A ROARING 50th

This cake was not only special to me, but made for someone who reached out to me and made me realize how special I am as well. Deanne Hazelwood contacted me through e-mail one day, without any prior introduction or knowledge of one another. Her email was entitled, "I want to cry". She began her message to me by expressing, "I want to start by saying, "I don't know what I love most...you, or your cakes!". The email followed with her amazement of my website and the stories that I write that come along with each one of my cakes. I have never read such a heart felt letter from another that in which I have never met before. It is individuals like Deanne that make what I do and love that much more worth all of my time and effort. It is the drive behind my work that, upon reading her letter to me, made me cry too. I wanted to put everything I had into this cake. I wanted to challenge my techniques and give Deanne a cake filled of My Inspiration and mostly My Heart. I wanted to create something for her that was just as powerful as the impact that she had on me. Aside from the Feathers on top, Everything on this cake is Edible, and the challenge of that alone was rewarding. My Mom stood by my side during the entire process of this cake, putting together the necklaces, creating the STUNNING "50" Poker Chip On top and constantly supporting me as she always does. Thank you Mom, I Love You and Thank You Again Deanne so much for trusting me with your 50th Birthday Cake and coming into my life for more reasons than you know.

Hi Melissa, I can't even begin to tell you how Thankful I am to you for Agreeing to squeeze my cake order into your very compacted schedule...I Knew Immediately, Without a doubt, That you were the one I Wanted & Trusted to make my Milestone Cake. Everyone Loved It! You Completely "Hit it out of the Park", as one of my guests put it. I have a TON of Great Pictures of it. One of My guests uploaded it to his Facebook with the caption, "Now That's a Cake!"...Thank You Again so Much Melissa, From the bottom of my Heart.

-Deanne Hazelwood (Nov. 6th, 2011)

MONSTER MADNESS

This Cake was a Spur of the Moment cake that I created as a Surprise for a Friend of Mine and My Husbands. My first thoughts of Erick consist of goofiness, excitement and very unpredictable! In-spite of his attendance to Our Annual Halloween Party scheduled On His Birthday this year, I felt the absolute need to design a Halloween inspired cake. I ended up creating a Goof-Ball Monster Mummy cake that literally made me laugh out loud and crack up the entire time while making it. His eye balls turned out to be hysterical and his big wide mouth made his little character self come alive. I whipped this cake up in about 3 and half Hours and could not help but Chuckle every time I walked back into my kitchen that night. Erick LOVED the cake and received it while being sung Happy Birthday by almost 100 People at Our Halloween Party this past weekend! With My Red Velvet Cake & Creamy Peanut Butter Buttercream Filling.....Lets just say Everyone else loved it too :)

JUNGLE BABY

This Particular cake order is The First Little Jungle Cake that I have created! What I loved most about this cake is how it represents something close to this Soon-To-Be Baby Cash. For the design, I was sent the actual picture of Baby Cash's Crib Blanket displaying these exact animals and their delicate stitched look to his blanket. I wanted bring Cash's Blanket to life through my artwork. I did so by Hand carving every last piece of these Animals, the Leaves and all of the details in between. Not shown in the pictures, I also created an adorable little lion as well as an alligator as decor on both sides of the cake. They absolutely loved the cake and completely made my day telling me how perfect it was! I am now ready for my Future Jungle Cake Orders!

Melissa, The cake on Sunday was soo perfect! Beyond our expectations! Everybody loved it, Thank you so much for doing it for us :) 
 -Ashley Bailiff (Oct. 25th, 2011)

RILEY & ZOE ARE 3

 These Sweet Little Cakes were made for my very own Baby Niece's, Riley Madison & Zoe Anne. Luckily Zoe was in town with Her Mom Sascha & My Aunt Sylvia that week. My Mom threw the most Adorable Birthday party for the both of them and of course I HAD to be the one to make their cakes! These 2 Girls are both So Beautiful inside and out, so I wanted to create a cake design that both represented their personalities as well as their love for the color *Pink*. I used the contrast of Dark Pink & Light Pink on both cakes. To individualize the cakes, I inverted the two shades of pink. This gave each cake its own unique touch and yet stayed true to the Matchy-Matchy design that I had desired. I absolutely loved the simple stitch work design that I created in vertical stripes along the seams of the cake. I also fell in love with the look of the Big Black Scrolly Lettering that I did for their names. To top it off, I borrowed my Mother's Beautiful Yellow Cake Stands that added the perfect pop of color for pictures. Riley & Zoe ended up LOVING My Red Velvet Cake with Sweet Oreo Cookie & Cream Filling in the middle! The Cakes were a hit, and I was more than honored to have made Riley & Zoe's 3rd Birthday THAT much more special :) Your Aunt Melissa Loves You Both So Much!

THAT BOY IS A WILD ONE

These 2 cakes happen to be the second cake order that I have received from Joseph and Erin Mayer. Aside from their original 2 Year Wedding Anniversary Cake that I had the opportunity to create, this time they simply chose to spoil their adorable little boy Jason. His birthday invitation included a deep blue background color and a sweet little baby zebra sitting at the bottom. I lit up when I saw the zebra and immediately became inspired. Erin had also requested for the larger cake to be in the shape of a number "1". This became a challenge for me due to the fact that I do not have a cake pan in the shape of a 1! However,  it is the challenges that I have faced in this so called "cake world", that have built me up and allowed me stand out among others. So I took matters into my own hands, hand carved the cake into my own interpretation of a child like 1 and was more than ecstatic at my accomplishment.

PEACE. LOVE. MUSIC. & BEAUTY

This cake was created specially for the Cosio Family and their Sweet & Absolutely Beautiful Little Girl, Bella for her 6th Birthday Party. This is the second cake that I have had the opportunity to do for Trish, Henry & Bella and I was MORE than honored to put my creativity & inspirations into such a special cake for them once again. My Favorite part was their reaction to the cake when they first saw it. Bella was absolutely speechless and It made me smile knowing how much she loved it. The person that she is, inspired me to make something that sparkles more than just the glitter all over it. I wanted it to shine with beauty from the inside out, just as she does. As we get older, we may see something like this as just a cake, but I would give anything to see the world through the eyes of a child once again. Something like this sparks their imagination and lights up their life. They see people for so much more than they are worth and can touch our lives with just a single smile. Knowing that I made Bella's birthday That much more special, made my entire month. Thank you again Trish, Henry & Bella for trusting me with Bella's cake and allowing me to be part of your lives :) I feel so blessed to have met all of you.

Melissa, Bella's cake was amazing! Everyone raved about it!! Thank you so much for your hard work and creativity in making her birthday so special! And the fact that we know you and she loves you is such a blessing!! Love, Trish, Henry and Bella

-Trish Cosio (October 8th, 2011)

LIFE KEEPS BUBBLIN OVER

In Honor of My Sweet Baby Brother, Finn's Birthday, I wanted to show him how much he means to me by creating a cake that would leave him speechless within first sight of it. At first, I thought all about the things that he used to like growing up. He and I loved playing Legos for hours on end in his room listening to blink 182 for more days than I could remember. I used to help him with his homework and spend almost every day of my life by his side. We would fly across the country for what felt like every month of our lives with my pilot dad together. We would sit together on long plane rides sharing cd's and popping open our little portable cd players. We went to all the same schools and shared that special 1st day back to school every year. As nervous as I was each time, he was right there with me. Of course I loved spending time with my older brothers, but Finn and I were so close in age that we had the chance to grow, learn and experience our childhood together. As much as I want to believe that he is still that little boy I had always known, He turned 21 this day and my heart sank. It really reminded me how fast time passes. I realized that we have to hold on as tight as we can for as long as we can, because life is always changing and someday it will be gone. Finny, I love you so much and I am soo incredibly happy that you Loved your cake. You mean, more than you know to me and I could not have put more love into a cake. Happy 21st Birthday, You will always be my LITTLE Brother :)

TO THE MOVING SEAS

This Mini Wedding inspired cake was done for my very own Uncle Jerry & Aunt Leslie. It is not often that I get the chance to spend time or connect with them and their boys. So when my Uncle Jerry contacted me for a  25 Year Anniversary cake, I was more than happy to spread my talent and love to them. What is so beautiful about this cake is that the quote, "To The Moving Seas", is what my Uncle Jerry had engraved on his wedding ring 25 years ago. I was touched by this, especially since I could not think of a more amazing way to remind one another of what they had promised 25 years ago together. We also specifically chose to do a replica of the Iris Flower which represents faith, wisdom, cherished friendship and promise in love. It is also known as the 25th Anniversary Flower. The cake turned out to be absolutely beautiful and I cannot wait to hear how much My Aunt Leslie enjoyed it :)

Thank You so much for the cake it was beautiful and tasty and matched perfectly

to her bouquet of flowers.  It was a great surprise for Leslie. 

-Lots of Love, Uncle Jerry (Oct. 11th, 2011)

TIMELESS, BRIGHT & IN LOVE

This cake was done for an old High School friend of mine Allyson Zimmerman and her New Husband Skyler Ervin. They both currently live in Illinois and received the opportunity to have 2 Wedding Receptions for their friends and family in both Illinois and California. The California reception is where I come in! She contacted me months in advanced to create a beautiful cake based on her wedding colors. I have to admit, at first I was a little nervous about a Pink and Orange wedding cake. However, with a little exploration and thought, I decided to bring out these vibrant colors through my Hand crafted flowers. For the Flowers, I first died the fondant to a pastel pink and a light orange. I then, painted each individual flower petal, entirely made of marshmallow & powdered sugar, with an edible colored paint made from edible gel colors & surprisingly vodka, to create darker toned pink and orange variations. Once dried, I dusted the flowers with an edible petal shimmer dust to give it an elegant unbelievable look that bring people to look at me and say, "I can eat that?!" Which is my favorite reaction! In the end the Bride loved the cake and expressed that it was Exactly what she was looking for :) It can't get much better than that.

Picture Taken @ Monte De Oro Winery at the Event! :)

We loved the cake Melissa Anne Bowman!!!! It was absolutely beautiful! -The cake was great! It looked amazing, exactly what I had in mind! And it tasted amazing!!!

-Allyson Ervin (October 1st, 2011)

MY BABY BLUES

This cake was done entirely at last minute. It was taken literally a day and a half before its expected completion, while it Regularly takes me about 3 days for the Entire process! It is curve balls in life such as these, that smack you right in the middle of the head, and reveal your most hidden talents and abilities. I have never done a cake so fast, let alone found the time to breathe in between the process. Yet I was loving every second of mind practically bursting with questions and Ideas such as, how to work the color scheme, how to incorporate a pattern to break the solid colors in the design. I even remember thinking, "hmm...Black might be cute on this cake......Black for the Lettering!....Black balls on the Shoes? Yes!...and before I knew it, there it was yet another contrast of color only enhancing the bright blue and spectacular yellows already existing on the cake. It turned out adorable and I was more than happy to Whip it up out of no where for a Co-worker of mine at the Lazy Dog Cafe. Thank You Erik for Trusting me and being so Happy with it in the end :)