I was reading post on http://www.sugarcraft1.com/board/?topic=topic6 because I missed all of the Food Network mystery shows. People started saying unkind things of Colette Peters (that's not the funny part. I think she is very good.). The funny thing is, she read it and posted something.

OMG how embarassing.....but people are entitled to voice their opinions!

Am I the only one who finds it difficult to follow that forum? It seems to be all over the place. CakeCentral ia waaaay nicer.

beany your not the oly one, I couldn't figure out which comments came first!

Ohh, how funny! I guess not funny if you are the one busted, or the one being criticized. I watched that show too and personally thought Colette's was the best.

just incase Noelle? lol

Yes that's right!! LOL!
No, seriously! I just really like her style.

Gee, this is something I cannot understand. Nor can I understand the comments about the comments on other boards and the references to the more professional boards and the less professional boards and all of that sort of thing which strikes me as not appropriate, very cliquish, elitist and childish. Very condescending too.
But you know, this situation made a good point. The internet is an open book for all to read. Better to think twice before making cutting remarks than to have to backtrack and try to make comments sound more kind than they actually were. Good for Colette Peters. She could stoop to the same level and go into people's galleries and critique their works too but she didn't. Maybe her appearance there will make people think twice.
Yes she is in the public eye and people can like her cakes or designs more or less than other people's and can have their opinions. But it is how they word these opinions.
I have to admit I cringe whenever I see these kinds of remarks anywhere. Even here.
People want the pros to visit the sites and offer help. But I would think as a professional I would think twice if I was them and saw some of these kinds of comments.
And that is just my very unprofessional, non-elitist, opinion. Sorry, tried to keep it short.
Hugs Squirrelly

I found it rather amusing. The people who criticized and were nasty to Colette are just fools! Their remarks don't change the fact that Colette Peters is on of the best cake designers on the planet, regardless if her cakes are "your type" or not! Certainly there is a need and desire for Colette's style of cake design as well as many others! The nasty comments just make the authors look like the immature, self absorbed, jealous, petty people that they are. I mean, grow up already! On the other hand, it did provide me with a certain amount of sophomoric entertainment.

I honestly dont think it's her...anyone could go in there and under "name:" type "colette peters" and make the board look like colette was there...i'm not saying it's not her, but one thing about the internet is that not everything you see is true...

this is a little off topic..but i learned this lesson at the library one time...there was this old man sitting at the computer next to me and he was in a chat room trying, i guess, to pick someone up and telling her how young and successful and attractive, bla, bla, bla...and he was an old hunk of pervert in a library on a dirty chatroom....that experience changed everything about the way I look at the internet now-a-days...there are a lot of impersonators out there and some people will do anything to cause a lil trouble online

As I see it, it does not matter if the person was Colette or not that "caught" the one who made the remark.
As we all agree it was just not called for. Sometimes people have to be "caught" if for no other reason than to let them know it was wrong.
Might not change anything.
I like the style of her cakes, they are FUN. BUT so are MANY of the ones I see here.
You all are a great bunch of cake buddies!

I'm sure Colette expects that not everyone likes her..
I for one love her work and I like her very much..I don't see anything wrong with what she does..how can one go wrong about making cakes !!

These people are probably the ignorant ones , not to mention useless..Some people are so quick to criticize someone just because they are not capable of doing what that person can do.. and point out that person's "not so perfect" features, which is always a sign of "unintelligentness" (if there is such a term), being very shallow and stupid .... More power to COLETTE PETERS

That is true kiddo but I would think Dolores would have checked that out and deleted the post if it wasn't from Colette Peters. Sugarcraft is fairly well-known. I am surprised that whole thread wasn't deleted based on what I have heard about threads being deleted on that site.
hugs Squirrelly
Edited to say this was in reference to Cakefairy18's post.

I agree with everyone else regarding Colette and her talents. I use her boks frequently in my class for reference of "here's what else is out there" and offer some of her cakes as classes ot my more advanced students. The worst thing I have ever said about her is that some of her cakes aren't my style and that's fine because everyone has an opinon. But to go in and pick something apart and bash it is just senseless in my opinion.

I've seen this type of thing many times before and I like to refer to it as technological growing pains. The internet makes it far to easy to say inappropriate things or make off-handed comments, or even a well-intended joke. But not everyone reads the same tone in comments. And there are always some who like to "stir the pot" in every forum-- bullies, moles, etc.

It should always be understood that one should never type what they wouldn't be willing to say in public. Unfortunately, not everyone adopts that guideline.

As in this case, you never know who's reading your posts. Could even be Collette Peters...

who I think is just the bestest decorator ...EVER!!! LOL!!!

Diane

A little off topic, but I love to see little imperfections in celebrity's work. I know it's silly, but when I saw a little wrinkle in the fondant at the bottom of one of Collette's cakes I thought..."she IS human"!!!!!!! Makes me remember not to be so hard on myself if things aren't absolutely perfect!

I don't know all the big wigs in the cake designing world......I myself..I'm an amateur cake designer and none of my cakes come anywhere near what the pros put out there.....
I agree the internet is an open book and everyone has a right to their own opinions, but criticising someones work who doesn't ask for it....well.... I just wouldn't do it...I'd keep my thoughts to myself.

I am probably going to make people mad by saying this but, while I agree that it is not right to out right bad mouth someones work, I have to disagree on a few things.
Colette is basically a celebrity. If she did not want her work critiqued she would not enter these challenges. That is what they do in challenges they critique.
I do think that the people on that site were a little harsh and may not have the proffesional know how to critique her work, but come on, we critique actors and politicians work all the time and no one complains. Constructive Critisism is not always a bad thing, it helps one improve. I think our culture has started patting each other on the back for everything and everyone gets their feelings hurt if anything negative is said.
I don't know Collette, but I am pretty sure that she knows her work is good, I mean her reputaion speaks for itself.
And I don't think that things would be any different if the internet was not the medium, this is just peoples nature.

I think all of you have very valid points. It is however nice to know that even though those cakes bring in thousands of dollars, that even the most expert of decorator can and does make mistakes. It makes us not be so hard on ourselves. And we all know we are EXTREMELY critical of our own cakes.

I agree that anyone anywhere who puts any work of any kind "out there" should except to be critiqued. I think that there are just kinder ways of saying things. The person who said all of her cakes are beginning to look is missing one little thing....That is what makes Collette, Collette. How many times have you listen to a new song from a band and it sound very similar to their last song, but that's what keeps their listeners coming back. I think it's the same thing here people expect something from Collette and that is just what she is giving them.

I thought high school was bad, then I went to college and thought I can't wait for all the pettiness to go away and now that I am out in the working world (granted it's with a bunch of 20-some things) I think its even worse. I just wonder will it ever go away and then I read something like this and think no. I think that if everyone everywhere supported people a little more and could put evil jealousy on the back burner this world would be a much more productive place, and maybe more people would do for themselves instead of taking from others.

I'm sure Colette knows she's human and she's not perfect..
And yes we are our biggest critics, w/c I do all the time..but when people point out and criticize something that is not even related to what she does, then I think they are out of line and the things they say are all irrelivant (?), just like the people making the statement.

I didn't see the show, I know who colette peters is though and I've seen her work from her websites and Books one of which over here is for sale at STG£96.00 on amazon.co.uk (the chocolate christmas one)

The topic caught my interest this morning and I opened the link and read the comments. To me people were just discussing their favourites and trying to figure out why one chef was favoured over another by the judges. Yep the centre of the critism seemed to land on Colette but I do think that if you go on national tv you expect some critism from the masses. But I thought her nifty little reply to the forum was quite dismissive.

I would imagine it was quite tongue in cheek.

i just read some of the posts.. maybe i read it differently...but i dont think they were cruel to Colette... more in favor of Mike... maybe it will inspire her to get out of her own compfort zone... (i only wish my compfort zone was as spectacular).. she is amazing..

What I don't understand is why people want to go out and say something knowing it will hurt other people's feelings. I see gorgeous cakes on this site and on other sites too, but I also see cakes that aren't perfect (my own very much included). I WOULD NEVER criticize someone else's hard work. Even if it's not the best, I would not PRESUME they would want me or anyone else pointing out their flaws. I'm not going around patting everyone on the back, but I'm not here to hurt feelings either. Even if we all have different levels of talent, we should respect everyone else on here. Most of us are here to have fun and to learn new ideas and techniques. We don't come here to get stepped on or put down. I'm very, very good at speaking up for myself but even so, my feelings can get hurt just as easily as anyone else. And hurting people is just not something I want to do, even if it is someone who knowingly opens themselves up to criticism. I agree with Euphoriabakery that constructive criticism can be helpful. Not everyone puts things 'constructively' but instead rather meanly though!

Squirrelly is right on about the cliques and elitists. My opinion is, if you want to pick someone apart, do it in PM or e-mail - Don't do it so the person who is being harrased can see it. No one likes being put down and no one should leave this site feeling like they aren't worthy of being here.

Ok... I see this going no where good..... My earlier comment was trying to keep things light. Looks like it didn't work. LOL

I'm sure everyone feels this topic has gone on long enough...but just to put it back into perspective. It was a cake competition, the purpose of a competition is to see whose cake is better than the others, the participants put their skills out there to be "judged". Obviously they are amazing or they wouldn't be there-but again, its a competition, its suppose to generate opinions-thats the purpose of it. The more talk that it generates the more successful the show, more people watch the next one...c'mon, how many people are going to yell the receiver sucks when he drops the ball in the Superbowl?

I found the posts to be extremely diffucult to follow, so I am not sure I was able to read the attacks on Collette. The only "negative" comment I read, was that Collette's cakes are begining to look alike. Please, someone let me in on what the childish, condensing statements were, because I was expecting much worse! The last time I checked we live in the United States of America and we are allowed to our own opinion. I am not condoning people being rude or obnoxious, Im saying people can be critical of other peoples work. I think it is a scary concept that people think it is ignorant if another person does not like someones work! Just as another poster said before me, Collette has put her self in the public eye, she is a public figure and that opens you up for critique! Once again, maybe I was unable to find the horrible things people were saying about Collette, if this is case, please fill me in!!

thank you guys, I thought I was alone her for awhile!