By popular demand…How I spent most of my birthday (and at least four days before it). My friend Stephanie and I created many cakes together during our careers in GIS and map making. She created mine when I retired in 2012 so it was definitely the thing to do for her retirement. Her chosen party theme centered around cartography, pirate ships, mapping, and sailing off into uncharted territory. Only the ship, plastic critters – deer and moose, trees, and the top part of the sign were inedible. I created everything except the critters and the orange and yellow “trees”. Equivalent to 7 cakes in the end and only a calorie or two in sight!
I used Betty Crocker Buttercream frosting recipes – vanilla and chocolate, the LMF Marshmallow Fondant recipe from Liz Marek at The Artisan Cake Co., and the Gum Paste recipe on the Wilton Gum Paste can. I wasn’t happy with the way the cakes tasted in the end but creating all of the parts and pieces really was a blast.
I’m a maker – from the initial thought, to the planning, researching, and working through the plan with changes and fun discoveries – it was all great fun. I loved every bit of it – changing the dining room and kitchen into the studio for most of a week and even cleaning it all up again!
Special thank you to Liz Marek for creating and posting her great videos. She is inspiring, encouraging, and charming!
A special thank you also to Ann Wood of Ann Wood Handmade for her ships patterns. I used her largest ship as a starting point, reduced it by 50%, and altered a few things.
There are several videos on YouTube that steered me for making the green trees. Think miniatures and model railroads.
Here is the best photo of Steph that I have. The lighting was pretty awful but Steph looked great!
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| From the backside |
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| From the North west corner |
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| The Compass Rose |
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| From the middle of the backside |
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| Sea Serpent |
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| The SMGRUBB |
