Something classic Istimewa untuk Darling Mami...

Salam untuk semua ...semuga hari ini akan menjadi hari yg cemerlang dan produktif untuk kita semua...alhamdulillah i managed to menghabiskan masa pagi ni dgn mendengar nasihat ilmu dari Dr Fadzillah Kamsah n i want to share sebaris nasihat buat pedoman untuk kita semua..Kata Dr Fadzillah Kamsah..orng yng banyak bercakap akan membuat banyak kesilapan dan akan menyebabkan ramai membenci kita....bila hendak bercakap..berfikir dahulu..jgn sebarang cakap. Well, agree with him...sometimes bila kita terlalu banyak bercakap especially together with emotion, ia mungkin akan menyebabkan banyak kemudaratan.....so dear friends..sometimes kita kurang bercakap but orng akan bercakap untuk mem"provoke" diri kita..supaya kita turut sama membuka mulut..well in this situation, biarlah kita terus berdiam diri..berdiam diri bukan bererti kita mengaku kalah..tapi ia dapat mewujudkan lebih banyak kebaikan and keamanan....insyaAllah. Talking about keamanan..alfatihah untuk pejuang Allah..Bro Osama bin LAden yg kononnya sudah dibunuh oleh tentera Amerika...seandainya benar dia sudah dibunuh semuga Allah menerimanya sebagai hamba yg syahid ...and insyaAllah rohnya diletakkan bersama roh2 yg dikasihi Allah..but benarkan statement...dgn matinya Osama maka dunia akan aman...? I laughed when i heard the statement...siapakah sebenarnya dalang kepada keamanan dunia?



Ok...back to cake business...cake talk...kali ni cake dibuat khas utk mami...a very special and talented person....Mami is my sifu for kek lapis ...and she is like a walking food dictionary..tanya apa saja pasal makanan..semuanya dia tahu..baik local dish or international dish. My kids selalu cakap mami hebat...apa taknya, apa saja yg mereka mahu makan,pasti mami akan buatkan. To me, Mami reminds me of some one who had a very special place in my life..Allahyarhamah nenek Zaleha @ Encuk or what we always panggil dia..Queen Mother..the grandma of my munchkin. Eventhough I only had spend about 12 years of my life with her but she had a great influence in my life. The thing I admire most about her is how she tolerate and sabar dgn kerenah anak cucunya yg ramai...and she had a very special aura...i love to temankan dia pergi ke pasar..she would wear her special baju kurung kasa...n dilitupi dgn tudung bersulam dari kain kasa juga..with her purse yg dikepit..she would go to the pasar memang mcm queen mother..she would only point what she want..and the penjual will obey her..ha..ha...ha..this was the best part actually...coz mulutnya riuh..pokpek..pokpek...but they love her...And one thing yang paling i rindu is to to hear the word "bodoh" from her...ha..ha...ha...that's her favorite word and sekali sekala..kami akan terkena..but we didn't mind coz she said in a very kasih sayang mode..I miss her so much..alfatihah for my darling Queen Mother..And Mami reminds me of my Queen Mother with her kelam kabutness and selambaland membebelkan orng...So this cake was specially done for her untuk dijadikan buah tangan untuk hantaran perkahwinan anak buahnya di Sedeli...a very peaceful kampung yg masih lagi dipenuhi dgn pelbagai rimbunan tumbuhan eksotik..so based on that..i decided to come with something classis and exotic....



So...for the main flower, I buatkan slipper orchid. The most difficult part was to do the slipper...harus buat mcm kelongsong...I tried the whole day and almost gave up...and was thinking to go and get the monkey pot plant ..oops periuk kera..coz kelongsongnya lebih kurang sama ...but alhamdulillah by midnite i dapat buat 3 of the slippers..but sill not perfect according to my sifu Shahril..


The "hands" n the "legs" were easy...but have to berhati2 coz if silap the petals can break,sebab ia nipis sangat. And when it came to colouring...at first i gunakan orange luster dust mix with another color..i lupa pula color apa..But then datang keberanian untuk airbrush...ha...ha..ha..besar risiko yg i nak ambil...if the color salah, the whole flower kena ketepikan. Alhamdulillah, it went ok....lega..and i found it easier to airbrush....lagi cepat.


So the next flowers are the capers..which i learnt in Shah's class...By the way, to those yg berminat untuk ambil class dgn shah..he will be having another class..check it out in my link kat tepi..cake expression..I highly encourage u all to pergi...Ok back to capers, sgt mudah untuk dibuat...cuma masalahnya untuk mendapatkan stock pistils dibahagian tengah. Yang dijual dikedai, semuanya yg berkilat dan besar. As for this one, I bought it from shah..which he bought from Thailand.



Cantikkan bunga ni...i mean the flower itself..not my creation...It looks so simple but bila digabungkan ia menjadi pelengkap...Subhanallah, Allah teaches us a lot via His creation. Jgn rasa rendah diri dgn kekurangan diri kita bila kita bersama2 dgn orng yang hebat kerana kita juga mampu menyumbang kepada kehebatan orang lain..





Ok..the next pelengkap is the Japanese Balloon which to me it looks like one of the species of buah leletup which can be found behind my grandmas's house long time ago...and now nak jumpa buah ni punya le susah...Buah ni pun tak susah untuk dibuat...cuma kena pastikan gelembung belonnya really kembung. And yg ini pun i airbrushkan saja...



The next one is the berry..my favorite..sebab senang sangat nak buat...gentel2 and siap dah...and dicantumkan satu persatu..Mula2 i luster dustkan..tapi bila dah banyak, boring pula....ha..ha..ha..if my munchkin baca ni mesti dia gelak...Maybe u all tk sangka yg i ni seorang yang lekas bosan bila membuat sesuatu yg sama tak kiralah dlm masa yg lama or sekejap...kadang2 i boleh menguap bila buat benda yg sama..tahap ketahanan kebosanan I amatlah rendah...lol. So bila dah boring, terus i capai airbrush...ha..ha..ha..selesai masalah kebosanan I..



Bila ada bunga mesti ada daun..tanpa daun kurang le seri jambangan kita..begitu juga dalam kehidupan kita...kita saling memerlukan diantara satu sama lain supaya hidup kita lebih bermakna. So jgn pandang rendah pada orng lain..hatta pun dia seorang tukang sapu or tukang angkat sampah...I always told my kids..sebab itu Allah jadikan manusia ini berbeza akal fikiran dan keupayaannya...if semua orng pandai n kaya , tak da siapa pula yg mahu jadi tukang angkat sampah..and jes imagine if tiada orang yg angkat smpah..bagaimana busuk n kotornya dunia...so fikirkanlah....always appreciate other people...hormati lah orng lain walaupun tinggi mana darjat kita didunia..semua manusia sama saja darjatnya disisi Allah..yng membezakannya adalah keimanan kita...Ok..back to the daun or creepers...amat mudah aje untuk membuatnya...no cutters needed...semuanya done manually. What we hv to do is to bentukkan bentuk pearl drop, cucukkan dawai n then lenyekkan ..Ia akan jadi bentuk love yg leper..then tekan le atas veiner leaf yg sesuai...senang aje kan..


Main leaves are daun puding...yup,those are sugar leaves..bukan daun betul. Rasa bersalah pula I coz untuk menghasilkan daun puding ni..he...he..he...tiap2 pagi i pergi petik kat sekolah anak I sampaikan classmate dia perasan. HE..he..he...minta halalkan ye. For my work, i prefer to have the real " model " infront of me...so kita boleh buat dgn lebih accurate lagi. I hand painted these leaves..gunakan wilton color...tak pandai nak airbrush..My dad tertipu,coz dia ingat daun betul i gunakan.



Ok..the final arrangement...tada !! Pls excuse my expensive beautiful vase...Sakit juga tangan bila buat arrangement ni...I really want it to be so exotic and akan dipadankan dgn cake yg look very classic...so sebab tu I chose orange as the main color..u will know why later on.


So..here comes the flowers with the cake...Since I wanted it to look classic and exotic..i decided to choose brown..dark brown...he..he..he..and it was airbrushed with americolor..so to my rakan bakers, I found out the brown americolor is very good for airbrushing...but for dark brown..if u wanna lighter brown,kena mix dgn white color..



Mami is 65 years old..and when think about her..i terfikir about corak broked...something very elegant, expensive, valuable and classic...So i applied kan the broked look via my new lace flower mold...and i warnakan dgn gold sheen...guna brush kali ni..and i gunakan gold dust yng dicampur dgn sedikit lemon juice...



Suspen juga bila nak cucukkan bunga tu..but alhamdulillah it fit nicely macam yg i planned. By the way, always balutkan bottomnya dgn aluminium foil before dicucukkan..



Mami was so happy with the cake...tak habis2 pujian dari mulutnya..it's not the pujian which i wanted...My penat membuat the whole thing berbaloi melihat kegembiraannya..and she made me miss my Queen Mother even more..This cake was brought back to Sedili..n according to Mami, the mak andam pujuk pengantin to give the bouquet to her...Well, I rasa happy sgt dapat buatkan this special cake for Mami..and to Allah,please sihatkan Mami and panjangkan umur Mami...she is so special to lots of people..she is like sunshine to us...tq Mami ..we love u so much...

My new project...my old flame

Salam to all...and hopefully it's not too late for me to wish everybody a very happy new year...semuga tahun 2011 ini akan menjadi tahun yg lebih baik untuk kita..semuga rezeki melimpah ruah and semuga umur kita yang semakin menghampiri penhghujungnya diberkati Allah...yup..actually evry kedatangan tahun baru merupakan tanda peringatan kepada kita bahawa tiada apa yang harus diraikan infact it is a reminder for us supaya memperbaiki segala kelemahan dan keburukan kita...jesteru itu we have to berazam untuk mebuat yg paling terbaik untuk terus "menabung" dalam saham akhirat kita kerana perjanjian kita dengan Allah untuk kembali bertemu denganNya semakin hampir....So dear friends jangan kita kata umur kita masih muda...umur kita masih panjang..but sentiasa beringatlah...tiada siapa yang tahu akan bila tarikh kepulangan kita menemui YA Rabb...mungkin esok..mungkin lusa..mungkin minggu depan..mungkin tahun depan...BUT mungkin juga hari ini...apa2 pun alhamdulillah kerana walaupun kita selalu lupa dengan Allah tetapi Allah masih memberi rahmatNYA kepada kita..dan semuga kita akan terjaga dari kealpaan kita..amin...

Okay...let's talk about cake decorating...buat masa ni...i want to show my new project...I will continue about the peacock in the next entry...boring juga agaknya tak habis2 pasal peacock...but I masih belum mention about the peak of the excitement during the competition ;). Ok..ok..ok....let's talk about my new project..apa agaknya project terbaru I ya?

This is my new project..not my new love though....coz I have always love doing this since I was the age of a very small kid....to bexact when I was around 10 years old I had started this thing already...apa ya agaknya...ha...ha...projek membuat bunga...but masa tu buat bunga dari crepe paper le...maybe generasi muda tak tahu apa crepe paper...bermacam2 bunga boleh dibuat dari crepe paper...my first flower was bunga orkid....then followed by corn flower..then the advance one..bunga rose...Actually maybe all my interest in flowers derived from my late mum....she was very creative in flower making...apa sahaja bunga boleh dibuatnya...and from any medium...ribbon, dip, crepe paper, benang, kain, daun getah and even sisik ikan pun juga le...and i'm sure if she is still around she must try her hand on gumpaste flowers too...and I still have my mum's artwork..I guess it was done when I was in standard 6..ha..ha..ha...so sudah berdekad-dekad usianya...and this is her bunga sisik ikan....yup..sisik ikan merah dicantum satu2..yg bunga merah tu..bunga tulip...hasil kerja tangan i and dibuat dari crepe paper...Well I always treasure this "invaluable harta pusaka" from my late mum..alfatihah for her..and may her soul rest in peace in the garden of Jannah ..amin..


Before this I had been showing all of u all 5 petal flowers..which I panggil bunga malas.....it's very simple to do and ambil masa yg sekejap sahaja..so sebab tu I label it as bunga malas...and I always amaze at bunga "rajin"...lol...ada bunga rajin juga...To me..bunga rajin is the bunga which we have to really put our effort...buat kelopak satu persatu...bentukkan..pasangkan wayar..keringkan, warnakan dengan luster dust or any color medium..haaaa...tu baru dipanggil bunga rajin..no short cut ...and memang dah lama I berhajat untuk belajar buat bunga rajin ni..and alhamdulillah akhirnya tercapai juga hajat untuk berguru dgn Bro Shahril..juara pertandingan wedding cake..and kami berkenalan sewaktu di pertandingan tersebut...he is a very humble guy..walaupun sudah banyak merai kemenangan di luar negara terutaman Australia dan UK..but he is so damn humble..infact dia yg menegur I dulu...bukanle maksudnya I sombong tak nak tegur dia..but siapa lah kita..kita orang kecil..dia org besar....but actually before that dah terkena..cuba menegur beberapa org cake artist...walawei..sombongnya bukan main lagi..bukan terkenal sgt pun mereka but lagaknya macam sgt terror and terkenal...ada pula yg kita senyum kat dia..muka dia masam kelat..well..ini bukan cerita rekaan..but what i experienced during the competition...nak tengok kita sebelah mata pun tak nak...and sad to say..most of them are malay decorators...bukan nak cakap pula...i'm a Malay decorator too and basically i'm a freshie in this industry...no offend to any malay decorators yg baik hati...but from my experience..ramai malay decorators yg tak friendly and tidak mahu berkongsi idea or pengalaman..well..always remember...satu ilmu yang diberi tidak akan merugikan or membangkruptkan kita....malah Allah promises to reward us for our generosity and sincerity...so jgn takut...lagipun rezeki Allah yang beri...by the way dibawah ini bunga yg dihasilkan oleh Shah...not me kay...By the way this is Shah's blog add...http://cakexpressions.blogspot.com/


I told Shah that I wanted to learn the most difficult flowers..so that I will know the techniques..I always believe once we know the technique..insyaAllah we can apply it for other creation..sama juga dgn fondant..just go for the basic class...tak perlu untuk pergi belajar banayk kelas..but provided u find a good master,..and if u all perasan..memang I only go for classes yg I really think the person is really a master..sekali lagi no offend..but if logic akal...lebih baik kita belajar dgn org yg benar2 ada ilmu..bukan dgn org yg baru sekali dua belajar...terus buka kelas..and the best thing dia sendiri tak lepas lagi but dah charge mahal...this kind of thing will ruin the artwork...bukan I nak menempelak sesiapa..tapi itulah hakikatnya sekarang..Before belajar dgn Shah, memang I ada google tengok class yg lain..but bila tengok hasil kerjanya..ughhh..tak apa le...or maybe ada sifu2 lain yg I tak jumpa waktu menggoogle..so for this class...we were thought how to do the Jpanese peony, scorpion orchid, capers, balinese frangipani and few sets of leaves...

There were five of us in the class...laili, Sarah, Kak Aini, my best friend Elaine nad myself...Two days of class and it was a very long class...but we had fun...shah was too generous with his knowledge..a very excellent teacher,..a master actually...apa taknya..anak murid Alan Dunn ...and he is a perfectionist...still remember when he asked us to buat the throat of the scorpion ocrhid...mesti ada dua bintil dihujungnya and dibawah dilorekkan sikit..I never perasan all these details..and one of uf buat 3..he told us to do 2 not 3..so we all jawablah..alah bukan org perasan pun...ha..ha..ha..selamba aje dia jawab..I perasan...that's how detail he is..In this class we learned the technique of making the flowers, airbrushing, dusting and hand painting...if u all tenguk daun keladi tu..memang hand painted and ada stroke technique..bukan cincai buat....All the flowers n leaves mesti ada its natural flow..bukan kejung sekejung-kejungnya..the flowers tak boleh jadi macam bunga plastik...So dibawah ni is my flower..alhamdulillah sempat disiapkan sewaktu class walaupun terpaksa dilanjutkan hingga ke pukul sepuluh malam..it was supposed to end at 6....Maaf tak da bnyak gambar for this flower..coz tak sempat nak ambil...we were so busy...working and laughing and gossiping too..lol



I had fun in the class..the class was full with laughters and jokes...especially from Laili..hopefully we'll meet again in different class..By the way, for this class kami menggunakan gumpaste resepi Shah..and I tell u..this the best gumpaste yg pernah I jumpa..bunga I masih lagi keras..tak lembut walaupun dlm cuaca yg penuh dgn kelembapan and alhamdulillah since then I had been using his recipe...Ok doki will pen off here..will show my other flowers in the next entry...salam sayang untuk semua...;)