Monday, April 07, 2008

Happy Birthday Catelynn!



Catelynn turns one in a few days so family and friends gathered this past Saturday to celebrate. Catelynn was in good spirits all day and was happily passed from mom to gram to auntie to friend needing a "baby fix"...



I volunteered to make cake and cupcakes for the party. The theme was turtles and I got my inspiration from the invitation which had a cute stylized turtle on it. I decided to use marzipan this time (the gum paste I used for the decorations on Cassidy's first birthday cupcakes was tasteless - bleh!). I used chocolate jimmies for the eyes and little white non-pareils to decorate the shells.




David and Stephanie had beautiful springy shades of green and pink for the plates, cups and flatware which coordinated perfectly with the gorgeous tulips brought by Bob and Chuck. Even the green in my little turtles fit in nicely with the display!




Happy first birthday my dear little Catelynn!!!

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Cathy, I can't take my eyes off the cake and cupcakes (and can't stop saying awwwww in a high-pitched voice)!!
The turtles are soooo cute, and as usual, your work is sheer perfection. I love the classy yet vibrant colors and the theme is so unusual.
Happy Birthday to baby Catelynn and here's wishing her all the joys in the world. Isn't she lucky to have you as her aunt?

Leigh said...

You made those darling little turtle decorations?!?!!?! I am sooooo impressed!

santos. said...

very, very cute. so charming. you hand-applied all those nonpareils!!

mari said...

What a lucky little one-year-old! Those turtles are absolutely adorable! I'm really impressed.

I was kind of wondering where you were; I've been meaning to post about you and your new project but of course, I got busy with all sorts of other things. I feel like a lot of people are going through changes, stops and starts. Don't worry too much about it.

Cathy said...

Hi Nupur - thanks so much! I have to admit I was pretty tickled by how well they turned out. When I started I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to do it, but thankfully it all worked out!

Hi Leigh - thanks, yes I did :) Working with marzipan was lots of fun, though I probably should have allowed myself more time. I was pretty bleary eyed by the time I got around to frosting the cake!

Hi Santos! Thanks! I'm so glad I found those white nonpareils - I was afraid I was going to have to sort them out from a multi-colored mix :D

Hi Mari - thank you! Good thing you haven't written about my project - then I'd really be feeling guilty! :)

Rowena said...

What a delightful job you did on those turtle cupcakes. I looked at them and wished that there was a baby in the house (well, not really), just so I could pinch his/her chubby little cheeks!

Now about your previous post on blogging...hang in there! I'm actually envious of your break. Now that draftblogger has a new feature for scheduled posts, I plan on writing up a ton, only to be published at a certain day/hour. Then I can spend all the time that I want in the garden. :-)

Cathy said...

Hi Rowena - thanks!! Maybe you can borrow a baby for just a little while :)

So you're using draft Blogger? I haven't tried that yet, but I do love the idea of scheduling posts. Some of the other features sound great too. I've been hesitant because I wasn't sure if you switched if you were stuck with it (should it turn out to be buggy), but I may have to go ahead and take the leap.

Anonymous said...

Cathy,
Awww...how absolutely adorable!! I LOVE the cake and cupcakes!! Happy 1st to Catelynn! She is SO lucky to have you in her life! Wish I could hire you for June's first b-day...we won't have anything nearly as perfect as what you've done here!

Alice

Toni said...

So cute! You did a great job.

Cerebrum said...

Wow Cathy, great job! They're absolutely adorable, Catelynn is a very lucky girl :)

Katrina said...

Just stumbled upon your blog and saw the darling turtle cake and cupcakes. What a great job! My son just turned one March 16 and I had a turtle theme in mind for him, and just don't have the talent for it and couldn't really get the idea I wanted to pan out, although he did HAVE a turtle cake, it was nothing like yours. Wish I would have seen your idea before.
I decided to start collecting turtles for my baby as his 4 year old brother whose room he'll be sharing soon is green and he collects frogs, so I thought turtles would be good to go with it. Have already started a nice collection of stuffed turtles for the baby. Anyway, just thought I'd let you know the turtle cakes were great!

megz_mum said...

Those turtles are so gorgeous! Can you tell me what you used? I get Odense marzipan (in a roll) and (although I haven't tried) it doesn't appear to lend itself to shaping, it seems too soft.

Cathy said...

Hi Alice - I can't believe June is almost one! Gosh, time is whizzing by these days... anyway, I'm sure her birthday celebration and cake WILL be perfect! It's so nice to hear from you Alice - hope you're doing well... I must write soon :)

Hi Toni - thanks so much!

Hi Zarah! Thank you!!

Hi K&K - I have two brothers that have long been turtle lovers and one (Catelynn's dad) apparently plans to pass that affection on to his daughter. He even has a turtle pond in his backyard. I took a look at your turtle cakes and I thought they were both adorable!

Hi Megz_mum - thanks! Odense marzipan is exactly what I used. I haven't worked with it before, so I don't know if there is a lot of variability in the consistency, but the two rolls I had were both quite stiff. It took a little effort to mix in the coloring, but once that was done it was a good consistency to work with. Perhaps if yours seems too loose, you could mix in the color then chill it before shaping it.

reid said...

Cathy,

You did a wonderful job with the cake AND all those cupcakes. How you had the patience to apply all those nonpareils is beyond me.

Anonymous said...

The cakes are beautiful! I loved making animal cakes when my daughters were young.Happy Birthday to Catelyn. My daughter had a birthday on the 11th but she was 26! We had cakes from http://www.babycakes.com.au/ but I don't think they looked as good as yours!

Unknown said...

These are SOOOO Cute! I haven't ventured into the world of shaping decor, but this is wonderful.

Felicia said...

What beautiful little cupcakes and an awesome turtle :)

Cakespy said...

Those turtles are so so so so so cute!! I just cannot get over it!

Srivalli said...

Cathy..thats such a wonderful art piece...so beautiful!..though I am really very late...pls convey my birthday wishes!

ranji said...

woow!!thats is such a cute cake...love those baby turtles..really gorgeous!!good work:)

Sophie said...

those turtles are adorable :). I love 'em!

Anonymous said...

Holy smokes, I'm so impressed! This took a LOT of work!

Luca and Sabrina said...

So sweetie, so charming and so full of love! Your artistry is a signal triumph!!!
Have a nice day
Sabrina&Luca

Unknown said...

Happy birthday! Love the cupcakes

Anonymous said...

Those turtles are so cute!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! Love the design of those turtles, fantastic. Lucky birthday girl :)

Anonymous said...

I have seen so many cakes before but this is most yummy for me. Little baby walking slowly like turtle good theme also. really nice cake.

Birdsong said...

What a beautiful and fun design!

Susan Wolcott said...

OMG! I want cupcakes for my birthday

Anonymous said...

Those cupcakes look amazing! I love how you did the turtles, shear genius!

Anonymous said...

I want to try to make these. My family has two pet turtles and these would be fun and whimsicle at any family gathering. Now I just need to see if there is anywhere in your blogs about how you made these!! They are fabulous!!!