Donate with Causora!

Hi Everyone!

Today, I wanted to take a moment to introduce you to Causora, a new sponsor of my blog.  I know they are not really related to baking, and typically only work with companies that are.  However, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share this great cause and opportunity! 

A little about Causora from their website:

YOU GIVE = YOU GET

Support your favorite cause and get rewarded for it.
Causora is a One-for-One giving platform that rewards donations.

Our mission is to help causes raise more funds by rewarding donations with the support of our network of socially conscious merchants.

We’re a team of entrepreneurs, engineers, strategists, and general do-gooders who are hoping to change the face of philanthropy. We love what we do and hope you are equally impressed with Causora.

Causora has created a new ecosystem that links donors, charities, and businesses.

For every $20 you donate you will receive a $20 gift certificate as a reward! 

I've decided to feature the Cure Alzheimer's Fund as my charity of choice.  Just a couple of months ago, in November, my grandmother passed away after her struggle with the disease.  It was heartbreaking to watch her go through it.  She was always so proud of her large family and stood as our proud matriarch.  So when she could no longer host the family parties, slowly lost her independence, and started to forget who her own children were it was painful for all of us, including her.  I am hoping that by supporting the Cure Alzheimer's Fund on my blog I can help raise even a little, to fund research to fight the disease.  You can read about the Cure Alzheimer's Fund here.

If you are inclined to donate, you will find the donation widget in the right hand column.  Any little bit will be appreciated!

Happy Caking :)

  

DISCLAIMER: This is a sponsored post.  Causora reached out to me and asked me to feature their widget and write a post about them.  I am being compensated for this post and will earn a small commission.  However, all opinions are my own.

Craftsy Flash Sale! (October 30th-31st)

Happy Halloween!!  I know I've been pretty absent from my blog and Facebook lately... I delivered my last cake of the 2013 Wedding Season a few weeks ago and I've been busy celebrating birthdays, tending to family matters, preparing for Halloween and the holidays and just generally being "Mom" for a while!  I've got some tutorials, videos and recipes planned, but those will be a few weeks out.

But, I just heard about the Craftsy Flash Sale going on today and tomorrow in celebration of Halloween and wanted to make sure my readers knew about it!  Be sure to check out the sale for a great deal on some of the wonderful classes offered on Craftsy!

Happy Halloween!

...and Happy Caking :)

Craftsy Photography Classes!

A photo can make or break the presentation of a product.  As cake decorators... as artists, it is incredibly important for us to have great photos of our cakes.  But, it's highly unlikely to have access for a photographer to stop by and take photos for each creation.  If it's a wedding cake, you can often get a picture from the photographer at the event.  However, they are there to document the day for your couple... not necessarily to take a great photo to sell your product.  Don't get me wrong, I love seeing pictures of my cakes done by the "pro's."  

But, only I know what angles I want, what new technique I tried or detail I want to highlight.  I am by no means a great photographer... I learn by trial and error (and of course YouTube!).  Here is a picture of one of my early cakes and my early photography skills:

Eeek! I cringe to look at it!  The wrinkles sheet, the dramatic shadows and sun streaks (and not it a good way), the corner where the sheet didn't fit the background.  This is NOT a good photo!  At least it wasn't in my kitchen with dirty dishes in the background!  The poor photo distracts from the really cool cake... I really liked this cake, but the photos are so bad I don't want to have them on my website or facebook page and certainly not printed for my portfolio!

A few years and a few lessons later and here is another photo I took of a cake:

This may not be the greatest photo, but this one is printed and proudly displayed in my portfolio, posted on my website and facebook... I think I even used it for some marketing materials.  To me the difference is drastic and this photo can help me sell my skills and product, where the photo above looks sloppy and unprofessional!

All this to say...  You don't have to be a pro photographer... but you should know how to take a "good" photo of your cake.  Craftsy (which you probably already know I love) has several photography classes to help you do just that!  I had no idea!!  Click the banner below to see what they offer.

At the very least, I think the  Shoot It: Product Photography Class would be a great investment.  I certainly plan to purchase it, when wedding season finally winds down!  I'll be sure to let you all know what I thought of it :)

Happy Caking :)

DISCLAIMER: This post contains affiliate links, however all opinions expressed are my own.

New Product: Marvelous Molds Onlays!

Hi Everyone!  I wanted to tell everyone about this new product from Marvelous Molds!  I was lucky enough to receive several of the new Onlays to try out.  Jackie from Cake Central reached out to me, to see if I would be interested in trying this brand new product from Marvelous Molds.  I had no idea, at the time, what exactly the product was... but I did know that I'm a huge fan of the company and anything they were coming up with was sure to be innovative and fun!  I was going to be short on time for their deadline, but of course I said I would make it work!  Sadly, my cake did not make the cut for the contest over on Cake Central... but I'm a big enough person to admit that the contestants chosen are way better than what I came up with.  I voted for my favorite!  I encourage you to go check out the gorgeous creations!

Anyway... back to what I think of the Silicone Onlays.  You've probably inferred already, that I'm a fan, lol! But, what I'm not sure I can convey to you is how wonderfully easy they are to use and how helpful this new tool is going to be in the future of cake decorating!  I'm sure we've all stenciled patterns on cake... you have to wrangle the stencil with one hand, while trying to scrape on some royal icing (or buttercream with the other).  Some inevitably squishes under the stencil and you have to go back and touch up... then completely wash and dry the stencil before continuing with the pattern.  Or maybe, just think for a minute, how many hours we have spent painstakingly hand cutting a repeating pattern!

Well, Marvelous Molds' Onlays make such fast and neat work of getting patterns on a cake.  Excitedly, I received the "Moroccan Lattice" Onlay, as part of my package.  This beautiful pattern is really on trend right now, and I've been interested in making a cake incorporating the design, for quite a while now.  I looked everywhere for a cutter, only recently have Marina Sousa's "Quatrefoil" cutters been available....  So, when I received my package I immediately knew I wanted to use that as the focal design on my cake.  I had so many ideas... but the one I felt I had time to pull off was a garden-y, vintage looking cake.

When it came time to use the Onlay, I was a little nervous, not having practiced too much with them... but they were incredibly easy to use!  And so, so quick!  I got the entire 8" round completed in 10-15 minutes, including rolling out the fondant!  For comparison, just 2 days later I spend an hour to hand cut, then another 45 minutes to place the "double wedding rings" pattern on a client order.  They even do have an Onlay for that pattern, too bad I would not have received it on time!

Basically, the new Marvelous Molds Onlays, are everything they claim to be.  They work just like in the instructional video on their website.  They are quick and easy to use and provide flawless, clean results.  Ranging in price from $12 (for some of the ribbons) to $29 (for the larger all over patterns) I think these are a great value for money.  They will save hours in decorating time, are strong and durable and have a variety of universal patterns, sure to be used over and over again.

I hope you will check them out... or at least head over to Cake Central to see the wonderful cakes created for the Marvelous Mold sponsored contest!  Leslie Bruckman's art deco cake is jaw dropping!

Happy Caking :)

DISCLAIMER: Marvelous Molds, kindly sent me the product to try, but did not ask me to blog about them.  All opinions are my own.

Free Recipes and a NEW Free Mini Class on Craftsy!

Hey Everyone!

Just a quick post to let everyone know that Craftsy now offers a variety of free patterns and recipes!!  Take a look at the list they're offering:

• Old Fashioned Buttermilk Cake From Advanced Cake Sculpting: Bobblehead Cakes
• Rhonda's Ultimate Marshmallow Fondant From Clean & Simple Cake Design
• Modeling Chocolate From Modeling Chocolate: Cityscape Cakes
• Royal Icing From Modern Buttercream
• Swiss Meringue Buttercream From Modern Buttercream (you can see MY recipe here!)
• Gum Glue From Cake Topper Techniques: Figure Modeling
• Gumpaste Recipe From The Ultimate Sugar Rose
• Vegan Chocolate Cake From Intro to Cake Sculpting: Cake-osaurus Rex

A lot of these recipes are fairly basic... but who doesn't love a new cake recipe to experiment with?!  I am excited to see Nicholas Lodge's Gumpaste Recipe among those offered. I have never tried making it, but have hear wonderful things about his recipe!

The best part is, these recipes are free to members... and it's free to sign up!

I also wanted to let everyone know about a new free mini-class that should be launching tomorrow!  "Basic Fondant Techniques" with Elisa Strauss should be live tomorrow June 19th!  UPDATE 6.19.13: The class is now live!  Click the link to check it out :)

Happy Caking :)

DISCLAIMER: While all opinions are my own this post contains affiliate links for Craftsy.