I am so not a creative person and I need at least an idea on something before I can elaborate on it. That being said...where do you get your inspiration for cakes that you make? I have seen alot of the designs on CC and they are sooo CREATIVE!

I'm the same way. My DH said once, Wow, you're not very good at coming up with new ideas, but you do good copying. He got a VERY nasty look before he ran out of the kitchen. lol

I find ideas EVERYWHERE I look! I can see a greeting card, or a window display or children's book or magazine or an ornament . . . Often I will walk up and down the isles of Hobby Lobby wishing I had thought to bring a sketch pad or notebook and pen with me. Once you start looking, and observing, ideas will just jump up and start waving at you.

CC is a great place for inspiration. I also find Google Images and leafing through lots of Cake Decorating books can get your mind thinking.

I'm very much the same way!! It's funny cause people see my cakes and say, "oh how creative you are". I literally laugh, lol. Cause i'm like huh? who?? i'm not creative at all!!
i get most of my inspiration from here. Sorry if anyone thinks of it as stealing. And i also search on google for images and take it from there.
i have a ton of wilton year books and other decorating books at home too, so that helps a bit.

I love it when someone asks me to make a cake to coordinate with a theme (nursery, hobbies, etc.)

My favorite inspirations are from artwork. The colors, the designs...you just can't beat it. I have so many cakes that I WANT to make, but don't have a reason to.

Angie

i bet if you start brainstorming from whats around you, you'll find that you can be inspired by more than you expected.

i am inspired by everything around me... nature, clothing, fabrics, artwork, wallpaper, dinner plates... everything in Homegoods
sometimes, my mind gets overloaded with ideas and i have to just get them down on paper. so, i have a sketchbook that i keep all of my ideas in. i just don't have any reason to make some of the cakes i've thought up.
but, someday, when i get a request for a unique cake, i'll just pull out my sketchbook and search through the pages.

Well, I let my conversations with my Clients provide me with my ideas. If you look in my gallery at the twin baby girls cakes, this was an idea that came to me while I was talking with my Client and her mother. As they were discussing the two babies they were going to be having, my mind suddenly flashed on a babys room with a bassinette and two little ones in it. The oval cake pan was perfect to make the bassinette and the ruffles were made of white chocolate paste. Then the room needed a white chocolate rug, but it needed a design, so I painted roses on it by hand. The babies would need a dresser, which was covered in chocolate paste. And a lamp. and blocks . and a pair of sox . and my mind went nuts.

This weekend, I made a gentlemans 40th birthday cake. Not exactly a flower-type of occasion this time, so what to do? I like the mod look of circles, so I just pulled out my round cookie cutters and cut circles of chocolate paste, draping them over the edges and layering them on one another on the cake. The effect was really neat and the family loved it. I will try to post the photo later.

Just talk to your customers and they will give you an idea of what they want. Ask about hobbies, likes/dislikes (if a woman is not into flowers and shee-shee-foo-foo-type stuff, then I wont make a lacy-looking basket of flowers), colors, etc. You will get a feel for what will work and what wont and before you know it, youll be designing with the best of them!

HTH,

Odessa