Just wanted to publicly thank Lisa for taking it upon herself to provide me with an avatar that is indeed cute and appropriate. So thoughtlful of you Lisa, I appreciate it very much. Thank you!
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

That is so cute Squirrellycakes!!!!! Lisa did another great job!!! I love it!!

You're welcome SquirrlleyCakes! It's the least I can do for someone who gave me 90% of my cake decorating education (over at Wilton). So glad you're here too. Hugs Lisa

Cute isn't he?
You know sometimes you do something for someone, no matter how small or insignificant or easy it may seem to you, to that person, it is a kindness that makes their day. Kind words also mean so much. They are a wonderful thing to have, we can collect them and bring them out of the pocket of good deeds and memories that we store and use them when we most need them.
People like you, make a difference in our world.
Thank you!
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

Isn't he great Victoria? I feel so privileged, Froggyjustjumpin found the dancing squirrel that you were kind enough to put on your site for me as an avitar and now I have the munching squirrel too. Everyone is so kind and welcoming, it is enough to give a squirrel an inflated head, haha! I will have to show the hubby the new squirrel that Lisa found for me for this site! He cannot believe that people can find these!
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

Victoria, you too have been very kind to me on your site and I truly appreciate it! I am not surprised to hear that you have been a great help to Shugga!
Shugga, well, what can I say, but to say that you are a very sweet individual who has a tendancy to bring out the best in people! You are also very helpful, you run to help and provide information when anyone asks.
Lisa seems to be there helping everyone out with the avatars. Seems to be the avatar expert!
Flavurd is a lovely individual too, very caring!
Yes, there a lot of wonderful helpful individuals on this site and I think that the atmosphere is well maintained.
I know a lot of the people on this site and they are very special! Gee, if i start naming names, in my "mentalpausal" stage, I may forget someone, so I had better not start! Besides, there is only so much space on a site, haha!
Anyway, these sites should be helpful and sharing and supportive as we all have a common interest and we all need some support and kindness in our lives - or we wouldn't be here.
I think the owner and moderators are doing a terrific job as are the contributors!
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

I think the avatars are all great, I have to get one for myself but don't know what I want as yet...it will have to go some to fit in with all of yours!

I think the Squirelly one is such fun, and must be perfect for you!

This website and the forum and all of you who work on it and contribute to it are fantastic! I've been spending all my time here lately, such fun, and it is so helpful and informative! Thanks to you all. Janice

I think the avatars are all great, I have to get one for myself but don't know what I want as yet...it will have to go some to fit in with all of yours!

I think the Squirelly one is such fun, and must be perfect for you!

This website and the forum and all of you who work on it and contribute to it are fantastic! I've been spending all my time here lately, such fun, and it is so helpful and informative! Thanks to you all. Janice

I believe someone referred to Lisa as the "Avatar Queen", she does a great job finding just the right one for all!
And yes, Squirrellycakes has made a large impact in my decorating just from the short amount of time since I "met" her. There are so many others who have helped me also that don't even know it, although I do try and Thank each of them for their help. I think this site raises our confidence levels with the kind and positive words.
Super web site yes, lets all of us keep it that way!

You know, everyone learns, the people that asks the questions, the people that answer them, Sometimes someone asks a question and the person that answers it has to think about why they do that particular thing a certain way, why they follow certain steps etc. So in answering, you actually learn or think about why you follow a certain method, what makes it work, what steps you take etc. Plus the new decorators are always more up-to-date on the latest trends, products, methods etc. So even the older ones are always learning something new.
Take the buttercream transfer for example. Now I hadn't done on in oh gosh, 15 or 20 years. In those days I did simple things, like a pot of flowers, none of this outlining characters or any of that stuff. So I looked at Cali4Dawn's method and saw the Winnie the Pooh and noted too, that she was putting an extra coating of icing all over the back and going over the outside outlining, something we didn't do years ago. So I looked at her recipe, then I thought, I should experiment with icing. Because, from all of the posts I read on BCT, well people had more issues with the icing consistency. I knew that folks had better luck, for the most part, with icing made with butter and shortening, which is how I make mine. So I played with my icing recipe, settling on the consistency I got from 1/2 cup of butter softened, 1/2 cup of shortening, softened, 1 1/2 tsp of real vanilla, because I use that and 2 cups of sifted before you measure, icing sugar. Anyway, I could tell that this icing would flow enough to work. So voila, first time out after all those years and eureka, success. So for all of the buttercream transfer beginners, I suggested they try my recipe for the icing, just because I knew that the consistency for them, was a problem. I knew once they caught on to how the consistency would be, they could use any icing recipe and adjust it and have success. Plus, I knew that adding black to my recipe, didn't cause any bleeding issues or problems, so I could recommend it until they got comfortable.
Anyway, all of these folks that had issues with the consistency of the buttercream suddenly were having success. Now that is not to say that they had problems with Dawn's recipe, I have no idea what recipe they were using. But I suggested they use the method she posted here and this recipe that worked for me, and it worked out well for them.
So you see, I re-learned something in a new way thanks to Dawn, added my own twist to it to be at my own comfort level and because I had success, was able to help out a few folks using her method and my recipe and they achieved success and more importantly, gained confidence.
The advantage is everytime someone has success and gains the confidence that you get from success, well it makes them try new things and have more success and more confidence and so, they learn so much more than if they are stumped by something and can't get past what they perceive as a failure.
Anyway, for me this is where the joy is, in seeing people having success and growing in their knowledge and abilities. When I see something new and give it a try and it works, well, it makes me want to try new things too.
Fascinating this learning and sharing process!
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

That is one cute and satisfying squirrel let me tell you...how sweet he is....

I love your avatar! It fits you and it is too cute! Lisa also helped me with my avatar as well.

I love this forum. Everyone is so helpful!

Great job, Ms. Lisa! It's perfect fore Squirrley!

I love everyone's avatar, she is really being so kind to help everyone with these!
Hugs Squirrelly Cakes

Thanks for the kind words everyone . Playing with graphics is my second favorite hobby. I'm just honored that you all use them!