A last minute Christmas printable (or 3!), with love from Cake Ink.

Over here at Cake Ink., I have a bit of a theory going that 'pressure makes diamonds' - meaning that there is nothing like a bit of last-minute pressure to make me bring the goods!!! ;) Those that know me well know that I am often late, and often leave things to the last minute, but that I usually manage to pull it off somehow... usually. Janelle has even nicknamed me 'Diamond' - teehee.

So, in the spirit of all things last-minute, and the spirit of giving and saying thank you to all our lovely beautiful clients, readers, customers, likers, pinners, followers and friends, I am finally getting around to photographing these super cute printable paper bunting I designed a few weeks ago for a gorgeous customer of ours. Yes, that's right, these babies have been sitting around my studio now for a couple weeks, looking at me and saying 'C'mon - take our picture so you can put us online!', but it seems I just keep finding other things to do... guess that happens when you're busy! But with less than a week til the big man in red arrives, I figure I better hurry up and get these uploaded so our lovely peeps can get printing and decorating!

So, there are 3 designs to choose from, and it's pretty simple - just print onto heavy paper or card, cut them out, punch some holes to thread with string or ribbon, and hello! super pretty bunting to add some festive cheer to your home, office, studio, caravan.... Feel free to share the love, and print as many as you like to make for your mum, neighbour, your cousin's neighbour - get printing!!! Choose from vintage, traditional or modern (just click to download!).

Oh, back to the reason why these even exist - a gorgeous customer from our etsy store asked me if I would be interested in creating this artwork for her mother's group, and I thought it would be a nice way to give back in some way to our customers - so I donated the artwork to their group for their Christmas crafting session!! There are some cute pics below of their creations - how clever they are!!! And my version of the bunting are just threaded onto boring old twine... how 2011 of me ;)

Images by Kelly, from MOPS Cherry Creek Presbyterian

So, on a final note, Merry Christmas to all our beautiful readers, and a happy and safe holiday season! Janelle and I are truly so humbled and thrilled for every like or comment on our work, or a new follower - we want to thank everyone who has supported us and Cake Ink. over the past 12 months, and we promise to return early in 2013 with some MASSSSIVE things in store!!!! Happy holidays to you and yours, be safe and happy!!!

~ Samone & Janelle xo

custom NYC illustration by NYC illustrator

Hi! Remember us??!! gosh it's been busy around here! and it's ramping up to be our biggest wedding season yet, so exciting!

We celebrated Janelle & Stu's wedding here in Oz a little over a week ago (and I think I am still recovering!), and we can't wait to share pics soon! But firstly I wanted to share with you the work of the amazing Holly Graham.

I was so sad that I wasn't going to be in NYC to share Janelle's big special day with her, and so I wanted to find the perfect gift for her and Stu that showed just how much me and my husbo wished we had've been able to share the day with them. So I somehow had the idea of a custom illustration of a map of New York that outlined where in the city they spend their special day, and so I started browsing etsy, as you do, and came across Holly's shop - who better to illustrate NYC than a NYC illustrator!!

I loved her unique illustrative style, particularly the colour and the great digital feel it has, so I sent her an email, and there it began! Holly was amazing to work with - super accommodating, she listened to my brief which was pretty broad and extensive!, and managed to create this beautiful, concise depiction of the J&S NYC wedding - the details in the illo are perfect, and Holly did such an amazing job!!!! I highly recommend her work and services, and I can't wait to work with her more in the future!!

See some more of Holly's work here, and also visit her blog for some more! I love it and can't get enough - Holly thank you so so much for the amazing job you did, the illustration is the perfect gift!!! I couldn't have been happier, and the bride and groom's reaction was the icing on the cake

On another note, we are super excited to be in Cosmo Bride this month!! Yay! One of our lovely brides from earlier in the year, Aleisha McCormack, has a little feature article in there and we are so proud of the work we created with her!! Visit our earlier blog post for a little reminder of all the yellow polka-dotty goodness!!!

Anyway, I must get back to designing my son's birthday invites (I am the WORST procrastinator when it comes to designing stuff for myself!!! sigh...)

Lovage!! Samone xo

Planning a NYC-style backyard celebration

2. Image by Brent Lukey

3. Recipe for Raspberry S'mores

4. Cavallini & Co. postcards available from Little Paper Lane

5. Image from Oh, Hello Friend!

7. Stamp set by Yellow Owl Workshop

8. Classic Baked Cheesecake from donna hay

9. Image by Brent Lukey 

10. Momofuku Milk Bar cake (images from here)

11. Image from Eat Drink Chic

(1. & 6. - Source unknown - sorry!)

 

Well, with less than a week until Janelle becomes a Mrs, we thought we would share a couple of snaps from our wedding! We were married in April 2010, our ceremony was at Karrawingi Park in Mooroduc, and our reception was at the beautiful Merricks General Wine Store. Ahhh, memories!! I designed the invites of course (after much procrastination), and I think this was Janelle's first attempt at fondant?! delicious choc mud cake with pastel green shimmery fondant and paper flowers from etsy. My bouquet was from Berwick Flowers (my local!), my dress from a little boutique at Chadstone, and the hairpiece another etsy find.

Janelle and her beau are in LA at the moment, soaking up some rays as they head over towards NYC where they will be joined by their family and friends later in the week - we are so sad we're not there, but are working madly behind the scenes for the massive after-party for when they arrive home!! Stay tuned for some prep pics and NYC-styled party plans, and news from the happy couple on their big day!!

Have a great weekend!
~ Samone xo

FREE Father's Day printable card & bookmark

Father's Day has snuck up on us quite quickly this year, as I am sure it has most first time mums?! Well I hope it's not just me that hasn't been organised until earlier this week! Father's Day in Australia falls on the first Sunday of September, and is always right in between many family birthdays and goings-on and often gets neglected - but not this year!! It's my husby's very first Father's Day, so Lewis and I bought him this lovely big gardening book complete with lots of tips for our new veggie patch which is almost ready to roll.

So, in true Cake Ink. fashion, we decided to design a card that we can share with our wonderful blog readers and friends! There is space to add in your own photo like I have done, or you might get your little one to draw a special picture of them with their Dad. We made a quick little matching bookmark too to add into Daddy's new book, and it is magnetised so he won't lose his place!

You can download the file here, happy printing! and have a wonderful day with the Dads in your life this coming weekend!

~ Samone xo

our picks for Dad

1. print from Aunty Cookie
2. card by Milk and Cookies
3. compass cufflinks by Rag Trader Vintage
4. Inner Earth Soap's handmade charcoal complexion soap
5. Jamie's 30 Minute Meals cookbook
6. handcarved custom stamp by Kelsey Pike
7. personalised notecards from Rifle Paper Co.
8. cushion made by Neon Vintage Design

American Brownies

There is something so therapeutic about baking, and even more so baking with chocolate! A busy day yesterday has followed up a hectic week or so with a sick bubba, visiting friends, plenty of quoting and invite designing, and just life in general! So today, we are taking a bit of a break, going out for a bit of window shopping later today, and we baked some brownies to take to our mum's group this morning. These brownies are so simple, easy and delicious, and best of all they don't really have any odd ingredients in them and I can usually whip up a batch with my pantry staples. I can't remember where this recipe originates from - I think it might have come from one of my mum's Womens Weekly cookbooks?? - but I do remember baking these babies since I was about 16 and have taken them to many a school camp or friends' sleepover!!

AMERICAN BROWNIES

Ingredients:
250g butter
1/2 cup cocoa
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 cup plain flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Melt the butter in a saucepan large enough to mix all the ingredients. Once melted, add the cocoa and stir in, then remove from heat. Stir in the sugar, then add the eggs one at a time, then vanilla, and beat well. Sift in the flour and baking powder, mix to combine. And now is a good time to throw in any extras you wish - I added walnuts to this batch, but you could add raspberries, white choc chips, toasted almonds, raisins? or plain is good too!! Pour into a greased and lined slice tin, and bake at 180°C for 25-30 mins. The original recipe says you can ice it if you wish, but it really doesn't need it - just a good liberal sprinkling of icing sugar once they're cool, but they generally don't get a chance to cool down we often eat them all while still warm - especially if there is vanilla icecream about!!

Enjoy!!
~ Samone xo

Planning a NYC wedding

With only a little over two months to go, I thought I'd share with you my experience in planning our NYC wedding! Having been on the other side of the fence and contributing to the special day of many, I must admit it's been a very joyful and happy experience planning my own. It's given me a new found appreciation and perspective on life as a bride-to-be; the myriad of choices, the excitement, anticipation and the sense of the unknown. We can't wait to say our vows in front of our nearest and dearest in a way that reflects 'us' - small, intimate and classic.

Even from many thousands of miles away, our amazingly-awesome wedding vendors (many found via trawling through various wedding blogs) have gone above and beyond to make the planning process relatively easy, stress-free and a heap of fun.. who would have thought?! We honestly couldn't have done all the ground work without them.

I'd love to share a little bit about a couple of them and show you some of their fabulous work. We love being a part of this industry and it's inspiring to see other vendors who are so passionate, talented and devoted to their work. We feel so lucky to have these guys contributing to our vision and our special day... we look forward to meeting you in person!

Choosing our photographer was the first and one of the easiest choices we made. As soon as we saw Maggie Harkov's work, we were sold. Maggie captures such beauty and raw emotion in her images and she truly LOVES her job. Maggie is completely in love with love (her husband affectionately refers to her as Mrs. Hallmark... adorable) and this is clearly portrayed in her work. She makes a point of getting to know her clients on a personal level and remains friends with them long after the wedding. Amazing!

Maggie pointed us in the direction of a florist based near her home in Brooklyn that I instantly fell in love with...  Saipua create such unique and beautiful arrangements that really pay homage to the changing of the seasons. I really like their unstructured yet somehow polished arrangements that really steal the show. Since we are getting married in Autumn (Fall), our arrangements will most likely feature some gorgeous dahlias, heirloom roses, persimmons, crabapple, Asian pears, lace cap hydrangea, snowberry, sedum, amaranth and wild grasses. 



I found this featured interview on my hairstylist for the day, Stacy Pitt of Styles on B, that gives a glimpse in to her awesome hair studio in the East Village. Stacy has a background in art and applies principles learnt to hair - painting inspires her use of colour application and clay sculpting inspires her knack for 'moulding' hair in to a beautiful up-do. Love!

I won't reveal too much about the other details of the day (including the all-important CAKE)... I'll be sure to share them with you upon our return! I will however share some sneak peeks of the beautiful custom stationery that Samone has created for Stu and I... the images don't do them justice - they're simply perfect in every way and I can't thank you enough, Sammy.

For those of you who are in the throes of planning your wedding, I hope you're enjoying the journey as much as I am!

Janelle xo

Wedding photography: Maggie Harkov Photography

Flowers: Saipua in Brooklyn, NY

Hair: Styles on B, East Village, NY

Wedding stationery: Cake Ink.

Chicken mini pies recipe + the winner of our giveaway

What a cold rainy wet day here in Melbourne today, the perfect day for staying indoors and doing some cooking! We road-tested this chicken pie recipe a couple weeks ago, and made some more yesterday - they are a big hit with the men of the house - and piping hot, perfect for the wintery weather. Recipe is below - it is a tweaked version from Donna Hay - love her style and no-fuss approach to delish easy recipes!!

We also selected a random winner of the beautiful Peggy Porschen book earlier in the week (for those of you that didn't see on facebook!) - the lucky Letitia from South Australia will soon receive the gorgeous book in the post - congrats! Thanks to all of you that took the time to enter.

Chicken mini pies (inspired by Donna Hay's version)
Ingredients:
2-3 cups shredded cold cooked chicken (we cook a big roast chook and use the leftover meat!)
150ml sour cream
1 cup grated tasty cheese
4 sheets thawed store-bought puff pastry
1 egg
This is where we get creative with what's in the fridge: you can add peas, mushrooms, onion, leek, carrot, zucchini, pumpkin - just pre-cook, roast or fry off (except the peas you can chuck them in frozen)
salt & pepper
fresh herbs - basil or parsley work well, or we love dried taragon! such a good combo with chicken
Method:
Put the shredded chicken into a big bowl and mix through sour cream, cheese, salt & pepper to taste, herbs and whatever veg you like (you could add pieces of ham or bacon instead). Cut the sheets of pastry into quarters, add a heaped tablespoon of chicken filling to the centre of each square (once you make one parcel you will be able to judge how much filling you need). Brush the edges of each square with beaten egg, and bring the corners together in the middle, pinching the pastry sealed as you go to form little square parcels. Place on a baking dish lined with baking paper, and brush with egg to create a nice golden glow in the oven. Bake at 190°C for 25-30 minutes or until the pastry is beautifully golden and crispy. Yum!

Happy Friday!

behind the scenes at Ink.'s HQ - instagram style

sewing little friends for new friends - welcome to the world little Oscar!

finally finished Lewis' quilt

speaking of Lewis... play time!

rain rain go away so we can finish our garden today!

What's on our desk today...

- Save the Date postcards for Janelle, Jess & Nicole

- gorgeous turquoise ribbon

- our cute new kitty cat wrist rest from socksmakeover

- an ever-growing to-do list

- AND I managed to drink a cup of tea that was actually HOT! thanks baby Lewis for snoozing long enough :)

What's on your desk today?? 

PS: it's my gorgeous husbo's 30th birthday today - Happy Birthday Lloydy! we love you!

Our first day at home as a family of 3 (4 if you count Whiskey the Cat)

~ Samone xo