ok maybe i'm a little off here but if this is your business the customer is always right. striking up a conversation with these women and showing interest in the fact that you have something in common makes them feel easier with you and makes you more remeberable. therefore may get you more business just from being nice. word of mouth can be your best or your worst form of advertisement.
i guess i took offense because i am definately not an artist, but my cakes taste damn good and my decorations are pretty passable. i just wouldn't mind speaking with professionals and gaining advise or learning new techniques. but so do you or you wouldn't be on this website and in this forum helping out decorators and sometimes asking them for assistnace.
I've heard from every mother at school I think that they have decoarted cakes etc...yet when you go to their child's birthday party.....you see their decorated cake all right....I wouldn't worry about it!!! I just smile!
Momma28,
I don't know how this thread got off track the way it did either. I did not not think for one moment that you were being superior and I hope my previous post did not come across that I think that I am superior - cause lordy I am just a beginner. I got what you were trying to say and that is that often people say things in a tone like - oh...any one can decoarate a cake like that and they make you feel like you did it in 20 minutes and it's no big deal and that their grandma, aunt, mother, sister, the dog, the cat, the guy next door etc. decorates cakes - so what's the big deal.
I don't mind helping people either if they ask questions but I am not going to teach them how to do anything free of charge or use "my stuff". It cost me money, time, equipment, ingredients, and finding CC, etc. to get into this as it is a hobby for me at this time. Michael's does not give FREE Wilton classes!
I understand perfectly where you are coming from and I have run into the same thing and I seem to feel defensive when I hear those kinds of remarks said in a certain off handed way. I get far more compliments than the off the cuff - anyone can do that remarks but it does upset me a little also. Because I put my heart and soul into my cakes as do all of my fellow CC'ers.
Thanks.
Amen sista.
OK, I will admit I judged a book by its cover over the weekend. Hubby and I went to a wedding on Friday night. Of course, the first thing i raced for when we got to the reception was the cake! When I saw it, I was a bit disappointed. Not because there was a thing wrong with it. It was perfect looking. What disappointed me was that it was soooo simple. A three layer stacked cake, all white, with cornelli lace on each layer and shell borders. The lace was perfect, the edges on the cakes perfect, and the borders perfect.
But guess what, when that cake was cut, it was gorgeous! Beautiful red velvet and vanilla chocolate chip layers. The icing was to die for! It was sooo smooth and yummy. The cake layers were soooooooo perfectly iced and I was totally impressed.
So, I don't know my point of this story, but I have come to realize that there is so much more to cake decorating than just being an artist. Yes, this cake was something I learned in Wilton class I, but the talent it took to ice that cake, layer it, and make the icing was something you could never get in a Wilton class.
Yes, I learned my lesson. 
ok maybe i'm a little off here but if this is your business the customer is always right. striking up a conversation with these women and showing interest in the fact that you have something in common makes them feel easier with you and makes you more remeberable. therefore may get you more business just from being nice. word of mouth can be your best or your worst form of advertisement.
i guess i took offense because i am definately not an artist, but my cakes taste damn good and my decorations are pretty passable. i just wouldn't mind speaking with professionals and gaining advise or learning new techniques. but so do you or you wouldn't be on this website and in this forum helping out decorators and sometimes asking them for assistnace.
I was never unkind to any of these women and I am eternally endebted to those on cc that have answered my questions graciously...I never implied I wasnt. My cakes also taste fantastic (as Ihave no doubt yours do) and I wasnt putting down anyone else. My goodness I dont even know how I offended anyone with the story of my experience handing out business cards. These were not people asking me for decorating advice or new techniques, they were just random people I met and introduced myself to who all seem to either have been or have a cake decorator in thier family. I have to admit the way some of these threads go so far off their original mark is frustrating.
I am truly sorry if I offended anyone.
Yeah, I agree, kind of annoying for us. But if you look at it from their point of view (or at least this is what I tell myself)...a lot of them are doing things in their lives that aren't exciting, fun, or creative. We get to work at something we love and exorcise our creative demons. For just a few minutes looking at a brochure, they can dream it was them. But most of them know that just because they iced a cake like a caterpillar 14 years ago doesn't mean they are artists.
It happens in all creative fields, I think. I consider myself an artist in several different media. Whenever I've done a show, exhibition, etc. at least a dozen people tell me how they used to sculpt, took a stained glass class once, or took an art class in high school.
Not to dismiss scrapbooking as its own art form, but I think that's why scrapping has become so popular. Everyone can express their inner artist.
I just smile and thank my stars that it's me sitting at the table getting to look at all the lovely things I get to do on a daily basis.
I'm also and exhibiting artist (conceptual sculptor), and have noticed this at openings. I do, however believe, that most people are just trying to "connect" with other people, not meaning any harm or disrespect.
I'm quite liberal, so the idea of "cake decorating heirarchy" and lables really is what annoys me. Didn't we all start as "beginners? I'm pretty sure if anyone ran into the FN stars they'd somehow work it into the conversation that they too bake or cook. "Whoa, TOP CHEF? I make grilled cheese, like no body's business, but not like you...!!!" People just want to feel connected. 
I try to encourage other crafters/artists/people in general... being creative in any aspect (be it writing, knitting, painting, arranging watermelons at the grocery store, whatever) is a wonderful and cathartic outlet to have. I feel bad whenever someone tells me they aren't "creative"... it's usually not true (or not in the conventional ways).
People who have even a little cake decorating experience can appreciate your true talent a lot more than people who know nothing about it. So maybe when they tell you that they've done some decorating, it's just their way of making the compliment have more weight. Personally, it would mean more to me to receive a compliment from someone with decorating experience than from someone without. All you have to do to impress some people is take the cake out of the pan before you ice it!
ok what is the deal. do they need to act like what I do is no big deal to make themselves feel better....who knows. Kind of annoying though.[/quote]
I totally agree cos I get the same thing a lot of times. I think people feel intimidated that you get to do what you love and get paid for it at the same time. After all the hours of hard work you put into it, it's very annoying when someone tries to down play your efforts with snide comments. Some people make comments to find common ground ... others make them to put you down. I find that it depends on the person (if you know them), their demeanour and also the tone/attitude with which they make such comments.
the person who does cakes at the grocery store forced to make a limited range of designs is a decorator....at least while they're on the clock. .
Thank you for clarifying that statement. Many a grocery store " Cake Decorator" are known to be quite talented and in fact " Cake Designer's"
" Off The Clock" -at home! I am a grocery store cake decorator apprentice. I do NOT consider myself a designer yet at this point due to my limited experience. I am having to train myself on my own, learning from this site and books . I have been cut to " 5 " hours a week so it's kinda hard to learn or practice anything there. I have a few friends who work at my same grocery store in Florida , on my Myspace who's decorating/designing talent would blow you away!
So, never underestimate a grocery store decorator! 
the person who does cakes at the grocery store forced to make a limited range of designs is a decorator....at least while they're on the clock. .
Thank you for clarifying that statement. Many a grocery store " Cake Decorator" are known to be quite talented and in fact " Cake Designer's"
" Off The Clock" -at home! I am a grocery store cake decorator apprentice. I do NOT consider myself a designer yet at this point due to my limited experience. I am having to train myself on my own, learning from this site and books . I have been cut to " 5 " hours a week so it's kinda hard to learn or practice anything there. I have a few friends who work at my same grocery store in Florida , on my Myspace who's decorating/designing talent would blow you away!
So, never underestimate a grocery store decorator!
I started with so wilton books literally as old as I was and some equally old paste colors and taught myself right out of the book at 11 and beyond, doing cakes and cookies for family and friends and for my mom's club, stuff like that. Then got a job at a grocery store and became frustrated quickly because there was no more room to grow and nothing to be learned. Customers would come in wanting a tiered cake or one shaped like a tiara or whatever and we just couldn't do it there and weren't allowed to try. When they would ask if I knew somebody who could, after a while I gave those customers my number.
And yeah, it's probably not completely ethical, but they didn't want a sheet cake!!
I worked at a bakery that was doing some great things I hadn't done yet, and learned so much form them, but my biggest dream is to be able make some money with cakes and cookies from a home based kitchen so I can also raise my kids myself and not worry about whether the sitter is gonna shake my baby, drug him, or loan my daughter out to her boy-fiend. (Yes, I mean fiend, have you noticed what kind of things are happening out there?)
I started with so wilton books literally as old as I was and some equally old paste colors and taught myself right out of the book at 11 and beyond, doing cakes and cookies for family and friends and for my mom's club, stuff like that. [/quote]
I too started out at about age 10 spending hours looking at my moms Wilton cake books and also was in charge of making all the family birthday cakes.(6 kids! ) I got more into cooking at that age and helping my mom cater weddings (also at the age of 10 in addition to learning how to sew)
It kind of intrigues me that now at the age of 48 I have come full circle and am actually doing what I wanted to do as a little girl!
I think it is all the balance of the economy. At low points with families not having money for the extras in life (birthday cakes) people make their own cakes, clothes whatevers. In times of a good economy, people pay others to do for them. It also seems that many people once had dreams of being designers and were forced to take on better paying jobs to support their families. This business just does not seem to make millionaires quickly with plenty of time for family. I agree it is mostly just small talk, however there always seems to be someone who "could of easily" done that cake with canned icing and that new fonduette stuff 
Just smile and be happy that you made something with the best of your ability. Some of us are just beginners with lots of room to improve others are professionals still with lots of room to improve. There will always be a "new" thing to learn or areas to improve. Just keep on being the best you can be.
It also seems that many people once had dreams of being designers and were forced to take on better paying jobs to support their families. This business just does not seem to make millionaires quickly with plenty of time for family. I agree it is mostly just small talk, however there always seems to be someone who "could of easily" done that cake with canned icing and that new fonduette stuff
Just smile and be happy that you made something with the best of your ability. Some of us are just beginners with lots of room to improve others are professionals still with lots of room to improve. There will always be a "new" thing to learn or areas to improve. Just keep on being the best you can be.
That's me the aspiring cake decorator/designer-whatever-...with no money.....just trying to work at the "day" job....exhausted when I leave that "day" job. But the pay is good so there I stay...I get all the time those retarded questions THAT JUST MAKE YOU WANNA SCREAM, it's not really that you are snubbing them when they say "I use too...." or "my mom can...." it is more like they are snubbing you.....previous poster stated hateration; yeah hateration on the rocks hun.... But you know the comments I dislike the most are the comments made from people who don't even know what a "tip" is or don't know the difference between a "layer" and a "tier" (my family members and friends, and others too)...because those people are the ones that tell you (just recently as a matter of fact) why the hell does it take so long?
My best friend couldn't understand why I couldn't hang out the weekend before my graduation disaster was due. She said, "Come on Stace damn flowers can't possibly take that long". I said to her, "Well I'll hang out if YOU come help me dust them" she turns around and says sure why not.... 
Of course I didn't go with her...lol, I went home and finished my callas I had more fun anyway. The next morning my babe sis come's in and tells me come on lets get mani pedi of course I can't same reason as before and she says "I'll wait" I warned her she didn't believe me. Poor thing sat there for an hour and I completed like only 6-7 callas She finally got the point.
And my favorite are the ones that say "how much $$$? FOR SOME CAKE?" But you know whats funny they never not ever pull that crap with the bakeries and you know whats bad they aren't even purchasing the extravagant stuff they are purchasing the on the shelf cakes ..lol...
Or how about when ladies and gents when you pick up that new toy and you happen to be with someone who doesn't cake....I get the "why so damn much for a rolling pin" comments...;my mom was helping me out one day and I said mom pass me that gold highlighter...she went looking for a pen I said no mom, sorry, I meant that gold pot over there with the "other dust"...she say's damn Stacy don't tell me you paid $6 for this little thing, I said yes mom I did. And she just shook her head and passed me my damn gold highlighter...
So when people tell me they can or they did or why so much, I just nod my head now and chime in to see if they have a clue and if they do share, and learn with/from them and if they haven't a clue I say well you can always go to "Valencia"
HAPPY CAKING TO ALL OF YOU WHO CAN OR DID OR ARE; FUTURE, PAST, AND PRESENT.
Stacy
I seriously understand Stacy! I made a fish and spent hours upon hours making the fish. I trolled around CC looking and asking for pointers and got none. OK, do it on my own. I used multiple dusts trying to get it just right. The gumpaste and fondant weren't cheap either. I pulled some sugar for it for the water splash. It went on a "half" sheet double layer cake. Take it to the party and they said it was just a sheet cake! I bet I could've done it. 
Ok, I understand that you decorate, but do you carve, sculpt, paint, pull sugar and everything else that went into the cake. Ya, next time they can call you. Also, the not getting a thank you?? When did comon curtisy (seriously sp) go? I get you think you can make it, but can you at least say thank you for me making it for you?
I understand that you decorate, but do you carve, sculpt, paint, pull sugar and everything else that went into the cake. Ya, next time they can call you. Also, the not getting a thank you?? When did comon curtisy (seriously sp) go? I get you think you can make it, but can you at least say thank you for me making it for you?
AND YOU DO IT AWESOME; THEY BETTER BE SAYING THANK YOU DANG IT.
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