A year ago, I made the decision to finally join deviantART. It was a rather flippant decision, not meant to turn into anything significant. I certainly didn't plan to become invested in the site. I just couldn't comment and fave art I stumbled upon without an account, so I joined.

I turned into one of the best decisions I made. deviantART has a thriving artisan craft community. You have to dig a little to find it, and it's virtually imperceptible from the outside. But it is there, and it is full of some incredibly talented artisans.

The community has not only been supportive of me beyond what I thought imaginable, it has inspired me and it has changed the way I view this hobby. I've come to respect culinary art as an art form. From the photography of savoury dishes to the creation of novelty cakes, it's all art, it's all expression. The community has motivated me to improve not just in culinary art, but to learn and improve in still life photography as well.

I have so much to thank the community for, so I decided to say thanks in the best way I know how.

Summer here has been relentless, and since my house is not air conditioned it has been sweltering. I’ve avoided any fondant for since early December, but I decided to brave it for this cake.

I started of with a massive Madeira sponge and carved out the logo. 

Then I coated it in buttercream and covered it in embossed white fondant. In hindsight, I should have cut the cake a bit thinner as it bulked up quite a lot by the time I added all the layers.

Then I set about making the details. I had plans for more, but after these alone took me a day to complete I stopped there. 

Gracing the top of the cake is dA's mascot, Fella.

Cheekily climbing to the top of the cake, he hangs over the edge. 

I also had to include my favourite emoticon, the La emote. This little guy waves his arms up and down as he sings out and is endlessly adorable. I giggle with glee every time I see him. Because so many who saw him kept commenting on this, his mouth is actually carved out and the tongue is 3D. People kept thinking his mouth was painted on until they stared at him long enough.  

Alongside those guys, I had to add another craft I'm in love with: embroidery. It's something I've been doing a hell of a lot longer than cake decorating. 

On the adjacent side is some aida cloth made from fondant.

 I cheated and painted the letters onto the fondant since by that stage it was well past midnight and I wanted to finish off what was supposed to be a quick cake. 

Tonight we chopped it up. 

My sister, who luuurves the taste of fondant more than most people I know, spent the day waiting for the moment she could destroy little La. 

Poor little guy!