Lalaloopsy cake and the lessons I learned

I finally had the chance to make a Lalaloopsy birthday cake for a girl turning 8 years old. I must say that I was excited with this project. I've always wanted to try a Lalaloopsy doll. I think they're cute. Plus, buttons and stitches fascinate me a lot. I love incorporating a stitching texture/pattern in my designs.

Meet Jewel Sparkles and her pet cat

I'm pretty happy with how my fondant figure turned out. I am also happy with the letter patches that I made. They had different patterns and colors. I think they are really cute. However, I had major problems when I covered the actual cake.

(1) I ran out of Tylose powder, which I use to make my fondant more stable and prevent it from tearing. I visited all the stores that sell baking supplies in the city, but each one ran out of Tylose too.
(2) It was too hot when I made this cake. We don't have air conditioning in our kitchen. My fondant was sweating like crazy!!!

See the cracks and the wrinkles? I was really stressed over those! My cake would have been perfect if they didn't happen! I don't want this to ever happen again, so I immediately contacted my online suppliers and ordered a kilo of tylose powder. One thing that I should really watch out for is running low on supplies and ingredients. I should never allow it to happen again. 

Thankfully, the birthday girl still enjoyed her birthday cake. I was so relieved!

My Toy Story cake featuring Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and Bullseye

I never thought I could pull of a Toy Story cake featuring Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and Bullseye! I knew right from the start that modeling these characters would take all of my creative energies, and I wasn't sure if I had enough. But anyway, I pulled it off! I made it happen!

My version of Woody and Bullseye

Here's Buzz Lightyear!

Zack's Toy Story cake with Buzz Lightyear, Woody, and Bullseye

I know, I know. They don't really look like the ones from the cartoons. I'm still working on my sculpting skills. Sometimes, I get the faces really right like my Phineas and Ferb figures, but sometimes I don't. I really didn't have any formal training in this, so I think that, as long as the figures don't come out as scary, I should be proud. And I am really happy and relieved that I was able to see this through.

What do you think? Did I do an okay job with these characters? I'd love to hear from you!

By the way, I made this cake last March. This is a late post. :) 

Phineas and Ferb birthday cake for girls featuring Isabella

I made a Phineas and Ferb birthday cake for girls featuring Isabella. I'm so proud of it.

A little girl wanted a cake featuring Isabella from Phineas and Ferb. I first thought that it was a very difficult task since I couldn't find any tutorials to help me in modeling the gumpaste figures of Isabella and her friends. But I work well under pressure, and I was able to get the faces and expressions right at the last minute!

Here's a close up of the characters' faces. I did a great job, didn't I?

It was the first time for me to use homemade gumpaste when I worked with this cake, and I am very happy with the results! I seriously think my Phineas and Ferb characters in fondant rock!

I wish I was able to make a tutorial for them to help other cake decorators who are having some difficulty in crafting these characters. Unfortunately, I was such in a mad rush that I didn't have time to take step-by-step pictures. Maybe I'll recreate them just for the purpose of doing a tutorial, but it won't happen real soon. So for the meantime, please be content with my SpongeBob topper and Special Agent Oso tutorials.

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It's already May, and between my last update and today, I've made A LOT of cakes/cupcakes/cookies that I haven't posted yet. I sure have a lot of catching up to do! I'll work on the rest of my catch-up posts tomorrow. Goodnight!