I have been working on a cake for too long or too late its after 1am in the morning!!!

I am beinging to feel like my last few cakes have taken more out of me!!in

Working on a cake tonight that should have been easy and I want to take all the fondant off and start again I could cry.

please tell me others feel like this too>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

sounds like you need a cake-break. Yeah, I think we all hit that point once in awhile. Seriously, if at all possible, take a couple of cake-free weeks off to recharge your batteries.

Heck yeah! we have all been there and still go there. Some cakes just get to us. Most of the time, its the mood we are in when we start,etc. I just have to walk away, get into something else for a little bit, then go back to it and finish it. Been there many times. hth

Wow...I thought it was just me, but last week I just felt so overwhelmed! I was thinking, maybe I'm just not cut out for this. I'm still kind of wondering? I'm really just a hobbyist, so to do 4 cakes in a week is just too much for this Grandma! But I have a break now, so maybe I'll get that excitement back for the next cake...at least I hope so!

been there. I feel for you. some rest usually does the trick for me....take a break or leave it til morning if you can.....

good luck!

pinkjacs, this is done with love,

slap, slap, shake, shake

(Well.... it works in the movies when people get hysterical and cry......)

Maybe THIS is a better idea! Go slap, slap, shake, shake to your cake!!!

You do gorgeous cakes. Just take a nap, then slap your cake. You'll feel better.

I definitely feel like that sometimes! I work a full time job in addition to my cake business. Sometimes I feel like I just can't get organized and get things done. Yesterday was one of those days, but eventually got it done.

I agree, you may just need to take a break and rest and recharge!

I agree with everyone else, take a much needed break....
Last weekend, I had 9 cakes for Saturday... never going to do that again. until Christmas...lol
Jodi

thanks everyone. I came down stairs this morning and took away the bits I was not happy with did a mad dash to the store and I am not just putting the final touches on the cake. It does look good but I still have to pipe on the message not my strong point hehehe

Apti that made me smile

http://cakecentral.com/modules.php?name=gallery&file=displayimage&pid=1858073

end result :

Now... see... all that carrying on and you end up with a beautiful cake!

I know I really just needed to walk away from it!! thanks

Pinkjacs, how did you get into caking? I just started in March this year to do a couple of birthday cakes for the kids (niece/nephews). HA! I could have purchased a nice used car with what I've spent on cake stuff. It as completely taken over my house. I don't know how to post pictures on line or on CC, so my niece made a website for me: christinascakes.shutterfly.com (I just added it to my www link thingee on the CC profile).

I get frustrated like you did when I don't have stuff put up or have my work areas clean--that makes me crazy. I've been recovering from a fairly long bronchitis episode (about 7 weeks now). I get out of breath when I do stuff, so I haven't been putting my tools up and they are starting to pile up. Everything is clean, but I feel like I'm on my way to becoming one of those hoarders you see on TV.

BTW, what time is it in Scotland? It's 4 pm on Friday afternoon here in California.

Hello when you posted the above post i think it was about 11pm here!

I used to do the odd bit of decorating here and there years ago. Last cake i did was about 9 years ago and was the day my morning sickness kicked in with my eldest son. Not sure the odd cake i done was up to much back then. I have always been creative and like working with my hands. Last year my friend did some cakes that seemed to jog my memory of hey i used to do that! Took me a while to pluck up courage to try one. My friend and i worked on my wee boys 2 tier toy story cake last december an.d in feb i did my niece and nephews cakes one 3 tier and one 2 tier for the same day that was a challenge but i loved it. Since then it was the odd one here and there but recently i have been doing them alot! All my cakes are on here!

Like you i have spent a small fortune on stuff and still have stuff i want i have 2 big cupboards dedicated to caking now lol (my utility is dedicated to hairdressing lol) hubby says i get so engrossed in the cake trying to achieve perfection that i cause chaos round about me. I try start off tidy but as i get into it i start pulling stuff out and not returning them lol

My parcedl cake is for someone who seen a another cake at a party and asked for my details so iits my first cake for a stranger. Bit nervouse about them picking it up this morning.

I looked on your site your cakes are very professional! Would have sworw you were a seasoned caker!

I know just how you feel. I did cakes casually for about 5 years, then decided to start accepting the offers of orders and paying me for the cakes. Within 3 years I had quite a large circle of customers. I was having to turn away orders because I was booked and couldn't take on more orders. But then it started to not be as fun anymore, and the cakes got harder and harder for me. I stopped taking orders, and a year later, sick of the emails and phone calls coming occasionally from the web, pulled my website off the internet. I did a few free cakes for friends and neighbors over the last two years, but they were hard for me. I don't know what it was. The cakes come out looking as good as they ever did, but the fun was gone, as was the ease of it all. When people ask why I don't do it anymore I tell them I lost it, I lost the gift. That's the way I see it, because it came so easily to me before and now it's hard work.

I was asked to do an emergency cake for next weekend for a serviceman who, with 2 weeks before deployment, decided to marry his fiance before he left. But this time I'm excited about doing it, which is something that hasn't happened in years. I'm looking forward to it, and thinking of all the extras I can do to make it special for them. It feels good to be excited about it!! It makes me wonder if I should have sold so much of my supplies, but I got sick of seeing it all. So this weekend I have to do some shopping for those things that were always on hand... boards, paper, boxes, etc. And now I have to pay retail! AHHHH!

oh I hope you really enjoy this one and you get the passion back

sometimes it's just a matter of walking away from the cake and and getting some well needed rest. Other times, it's taking a full cake break.

I just came off a 9 month sabbatical and while I was still sort of caking (orders on the books), the passion wasn't there. It wasn't until I was fully reasy to come back did the passion return. It was a much needed sanity break and afforded me the opportunity to deal with some family issues. It was one of the best decisions of my life! The best part was not really having to deal with customers and not having to answer emails or phone calls. There was less stress.

It's hard to take a chunk of time off off and not be feaful of losing your client base, but if you treat them right, they will welcome you back with open arms. They will understand too.

When you come back from a break, you have to set yourself ground rules. And STICK to those ground rules. For us, it's trying to find a commercial location to get it completely out of our house. That way home is home and work is work. It's really hard to focus on one or the other when they're both together. Not sayin' for sure that we're doing it, but we're taking the time to investigate it.

So take a breather, take a shower, take a nap. And if you are really losing the passion, then it's time for a break. We love our jobs and that's why we're good at it. Because anything you're passionate about will be successful. If you lose the love then you just resent it and your work will show it.

I find sometimes it takes me longer NOW then it did years ago...then I discovered why ~
NOW I keep going for perfection THEN I was satisfied with a cake that looked alright. I don't know how many times I use to say to myself "every cake has a back".

Sometimes I do just need to walk away for an hour or so...

Aboutthhecake, I couldn't agree more. Although the customers were nice, and some were like friends I saw a few times a year, I just needed a break from them. I had a group of about 8 friends, who each had multiple kids, then their in laws and cousins and friends, which from that group alone, kept me very busy. But they sent a lady to me, and she was SUCH a high maintenance person, she drove me batty. On her last cake she LITERALLY called me 17 times in one day. (and that was just ONE Of the days!) About silly stuff "make the hair on the girl brown" then call back half an hour later with 'make it a light brown, not dark brown" then an hour later with 'can you have the hair a little highlighted" I mean, she drove me NUTS! And I felt bad telling her no more cakes when she knew 10 other people who ordered from me! She was a main reason I stopped, but I also didn't like how I lost control over my 'creations'. People would see a cake on my website and say they wanted THAT cake. Well, I didn't want to make that cake again, how boring! Or they'd tell me colors to use or a pattern to use that was UGLY and I didn't want to make it because it made ME look bad. I was conflicted between 'they're a paying customer, give them what they want' and doing what I wanted to do! And in the end I decided it wasn't worth the money if I wasn't happy doing it.

Hs, I totally agree with what you said too! It did start taking me longer, because I expected so much of myself, I wanted it even better, and wouldn't just put down the icing bag and walk away!

Apti, thanks, I liked how you worded what you said!!

Thanks Pink, me too!! Are you feeling better after seeing so many other feeling the same way??

Yes i am feeling much better thanks. I love when the cake leaves my home only then can i relax. I think it as hsmomma said i want every cake to be perfect and thatp hard going.
Apti your more than welcome x