Happy New Year!

I'm not doing a new years slew of resolutions, but I am trying hard just to cut myself some slack. I'm hoping to make this the year of not feeling guilty all the time, and of trying to make my life more joyful.

Looking back on the year that has passed, I've learned so much, and done so much and although things didnt quite go as planned, it was a great year.

We hoped we'd sell our house and downsize into a house in a quieter community. The downsizing happened, my husband did a fantastic job, and is still working on making our home exactly as we want it. We like the new neighbourhood, the flatter streets have got me to try something new, running. I'm hoping to finish a half marathon in January, which should be interesting!

I was lucky enough to make two trips to Australia to spend time with my family and my dear niece, Poppy. She's growing up so quickly and is just such a pleasure to spend time with.

As you can tell from the photos, there were lots of cakes. My friends pushed me to new limits, making cars, hats, garbage trucks and all kinds of crazy constructions out of cake! I've learned so much, and I think I've got something that I can produce consistently enough to sell, I just need to finish getting all the structure for a business in place so that I can make sure that I am able to sell my cakes on a part time basis. If you want to keep up with the cakes and my news then be sure to 'like' my page on facebook, www.facebook.com/jennywennycakes although I'm sure I'll have more news here!

Meanwhile, I've been lucky enough to take classes with a friend and wonderful sugar artist, Jacqueline, from petalsweet cakes, who has taught me to make gardenias and peonies, and given me a lot more confidence to construct interesting things from sugar.

It was an enormous pleasure to be involved in making cakes for a dear family who I have known for a while, they had a hawaiian themed wedding and I was really happy with how their display came out.

I also dipped my toes into some catering work, with a large 'farm to table' dinner where I was responsible for the desserts. I had a lot of fun, but it was extremely exhausting. I learned a lot though, and a future event like this might not be so daunting.

I also flew home for a dear friend's wedding, it was a wonderful occasion and I was so happy to be able to make their cake for them.

We finally moved into our new house and I got to enjoy this wonderful new kitchen. The house isnt really finished yet, but its great, and we're really happy here. We still have to put the tiles up for the backsplash but so far its been a pleasure to work in.

I had a lot of fun constructing this 'mountain' cake in November, another daunting task, but it was a fun one, and I thought the bride and groom's matching backpacks made a really cute topper!

I was also lucky enough to make this simple cake for some dear friends. This is very simple but I love the design.

The year ended with a last trip to australia and a really fun birthday cake, expertly baked by my mum, with a little help from Poppy!

Here's to lots of fun in 2011!