Anyone Else Lose Faith In Their Decorating Sometimes??
Decorating By springlakecake Updated 25 Jun 2007 , 2:30pm by jules06
By no means am I a professional. I havent been doing this long...about 1.5 years now. But I started to think I was getting pretty good at decorating and that I found my niche. Anyway it seems like I cant get anything right all of a sudden! Does everyone go through this from time to time?? Sorry, just frustrated here.
Well, for starters you're better than me! But yes, it happened to me last year. Seemed like nothing was going right for me. I disappeared from this board, mostly quit making cakes, and hated teaching my Wilton classes. Now I'm back, though! Love cake all over again!
Hope you get out of your slump soon!
I just had this happen to me last night... not to the point of wanting to quit... but I questioned if I could do this anymore! Stupid Buttercream Roses... 
Anyway, I think its normal, you know what you can do... and you also know what you're not so good at... unfortunately, there's times when you HAVE to do what you're not so good at... and that's what makes me question my decorating.
Just stick it out, it'll come back 
I've only been doing this for like 9 months as well... so I'm glad to know there's someone else feeling like I am 
I'm right there with you. I'm in the same funk. To the point where I'm not taking any orders right now. Hope it gets better for you.
Thanks...good to know that I am "normal." I am doing a cake for my nephew this weekend. I think if i can do a really nice cake for him my faith will be restored. I think I just need some quiet time to work on it. My 3 young children are running around while I am trying to bake and whatnot and I think that is partly what is frustrating me. Sometimes I have a hard time managing so many things. I just quit my wilton job too, but that is another story...!
I've not be doing this long either, but I feel your frustrations. My perfectionist type personality does not lend to the snafoos I sometimes experience. In my brain, and thanks to the wonderful things that are posted at cc, I have all of these creative ideas but when I try to put them into practice, I end up with, "what the heck where you thinking?!" But, I think that's just it. Practice. Experimenting.
It helps to know other people sometimes get frustrated too.
Thanks everyone, you all rock!
oh and here is what I did today...the stupid cake got stuck in the pan...well the bottom half anyway. I did not throw a tantrum or anything, but I got out my fork and started eating it right out of the pan 
! That is probably the reason for me gaining 15 pounds the last year. Need to find a better way to deal with the mistakes.
Your cakes are beautiful....I can't imagine you not having faith in your decorating but anyway,...everyone experiences some kind of low down on themselves. I've been through it lots of times going through it right now. I have 2 cakes on the same day to do. I'll be baking one and decorating and the other is only to decorate but I'm already doubting my abilities. But I have to grin and bear it because I promised to do these and by god I'll do it.
Chin up it gets better 
YES! I do a few cakes and think wow I am really getting better! Then bang there it all goes! Sometimes it even gets to the point where it's like the cakes are not even wroth the trouble I put into them. Very disheartening, but then there are the good times. Remember we must have valley's so there can be mountians. It will get better.
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-349473.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-349473-giving.html
http://www.cakecentral.com/cake-decorating-ftopict-20832-giving.html
Here are a couple of links I found about this topic there was a really good one but I cant locate it for some reason. I know it can be fustrating at times I have dumped many cakes over into the trash. but stick with it the more you do the better you will get and the easier it will come to you. not saying there wont be that cake you want to throw away on occasion (or if your like me all the time) but your doing great keep up the good work.
I just looked at your ckas, you're awesome! You have nothing to worry about.
Do you have any tips for flowers?!? That's my BIG downfall... yours are gorgeous!
Thanks, you are sweet. You see I only post the cakes I am proud of, there have been a few that have not been posted LOL! Most of the time my cakes turn out, but sometimes I am doing things over and over and over. It gets frustrating the amount of time and money I feel I waste sometimes. I too have the perfectionist personality...only really with cakes though.
Tips for flowers? Well I think mine turn out better with royal icing.
oh and here is what I did today...the stupid cake got stuck in the pan...well the bottom half anyway. I did not throw a tantrum or anything, but I got out my fork and started eating it right out of the pan
! That is probably the reason for me gaining 15 pounds the last year. Need to find a better way to deal with the mistakes.
HOLD IT RIGHT THERE! --- you're missing out on more PROFIT!
C A K E B A L L S ! ! ! 
Like a penny accidently swallowed, "this too shall pass"!
is that a "debism"? LOL
Oh, yes! That is exactly why I actually stayed away from this site for the last six months (on top of the fact that I couldn't get my weight loss going while making cakes). However, I have a cake coming up this weekend and it has totally got me fired up to try again. I am BY FAR not nearly as good as you, but I definitely have these same feelings. I can still hope and dream of some day being good.
But, I am like you. I work full time, home school 2 boys, and am a church ministry leader. I feel like every time I attempt a cake I'm always rushed for time, on top of being so inexperienced. This really does add to the frustration.
I hope you can get to feeling better about this soon. Your work shows you definitely have a talent for this. I'm still in the is-this-for-me stage myself, but you have definitely already proved that this is for you. Hang in there.
When that old self-doubt starts creaping in, I take the cast iron frying pot out of the cupboard and bang Ms. Muse on the noggin then tell her what a pain in ye ole' butt she can be! And then I tell her, "Plan better next time you dope this idea can not be executed they way you had thought!" Jeez!
Thanks guys! I knew my cake friends would understand! I think I am good at this, but I just need to plan better and not be so rushed.
I hope this is just a slump for me. I haven't been doing this for very long (just a few months) and I really don't have a large selection of cakes yet, but I've been pretty proud of the ones that I've done....up until the last few cakes. I made one today that was my first time using MMF and let me just say, I think I put it on too thick. It had a nice consistency and it rolled out really well, but I guess I couldn't get it on the cake properly and it all just kind of bunched up at the bottom. That part ended up being the back of the cake Plus, I used a less-then-stable filling that made the cake kind of slide off to the side and with the heavy fondant on it, it just was awful. Thank goodness it wasn't for a paying client...And, I had to make a male anatomy cake for a girl at work and let me just say that it was the worst thing I had ever made. It turned out ok, but I think the heat got to it too.
Sometimes I think I just get going along too fast and then I forget a step or do something incredibly stupid which makes the cake look awful or has it sliding all over the place. I guess I need to slow down. The fondant cake I made, I forgot to put a cardboard under the top tier and I only had little straws to support it, and of course, with the weight of the fondant, it started to bulge and lean...it tasted great, but didn't look pretty. Thankfully I got a picture of it before the sun melted it because I actually did like it.... 
So, I hope my next cake is better and everyone elses that is having a 'slump' period right now.
I have been feeling the same lately. I to have been decorating for about 1.5 years. My father's day cake was a disaster. I had to go to the store and by one 
because I couldn't finish it. Then I tried making Toba's fondant today and that was a disaster too.
But since reading this thread I feel a little better knowing that everyone has thier off days and cakes.
I get that feeling every time a fabulous cake pops up in the gallery! I'll look at the exquisite work and think "Who am I kidding?"
by indydebi
I feel the same. I see all those gourgeous cakes and think, I could never come up with something as great as that.
Doug, you crack me up. I know what you mean, I wish I could hire an adoring fan club!!
Well I just finished a cake for my nephew and while it is not perfect (ears didnt turn out 
) I am overall very happy with my efforts and my faith is restored....for now! Thanks for confiding all of your similar stories.
http://www.cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=690863
A practice wedding cake I made a little while ago has me doubting my abilities !! Every time I look at it I feel like a failure ( maybe I should put it AWAY !!!)
( it's in the disaster forum - too embarrassed to put in my gallery !!)
Merissa - your cakes are great 
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