Marina, So sorry to hear of the recent loss of your Mother, my prayers to you and your family.
I would also like to say, Welcome to CC and a huge Thank You! for sharing the information about how you did some of the decorations on your cake. It is so nice to see you, Courtney and Buddy on CC. I, as I know with many other CC'ers appreciate all of you taking the time to share information and tips with us.
I enjoy and love watching you and the other cake artist in the cake challenges. I have learn some new things about decorating from watching the cake challenges...as I have learned from so many here on CC. Time saving and new techniques, tips and recipes, even to finding out what new cake toys are out 
I also have to agree with you, that future episodes do focus on the reason you all show up to compete, and why we like to watch CAKE!.
Hope to see you soon in upcoming challenges.
God Bless,
Sharon
I finally got to watch this episode at my sisters house tonight... drama! It's too bad they made such a big deal out of that silly little scratch. I feel like the point was missed- it didn't really matter if she damaged the cake or not, she saw it was damaged- right? That was pretty clear & she decided not to tell anyone about it. I think that is the real issue. If she had I think she would have come across as a hero as opposed to the villain. Who knows what you'd do in that situation? My Mom always says that "integrity is who you are when there is no one watching". Just my 2 cents.
I hate that this whole thing has taken focus off of the cake that won- which was AMAZING! From what I understand Jorg got 2nd place so it doesn't sound like Courtney was really hurt by this from a judging standpoint. It was pretty clear that for whatever reason those three little girls just did NOT like her cake.
Time to move on people! Congrats to everyone they were all really great cakes! So happy I finally got to watch it- yeah!
Wow- I just saw that Marina Sousa wrote in with directions for the beads on her cake. Very cool- THANK YOU very much. I've been reading these boards for months- it's fun to finally be a part of it 
It's so cool that the "big names" are on here too!
I finally got to watch this episode at my sisters house tonight... drama! It's too bad they made such a big deal out of that silly little scratch. I feel like the point was missed- it didn't really matter if she damaged the cake or not, she saw it was damaged- right? That was pretty clear & she decided not to tell anyone about it. I think that is the real issue. If she had I think she would have come across as a hero as opposed to the villain. Who knows what you'd do in that situation? My Mom always says that "integrity is who you are when there is no one watching". Just my 2 cents.
I hate that this whole thing has taken focus off of the cake that won- which was AMAZING! From what I understand Jorg got 2nd place so it doesn't sound like Courtney was really hurt by this from a judging standpoint. It was pretty clear that for whatever reason those three little girls just did NOT like her cake.
Time to move on people! Congrats to everyone they were all really great cakes! So happy I finally got to watch it- yeah!
I see what you mean. And your integrity comment -- I mean, her side of it is that she didn't do anything wrong, so there's no lapse in integrity. She didn't do something when she was 'alone' with the camera so she was the same moral person throughout.
I think the 'decided not to tell anyone' gives it much more emphasis than it deserves. Y'know how you feel when you're doing a ginormously important wedding cake--you are stoked, exhausted, you are adrenaline weary--add in the competition factor--the tv camers--the being interviewed throughout--she was focused on getting her baby birthed there and everybody else's booboos were not her concern.
If she had stopped to weigh the situation for a nano-second she would have mentioned it to someone. She was 'in labor' at the time, busy elsewhere. kwim
I mean in her mind it was someone else's issue. It's every man for themself time. She was in the zone.
Honestly, her being so tunnel vision about her work makes her all the more innocent and naive. But her eyes were fully opened after they were blackened by the way they approached her with it.
I mean I fully agree that to cya she should have mentioned it to someone but she didn't add that to her repertoire. Shoot if I was putting together a 10 tier cake with an 8 hour deadline like that I would be so in the zone I would not come out for a coupla days. Don't you think?
However, I'm older and have had my eyes blackened many times and would have mentioned it to cya and she will too going forward.
(cya= cover your a$$)
okay, i have not read this entire thread, just kinda scanned through it hoping to find a close-up of the winning cake. didn't see one so i did a search on the net and came up with this...hope it works!
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_3OSvw1Y9Zp4/SZi9ujeFJeI/AAAAAAAAAaw/BiJaQnaiGu0/s1600-h/MileysCake.jpg
It's not the best photo but it's a closer look at the center of the cake...
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1325036.html
Ok, I have to admit I was cooking dinner and cleaning a bit while the show was on, (*gasp* say it isn't so!!!) so maybe I missed it, but I don't recall seeing all those fabulous details on the show!! WOW! I would've missed a bunch of that stuff. Seriously awesome work Marina!
Marina thank you so much for taking the time to answer a lot of questions. The beads were fantastic! Could you possibly let us know some of your favorite tools that you like to work with in your bakery? What are some of your favorite sites (ex. for inspiration, supplies, etc)?
I hope that you have the time in the future to work on a book (perhaps a collaborative effort with Dawn). You are like a modern Sylvia Weinstock! Love your site! The music rocks!
Well, seeing as how I live in a town of 500 people, I have plain 'ol low grade poo cable. You should see how nice all that static looks on my large screen, flat panel, high-def TV. Mmmm-mmmm... now that's QUALITY! (No sarcasm here, no siree!) Do you know what the most annoying part is...? The digital cable company comes within 7 miles of us, but I think the 'local' company must have some non-compete thing that keeps them out of our town. Jerks!
Sorry... back to the scheduled conversation. 
It's not the best photo but it's a closer look at the center of the cake...
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-photo_1325036.html
Thanks for posting the closeup pic Marina!
Quote by @%username% on %date%
%body%