how I do the blush on the cheeks of my figurines…. when you are creating figurines and such you can add blush to the cheeks and create an adorable look.

All you need is a Pink Edible Marker…. which are available online and at many cake decorating stores,  just rub the tip of the marker on the tip of your finger and immediately use your finger to rub the coloring on the cheeks of your piece, now if you get too much on there, no problem!  Just use a damp paper towel to wipe it away and if you need to add a bit more repeat the above steps!!!

Members of www.cakedecoratingwithdonna.com are learning to create my little friend Scuddles the gumpaste puppy!! If you would like more information about becoming a member of  cdwd’s how-to website, so that you can learn to create your very own sugar figurines as well as the latest cake techniques such as designer purse cakes, etc…be sure to check it out!!!

 

 

Scuddles the Gumpaste Puppy

Scuddles the Gumpaste Puppy

Scuddles

Scuddles

Miniature Flower Pot Cake covered in Gumpaste Flowers

24 Mar

Donna's Miniature Flower Pot CakeHere is a recent cake I made, a minature flower pot with gumpaste flowers.

I used a 3 in round cutter to cut 2 circles of cake out of a sheetcake and then stacked the 2 circles. I then sculpted the bottom circle so that it would curve inward like a real flower pot. Next I crumb coated the entire cake and put in the refrigerator to setup for approx 20-30 minutes. While waiting for the cake to setup I began cutting my gumpaste flowers out with a flower cutter and veiner set I purchased from global sugar art. I also cut out 6 leaves as well and then let them all setup in spoons to dry. I use a regular teaspoon so that my flowers will have a certain form once dried.

Once the cake had setup I rolled out my fondant which I had colored with orange and brown food colorings to get the correct shade of color for the flower pot. Covering the flower pot with fondant can be a little tricky because it is soo small, but if you work at it then it should be just fine. I then cut a strip of fondant to go around the top edge of the flower pot for the rim.

Next I covered the top of the flower pot with buttercream so that it would be easier to attach the flowers, then begin adding the flowers all over the top of the flower pot.

Once all finished I decided to create the perfect presentation for my flower pot cake by placing it in a treat bag and tying the top with  curling ribbon into a bow.

A miniature Flower Pot Cake would make a great personal gift for that special someone!!

 

Donna

mini flower pot cake

Coach Purse Cake

24 Mar

My cousin Sue recently had her 40th birthday.  She is not only my cousin but my best friend as well, we have grown up more like sisters than cousins. I had to create her an awesome cake to celebrate her 40th birthday.  She loves the Wizard of Oz but I had already made her a wizard of oz cake before. She has a coach purse that is baby blue and just so cute, so I thought well I have been wanting to do another purse cake it has been quite a while. So I decided to create a baby blue sculpted cake purse to look similiar to the coach purse that she has. I have had many instances of people thinking that a cake I have created looks just like the real thing. But the situation I am about to share Took the Cake so to speak!! At my cousins party one of her friends walked up and was looking at the cake, the next thing I know she grabs the handle and goes to pick it up, needless to say the handle was ripped off the cake, she is standing there in complete confusion. I told her that is a cake! She says, “ohhhh I really thought someone had bought Sue a new purse which is why I was trying to pick it up”. I explained that it was a cake that I had made, then she felt really bad that she had broken the handle off. It really was funny to see the look on her face because she just could not figure out what had just happened!! I guess I can look at that moment as a great compliment….

 

 

Coach Purse Cake

It’s the Easter Season Here are my Gumpaste Bunnies and the finished Bunny Cake

14 Mar
Easter Bunnies, cake topper

Easter Bunnies, cake topper

These Bunnies have been busy decorating easter eggs for the upcoming easter season.
Below is the finished cake that I put these Bunnies on.
The Decorating Bunnies Cake

The Decorating Bunnies Cake

Fondant Sleeping Baby

27 Feb
Fondant Baby

Fondant Baby

Sleeping fondant baby in bed

Sleeping fondant baby in bed

 

Here is a little baby I just finished up with so I thought I would let all of you get the first look, isn’t she just precious. She has her pacifier in her mouth and has a tight hold on her favorite blankie. There is nothing like a real sleeping baby they are just so adorable to look at as they sleep soo peacefully.

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