Opening up another session of the FNCC! Who is up? What are you working on this week? Everyone is welcome! I'm looking forward to catching up with you all!
Cat
A[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/2958169/width/200/height/400[/IMG]
I'm working on this guy for an Easter brunch I'm going to tomorrow. His ears, hands and feet are drying out right now, so he looks more like Humpty Dumpty than the Easter bunny!
Hi everyone,
This has been a very hard week for me. I learned about one friend passing away about a week ago. Then, after trying my best (with other family/friends) to help him hold on, we lost Rylan. I learned of both losses on the same morning. Rather flattened me. Unfortunately, due to location, I can't go to either service and that's very hard as well. So, dealing with that.
On the work front I'm working on a wedding cake. It's due Sunday so I decorate tomorrow. Thankfully it's a fairly easy design in butter cream so it won't take too long to decorate. I'll share it next week.
I do hope everyone else has had a much better week than I and can post some really pretty cakes for all to see tonight!
Cat
Oh my...he is SOOOO cute! I can't wait to see him with ears! PS...if you ever do need to make a Humpty Dumpty you clearly know how<G>
That's what my husband said!
Sorry to hear about your losses. Been there, it never gets easier to hear news like that. I'm sure they both know you are thinking of them though, even if you can't make it to the services.
Big Hugs for you Cat , dealing with the loss of dear friends and loved ones is never easy.
Loving Humpty Kiki, can't wait till he is Peter Rabbit.
I am doing a retirement cake for a Marine Studies teacher , it is for one of my niece's colleagues and she is paying for the cake so that means it is more or less a love job as I am only getting $50 for it. When my customer price is $150. Just as well I only have one niece.
I had a consult for a wedding cake this morning , and of course they picked the three tier offset square , that I hate doing , but is fast becoming my signature cake for the season. Any one else hate doing square cakes?
My Mum came through her Surgery on Monday very well and I actually had her home with me less than 24 hours later.
I still have cracked ribs and rolling icing is a little challenging . I am amazed I did such a good job of rolling and covering when I was rather away with the fairies on Pain meds this morning.
Well I am off to make some coral and other marine-ish type things.
Happy Caking all .
thank you everyone. Like I said, it's been a hard week.
Chelle...glad to hear the meds are working. I don't mind a square cake but I don't like the look of the offset so it's hard for me to like the cake in the end. Also glad to hear things went smoothly with your mom..that has to be a weight off of your shoulders!
I am off to bed now. Long day set for tomorrow beginning with making fresh butter cream!
See ya'll next Friday!
Cat
cat, sorry to hear that you had such a shocking week. On a couple of occasions, rather than attend services, I sat in my garden and remembered all the nice things about the person whilst the service was being held. Now, when I think of those people there is no funeral trauma added to their memory for me (I find funerals really traumatic). This may or may not work for you, just a suggestion to help you say goodbye.
kiki, I love him. He already looks so cute I can't wait to see him finished.
On the cake front I had a really good week. For the past years my son has not given a damn about his birthday cake (and in all honesty I do the cakes for me rather than the kids as I realise that they are not particularly interested) but this year he actually got really excited and didn't even want us to cut it. We did cut a small piece and then he took it home to look at. He plays on line poker all the time, hence the cake.
Unlike my usual cakes I buttercreamed it rather than adding fondant. I found it a bit of a challenge trying to get it smooth. Thought I had done a reasonable job until I airbrushed it and then every uneven bit showed up. Was able to hide most of the faults with the accents, though. Am definitely going to try the buttercream thing again and have been watching videos and reading up on how to improve.
This is my first time posting on a FNCC thread. A friend asked me to make a rehearsal dinner cake for a co-worker. She gave me free-hand with the design; her only requirement was that it looked bridal. I loved this design when I came across a similar cake on here; I was kicking myself last night for choosing it coz it definitely was not as easy at it looked!
It has been an emotionally draining week. Hugs to everyone!
This week I took off, and I'm doing some sketches for some upcoming cakes in addition to practicing flowers. My attempt at a dahlia was pretty bad. I learned a lot though, especially about using petal dusts. I did successfully got wires into the petals and taped the petals together, which was a first. So that was my big accomplishment.
I'm also trying to plan for an entry in an upcoming cake show. I don't know what I was thinking when I decided to enter a competition using icing images. I've never worked with them before and it looks like the only thing I can do with them is cut them with an exacto knife, electronic cutting machine or craft punches. I don't have anything but an exacto knife, and didn't realize the are harder to cut than gumpaste or fondant so I can't get curves like I want them with my cutouts. I think I will still enter but it will most likely be an uninteresting simple cake because I can't carry out what I wanted to do with the materials and tools I have. I God knows I don't need to buy anymore tools that I'm not going to use on a regular basis.
And I thought the goal of every hobbyist was to have a whole pile of stuff that was only used occasionally. Am I doing something wrong or are you a professional and a bit more sensible than me?
Welcome OT. Your cake is very appealing. I like FNCC because you get to see and hear about what people are up to and not just what they are having problems with. It adds a more personal note to things, I think, and I like that.
Chelle glad to hear that all is going well for your Mum. It's unbelievable how quickly they kick people out of hospital now a days but I suppose keyhole surgery has cut down on tissue damage enormously. And I missed something somewhere. How on earth did you break your ribs? Unfortunately you will be uncomfortable, to put it mildly, for a few weeks. Look after yourself.
Chelle make sure you rest up after finishing off that cake! And I'm glad your mom is doing well.
Cazza I love your cake, I had no idea it was buttercream!
Tdovewings I love your flower, it looks like you spent a lot of time on it. I think you will probably get extra credit for only using an exacto knife rather than letting something else do all the work. It takes a lot of skill to actually execute an idea, the design is only a part of it.
I know its technically Sat Morning but I wanted to add my Friday night cake to the list! I was up all day and most the night last night cutting and plastering over 6,000 tiny squares on a 2 tiered Minecraft cake for my daughter. The tutorials I watched made it look easy, but it failed for me -so I ended up having to place each square on the cake by hand not making for a very even and polished cake but my daughter loves it so that is all that matters!! Hope all your cakes turned out well!!!
Wow, I go to bed and everyone shows up!! LOL! How wonderful to get up this morning and get to see the cakes and read about you all! So I'm going to take my replies one at a time:
Cazza: thank you...that is just what I'm going to do today. I am making cake and I know that Rylan loved that. I'll be thinking of him with each swirl I make. I love your poker table cake. And, yes, I have done a cake like that, pool table, in buttercream and man-o-man is it hard getting that smooth! I used the hot water to heat the offset spatula thing and it worked for the most part. UGH. My kids are always thrilled with the cakes. I've been doing them since the middle child was 2 (she just turned 29) and so they all really look forward to them. I think it's totally cute he didn't want to cut it!
OT Cakes: I love your fan cake! It may look similar to one already posted but I think you gave it your own mark and I think it's beautiful! Welcome to FNCC...hope to see you here on Friday nights more often.
Tdovewings: I have to tell you that I've had very little success with wired petals. I do SO much better with flowers where I can glue the petals onto each other. So I'm impressed that you are trying and having some luck with it. Learning to use petal dusts is a challenge too that I've only semi-mastered. Sometimes it comes out brilliantly and others...well, the trash ends up seeing those or they get hidden behind other flowers on the cake<G>. And tools I rarely use? Yeah, my family is famous for giving me stuff I will use, maybe, once and then set aside. They mean well but I now have a whole tub of them! LOL!
Cakemommy2012: I have a minecraft cake coming up at the end of April for my own son. I got some practice with the squares on a wedding cake I had earlier in the year so I know what I go myself into. Fortunately it just needs to be one small square because this is a "small" birthday gathering this year for his 12th and not a two tier like you did! I'd love to see it if you have a photo to post?
Off to start my butter cream! Hope your days all go very well!
Cat
AWell here's my finished bunny...nobody wanted to cut him open though! [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/2959058/width/200/height/400[/IMG]
Kiki, he's simply adorable!!! Yeah, I'd hate to cut that up too! LOL! I simply love him. SO cute!
I will put up my finished wedding cake tomorrow after the wedding.
Cat
Love Mr Bunny Wabbit , Kiki, I wouldn't have wanted to cut it. Then again that is why I am a cake decorator and not a cake eater.
Love the poker table too Cazza , I wouldn't have thought it was buttercream at all, it is finished so nicely . I hate working with buttercream and refuse to do it . It is the cleaning up after it that I so object to.
Ot , what a pretty cake ,
Dove , I like the Dahlia, Inserting wires into petals is one of the most valuable things you can learn. I teach my students four different ways to do this and then challenge them to come up with a new way if they can.
For those that are curious I broke my ribs putting away some sheets on the top shelf of the linen press a few weeks ago. I have bones like chalk so this is a bit of a regular occurence, I am afraid.
I finished the marine cake and along with the $50 dollars , I got a big bunch of pink and white roses and a huge Hug with the words ," You are Amazing." Sometimes it isn't about the money.
Here is my Marine cake ,
I'm not surprised. He is fantastic. I am going looking to put him in my favorites so I can copy him one day.
He is based on a cake I saw on Facebook from a place called Royal Bakery. She has a tutorial available for sale on there but I needed the cake before she made it available so I did it without the instructions. I feel like a bit of a fraud saying it wasn't my own original idea!
Chelle, for me the money is a nice bonus...seeing someone's face when I walk in with the cake is my payment. One of the reasons I really don't like doing wedding cakes. Unless I'm attending the wedding I don't get to see if they loved their cake or not! I do love your under the sea cake. I made one last year and it was SO much fun to do! I bet the man of honor was thrilled with yours! (and again, OW with the ribs!)
Kiki...there really is nothing new under the sun. Someone will have always done what we think is original. The best we can do is put our own twist on it. I simply adore your little guy!
As I mentioned , I had a wedding this weekend. I dropped off the cake this morning at 8am. They had just arrived to dress the venue so I didn't get to see much and didn't take photos of the cake at the venue since it was just sitting on a white table cloth. I'm told they will put purple flowers and crystals around it and get me a photo later but I have to say that not once has a Bride followed through on this promise to me. Out of sight, out of mind. SIGH. Anyways, here is the photo I took:
It's a play on the "Rose Cake". I used a #32 tip so it would make swirls instead of roses. It was easy to do, if hard on the hands, and the coordinator loved it so I'm hoping the Bride does too.
See y'all next Friday!
Cat
kikiandkyle, what a beautiful easter rabbit cake. I could understand why they wouldn't want to cut it. You did a great job.
I love the swirls!
We ended up cutting from the back, and making our way around, just the little portion with his face is left now!
Wow, I go to bed and everyone shows up!! LOL! How wonderful to get up this morning and get to see the cakes and read about you all! So I'm going to take my replies one at a time:
Cazza: thank you...that is just what I'm going to do today. I am making cake and I know that Rylan loved that. I'll be thinking of him with each swirl I make. I love your poker table cake. And, yes, I have done a cake like that, pool table, in buttercream and man-o-man is it hard getting that smooth! I used the hot water to heat the offset spatula thing and it worked for the most part. UGH. My kids are always thrilled with the cakes. I've been doing them since the middle child was 2 (she just turned 29) and so they all really look forward to them. I think it's totally cute he didn't want to cut it!
OT Cakes: I love your fan cake! It may look similar to one already posted but I think you gave it your own mark and I think it's beautiful! Welcome to FNCC...hope to see you here on Friday nights more often.
Tdovewings: I have to tell you that I've had very little success with wired petals. I do SO much better with flowers where I can glue the petals onto each other. So I'm impressed that you are trying and having some luck with it. Learning to use petal dusts is a challenge too that I've only semi-mastered. Sometimes it comes out brilliantly and others...well, the trash ends up seeing those or they get hidden behind other flowers on the cake<G>. And tools I rarely use? Yeah, my family is famous for giving me stuff I will use, maybe, once and then set aside. They mean well but I now have a whole tub of them! LOL!
Cakemommy2012: I have a minecraft cake coming up at the end of April for my own son. I got some practice with the squares on a wedding cake I had earlier in the year so I know what I go myself into. Fortunately it just needs to be one small square because this is a "small" birthday gathering this year for his 12th and not a two tier like you did! I'd love to see it if you have a photo to post?
Off to start my butter cream! Hope your days all go very well!
Cat
Here's my finish cake! Hope Yours turns out catlharper!
Cat your swirls have such a lovely soft look to them that they almost look like velvet.
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