Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! I'm looking forward to a day filled with presents, yummy food and family. I'll leave you with some photos of the cupcakes I made for a friend to give as a present for Christmas. I also made some mini ones with fondant money on them to give out to her workmates, along with some business cards - nothing like free marketing!!

Cupcakes!

I whippped up a quick batch of cupcakes last night to take for morning tea as today was my last day at work for 2010! This year has gone so fast!

I made little ruler, pencil and calculator toppers to reflect my job (I'm an Architectural Draughtsperson by day!) They seemed to go down well!

All my Christmas shopping is done now, I'm looking forward to a big day filled with family, my pupppy, cake and pavlova!

Weekly Wishlist - Christmas Edition

Christmas Wishlist by kcduey featuring wedge boots

Ah if i could have anything I wanted for Christmas it would include at least SOME of the above...

• A gorgeous body butter or moisturiser
• Some amazing wedge boots
  
• An iPhone
• A camera tripod
• CHOCOLATE!
• A charm bracelet

Maybe I'll receive one or two, I know I'll be eating lots of chocolate though! I'm so looking forward to Christmas, even if I still have to do my Christmas shopping - better late than never!

Arrival -Business cards!!

A little package arrived in the post today, addressed to me!! Inside was a whole bunch of business cards I designed last week, I'm so happy they are here now!! Above is a few pictures of what they look like.

Outfit Post - What I'll be wearing this Summer...

Black Heels - Ruby Shoes, Sequin Clutch - K-mart, Dress - Unknown, Earrings - Diva

Maxi dress - Cotton On, Silver slouchy cardy - Glassons, Black padded clutch - Equip, Earrings - Equip

Sequin T-shirt - Shanton, Black zip skinny pants - Trends, Bag - Strand Bags, Silver flats - K-mart

I love planning my outfits before I wear them! I can quite happily spend an evening playing "dress-ups" and trying out different combinations of clothes and accessories. These are some combo's I have come up with lately, I'm looking forward to pulling them out for different occasions.

I have included one dressy evening-out outfit, and casual (still sparkley!) outfit and a daytime outfit. i do like plain coloured basics in black and I add a touch of sparkle - I think it has the same effect as colour!! There is nothing like driving down the motorway with the radio up, the sun streaming in the window and sequins causing a disco-ball effect on the roof of the car...

Happy weekend!!

First Order - Buzzy Bee Cupcakes

Remember this picture from my Christmas cake post? Well it got me my first order - 6 chocolate cupcakes with buzzy bee toppers for a friend to give her Mother-in-law for Christmas. Very exciting! In fact, in all that excitement I headed over to Vistaprint to create my own business cards. I had been playing around with a name and a logo for a while so I thought why not get myself out there??

Check out my new name and logo for my cake decorating business on my new blog here...

I am now eagerly awaiting them in the mail, and planning my cupcakes. There will definitely be photos coming!!

On another note, I may have gone on a Trademe rampage. Oh well, I'm almost set for summer now! Photos to follow once I recieve all my items...yes, I said all!

Weekly Wishlist - Black Maxi Dress

Black Maxi Dress by kcduey featuring sleeveless dresses

On the list for this week - a black maxi dress. Can't wait to rock it during the day alone with some sandals, then throw on a sparkley cardy and add a clutch to head out for a drink with friends.

Summer uniform maybe?? Bring it on!

Weekly Wishlist - Camera Tripod

Tripod by kcduey on Polyvore.com

This week on my list - a camera tripod!! Then I could finally take some outfit photos...possibly on the "present-to-self" list for Christmas?

I hope it has been a good weekend for everyone!

Cake Decorating Class - Christmas Cake

Phew! It has been a long time coming but I have finally finished my cake for my cake decorating class. I spent a few hours last weekend making the figures for the top, and did the piping around the bottom last night.

I'm really pleased with how it came out! Just what I imagined...not a typical take on a Christmas cake but hey, when you live in a climate where Christmas is in the middle of summer snowflakes and warm clothing isn't exactley what you're used to!

I decided Santa got to New Zealand and had a break at the beach. Cue sandcastle, beer and a surfboard! I filled up his sleigh with NZ icons - jandals, gumboots, Roses chocolates, a buzzy bee toy, a kiwi and a pohutukawa flower. He is snacking on Ham and pavlova with kiwifruit - always staples at my Christmas dinner. There is of course a few candy canes lying around and a fancy sandcastle!

Looking forward to Christmas now and testing out my cake! What are your plans for Christmas?

Weekly Wishlist - Satchel

Satchel by kcduey featuring a leather tote

On my Weekly Wishlist this week is a nice black satchel. This would be perfect to take to work, instead of my current bag which I always struggle to find stuff in!

Basic black would be the best choice for me I think, I like to have a bit of sparkle in my clothes so it would be best to keep my accessories neutral.

Now off to Trademe to see what I can find!!

A Graduation - Fondant Person on Plaque

From Left: Me, my Mum, my Sister

I have just got back from my little sisters graduation. She has just finished studying hairdressing and is about to begin an apprenticeship at a salon which is very exciting! I wanted to give her a little present that was original and special, so I made her this little figure from fondant with a hair straightener, comb, curlers and scissors.

The whole thing is edible, but it also sets hard so can be kept as a little figurine if she wants. I am so happy with it it came out exactley as I imagined!!

I am also excited about completing my Christmas cake for cake decorating. I have a special cake topper I have been planning and can't wait to finish it and post some pictures soon. I hope it will be a great weekend!

Tick it off the Wishlist - Hightop Sneakers

Yay!! I am so happy to tick one item off my wishlist. I found these on Trademe yesterday and it didn't take much for me to push that "buy now" button...

They are actually the same as my current silver ones but in shiny black - I'm eagerly awaiting their arrival in the letterbox now!!

Ballet Review - The Nutcracker

I really enjoyed the ballet on Friday night. The Nutcracker is so great this time of year and there were some amazing moments particulary a romantic duet between a doctor and nurse in a snow storm - so cool!

Check out my review here, on the Theatreview website.

Hope it's been a great weekend!

Late Spring Inspiration

I finally have my DSLR camera back after its visit to the shop to get fixed - so I made the most of a beautiful late-spring evening and captured some of the many flowers and plants in my jungle of a garden.

I've seen some amazing rhododendrons around the neighbourhood lately and am thinking about doing a little of study of them so I can make them out of gumpaste.

Hopefully I'll be able to snap some over the next few evenings!

My home town just held a rhododendron festival recently, check it out here.