Merry Christmas from Cakesdecor !!!
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To all of our cakesdecor members Michal, Martin, Elli, Laura and Sharon would like to wish you all a very happy holidays and all the very best for the upcoming new year. You all have given us such a wonderful 2015 year full of some of the best cakes in the world. We know we have the most talented members of any other cake site and are just so proud that you all choose to come and share your lovely creations with us. You make this site so enjoyable to be part of and we cannot wait to see what 2016 will bring from you all. You make us all feel so blessed to call you part of our family!
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Watermarking is Advertising!
Yesterday I had to have a talk again with another fabulous caker about the importance of watermarking. Everyone seems to think we should only watermark to stop people from stealing our pictures, this is not the case. If others really want your pictures they will probably have the technology to take off whatever it is you put on on there, however you should still do it...at least make it harder for these thieves.
This picture below was featured on a wedding site and yet no one knew who did it to give the artist their credit. All that work to create something so stunning and yet no one knowing who they are, such a shame.
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I cannot tell you how many times something like this has happened, someone posting a picture of a cake on Facebook asking if anyone knows who the baker was. Watermarks solve this problem. Watermarks are free advertising for your business, it helps others know your work and your name. I heard a long time ago a brilliant piece of advice which was "do not spend all that time making a cake to then not allow the 10 minutes extra for the time it might take to take a quality picture of it". Well I go one step further with my advice and that is don't spend all that time making it and picturing it to then not put your name or logo on it. Watermarking is not hard anymore there are many free sites that will help you and photoshop is not that expensive if you buy an older version and you can learn how to do it yourself. If I can watermark thru photoshop anyone can...I am the biggest dummy when it comes to computers but I have managed to do it, I even make watermarks for people now so if you need one I am willing to help. There are also youtube video's to help so no excuses, you can do this. For many of us this is now a business, this cake thing, so make sure you treat it like one. Brand yourself and get your name out there, people cannot find you if they can't even see your work and they can't know it is your work unless your name is on it. And it is not to late to do it either, go back over all your old pictures and watermark them also.
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I am pretty sure if you had to choose between the 2 cakes above I know which one you would order...
So one final little tip which is off subject a little but important, only keep up pictures on your website or FB page of where your skills are now. Many of you have improved in leaps and bounds over the last 2 years so take those old pics down of when your cakes bulged or you used cardboard rounds for boards. If you leave them up then that is the quality and price that people will be expecting. Show the better you, if you really want to keep those pics up then put them in a folder with a title something like "look where I started" or "my early work" to show that this is not your current skill level. If you want to be paid good money then you have to show the work that matches that, not your old work when you got paid $2.50 a slice.
Love you all and keep on caking. Big Hugs, Shags
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Many of you are going to think I am just nuts for picking this one but I am here to tell you lighting is everything. Not just for pictures but also for getting the right colors to match a customers request. When doing the final touches on my studio last month I cam across these daylight bulbs at the store and thought I would give them a try. Well what a difference, it is like walking into an operating room with these things on. The colors on everything really show up and the color is true color not color that is changed by the hue of the light bulb. They have made it possible for me to take much better pictures plus also show up all the details on my cake to perfection. I would now not choose any other bulbs for my work space, they are exactly what every caker should have and for the few dollars more it cost me it was worth every penny. Here is a picture to show what the bulbs look like compared to the old ones I had in in my light fixtures. Such a huge difference and my cake room now has lighting I can use day or night with no problems.
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Tutorial Pick for the Month: I would give anything to learn how to pipe properly but this lovely tutorial by Vintique Cakes (Anita)gives me hope that maybe I could do something this gorgeous with her amazing Borella Inspired Piping Tutorial. So make sure you check it out and if you give it a try please show us we would love to see it.
Big Thank you....Thank you to all our members for being so wonderful and posting their tutorials only in the tutorials section it has made things so much better. Also remember we are a site that does not allow any adult content cakes, so please keep those cakes to your own pages.
Kitchen Talk: . Heres a quick little trick that might help some of us thanks to Cake Hatteras.
Suggestion Box: New ideas and suggestions are always welcome so please make sure you go to The Gazette Blog post and leave your comments there.
Have fun coming up with new ideas :)
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For me giving this award to this amazing artist is just not enough, as I feel he is not rising but has already surpassed most of us. But Daniel Dieguez is such a great artist he deserves every credit that can be given, his work is so breathtaking and from those that saw this particular piece in person all agreed it was perfection. I cannot wait to see where Daniel goes from here as I honestly think he is one of the leading artists that is taking the cake world by storm.
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Cake Decorator of the Week
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The Cake Decorators of the Week for November were...
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With so many collaborations now I cannot find every cake so if you would like to be seen here in the collaboration section of the Gazette could you please have the word "collaboration" in the title of your piece and the title of the collaboration you are involved with! If you do not have these things I cannot guarantee I will see your cake. Also not every cake will get seen, I pick an array from across the board, sorry for those that don't get picked it does not mean your piece was not worthy .
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A Group of Sugar Artists collaborating to create pieces to commemorate the 20th Anniversary of Toy Story
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Dia de los Muertos or the “Day of the Dead” is a Mexican religious holiday that has grown in popularity over the years. One of its popular icons, the sugar skull so this is the passion of cake artist from around the world.
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We are a group of Sugar Artist from all walks of life coming together in a Collaboration of cake for Grimms’’ Fairy Tales.
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On the 26th November 1865 – 150 Years ago Alice in Wonderland ventured into many family homes, through books and later into movies.
Today Sugar Artists have come together in a celebration of Alice in Wonderland its 150 years since the first publication and we hope you enjoy our Collaboration.
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It's a Small World... is a collaboration that celebrates and honors children from all over the Globe.
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30 Global Bake Artists have come together to create cakes to raise awareness of Joshua Wilson and his SuperJosh charity
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Upcoming Cake Decorating shows and Competitions
That Takes The Cake , Round Rock TX, USA...February 27 and 28, 2016
San Diego cake show, San Diego, CA..... March 19th-20th, 2016
Cake Fest , Lafayette, LA, USA....April 2nd - 3rd , 2016
Cake International London, UK...16-17 April 2016
SoFlo, Miami , Florida....April 23rd - 24th, 2016
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We all have a few favorite decorators who we just know their work the minute we see it and for me this gorgeous lady is one of those. Tanya Halas owner of Cake heart has such a beautiful style, so very elegant and always using the most gorgeous of colors. No two cakes ever look the same and her ability to create flowing movement in every piece just blows my mind. So it gives me so much joy to be able to show case her this month as I feel she really deserves so much more recognition in this industry. Her gorgeous sole and spirit shines thru in her wonderful designs and I feel so blessed to let you lovelies know a little bit more about her also. If you are not already following her on Facebook here is the link to her page so make sure you pop on over and let her know how much you love her work as well. cake heart facebook
To see full interview CLICK HERE!
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Vintique Cakes
One day I swear I am going to try and pipe something and this gorgeous cookie tutorial might just be the perfect thing to attempt. I really love how stunning this is and although I know I would never be able to get it looking quite this good the step by step instructions seem easy enough for even me to be able to follow. If any of you give this one a try please make sure you post some pictures here with this tutorial so as we can admire your work. Thank you Vintique Cakes for sharing your amazing tutorial.
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Conratulations to all who competed and won at Cakes International Birmingham!
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Congratulations to all those entered Cakes International Birmingham this year all the pieces were just extraordinary I really wish I had the space to show them all. You all have so much talent and just to enter a competition like this is a win in my book.
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The best thing about cake shows is the friendships that are formed, some old, many new but just having that many great decorators together in one venue is so intoxicating. To meet our cake idols and those new and upcoming decorators that are blowing our minds is a true experience that all who attend never forget. So many wonderful memories that are cherished for life.So if you have never been to a cake show you must put it on your to do list!!!
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Cake Masters Awards 2015!
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This is the second year the lovely Rosie Mazumder of Cake Masters Magazine has put on an awards show to highlight those in our industry who are doing great things. Every seat in the house was full of literally the most talented cake artists around from sculpted cakes to delicate flowers. It is so nice to see a magazine really appreciating those decorators who share their work, highlighting them and their talents not just thru their magazine but with an incredible awards show showing how much they are appreciated.
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Congratulations to our Cakesdecor members!
We are so very proud of you all, so much talent and so very well deserved.
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I think we all love to hear and see each others little tips and tricks, who knows when one of those will be the one we have just been looking for. After baking more than 30 cakes over just a few days a couple of weeks back I think this trick might have been useful. I never measure how much batter I put in I just guesstimate so of coarse I had a few overflow, maybe if I had this trick I could have saved myself a very burnt smelling kitchen from the cake batter burning on the bottom of my new stove,lol. So thank you Cake Hatteras for this trick I think I may just have to use it.
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CakesDecor News, Stats & Links
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Nov 3rd 2015
We are 30,296 cake decorators making 1,428,072 comments on 219,454 cakes, 2,757blogs and 1,571tutorials, 2,617forum topics.
Editor's Choice Albums: Facebook , Pinterest , Google +
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