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Please follow this link and save our new address for fresh and exciting postings:

http://caralinn-thesweetlife.blogspot.com

Thank you for visiting!

CAKES ON SALE!!!

Check out our Seasonal Cake Designs ON SALE NOW!!!!

Tis the Season for FATHER'S DAY, 4th of JULY, BIRTHDAYS and WEDDINGS!

(Click here to see your flavor options: http://www.caralinncakes.com./Flavors.htm)

This is huge people...take advantage while you can.

SUMMER CAKE COLLECTION

Father's Day Cake - Feeds 10 - $39 plus tax

Flavor

Fourth of July Fun! - Feeds 16 - $79 plus tax

Lavendar Lush - Feeds 10 - $39 plus tax

Birthday Girl - Feeds 10 - $39, Feeds 24 - $99 plus tax

Baseball Birthday - Feeds 10 - $39, Feeds 24 - $99 plus tax

Or Have your own design in mind? Book your order with us BEFORE June 25 and receive a 40% discount!!!!! (Event doesn't have to be before June 25 to take advantage of this offer.)

WEDDING CAKES

40% off

if you book before June 25!

(Must feed a minimum of 30 people)

SCULPTED CAKES

starting at $6 per slice if ordered before June 25!

(These normally start at $10 per slice)

ORDER YOUR CAKE TODAY!!!!!

Click here to see your flavor options: http://www.caralinncakes.com./Flavors.htm

Delivery only available to New York City and surrounding areas

Cara Linn, Inc.

Brooklyn, NY

347-365-4617
cara@caralinncakes.com

And the Winner Is....

MWANA MCKENZIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

and her two kids, Isaiah & Taylor

Mwana McKenzie is the winner of this season's contest of Extreme CakeOver. We had lots of applicants, it was hard to choose! Thank you everyone for your interest and stay posted with the Cake Squad as we continue to help people find their SWEET SPOT!

Age: 33
Located: New York, NY
About her: She is a single parent raising 6 year old boy/girl twins in NYC.
"At times," she says, "it can be difficult and rewarding. When I say difficult, I am referring to the financial part of it. But they are the loves of my life. I would love to have one of your cakes celebrate that they are graduating from kindergarten. I am so proud of them.”


Congratulations Mwana! The Cake Squad is ready to "Cake" You Over with an Extreme CakeOver.



To purchase an Extreme CakeOver at any time, feel free to contact Cara Linn, Inc. at:
faith@caralinncakes.com OR 347.365.4617.
This makes a great gift for anyone. Who doesn’t want to find their Sweet Spot?!?

1 Extreme Cakeover - $212
This includes: An optional consultation with the Cake Squad, a detailed Cake Sketch, Your very own Cakeover packet, and of course YOUR CAKE!
(Cake feeds 15 people. For a larger cake, price increases $9 per slice. Delivery not included)

Elisabeth's Extreme CakeOver

The CAKE SQUAD has been busy helping people find their SWEET SPOTS! Check out the special birthday surprise Elisabeth received from Extreme CakeOver:

(If you don't know about Extreme CakeOver, each Cake Squad member prays for the person getting "Caked Over" and hears what God has to say about that individual. Cara Linn then takes all of those prophetic words and designs a cake. The result? That person finds the Sweet Spot only their Creator can fill.)

"Pursue love, and desire spiritual gifts, but especially that you may prophesy...he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men." 1 Corinthians 14:1, 3

What God said about Elisabeth through each Cake Squad member:

Faith Fairy
“My sweet, smelling flower, My Elisabeth. Oh how I have such a vast variety, all different colors, growing everywhere. You’re my flower, my child and year after year, I will be providing you with food, which is My Word; wisdom and revelation. As your bulb grows larger, you will send up larger stacks with more buds. You will also have new stems emerging as your bulb produces larger roots under the ground.
And the buds, which are young women, that you will mentor will be the buds that are growing off of the years of wisdom you have.
And then I hear peace lily. “Everywhere you go Elisabeth; you are my flower, my child that will bring peace to every situation you encounter.”

James:
I see a ballerina in a pink tutu with silver lining; Pink because of your childlike heart before the Father, silver because you have a heart of wisdom before others. You're not afraid in His Presence! You know that you can come to Him with an open heart to whatever He has to say. You are in love with Him. Your openness in His Presence has created an environment around your heart of compassion. Because you trust Him, your heart can remain soft.

Momma D:
Bona Fide! And the Lord says; Elisabeth, I have created you, made you and now presented you as one having GOOD Faith. You are one who, through the testing, has come out of the fire, smelling like a beautiful rose. And like a rose, you are the authentic one. There are many roses, but no two are alike. There is none like you, Elisabeth. You are the truthful one; the honest one. When I look at you I see your sincere heart; your genuine heart. When others see you, they too see that your character is one of Good Strong Faith!
Your flavor:
Chocolate Pecan Caramel – Because who doesn’t LOVE that!

Dal-Rod: You have a sweet spirit, child like faith, and a joyful heart

Cara Linn: the Cake Design

Notice the cake included all of the details of each prophecy. Her heart and each adjective used to describe it, the flowers, the pink tutu with silver lining, etc...


Elisabeth LOVES this brand of cookies called "Nana's". They are sweetened with fruit juice and are delicious!
She also LOVES fondant and snacks on it every time she comes to SweetLand!
HER TESTIMONY:

"THANK YOU CAKE SQUAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This cake absolutely rocked my world!!! It was right on! I was so blown away last night that I was speechless.

I heard the Lord say to me, 'Just as this cake was fashioned for you with so much love and time, it is a glimpse into what thought and love went into creating you!!!!'"

It honestly was truly a reflection of God creating and fashioning me. Psalm 139 has come more alive.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!!

This Cake Squad thing has now taken on a personal meaning for me!

God's richest blessings to the Cake Squad and Cara Linn, Inc.!"

To apply for a free CakeOver, email us TODAY. Our current contest deadline is June 1st!!! You can also purchase a CakeOver at any time for yourself or someone else. Call or email for more info. faith@caralinncakes.com/347.365.4617

Cakes of the Week...and their inspiration

Tonya ordered her birthday cake from us last week. She didn't have a particular design in mind, only a few pictures that inspired her. She left the rest up to us (I love when clients do this!).

Here are the pics she sent...




And here is what we came up with...

I think she was happy :-)

This was a cake for a little boy named Kadeem who was turning one!

Cakes for the SALVATION ARMY
Our friend Shawn works for the Salvation Army and ordered these cakes for a big celebration last weekend for kids and parents. He gave us a few designs he came up with and we added our own touch to each ;-)

He was very happy too :-)
Aaaahhh...another week of satisfied customers and happy workers at Cara Linn.

Sweet Elisabeth

This week we are featuring our friend Elisabeth who comes to help us once a week. We're featuring her one, because her birthday is next week, two, she's leaving NYC this week for 3 months and we're gonna miss her like crazy, and three because she wrote this great journal entry you're about to read.

We love her, she is just amazing. Enjoy the blog and be sure and check back next week to see her birthday cake!!!

A Day at Sweet Land

by Elisabeth

Spending time at Sweet Land is always a treat for me. It is full of inspiration, joy, and sweetness to my spirit and taste buds!

Each time is an adventure when I show up and take part in helping Cara achieve her dreams and goals of running such an exciting and fun business.

Today I started out by reading over her study guide for her book, Faith, Cake, & Jesus. Her book and study guide have inspired me to start finding my own destiny and taking action of those dreams.

Cara then welcomed any of my own creative decorating ideas for the cake she was currently making. I helped her make coffee beans out of fondant, which was one of me and Dallas’ suggestions for decorating the cake. I enjoyed watching Cara through her cake decorating process. SOOOO much love and attention went into it. She spent half the day loving on this ONE cake. No wonder they are so anointed!

Cara Linn, Inc. is great at finding creative ways to be resourceful. For example, I cut holes in egg crate cartons for special ice cream cone desserts to protect them while being transported. Who came up with that creative idea?!

Next, Cara and Faith taught me how to dye fondant different colors. We used the fondant for making cake decorations. I rolled some into little balls and cut others into squares. I LOVE fondant! It makes cakes look so beautiful and I love the way it tastes.

Then, “Ready, Camera, Action!” as we all became a production team for Cara’s cake decorating DVD that she will be mailing around the country as part of her cake making tool kit. Cara is a natural on camera. God knew what He was doing when He created her to fulfill His Kingdom purposes. Look out world!

My nearly eight hours at Sweet Land today flew by so quickly and it never felt like work! Every moment was fun and inspirational with the company of incredible individuals who are also great friends of mine.

There is plenty to do at Sweet Land to fulfill Cara’s amazing vision that will one day capture the hearts of people around the world. It is a privilege to lend a hand and see it at its beginnings. I look forward to the day I will be reminiscing about the early days.

Handbag Cakes with Cara Linn

This week we had a small class, but we like small classes because it means we get to hold them in our studio! The atmosphere here is so bright, creative, and inspiring; the perfect setting for cake decorating.

Our studio is also known to many as "SweetLand". We constantly have people, friends, clients, kids, and neighbors coming here. Sometimes they come for a purpose, sometimes for no reason at all. They just like being here and because they leave with a "Sweet" taste in their mouth.

Is it the cake? The pink walls? The rainbows, tutus, or happy music playing?

Well that's all part of it...

but the true sweetness comes from the Presence of God that dwells here.

Our constant prayer here at Cara Linn, Inc. is that people would taste and see that HE IS GOOD!!! And that He would use this place, our product, and US to change people and cause them never to be the same. He's changed US through His sweetness, now we just want to turn around and share it with everybody else.

If this is something you want to experience, stop by SweetLand, you may never be the same!

(Or apply for our Extreme CakeOver...deadline is June 1st!!!)

I had fun getting to know our 3 students, Tonya, Nathalie, and Anjone and was excited about the way their cakes turned out! They have all done their share of cake decorating, but I think each of them left here learning a few new tricks and knowing that, makes it all worthwhile ;)

Nathalies "Celadon" Purse

Tonya's Sequenced Clutch

Anjone's "Louie"

Cara's Zebra print Purse

JOIN CARA FOR ONE OF HER UPCOMING CLASSES!!!

Register today by emailing faith@caralinncakes.com or call 347.365.4617

Tuesday, June 2, 2009 – Brooklyn, NY
Level 3 – FOCUS ON DESIGN - $109
6:30 pm – 9:00 pm
Location: Cara Linn, Inc. Studio

Sunday, June 14, 2009 – Brooklyn, NY
Level 1 – CAKE DECORATING 101 - $89
1:00pm – 3:30pm
Location: Cara Linn, Inc. Studio

Saturday, July 11, 2009 – Brooklyn, NY
Level 4 – CAKE CONSTRUCTION - $149
1:00pm – 4:00pm
Location: Cara Linn, Inc. Studio

Saturday, July 25, 2009 - Manhattan

Special Class - Learn How to Sculpt a Motorcycle Cake

To Register: http://www.meetup.com/new-york-city-cake-decorators/

1:30pm - 4:00pm

Location: TBD

Sweet and Chic in Chicago

Well anytime you see two girls carrying a pink box in an airport, chances are it is us! We just got home from our quick weekend getaway to the Windy City and of course, we HAD to bring along one of our cakes to Faith's Cara Linn cake deprived family.

Faith's brother Blake graduated from UIC, which was our reason for the Getaway.
He is on his way to achieving some big things in life, which is why we thought the money bag cake was appropriate. Watch out for this guy!

Way to go Blake!!!
Faith's and My first adventure when arriving to Chicago was visiting lots of Cake and Cupcake Shops. First stop...Cake Girls, as seen on Food Network and WE's
Amazing Wedding Cakes show

Faith's brothers Christian and Blake were our amazing (and handsome) tour guides. I think they had fun taste testing as well ;)

Our next stop was Bleeding Heart Organic Bakery, the owners of this place have also been featured on one of FN's Extreme Cake Challenges.

They had interesting menu choices like Hibiscus flavored cupcakes and Chocolate Covered Bacon. I have never seen that before

We tried their Pink Velvet and Red Velvet Cupcakes. They were both pretty dry in my opinion, I was a bit disappointed. Maybe I should have gone with something more risky like the Chocolate Peanut Butter Bacon!

I will say I did like their bright colors and Cupcake shaped tables. That was fun, and their cupcakes were only $3.25 each, which isn't bad for an all organic bakery.

Next we visited a place called Molly's Cupcakes.
Molly's was founded by a guy named Johnny, whose third grade teacher was named Molly. Molly used to bake her students cupcakes anytime they had a birthday and was nice enough to pass down her recipe to Johnny.
Supposedly they are the "best cupcakes ever" and much of their profits are donated to schools in the community.

Were they the best cupcakes ever?
They weren't bad, definitely some of my favorites of the day.
We tried the Blueberry Cupcake with Rasberry filling and their Rich Chocolate Cupcake with Peanut Butter filling and Butterscotch chips .

The blueberry cake was excellent, I wasn't crazy about their buttercream--it tasted a little like grocery store buttercream--and the cupcakes cost $4!!! That is more expensive than NYC.
But the cupcakes and filling was really good.

Fourth Stop was Swirlz Cupcakes.
This place was probably my favorite - it is a lot like Sprinkles in CA. For only $3.50 you get a really beautiful and delicious cupcake in lots of creative flavors. They even have Vegan options.
At Swirlz, we tried the Vanilla Cupcake with Vanilla Buttercream (Sweet, Buttery, and Moist...SO GOOD),
The Banana Cupcake, which was laced with real Nutella, topped with Nutella Buttercream and a dried banana chip (this was probably MY FAVORITE!)
and last we tried one of their Gluten free Chocolate Cupcakes with Chocolate covered Strawberry Buttercream on top.Last stop was a place called Sensational Bites on North Southport Ave. They have tons of desserts, cupcakes, tarts, and truffles. www.sensationalbites.com
At this point, we were all sugared out, we didn't even try anything. But the cafe is super eclectic and really nice. If you're ever in the area, definitely check it out!

So after our Chicago Cake Adventure, we focused on some less sweet, touristy things--being this was my first time in Chi-Town.

Me in front of the Trump tower

This picture was taken for my dad and brother Neil, who have always been big Cubs fans. Neil was a bit bummed I made it to Wrigley Field before him, but I didn't get to go inside, so I guess I'm not that cool, Neil!

Faith's mom, Christian and me

And of course...DEEP DISH PIZZA.
You can't go to Chicago without eating this. Faith's dad took us to a place called Gino's East.

We had a fabulous weekend! Thanks to Faith's amazing family for treating me and showing me Chicago :)

Crazy Week at Cara Linn, Inc.

We had a bit of a busy time here last week with cakes, sweet treats, and classes all crunched into about 5 short days. But we somehow managed to finish it all! I should mention, nothing would ever get done without my two amazing assistants Faith and Dallas (aka Dal-Rod), our newest team member. You both are amazing!

CAKE BABIES

SWEET SCOOPS

RED VELVET CUPCAKES

CHEESECAKE LOLLIPOPS

These fish cupcakes were a little experiment we did for my step-dad Tommy's Birthday. He lives in Texas so we tried rushed them by mail in little cups, covered them tightly with lids, and wrapping them in a long rectangular cream cheese box.

We found out they arrived in two days, and only one cupcake was upside down....oops! Well it was worth a try. Hopefully they still tasted delicious. Happy Birthday Tommy! We love you.

This cake was a team effort. I got this "Bible Cake" order and asked my creative friend Aaron if she had any ideas - she knows the woman it was going to be for. She said she envisioned a bible with jewels coming out of it and that made me think of the Proverbs scripture about how a Virtuous woman is worth more than rubies! From what we heard, "Momma Sorger" LOVED it!


A few more Cakes....

These were for a little boy Henry turning One!
His mother wanted Baby Einstein and Elmo cupcakes.

And to end the crazy week, we had our first LEVEL 3 Cake Class. In this class we teach Royal piping, Animal Print, Flower blossoms, Roses, Bows, Brush Embroidery, and painting. Each student receives their own 8" cake to decorate and take home.

We even had one of our students Karen give a demo on making Gumpaste Roses!
(She is better at it than me! :)

Pink Polka-Dot Puppy

This story is too amazing not to share...
Upon occasion, we will go out on what we call "TREASURE HUNTS".
It isn't your typical treasure hunt, but much more exciting! The whole idea behind these Treasure Hunts is that we are actually "Hunting" God's Treasures.
What are His treasure??? PEOPLE! You are! I am!

So we have a treasure map with categories like, Names, locations, description of clothing, specific ailments, and random words. We say a quick prayer asking God to give us clues, then we start filling out our treasure map, writing down the first thing that comes to our minds.

It looks something like this: (Sue, coffee shop, purple sweater, back pain, etc.)

Next, we hit the streets and start looking for any of the clues on our map. Once, for example, I had "cane" on my map along with "baggy denim jeans" and "back pain". I spotted 2 men walking and one of them had a cane along with baggy denim jeans. So I along with my two teammates went after them, explained what we were doing and asked the man with a cane if he had back pain by any chance.
He said, "Yes, actually, I have a spinal cord problem. I need surgery."
We asked him if we could pray for his back, he was so desperate the guy dropped his cane, leaned against the nearest building pressing his hands against the brick.

We laid our hands on his back and prayed for his healing. The guy was totally touched and changed! The man who was with him, we were also able to tell him God loved him, and he just opened up telling us he was having marriage problems. So right there we prayed for him as well. It was amazing!!! Right in the East Village!

Well the same night, we took Sydney treasure hunting with us. Faith was helping her at first to fill out the treasure map. Faith prayed with her, then asked Sydney what she saw. Sydney immediately said, "A dog with Pink Polka-Dots!!!" Faith laughed and hesitated to write that, but did anyway.
They filled out a few more clues and went out to treasure hunt.

In the park, GUESS WHAT THEY SPOTTED?!?!?
Oh yes, A DOG WITH PINK POLKA DOTS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Not just a sweater or a polka-dotted collar, but actual painted on PINK POLKA-DOTS!
Faith and Sydney approached the couple walking the dog. It turns out the woman was a believer and had been praying for her husband. Faith and Sydney explained that God brought them to pray for him today and it really showed the man that God is REAL!!!

If you've never been treasure hunting, I recommend it!!! It is fun to see God move.