Kitsap Humane Society
9167 Dickey RD NW
Silverdale, WA 98383

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Some of you, namely those of you who follow us on facebook, know that Bella Bella Cupcakes and Celebrations has been open for about 2 weeks now.  Of course this means you can get fresh baked and hand frosted Bella Bellas pretty much any time you want! And we can’t be happier than when we are baking and serving and schmoozing in the shop. But now it’s time for a party; let the wild rumpus begin!!

Thursday, February 3rd from 2-6PM, Bella Bella Cupcakes is throwing a Grand Opening Celebration at our new retail location at 10726 Silverdale Way, Suite 107 (Right between Midas and Goodyear. Yep! It’s Oil, Brakes, and Cupcakes!). The Silverdale Chamber of Commerce will be here promptly at 2 for the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony complete with giant scissors! Afterwards, we’ll be giving away mini cupcakes and samples of Viking Feast Ice Cream, Smith Brothers Milk, and Early Bird Coffee. Miss Kitsap, Miss Silverdale, and Miss Poulsbo will be here painting faces, the kids can leave their mark on the chalkboard wall, and we’ll have lots of prizes to give away! DJ Scott Fijolek will be rockin the beats, and we might (our fingers are crossed!) get a little visit from some of our Seattle cupcake friends who blog and rave and generally live all things cupcake (one of them has even been on Martha Stewart! *sigh*).

So for an afternoon filled with cupcakes plus a couple of Vikings, some Princesses, lots of dancing and singing, and more Bella Fun than you can shake a stick at, come and see our beautiful new shop and say “Hi”! We’ve missed you like crazy and can’t wait to see you soon!

Maybe it’s all these craft shows Bella Bella has been sitting. We’ve set up the booth and shared our cupcakes every weekend since Halloween where we’ve been subject to Christmas music and Christmas crafts and fellow vendors in Christmas t-shirts, and you know what they say about the power of suggestion. Or maybe it’s just the age of my children and the anticipation they show when they see department stores hanging lights and christmas trimmings. Or perhaps it’s because Bella Bella has been talking Christmas since about August. And that was considered a late start…

As it goes with most of our ideas, the light bulb turns on and it’s full speed ahead. So when we loggeed onto the Harrison Memorial Foundation’s website after the Kitsap Wine Festival to look for cupcake pictures, the annual Festival of Trees event caught our eye and we were in! We’ve felt from the beginning that this would be a big deal. The Festival of Trees is Harrison Memorial Foundation’s biggest fundraiser every year. The event kicks off with an amazing gala event the day after Thanksgiving where the trees and displays are auctioned off. Then they are open for public viewing all weekend.

Begun in 1987, the Festival is recognized as the signature fundraising event for Harrison Medical Center. In all, more than $2.8 million have been netted from the event and invested in important health care initiatives benefiting the community, such as cardiac care, oncology, emergency services and pediatric rehabilitation.

The 2010 Festival of Trees will be raising funds in support of a hospital-wide initiative to upgrade our “Code Blue” response system, including the replacement of 21 defibrillators currently in use on “crash carts” used to respond to patients needing immediate—and life saving—resuscitation. Currently there are more than 30 defibrillators in use throughout the Harrison system that were phased in over time resulting in equipment variation due to model changes related to aging as well as changing standards of care.

It didn’t take long for Bella Bella to marry cupcakes and Christmas Trees! Inspired by current couture runway designs and a dress displayed in one of Bremerton’s art galleries, Bella Bella decided to build our tree from the ground up. Our Tree is made of tissue paper, pellon, and tulle on a PVC frame mounted to an old Nordstrom’s display rack Donna found on craigslist. We can see the look on your face now! It’s the same bewildered look we’ve gotten from everyone we try to explain this idea to and the conversation always ends the same way: “You’ll just have to see it!”

How else did we incorporate what we do best into a paper tree? Our big dilemma was that while a tree covered in cupcakes would be really cool, who would want to eat them after sitting out for so long? And that is how we hatched the Bella Bella Cupcakes Wedding Tree. We decided to ask all of the wedding vendors we have worked with over this past year to donate goods and services to our tree display so that the lucky buyer of our tree would get a nice neat wedding package all buttoned up and ready to go. And we are excited to annouce all of the generous particiapants and their donations which together add up to almost $8000!:

Port Gamble, WA

Your choice between the Old Church or the Hood Canal Vista Pavillion in Port Gamble, WA as a wedding venue.

http://www.portgambleweddings.com/default.asp?ID=6

Add to Heart Photography

Photographer Laura Zander has doanted a basic wedding photography package.

http://www.addtoheart.com/

Ambrosia Catering

Complete rehearsal dinner and use of banquet facilities.

http://www.ambrosiacateringllc.com/page/page/1356948.htm

Skyhawk Press

Custom Letterpress Wedding Design Suite which incldes custom design and printing for up to 100 guests.

http://skyhawkpress.com/

Seaport Salon and Spa

One day of salon and spa services for up to 4 people up to $500.

http://seaportsalonandspa.com/

Joey James Dean Band

Reception music and entertainment.

http://joeyjamesdean.com/

Bella Bella Cupcakes

Cupcakes, tier and delivery and setup services for up to 100 guests or $500.

www.bellabellacupcakes.com

Selah Inn

One night of lodging in the King Suite and breakfast for two.

http://www.selahinn.com/

Jewels of Life Photography

Photographer Jowhara Wyatt’s newborn photograpgy session and $300 print credit.

http://jewelsoflifephotography.com/

Dr. Allan Hablutzel

Teeth whitening package.

http://pacificavedental.com/

Valley Nursery

Free bridal bouquet ($250 value) with a $500 purchase.

http://valleynurseryinc.com/

Alicia Maxwell

Hair styling and make-up for the Bride.

9454 Silverdale Way NW, Silverdale, WA 98383, (360) 698-9011

Off the Rack Bridal

$150 off of select dresses.

http://www.offtherackbrides.com/

Head Over Heels

Custom designed Bridal Headpeice

360-692-4319

Kristen Findlay

Eyelash Extensions for the Bride.

Stacy McBride

$100 in bridal jewelery.

http://stacymcbride.com/

Check out our progress after the first day of tree assembly. Then visit the Kitsap Pavillion Saturday, November 27th and Sunday, November 28th. Did I mention that Bella Bella Cupcakes will also have a vendor booth? That’s right! Come and get your cupcakes!! 

If you would like to bid on the Bella Bella Cupcakes Wedding Tree, please visit Harrison Memorial Foundation’s website for information about on-line bidding and atttending the Gala Event!

http://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/AuctionHome.action?auctionId=117999727

http://www.harrisonmedical.org/giving/

This past weekend, Bella Bella Cupcakes set up shop at the Blondie’s Holly Daze Craft Show in Port Orchard, WA. After showcasing our seasoned, market acquired, roadie booth set-up (20 minutes flat, no lie!), we settled in for a nice steady stream of meeting new faces and saying hi to old friends. We must admit, it is one of our favorite parts about cupcakeing! We feel so honored to share your special moments, even the little ones! It was also exciting when a few of you told us that you had come to the show just to see us. One particular Theresa came to chat for a few minutes about her love of cupcakes and told us about a cute new store just across the way from the show. So of course, we had to steal some time to stop by! Luckily, the very capable Yasmine had decided to make some Crafty Party banners and pinwheel cupcake pics to sell at the show and agreed to man the booth while we snuck away.

Coming out of the show and looking towards Juliana’s, we were looking for a “Grand Opening” kind of party. We could see a small brown a-board sign and some balloons and not much else to draw us in. But, Theresa had talked it up good and “curiouser and curiouser”, we wanted to see what was inside. 

Amazed, we walked into a well thought-out and planned open and airy space that was full of stuff we could take all day to look at! Well,  Amie could take all day. Donna likes to quickly move thru shopping. The floors are light wood, the walls color blocked in sage and light blue and brown to seperate settings, and the ceiling is lavender.  The displays were placed so that they drew you from one to the next and we found ourselves repeating often “Oh, that’s cuuute!” or “That would be fabulous on/at/in…”. Juliana’s is the perfect blend of vintage, hip, and mod. There is tableware and linens, bedding, furniture, perfumes and soaps, lots of perfect gift items, toys, bags, jewelry and accessories, and amazing clothing!  The girls in the store are helpful and sweet. There’s even a little play room to keep your kiddos happy while you blissfully wander the store. We think it’s certainly worth finding their offbeat location and setting aside a few hours (if you’re Amie) or less (20 minutes flat, no lie, if you’re Donna) to check out this really cool store.

Juliana’s is located at 1541 SE Piperberry Way, Suite 105 in Port Orchard.

Now, since the end of Market Season, we’ve heard that some of you are having a hard time finding us so here are the spots you can get a cupcake on the fly:

Cornerstone Coffee

Corner of 5th and Pacific, Downtown Bremerton

Trident Coffee Bar

102 State Ave, Bremerton, Just outside the PSNS State Street Gate

We would love to have our cupcakes carried in coffee shops in Poulsbo, Kingston, Port Orchard, and Gig Harbor as well. We like to work with local owners who are hands on at their shop. If you have any suggestions, please let us know!

Also, our winter craft show and event schedule is booked to include most every weekend between now and Christmas! Check the facebook page for locations and schedules. And, of course, we are always happy to bake to order! Currently we are baking on Monday mornings, Thursday evenings, and Saturday mornings and can arrange a pick-up or delivery. Please check www.bellabellacupcakes.com for order instructions and info.

PS- As we are writing this blog, the ink on our NEW LEASE is drying and we will be announing our retail location address soon!

Today, we cleared a portion of the day (after baking at 3 AM and before kid pickups from daycare at 4 PM) to prepare to practice throwing a Bella Bella Birthday Party! Tomorrow is Donna’s daughter Yasmine’s birthday and she has graciously agreed to be our guinea pig. She has invited a group of 8 friends for a sleepover on Friday night. In the morning on Saturday, the girls will get to follow us to the kitchen and bake and decorate their own special cupcakes, which should be interesting given the amount of sleep 8th grade girls get at a sleepover party! Wish us luck!

Donna’s Mom made each girl her own individual apron to keep and the girls will get to box up the cupcakes they make to take as party favors. Inspired by our amazing web designer, Amber Haynes of redlovesgreen.com, Donna made some super cute banners and decorations and Yasmine helped us get fancy with some “Hello, Cupcake” penguins, owls, and panda bears.

By the time the flour settles this weekend, we’ll be letting you know how things went, what a Bella Bella Birthay Party Package consists of, and how much it costs. For now, here are some pics of our preparation:

And, while you’re at it, you’ll be helping us achieve our Quest for 500! We are so excited to watch our facebook fan base grow day by day. And we love seeing you out and about, coming to visit at the farmer’s markets and events, sharing with us your favorite flavors, and introducing your friends and family in tow. If you haven’t become a fan of our facebook page, you are missing out on weekly flavor postings, event and market locations, specials and sales, and lots of pictures of Bella Bella Cupcakes’ adventures.

We have been left in awe and inspired by our 100th facebook Fan, Shelia Cline. She selfless-ly asked that her prize for being the 100th Fan be donated to an organization she is passionate about, the Relay for Life. We want to make sure that Shelia’s example continues to be set so we can’t wait any longer to announce our Quest for 500 prize! Our 500th Fan will receive a $50 Bella Bella Gift Certificate for themselves AND a $50 cupcake donation to the organization of their choice.  Shelia, we are honored to have you for our 100th Fan!

So let the quest begin! With your help it won’t be long until we hit 500. As a thank you for all of your help getting us to our 500th Fan, we will soon be running a Market Cupcake Sale exclusively for our facebook Fans. Keep your eyes open and get ready to eat some cupcakes!!

Here are some pictures of the special events that have been keeping us busy:

Sometimes I get that same warm fuzzy feeling  just walking thru the farmer’s market, usually to find the items I failed to plant, water, grow, and harvest properly or just not at all. I feel a soul connection to my fellow gardeners and the hard work behind their bountiful offerings. Not to mention a sense of responsibility for providing my family with fresh, healthy food and a feeling of triumph over commercialism, support of the local economy, sustainability, and overall granola green-ness.

And as I’m walking, humming a happy song, toting my re-usable shopping bags, and musing over dinner making ideas I recently read in Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food Magazine, I think to myself, “How can the farmer’s market be any more perfect?”.

Well, I have the answer! And it’s cupcakes! Yes, I’m talking about rich, buttery, decadent, sugary sweetness directly next to freshly grown and picked greens and flowers. Healthy food, heavenly cupcakes, and environmental and social responsibility all combined in one convenient location brought to you by local farmers and Bella Bella Cupcakes. If this were a novel, Fabio would be on the cover- hair flowing in the gentle breeze, a basket of fresh greens on his crooked arm, cupcake in hand, and a fair maiden at his side, heart-a-flutter in anticipation of the delicious frosting.

Now that you are all worked up for some cupcakes, here is where you can find Bella Bella for the next 28 weeks at a farmer’s market close to your house (Fabio appearance not guarenteed):

Silverdale Farmer’s Market

http://silverdalefarmersmarket.web.officelive.com/default.aspx

Tuesdays 11-4

Port Orchard Farmer’s Market

http://www.pofarmersmarket.org/POFM-Home.html

Saturdays 9-3

Port Gamble Sunday Market

http://www.portgamble.com/default.asp?ID=77

Sundays

Here are some pics from the Silverdale Farmer’s Market Opening Day:

See you at the Farmer’s Market!

6AM- Sleepily post pics of our cupcake contest entrants on facebook. Didn’t want to post them the day before so as not to alert the competition to our mind-blowing ideas!

6:30- Load cupcakes in unfortunately slide-y round cases. Strategically placed aprons between and around to avoid any cupcake tragedy.

6:45- Leave for the ferry, Donna driving, Amie as passenger, Captn in the back seat, keeping watch over the cupcakes.

7:15- Arrive for 7:20 Bremerton-Seattle Ferry. Drive on, walk upstairs, find a seat, take a deep breath. Whew!  We’re on our way! Wait, where’s Lulu?

7:17- Call to Lu. Lu arriving at parking garage in “plenty of time”. Except that the parking garage is a 10 minute walk away.

7:20- Ferry leaves with no Lu. Lu decides to drive around. Thank goodness there’s no traffic on the weekend!!

8:15- Arrive Seattle! Garmin takes us on wild goose chase thru city circling 415 Westlake, passing cool 3 story antique store, before finally “arriving at destination”. Lu not far behind.

9:00- Doors open to bakers and we carry our cupcakes to set-up area. Scan the room to see that the other sponsors all brought tiers for display. Maybe we missed that part in the paperwork? Now what?

9:15- Arrive at Antique Liquidators after two block walk.  Three stories of antique bliss. More wardrobes, sidetables, buffets, dressers, china hutches, bedframes, chairs than we realized could fit into one store! But where are all the smallwares? We need a tier-FAST. After scouring the store, we notice what we were looking for is tucked into bigger furniture pieces. We gather several objects, mix and match, go back for more stuff, change it up a bit, recruit the store clerk, Janice, to find more treasures, add a faded fake flower, and VOILA!  Here is a picture of our plant stand, upside-down wooden plate, glass vase middled, copper gold-digger’s sand sifter, minister priced (thanks Carl!!) genius tier:

10:00- Rush back, re-arrange cupcake display to include genius tier. The room is getting busy! Professional bakers (that’s us!) and amateur bakers, a total of 70 in all, have arrived. Volunteers are in place including our Miss Silverdale (Amanda Maynard) and Kitsap’s Most Outstanding Teen (Holly Wasson) complete with Bella Bella T-shirts and Crowns!  The cupcake fan line is already forming outside the door and we are ready to go!

11:000- Doors open and people pour thru like patrons to the Vatican. You can almost hear the boys choir over the buzz of excitement as plates of cupcakes are carefully chosen and mouths are filled. There are people in cupcake t-shirts, with cupcake earrings, cupcake purses, fashionable cupcake hats. Tables fill, kids are spinning sugar high circles and the people just keep coming! We stop for a moment to take a picture:

  12:00- The cupcake frenzy continues. Lu and Amie  are stationed near our cupcake display to answer questions about flavors. Donna is making friends with fellow bakers. Captn is kid watching, fetching us water, and is conducting general damage control. People are moving thru fast and suddenly the tables are near empty. ..

12:30- 5,000 total cupcakes are gone! Just as many people who have already come thru the doors are still waiting outside and must be turned away, disappointed and cupcake-less.

12:45- Bakers are called to the front of the room to prepare for Contest Winner’s Awards. The judges are a mix of “covered in frosting”, “really-wound-up-because-I-just-tasted-75-cupcakes”, “don’t ask me to move because I just tasted 75 cupcakes”, and “if I have to eat another cupcake…”. All seem excited about giving out prizes but a bit confused about some of the categories since not all of us marked our entrants completely (oops! we were just so excited!!…).

1:00- Still waiting for Winner’s announcements.

1:10- Donna peeks at a list in one of the judges hands held up just right and punches Amie’s shoulder (kinda hard), “Oh my God, we won SOMETHING!” Doubt and forced “I refuse to get excited at your teasing me” reaction from Amie. Scolding from Captn, “Cheaters never win”. “I wasn’t cheating, I was SNOOPING”, says Donna.

1:15- Waiting…. wait-ing…… what is going on up there?? We can’t sit still any longer!!!!

1:20- Winners are finally revealed! We clap graciously for the Amateur Bakers who are VERY excited to be recognized. Cameras are flashing all over and squeals of delight shoot up from different tables as names are called and prizes are handed out and husbands comment “Well I knew you would win, dear!”. Then come the Pros. “And the winner of the Best Seattle Theme is Bella Bella Cupcakes with their Pacific Northwest Sustainable Granola”! Lu jumps and claps for joy, Donna giggles and squeezes Captn, Amie flashes her signature jazz hands. We all go forward and accept our prize bag and take our official winner’s picture all the time whispering to each other, “We beat the Seattle bakers!! We won in Seattle!”

1:45- The day wraps up with the much anticipated Cupcake Eating Contest featuring a rather large Top Pot Doughnuts Doughnut Eating Champion complete with doughnut chain around his neck and an equally large sidekick/fight promoter man making way and announcing their arrival. The other contenders are a very small and skinny woman and an equally small and skinny man. In a minute and a half, yes I mean 90 seconds, Top Pot Champ eats 6 whole standard size cupcakes, including 2 or 3 of the skinny woman’s, with not even a crumb left on his fingers. Yes, I’m serious! Don’t believe me? Fine! Check out the video here:

http://www.cakespy.com/blog/2010/4/10/sweet-video-cupcake-eating-contest-at-cupcakecamp-seattle.html

 In conclusion, it was an amazing day! We had a great time mingling with fellow bakers and exchanging preparation war stories. We met the Frantic Foodie, the CakeSpy artist, the chair person of Hope Heart Institute and countless cupcake fans so excited to be there eating cupcakes. We are looking forward to participating again in the years to come!

On the way home, we delivered a special box of cupcakes to Donna’s brother, John, who works on the ferry. He took the box of 12 cupcakes into the crew room and shared them with his co-workers. They were delighted with the special treat, dished about their favorite flavors, and even asked about how to place orders. The next day, we receive this text message from John while he is at work:

Was stocking paper towels in the crew room and found one of your cupcakes hidden inside the paper towel roll! Someone must have forgotten where they left it. Bella Bella Cupcakes: good enough to hide from your friends!

We laughed until we cried! We concluded that sometimes it’s OK to not want to share! And if you want to keep your cupcake all for yourself, that’s OK with us too!

We can’t come close to expressing how much joy we feel when experiencing the simple happiness that our cupcakes bring to those who have the pleasure of tasting them. It warms our hearts and drives us forward to put cupcakes in every hand and smiles on every face. Keep loving your cupcakes, Kitsap! Cupcake Camp Seattle was unforgettable and with your support, we know there are even bigger things to come for Bella Bella Cupcakes. And we can’t wait to share them all with you, even when you’re not always willing to share us with your friends!!  

More links that include lots of pictures, the total amount of funds raised for the Hope Heart Institute, and plans already in the works for next year’s Cupcake Camp:

http://www.cakespy.com/blog/2010/4/14/sweetest-day-ever-50-awesome-moments-at-cupcakecamp-seattle.html

http://cupcakecampseattle.com/

http://barbiehull.wordpress.com/2010/04/10/bella-cupcake-couture-camp/

http://bellacupcakecouture.blogspot.com/2010/04/baked-with-love-and-lot-of-hope-heart.html