Happy Birthday Claire!!

Today the airbrush came out again! I decided to make a cake for my daughter who's birthday it is...in about half an hour! LOL! I've been hearing for weeks that my grandsons may be getting a tortoise as a pet....horror of horrors I have to say! I look upon these creatures as I do spiders. I would hide behind the couch if I saw a big spider but I reckon I'd have a good chance of getting away from a tortoise given the fact that they are extremely slow. There are some very fast spiders around you know....although, I never hang around long enough to find out just how fast they can be! Getting back to the tortoise.....this is what I have been doing today. My airbrushing isn't perfect and I don't really mind if I never perfect it to be honest. I'll enjoy doing these different types of cake for the family. Don't worry...I'm not giving up my modelling career! Hahaha!

Workshops in Italy for 2011!

Just letting you know that I will be teaching in Italy in 2011. If you are interested in attending these classes....I know it seems far away, but believe me when I tell you I am tripping over lists of people who are interested in the various classes I am doing in different countries so it is best to get organised sooner rather than later....drop me an e-mail and head it ITALY. You will be added to the waiting list and given all the details of the dates, venue and cost as soon as this information is available. It is not likely that I will have anything to tell you before Christmas as I am still working on some of the subjects and dates for 2010! Oh dear! Anyhoooo....I am off to finish a little something for a special girly in my family who's birthday it is tomorrow. I'll post pics later if all goes according to plan. The Airbrush is coming out to play again....expert I am not, but it is sure fun to use!

How to make a Christmas Tree

Time to bring this out again! You can see how to make the Snowman here http://vimeo.com/328871

L.A Workshop

Celebrating same sex marriages which is fairly new to L.A. I am taking this workshop there in March/April next year. The dates have to be finalised but as soon as I know them for certain then they will be posted right here! Being able now to concentrate on subjects suitable for teaching and not following any specification is absolutely grrrrrreat!! Do I sound excited?? I AM!!! This will likely be a one day class which leaves room for another day to find something else to teach. I've an idea for that too so I will plod on and see what happens. I'd like to see these two perched on a more elaborate cake....now maybe that's an idea for a more elaborate class! Hmmm. We'll see.

Sleepy baby

This blog is turning into the Absolutely PINK blog! I had a lot of pink paste left over so had to put it to some good use so what better way than to create a little Christening theme or Baby Shower perhaps....not so popular in the UK but it doesn't stop me trying a wee design out here and there! This will be my final pink creation for a little while....maybe! This little project will be a workshop somewhere along the way. I'm just not sure where yet though. The concentration will be on creating the little face which as many of you already know can take the longest time in a class. You ALL want to be perfectionists like me so I cannot complain about that now can I? This would be a perfect little class for beginners, don't you think? It could be turned into baby blue just the same. Cute in any colour I think!

Bride and Groom - London and Lancashire Workshop 2010

You can see more views of the couple on Flickr to get the full effect of the bride's dress. I will be teaching this class in London in February and in Preston, Lancashire in May. At the moment I am discussing the Los Angeles dates which will be either March or April or a bit of both. I'll keep you posted on those. I'll be working on the latest tutorial all next week so keep your fingers crossed that I get it done by the weekend and can then start planning the next one which will get underway after Christmas!

My first Airbrush experience!

Finally...I have used the Airbrush I bought in Austin in August! I knew this would be the perfect cake to give it a try as the colours are mostly solid. The real test will come when I create something that requires shading. I have the very thing in mind but I won't mention it at the moment just in case I jinx myself! Anyhoo...the Rolling Stones logo cake was just a little challenge. Although everything started off white, I made the tongue separately. I printed off the logo and cut bits out of it to make it like a stencil. I airbrushed the entire logo deep pink and replaced my home made stencil and airbrushed over the gaps with black. I cut out the white parts from sugarpaste and placed them on top. Sparkled the whole thing and called it done! There was black ribbon around the cake and board which read Happy Birthday in silver which was really nice but you can't see it from this angle! My next adventure with the Airbrush will be when I make a birthday cake for my daughter at the end of this month. I hope it turns out as well as I see it in my head!

Sugar Kisses

This is the first new design for 2010 workshops around the country and perhaps Overseas...who knows. Some of the projects for Overseas have still to be decided so perhaps I'll give this one an airing and see what the response is. A lot of time will be given in this class to the facial features to get all the cuteness possible in the project. This will be a good beginner class too I reckon. Well...one down....who knows how many more to go. I DO know that I need to get my backside into gear and get some Chrissy shopping done! Oops! Isn't it coming around quickly?? I want to make a couple of family Christmas cakes for a change and will give myself the time to do that...so watch this space.

A busy weekend at the NEC

Well...what can I say? Another amazing year at the Cake International Show at the NEC Birmingham. I was tagging along with my good buddies Sugarshack who, for the second year running, have given me space on their stand to demonstrate what I do. It was extremely busy and I met so many of you who follow me on Facebook and Extra Icing. Thank you so much for coming to say hello and for all the kind words of appreciation for my work. No competing this year for me. I am standing down as far as that is concerned but I have enjoyed the previous years excitement, the nervousness and the glee when finding an Award waiting at the work so carefully created for the occasion. I was absolutely THRILLED to see so many of my students who had entered their cakes this year and to have gone home with an Award. Well done to all of you! I am so proud. So even though I didn't enter anything personally, I felt that I kind of had! I am already looking forward to next year and have NEW plans for the Cake Show. When I am able to confirm more details I will certainly share...so keep watching! ;o) **Don't forget....if you are ordering from Sugarshack Online to quote: NOV102009 in order to take advantage of the discount offered for the month of November only!

FLORIDA CLASSES NOW ONLINE FOR BOOKING!

The details for the workshops in Florida are now available at Pisky Pixie Sugarcraft. As there is already a waiting list for a Bride and Groom class, I am teaching two 2 day classes to cover this subject. There is also a one day class added to this visit which means I will have to spend a little more time in Florida than I first thought....oh my goodness! How terrible is that?? LOL! Seriously, I am very excited about these classes and hope that you will be able to join me in June when I will be sharing my skills, my advice and my humour!

I'm coming home folks!

Well....the Statue of Liberty I may not be, but I'm sure if she had a choice she would rather have an iced strawberry lemonade as opposed to a burning torch in her hand. My crown is edible too...it's amazing what you can do with a fajita! LOL! Don't blame me for this, I was getting plenty of encouragement from all sides. I've had a blast doing the workshops in New York. I wish I had the time to add a couple more days to enjoy the city but I have to dash home to be in time for the Cake Show at the NEC, Birmingham. If you're there, come and say hello. You'll find me at Sugarshack's stand doing my thing. I'll miss you New York but I'll be back for sure. Thank you to everyone who came to class and made it all the fun it was. Thank you Caroline Barnett (Pisky Pixie Sugarcraft) for bringing me here and unleashing my humour on the poor unsuspecting public. You have a lot to answer for! hahaha! It has been an absolute pleasure and I am already thinking of the subjects for the next classes. I'll be offline for a couple of days but I'll catch up when I can once I get my sleep pattern back to normal!