ADeliciousdesserts I have made a topsy turvy before and it was perfect, I tried a different method with this cake which failed it to give the topsy turvy effect in full. You are right the customer does have every right to refuse the cake however this isn't my issue, the way she went about it is my issue.

I appreciate your comment and over time I have certainly learnt from realising my mistakes.

No offence but for you to say I have "some talent" I think is rather patronising when you haven't seen any of my other cakes.

Anyway thank you for your comment as I am open to positive Critisism.

While I do think your lost customer was rude to you, I have to say your 'topsy-turvy' cake was not good at all. I would have asked for refund too and would have not picked up that cake. But I don't think her reaction is appropriate either, especially as you had refunded her the money.

I think you should keep practicing more before you sell anymore 'topsy-turvy' cakes as this one is not quite at a professional level. 

Did she see your 'portfolio' before she hired you? How much did you charge for the cake?  Just curious.

I feel for you - I am getting back into baking after a long gap and this topsy turvy malarky is a step beyond.  I think it was invented by somebody who couldn't bake a straight cake!  I did have a go last year for a Christening cake but I personally found it really hard.  I like your design - I think it is much better than the other one but for me, topsy turvy cakes just don't look right - and I certainly don't think the second one your customer bought looks any better.  Don't lose heart.

There are quite a few tutorials out there on how to make a topsy turvy, so don't be discouraged and work on the technical aspects of making one. It was awful of your customer to do that to you, I also think it is a little odd that she was able to get that cake on such short notice.  Another thing you need to work on is your zebra pattern. I know this was a very upsetting experience for you so I'm not saying this to cause you more pain, but my first thought was that the zebra pattern looks like tadpoles swimming sideways.  There are tutorials on how to do zebra stripes, you don't need to make a cake to practice this, just wrap a cake tin in plastic wrap and attach your fondant stripes on that you can attach and reattach until you are happy with it.

To cheer you up, the second cake is crooked, has a definite lean to the right. 

Also not a professional...responding back as someone who would be a potential customer.

I don't think there was a reason for you to be insulted/berated for the result of your cake.

The issues that stand out to me? The topsy-turvy is very uneven. I concur with DeliciousDesserts. Keep working on honing that skill.

Also, the black fondant on the pink.  I'm not sure what it's supposed to be when I look at it. The name of the cake is "zebra print" but It visually looks a bit like tadpoles to me. You might want to practice animal prints in fondant as well.

Last issue that I noticed right away: there's some uneven pearls on the fondant band around the cake (left side of the photo).

On what may be the positive side, I misunderstood the first time I read through and I thought the bottom picture was your cake and the top one was a photo she sent you of what she wanted. So your cake looked "professional" to me. My assumption was the bottom cake had upset the customer.

AThe first cake posted .. Bow is beautiful

AThat style of topsy turvy should be shot and buried anyways. Not your cake OP, just that particular style. It always looks like stubby lipsticks hacked off and stacked up on each other. Again, nothing to do with you OP or your cake.

While it's true there's room for improvement on your cake (who can honestly say they don't need to improve in some way?! Not me!), I think you did a nice job on it. Was it the best TT shape? No, but your execution of the other elements was pretty good! The fondant covering on all three tiers is very clean and smooth, the fondant pearls look good, the bow on the front is very nice. Yes, the zebra stripe pattern should be going more vertical rather than horizontal. But overall, you did a nice job!

Now all that said, she has to be nuts to think the cake she sent a picture of is in ANY way superior to yours! That thing is a hot mess. I'm also confused because the design of the cake she ended up with is not very close to your cake's design, other than the feather topper and the colors. Did you agree on the design you produced, with the zebra stripes, dots, and bow? Or was she expecting more like the design of the other cake? Was there an order form or contract with the details of the design clearly delineated?

AHello all, thank you for all the comments including all the positive Critisism..

Lovemesomecake615 she sent me a picture of the cake she wanted which was very similar to mine, practically the same apart from mine wasn't very topsy turvy!

I agree about the zebra print that's not personally how I would do zebra print but I copied the picture she sent me and that's how it was on there :( (I no longer have the picture so I can't post it sorry)

The second cake she got was no where near what she was after I also find it very odd to that she managed to get the second cake within 24hrs..

I totally agree with the positive Critisism this was not my best cake at all! But was so astounded by the customers response and deeply hurt..

And thank you to all those that have taken the time to point out the good parts of the decoration..

This cake situ knocked me back for a couple of days but then made me more determined on the work I had coming up..I have uploaded some Pics of my recent work :-)... Also welcome any Critisism again to help me improve... The last one, if it has uploaded in the correct order, is all made out of chocolate and painted X [IMG][IMG][IMG][IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3228217/width/200/height/400[/IMG][/IMG][/IMG][/IMG]

AOh no it only uploaded one picture why is that? Let me try again.. [IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3228218/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3228219/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3228220/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

[IMG]http://cakecentral.com/content/type/61/id/3228221/width/200/height/400[/IMG]

Good on you Rachel for not giving up, your cakes look great, if any customer had a problem with them then they have a problem not you (if you know what I mean).  You did ask for criticism and the only thing you could work on is getting your fondant edges a little sharper, I like your attention to detail. 

AHello thank you for your kind words.. I am working on trying to get them sharper I purchased the flexible smoothers to achieve the sharp edge however it doesn't matter how much I go around the edges they aren't going extremely sharp, any tips?

buy the corner sharpeners from Global sugar art.

AThank you [@]-K8memphis[/@]

AHi Rachel, I have been making cakes for years and still get bummed out when someone has anything negative to say about a cake. It comes from the amount of love you put into the art form and also the feeling that you want them to be happy. If you have my personality type then you probably just have to let the upset feelings run their course then get back on the horse! You know the work is beautiful. But every once in awhile you won't be able to compete with the idea someone has in their head!!! My least favorite client is the one who tells me to just 'do what you want and use your creativity'.

Rachel they are made in the UK.  I just looked at them on a UK website that I couldn't afford shipping for to have them sent to Alaska.  Look under "smoothers" for fondant.  They had sharp edge, softer edge, rounded edge, lot's of them that they don't sell here.

http://bakingpleasures.com.au/ss/corner-fondant-smoother

they are on this page.

AYour right Tracey the amount of love and effort I put into them I think is priceless! (Well sometimes :-) ) But I won't let them get me down!

Thank you mbalaska I'll have a look now :-)

Just a comment that I've said before...sharp corners on fondant aren't mandatory. If you like them that's fine, but if you don't there's no cake law that says they have to be sharp. That's a relatively recent look to cakes, and as the different types of corner smoothers on that link MBalaska gave shows, you don't have to do super sharp edges. I personally don't like them that much, and when I ask my clients which they prefer, the majority say that they don't want the sharp edges. One girl recently came in for a tasting appt, and she said that her fiance had one request...no sharp edges on the cake. He had told her that he didn't have an opinion about the cake design, then she showed him some pictures, and he said "I do have an opinion...I don't like those edges." So that was his one request for the cake, rounded edges. Other than that he didn't care...

AI agree I don't think every cake should have sharpe edges it all depends on the style and design of the cake.. (Not that I can achieve the sharp edge look anyway! Lol) That sounds really cool [@]-K8memphis[/@] do you have any pictures to show what you are explaining?

A

Here's a cake I did that I actually took pictures in process. The second photo on there shows the strips of fondant that I put on to give the dog's face contours. http://acaketorememberva.blogspot.com/2010/05/cake-design-pug-grooms-cake.html

AOh my that is absolutely amazing!!!

I think you didnt meet a nice person ... a bit dramatic to screaam like that.

I can almost feel the way you must have felt, grrrrrr

I think I would have take the cake with me, because as she didnt like it anyway.

gave the money right back and byeeee

than I would have driven by a hosital and gave it to them.