Creations by Lisa - Let them eat cake!

Day 5

2011-08-20T20:07:00.001-07:00

Day 2 of the expo. Complete let down. In line 1 hr early for event and was at the end of the standby line. No chance at getting in at all. Dream store again. Milled around till 11:30 and left.
Lunch at tiffy's. Hotel nap, swimming, downtown for dinner and browsing.

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Location:Expo/downtown

Day 4

2011-08-20T20:04:00.001-07:00

Day 1 of expo. Ty and o got in line at 8. Doors opened at 9. Got in and waited in line for the dream store. Didn't get out of there till 11. Eric joined us. Ty did the dance party. The boys had lunch and I went to the Disney of Glendale store. After lunch we did radio Disney Jake and the neverland pirates show. Ty loved that. Then on to the Disney store. Walked the exhibitor space. Saw the pirates props. Ty played some games and won some stickers and tattoos. Ended with playing with new Disney toys.
Chevked into dhl. Dinner at chef goofys.

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Location:Expo

Day 3

2011-08-20T19:58:00.001-07:00

Drove down from la. Discovered we didn't have a room at dlh as expected. After a scramble we got a room at the Sheraton. Spent the rest of the day in DL.
Buzz, astro orbiters, lunch, small world 30+ minutes stuck at the end, nemo, autotopia, toon town, train, dinner at cafe Orleans
Back to hotel.

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Location:Disneyland

Day 2

2011-08-18T09:23:00.001-07:00

Walked Hollywood blvd. Saw stars and hand/ foot prints. Saw cars2 in 3D at el capitan theater. Went to the cars carnival after that. Had lunch at Disney soda shop. Drove to aquarium of the pacific. From there to Santa Monica pier. Played at the beach. Dinner at mcdonalds. Crashed.

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Location:La

Day one LA

2011-08-16T19:19:00.001-07:00

Flew into lax. Checked into condo. Went to Griffith park. Walked up to the observatory saw Hollywood sign. Rode train with Ty. Attempted to eat at hungry howies but it was carry out only. Ended up eating at número UNO pizza and pasta. Meant to do the one in Glendale but ended up at north Hollywood instead. Great food and great service. Headed back to condo. Tomorrow will conquer socal

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Location:North hollywood

1st trial on phone

2011-08-13T17:57:00.001-07:00

Have ty's cousin over tonight. Had a nice time out today with the kids at coney island.
Tomorrow will be pack till I drop day. Only 2 days left!

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Location:Home

Changes!

2010-11-10T08:05:00.000-08:00

Fingers crossed that Eric and I will finish up the changes to the site today. And then I'll have a ton more cool things to share with everyone. YAY!
This weekend I've got a cake that I'm excited to do. A Candyland theme baby shower cake. Should be a lot of fun to make everything, but also a lot of work!

From the Land of the Lost

2010-11-05T12:12:00.001-07:00

Yes, I’ve been MIA again. Why? Well for a few reasons.
I’ve been in over my head for the past couple weeks. That’s good and means that I have many more cakes to show you! YAY!
I’ve been thinking of new ways to publicize my business and that has meant that I’ve been focusing on that rather than talking to you about what has been happening in cake land.
Hopefully this weekend hubby will be updating my site to include this blog. That will mean many more updates and hopefully many more readers as well! YAY!

More what? Cakes!

2010-11-05T12:11:00.002-07:00

Hi cakers and cake lovers! Sorry I left you high and dry in cake land, but life does happen. I think you would all agree with that, right?
So what has been happening in cake land? Well let’s see… Relevant to caking, I’ve done 4 new cakes. A boy castle cake for a baby shower, a Yo Gabba Gabba cake for a 1st birthday, a dot cake for a baby shower and a Dinosaur cake for a baby shower. Sure are a lot of babies coming in to the world aren’t there?

YAY! Cakes!
Well what I didn’t say is that I was stood up for an order for the first time ever. That was an eye opening experience. When you do things off of Craigslist you start to expect that people will no-show and while that is incredibly irritating, it’s just part of using CL. Well this was the first time that it ever happened to me with a cake order. The person had said they would pick up on Saturday afternoon. The whole day went by and I still had the cake. I sent an email asking what was going on and they promised that they had forgotten and would be by on Sunday morning. What do you suppose happened? No call, no show. Excellent. So I gifted my parent’s with a congratulations Amanda cake… At least someone ate it even if I didn’t get paid for it. Oh well. I really don’t know what to do to prevent this from happening in the future though.
In other news we took our son to see the Red’s play. Just so happened to be the 25th anniversary of Pete Rose’s 4192 hit so there was all kinds of fanfare, etc and Pete Rose was there for the game. The kiddo could have cared less about all that but was madly in LOVE with watching the game in real life. I think we will have to find another day to get him to the ball game before the season is over.
Also I’m leaving on my first ever cruise tomorrow night. I’m excited and nervous! There are 10 of us total going. We are leaving out of Mobile, AL and going to Cozumel. It’s a short trip, but I think that will be enough for me. This is also my first ever girls trip. Whew, this will be fun or fun overload I think! Wish me luck!

CAKE, I said CAKE!

2010-11-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

This has been a crazy week, but then again that seems to be a theme here, doesn’t it?
I attended my last Wilton class and received my certificate. I officially know Wilton stuffs, YAY! Here is my final cake from class:

In addition this week I made a cake for my Gram who is having her 91st birthday on the 31st. We are heading up to Michigan tonight to spend the weekend with her.

And then there are the 2 actual paid orders that I had for this weekend. A baby shower cake with an elephant and peanut theme and an Elmo birthday cake. That red hairy monster sure is popular isn’t he?

So I admit, I was concerned about doing another gum paste elephant since Horton dried all slumpy, but creativity prevailed and the 2nd elephant was a success! It seems that if you prop the creature up against something gravity does not have such and evil effect on the creature. Huh, who woulda thunked it? And the ears have stayed on this elephant much better than on Horton as well. It’s like I’m learning something!

Oh speaking of learning, I am sad that I won’t be taking any more classes because I adore one of the instructors. She told me that she thought that I was good enough to apply and work in the shop! AWESOME! Now, I can’t afford to do that, but it’s very cool that she thinks I’m that good at the whole cake thing. Also she was telling me about a group called ICES that is a cake decorating group. They will be having their convention in Lexington in 2013. Guess who’s already excited about that? YAY!

Gram's 90th birthday and 2nd cake class

2010-11-05T12:10:00.002-07:00

Wow this is a short week for caking! I was in Louisville for work Monday and Tuesday. I have cake class tonight and then on Friday after work we head to Michigan for Gram’s birthday. That means all caking must be complete by Thursday night. We’ll see how that goes.
Obviously I’m doing a cake for Gram. You can’t let 91 go by without a cake, can you? That woman means the world to me and I don’t get to see her more than once a year. Since I’ve just learned the Wilton Rose, I believe that I’ll be covering her cake with roses. I’m thinking a pale purple cake with yellow and deep purple roses.
As I mentioned, cake class is tonight and it’s the last class. I’m a bit sad. I do enjoy taking the classes! But that means that I now know all of the important flowers, etc. YAY! Tomorrow I’ll take that cake with me to Louisville. Hopefully they will enjoy it.
I have 2 cake orders for this week. An elephant themed baby shower cake and an Elmo cake. The shower cake has a gum paste elephant and peanuts on it. I’ll need to get that done ASAP. The rest of the cake will not be too tough. Elmo will have to be hand drawn, fingers crossed!

Ever get ahead of yourself?

2010-11-05T12:10:00.000-07:00

Ever look at your calendar and accidentally look at the wrong date? Yeah, that happens to me. So I have baked and frozen cakes for next week that I thought were due this week. Since they can be frozen, it’s not a big deal but it’s still work I didn’t have to do yet. Oh well.
At least I realized it with time to spare. After a frantic stop at the grocery yesterday, I have this week’s cakes baked and ready to be finished! YAY! This week is a Ladybug cake, oh so cute and a set of little mermaid cakes and cupcakes. I’m including some photos. This is an in process view of caking. No comments as theses are not yet finished, ok?

And then of course there are the lemon lime cupcakes that I was bribed into making last night. My co-workers informed me that it was high time that they had some treats. It’s only been a week or so since the last batch, but that’s ok. I appreciate a good audience. These were requested specifically. I normally make a lemon-lime cake at Easter. It’s colorful and light, so it feel Eastery to me. Let me tell you, some cakes do not translate well into cupcakes. Let’s just say that the process of adding the flavoring goes better when you have a larger surface to work with. They may not be lovely, but I’ve heard they are tastey. Don’t worry, there is a tub of cool-whip with them so that you can frost your own.

Back in the Saddle

2010-11-05T12:09:00.001-07:00

Well I did manage to get the pizza cake and Buzz Lightyear finished as well as the cheesecake last week. Feeling good about that. But I really wasn’t back into the groove after our Chicago trip.
Here I am groove, back at it. This week I’ll be adding an Elephant theme baby shower cake and a Little Mermaid cake and cupcakes to the gallery.
I have a nice sized kitchen with a wall oven and an island. Working in the kitchen isn’t too hard at all. It’s much better than it could be in other homes, but I can’t wait till I can have a real workspace one of these days.
Want to walk down dream street with me for a moment? Here’s what we are thinking. Someday we will be able to finish a space in our basement where I can have a professional kitchen. I’ll have a double oven (at least) HUGE island, a place to store all of my supplies so that I don’t have to go running around wondering where I put things, and all the other basic kitchen needs. And then I can be a real business! YAY!
If you would like to donate to the cause, please feel free to order a cake for no reason at all and then insist on paying extra for it.

Droopy Cheesecake

2010-11-05T12:08:00.004-07:00

Cheesecake baked for delivery tomorrow. And it looks delicious! I so wish I could taste it! But my one concern is that it sank in the middle by almost an inch. Does that always happen? It’s been so long since I’ve made one that I just don’t remember. It was simple to fix as the outer edge stayed tall, so I just cut off the tall part and magically had a level cheesecake… But I still don’t think that is supposed to happen.
As long as it tastes good, right?

Cake! Who loves ya baby?

2010-11-05T12:08:00.002-07:00

Ta-Da! We are back from our Chicago escapade and I am now knee deep in another cake week. Today I anticipate calling upon my super powers (I’m distantly related to Wonder Woman) to get everything accomplished. I will be picking up the EPIC cute pictures of the boy child from JC Penny, grocery shopping, getting the boy child, getting his stuff from the in-laws, getting everyone fed, baking a cheesecake, and going to cake class. Yep, Wonder Woman…
I am pretty psyched to see how this week’s cakes turn out though. I have a cheesecake that will be done as a poker hand, a Buzz Lightyear cake and cupcakes and a 14″ pizza cake. Interesting combination, no?
I am having to turn more and more people away recently. I feel guilty about doing that, but when you come to me on Wednesday wanting a cake for Saturday and I already have 3 orders? Well, sorry you waited too long. I guess people are accustomed to getting cakes from Kroger and the like where they just pull one from the freezer and write on it. Not here at Creations by Lisa! I SLAVE over these cakes! Ok, well maybe that’s a smidge melodramatic, but you get my point.

2010-11-05T12:08:00.000-07:00

Here is my Horton Hears a Who cake. He dried a bit more slumpy that I anticipated, so he’s the Eeyore version of Horton, but I still think he’s cute!

Next up is the Star Wars cake. I wasn’t sure if blue and red are the right colors for lightsabers, but a source has confirmed that those are in fact acceptable colors. Good thing too. Wouldn’t want to let down the geek community!

Rock on!

2010-11-05T12:07:00.000-07:00

I am a cake rock star! Ok, not really… But it’s fun to pretend.
Last night was my first night of gumpaste flower making class. Can I get a WOOT? I’m very excited to learn all the super fancy flowers and the “correct” way to make them. As is I tend to wing it. The grand finale of the class? The WILTON ROSE! It’s like the holy grail of icing flowers. We shall see how this turns out.
My Horton cake is mostly finished. Just need to give Horton some details. You know, things like oh, eyes? Yeah, he needs those. Kinda creepy otherwise.
Stay tuned for completion of Star Wars light saber cake. I fear that the geekiness may not be acceptable for some. The mom requested red and blue light sabers and I’m not sure if those are legit colors or not. Oh well. So long as the birthday boy is happy, right?

More TMI (YAY!)

2010-11-05T12:06:00.001-07:00

I never knew that I liked to write about myself until just now. Huh, who knew?
At any rate, I decided that I wanted to give an idea of what it takes to do all this crazy cake stuff and have a life too.
This is what the rest of my week looks like:
Work till 4:30, grocery store, find food for self, cake class from 7-9PM. Somehow find a couple of minutes to work on Horton cake and Star Wars cakes that are due Friday AM. Tomorrow – work, dinner, mommy time, bride to be coming over for cake design convo, finish both cakes. Frida – work till noonish, deliver 2 cakes, leave for Chicago.
Right now it feels completely impossible. But it will get done, come hell or high water. The real issue is that my son is under the weather and as everyone knows, no one is as good as mommy when you’re sick. <sigh>
Why am I this busy? Why am I complaining about it? Well I’m not really complaining, but I do want people to get an idea of what it takes to have a real job, spouse, toddler and a side job as well as all of life’s other issues. As for why I’m this busy, it must be some kind of neurotic kind of thing. I find that when I have time to relax I get nervous or agitated. I can’t relax. I did not learn that skill apparently. Why? Why must I fill my schedule to the point of craziness?
Does anyone know what this is? Does anyone know how to fix it?
I love being busy to a certain point, then it gets to be too much in too short of time and it gets overwhelming. I have a hard time finding that line and sticking with it. For instance, I only had 1 cake due this week till late last night. Now it’s 2 cakes in less than 2 days and that with all the other stuff is too much. So why did I take the order? Why didn’t I say no?
One on hand I feel like I can’t turn orders down at this point in getting the cake business started. I’m trying to get business not turn it down. Do you go back to a baker that couldn’t accommodate you? Nope. But is a single order important enough to make myself bonkers over? I guess it must be since I took it.
Short story about Lisa – Once upon a time ago I was an overachiever. I got straight A’s on everything and nothing less was acceptable. I didn’t have any friends, but I sure was good at every class in school. Then things changed. We moved and I had a chance to be someone else. I took that chance. I decided that I should have friends and not be the teacher’s pet in every class. And I decided that it was ok if I got some B’s and even a C here and there. Well I made a couple of friends and I wasn’t the teacher’s pet, but I was an anxiety ridden mess about all of it. And that’s how it’s been since I was about 12. I try to act laid back and friendly and like I don’t care if I’m the best of the best, but there is still part of my brain that screams out that it has to be the best of the best at anything that I do. I thought by now that 19 years of not being an overt-overachiever would have smothered that part of me, but I guess not.
So here I sit at the age of 31 taking on more than I can realistically handle. The crazies? I got em.

Things to look forward to -

2010-11-05T12:05:00.004-07:00

What do you have to look forward to? There is an interesting variety of cakes coming your way soon.
This week I will be doing a graduation cake for Cindy Loo-Who, she will be getting a Horton Hears A Who cake.
Due August 14th are two cakes. A 14 inch pizza cake and a poker theme cheesecake.
I can’t wait to get into them and get pictures posted for everyone!

TMI from the cake lady

2010-11-05T12:05:00.002-07:00

Now here is all the info you’ve been dying to know about your local cake baker – A history of Lisa, in brief.
When I was growing up I had a babysitter. My mom started taking me to her when I was only 6 months old. I remember this woman as having been old, old, old from the first memory I have of her. But man could she bake! She was a member of Eastern Stars (the woman’s group in partnership with the Mason’s) and they would have a bake sale every other week. This woman made everything from scratch. Bread, doughnuts, cakes, pies, cookies, you name it and she baked it.
From the time I was old enough to hold a rolling pin, I was in the kitchen helping my babysitter bake everyday. I learned early on to watch for that moment of pure pleasure that crosses someones face when they bite into something delicious. That was the reward I grew up looking forward to everyday.
About the time I was 12 I was old enough to not need a babysitter any longer and sadly that ended the baking period of my life for many, many years. It wasn’t until I was in college and living on my own that I really started to bake again for pleasure. But once I graduated and entered the work place, I had a whole new group of people that needed some simple pleasure added to their daily lives. Thus the cake lady was born.
Every office that I’ve worked in for the last 10 years has enjoyed the benefits of having a cake lady. No birthday goes unmarked, no baby shower without a cake. Tell Lisa your favorite treat and she will have it for you the next day. And I enjoy it, that’s the best part. But these treats were not pretty, only tasty.
I have a Bachelor’s degree in Fine Arts and I work in an office. So, should I have a creative outlet? Yeah, maybe. About the time that my son’s first birthday approached, I realized that pretty cakes are expensive cakes. I HAD to have the coolest possible cake to mark my son’s first birthday, so off to cake class I went. I realized almost immediately that this was what I had been missing. The visual component to my tasty treats!
Now I’ve taken all of the Wilton cake decorating classes and have read forums and blogs and books and everything I can get my hands on about cake decoration. Now I am a cake artist, and now I am Creations by Lisa.

Hello out there!

2010-11-05T12:05:00.000-07:00

Yep, I’ve made the big time! Creations by Lisa not only has a Facebook page and a website, but now it also has it’s own blog!!! YES!
Now, to gather faithful readers…
My goal for this blog is to entertain you while telling you about the joys and tribulations of being a mom, wife, full-time employee and attempting to run my own custom cake business. We will laugh together and cry together! Or if you could at least give me a sympathetic pat on the back, I would appreciate it.
Let’s get this show on the road!