Wondering if your cakes ever turn out like you plan them? It seems for me, they never turn out quite like the picture I had in my mind. Either the cake isn't smooth enough or the color isn't just right or the fondant accessories won't harden up, or some other calamity...
I just finished a telephone cake, and the fondant (first time i added cocoa powder to it) cracked which has never happened before, then when i rolled it out and laid it on the cake, it wasn't large enough and I had to do a patch job and some creative camouflaging w/ "sticky notes", the phone cord kept cracking and breaking, etc.
People on here have such beautiful cakes, and I'm beginning to question my abilities. Do your cakes always go smoothly? I've not had one go smoothly yet. 
Not always. Sometimes you just have to "wing it"!! That's the beauty of what we do though. We get to be as creative as we want or need to be. We are our own worst critics. I just checked out your phone cake and it's wonderful. Keep up the great work. Remember, while we see each and every one of the flaws, the person who gets the cake sees a very creative cake that they couldn't have done themselves.
Val
Beach....if every cake was perfect there would be no need for recipes like cake balls.
None of my cakes turn out the way I planned or wanted. My skills are very slim compared to my eyes and thoughts for a cake....I always picture it to be beautiful, semi perfect, but I havent yet gotten what I wanted.. My ideas and knowledge of what I want is far more better then me actually doing the cake.
Beachcakes...I think your telephone cake is just adorable. I would have never known that you had a problem with it. I think we are our own worst critics. Usually the easy cakes I do like edible images turn out the way I want. It is the harder ones that usually turn out different. I had to do a castle cake last weekend and it was nothing how I planned. However, the customer was happy with it so I felt good after I delivered it to her. Don't be hard on yourself...I think your cakes are awesome!!! 
traci
What is it everyone says on this site? We are our own worst critics! Stop knocking yourself, Beachcakes. Your phone cake is extremely creative and you should be proud of how it turned out. No one would have even known about your so called 'flaws' if you had not pointed them out.
And so what if things don't go the way you 'planned them?
Debbi
beachcakes, I don't think I've ever had a cake go as planned, either. I'm starting to actually enjoy the little problems and even disasters that inevetably come up, because it's the perfect opportunity to grow in my skills. Neccessity is the mother of invention, and I've learned techniques and gotten inspired ideas out of trying to compensate for any problems I've had.
I think the main difference between an amatuer and a pro, isn't whether or not you have problems, it's whether in the end anyone else can tell!
In that case, you're certainly a pro!
Thank you all for your kind words! It's nice to know I'm not alone... I get so frustrated when the cakes don't turn out like the pictures in my head - especially if I'm making them for someone else.
Hmmm... I've got to try that cake ball recipe!
I know exactly what you mean. My sister is always asking me ,"How did your cakes go this week." and I always say "Oh, I had to plan B a couple" Which means they were a disaster and I had to do something completely different than what was originally planned. I think I have had one cake go exactly as planned and it is still my favorite!
I just checked out your phone cake.. It is awesome.. your cord looks so real and the sticky notes covered up any cracks.. It looks great.. 
Liz
Do they never!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I see things in my head then i picture how i will put them together ...and then when im making them stuff always happenens...
I do have to say that i had a horrible time with my darth vader good thing I started the extra pieces a week in advance.....my biggest problem was cracking with the black fondant in a way that has never happend to any other fondant that i worked with i was starting to wonder if its something with the color black. as I rolled it flaked off and peeled into different layers ...I had to roll out 10 times to get a good enough piece 
My pieces broke several times and as you can see by my post in the threads ...I had to redo over and over... just when i thought i was done I had to fix a problem with a cover up....I left to deliver my other cake and enjoy my afternoon and then when i came home later I found that my whole cake plate cracked in half sending my vader into a large earthquake crack..... 
the shift caused my head and face to fall and brake in several places...I had to to on a cake board and try to put back together... recover with another layer of fondant fix darth... I had to use HOT glue to piece everything back... when i got there today I was not happy at all with my cake.
noone noticed I just toldher to discard the head when they ate it... and she tipped me an extra 10 dollars they loved it to much ...I cringed because I knew it was not my best work ...
I still took the money though...and stopped at a store to buy extra cake supplies!!!!!!!!! since it was free money!!!
Oh did i say that was with only that cake I made 3 others this week and they had their own set of problems.........
beachcakes I think your cakes, all of them look great! I don't think a cake as ever turned out the way I thought. As long as you've layed the idea out ahead of time, you will always end up with a great cake.
It's like having your kids picture taken, when you get the back and give them to people and they think what a great picture, they have NO IDEA how long it took to get them to smile and pose and look through the proofs and choose and etc... etc.. all they see is the beautiful end result.
Rose
Thanks guys, your comments mean alot! My eyes are automatically drawn to the flaws in my cakes and that's all i see! I hate looking at my clothesline cake b/c all i see is the badly piped clothesline string.
You ladies are all so talented!! Lastingmoments - i can't believe how great your dark vader (as my son calls it) cake is!! Now he wants one! How on earth did you do his head?
gibson - I wouldnn't consider myself good - just good at hiding things... I haven't "caked" in years - then it was character pans & stars - ugh! This spring the cake bug bit me - this site is awesome and i get so many ideas here!!
vitade - i iknow what you mean about family pictures!
I'll be bringing the phone cake in to work today - good thing i don't charge for these things... LOL!
beachcakes- I used the mr potaoe "darth tater as a guide an a mold...one the pieces dried i place them on a stryofoam ball.......the piping and lines details were added after the i got the basic shape from the pieces.....using a clay extruder
lastingmoments - it is awesome!! is a clay extruder the same as a clay gun? I bought a clay gun from joann.com and after one use, the silver from the inside came out on my fondant!
beachcakes - get the green plastic extruder from Michael's or JoAnn's. You won't have that problem with it.
My cakes never seem to turn out exactly as I planned them. Sometimes they actually turn out very different! More times than not I am happy with them though. I know I am my worst critique!
Debbie
Thanks thecakemaker! I will have to try that one out!
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