I'm So Excited, I Have To Share!

Decorating By HappyCake10609 Updated 2 Mar 2011 , 10:52am by Uniqueask

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HappyCake10609 Posted 28 Feb 2011 , 10:29pm
post #1 of 32

I'm not a frequent poster, but I'm so excited I'm bursting at the seems and have to share with people who might understand!

I entered my first cake competition this weekend, the Connecticut Cake Competition... and I WON! I entered the Beginner/Special Occasion division/category, I dropped my cake off Saturday then had to go to a family function all day Sat and returned for the show on Sunday. Well, they bumped my cake up not 1 but 2 levels to Advanced!! AND I won a blue ribbon AND I won the trophy for Best of Division for Advanced! I just about fell over at the honor of being considered Advanced, then the ribbon AND trophy on top of that! I nearly burst into tears... I have only been at this for about 7 months... it's a hobby I picked up to keep me sane while I'm a stay at home mommy... Plus, I only found out about the competition on Tuesday or Wednesday when I say a post on here about it. I assumed it was too late to enter, but a friend who was going to go with me read the fine print and found out I could enter on site Sat morning.

I've been considering starting a business but putting it off because despite my family's encouragement I still have a lot of self doubt. I cannot tell you what a confidence booster this is!! There were so many amazing cakes there, I just kept telling my husband that I hope I don't embarrass myself trying to compete with these amazing artists. I was hoping to at least place in the beginner division.

I spoke with the event director and she told me that next year they may let me enter the Advanced division one more time because I truly and a beginner, but that I should enter the Professional division!

I'm sorry, I'm rambling... the excitement is just too much to contain!! This whole experience was SO much fun from creating the cake to going to the show...

Here is the cake if you are interested:
http://cakecentral.com/gallery/1957462

31 replies
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Caths_Cakes Posted 28 Feb 2011 , 10:39pm
post #2 of 32

Congrats icon_smile.gif you deserved the win, your cake is Superb! x

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Minstrelmiss Posted 28 Feb 2011 , 10:43pm
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thumbs_up.gif

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djdesigns Posted 28 Feb 2011 , 10:45pm
post #4 of 32

Way to go! That is so encouraging to me. I have been doing cakes for about a year and a half now, and people can't believe I am new at it either. I haven't posted any here because I am not computer savvy with pictures. Your experience is inspiring and the cake looks fantastic. Congrats.

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ToniRod Posted 28 Feb 2011 , 10:47pm
post #5 of 32

HUGE Congratulation!! The cake is beautiful! I agree, it is a well deserved win.

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glow0369 Posted 28 Feb 2011 , 10:49pm
post #6 of 32

congrats...... really beautiful cake..

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cakecrazy333 Posted 28 Feb 2011 , 10:51pm
post #7 of 32

What a beautiful cake! You did a fantastic job! Congrats! icon_biggrin.gif

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dst10spr97 Posted 28 Feb 2011 , 10:53pm
post #8 of 32

Much deserved win! That cake is simply elegant and beautiful! Hugs!

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lynn1968 Posted 28 Feb 2011 , 10:58pm
post #9 of 32

that's an awesome cake! and congrats. icon_smile.gif did you sculpt the baby by hand?

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cutiger Posted 28 Feb 2011 , 10:58pm
post #10 of 32

You did a wonderful job on your cake! You don't need to have any self doubt!

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ThreeLittleBlackbirds Posted 28 Feb 2011 , 11:14pm
post #11 of 32

Awesome story, congratulations!!!!!

I know just how you feel, as last month I too entered my first ever competition. It was an ICES competition judged by Sharon Zambito and Rebecca Sutterby, so I was super nervous to begin with. I entered as "Beginner" as I have only been decorating cakes for 9 months and have never taken a class. They ended up switching all 3 of my cakes to the professional division. When I got to the show and saw all of the amazing cakes I was so bummed and was sure I hadn't done well. But as it turns out, 2 of my cakes took first place and the other one took third. I was so shocked and so excited, I could hardly contain myself! Its a really cool feeling to go up against people with way more experience and training than you and WIN! icon_smile.gif

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mykidsarekillingme Posted 28 Feb 2011 , 11:24pm
post #12 of 32

Congrats! I saw your cake and it was beautiful! I saw that they moved a few cakes around into other divisions! I thought it was a great show. It was only my 2nd as I did NY last year and was looking to try something again! I entered the fast food cake and was so thrilled with the comments! Congrats again!!!

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pinkbutterfly Posted 28 Feb 2011 , 11:51pm
post #13 of 32

Congratulations!!! Your cake truly deserved to win. It is amazing. Hard to believe you're a beginner. You can only go up from here thumbs_up.gif

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platinumlady Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 12:09am
post #14 of 32

I see why they bumped you up...Nothing beginner about your cake. Looks absolutely Gorgeous!

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JulieMN Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 12:14am
post #15 of 32

Congratulations! thumbs_up.gif

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martinez73 Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 12:26am
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The cake is BEAUTIFUL thumbs_up.gif

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mommynana Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 12:43am
post #17 of 32

congrats...and all the above thumbs_up.gifthumbs_up.gifthumbs_up.gif

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chrisviz Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 12:54am
post #18 of 32

Congratulations! That is a fantastic story!

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cupandcake81 Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 12:55am
post #19 of 32

love the cake awsome job! thumbs_up.gif

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Kaybaby Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 1:05am
post #20 of 32

Gorgeous, congratulations!

Vonda

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HappyCake10609 Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 2:05am
post #21 of 32

Thank you SO much everyone, for the kind words... It really means a lot!

To answer an earlier question... the baby was made using the First Impressions baby mold. I bought it through Global Sugar Art and this was my first attempt playing with it, I actually bought it to use on a friends baby shower cake in a few weeks!

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corpsequeen Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 2:14am
post #22 of 32

Congrats!! Your cake looked wonderful!

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pieceacake830 Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 2:19am
post #23 of 32

Congrats Happycake! I was there and saw your cake in person.. It was stunning! You deserved this win! I even took pictures of your cake since it was so perfect! Can I ask you, what colors did you use for the baby! the shading was so natural!

Congrats again!

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HappyCake10609 Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 2:47am
post #24 of 32

Thank you again!

Pieceacake, I used a combination of Wilton Ivory and a bit of Wilton Peach to get a good flesh-tone gumpaste to start with. Then I used petal dusts to do the shading/coloring. I used a "fleshtone" with a touch of "chocolate brown" for the shading on the creases. I used "pink" (it's a very pale pink) for his little cheeks/mouth/ears and heels. Then I used "sunflower" mixed with a bit of "fleshtone" for his hair, the sunflower is a bit too orangey-yellow on it's own. I used all of the petal dusts dry up until this point, then added a drop of vodka to the hair color and used a toothpick to draw on the eyebrows and the crease of the eyelid. I did that so I could get a crisp line, and I used the toothpick because I didn't have a fine enough paintbrush.

My petal dusts are not name-brand. They are packaged and labeled with the name of the cake supply store I go to locally, so I'm not sure if the color names are standard to all brands or if that is just what the store had decided to call them.

Hope that's the info you were looking for!!

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breyes Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 3:07am
post #25 of 32

Congratulations!!!! You're cake is beautiful. You are very talented. Are you self taught or have you taken classes??

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HappyCake10609 Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 6:07pm
post #26 of 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by breyes

Congratulations!!!! You're cake is beautiful. You are very talented. Are you self taught or have you taken classes??


Thank you! I am self taught, I've spent a lot of time on here and on youtube trying to figure out how to do things, as well as just taking the time to figure out how to do it on my own. I would love to take some classes, but with a 1 year old at home it's tough to find the time and extra money to do it... Also, trying to figure out where to place myself in classes is confusing. I consider myself a beginner, but feel like I have learned so much, I don't want to waste $ on classes that I wouldn't get much from, but at the same time, don't want to leap to a level that builds on techniques I might not know, or not know the "right" way to do things...

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lynn1968 Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 9:20pm
post #27 of 32

i was thinking yesterday when i saw the baby that if it's a mold, then it's still a great paint job.

and i feel ya on the formal education deal. the good news is it's not an essential thing you *have* to have. icon_smile.gif besides, you can learn technique, but no one can teach talent. it would appear that you'd flourish in a school, though i'm hard pressed to see how you'd get a better result in this case.

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Uniqueask Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 9:57pm
post #28 of 32

Congratulations, you did a great job on your cake, and this should make your confidence level a bit higher, I say you should start your business, so you can make some extra $, Where do you live by the way, if you don't want to post it here, you can tell me in your inbox.

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HappyCake10609 Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 10:07pm
post #29 of 32
Quote:
Originally Posted by Uniqueask

Congratulations, you did a great job on your cake, and this should make your confidence level a bit higher, I say you should start your business, so you can make some extra $, Where do you live by the way, if you don't want to post it here, you can tell me in your inbox.


Thank you very much! Yes, I think I'm going to move forward with a business, mostly to get my family off my back, lol! I already got permission from my landlord (I'm a renter) so now I'm going to submit my paperwork to apply for a Homestead License. I live in Southern NH, so thank goodness they allow me to bake in my home kitchen. I'm just a little nervous because if they want me to make any modifications to the kitchen I may not be able to do it and I'm not sure what to expect.

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Karadactyl Posted 1 Mar 2011 , 11:19pm
post #30 of 32

Congratulations! How amazing for you!

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