A quick note to The_Sugar_Fairy.... I too live in the Niagara Region. If you check out this website, you will find
AMERICOLOR on line and at a store near Toronto:

http://www.goldaskitchen.com/merchant.ihtml

OMG!!! Thank you all sooo very much for the awesome support!! Wow when I first posted I got so few answers that I'm so surprised it's 3 pages now!
Ok well It was late and I had been working on these cakes for about 4 days (cake recipe flops etc don't even want to get into that)...So in advance i apologize for my freakout... Well I ran the next morning and bought 2 bottles of Wilton Burgundy and one bottle of red at michaels, I was so confident that that would be the solution, I would make it let it sit a few hours and it would all be good (I trashed the first batch, which ended up being a nasty purple color) So as I made about 7 cups of buttercream (yup reg TFF crisco ) I dumped about 3/4 of a burg bottle in there (It was a dark fuschia) but I thought it would darken so no prob, well I get a (clean) spoonfull of it n taste it and yugghhhhhhhhhhh OMG IT tasted exactly the same then the one I just traaaaashed!!!!! I mean I was crying, my husband forbade me to make anymore cakes to sell (seeing the stress it all caused me), cause my father in law is visiting for the weekend, my brother in law also came with his wife and baby, I mean this all just was too much, the kitchen was a disaster I was consumed by all this...Anyway, sorry for making this post so long...
But at the end I called the lady (very gracious n understanding) I expleined the exact situation, taste etc, n said I would just have to use fondant (n would NOT charge her extra) and if it was ok with her to make the second cake something other than a maroon beret, she said yes, and I worked ALL DAY got it done at last n delivered (didnt charge delivery) at about 6pm last night....I feel right now like I ran a marathon literally I'm walking like if I was 80 yrs old... so 2 10" cakes, one carved and covered in fondant delivered all sold for $90 and I spent about $80 in ingredients total, worked for about 5 days straight!!! I mean the cakes are not really that hard or anything special but it was just all the hardships, I do chuck it up as a learning experience (oh well thats life), and at least she was happy....I had more problems even with the fondant but this post is way too long already soooorry

PS: At least it all turned out ok at the end....

Oh you poor thing! Consider this a long distance hug for all that work and stress and agony you went through!!! ((( )))

I'm happy it all turned out in the end and sometimes when we're out of other options the only one left is just to call the customer and see what can be done. Sounds like you had a great customer who understands when nothing goes right and sometimes we just need to tell them the honest truth and ask if we can offer something else that might work for them.

Go have a stiff drink, watch some trashy TV, order carry-out and get away from the kitchen for a few days!

Sending another long-distance hug for all your stress.

I must say I enjoyed reading this thread though, love the idea of a cake decorating dealer

A small tip that works for me when covering cakes in dark coloured buttercream:
I ice the whole cake in regular frosting (crumb and final) first then leave in the fridge to set. Then colour a small batch of frosting in the desired shade and apply a final coat over the cake. This saves me having to colour a large amount.

Now, I am only a hobby baker and only do dark cakes when family/friends request (I personally find them very unappetising) so I can't that this will work for every design/shape/amount of time the cake has to sit out etc. However it has worked for me with the few that I have done.

An airbrush would've helped a bunch too... heck I hardly ever even cover anything in colored fondant anymore. It's white all the way then color over the top at the end.

Many lessons learned, grasshopper...

Invest in high quality colors that have high levels of pigment but impart no taste.

Shop where your ingredient costs are MUCH lower (seriously, 80 bucks for two 10" cakes, about a 4 pound batch of buttercream, and half a pound of fondant???)

Start with an empty dishwasher, load as you go, and run it as soon as it gets full. That way, you never will have another kitchen disaster.

Every cake teaches you something....so now you have a whole bunch of experience to bring to the next one.

Glad you made out okay. I think that if we all are honest we have been in your situation though probably different circumstances, probably more than once. It will get easier each time you do a cake and soon you won't stress at all about your next order. If you do stress just have a good swig of that pure vanilla you have. LOL

Aww thanks again, really honestly thanks!!! And a big hug for newmansmom and lekoli!!!
I did learn so much, and lekoli, that is a good idea, but I thought that even letting it set, if I covered the first coat in a light bc it would mix in and surface when giving it the dark coat ( making it streaky)... But if u've done it, I will certainly try next time (if there is one lol)
And OMG Kory I hear ya! An airbrush would've been heaven sent but I just can't buy one at this point, i've spent soooooo much on just the things I have (all the basic cake stuff)...I do want to get one sometime in the future though
And cakepro, I calculated about that much because, I threw away about 6 or 7 batches of BC, (plus the 3 I actually used) so 4lbs crisco, about 8 lbs powdered sugar, about a total of 4 bottles of wilton coloring ($2 each), the ing for the cakes (she wanted strawberry preserves for filling in one, dulce de leche (at $3 a container) in the other one, Bacardi Rum bottle at about $8, one 10"cake completely flopped.... ETC ETC ETC...Plus satin ice fondant, flavors, oven etc etc I can go on and on...Just giving some insight on why the cost ended up so much!

PS: Please tell me ur secret to cover a 10"cake with 1/2 lb of fondant!! I used about 2 lbs of mixed black and red satin ice and more burgundy coloring