After my mom and I spent some time hashing out ideas, she created this cute maternity top for me:

And it fits The Bump and I perfectly!

Tomorrow, I will be 33 weeks pregnant. If my mom’s prediction of Baby’s arrival time (read: early!) turns out to be correct, that leaves me only about 5 weeks before I’m officially on Mama duty.

And there’s still plenty to do, like finish setting up Baby’s space:

Get all of Baby’s clothes and diapers washed and ready to go:

Bake a bunch of lasagnas and quiches and other dinners that can be made ahead and frozen:

(Just because I’ll take a break from baking for clients doesn’t mean I get off the hook completely!)

All that to say, I am taking some time off from creating. A Baby Sabbatical, if you will. In fact, “sabbatical” is defined as “a rest from work, or a hiatus, often lasting from two months to a year.”

I can’t predict whether my break will be closer to the two month end or the one year end of that spectrum. That will depend mostly on Baby’s temperament and my energy level. (I sure hope it’s not a YEAR!)

But I can tell you this for sure: I finished my last cake order this morning and I’m only taking orders for custom books through TUESDAY, MAY 25th.

So…if you are planning to want a journal, photo book, or sketchbook made for an upcoming birthday, anniversary, or other special occasion, please order NOW. I want to be able to guarantee I can get it done for you before Birth Day!

In the meantime, I will continue posting about the projects I have completed…until the queue runs dry!

Thank you so much for your understanding and for your patronage over the past few years. Your loving support and sweet comments mean a lot to me!

–Abbi

When they had their ultrasound, they had the technician write the gender down and place it in a sealed envelope. Then they took the envelope to a cake baker, who made a cake revealing the baby’s gender. They borrowed the idea from a friend, and as a cake baker, I can only wish I would’ve thought of this! Perhaps one day someone will want me to bake them a special announcement cake like this. Enjoy the video:

Boy? or Girl? from Cheyenne Schultz on Vimeo.

Geoff and Cheyenne: I am SO THRILLED for you guys! You are going to make terrific parents!! Congratulations, again!

Since MJ was turning 8 on April 8th, this was her one and only Golden Birthday. So I was extra excited when she asked me if I’d make the cake for her party at Remington Park.

Her request was perfectly ‘MJ’: A tiered chocolate cake with pink icing and polka dots. So that’s what she got!

Her little friends were so cute. They kept saying, “You MADE that?” and “You make really good cakes!” I love kids…they are so easily pleased.

Happy birthday, sweet girl! We love you and are SO proud of you!

Teddy will be turning 4 this month, and in Anne’s words, “he would love a personalized field journal to write down ‘observations.’”

How cute is that?! Anne did some research about Teddy’s favorites and as luck would have it, he loves green frogs! I happened to have the perfect fabric for his book!

To jazz up the fabric a bit, I added orange brads to give the frog’s warts some texture (eww?)

I also used silver embroidery floss for the bugs’ flight patterns.

I love the depth that the sewing gave both the wings and the swirls. I’d been wanting to try this technique for a while, and this fabric was the perfect opportunity!

Teddy’s favorite color is red, and since no observation journal is complete without a writing utensil, I added a red ribbon pen loop and a red mechanical pencil.

Teddy also loves the alphabet, so for the inside paste pages, I used lettered paper in coordinating colors. Anne also included the verbiage for a personalized inscription, so I added that to the inside cover as well.

Anne, thanks for asking me to make Teddy’s book! It was such a fun change of pace to make a child’s journal!

Teddy, HAPPIEST OF HAPPY BIRTHDAYS!! May this book house all your big ideas!

***

What, you’ve never heard of a Cupcake Kabob before?!

The first thing I did to prep the kabobs was grab a bunch of these:

And a bunch of these:

If I could help it, I didn’t want to repeat colors on each kabob, so I skewered the candied fruit slices on the sticks so I could get a feel for how things would pan out.

The next several steps are the same ones I followed to make the Lamington Mini-Cupcakes. In fact, the same mini-cuppies were used, so I just repeated the photos here in case you missed the Lamingtons post (shame on you, by the way).

Like I mentioned before, it made a BIG batch…which is good when you have lots of kabobs to create!

The icing was a simple paste made of warm milk and confectioner’s sugar.

Each mini cupcake was hand-dipped in the icing,

and the excess was given a moment to run off.

Here’s the tricky part…you have to refrain from just gobbling these up after they are dipped. It’s difficult, let me tell you! Especially since they are so miniature and cute!

Since I managed a sliver of self-control long enough to add some sugar sprinkles, this was the final result:

Now, repeat a million times with various colors of sugar sprinkles.

Okay, maybe not a million, but MANY times nonetheless.

Mmm. If you are the impatient type, you could just stop here, slap these babies on a plate, and call it a day. You just wouldn’t be able to call them “kabobs.”

I then added one cupcake of each color (orange, yellow, pink) to a skewer, alternating fruit slices in between.

And repeat. And repeat. And repeat. And repeat….

Since these were for a bake sale, I wrapped each one in cellophane, tied the ends with cheerful yellow ribbon and called it a day.

They were absolutely darling.

And I was absolutely spent.

That said, it can be difficult to decide on a nursery theme, but Sara and Jay have done a great job by choosing a jungle animals theme: cute lions and tigers (and bears? Oh, my…don’t bears live in forests, not jungles? haha). Monkeys and elephants and giraffes round out the mix.

Sara and Jay wanted to write down thoughts, dreams, and predictions during the pregnancy and they asked me to make a book they could give to “Baby Blueberry” once he/she is old enough to appreciate it.

I found the most perfect fabric for the cover and created a 6×6 journal with a ribbon bookmark.

I used a neutral burlap pattern for the inside pages and added a place where Mom and Dad could add a personalized note/dedication to Baby.

I also made Sara and Jay a photo album that would hold all the snapshots they are sure to take of Baby’s first year (or months or weeks, if they are extra camera-happy!). The fabric matched the smaller journal and included a label holder which will house a name placard with Baby’s name once they find out the gender (placards not shown…wouldn’t want to spoil the name surprise!)

The album also included a sticker for an inscription/dedication.

The pages hold two 4×6 photos, but the plastic covers could also be removed if Sara and Jay decide they want to have some larger pages incorporated into the album.

It was so fun making these. I feel honored to be a part of Baby Blueberry’s keepsake collection…before he/she is even born! I guess I’d better get crackin’ on making an album like this for my own Baby! The clock is ticking!

Sara and Jay: Congratulations on your little blessing. Can’t wait to see him/her!

It’s…a bowling ball!!

And no bowling ball would be complete without pins! M was going to celebrate her 4th birthday by going bowling with her friends, and M’s mom called me to request a bowling themed cake.

I cut a 11 x 15 sheet cake into a ball-and-pins shape using a template I created on my computer. The whole cake was then iced with classic butter cream in white and hot pink. The ‘holes’ in the bowling ball were actually dark cocoa Candy Melts.

M’s mom send me a photo from the party. Nothing makes me happier than seeing a kid blow out the candles on a cake I’ve made!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, M! Hope you had a great time at your party!

Therese’s daughter Aden was having a birthday and wanted a leopard print cake. So, I set out to find a great pattern I could recreate in royal icing.

I spent several hours piping icing into perfect leopard-like shapes. My shapes are on the left, the pattern I studied is on the right:

Once the spots dried, I iced a 12″ two-layer chocolate cake with pink icing. I then added the birthday phrase, a beaded border, and the leopard spots.

I would loved to see how these spots would look on a tiered cake!

Detail shot of the spots: Outlined in 100% thickness royal icing and filled with a looser version of the same icing to make a ‘pillowy’ look.

Happy Birthday, Aden! I hope it was a great one!!

I made 48 cupcakes: two dozen vanilla and two dozen chocolate. The guest of honor loves cream cheese icing, so that was my frosting of choice. The project pretty much invaded my kitchen for the whole day as I got an assembly line going.

For every dozen, I made 6 chocolate and 6 vanilla with the same topping.

White swirl with pink sugar crystals.

Pink swirl with white nonpareils.

White iced with pink sugar pearls and pink jumbo heart sprinkle.

And pink sugar-crystal-coated with a white jumbo heart sprinkle.

I lined some Xerox paper box lids with heavy-duty foil so Felicia could easily transport the cupcakes to her office.

They all looked so cozy next to their cupcake neighbors.

And, being a lover of all things bulk, it makes my heart smile to see mass quantities of anything, especially cupcakes.

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the color of the hot pink ones.

All in a day’s work!

Want to know the upside to doing cupcakes instead of a regular cake at a shower or party?
1: You can have several flavors.
2. You can get various designs.
3: You don’t have to guess on serving size
4: You don’t need utensils or plates (which saves the hostess money!)

Well, who better to help you turn this age…

…than this superhero?!

Amy contacted me for some party/gift giving help. 1: she wanted to have a custom journal made for a gift. 2: her son was turning four and only likes Spider-Man. Nothing more, nothing less. Spider-Man. No questions asked. Aren’t 4 year olds great?!

So, I spent some time creating a custom-made Spider-Man cake…better than the regular ol’ sheet cakes you buy with the decal stuck on top, no?

I used homemade marshmallow fondant to create his spidey eyes and layered them on top of rich, dark chocolate icing.

I used Candy Melts (dark cocoa flavored) to create the spider emblem on his spandex suit.

And the edge was finished off with a row of chocolate icing beads.

Happy Birthday!!