The dance of the peacock - finale

Salam to all ... semuga kita semua terus diberkati and dirahmati Allah....and diselamatkan dari malapetaka dan bencana alam. Takut bila mendengar malapetaka tsunami yg melanda Jepun yg terus merebak ke negara disepanjang lautan Pasifik dan yang paling terbaru ..gempa bumi di Honshu at 6.5 skala richter...and it happened yesterday..28th of March 2011. Banyak nyawa yg telah terkorban...and ia ibarat kiamat kecil...tiada amaran tiada petanda..semuanya menunjukkan kebesaran Allah yng Maha Berkuasa..teknologi secanggih mana pun tidak dapat mengawal keadaan...tua muda...kaya miskin..semuanya tidak dapat bersembunyi or menyelamatkan diri..bangunan yg tinggi dan kapal2 besar tumbang dan diterbalikkan...betapa besarnya kuasa Allah...manusia selama ini mendabik dada..berlumba-lumba menghasilkan kuasa tenaga yang tercanggih dan sekarang ia menjadi mimpi yang menakutkan bukan sahaja kepada penduduk Jepun tetapi kepada penduduk dunia juga apabila kita mendengar radiasi nuklear semakin meningkat..bayangkan makanan segar terpaksa dibuang kerana terdapat kesan radiasi yg tinggi....Anggaplah semua yang terjadi adalah amaran kecil dari Allah bahawa kiamat pasti berlaku dan apabila ia berlaku tiada siapa yg dapat menyelamatkan diri hatta ibu2 yg mengandung sekalipun...and sama2 lah kita cuba perbaiki kehidupan dan amalan kita supaya sentiasa mengikuti perintah Allah dan RasulNYA...amin...

Ok..back to deco story...and let me continue about the dance of the peacock...my participation in ICCA wedding cake competition...Maybe ramai decorators lain kata..alah it's a small competition and tak penting pun..but I tell u, the competition was a great event...where we had the chance to see all the superb work of other decos...and see different techniques of others...if kita rasa our work yg paling bagus selama ni ..ada ramai lagi yang hasil kerjanya lebih menakjubkan...this is the place where evrybody bebas untuk menunjukkan kekreatifan masing...coz wktu inilah kita tidak terikat dgn kehendak customer..we are our own customer...apa sahaja yg terbayang dikepala boleh dizahirkan and tanpa memikirkan kos yg terlibat...



For this peacock design, I wanted it to be a peacock with charisma and gah...maka sebab itu kepalanya dipositionkan begitu..as if it were trying to tell.."i'm feeling great and don't mess with me"...lol...but this is hanya untuk tujuan presentation aje..bukan untuk membanggakan diri...pls do not misunderstand....tiada niat langsung untuk mendabik dada...semuanya sekadar untuk memberi character to the peacock...takkan I nak buat lehernya terkulai layu pula....and balung or jambulnya memang I buat my own version...It's all about imagination...



So finally the whole peacock...and it was brought all the way from Melaka to Sunway Giza...but not the whole thing..the bits and pieces were assembled at tune hotel which was about 5 minutes drive from the venue...but it took us about 30 minutes to reach the venue...kena bawa slow sgt...and we were lucky masa tu ada traffic jam so we were moving at a very slow speed and made some illegal entrance also..in order to avoid long distance....I was afraid it will break in pieces during the journey and my heart was beating very fast and my big hug to my darling muchkin who took the effort to study the condition of the road a nite prior to the delivery...he studied all the bumps, holes and apa sahaja halangan yg ada diatas jalan..sehinggalah keadaan diparking lot pun he studied...he planned everything about the logistic...and I just concentrated on the finishing of the peacock...Alhamdulillah the journey was smooth...and tiada satu pun yang patah...alhamdulillah. Bila tiba aje di venue, my spirit was quite low bila melihat hasil kerja orng lain..semuanya menghasilkan kerja yg sgt kreatif and cantik...and honestly I had this thought in my mind...."kenapalah aku buat peacock ni? It looks so ugly". Infact sewaktu siap aje I dah terfikir kenapa le I uat peacock n bukan benda lain...yup, I'm sure m y deco friends always have that kind of question...we are the worst pengkritik to our own work.


This is one of my favorite moment...the judging process..Tears were in my eyes by just looking at how the judges commented on my peacock..The way they looked at my creation and chatted to each other about it was one of the moment yg I will never forget...tak tahu mcm mana nak describekan perasaannya ketika itu..hanya yg memasuuki pertandingan tersebut tahu apa yg I rasa...By the way, judges bukan sebarang orang...Eddie Spence..to me he is the Godfather of Royal Icing..Debbie Brown..nama yg tidak asing lagi dalam figurine model...Rose from Wilton USA..and Rosalind...head of ICCA...And another one of the best moment was...memerhatikan spectators looking at our creation...n not to mention the feeling when cameras and flashlights were focused on our creations...I was sitting down at a corner with my munchkin looking at people admiring my creation and at the same time the song "flying without wings " was aired ..and my munchkin..while holding my hand...dedicated the song to me and this what he said to me " I'm very proud of u and definitely u deserve all the attention..and this song is right for u..u are really flying without wings now" ...no words can described my feeling at the moment..except tears in my eyes...tears of happiness...

And what are the judges comment..yup, we had a chance to listen to them directly after the results were given out...Mesti ada yang nak tahu apa yg judges told me..and please bear in mind I post the comments bukan untuk menunjuk2 or bangga diri..but supaya dapat dijadikan perangsang kepada semua decorators lain




Eddie :
Yr peacock is the most creative....the flow of the tail is very beautiful...but it will be more beautiful if u can create a very bushy tail..more tails will definitely give u ...the point for the highly commended award..yrs is just one point away...other than that yrs is very beautiful....nice piping job ..."OMG Eddie..more tails? Oh with the current tails pun I dah nak pengsan.."



Debbie :
i love everything especially the cakeboard..very nicely painted...(actually the cake board is not my original idea...it's mitch turner's..and had to do it coz the cake board was not even...covering up strategy)



Rosalind :
Nice piping work...but u should have hidden t joints....(she was reffering to the joint of the wings...(yup..that was my biggest losing point...but actually i was so afraid that the wings might pecah..those two were the last set i had..i had four sets...8pcs altogether..the wings was supposed to be floating and after i broke the first 3 sets..my munchkin suggested do not take any more risk...he asked me to attach it to the base of the wing..and am i glad i follow his advise...)

Kelvin chua (he is the judge who made me so nervous)..this is straight away from his fb msg to me...KC..hope u don't mind
shikin dearie... i was having long chat wif shah, about ur work. we can see tat u r very different. if u ever hav the chance to enter ur future creations to overseas competition, it would be another advantage for u....

as a first timer like u, u able to create something so brave ( ok, tats my style, tak kisah orang macam mana tengok u...lol ), normally people will start wif tier cake, flower, cutters, so boring ( but judges like that ok )...but u, wow, ayamas straight away! kepala ayam tu lagi mau stare at the judges...patutlah mreka takut! lol

heres a little advise: should hav made a pair of peacock, one is too lonely...so, next year, do peacock again, one pair, n advance lagi, with no paste attached, just pure royal icing piping n run out! nice challenge huh !...but hor, peacock again, too boring kan?... so better scratch ur head from now on, challenge new thing...

So those were the comments from the judges and also my sifu..Kelvin Chua via FB...And alhamdulillah my creation was chosen as one of the commended category...and I was one of the top tens...but winning is not the target..Everybody who entered the competition was a winners for daring to to show their masterpiece to to the world...and should be proud of with all the creations...



Notice the tails sudah rosak..due to the humidity in the hall during at night time..infact banyak creations yg rosak...but what to do...






Well..before I pen off..to all my dear decorators friends ..jom kita ramai2 memeriahkan this year competition...It's not about winning..it's about showing the world of our creation..trust me...u will know what I meant if u join the event...lots of funs, lots of xperiences...lots of sharings..and lots of new friends...so see u guys in this year competition..but before I pull down the curtain to my peacock entry..i will like to thank all the wonderful and dearest people in my life who had always believe in my work...who always encourage me..and who always push me to the highest level...my big hugs of thank you to...my dad, my MIL, my sister and brother..my BIL ans SIL, my IU8 friends, my UGCAU gang...u know who u are, my bibik, my staffs...and the most important of all...to my dearest wonderful kids and my darling mucnhkin...Thank you Allah for giving me these wonderful people..

The dance of the peacock - Part 3

Salam buat semua...well, it had been a tiring day...sepanjang hari menyiapkan cupcake..20 cuppies but mengambil masa sehari suntuk untuk disiapkan ..,tupun belum siap 100%..Maybe ada yg hairan..kenapa cupcake yg kecil tu mahal harganya...It's because...semakin kecil cupcake tu semakin rumit and leceh untuk membuat hiasannya...i'm talking about fondant cupcakes..not buttercream cuppies...if buttercream, i believe it will take much lesser time...Sebab tu personally I prefer to decorate big cakes....tak leceh and tak rumit...Just imagine nak mengulit satu persatu hiasannya....ooohhh memang memenatkan...20 cuppies with 20 different designs...walaupun begitu, I really enjoy doing it..I always feel guilty just to do simple design for my customer...Every customer is very special to me..so seboleh2nya I prefer to buat customize design..and one design for each customer...and setakat ni alhamdulillah..no repeat design lagi...

Ok, sementara ada kesempatan ni..let us forget about cupcake and sambung semula about my experience sewaktu Malaysian Wedding Cake Competition ..let us talk about the peacock...AS i had mentioned earlier..I wanted everything to be in 3D dimension...and had to be from royal icing..and di pipe dgn menggunakan nozzle no 1 sahaja...I was so determine to do it sehalus yg mungkin and kalau boleh nak saja gunakan nozzle no 0 or 00 but disebabkan kesuntukan masa terpaksa guna nozzle no 1. As for royal icing..I used superice and memang banyak superice yg digunakan in creating this peacock. As you can see..all the small feathers were glued to the body and tidak melekat dibadannya untuk menampakkan kesan 3D...Mesti ada yg nak tahu mcm mana nak buat benda ni...It's so easy..what u have to is to lakarkan template corak yg diingini diaas kertas...as for these feathers..satu corak sahaja I gunakan. Normally people will pipe the royal icing on grease paper...tunggu benar2 kering baru dicabutkan dgn menggunakan spatula yg paling halus....but I found a way which is much easier and less time consuming and less mudarat...ha..ha..ha..Less mudarat sewaktu hendak mencabutnya dari kertas..silap2 boleh patah ketika mengalihkannya..What I did is..I gunakan kepingan plastik..plastik transparent yg biasa dijual dikedai..tapi yg licin...So I tampal plasti tu diatas cake board...and letakkan lakaran dibawahnya...So pipekan aje terus mengikut corak lakaran kita..it will dry so fast and bila hendak dicabutkan lakaran tersebut..just pull away the plastic and it will take few seconds....less hassle and kurang risiko untuk patah. Rasanya hundreds juga I pipekan these small feathers..



Proses untuk melekatkannya ke badan adalah proses yg paling mencabar...coz it had to stand tidak boleh terus melekat kebadan. Kena tunggu benar2 kering baru buat yang lain..and silap sikit boleh patah...Seluruh badan burung was covered with these small feathers..and bahagian paling mencabar ialah dibahagian dada..coz had to ditampalkan mengikut alunan bentuk dada...bukan setakat tampal sahaja...biar nampak beautiful movement of the feathers..




Begitu juga dgn bahagian tengkuknya...setiap bulu dipiped satu persatu..dibiarkan kering and dicantumkan...but design untuk bahagian tengkuk lain dari design bulu badan coz had to sesuaikan dgn bentuk tengkuk yg panjang ...if buatkan bulat2 nampak hodoh pula kan...Actually sebelum buat the whole design for this peacock..I belek satu persatu gambar peacocks..study the pattern, the flows and etc..etc..etc.etc..ha...ha..ha..mcm king mongkut pula dlam filem King and I ..etc..etc...etc...etc...Ok sorry termelalut pula,..but I love that movie.


OK..back to peacock...Yup, lots of reseach on peacocks had been done for this project..and from there i baru tahu rupanya ada white peacock and it's known as albino peacock...So I guess mine can be called the golden albino peacock...Well have to stop..coz have to get ready for my wedding cake project pula... a combination of cleopatra and belly dancer ideas...till we meet again..tq for keep on visiting my humble blog..and try to enjoy what we are doing and be ikhlas in everything than only we can see good results..take care...

The dance of the Peacock - Part 2

Salam buat semua..alhamdulillah diberi kelapangan sedikit untuk mengupdatekan blog ini...sewaktu menghilangkan diri buat sementara waktu ada ramai yg bertanya kenapa tak diupdatrekan blog..and that kind of questions really make my day..and ada yg cakap they love to read my celoteh here..syukur alhamdulillah semuga ada diantara paparan disini yg dapt menghiburkan hati and juga memberi inspirasi kepada rakan2 especially to thosse yg baru hendak menjinakkan diri dalam dunia dekorasi kek...to be frank, my personal opinion..being a decorator won't make me kaya raya apalagi di Malaysia dimana ramai lagi yang tidak tahu hendak menghargai seni hiasan kek..to them a cake is still a cake walau macam mana dihiaspun..people sanggup berbelanja ratusan ringgit untuk hiasan hantaran yg mungkin kemudiannya akan dibuang begitu sahaja..but untuk membelanjakan ratusan ringgit untuk kek kahwin amat susah...my wish and maybe harapan kawan 2 decorator yang lain..semuga masyarakat kita makin menghargai hasil seni kami..setiap hasil kerja yg cantik dan lain dari yang lain memerlukan belanja yang tinggi dan juga perlu meluangkan masa yg lebih lama especially bila semua bunga2an dihasillkan manually...sedih juga bila kadang2 dimajlis perkahwinan celebriti terkenal..beria2 diperkenalkan siapa yg mereka pelamin, siapa yg mereka gaun pengantin mereka, siapa yg menyiapkan hantaran...but perasan tak..jarang benar or maybe tidak ada pasangan pengantin yang sudi mengwar-warkan siapakah yang bertanggungjawab menyediakan kek perkahwinan mereka..sedihkan..tapi tak apalah. Kepada rakan2 decorator jadikan lah ia sebagai cabaran untuk kita...kita tidak minta disanjung melangit or dipuji berbakul2 but cukuplah kalau waktu menempah mereka tak kata "takkan kek kahwin pun mahal"..yup itu lah hakikatnya..selalu pasangan pengantin mengimpikan kek yg cantik lain dari yang lain..but bila diberitahu harganya..kita pula akan disoal balik "kenapa mahal sangat"...well what to do ..itulah cabaran buat kita untuk meng"educatekan" masyarakat...



Well back to the wedding cake competition..as I had mentioned earlier ..I wanted everything to be 3D and very grand and majestic..so I decided to do a peacock..but the peacock mesti a very grand and proud peacock...but before I introduce my peacock..let me show part of the cakes first...keknya merupakan kek 4 tingkat..the height was very important for me to display the flows of the tails later on...semua bunga dibuat sendir..and since I was very short of time, I decided to do ribbon flowers..which is easy to do..all what u have to do is just to roll the fondant and potong panjang...maybe about 2 inci x 5 inci...kemudian dilipat dua memanjang..but make sure jgn tekan diatasnya..biarkan macam ada gelembung angin..and kemudian digulung sampai habis..so semasa penggulungan tersebut pandai2lah mengubah bentuknya and make sure jgn tertekan sampai flat pula..it's very easy. As for the color..mesti ramai yg dah dapat agak warna apa yang I akan pilih..yup..definitely gold..Ada yg tanya kenapa I tak pilih warna biru, hijau..warna merak..Hmm..I just need my artpiece to attract people's attention from far..and definitely gold and white are the best colors...By the way..actually from my readings...or maybe u all notice...we do not need lots of colors on wedding cakes...2 or 3 colors should be enough and if we decide to have more colors..the additonal colors should compliment the base color. So I guessed I used hundreds of these flowers..dari pada saiz kecil hingga saiz yg besar...penat juga tapi taklah sepenat buat kuntuman ros malas yang selalu I buat...ha..ha..ha...kiranya bunga ni memang amat sesuai dibuat sewaktu emergency or sewaktu kita dilanda sakit malas yg teramat sangat...ha..ha..ha...but janganlah asyik malas aje..sekali-sekala kena rajinkan diri...So seperti selalu..cake tersebut diairbrushkan dengan americolor gold sheen..actually everything was airbrushed...termasuk semua bulu2 peacock..well in order to produce beautiful things memanglah kena buat lebih kerja sikit...actually bukan sikit..banyak....



As for the cake board...I decided to draw feathers on it...Ha..ha..ha..actually ada cerita disebalik cake board ini...and let me share my secret with all of you..Actually my cake board was very uneven...just imagine..tak pernah i cover cake board jadi macam ni...macam tahu2 pula i nak masuk competition..berbagai2 dugaan yg datang...sedih betul tenguk cake board yg buruk...Presentation of cake board is very improtant for all cakes..tak kiralah samada untuk competition ataupun utk tempahan customers...my prinsip..beautiful cakes should come with beautiful cake boards..i really hate to see beautiful wedding cakes on original stupid ugly cake board yg dibeli dari kedai...if kita dah luangkan masa berjam2 and sometimes berhari2 untuk menghasilkan kek yg cantik..kenapa harus dicacatkan dgn cake board yg hodoh...cake board yg hodoh hanya akan mencacatkan hasil kerja kita...just imagine...kita berbaju kurung cantik..siap bersulam..berlabuci lagi...sikitpun kalau boleh kita tak nak ada kedutan dibaju kita...but bila tenguk kak kaki..kita hanya berselipar jepun...ha..ha..ha..some of u might think it looks funny...actually it looks very ugly...so hiaskan lah cake board kita dgn cantik..so berbalik pada cake board I yang dah cacat tu..puas I fikir mcm mana nak buat..then teringat pada Mitch Turner's creation....so base on that...I kata why not I applykan the same technique but my own drawing...so dilukiskan bulu2 burung as if sedang bertaburan...and hasilnya alhamdulillah..infact mendapat pujina dari judges..phew...so to decorator friends jgn panik bila ada kecacatan...mesti ada cara untuk cover semuanya..Guess have to stop here and to be continued soon with more excitements...taaa...salam kasih untuk semua...