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

Circles

We had the pleasure over the weekend of creating the wedding cake and custom invitations/stationery for the lovely Aleisha McCormack; comedian and reporter from Channel 10's The Circle!

Aleisha and Richard got married at the historic Boyd Baker House near Bacchus Marsh in Victoria - a fantastic 1960's architecturally-designed home nestled amongst the dense Aussie bushland.

Aleisha approached us late in 2011 to assist in creating the details for her big day. The brief was simple - use the amazing house and its surrounds as inspiration for a clean and simple design!

Aleisha hand-sewed the fabric bunting and napkins and her mate Kath from Frank Food and Me also made some extra delicious looking sweets for the dessert table. If you've been following Aleisha's wedding journey on The Circle, you'd know that she is a huge fan of incorporating DIY elements in weddings and everything came together perfectly on the day.

The 60's mod-look interior inspired the 'circles' cake design, with the addition of a statement bloom and yellow ombre effect giving it a contemporary twist. The stationery suite featured watercolour lettering along with a hand-sketched illustration of the Boyd Baker house. These techniques were also applied to the place cards, seating chart, table menus, favour boxes and the dessert buffet sign.

 It's a rare treat to chat with the bride and groom before their ceremony so it was wonderful to experience their reactions to the reception set-up and to meet face to face! Congratulations guys, thanks for letting us be a part of  the "Leish Rich wedding team" and for being such relaxed and hilariously funny clients!

Wedding cake, stationery suite and styling: Cake Ink.
Fabric bunting and napkins: The bride
Extra sweets: Frank Food and Me
Photography: Cake Ink.

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.

feeling the cold??

 

1. Infinity scarf by Shanionie

2. Angus & Celeste necklace

3. Alannah Hill bootie

4. Burberry Autumn/Winter 2012 collection

5. Gorman babushka tweed jacket

6. Belt by Anthropologie

7. Montana tote from Tilkah