I am sick and tired of pouring my heart into cakes and having them crash and burn or look like *&^%! I'm done!

ok...I looked at your photo's and ....well could you point out which pictures are ugly or disasters or even the ones that look like s*&t? Honestly I don't see any that meet that discription!.
I think when things overwhelm us or get stressed we all tend to want to just chuck it all. When I start thinking of doing my daughters wedding cake this weekend I start getting sick to my stomach. Now when my son got married I probably baked a hundred cakes in practicing and so now people have asked me if I have been practicing on my daugthers cake. NOPE...no practicing this time. I got the magic line cake pans and they do such a great job on the cakes that it makes it so much nicer to work with them than the wilton pans.

Take a deep breath...back away from ebay and relax. If you are burning cakes check your oven temp. Take your time.... you can do it...you already have by evidence of your cake photo gallery... DO NOT SELL OUT!!!

Your cakes do not look bad! What disasters are you talking about?

The question you should be asking yourself is this, "Do I enjoy cake decorating?" If the answer is a resounding no, then it would be reasonable to find a different hobby. If the answer is even a little bit "yes," give yourself a break and keep going.

If you're having specific problems over and over again, there are almost certainly people here on CC who can help you figure out what you're doing wrong.

If you have even a little bit of love for cake decorating, don't give up! If you don't, then find something that makes you happy.

Good luck!

I'm always looking for stuff, but I don't want you to sell your items just yet. Listen to CakeRN and relax for awhile before doing anything drastic. Your cakes look great to me, and I would hate to see you throw all the talent away.

I'm so sorry you are so frustrated. Your cakes look fine to me. What happened?

Okay, as long as you plan on selling stuff, if you have an agbay cake leveler I want it However, looking at your post vs looking at your pictures...I'm confused, what's your issue What are you seeing that no one else is seeing. I think this is just a day where you are being your own worst critic I don't know why you are frustrated... you need to look at your work again, and just see how many of your pics that other people have as their "favs" - one of your pic is a fav of 26 people - I would love to have that many people who like my work that much.

Tomorrow's a new day...just make some cakeballs -you can work your frustrations out as you squeeze the cake into balls

Don't give up just yet...your cakes look great. Hang in there please.....

Your photos in the gallery are wonderful! Whatever is happening at the moment is more than likely directly related to sleep deprivation. Put down the icing bag, get a little bit of sleep and things will look much better in the morning.

Maybe CC should have an ebay sort of section with the fees to sell people who want to sell stuff but having said that I'm with everyone else. I wish I could decorate that greattttttt.
People with talent like yourself are an inspiration to newbies like myself.
Hope it all gets better

I was recently in the same postion. Ready to call ebay! But, after a nights sleep and some help from dear friends I am up and baking again. So have a drink, relax and try again.! Ebay can wait!!!!

I seen your photos also, your pictures look great, I think we all have those moments at times in which we feel like giving up but if you really love what you are doing then keep doing it. CC is great , whatever problem you are having address it someone will surely try to help. I have been doing cakes for the last 15 to 20 years ,yet on and off I just got serious about it within the last three years and I have seen someone who have been doing cakes for only 2 to 3 years and their cake make me wonder what the heck I have been doing all that time ( playing). yet I see it as a challenge You have to ask yourself is this something you want to do and if so step back give yourself a break and girl get back at it. Cc is a great support group all you have to do is ask , belive me I know thanks janh, indydebi, shirleyw ,lisam and so many others . Post your the problem that you are having and see if someone could help you first

I agree with the CakeRN and everyone else. Do not sell out!

I've only been at this since February of this year, and I don't know how many times I've asked myself... "What on earth were you thinking?". Then I make another cake and hear comments from my grandson that say "this cake is off-the-hook", so I keep going.

Just keep the faith, and don't give up. Maybe just give yourself some time to reflect on all the good comments that I know you received on ALL of your cakes. I loved the Bassinet!! Everyone will have mishaps ever now and then. Just don't give up. Hope to see many more of your cakes in the gallery soon!

I just have to say. I am just sarting out too. I love cakes and cake decorating. I am a person that gets easily bored with things. but I hope and pray I will stick this one out. My cakes might not be the best right now. but I am really proud of myself and how I came from crumbs in the frosting to a non crumb in frosting cake. some people might think they are not the best cakes in the world but others might thing they are great. so I think you should just keep it up and just let this be a lesson you can teach others when you are a top notch decorator. ( but they look great but we are always our worst critics.) I hope this helped.

natasha

I think we all go through periods where we get discouraged. 40 years ago I did the same thing, gave all of my cake things away. Years of mailbox news, dozen of irreplaceable books, cake pans and stands, tips etc. 5 years later I remarried was able to quit work for about 4 years and got interested in cake decorating again. Then I had to replace everything I had gotten rid of. It was a very expensive sabatical I'll say. My advise to you is to pack everything up and store it in the garage, rafters or storage shed, but don't sell it and don't give it away just yet. Give yourself a year off and see how you feel about it then.

How are all you guys seeing her pictures? I keep getting the down for maintenace message...for the last 2 hours.... I'm sure your cakes are great, like my dd 1st grd teacher says "Never give up!"

OK, I don't know what's happened but please remember that we all have bad days (or weeks) and that things always seem to turn around. Please don't give up just because of a bad experience. I'm sure things will get better. I'm one of the worst decorators on this site but, because of everyone's support here on CC and their gracious helpfulness I still try. Unfortunately I can't see your cakes right now because the galleries are down. But as soon as they're up I'm going to take a look and you can bet that your cakes will be a LOT better than mine.

I hope you feel better. Please let us know how you're doing.

Big Hugs
Mary

Quitting? I can't see your cakes due to the gallery being down at the moment but from what I hear your cakes are great. But, if cakes just aren't something you like to do right now I respect your decision. Hope to see you back one day.

sometimes i feel that way to.. this one day i had just finished crumcoating this huge whimsical cake... i had baked 12 different rounds for it... took me 3 days to bak that many... anyways it ended up on the floor... i felt like i had failed and felt like i had wasted so much time and money that i didnt want to decorate anymore... but i asked myself if i love doing it and i do and i am only getting started and will keep learning as i go.... i have seen your cakes and that look great... keep practising and learning.... if you really feel badly about your skills ( you shouldn't) then take a class or 2 to gain confidence... don't give up you will miss it if you do

I see from your ticker that you are going on vacation in a few weeks. My advise is step away from this for a few weeks, go on vacation and have a fantastic time. When you get home, set down and look at the pictures of your beautiful cakes and rethink this whole thing. We all get strung out and stressed. This is supposed to be fun...if the fun is gone take a break and try it again...if it still isn't then think about ebay. Good luck to you...i think we will see more of your work...or I certainly hope so!!! Linda

I see from your ticker that you are going on vacation in a few weeks. My advise is step away from this for a few weeks, go on vacation and have a fantastic time. When you get home, set down and look at the pictures of your beautiful cakes and rethink this whole thing. We all get strung out and stressed. This is supposed to be fun...if the fun is gone take a break and try it again...if it still isn't then think about ebay. Good luck to you...i think we will see more of your work...or I certainly hope so!!! Linda

I dunno who's cakes you are talking about but I think your's are great! Don't give up and if you are unhappy with them just keep trying! You are doing great!

Ummmmmmmm.....is it me or did she NOT mention selling anything?? It looks like she needs some encouragement, not offers for buying her out. We could try to be more supportive, no?

DONT QUIT!! Your cakes are very cute!
Take a day or two off and come back start again.
Like Chicken Little says "Today is a new day!"
Good luck!

Ok....I admit...I was wrong...she didn't mention anything about selling...just quiting...but WE all have been supportive and don't want her to quit....

Everyone IS being very supportive. I know it gets hard, but when you have had your worst day, don't fear, they can only get better, right? So you actually have something to look forward to. By the way, I would buy your cakes. I think you are very talented.

girltrapped:
I felt the exact same way as you last night. I posted a thread and only got 1 response. So I watched TV the rest of the night, which is something that I don't do very often....

As others have mentioned, and as the 1 comment stated to me last night, step back and take a break and let your battery recharge....

Today I baked 2 cakes (just posted the first one) and and getting ready to cover the second one with fondant. Have no idea what I'm going to do with them but I'll get to that tomorrow.

Figure out personally what's up. If someone has made a comment to upset you or something else has gone wrong, get over that bridge but sit back and look at your cake gallery here (I did that last night) and see that your talented and perhaps you just need a breather even if it's a short one!

Hang in there and you have many genuine supporters here!

First off mjs4492, I just wanted to say I looked at your cakes and they are very beautiful.
Second, I agree about stepping back and taking a moment to recharge. If doing what we love to do isn't satisfying or pleasing us, it's hard to enjoy and therefore it becomes a dreaded chore no matter what it is. I hope no one here find the need to walk away from caking but if that is what someone really wants to do I wish them well and hope the time and distance they put between making cakes and the reasons they quit fade away and they give it another joe college try sooner than later. Girltrapped, if you do mean what you say and want to quit for awhile, I do wish you well and still support your choice. Just remember, if you decide to come back, I'll be right here with any and all of the support you need because you do have a gift of being a talented decorator.

Thank you to everyone who is so very supportive and took the time to encourage me when I was down. I posted my comment without explaining what happened and I know I should have explained myself but I was to upset. I had 2 cakes and 24 cupcakes to get done. The first one was a double layer 8 inch round cake and decorated to look like a basketball hoop. Then I had made the round ball cake to do as a basketball to set on top of the cake. Well, I forgot to put the basketball cake on a cake board before putting it on the cake. I doweled it and was all ready to have my first layered cake stay vertical.

I noticed the "problem" after my second cake was finished and I went to move it over by the first cake so I could move on to the cupcakes. The ball cake had settled into the double layer 8 inch and it had a huge crack on the side of it and the ball "rolled" enough that the two parts slid apart about an inch. Then to top it all off the DH comes in and says "isn't this the cake (the second one) that was SUPPOSE to look like a tombstone? Are you kidding me? I was freaking out and he had the courage to badmouth my second cake? I LOST it!

I ended up swirling frosting on the 24 cupcakes, posted my comment and went to bed crying. The next morning I threw the basketball cake in the garbage in a huff and gave the "over the hill" cake and the cupcakes away for free...

Like I said...thanks for everything! It's comforting to know people care about things like this and can encourage me to keep up with it.

We have ALL had these kinds of days! Wish we didn't, but it's inevitable. I tried to do my first topsy-turvy cake for my birthday...it was a TOTAL disaster! I ended up throwing the entire thing in the trash. My little girl cried and told me it was beautiful (it was AWFUL!!), and my mom griped at me because she said I wasted the cake...we could have still eaten it. Has anyone else had a cake so bad you would rather waste it in the trash than have someone else see it?! LOL!! I had to laugh about your husband's comment. My husband makes remarks like that ALL the time! They are starting to not bother me as much, but it still hurts after all the work! He will pretend like he doesn't know what a cake is supposed to be (see my castle cake in my gallery, I had the cake almost entirely done, and he asks me "what's that supposed to be?") AARGH!!!!! Today he walks in the house, looks at my cake and says "do you know your cake's crooked?" Sometimes I would really like to sock him!!! But, ya get over it, you know? Eventually you look back on your disasters and laugh at them.