How to create fondant texture

Check out how to make these beautiful cakes and more for 25% off HERE!!Have fun with your fondant!! :)

Giveaway Week #1!!!

Week #1 Giveaway and BIG Discounts!!!

Hi friends!  I'm super excited to partner with Craftsy to give away several free classes over the next few weeks!!  Craftsy is wanting to get the word out about the vastness of classes they offer!!  If you're like me and only get their cake decorating emails, perhaps you've missed their other classes like food, fine art, sewing, crafting, etc!!  There is SO much to learn and so much in store for you over there.  Let's get the word out!!

Each week through the month of November, starting on Monday, I'm going to showcase 4 classes that I have really enjoyed taking along with some wonderful discounts for you in case you want to buy them too!!!  Not all these classes are cake decorating classes!!  So don't worry...you won't be seeing the same classes you always see if you're signed up for their cake decorating emails! 

I will also have a general one-time use 25% off discount link (see bottom of post) for you in case you've had your eyes on another class but have been waiting for a sale!!  Now your wait is over!!

Here's how the giveaway will work!!  

Each Monday, starting NOW, I will share the links and some favorite classes in one post.  Then, all you have to do to be eligible to win one Craftsy class is TWO things:Share this post on your Facebook page or your blog!!  Come back here and leave a comment under this post that you did so with a link to that post or your Facebook page name (that way I can find you, especially if you have to log on here as "anonymous"!).  Each Saturday I will pull a random number and give away a free Craftsy class to one of you who helped us get the word out and shared about the classes!!  For that lucky winner you get to pick ANY Craftsy class for free!!And, again, you'll have FOUR chances to win!! Today I'm going to highlight a few favorite cake decorating classes, but over the next few weeks I'm going to showcase a few food classes, fine art classes and crafting classes!!  - all with great discounts!! Here's a few favorites in case you haven't heard about them!! Global Cucpake Design: This is a BRAND NEW class with Craftsy and SO adorable!!  What's fantastic about Sheryl Bito's new class is the diversity of her designs!!  You don't have to just use them on cupcakes...you can also use them on sugar cookies!! - YUM!  Check it out HERE for 25% off!! Classic Car: This class was pure entertainment with some awesome cake skills!!!  Mike McCarey is the most amazing cake designer EVER!!  - no arguing with me on that one!!  And, not only that, he's widely entertaining!  He shows you all the tips/techniques you'll need to build any kind of car!  This is a fantastic class you will thoroughly enjoy even if you never want to build a car cake!!  It's like a great movie!!!  Check it out HERE for 25% off!! Designer Handbag Cakes: The legendary Elisa Strauss created this beautiful class full of great tips/techniques to help you on your next fashionista cake!!  She guides you through how to carve your cake, create gumpaste accents and shares with you a variety of textures and luster finishes for the most popular leather styles...from alligator to ostrich!!  Check it out HERE for 25% off!!!
Small Cakes Big Business: I loved this simple class by Chrissie Boon!  She is so cute and such a great speaker.  She shares with you how to make your business profitable by coming up with four to 8 different cake styles that you can make money on now and that you can streamline in your business.  She also goes through ways to sell through your websites and how to set up successful site.  Great tips for getting your business off and running.  Check it out HERE for 25% off!! Have fun sharing and thank YOU for helping us get the word out about these classes!! :)

Fine Art + Cake = HUGE design potential

Hi everyone!  Hope you are off to a fantastic week!!I have some exciting news to share with you and some special discounts!!  Crafty has just opened up a NEW section of classes called "Fine Art"!  I'm SO excited about this new discovery!!  I have a background in art and LOVE it!!  These classes will teach you to be an artist...to have an artists eye and to gain a LOT of tools and information to help you become a better cake designer!!  There is a huge cross over between fine art and cakes...cake is art!  I'm sure you've noticed that some of the most amazing cake designers come from an art background...it's easy to see there is a connection there.*Click on the title above for a 25% discount*
Painted cakes are a hot trend right now.  It's easy to take the information you'll learn from these classes and cross it over to creating beautiful cakes.  The paint is your gel colors, the liquid is your alcohol/extracts and your canvas is your fondant.  There are no limits to what you can do with those mediums!!!These classes are a little more expensive than cake classes, so I am giving you my 25% discount so that it makes it a bit more affordable to you.  These discount links will never expire, so if you can't afford to take them now, come back here in the future to make sure you still save some money!! :)  If you've never taken art classes, this will be SO valuable to you!!  ***Just click on the title right under the picture for a direct link to that class and for 25% off *** Enjoy!!!  I can't wait to hear what you think!!  

Gray Chevron Cake + Big Pink Flower = Love

This has become one of my new favorite cakes!!I made this cake for a sweet sweet friend of mine who is having her third baby girl...a very very big surprise!!  We celebrated Dana this past weekend and ate some incredible food sitting out looking over the river with some beautiful women inside and out!!  It was such a lovely night!Dana, God has something AMAZING planned for you and that sweet baby growing inside you!  She is an absolute miracle and is destined to change the world in more than one way! :)  She will change your life forever, but she has been molded and planned for a very special purpose and I can't wait to see what is in store for her!!  God is good!!On to the cake!  So, this is my "signature" cake now...I guess! :)  I love this design and when I first did it last year, Dana told me, "If you ever make me a cake, I want that one! - with coconut inside!" :)  So, that's what I did!  It's a 6" round cake with 6 thin layers of coconut cake with white chocolate coconut SMBC filling and white chocolate ganache for the crumb coat.  It stood just over 6" tall. 
The colors were gray and pink...which I love!  So, I knew the chevron graphic would be gray and I'd need to do a big ol' flower on top in pink!!  - but I wanted to try out a new flower.Every baby girl needs some pink!I really haven't made many "actual" sugar flowers that look like the actual flower! :)  I love fantasy type flowers that are graphic in nature and are on the more bold side of things.  I knew I wanted a large flower with lots of petals on it so I looked up a few rananculus and camellia flower tutorials and found THIS great post.  Sarah gives you the step by step instructions to create a paper rananculus.  I loved this post because she gives you the templates for free so that you can cut out your own paper flower.  I don't have many cutters because I usually create my own templates and hardly do the same design twice.  So, I used her pdf and cut out 7 sizes of 5-petal flowers (using her free pdf).  I did that while watching a movie but you can use a Silhouette machine if you have it.  For this flower I actually used Fondarific gumpaste (I've been trying out some different brands of commercial fondants/gumpastes) I added a little red modeling chocolate to it to make it pink and rolled it out real thin.  I cut out two 5-petal templates for each size giving me 14 flowers.  I used my new favorite tool to cut all those petals out...a scalpel!!  There's a few different sizes/types, so make sure to get the #11 blade because it's awesome! :)  I didn't add ridges to the petals like a real rananculus because I was just playing and wanted something not exactly like one.  I wanted it a graphic impression of one.  
 I started with a popsicle stick and stuck on the top a ball of green starburst I had melted a bit and rolled into a ball.  I then took a small round icing tip and poked a hole in the center of each petal so I could slide it up the popsicle stick.  I then started adding the smallest petal flower all the way to the largest while wrapping each petal on top of the next petal over.  Oh, going back for a second...I had colored the smallest  6 flower petals a light pink, the next 4 petals a medium pink and the last 4 (the biggest ones) a darker pink.  Then I stuffed little tissues between some of the petals to keep them raised from each other while it dried for 4 days.  I then realized I didn't like how I did the center...it was inside the flower too much.  So, I added a tiny ball of green melon flavored Fondarific fondant on top of the green starburst and added the rings and texture with some icing tips and veining tools.  The melon flavored fondant was amazing...it tasted and smelled like melons!!!!  - crazy yummy!  And I ended up with a fun, feminine, graphic interpretation of a ranunculus.  I know it's not a realistic version...more of a stylized one...but I liked it!! :) - and thought it looked fantastic with the cake! :)

New Youtube Series!!! - Cake Decorator's Kitchen

I just love Crafty Youtube videos...they are SO cute!!!

Craftsy has a new series called Cake Decorator's Kitchen!

OH!!! - and while I was there I got to film a cupcake for their Project Cupcake!!!  Stay tuned and I'll let you know when it's up!!!

It's SUPER cute!!!!  I'm soooo excited for it!

Strawberry Shortcake Cake

My sweet sweet baby girl turned 3 years old yesterday!!!  I can't believe it!!  Time is FLYING by right now!!!  People tell me all the time, "It happens so fast!!" - and I'm really really starting to believe it.  Especially when I look at my almost 9 year old with her beautiful face, amazing heart and sweet spirit and think..."Are you really almost nine!" - I just had you!!!  LOL!My Harper Joy is my sweet, crazy, strong, passionate, incredibly smart, sassy, independent and did I say passionate baby girl! :)  A friend told me that she is our explanation point at the end of our family!  - which is fitting since I love to use exclamation points!!!!!!  LOL!  She loves loves loves to sing, dance and perform!!  Right now, Tinkerbell, Strawberry Shortcake and Rapunzel are her favorite "girlfriends"!  Yes..all three totally different girly cartoons, but she loves them all!!  She does have a favorite though...she really really likes Rapunzel and singing, "And at last I see the light, and it's like the fog has lifted..."  It's so funny...I wish you all could hear her in her little 3 year old voice!!!

Check out this personality!! :)  She's ALL me...and all mine!! :)
My dad says she's my "mini-me"...I think he's right!

So, when I asked Harper what kind of party she wanted, she of course said "TANGLED!!"  Me on the other hand...being the busy mom that I am decided I didn't want to make a Tangled cake with a big tower and lots of details or have to sculpt Rapunzel and Flynn Rider in some precarious position on a boat with all that hair!!! :)So, after telling her I was going to buy her whatever she wanted if she agreed to having a Strawberry Shortcake party, she said, "STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE!!"LOL! - I'm totally kidding about bribbing her! - but I did wait a day (because 3 years olds have the shortest attention span ever!) and then talked to her in my sweet sales-mama voice and said, "Wouldn't it be fun to have a really cute, pink and yummy strawberry shortcake party with delicious strawberries and lots of chocolate (Those just so happen to be two of her favorite things!!  If you're a girl, and part of my family, you're born with a passion for strawberries and chocolate)!?!?!" - to which she said, "YES!"  Perfection!!
So, Strawberry Shortcake here we come!! I wanted to do a Strawberry Shortcake cake (there are too many "cake" words in this post already! Sorry!) in a different way...but I needed it to be simple and yet stylish and fun for my sassy girl!  I didn't have a lot of time this past week to do much due to my new Craftsy class launching (Simply Modern Cake Design).  So I needed to stick with designs I'm familiar with and techniques I've done in the past.  And, because Strawberry's tights are green and white striped, I knew the main cake would be my signature horizontal striped cake!!Then, I decided to do a hat...Strawberry's hat on top of the striped tier!!  It's so cute and so "Strawberry Shortcake" - it's her "signature piece"!  I also thought it would be really fun to have it suspended like it was on a hat stand.  A fun fashionista way of doing a Strawberry Shortcake hat.  It turned out really cute and my sweet, now 3 year old, got a BIG smile on her face when I showed it to her all done and said, "Look, it's Strawberry Shortcake's hat!!"  It was priceless!!  Another camera opportunity missed!  Isn't that always the case!!Now, I did have a good mess up I wanted to share with you in case you try and make a hat on a hat stand!!  Don't just randomly cut the post the length you think it should be without sticking the completed hat up there to check!!!!  I did that and when I anchored the post in and it dried, and I put the hat on, it was way to high for me!!  Whoops!  Too late now!!  Good thing it's just for my baby girl!Remember all you sweet cake makers out there!! - measure twice, cut once!! :)  So, to compensate, I put the strawberry "3" sign up on top of the cake instead of in front of the cake on the pink stripe where I had designed it to be.  Having it sit up on top of the cake filled in some of the extra space there and made it look a wee bit better.  So, now I can just see your wheels turning, "How'd she do that?!"  And because I love to share my tips and tricks with you, I'm going to show you...and even show you a simple little video I took of it all so it's a bit clearer!!Here's how I started the hat...sorry...this is one of only 3 in progress pictures I took!  Too much going on and I was moving too fast to take pics.  It's SO much harder to work on a cake now that I have a 3 year old!!! :) - and a 6 year old that wants to eat everything and an 8 year old that wants to eat everything!!  Haha!  The joys of making cakes with kids...sugar highs!!!Got to love the little Strawberry Shortcake inspiration piece!! :) - everyone needs one.  You have to have what you are copying in front of you...it just makes life SO much easier!! For the hat, I found a 3/4" wooden dowel and a 1" wooden ball that I hot glue-gunned to the top of the wooden dowel.  I think these balls are used for feet under little pieces of wooden furniture because they have a flat bottom to them.  I found them in the woodworking section of Micheal's (a local craft/hobby store).I also grabbed some foam core and put a 7/8" hole it in...just slightly smaller than the ball.  I put the ball on the counter, covered it with saran wrap and placed the foam core "donut" on top of it so the ball showed through and stuck up in the middle of it.  Then, I mounded a big mountain of rice crispy treats on there and with greasy hands, molded the rice crispy treats to look like Strawberry's hat on the foam core, on top of the wooden ball.  When I was done, I chilled it down, then ganached it with two coatings in order to get a nice smooth coating (below). Here's the bottom tier...the last of my "in progress" pictures! :)  It's an 8" round x 4" high cake.  I used my ymmmmmy chocolate mudcake recipe found HERE.  If you haven't taken my "Clean & Simple Cake Design" class with Craftsy I show you how to get a beautifully perfect finish on your ganache or buttercream and then how to get a beautifully perfect finish on your fondant no matter if it's a square or round cake...promise!  - It's simple!! :)
After the ganache, then I popped the ball out from the bottom of the cake by pulling on the saran wrap...so, make sure you cover it in saran wrap or you may not be able to get that ball out of there! :)  Then I glued the ball onto the dowel (that I prematurely cut early! - don't do that!).Here's a little video so you can see what in the world I'm talking about and how I attached the dowel and how the hat fit on there!!!  I basically cored out a hole in the cake, added a good amount of melted chocolate and inserted the dowel and let it dry/set.  Like I say in the video, you should put the cake on a wood board and screw the dowel into the bottom of the board, but I wasn't traveling anywhere or moving the cake anywhere so I didn't need that extra stability  - and I wanted it on this white cake stand to save me the time of creating a board and covering it with fondant and ribbon! :)Look at how high up that hat is!!  Makes me crazy!! :) haha!! :)Then, basically you just have to cover the dowel with some fondant, and I add a little white pearl border to the bottom where it goes into the cake to hide the hole there.  Pretty simple! :) After I had the cake covered (because you can make this cake a few days ahead of time because it's just rice crispies and they keep nicely for a while) I took some cardstock and started sketching out a bill.  I kept tweaking the curve of the bill and the curve of the hat until I had something I liked.  Then, I used that as my template and cut it out of modeling chocolate.  I covered one of our baseball hats with saran wrap and laid it on top of the bill and let it rest overnight until it took on the curved shape of a hat.  I used melted chocolate to attach the bill then added the white stripe around the bottom last to hide the seam.  Simple!!So, there you go...that's how I made my sweet baby girl a Strawberry Shortcake Cake Hat for her birthday!! :)  That's a mouthful!!!!  I hope that makes sense!! :)  I thought it was a pretty clever way to mount a hat.  I just loved how it was totally secure there, but I could shift it around a bit if I wanted it a certain direction due to it sitting on a ball!!  Now, of course, this technique can only be used for rice crispy treat creations because they won't fall through the ball/dowel combo!!  So, don't try this with real cake...you'll want to look at THIS post for that.  Oh, and by the way, all the decorations on this cake were made of modeling chocolate...the love of my life...after my Jesus, my husband, my kids, my family, my Bible and my draw string pants! :)  LOL!!Now, before I close out, there is one more thing I wanted to share with whoever wants to listen!! :) It's regarding being a mom...and trying to balance a hobby.Yes...a potential touchy and difficult subject, but one that is on my heart BIG time right now!! - especially after having freshly done a cake while balancing it all.  If you haven't read Sally Clakson's book, "The Mission of Motherhood", you should get it!!  It's a powerful, amazing book on the Lord's desire for us moms and the incredibly huge calling He has placed on our lives.  He has given us a mission...and one to be taken so so seriously.  For me, it was the first time I was incredibly inspired to WANT to be the mom HE has called me to be.  I finally saw motherhood with a purpose, a calling, a privilege, and as a mission!I was raised by an incredible mom who was an amazing example of a woman who loves God.  But, now that I'm a mom, I struggle with balancing life and all the distractions of this life because there are FAR more distractions today than even 15-20 years ago!Since my crazy, sassy, smart Harper was born, three kids really REALLY tipped my scale and put me in a rough season of not sleeping and being overwhelmed.  It got really easy for me to forget WHY I'm a mom and what my role is in motherhood because I got lost in changing diapers, settling arguments, playing tea, reading books, cleaning, making dinner, loads of laundry and school work.  I started thinking about the glory days of work...having a "real" job and having people value me and I started to look around to find "my thing"...something that I could find satisfaction in.I got distracted.  Something the enemy LOVES!  My eyes started to look around, and not stay fixed on Jesus and what HE has called me to.The Lord knows my heart's desires is to honor Him and walk with Him.  I love Him so much and am so thankful I am saved by grace and am anchored to Him.  He has held me fast in so many areas of my life and I have given Him so many areas of my life.  Yet, the enemy knows that too.  He knows He only has a little window of wiggle room with me...He knows the only way to keep me from growing, from spending time knowing Jesus, from walking by the Spirit, from being used in a powerful way and from feeling loved, appreciated, known and forgiven is if I get distracted...if I take on too much...if I get tired...if I take my eyes off the call He has given me! - even if it's for a moment."For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."Truly, the only way to knock me down, to knock any of us down, the only way to render me ineffective is to distract me.  And it totally works!!  I'm easily, easily distracted and distraction is the death of victory....look at the Tortoise and the Hare! :)  Slow, steady and focused wins the race every time! :)The sad part is when we are distracted and busy, we start to get resentful.  We start to resent the things that keep us from our distractions.  I started to resent my kids and all the time they took up in my life!!  How crazy selfish is that!! :(  We start to let the REAL priorities slip and our hearts get lead away and enticed...and then we become stressed, sad, lonely, depressed, empty and angry because we are looking to broken cisterns to fill us when the Living Water wants to.   "My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water."Sin is ugly...and sin is real...and Satan wants it to infect our lives until we are ineffective and are dried up and wasted away.She gave me a vision.  She showed me God's vision for me as a mom and the incredibly powerful role I have in the lives of my kids.   I went to her conference one week after I got home from filming my first Craftsy class last year and knew I needed to change things in my home.  I wanted more...I wanted better for my kids...I wanted to know I ran the race and I finished strong and I would get the end with no regrets!!  I wanted to know that I could enjoy my kids in 10-15 years like Sally was, and have a real, beautiful, solid, loving relationship with them.  I wanted what God had for me..."Anything"! (another incredibly powerful book by Jennie Allen).  And for me, my "anything" was pouring into my kids.  It was to be the BEST mom I could  be to the three gifts God has entrusted to me for the next 10-15 years!  That's all I got...only 10-15 years!!!  That is SUCH a short season!  We can do anything for a season!I "get to" give my kids a secure, loving home.  I "get to" teach my kids about Jesus.  I "get to" use rebellion and selfishness in my kids as opportunities to teach them how to be loving, selfless people.  I "get to" look in their eyes when they tell me a story to show them how important they are.  I "get to" touch their hearts, rub their backs, sing to them, hold them, build up their lives with good and right and beautiful things so that they will want to lead lives filled with good, right and beautiful things.  What goes in comes out.  It applies to kids too!  The way I treat my kids is the way they will learn to treat others!!  I "get to" influence their lives forever!  I get to show them love...true love..."Love is patient, love is kind,It does not envy, it does not boast,It is not proud.  It does not dishonor others,it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered,Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.How am I going to show my kids Jesus unless I treat them with the love they deserve...with the love HE wants them to know?!  It starts with me.That is greater than any distraction I could find.  Being able to build up my kids, to mold their lives, to teach them and train them and then to see the fruit of that labor is better than anything life has to offer.  My joy OVERFLOWS when I see my little ones doing things in loving ways, when they hold hands, when they give their toy away to make someone else happy, when they sit and read to each other, and when they pray together.  NOTHING in this world compares to that...nothing.  And, I was willing to miss it...to work on a cake, to check Facebook, to read another fantasy book, to go out another night and stay up too late with friends.  I was distracted!  I'm not saying those things are bad! - I still make a cake from time to time, I still check Facebook and read books!!  But, is that my focus...is that what I'm thinking about all day long?!My kids are not the distraction...everything else is.  The most amazing thing that has happened to me too is I have become a better person...a more whole and complete person.  I want to be the woman my girls want to grow up to be.  I want to be an example of the type of woman my son wants to marry someday.  I want to be the love of my husband's life so my kids see beautiful love in our home and have a sense of stability and a solid foundation. And all that takes work, a huge amount of sacrifice and time spent doing the right kind of things.Here's a quote from Sally's book that spoke to my heart:"As a younger woman, I struggled with many of the scriptures referring to a woman's role in life.  But the more I have lived, the more I have come to appreciate the beauty and wisdom of my God-given assignment.  As a free-spirited person who generally thinks outside the box, I have found deep fulfillment and satisfaction in exercising my gifts, strengths, and personality to bless my family, neighbors, and friends from the strength of my home.  Establishing my household as a place in which the greatness of God and a devotion to Him is lived out each day as given me focus.  Loving my children and nurturing their hearts and minds while training their characters and leading them to know the Lord and His purposes has satisfied my soul's need for purpose."That's what we all look for...purpose, satisfaction and fulfillment.  I agree with Sally.  Since I've focused on purposing in my heart to follow the Lord, to fall in love with Him more and to be the best mom I can be who is truly into my kids, into loving on them, guiding them, teaching them, training them and being with them, I have found amazing fulfillment and joy!  And, the fantastic part of all this is my kids!  They are quickly becoming these beautiful, wonderful, happy, loving people.  No, they are not perfect, but the more time and love and attention and teaching I give them, the more they want to honor and love me back and the happier and more fulfilled everyone is!!  The Lord fulfills His promises!!  I just have to walk in them, keep my head down, stay focused and love on my sweet kiddos so that they will know how much Jesus loves them.  Because if I don't, who will?!  I feel like God gave me Harper as my little conscious!  She is an attention baby!  OH my goodness her love language is time with mama and lots of love and did I say time with mama!!  If I forsake her too much and get distracted, she'll eventually have some real real bad days.  Don't get me wrong, she plays on her own, plays with her siblings, etc...but when mama is distracted, it shows up in her strong personality.  She'll get angrier, feistier, more aggressive and less touchy-feely with me.  It's crazy!!!  But the more I invest in her, love her, teach her, train her, involve her in what I'm doing, she is the sweetest, happiest kid in the neighborhood.  At first I didn't understand that and was totally frustrated by her personality.  But, now that I've stopped being so distracted and I've actually LOOKED at my kids and spent more time with them, it's so obvious.  That's her love language.  I was just missing it and in turn, my home was a mess and so was my then 2 year old!! :)  So, it's like the Lord gave me some accountability by giving her to me...that way I wouldn't get too far away!!  Thank you Jesus!  Thank you for Harper...for that crazy sweet amazing little girl that keeps my heart in my home...lest I'm the one having the fit and laying down to cry like a 2 year old!! :)The more I've gotten rid of the distractions, the happier and more fulfilled I am and the happier my kids are.  I found a purpose, a mission, a priority that is greater than anything and I feel so inspired.  I want you to be inspired!  Being a mom is the most amazing, fulfilling, hardest, brutal task out there, but the pain we feel is death...the death of our flesh...and the Lord promises to bring new life out of that old yucky flesh.  I want a new beautiful life with no regrets!! - and I want that for my kids.  I want them to see me struggle through it so that they can see life can be hard, but God is good and beautiful things will be a'coming, so look out!!  I want them to have a real relationship with Him that lasts their whole life but it always starts with me first...showing them how.NOW, that's not to say you can't have a hobby!! :) - what did Sally say up there?  "I have found deep fulfillment and satisfaction in exercising my gifts, strengths, and personality to bless my family, neighbors, and friends from the strength of my home." The Lord gives us our strengths, gifts, skills and personality to bless our home!! - not ourselves! :)  So, when we use our gifts to bless our family, kids, neighbors and friends as it fits into our home, it IS a blessing and we are blessed by it and so is our home.  That's one reason I haven't made cakes a business.  I want my kids to be my business.  Cakes are just an incredible gift that I get to give to others and get to use to teach my kids how to use their gifts/skills to bless others.
The way I know to take on a project is if there is peace in my home and if both my husband and I agree to it together as a team.  Then, if after I've done a project, everything is still okay, then that was good!!?  But, if I am picking up the pieces from my kids, my husband and my home, if the kids are crazy and having bad days, then that's not worth a cake project!!  So, for me, it's taken time to figure out what I'm capable of...and how big the projects can be and what my family is okay with.  You can't do more than one or two things really really well...and I'm realizing motherhood is one of those two things!!  LOL!!!

Now, for you moms who might have older kids and feel like you might have missed your window...you haven't!!!  God is the God of second chances and He longs to help you start afresh today!  You become the woman He wants you to be and you get on your knees and pray for your kids.  Show them kindness and love...for that leads to repentance.  Make those changes and you will see fruit.  It might take a season, but God's promises fail not.  They are new every morning for great is HIS faithfulness...not ours...His! :)  Don't be discouraged...that's the enemy.  Fight for your kids, simplify your lives and just LOVE love love on those precious kids and you'll see a turn around.

So, to sum up...I challenge you moms out there to be inspired to see your children as these special, beautiful flowers that you get to cultivate, that you get to grow, nurture, train and love.  And in due season, you will reap a beautiful garden of fulfillment, joy and peace that is greater than anything any other distraction can give you!!  Look at your kids today...put down your tools, your hobbies, your phone, your computers and see what the Lord has placed in front of you.  They are crying out for your love, attention, guidance and warmth.  You will never regret giving up everything for them when you start to treat them like they are everything to you! :)

How to make marshmallow fondant - video tutorial!

I filmed this fun little short video on how to make marshmallow fondant over 8 months ago when I was at Craftsy filming "Clean and Simple Cake Design"!! And, here it is for all to see!! :)  Click HERE or watch it below!!!

Big discounts on Wilton classes!!!

I know a lot of you have started cake decorating with a Wilton course or two or three!!  They are a great resource for sooo many cake decorators!!  - and now, you can take them in the comfort of your very own home!!  No more signing up at Michael's or Joann's and finding childcare or time off work!!Wilton Test Kitchen Manager Beth Somers recently launched four Craftsy classes: Baking Basics, Buttercream Skills, Decorating with Fondant and Piped Flowers! In this comprehensive collection of classes, Beth helps students refine their knowledge of the fundamentals of cake decorating.Usually if you take these types of courses at the hobby stores, they cost around $40 each!!  Now, you can get all four classes for only $69.99!!  Click HERE!!!  So, it's almost like you're getting two classes for free!!  When you click on the link above, you can watch a video on what each class is about and still get 25% off each class in case you only want one.  I'm so happy to share this discount with you guys and hope it saves you all some money!! :)Here are the list of classes.
Baking Basics  Buttercream Skills Fondant  Piping Flowers Have fun shopping and making some beautiful cakes!!!!!!  

Zoe Clark's Beautiful Lace Cakes!!

Welcome to Jessicakes! Thanks for stopping by! Beautiful, funky, trendy cakes are my passion! This blog has been set up to document my journey into the world of cake decorating! I hope you will learn from my successes and failures in order to create your own specialty cakes and desserts! Someday I might turn it into a business, but for now, it's a fun way to bless my friends with scrumptious, unique desserts. Thanks for looking at my latest creations!

If you see something on my blog that you have questions about, you can email me at
jessicakes33 {at} yahoo.com
for more info

Also, I can be found on Cake Central! My profile name is "mrsmudrash". Click here for my profile.

Modeling Chocolate Tutorial

I know modeling chocolate is becoming a very popular decoration medium and she uses real chocolate for her designs.  She walks you through how to make it and all the ways to emboss it, color it, add textures and designs to it!! And, the cool thing is I have a special 25% off link to share with you!!!!...and enjoy learning a little more about modeling chocolate!!!

Fondant Animal Cake Toppers

You won't find me doing tutorials on animal toppers, so get yours here!!  I have a 25% discount link that never expires...so, if you can't take it now, don't forget to come back here!!Click HERE for her class with a 25% off discount!

In memory of my sweet mama!

In memory of my sweet mama! This is my sweet sweet mama Darlene...My beautiful mom only 4 months ago at my son's 6th b-day party. ...who is home with Jesus now.  Everyone who met her felt loved, felt important and felt the presence of Jesus.  I am so happy the Lord picked me to be her daughter...and oh how I am going to miss her!!One week ago today around 11:40am, my mom breathed her last breath and entered the kingdom of Heaven!  And Heaven welcomed the most beautiful and amazing woman that day!  I can just see her standing before the throne of her sweet Jesus praising Him with arms raised and the biggest smile ever!I wanted to tell you the story of this last month.  I think it's important for me to tell it because now that I can look back, there are so many ways I can see Jesus' faithful hand guiding every step...all the way to her last breath.  I'm going to share with you a lot of medical stuff, but it's so you can walk this road with me and so hopefully the light of the Lord will be seen more brightly amidst the darkness of the circumstances.  My mom and dad with her brother (far left) and his wife as well as my son, daughter and nephew (about 3.5 years ago)It's crazy how your life can be tossed upside down in less than a month and how incredibly fast everything can change.  Yet, the one constant is my sweet Jesus and His love for me and my family!  He was our rock, our strong tower, our refuge and my strength!  The storm was great, the wind never gave up, but my Lord held us close and whispered, "Fear not, for I am with you!" I cannot imagine walking this road without Him.

On August 27th my mom went in for a hysterectomy surgery to remove what looked like the beginnings of ovarian cancer.  I felt confident that the surgery would be simple and they would get everything due to what I had heard from my parents and the doctors.  My sister told me that upon entering the operating room, my mom said she had total peace and was even witnessing to the nurses about her sweet Jesus.  That nurse told my sister that "she is one of the sweetest women she had ever met!"  Two hours into surgery, I got a call from my sister and dad saying the doctors brought them into a special room and something was wrong with mom.  Within a few minutes, the docs told us that my mom's abdomen was filled with cancer and that the cancer was probably small intestinal cancer that had spread to her ovary and her liver.  We were all shocked to say the least.  The situation looked grave.  We let mom come out of the anesthesia for a good day before letting her know a small piece of the puzzle...that there was more cancer than we thought and they are biopsying it.  We kept details pretty simple for her.  Another day later two of the surgeons came in and told mom that it was probably Carcinoid cancer which is a very slow growing cancer and that there were some treatments for it that could extend her life for many years.  It looked like she had had it for many years without diagnosis.  My mom over the past 8 years has had a lot of health issues that have seemed to been random and more food allergy related.  Now we know it was this cancer. 

A few days later she went home...a little early I felt...but home she came nonetheless.  The docs/nurses kept saying it's good to get out of the hospital less you catch something else!  A little for-shadowing.  For a few days she started to eat a few bites of food, but shortly there after, her abdomen started filling with fluid.  It was so weird!  My dad took her up early for a post-op apt because she wasn't wanting to eat anymore and was so huge and uncomfortable.  The surgeon just looked at her and basically said, it's acides (cancer fluid) and to play strong for Monday's apt with the oncologists so perhaps you can start chemo early.  He didn't do an ultrasound, check her blood or anything.  For the past few weeks I've been so angry at that doctor.  But now, I realize it was a blessing in disguise because if they would have done those tests, they would have kept her in Portland...an hour from my dad, their home, church and friends.  The Lord works even in what seems bad in order to turn them around for good. 

I went down to Salem the next day, Saturday the 6th of Sept., and she looked horrible. Weaker, fuller and not wanting to eat.  I told dad we should get her to the hospital but he felt he was just with a doc and had only until Monday to wait to see the oncologist so we decided to see if we could get through the rest of the weekend.  But, the next morning, Sunday, Sept. 7th, my parent's 45th anniversary, my dad called to have me come to the house asap.  He couldn't move mom much anymore and she was in bad shape.  I got there within an hour and it took both of us to get her into the car.  She was hurting so much and so incredibly weak.  When my mom had the surgery on the 27th, she was the smallest I had ever seen her.  She couldn't have been more than 110lbs.  But all the fluid made her so heavy.

We got to the ER and they rushed us right in.  By the end of the day we found out mom had a full system infection (probably gotten from surgery or the hospital in Portland), her kidneys were failing, her blood pressure was unstable and they pumped 4 liters of fluid from her stomach.  We thought we were in good hands and things were going to be okay...at least I had some hope since she felt so much better by the end of the day getting the fluid off.  She said she felt like a new woman.  I left that night feeling hopeful...that the docs were going to give her some antibiotics and she'd stay for a few days and be back to healing up.  What a roller coaster this was becoming.

Over the next week, her abdomen continued to fill and needed to be emptied almost daily.  Her blood pressure continued to plummet, we were in this crazy cycle and none of the doctors could figure it out.  I would get texts and calls in the middle of the night.  It was as if at anytime she could go.  I literally felt like we had zero control and were in a corner and no body knew what was going on.  They'd empty her (taking her nutrients with it) and her blood pressure would drop.  They'd leave it and she wouldn't eat and her kidneys would be in trouble because it was too much.  We prayed constantly for wisdom.  The docs were baffled because the kind of cancer she had didn't produce fluid like that...and it was full of infection...and the antibiotics weren't doing anything.  Yes...looking back, the Lord's merciful hand was there guiding every step.

A week or so after being in the hospital, they realized she had a heart defect...a leaky valve...totally separate from the cancer but they felt could have been caused from years of cancer and blood pressure issues.  Again, she had signs for this defect over the past year or two...but we never realized that's what it was.  What had started happening was after the surgery, as her body weakened, so did that valve.  It couldn't keep up with the blood flow, so some of the fluid/blood it was trying to pump would fall back into the body.  Now we had another big problem...that couldn't be fixed...she couldn't do another surgery...it was the perfect storm.

So, for the next week, nutrition became the biggest issue.  She still wasn't eating much at all.  We kept thinking if she could eat, she could heal faster and get stronger and the heart valve would do a better job and then she could eventually do chemo.  That was our hope.  During this time I was spending as much time as I could with her and my husband was taking the slack.  Oh, I am so thankful for him and the ways he held us all together.  He was such a strength to me and I praise the Lord for him.  I was able to hold her, love on her and just be a presence in the room for her...what tender moments!

My mom and dad with their grand kids about 5 years agoA wonderful doc from oncology moved my mom from ICU where she was too heavily drugged to care about nutrition and wasn't moving enough.  He said he knew they needed to get her eating and moving and that was our last chance to get her strong.  They tried to work with her but trying to juggle the fluid, the blood pressure, the kidneys the bowel issues due to cancer and the infection that was still raging began to look impossible.  She had the perfect storm.  Yet...the Lord was in control the entire time.  I can see that now.  He gave us three weeks to love on her, encourage her, read scriptures to her, sing her favorite songs, tell her Mimi stories, how much we loved her, how important she was so so many people.  Her brother got to visit for a few days, my brother from AZ got to hang out with her a few days...both which gave me a much needed break from being at the hospital constantly.  Yes, they were incredibly hard days and she was hurting a lot of it...but it was precious time...it gave us all time to say good-bye...even though we didn't realize it at the time.

This past Tuesday, dad called me to Salem again because mom had the worst night and he needed me.  We met with doctors and they basically called a time out.  Things weren't working, she was getting worse daily.  Her body wasn't absorbing nutrition and even the feeding tube was just pooling fluid in her stomach.  They said we need to think about what mom would want...how she would want to spend her last days...because that's what it was...days.  It was earth shattering to hear that.  We had always been so hopeful despite the situation.  Now we had to tell her...she was going to go home to be with Jesus soon and we were going to take her home to her house for her last few days.  So many tears that day.  But the Lord gave comfort...so much comfort.

Wednesday at the hospital consisted of visits from several of her doctors.  They all came in to say how much they enjoyed meeting mom and how sorry they were.  My mom ministered to every one of them.  She told them about her Jesus and her walk with Him and how she knew where she was going.  Until the end, my mom tried to comfort everyone else!!  She had such peace.  I asked her at one point what I could do for her and she said, "I need to write everyone at church a note to tell them how much I love them and how much they mean to me!  I want to know all the names of the nurses and doctors so I can tell them thank you for their help!"  That's my mom...thinking of how she can love on and comfort others!!  She touched and loved everyone she met.  What an incredible example to me!!  I pray I can do that more...share Jesus with such boldness and love!

We moved her home Thursday morning and the Lord gave us the most beautiful day!  Mom had been staring at a white board for the past 13 days in the hospital...without being able to see out her tiny window.  My sister was with her during transport and had the guys pull over and stop for a few minutes when my mom's face was in the sun...she was LOVING feeling the sun on her face!  A gift from her Lord.  We placed her in the front room of her house, in front of the big windows, so she could see out over the fields and her beautiful flowers.  It was beautiful!  She looked like she was so happy to be home...she had a peace about her which was wonderful.  It was another gift and confirmation we were doing the right thing!!  I thank Jesus for those doctors who helped guide us through that hard decision.  It was exactly where she wanted and needed to be!!  

My daughter, Raquelle, was there when she came home and she was able to curl up in bed with my mom.  She laid there for 45 min. in her arms, crying tears of sadness and love.  Even though my mom was slightly out of it, the Lord gave her enough energy to kiss and hold my precious girl and to sing her a little song.  My sweet girl said good-bye to her Mimi and my wonderful mother-in-law was there to wrap her up and take her home.  It was an amazingly hard, but again beautiful moment and I will treasure that forever!!  The hardest thing about all of this is my sweet sweet kiddos...that they won't know how precious their Mimi was.  Raquelle will remember to a degree...but she's still so young.My mom with Raquelle about 5 years ago...oh she loved her babies!Friday the Lord brought us another beautiful gift.  A sweet angel named Jillian came to the house to play some music for my mom.  She is a music therapist for the hospice program.  She had this incredibly gentle, gracious, beautiful presence about her.  She talked gently with my mom and was patient as it was hard for my mom to get words out at this point.  She began playing "Heaven came down and glory filled my soul..."  It sounded like Heaven opened and literally came down into that room.  We all started to cry because it was such a powerful moment. My dad had to leave the room because it was so overwhelming.  It was the most beautiful, precious moment I've ever had!  Her voice was like an angle and my mom's face lit up...she smiled and closed her eyes with such joy and peace.  I prayed and prayed that the Lord would take her right then...so that she could go from one heaven to the next!!  But He didn't...He allowed us to all experience that moment together...as a gift...as a way to remember her in such a beautiful, peaceful way.  I will remember that sweet angel and her music forever!  I was almost jealous that this woman had been so gifted, and was using her gifting to bless people in such a profound way!  What a ministry!!  After playing 7 or 8 more songs and chatting, she said it was time for her to go.  When she left, she was so moved and leaned down and whispered something into my moms ear and gave her a kiss.  My mom kissed her back a few times and Jillian stood up and said, "This is a woman of deep grace!"  She walked out of the home saying that she felt like she had been wrapped up in a warm blanket.  That's exactly how we all felt.  Heaven had come down and glory had filled our souls!  I praise Him for such a sweet and beautiful moment.

Within a few hours, my mom slipped further and became non-responsive.  Her breathing became more inconsistent and labored.  My sister couldn't stay in the room with her anymore...it was too hard for her.  She ended up leaving the next day.  Janet, my mom's sweet friend of 40 years, was there with us since Thursday so she, dad and I continued singing to her, reading to her, holding her and being present.  We felt like she could go anytime.  We continued to tell her how much we loved her, that there was nothing left for her here...that her sweet Savior was calling her home.  I stayed with her on the couch through the night Thursday and Friday giving her medicine, listening to her breathe, holding her hand and singing to her at 2am! :)  It was such a sweet time for me...alone with my mom in the night telling her how much I loved her.  I remember my mom staying up with me, holding me through the long nights, when I was little.  I was sick a lot and she was always there with such tenderness.  The tables were turned and how thankful I was to hold her!

Saturday afternoon and evening was long...but again, precious.  We were petitioning with the Lord to take her home.  I wanted to leave so many times.  I wanted to curl up in the arms of my husband and the comfort of my home.  It was so hard to be there...but I knew I needed to be there.  Janet stayed with her Saturday night because I was so exhausted and needed to get a few hours of sleep.  We all got up Sunday morning a little depressed.  We were SO tired and completely exhausted.  We just couldn't figure out why the Lord hadn't taken her yet.  We joked that maybe she was waiting for the Lord's day...it was mom's favorite day of the week.  I read some scripture over breakfast and told Janet and dad I felt this was a spiritual battle.  We battle not against flesh and blood, but principalities.  The enemy would want us to be discouraged and depressed.  We needed to pray against that!  My dad called one of his Shepherding group leaders that morning and told them we needed people to pray the Lord takes her home today.  That they should not be angry or discouraged, but to pray with us that she would be delivered into her new home.  Their shepherding group meets between 11am-12pm.  After my dad hung up, Janet said, "Watch...she's going to go home to be with the Lord between 11-12!"  We all smiled thinking that would be so cool!  She LOVED her shepherding group...loved the people, loved Sundays!!!  How fun would that be I thought!

Around 11:30 we were sitting with mom, praying, reading scripture, Janet and I were singing.  We could tell mom's heart rate was slowing and things were shifting a bit.  My dad was looking at pics of my mom and said, "She should have her make-up on!"  My mom LOVED wearing make-up!  She used to do a lot of modeling when she was young and would never be seen without her red lips!!  She even had my dad put on her red lips before my brother saw her!  Oh, mom...I love you!  Anyway, I had JUST been thinking that and was about ready to say that when he said it first.  Janet immediately said "I was thinking the same thing!!!"  :) Oh the Lord knows how to speak into people's heart when it's going to bring about His purpose!  I love that! 

I ran and grabbed her make up bag.  I put some blush on her cheeks, did up her eyebrows like she likes them, and put on her eye make up.  She took a big breath and all of a sudden, I noticed she didn't have a heart beat.  We called dad over and I gave the lipstick to Janet and said, "Hurry Janet, she has to have her lips on!!!"  Janet did up her lips quickly and as she was finishing, mom took one big last breath and was gone.  At 11:40am on The Lord's Day, while her sweet friends prayed in her shepherding group, after she had her face on, she went to be with Jesus.  The wave of emotion that swept over me was relief, shear joy and praise!!!  I told my dad to turn the music on because it was time to celebrate!!  As Janet and I were hugging and crying and praising Jesus, the music came over the speakers and Jeremy Camp's song, "There will be a day" came on!  Again, it was like Jesus poured out His love upon us and comforted us by speaking that music into my heart with those words,

There will be a day with no more tears 
No more pain no more fears 
There will be a day when the burdens of this place 
Will be no more, we'll see Jesus face to face

It was perfect!  Janet and I held each other singing those sweet lyrics knowing there were no more tears, no more pain, no more burdens...that she was face to face with her sweet Savior in His sweet arms!!  It was powerful, beautiful and perfect. 

I called my brother and he and I laughed...Jared said, "Mom could never leave the house without her make-up on!"  It was also the first day of fall...her absolute favorite time of the year.  The Lord was involved in every detail!!  Earlier I had cried out Lord why is she still here...why haven't you taken her home?!  And He answered me in those moments...He said, "Because I have a perfect plan!  I'm in every detail of your life, I care about every moment.  I see every tear and every hurt."  His timing might not be in our timing...but it's always perfect, beautiful and right.  He cares about how the lilies of the field are clothed and how my mom would enter the kingdom of Heaven.  It overwhelmed me to feel that truth deep in my heart.  He loves us, He cares about every detail and His plans are perfect!  He loved my mom so much and had these final days perfectly planned to bless us all.  He is so faithful!

It was also amazing to know that all those sweet people my mom loved in her church were with us in Spirit in that moment.  They helped to usher her into the Kingdom of Heaven with their prayers.  They stood with us in prayer for her in that exact moment...even though we were 20 minutes away.  There were so many people that wanted to see mom, visit with her, hold her and touch her that weren't able to.  The last three and a half weeks were truly a whirlwind!  But, it was as if the Lord gave them the gift of being with us in that moment.  Mom knew they loved her and she loved them all so much.  And, they were with us in that moment...they were apart of that perfect departure.  Again, thank you Jesus!Mom's surgery that started this avalanche of events was on August 27th, and the service to celebrate her life was on Friday, September 27th at 11am.  In one month, through a huge series of crazy events my mom went to heaven and we got to celebrate her incredible life.  I am so thankful the Lord orchestrated it all this way.  If it wasn't for the heart issue and infection, she would have struggled with this cancer for potentially many years.  It was God's sweet grace that He allowed all these things to happen...and to happen so quickly.  I can see that now.  At the time if felt overwhelming and out of control.  But He had everything in control...everything!  He gave us three weeks to say good-bye, to love her, to be with her, to mourn, to cry and to weep.  And, although there will be many more moments of weeping, I am thankful it's not because she's in pain...it's because she left such a big imprint on all of our lives and will be greatly missed!!The morning after she passed away, I read in my devotional
7 The law of the Lord is perfect,
refreshing the soul.
The statutes of the Lord are trustworthy,
making wise the simple.
8 The precepts of the Lord are right,
giving joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are radiant,
giving light to the eyes.
9 The fear of the Lord is pure,
enduring forever.
The decrees of the Lord are firm,
and all of them are righteous.10 They are more precious than gold,
than much pure gold;
they are sweeter than honey,
than honey from the honeycomb.
11 By them your servant is warned;
in keeping them there is great reward. Again, this was the Lord speaking deeply into my heart...challenging my soul.  My mom gave me a hunger for His word over these past few weeks.  She was refreshing to my soul, trustworthy, wise, she gave joy to the heart, light came from her eyes...all because she was a woman of the Word.  She LOVED the word of God and because His word was more precious to her than gold, and sweeter than a honeycomb, she was rewarded with a life that bled Christ, with a beautiful departure and with a life we will always be impacted by. 
She breathed God's love into others because He was living inside her.  She would be the first to tell you she wasn't perfect!  But she knew she was perfectly forgiven thanks to the work of Christ on the cross!!  So she lived a victorious life!  If you feel a void, if you feel like something is missing...it's Jesus!  He made us all to crave Him...to know Him...to love Him.  His word quenches the depths of our soul and feeds our broken hearts.  He knows us...all of our sins and imperfections and yet died for us so that we could be free from them!  Oh how He loves us!!!  I pray whoever is reading this will feel His love for them!  She touched hundreds of people because she was Jesus to them.  I pray with the depths of my heart I can be more like that.  That we would all hunger and thirst for the beautiful word of God so that the light, love, wisdom, peace and joy others see in us is Jesus in us...that we can be lights to this dark world...so that His love would shine to all we meet.  It's all about people...and relationships. May we all be little "Darlene's" today.  May we hunger and thirst for His word more than gold, so that it will change our lives, and the lives of those around us. 

Thank you mom for your life, for your sacrifice, for your love, for giving me Jesus!  Thank you for making me want to be a better mom and a woman who is more bold in my love for our Savior.  I'm so happy for you...that you are face to face with Him in perfect peace!

Until we see each other again, I will always love you...forever!

My mom and dad with my three kiddos and nephew Jordan, 4 months ago celebrating my son's b-day.

Sorry...

I wanted to touch base and let you all know if you've left me a comment in the past few months and I haven't answered, there's a reason!! 
I didn't realize gmail changed up their folders about a month and a half ago and for the past month and a half all your sweet comments and questions for this blog have been put into a folder called, "Social".  So, I've been thinking my blog has just been real quite this past month and a half and honestly my life and the events therein have been insanely crazy so I haven't given it much thought.
Well, the other day I was looking for an email someone told me they sent for a webinar I was trying to access and I found it in this other folder with over 200 emails, comments and questions for this blog.  I was blown away!!!!!!!  I'm SO sorry!  I always try to get back to each one of you, although it's getting a little harder these days! :) - but I'm trying!! :)I just don't want you to all think I've ignored you...that would break my heart.  But, I also wanted to let you know due to some family things going on right now, Craftsy questions, future classes I'm working on and homeschooling, I'm honestly not able to go back and answer those 200+ questions.So, if you have something that is SUPER important, please try posting another comment or shooting me an email.  I'll try to get back to you, but my response time is much slower these days due to the things above.  Plus, I'm really trying to protect my heart and family by not being online a lot right now and just enjoying these precious kids the sweet Lord has given me.So, sorry for not getting back to you all!!  I pray a huge blessing upon you all!!

OH, and in case you have been wondering, my new Craftsy class, "Simply Modern Cake Design" is coming out towards the end of October.  Stay tuned to the blog or my Facebook page for updates.  I'll start posting sneak peeks and some info about the class as we get closer! :)  For now, I'm not able to say much about it...so don't bother asking!! LOL!! :)

Airbrushing Tutorial Video

I am so excited about this class!!  I just bought my first little airbrush...not the best one in the world, but a good starter one.  I know there are SO many more possiblities to cake design when you can air brush colors, shades and textures on your cakes!!!Crafty just released a new Master Series class called "The Art of Airbrushing".  If you have an air brush and want to improve your skills and knowledge of  how to use it, this is the class for you!! :)Check out the video on what Lisa will be covering in this class HERE.These links will give you 25% off this class without expiring.  So, save your pennies and come back here to save some money because it will take your air brushing skills to the next level!!Have fun! - and make sure to share with me pics of the cakes you're making using some of the things you're learning on Craftsy!!  You can post to my Facebook page HERE.

It's here...my second class, "Simply Modern Cake Design"

If you've wondered why I haven't done very many of my own posts on cakes recently...I was busy all summer working on these six beautiful cakes I created for this new Craftsy Class.  And, they all have one thing in common...they are all covered in metallics with bold graphics.  I SO enjoyed putting this class together!!  I knew after Clean & Simple Design I wanted to do another class because there was so much more I wanted to cover. I know a lot of you squirm at the thought of doing an extra tall cake, so I wanted to show you how to do it simply with several techniques.Here is the tallest of the cakes!  The center tier is 8" tall and 6" in diameter.  I call this beauty my "Art Deco Cake" because of the beautiful scallops set against a dark gray scalloped background.  I show you how to make this cake without any special cutters.  You just need a circle cutter!! :)  The flower is a wafer paper flower and I show you two variations of it.  You can use wafer paper or edible image paper for either technique.  I just love the transparency of wafer paper flowers!  Something you just can't get with gumpaste!!  - and they are SOOO easy to make!! This next cake is one of my favorites!  I love the colorful offset chevrons!  There are five colors all stacked to make these beautiful vertical panels.  The white, gold and silver are all luster dusted.  The pics don't do it justice, but this cake is bold and sparkly!  It's a pattern any guy would like! - it's my husband's fav of the class!! :)  I also show how to make that simple little wall flower with one tear drop cutter.  Such a sweet little flower!!  Simple elegance...and easy, easy techniques! :) Hexagons/honeycomb prints are SO hot right now! - and there are so many beautiful ways to use that pattern.  I love bold colors and contrast so I threw in a few dark gray tiles into mine.  The entire back of this cake is painted gold.  It has two layers of hexagons.  Such a fun cake!  I can't wait to see your color combos with this design.And, this is another edible paper flower...with edible paper, not wafer paper.  This is the second variation
This is my "Hidden Design" cake.  There is a design hidden away under the fondant that gives your this 3D look to it.  There are endless possibilities on what designs you can  put under there and I show you some simple techniques to apply designs onto the ganache crumb coat then cover it in fondant and still get razor sharp top edges with complex designs.The mint pinwheel flower is my new favorite modern looking flower!  The front of the cake is actually to the right of the cake.  The flower was supposed to sit off to the left so the mint squares rise up to the flower.  But, it's all good! - you get the idea!! :)  There are some fun variations you can do with this flower once you learn how to make the petals!!  It's got a fun shape to it!! These last two cakes are my silver leaf cakes!!  I show how to apply silver leaf onto a cake and then give you some super fun, top secret, really easy ways to put silver leaf designs onto your cakes!!!  Check out the "Lace Cake" above with beautiful silver leaf lace!!  Or the cake below with the silver leaf polka dots!!  SO much fun can be had with silver leaf...simple fun! :)And, here are two more flowers I show how to make.  All without wires...easy, simple techniques with templates I provide and circle cutters! :)  Here's a close up of the wafer paper flower I make! :)  OH I love this sweet thing!!  It seriously would only take you about 30 min. to put this together!! It's so easy and so quick that you'll want to have it in your tool kit of ideas for those last minute cakes! :) So, remember to click HERE for 50% off and to watch a little promo video about the class.  You can also see some more pics and see the lessons laid out for you too! :) Now there is one more thing I just wanted to share with you!!  Something the Lord really spoke to me after this class.  When I was at Crafty filming this class, I hardly slept!  The altitude caught up with me so bad in Denver that I literally cat napped throughout the night for 5 nights straight!  I was SO upset!  I was a walking zombie during the day and had SUCH a hard time focusing and getting my lines out and executing things the way I did at home this summer.  I felt like I was back in the days of being up all night with an infant...only there was no sweet, chubby, cuddly thing for me to hold!!  - just cakes! :)During filming, things went on crooked, I had to redo things multiple times, I messed up some of the finishes, I touched a cake right after I sprayed it, I did things in ways I wouldn't normally do them.  We had to re-shoot things SO many times...way more than my first class...which was my FIRST class!!!  I left there feeling like I had wasted such an amazing opportunity because I thought I literally train-wrecked the class.  I was exhausted, emotional and felt so low when I got back home. I even told them I wanted to fly back and re-shoot a few things!!!Then...three days later, my mom had her surgery...and the Lord showed me what was important! - and it's NOT cakes!! :)  We can get consumed with projects and making things perfect and doing everything with such intensity, that we forget to look up and see what's important.  Our sweet Lord created us to be in relationship with Him and He created us to be in relationship with others.  My joy will be full, my life will be complete when I have loved...and loved deeply.  When I pour into others, I am filled.  My mom was the most amazing example of that.  She loved deeply and she had deep joy!!  We can't see the future, we can't see why bad things happen.  I may never understand why I felt the class went so horribly wrong and why my mom had to die.  But, what I do know is that the Lord will be glorified.  And He'll be glorified more in our weakness.  When things seem out of control, when things seem like they can't go any worse, He shows up...walking on the waves during the storm.  And He speaks into our hearts, "Do not be afraid for I am with you!"  He knows the plans He has for me...for you! - and they are always meant to bless us and give us life.My husband told me some great truths when all this went down.  He said, "Jessica, it's perfect your class went so bad because now if anything good comes of it, you know it's the Lord's hand of mercy and grace and you can't take the credit for it!"  Amen!!  How much more glory will HE receive when His strength is made perfect in our weakness!!That sweet husband of mine also told me something else that made all the craziness of the summer worth it.  When I told him I felt like I wasted an opportunity because he had to "babysit" all summer while I worked on cakes, he said, "It wasn't wasted...I got to be with my kids all summer.  I got to know them, deepen my relationship with them more than I ever would have had you not done the class!"  He knew it was about relationships.  And, if the only good thing that comes out of this class is my husband's amazingly wonderful and deep relationship with my kids, then it was worth messing up again!! :) :)  See...we never know how the Lord will redeem something...how HE will take the bad and create something beautiful with it!My mom left me with an amazing passion for the Word of God and an even greater desire to share His love.  That passion and that desire wouldn't have happened had she not passed away.  It was a springboard for me...and it was such a gift.  I'm going to miss her deeply, but her passing gave me such a huge desire to be the mom she was, to pour into my kids in a greater way, to turn off technology and pour into my relationships, to tell others about the marvelously wonderful love of Christ and how to know Him more deeply.So...bad things happen...but great things can be seen...better things are left in their place when we can stop and look at them.  My sweet Jesus showed me how much He loves me and how much He wants my life to not just be lived for the here and now...for the things that burn...for the things that ultimately leave us bummed out and disappointed.  He wants my life to be filled with deep joy that can only be found by HIS love, and sharing that love with others.Know Him, and find joy!  Read His love letter to us and find a Savior that desires to pour out His love and forgiveness onto you!!With all my love,
Jessica

P.S...Now, you may be thinking, hmmm, I'm not going to take her class because she said it was a train wreck!! LOL!! - but what's amazing...and for sure miraculous is I was able to watch it back a few weeks ago and was surprised how well it turned out.  Seriously it was ALL God, and I think some great editing to remove all the dumb things I said!! :)   I was crying my eyes out, and the whole time God kept whispering, "My strength is made perfect in your weakness!" - and it was.  Somehow HE turned it all around for good and I praise HIM.  Yes, it's not perfect, and not my best work, but you will learn some amazingly fun techniques to make some beautiful cakes!!! :) - Crafty guarantees it!! LOL!! :)

Wedding Dress Cake Tutorial

 A BEAUTIFUL new Craftsy Class is out and I have a discount link to share!!!Rachael Teufel from Intricate Icings is showcasing her amazing gift to create beautiful wedding dress looking cakes!!  She'll show you how to design the cake using inspiration from fabric and pictures, then teach you some amazing techniques to get the fabric look!!And, I have a 25% off discount link that never expires!!  Click HERE!Enjoy this beautiful class from a very talented lady!!

Commercial Fondant Review

She does a review on the most popular commercial brands of fondant.  Her article includes pros and cons for Satin Ice, Fondarific, Fondx, Wilton and Carma.  I have to agree with everything she says!!  This is a very accurate and well written review!!!

The only one that is left out is the Bakels Pettinice fondant.  This is a really popular brand in Australia and when I tried it, I really liked it.  For me is was similar in texture to marshmallow fondant but a little drier.  I don't remember all the ins and outs with it and need to buy some again to play with it...but I do remember really liking it and I'm pretty picky! :)

Nice work on your first article with Craftsy Lesley!!!

Modeling Chocolate Questions - Answered!!!

Since my Craftsy class launched I have been hit with so much excitement and questions regarding modeling chocolate!!  I love that it's changing the way you decorate your cakes!!  I've loved it for many years, so it's been great fun for me to share it with you!! 

Lauren Kitchens also did a Craftsy class on modeling chocolate.  Click HERE for 25% off that class!

Because of all this excitement and all the questions, I felt the need to do a post on it!  That way it's all in one place and you can use this post for reference if you need to!  I'm going to organize it like a Q&A so it's simple and easy to find answers to your puzzling questions! :)What I use is actually referred to as "Candy Clay" since it's not made with chocolate! :)  I mainly use Wilton candy melts to make my "modeling chocolate".  The reason is because they come in a great variety of color and I don't have to mess with kneading in color or coloring them unless I need to adjust the shade, saturation or tint of them.  You can also use real chocolate to make modeling chocolate..which gives you a cream color (from white chips), a light brown (from milk chocolate) or a dark brown (from dark chocolate).  Then, you'll have to add color to get the final color you need for your decorations. Modeling chocolate is basically a chocolate play-doh...and OH so tasty and easy to work with!!  Modeling chocolate cuts like a DREAM, doesn't stretch, bend or tear like fondant and WILL give you cleaner more precise looking cakes.  It only takes a few minutes to make (compared to home made fondant which takes me about 20 and leaves the kitchen A MESS).  So, it's my preferred decoration medium and I use it all the time!!

The method to make candy clay and real modeling chocolate (made with real chocolate) is the same...the ingredients change a bit.  You use only two ingredients...chocolate (or candy melts) and light corn syrup (or glucose if you can't get corn syrup in your area).

How do I make modeling chocolate?There are two versions due to the type of chocolate you use.To make modeling chocolate with candy melts, here's the recipe I use:1.5oz of corn syrup for dark colored melts (or if you're in a warmer zone) 2oz of corn syrup for light colored melts (or cooler zones).  The ounces of corn syrup above are by weight!!  If you want to figure out how much corn syrup you need per cup, then remember that one cup of corn syrup weighs 11.5oz.To make modeling chocolate using real chocolate, then use his recipe:
1/2 cup of corn syrup (5.6oz) Whichever chocolate you use, the method is the same. For a video to help you make real modeling chocolate, see HERE.  Remember to change the quantities if you're using candy melts.

*If you work in grams, then use THIS website for conversions.  You still use the same multipliers! :)

IMPORTANT NOTES on the method: 1.  This is super important!!  When making modeling chocolate make sure you DO NOT over work it.  After you add your corn syrup, you only want to mix 20 strokes at the most!!  If you mix it past that, you run the risk of breaking it and turning it into an oily mess.  When that happens, you can trap that wax/oil within pockets of the modeling chocolate and you'll get little bits in there that are near impossible to work out.2. I do things a little differently than Lauren in that video above.  I pour out the seized chocolate onto a piece of plastic wrap and I flatten it down to about 1/2" thick.  I dab it once with a paper towel to press out any "wax pockets" then leave it sit for about an hour.  It will set up firm, but not hard.  After an hour to an hour and a half I trim off any wax around the edges and start to knead it together nicely to work in any trapped wax before it cools completely and gets rock hard.  After I work it to a smooth consistency, I wrap it and let it sit overnight before using it (or at least 6 hours). 
See how it's still a little swirly...it still turns out beautiful!! - DON'T overmix! :)

I used a 14oz bag.  Also notice how dark it gets when you make it.  It does darken from the regular melts when you mix it...FYI! :)
 All done!  Nice and smooth and ready to store away!

What if I want to make a smaller/larger batch of candy clay?

If you have a candy melt bag that is 12oz or 14oz or you just want to make a small batch, then use a multiplier for how much corn syrup per ounce of melts you need.  For dark colors (or a warmer zone) use .15oz of corn syrup per ounce of meltsFor lighter colors (or a cooler zone) use .21oz of corn syrup per ounce of melts

What if I want to make a smaller/larger batch of modeling chocolate?

 If you want to make more or less than 1lb of modeling chocolate than you need to use a .35 multiplier for chocolate to corn syrup.  So, take the ounces of melted chocolate you have, and multiply it by .35 to get how many ounces (by weight) of corn syrup you need to add.

Note: If you work in grams, then use THIS website for conversions.  You still use the same multipliers! :)

HELP! - I'm getting small bits in my modeling chocolate! You get these because you've over worked your chocolate when you're making it.  By over mixing, you are creating little pockets that trap in the wax from the candy melts and that wax sets hard and impossible to get out.  When you are stirring the corn syrup and chocolate together, don't mix more than 20 strokes and leave it.  Pour it out onto a piece of plastic wrap and I flatten it down to about 1/2" thick.  I dab it once with a paper towel to press out any "wax pockets" then leave it sit for about an hour.  It will set up firm, but not hard...you want it to leave a finger impression if you press on it (but not hard).  After an hour to an hour and a half I trim off any wax around the edges and start to knead it together nicely to work in any trapped wax before it cools completely and gets rock hard.  If I feel any bits, I can work them out by pressing them against the counter with the palm of my hand.  After I work it to a smooth consistency, I wrap it and let it sit overnight before using it (or at least 6 hours).

HELP! - When I knead my modeling chocolate it's really crumbly and falls apart!
If after you've left your modeling chocolate to rest overnight (after you've made it and done the initial kneading then wrapped it up) and it's real crumbly, keep kneadng it and warming it up as best  you can.  I've found that some chocolate wafers (like the white Merkens) sometimes are real crumbly...and I still haven't figured out why.  If it's still crumbly or just grainy, grab some fondant that is about half the size of your modeling chocolate (up to the same size as your modeling chocolate) and knead that in.  It will smooth it out beautifully and allow you to roll it out with a smooth surface.  It will change the consistency a bit and won't set up super hard after doing that...but it will save your modeling chocolate and still work beautifully for cake decorations.  When you roll it out on your work surface, use a little cornstarch, or for smaller decorations you can roll it out on wax paper.  Then, let it sit 10 min. or so, then cut out your shapes.  Letting it sit for a bit will help the chocolate to firm up the medium a bit and you'll get beautiful cuts!!

If you are trying to use it for flowers or figurines, you can knead in some gumpaste to it instead of fondant.  That will help it set up pretty firm and be a lot more stable! :)

There are two ways to color your modeling chocolate.

Option #1: If you are going to color a whole batch, say turning a dark chocolate modeling chocolate to black, you can add several (5-8) drops of Americolor (or Wilton) black gel to the corn syrup BEFORE you mix it into the melted chocolate.  Then, mix it up and add the coloring/corn syrup into the melted chocolate and Voila! - black modeling chocolate (or pink, or red, or green...or whatever color you want!)

Option #2: Knead in the color just like you would knead it into fondant...after you make the modeling chocolate and let it sit up, add a few drops of color and work it all together until the color is uniform throughout.

You can use basic gel colors in both situations.

Can I use modeling chocolate in hot climates?
Modeling chocolate is made of chocolate...so, it's sensitive to heat!! :)  If you are concerned about the heat melting your decorations, then make sure to use gumpaste.  It's fine to use modeling chocolate on the side of a cake in warmer climates, but don't try to use it for figures or flowers...they will droop.  In hot climates, I might not use it at all.  You really need to play with it.  I live in Oregon (USA) which is a very cool climate with little humidity...so, I haven't been able to test the limits on how hot of an environment it will work in!

Can I mix it with other mediums?
YES!  Modeling chocolate is AMAZINGLY friendly with other mediums like fondant, gumpaste and even Tylose powder.  I mix it with my fondant if I need to roll it extra thin or need it a little more elastic.  There's no set percentage on mixing...it just depends what I'm using it for.

I use straight modeling chocolate for most all my decorations.  But, I will add 10% fondant to get a real thin medium (modeling chocolate can crack the thinner you roll it because the thinner it gets the colder it gets and the firmness of it will create cracks) or to tint my modeling chocolate a lighter shade.  Since I don't have white modeling chocolate on hand very often, I'll just use white fondant.

Also, if you need it to be slightly more stable (say you're working on a flower), you can mix it with gumpaste or even add Tylose powder to it.  The reason I would use a little modeling chocolate in my gumpaste is because it makes it taste much better and keeps it from getting ROCK hard...and to me inedible.

If I'm paneling a cake (instead of draping) I'll use up to 70% modeling chocolate because I can warm up the seams and basically make them disappear with the warmth of my fingers.  You can also add it to fondant you'll use to drape a cake, but not more than 10-15% because again, as it gets thinner, it firms up and you lose elasticity...something that's important when covering a cake.

How do I store it?
After you knead it and bring it all together in a smooth medium, I wrap it up in plastic wrap and keep it at room temperature for several months.  If I know I won't need it for longer than a few weeks, I keep it in the freezer.  I take it out and bring it back to room temp before kneading and rolling it out.

Can I paint on it?
Yes and no! :)  You can't use water based colors (like Americolor or Wilton gels) very well on them...it just beads up.  However, the more fondant that's mixed with the modeling chocolate, the better it becomes and the less beading you'll notice.  So, if you're going to want to paint something, perhaps mix fondant with it.

You can use dry dusts or dusts mixed with vodka on modeling chocolate.  It works beautifully.  In fact, I think the gold/silver luster finishes look better on modeling chocolate than on fondant because modeling chocolate is so smooth and the finish on the metallic is therefore nice and smooth!!

Edible pens can work too...the best are Americolor Gourmet Writer.  I've used Wilton and they don't work as well...again, they bead up a bit.  It is slightly difficult to write on modeling chocolate as the pen can get hung up on the soft chocolate...but if you use a soft hand and keep the pen flat/at an angle, it works!! 

I think that's it!! :)  If you have any other questions or something I miss, please leave a comment and I'll add it up above!!  I hope that clears up any mysteries and helps you all make modeling chocolate a bit easier next time!!   It will change the way you decorate your cakes!! :)

OH, and remember my Craftsy Class is always 50% off right HERE!  I make it during the class and show you how to use it to decorate four beautiful cakes! :)
To see a post on what this class is all about, click HERE.

Blessings!

Counting down to my new Craftsy Class...giving some hints! :)

I'm so excited!!  In less than 2 weeks my new Craftsy Class is launching! I've been sworn to secrecy, but that doesn't mean I can't give you all some hints!! :)Here are a few fun pics to peak your curiosity!! :) :)  Don't worry...I'll be back to share more in the next few days!!What do you think it'll be about?!?!

Exciting News...

I'm going to be heading to Denver in August to teach my second Craftsy class!!  Well, after two months of planning, designing and brainstorming, the class has been approved and the designs are ready to go!!  My new sweet friend Liz from Artisan Cake Company came over today and got a work out!!!  She helped me cover 17 tiers of cake!! WHEW!  Thanks Liz!!  Seriously you were SUCH a blessing to me and I praise the Lord for sending you my way!  Got to love two girls who love marshmallow fondant!! :)  You are a rock star...and a machine!See what we did in 3.5 hours???  We had quite the assembly line!!  I gave Liz the hard part!! :)  Rolling out the fondant and draping!  She was SO fast I could hardly keep up with her!  Crazy fun!Now, I can't divulge exactly what I'm teaching and these cakes are no where near where they're going to be!  Lots of fun stuff will be added to them...fun stuff as in graphics, metallics, flowers of all different kinds of mediums, etc etc etc!!  It's going to be a HUGE class full of at least 6 different cakes and LOTS of different finishes/techniques!!  There are lots of flowers in lots of mediums and TONS to teach!  I'm SUPER excited about this class so stay tuned!!  Now...the bad news:
Unfortunately, you'll have to wait a bit.  I know...Boooohoooohooo! :)Due to vacations and trips my family and I have planned for a while, I won't be heading to Denver until mid August.  Then, it takes them a bit to make the videos so pretty!!  But, it'll hopefully be worth the wait and you'll see it sometime the end of Sept!!  Stay tuned!!
I might be able to share a few more sneak peek pictures as we get closer...but not much! :)  I don't want to ruin the surprise!!! Thank you so much for all of your support!!  It's because of all of you buying my class and leaving me such amazing reviews that I have another chance to teach for Craftsy.  I'm so thankful and feel so blessed the Lord has given me this opportunity to help thousands!!!  I praise Him for it all!!OH, and for the next two months I'm going to be pretty quiet online...because I'm going to be enjoying my family, the sunshine, our little trips and finishing A LOT of amazing cakes!! :)

Kara's Party Ideas + Jessicakes = A Giveaway!!!

Hi friends!!

If you've never heard of Kara's Party Ideas then you need to head over to her beautiful blog to check it out!!!  She has SO many brilliant ideas you can use for your next party!!  

Kara also has a book sharing some of those ideas!!  She used my hot air balloon design for one of her parties!!  A friend of hers (Sweeten Your Day Cakes) re-created it using the templates found here on my blog and then Kara used it to put together a darling party for her son!! :)  And, it made it to the cover of her book!!  I've been published! - hahaha...well, sort of! :)  So, Kara and I have hooked up to give away TWO of my Craftsy Classes!!!!  If you know of someone who has been wanting to take it, or you've been waiting for a chance to check it out, it's here!!!  Enter HERE!! And, if you want to pick up her new book and have a little piece of me with it, you can buy her book HERE.