I found this quote on the Le Manoir website last week and being a passionate perfectionist myself it resonated perfectly with my own personal aesthetic values. An article I read once called me the ‘goddess of small things, driven by an unwavering commitment to excellence she creates precise, flawless and beautiful wedding cakes‘ which I thought rather flowery!

But of course it’s true. Pay attention to the inconsequential details and beauty will appear and let herself be seen. Whether your designs are simple or complex they will only work if you consider every aspect of their creation. Their geometric form, their weight and balance, the colour and spacing of decoration and accessories all combine and amount to give them weight and density and hopefully excellence.

It is an elusive quality that has to be nurtured and encouraged. It is also very important to leave space for accidents to happen, as these may elevate your initial idea beyond your initial expectations.

Though, you can’t win them all, sometimes you reach but miss, and these creations fall by the cakeside, in my case eaten by the happy and excited children that gather around my door on baking days!

You may have noticed that things have been a little quiet on my blog for the past few weeks. That’s because I’ve been busy designing my new website of which I’m very excited about!….please take a look here Wedding Cakes by Maisie Fantaisie xx

Year: 1950. Location: California. Headline: Homosexuality is a growing social problem.

Check that year. 59 years later and yesterday’s supreme court ruling in California to ban same sex marriage could easily be a headline from a 50’s newspaper. This is the country that took us to the moon, developed the micro chip and voted for a black president.

And yet it seems that the most culturally diverse state in America fell asleep in the 50’s and needs a bit of a shake.

2009: WAKE UP! California…..you’ve been dreaming that the world hates gays, and for homosexuals it’s turning into a nightmare. See, we’ve all moved on.

Marriages and partnerships are about love, commitment, contentment and trust. and banning the legal recognition of a partnership between two people who love each other is simply wrong.

I have worked in the wedding industry for 10 years and was thrilled when at last in December 2005 Civil partnerships in England and Wales became available for same sex couples. The bill was passed and immediately I was inundated with orders for Christmas Civil partnership wedding cakes. I met with a lovely couple the other day, Matt and Stuart, who are planning their wedding cake for a June celebration. They’re so excited and can’t wait for their big day.

Meanwhile for thousands of homosexuals in California ‘all the leaves are brown and the sky is grey’.

This is an interesting article written by the actor Alec Baldwin:
Alec Baldwin – Why Childless Straight Couples Make the Case for Gay Marriage

So where does the time go?

When it comes to blogging, I’m a newbie. I’ve been reading some past posts from my blog and I’ve been thinking how lovely my life sounds. I always seem to be either popping around a friends house for tea and cake, or buying some special ingredient for a new recipe or deciding which dress to wear to tonight’s party.

I’ve noticed that I don’t seem to have the time to mention how busy i am.  Why?

I often work more than 10 hours a day including weekends and there is a stream of constant duties to perform including administration, staff management, ordering supplies, sketching designs, meetings and consultations, or arranging deliveries and collections. While at the same time I am writing a book and marketing and promoting my company. I am running a thriving business and the cost is my time but I’ve noticed that I don’t blog the stress.

The other night we were invited by friends to share a bottle of wine and to watch our favourite TV series ‘Lost’ at their house. When we arrived my husband found a book in their kitchen called ‘The dummies guide to cognitive behavioral therapy’… according to this book ‘You are what you think’. This is so true.

Focusing on all the positive aspects in my life and work has been really beneficial to me and everyone around me. Yes, i have lots of duties to perform and things to do that I’d rather not – but I also have so many things that I cherish and enjoy.

This is what my blog is about. It is about freedom.

Starting my own wedding cake company was the second best thing i ever did (the first was marrying my wonderful husband!). I now own my time. There is no one here to tell me when I can eat lunch or who decides what I wear or who I can talk to. I have real job security too. If my company goes under it’s my fault not some anonymous board of directors. So, if you are a hobbyist or an amateur sugar-crafter then my advice to you is to start your own business. In the current climate it’s a perfect solution to redundancies and job losses and though it’s very demanding, it’s also so much fun. So if time is rushing by and you’re stuck in a job that you don’t like then defrost your passion and pop a cake in the oven.

In the meantime I’m going to waffle on about all the wonderful things that I love in my life..incidentally one of them being waffles with maple syrup!

Grace’s wedding gown was the most expensive design that Helen Rose had ever made. It used twenty-five yards of silk taffeta and one hundred yards of silk net. Its 125-year-old rose point lace was purchased from a museum and thousants of tiny pearls were sewn on the veil. Grace was 26 years old.

The 600 wedding guests included Hollywood stars David Niven and his wife, Gloria Swanson, Ava Gardner, the Aga Khan, and Conrad Hilton. Queen Elizabeth flatly refused to attend on the grounds of there being “too many movie stars.” The ceremony was watched on television by an estimated 30 million people!

Married On May 21, 1945, their wedding and honeymoon took place at Malabar Farm in Lucas, Ohio.

It was the country home of Pulitzer Prize-winning author Louis Bromfield, a close friend of Bogart. The wedding was held in the Big House. Bacall was 20 and Bogart was 45…lucky fella!

I’m not too sure about the wedding cake though? What do you think?