Caketops Christmas shop!

I'm feeling festive, and have been pottering away this week feeling very merry indeed. The webmaster and I , when recently taking our vintage inspired photographs, came up with the name 'Felicity & Belle' which has stuck fast, and has inspired a new wee foray into Etsyland. Etsy, if you haven't visited, is quite a cool place with lots of wonderful handmade and vintage things on there. The webmaster is already a loyal punter. She always has nice necklaces in particular which when I admire and enquire as to where she got them, she sheepishly admits she's been perusing the gems on etsy again... So I warn you, it's a fabulous and glittery place and you have to be very careful not to get too addicted.
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Well, I've given you fair warning and now happily direct you Etsy-ward. Have a look at Felicity & Belle first, let us know what you think, and then why not have a wander where you will?!
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If you happen to fancy any of Felicity & Belle's handmade holiday wares that I have on there, you can purchase via Etsy, it's all in US dollars tho which confused me slightly I admit.... . However, probably preferable if you are reading this blog right now; email me direct, mention this word - TIMOROUS - within your email, and I shall make you a special individual price offer for whatever you may be interested in purchasing. The more inventive your email, the better for you my offer shall be! hey hey! If you make me laugh out loud I shall tell you so in numerical fashion!
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Happy Hallowe'en!

Hey-how for Hallowe'en!

A' the witches tae be seen,

Some are black,

an' some are green,

Hey-how for Hallowe'en.

- Scottish Traditional

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This poem seems very apt, however my cake top customers on this occasion were Frankenstien and his charming bride..... so not witches as such, but one half certainly green....

Lawfully wedded

I do think it's a good idea to stay on the right side of the law, don't you?!

Woolly winter warmers

Oh there's a definite nip in the air... and I don't mean the whisky kind. It seems that it is definitely Autumn, the leaves are turning golden and red on the trees, the nights are drawing in, and I'm beginning to debate the choice of thermal undergarments that the worldwide web has to offer....

Now, if your cake top bride or groom fancies a scarf to keep themselves nice and warm, well no problem!! My Mum is actually the knitter in the family, and she makes tiny wee knitted scarves for me, knitting them with embroidery and crochet threads so that they're perfectly tiny. She's very good at it, and does a fine line in stripey ones. Recently I found some crochet thread that was different colours on one thread. We didn't know if the colour change would be quick enough- if you know what I mean- to show up on the small scale scarf, but in fact it worked quite well. So now some nice stripey pastel ones to add to the range...but we (she!) can do any colour. A nice addition for those snowboarding, snowballing, or chilly winter wedding caketops pehaps, where a cosy scarf may be essential wedding attire!

The scarf making was originally inspired by football fans of course. A mini woolly scarf works well: adding a nice touch along with footballs, team logos or even hats on!! (My Mum is now an expert in team colours for both Scottish and English Premier leagues - a handy pub quiz team member I think!)

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While it may be getting chilly and becoming warm scarf weather now, I do enjoy the autumn and wintertime, so I'm not complaining really. I'm looking forward to some serious frost like we had last year here in the glen, very pretty it was. But didn't I tell you this is a time when some folks enjoy thier wedding day somewhere hot? Somewhere where the folks there think frost exotic?

If that's your bag and a scarf just won't cut it, perhaps what you really need is a sarong and a beach!

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Down on the farm

A few fun cake tops to keep me busy busy this month. This one is for a farmer and his bride. You can tell he's a farmer as he has his copy of 'Farmer's Weekly' in his hand! Plus he's wearing wellies and him and his bride are standing in mud.... at least there's none on the dress!! Congratulations to the happy couple who are getting hitched this weekend!

It's been a busy september with caketops, although soon it will begin to quieten down a wee bit as winter gets closer and we leave the summer well behind. I can hear the rain on the roof as I type so summer has already left here. So now's the time to get in touch if you are looking for a cake top for a winter wedding. In the past I've made brides with wooly hats, furry and very fluffy capes and stoles on, and it has even been known for a snowman to appear... not to mention snowballs! Of course, some folk decide this is the time of year for a wedding in warmer climes, so I do get the oppertunity to go from snow field to tropical beach without even leaving the house. If you're thinking of a cake top for Spring next year too, you can beat my email rush and get in touch over wintertime. The FAQ page on my website should give you all a good idea of what's possible, but feel free to email me or call if you have a question or two, and watch out for the new website which could well appear over the winter. I think we shall have a party to celebrate...

Not that those who venture to caketopland need an excuse to dress up.... you may have noticed there's a new flickr flickering photo thingy over there somewhere to the left. Click on it!! Start at the beginning, now are you sitting comfortably?.... We at caketops.co.uk would like to tell you a story... I appologise in advance about that hairy, bearded bridegroom, but that's what the Highlanders up here are like I warn you!!

Drumroll please...

Recently I had the pleasure of spending a day with tartan, bits of felt, scissors, and oooh black crushed velvet. Yes, a typical day for me, however the result not so typical; my very first little cake top Drum Major. He was required to help celebrate a real life, full sized Drum Major's birthday. In case you are confused, the real one is the gentleman on the right....you can see he's holding his mini me!

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This is Peter, Drum Major of The Isle of Skye Pipe Band, who along with the rest of the band, enjoyed a birthday celebration of smoked salmon, champagne and of course CAKE, on arrival in Braemar for the annual Gathering. Janet made a super cake for all, and don't you just wish you were there?!

Well there's always next year! The band enjoyed a great time at the Gathering, and I believe are now enjoying a bit of a break before another season of piping, drumming, shinty matches, town squares, Gatherings, bus trips, marching and CAKE! That's a lot of cake folks... now if only I could hold a tune...

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Here is the band with the Cullins of Skye in the background, an early morning start to the day as they headed off to Braemar for a royal weekend and alot of fun. (not to mention that cake...)

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A special thank you to Janet for her cake top request, it was one I enjoyed very much, and thanks too for sending me photos from the day and letting me know how it all went!

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Wishing all you splendid folks in the band much luck and success in the new season!

A grand day out

The webmaster paid a visit to caketopland recently, and we decided wouldn't it be simply splendid to have afternoon tea at Glengarry Castle Hotel with those charming, interesting and snap happy folks at Invergarry Lodge?!

'Oh yes!' cried Miss Lisa, 'I say, that would be a jolly ballyhoo of a day out!'..... or something like that....

Glengarry Castle Hotel is a fantastic place, not least of all due to its afternoon teas, which as you can see are excellent...

It's a country house hotel with lots of charm, history and class about it, but at the same time it has a very comfortable atmosphere that makes you feel quite at home almost as soon as you walk through the door! Jenny & Matt had thier wedding here, and I believe it's popular too with honeymooners, so perhaps worth a look if you are venturing up to the Great Glen...

But we were coming for afternoon tea! And didn't I say it was a comfortable atmosphere?! So much so that Miss Lisa and I posed quite happily and with minimum embarrassment, for our GREAT IDEA...... a vintage style cake top photo shoot! Oh yes I know! It's pure genius....... maybe........ please tell us if we look silly.....

So Master photographer Matt took these! He's very good with the old flashbang, and he even aged us a bit with his computer wizardry.... well the photos were aged, we'd rather stay relatively youthful thanks very much....

And when they weren't looking Miss Lisa took this one of them taking a photo of those....

So we all had a great laugh and delicious cakes and scones, and the sun even shone a bit, which is proving rare this summer. Thanks again to Matt & Jenny for their company and paparazzi skills!

We'll put more of our vintage flavour photos on the new caketops website, which is in the pipeline and proving a perfect excuse for many shenanigans!!