I love... CAKE!

I've been missing my blog... things are still busy but becoming more manageable (I think ☺). 

We are finally over our shared family flu - we even ventured out yesterday for a lovely day strolling the shops in a nearby touristy town... 

we had ice cream (pistachio gelato - YUM)... 

we had cookies (oh and a heavenly hot hot coffee)... 

we bought fabric from a quilt shop sale... 

got the grocery shopping done and had a wander through the plant nursery...

I even happened upon a little inspiration - which is always nice ☺

I have an exciting week coming up.... My Little Little Miss M will be turning TWO!!! And birthdays mean cake! I love LOVE LOVE cake!

Here's my little pumpkin.... gosh I love her teeth (and the rest of her too - but my, how I hope her adult teeth look as good as her bubby ones!)

(Please ignore that irritating pile of laundry to be folded and my strategic attempt to hide it behind a watermark!)

I can't believe how fast the two years has gone... birthdays always make me reminisce. The memories of the pregnancy, those first contractions, that first cuddle and everything between then and now... Yes, my girls do drive me crazy at times but no words could ever adequately give meaning to how full of love they fill my entire being and world....

Anyway, that's enough gushing for now and here's a look back the cakes I made for my girls birthdays last year:

Big Little Miss M's birthday

Little Little Miss M's 1st birthday 

And here's what I'll be baking this year (small cakes preview only... you'll have to check back over the next week to see the 'reveal' of her actual birthday cake ☺)

Love these ice cream cone cakes... perfect to take along to playgroup to share... I want to make something like this (but just a little different too...) Fingers crossed they work for me - I've never made these before (any tips would be ever so appreciated too)!

SOURCE:  bakerella.com 

And these super cool and fun Cookie Monster Cupcakes...

And to decorate with some gorgeous giant crepe paper pom poms... in purple, lilac and cream...

SOURCE: marthastewart.com

Ooooh, how I love birthdays and creating special memories ☺

Cheers for now and come back soon... and you're more than welcome to leave a comment - I love them almost (but not quite) as much as cake!

How time flies... even when you're not having fun!

Wow... where did the last 2 weeks go? I feel like they just flew by and my poor neglected blog has just sat idle... waiting... waiting... waiting for a new post!

Well, I am still here - trying to sort things and really get organised so that I can manage not only my blog and my online selling of handmade SpaNGle* items but the most important thing of all... homelife with my gorgeous girls and husband. I think I need to come up with a timetable of sorts because lately it seems that one thing bleeds into another and the result is that none of my endeavours or family are really getting the attention they need or deserve.

The house is a mess... it's cold and miserable outside... we are all getting our second round of colds for the year... and yep, this early taste of winter is causing a little of the winter blues to set in!

So, give me a few more days (I've got a bundle of sewing orders to get through), I will be working on a timetable/schedule for day to day things - because it's come to the point that if I don't have one I'm just not going to get things done... and not getting things done is really stressful!

And then, hopefully I'll be back with a vengeance (and a whole lot of newly inspired creations to share) and a plan... after all one of my resolutions was to become more organised this year and at present it's looking like a fail!

I guess we all go through periods where everything kind of takes over and it feels like everything is hurtling along with no real direction or control - I just need to stop, take a breath, look around and find some focus again ☺

In the meantime... here's a few inspiring photo's and links to some really awesome projects and ideas I've come across on Pinterest...

The DIY fingerprint Jewellery tutorial over at Sara Hortega's Photography Blog I am going to have to find time to try this! I've always wanted my girls fingerprints on some jewellery - and this is definitely a cost effective way of achieving some!

And because it will be soon Little Little Miss M's second birthday and a month later Big Little Miss M's fourth birthday I'm starting to think about all things birthday and party....

These Chocolate Party Spoons will definitely be making an appearance at Big Little Miss M's party! The how to on making these simple but stunning party treats can be found at Delicious Delicious Delicious





This teapot cake will be my inspiration for Big Little Miss M's cake this year... I don't know the original source site for this photo but if you do I'd love know because they've done a gorgeous job with this cake creation!

Some party favour cones that can be found at this Finnish site - I think these would look fab in pinks hung above a candy buffet...





So Cheers for now and I'll be back really soon... if time continues to fly along like it has been lately it'll be before you (and I) know it...