AThats brilliant, love him!

AHi Barbara,

I always use syrup but it's a personal preference. I like the moistness it gives to the cake. :)

Maisie, you poor thing!!! When I am not well, I hate making cakes or do anything else for that matter.... But I have no choice, if I have taken a payment!!!:-)

Chairingmytail, the cake is fabulous!!! :grin:

I have three cakes to bake tomorrow and kids going back to school, it's going to be a very busy day.... I will try to pop in time to time. :grin:

Good night ladies! :-)

AWow chasingmytail that's great!

AYou lucky people with kids going back to school tomorrow, ours don't go back 'til next week. Saying that my little girl's still not well enough anyway. Bed for me now, I have to pull myself together for a busy day tomorrow, no time to be ill! Night all. :-)

AMaisie - morning and I hope you feel better today. Thanks for the tip about the cupcake quantity - yeah maybe it was too slow.

Chasingmytail - what a fab cake! Love it. Kathy

AQuick question, for anyone, for non wired roses does anyone put a Calyx on the bottom? If anyone puts them on the roses is it because it makes them look nicer ? Making a square cake this Fri with some non wired roses, gonna make some leaves too and some other little flowers, thinking about it I guess theres isn't any need really is there?

Morning nanny - no - I only put calyx on wired flowers since it is more likely to show.  With non-wired, it is more likely that any calyx will be lost anyway.  (Done the form yet? ).

Kathy

ATrue Kathy, I did think that too. Um, no, only because I have two other cakes that weekend, it sounds like I'm crying off I know, I have one cake Fri, and one sat, dont think I'd give it my full attention, and probably get really stressed over it, honestly if I didn't have the other two I probably would have. Thank you all for the vote of confidence though did appreciate it.

Good morning lovely people!

Kids are back in school, I've been to the gym for the first time in months and making a list of to dos- life is sweet!

Chasingmytail- that is a lovely cake. I've not managed to get my edges that sharp yet- I'm a bit afraid to tear the fondant!

Wow bashini and nanny that's a lotta cake. I'm looking forward to seeing them. 

I am eagerly awaiting my sugarpaste direct order, then I can start creating some dummy cakes. Also have to plan for eldest daughter's cake- the Golden Snitch- her request. The thought of covering a round cake in fondant is not appealing!

Poor you Maisie- I really hope you and kiddo feel better very soon x

Maisie - sounds like you are having a rough time with illness! Hope you and your daughter are back on your feet soon!!

Nanny -  Sad you won't be able to do the competition entry, I was looking forward to seeing what you would do!

Chasingmytail - I love your Shaun! He's excellent!

Jeanie - I can't wait to see what dummies you create, I love when people make dummies cos it's always a great way of seeing someone's own style coming through rather than when you have customer input in stuff!

I'm having a dilemma, I'm not making enough money to live comfortably once my NEA runs out, so when I'm stressed I apply for jobs as a way of relieving it (don't ask, I can't really tell you how that works...) but I did recently and I now have a job interview so have to start thinking if I want to go back to the cakes being a sideline thing again or not.... I watched my cousin basically make her self ill and alcohol dependant due to a cake business not doing as well as it needs to and I don't want to end up in the same position but at the same time I didn't expect a response to any of my rushed applications from less than a week ago....

Ye, that's how I'm feeling at the moment, I find not having enough work very stressful which takes away from the enjoyment of the job anyway! I'm more concerned about not becoming like my cousin than anything else, she's a nasty piece of work herself, but I really don't want to end up like her!

The biggest issue jobs wise (this is such a first world problem, so I apologise if it come across as not a problem at all!) is that no one looks at my CV for part time, minimum wage type jobs, I applied for all kinds of cleaning, retail, waitress jobs to no avail (in another one of my bursts of stress induced job applications) so all the interest I am getting is for supervisory/management positions, all of which are obviously full time... I'd be ok with having a part time job and caking along side it, it's what I used to do, and now I am struggling to get any responses for part time work at all.

Sadly Natt the world seems to be full of part timers in my experience.  I am only coming at it from a parental perspective.  My kids have tried to get part time jobs or zero hours contracts to support themselves while at uni and - assuming they even get an interview (which they don't always) they quite often find themselves in interview situations (for Tesco most recently) with around 20 others and then they have to do some sort of team building "thing" - this was for a shelf stacking job.  I don't mean to come across all high and mighty (sorry if I do and my kids only wanted shelf stacking to be honest)  but it goes to show how the situation is changing vis a vis part time work and what they want from you.  I would say go for anything that comes up Natt - cakes will always be there waiting for you and you need to pay bills.  What's NEA by the way?

I think with the jobs market the way it is, I'd say (this is only my opinion mind!), take a job offer, but keep looking and applying for part time work, bearing in mind you're still making cakes and holding a full time job, and that it might take a long time to find/get a part time one. You're probably overqualified for most of them, which is why you're getting nowhere.

I've got absolutely no response from my job applications! I'm wondering if the time I took off from having our youngest, plus my age (40) is a factor. I'd love a part time, term time work, like admin work in a school but they are like gold dust!

Hey everyone, hope you had a good Easter.

I am about to do a spring fair for a friend and am looking for some little cellophane bags to put rocky road in.  Do you know if there is a difference between different types of cellophane?  I went to Hobbycraft the other week and they have cellophane bags in the baking section and then cellophane bags in the papercraft/card section which to me look identical but are about 10 times cheaper!  Any idea if they are the same but just in different packaging?  Where do people buy theirs from?

Many thanks xx

AHi natt, as you know I made the choice a few weeks to go partime, dearly I would love to give it altogether but it isn't an option.

If I'm totally honest I know now that if I did finish it would be a stupid move on my part, I've worked there for 18 yrs, I know a vast amount of customers and this way I can keep in contact and vice versa. Obviously i need the money as hubby is retired, he is 60 this yr and he used to teach in Usk College to him theres no , chance, we still have a mortgage like everyone else.saying that making cakes isn't Pocket money for me it now makes up for what I'm losing.

What would you like to do natt? Can you do the same as me? abit of both?

Do you think we get all the kitchen ads for the UK because you are all such a lovely chatty bunch?  They obviously aren't wasting their time trying to advertise to us over here.

Bashini don't you just hate it when you shift somewhere new and you have to clean it.  I always left the old place spotless and was always disappointed to shift in somewhere new that was dirty.  13 shifts in 14 years does teach you to be organised and it sticks with you forever.  Fortunately there are not too many shifts left in my life now - unit, nursing home, cemetery.

Hi Cazza - you can blame me!  I put in a special request to the voodoo people last week to please let us go back to just kitchen adverts!  I think it worked!

Kathy

But why do you need new kitchens if you are only using them to open tins of spam???

A

I buy all my cellophane bags on ebay. They're food safe and really cheap plus you can bulk buy as many as you want.

You sound like you're doing the right thing in looking for a job natt but it is a shame when the thing you love doing isn't quite paying the bills for you. Is there anything else you could branch out in that you enjoy doing that maybe you could set up a little business in? That way you're still free to take phone calls all day as well as juggle your hours to fit in your cakes?

A[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3224481/width/200/height/400[/IMG] OK, I've made this rose for Fridays cake, not done one since last year, what do you guys think of it? Be honest, dont mind one bit, it isn't my best yet, but will I get away with it?

Its to on the cake with some other flowers, leaves etc.

I think it's lovely!  And such a pretty colour.

I also think its lovely 

AOh yes cazza, like you I cleaned the house we were renting before we handed over the keys. But the new house wasn't clean at all. And my knees are hurting sooo much!!!

Barbara, its beautiful but I would have liked the petals to be a bit up right? Not so much attached to the other each other? Does it make any sence?

AYes it does and but for some reason it wouldn't go like that, hubby thought I added too many petals, ( he used to teach horticulture so I do kinda listen to him bless him) thats probalywhat it is as I havn't put that amount on a rose before, a long as it doesn't look like a Savoy cabbage tho.

nannycook, I think the petals go where gravity takes them. That's the challenge with unwired ones where you can't hang them upside down, petals tend to go down. how about putting cotton/bits of tissue in between the petals to prop them up? Otherwise lovely rose. I especially like the graduating colours. 

sugarluva are there good deals on cake pop bags on ebay too? 

ABarbara, I personaly think its because its not wired. The cake that I did few weeks ago had unwired roses and hated making them. If they are wired you hang them upside down each time you attach a row of petals. And I use squires flower paste as its perfect for the warmth of my hand.