I see so many really amazing cakes here and I haven't come close to making anything as nice as some of the ones I've seen. Where do you all get your ideas from and how long did it take you to perfect what you do. I love baking but have so little time to practice then when I do who is going to eat it!

I get most of my ideas here. I practice with cakes that I sell at low price.

Me too, I do cakes for friends and family. I take a theme suggestion for the kids parties but that's it, then I do whatever strikes my fancy and the cakes a total surprise to them. I just wish that I could do my own flavors but the kids usually request their favorite, I'm so sick of choc chip cookie dough!!! I don't like cookie dough, and I recognize that the cake tastes great but I want to branch out and try some new ones!

I've been doing cakes about four years but I truthfully only do maybe 6 a year or so, I get 'caked' out and I don't think I could really make a living at it, even though I'd love to own my own shop one day, that's not really going to happen.

Thanks everyone. I feel a little better not much! lol I have wedding cupcakes to do in september for a beach wedding and she wants starfish on them which is fine. These are my first wedding cupcakes I am so excited! lol I also have a wedding cake for November to do. Thanks God the bride wants a simple white cake with red roses. Can't get any more simple than that. I'd love to do gum paste roses. How hard are they to do?

We all have to start somewhere. Carpenters don't just pick up a hammer and automatically know how to build a house. They take their time learning the fundamentals, getting the basics down and then perfect their craft.

Where do I get inspired? Other cake decorators like Sharon Zambito, Loraine McKay, Edna De la Cruz and Ron Ben Israel, Cake Central, Cakesdecor.com and google images!

Your wedding cupcakes will be fine. I like your mocha cupcakes in your photos, they look divine.
I do a lot of beachy things because, well, I live at the beach! Lol! In my photos, you will find cupcakes with sea shells, star fish and sand dollars. They are white chocolate which I mold in candy molds and place on top of the cupcakes. Easy Peasy.

How do I get inspired? People make a request and I try to fill that request. I do best if they just let me have free reign over the design. I have been called creative all my life. I used to drive my mother nuts with scraps of cut up paper left on my bedroom floor after a serious crafting session. I have always loved working on arts and crafts.
30 years ago, I apprenticed as a baker, completed the apprenticeship and worked full time in a bakery next to men lifting 50 pound flower sacks. And I have the arthritis to prove it! We'd turned out over 500 pounds of bread dough per day, in a bakery near the Jersey Shore, Literally!
It's only been the past few years where I was able to take my baking skills and my love for the arts and combine them. I am nurturing my business like a new born babe, as I continue to work a full time job, working with special needs students. The cake decorating is my therapy. I get lost in the creative process and I love what I do.

Want to learn how to do gum paste roses? You have plenty of time between now and September to learn how to do them wonderfully. Just jump in and do it! You will never really know unless you get your hands into it.

Perfection? Not yet! Each cake I work on, I strive to be my absolute best. If something is not where I want it, I try to do it better the next time. I get furious with myself for spending 4 hours on a cake and hammering up the writing on the cake in 5 minutes.

A tiny pearl of wisdom: Very rarely do you get to revisit a cake design. Try to do it your best the first time.

Thank you tokazodo. I will start practicing my gumpaste roses all summer! and anything else I need to do to get better at what I love to do. I do find inspiration in others work but am also intimidated by them all too! I'll get over it.