ASiany, I did those classes a few good years ago and at the time it wasn't that expensive. Ohh I love Paul Hollywood and I made doughnuts using his recipe. It was so yummy!!!!:-)

Oooh I love brush embroidery, I did it at level 3 ABC

Excuse the phone photos!

Did I mention I love Oz??

It's a really easy and effective technique, I can do it better now but I have no photos of it recently...

AOh now dont mention our Mr Hollywood, you all know my thoughts on him! Knead,buns, do I need to go on? Ooo I havn't had a good bun in ages? No really ladies I mean it, what on earth did you think I meant?

AGood grief I have so many pages to catch up on lol!! Will have to backtrack so sorry if I miss anyone out or get a name muddled up!

Hi to the newbies, this thread is really fab, with loads of very lovely cakey people!

As for local distance, I agree with everyone, a 15/20 mile radius is what I go by. 75 miles, not so much!! I hope you get the market sorted out! Oh and I'm near oxford, so that's from Abingdon to Banbury basically :-)

Siany that's great RI work! I've not done too much, mainly pinstripes and dots, but I'd love to do more complicated things, I just need to make myself practise!

Nanny, i looove your bunny, I want him sat on my desk lol, he's so cute! I love the shoe too. Have you guys seen the chocolate shoes Tracey Mann does? They are so great, much more fun than an Easter egg!

Jeanie I love that handbag too! Ruffles are on my to do list, I love that look :smile:

I know I've missed loads out, sorry!

I'm quiet order wise at the moment, but actually it's quite good as I'm in the middle of planning 2 display cakes for my next wedding fair, and I can't decide what to do! So many ideas and things I want to try out lol! Any suggestions welcome ;) I want to do one quite modern and clean, and another quite vintage and flowery...

A

:lol::lol::lol::wink:

Mel, now the trend is metallic. So do something down that line.:-)

ARofl Nanny :-D

Silver leaf is another thing on my to do list Bashini :-) I've been thinking of doing it perhaps for a shallow mid tier on my more modern cake?

ABashini you're very lucky as he is about £400 a day for a course now. My years course is that much. I would love to leant from mr Dunn though.

I made Paul H's lemon meringue tart last weekend. Oh my god!!! It was heavenly, best recipe I have ever found and it's my fave pud so I have tried lots. I made his croissants a few weeks back, need more practice but they were nice too.

AMel, theres a lovely cake in the summer mag Cake Decoration Heaven, its a Grey lace cake, using grey lace printed sugar sheets, meaning edible icing I can only assume. Either way its very pretty.

AMel, whats silver leaf?.

AMorning!

Ooh haven't got that mag yet Nanny - going shopping later though so will keep an eye out! Grey does seem popular at the moment, I had a couple of brides asking about it at my last fair.

You can use edible silver (or gold) leaf on cakes to get a really high shine metallic effect, I love the look! I took a Craftsy class by Jessica Harris recently, where she did a load of metallics - here's her blog with some examples. I love her style!

http://jessicakesblog.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/silver-leaf-cakes.html

X

AGood morning all... Mel, you also can use cake laces. That's another popular one.:-) I am hoping to do a wedding fair in September and I have planned to use these two methods.

Siany, when I did it was £50/£60 a day. He did it during the weekend and if you want to learn a particular flower you can come. No obligation at all. :-)

AWow I wasn't able to nip back on here last night and I missed too much chatter :)

All of your shoe and handbag cakes look great, I haven't made one yet but would like to.

Cakejeanie - I'm in East Manchester-Ish but not too far from Wilmslow so we're almost neighbours!

I haven't done any courses for cake decorating but wouldn't know where to start. I've only just got the hang of covering a cake and even that's not always perfect! I would probably enjoy doing a beginners course to start with but they are expensive so I'll stick to YouTube for the time being.

Blinkin' eck!  I only go to bed for 7 and a bit hours and I have had about four pages of stuff to catch up on!

Nanny - I love your bunny!  I am not so good with models and I want to get better.  Here's a little teddy I did on a Christening cake.

I hate doing shoes - I have spent a fortune on trying to get them right - I am hoping my session with Tracey Mann on Friday can convert me back.  I think you did a great job - they simply try my patience.  But I won't be beaten.  DD and I have decided to do a home tutorial session in the summer and give some of these things a real "go".

Bashini - Alan Dunn??  I mean.....Alan DUNN?  I think you have a head start!  (Goes green with envy......)

Natt - I forgot all about brush embroidery - I did that years ago - I might have to "brush up" (sorry about that) my skills.  Love your string work by the way.

If I have left anybody out - apologies - but you have all been so busy.  (Siany - hope the hand is better).  Off to find my British Bake Off book which I won in the works Xmas cupcake comp!  Hoping the lemon tart recipe is in there as my husband's favourite dessert in the world is lemon meringue pie.

AIt's the best lemon meringue pie I've ever had, the calories count is astronomical!! It uses 12 egg yolks in the lemon and a whole block of butter, that doesn't even start on the pastry but it's a lovely treat.

AMorning everyone. :-) I've missed loads! I went for a bath last night and fell asleep when I got out, woke up at about 2am freezing cold with a stiff neck!

Nanny, you're spoiling the picture I have of you in my head! Nannycook with her funny typo's conjures up a sweet, rosy cheeked, frilled pinny wearing, kind soul with a wooden spoon in her hand! Now I'm starting to see a lusty cougar with designs on Paul Hollywood!

Love your little teddy Kathy, I'm hopeless at models.

I had a thought, I could have a look for a plastic easter egg in two halves for my dragons eggs couldn't I? Just something to use to shape them, it's a good time to be looking, what do you think? And I think Rice Krispie treats might be better, if I use cake it'll be stale by time I've decorated them, it looks like it'll be a lot of work.

AMaisie that's funny. And yes plastic eggs would be perfect you could just model around them, leave them to harden and then place them on. Same as the wine in a crate cake wine bottle (sorry to keep bringing it back to that haha)

I think that teddy is cute dayscakes you did a good job.

And I have no idea what this brush embroidery thing is you're all talking about so I'm going to check it out.

Thanks for your nice comments Maisie and Sugaluva - it took me ages to make that bear and the weather was so hot that I was so pleased to get it out of my house!  Maisie - I hear a lot about rice crispie treats .....what are they?  I follow a girl on FB (Tasty Cakes) who uses them to make the most amazing lifesize models of people (albeit a bit spooky).

Sugaluva - it's basically royal icing and a paintbrush from memory.  Brush embroidery was one of my early nemesisis (I have no idea if a nemesis can be plural!  Nemeses maybe?? :)).  If it's making a comeback (OK I can hear you all now saying "it never left"!) then I might try it again.

Aha!  Just edited because I now found out where I was going wrong with brush embroidery!  Thanks Siany!!!

Alol I totally can't keep up!!

Maisie I would be tempted just to use chocolate eggs, if you can wait till the few days after easter you can get a load pretty cheaply, if you find white ones you can use petal dusts to colour them or maybe even cover them with mottled modeling chocolate! (I'd do that one half at a time then stick them together but be carful, they don't make those eggs as thick as they used to!!)

Dayscakes I love your teddy! and the tiny building blocks! I always end up with rounded edges and they look like those cube things in dolly mixtures- yours are brill!

Now to go rebake two chocolate cakes... they sank :(

AHi Dayscakes, I love your bunny. It's so cute. If you to try modelling, Lorraine McKay is the one. I bought few of her online tutorials. :) And yes, I think I had a very good head start. I have Alan's book but it's not like seeing him making it. I am more like a visual learner!!!:grin:

Maisie, did you see the YouTube video on making eggs using egg shells? I thought it was brilliant. And the other thing is that you can use melted chocolate and plastic chocolate mould. These plastic ones are quite cheap too. :)

AMmm those cube things in dolly mixtures are my favourite ones...

Chocolate eggs would work too that's a good idea. I am so eager to make this cake now you have me very jealous Maisie. I still have nothing planned until easter so I might start some prep for that and decide what to make.

ANemeses I think Kathy. Rice krispie treats are rice krispies mixed with erm, stuff, and maybe a bit of erm, other stuff, then erm squished together maybe to be used to make models. As you can tell I've no idea either! But I won't let a tiny detail like that stop me from having a go!:-D Brush embroidery sounds scary! Saying that, getting fondant on a cake is scary to me so who am I to judge?! Sugarluva, I think you've talked me into this cake! Yesterday I was thinking about maybe having a go, today I'm planning and shopping for it! I'm so jealous of all your courses! I'd love to go on one but I'm too busy and too poor!

ACrazy-Gray, I can't keep up either!

AYes I think rice crispy treats are just rice crispies mixed with melted marshmallows. I've never used them but I've seen them used a few times and have been tempted. I think you can squish them together and shape them then cover them in melted chocolate to get rid of all the bobbles. Probably not the best person to talk about it I'm sure someone else will know more.

AI'm going to be using (or should say attempting) rice krispie treats to make hulks hand soon. Why did I let my some watch avengers lol

ACakejeanie, by experience, more than £200. I use to do all the cheap ones and never got any orders. Then last year I did one which I paid like £350 and I 4 orders. But saying that it's hit or miss kind of thing.

Maisie, I have a good recipe that use for rice krispy with marshmallows :lol: ... If you want I'll give it to you. :grin:

AThre's bound to be a tutorial online isn't there? That's how I learn most things, I love Youtube! I'm off now, busy, busy. Have a good day everyone, good luck with your cakes Crazy-Gray. :-)

AOops! Missed that, yes please bashini. :-D