Showing posts with label Minnesota Brides Magazine. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Minnesota Brides Magazine. Show all posts

Friday, July 22, 2011

Now in Print!

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"Craft nation - Scroll through enough DIY wedding websites and you'll quickly recognize the fabric and paper crafts this cake evokes.  Inspired by crafty bloggers, Rachel Wille of Stillwater's Fresh Fields Bakery replicated the look of buttons, pincushions and ruffled flowers on this delightfully demure design.  The only difference?  These decorative touches are made of fondant, not paper, petals, or - ouch! - actual pins."  - Minnesota Bride Magazine, Story by Megan McCarty, Photography by Tate Carlson 


Giddy!  I did a brief phone interview with Megan about my inspiration for the cake, and to see it translated so well is awesome awesome.  This is a first for me, actually having my name next to a cake in a magazine.  I have to give thanks to my boss again, Dave, who has done more to get my name out then anyone else.  

Happy Friday!
Rachel

Thursday, May 5, 2011

Black and White Photo Shoot Cake



We dropped this cake off last Tuesday morning at the headquarters of Minnesota Brides Magazine.  I was so nervous!  Good thing we left early, because Nick and I got super lost (there is a big difference between 3rd STREET and 3rd AVENUE) but we still made it there in time.

I'm second guessing my choice to put the black dots on – it was a last minute addition that I feel is somewhat distracting from the flowers, which should be the focal point. Maybe they could have been a little smaller? Or maybe I'm obsessing?

As a reference, it took me about four hours to decorate this cake, starting with the plain round foams that are underneath. This is called a "Dummy Cake" since there is no actual cake involved.   There is a very small amount of buttercream applied to the foams for the base layer of fondant to adhere to.  Most of my time was spend forming the flowers.

You can revisit my inspiration for the cake here.  I wanted the flowers to look like fabric. The stamens sticking out of a few of the flowers are from a gum paste flower making kit (inedible) and remind me of pins in a pin cushion. The textured edge of the bands at the base of each tier are reminiscent of  ric-rac. The black dots are button-esque. Someone has crafts on the brain....

Oh, and the dots are my milk glass. My goal was to create a cake using black and white that was sophisticated and chic, but still girly and approachable. I could see this design translated into many other color combinations, from neutrals and tone-on-tone, to pastels, to bright turquoise, which also makes it a great one for the magazine.

Thank you to Minnesota Brides Magazine and Tiger Oaks Productions for the opportunity to participate and try new things!  The fall/winter issue of Minnesota Brides hits stands in JULY and will be on display through December!

Love,
Rachel


Thursday, April 14, 2011

Announcements, announcements, annoooouuuuncements!

I received a wonderful phone call at work yesterday!  I have been asked to design a cake for Minnesota Brides Magazine!  The story will be similar to this, featuring several local bakeries.  The theme is "Black and White" - one of my favorite color (or colorless) combinations.  Black and white can be bold, dainty, understated, simple, or complex, and I love it any which way.  I have not decided what I will do yet, but I have a couple sketches I'm thinking about.  I would like to come up with a concept that is sophisticated, but not so outlandish that it is intimidating or would cost a fortune to recreate.  If I have learned anything about Minnesota brides in my first year here, it's that they lean on the traditional, understated side.  Is that my personal style?  No, but I think we can find a happy medium.

Here are some of my favorite black and white cakes I've done over the years.



Saved the best for last...this is probably my favorite cake of ALL TIME.  I can't claim the design, it was copied from this picture:

 Cake by Cake Girls in Chicago

But damn!  Is that a darn near perfect replica or what?!  I actually like mine better because I made the flowers out of chocolate so they were popping off the cake and really made it come alive.  Picking a design for the mag is going to be so hard!

Ebony and ivory love,
Rachel