I posted about 4 or 5 threads in KO&CO yesterday and can't find them today so I guess they were deleted by the admins :( So I guess the info here is just going to be lost forever. Yes, I understand some of what's here is outdated but some is still very helpful.
Quote by @kakeladi on 4 hours ago
I posted about 4 or 5 threads in KO&CO yesterday and can't find them today so I guess they were deleted by the admins :( So I guess the info here is just going to be lost forever. Yes, I understand some of what's here is outdated but some is still very helpful.
Maybe they thought the bugs would come in with your post.
Lynne, the group Keep Calm and Cake On, to me is small and friendly, but it would be easier to track Forum posts on CakesDecor, due to the way it is structured.
I've been keeping my own Baking Notebooks for decades. I write out the recipe, all the little trick & techniques used, sometimes take photos, and put them in clear plastic page holders. My "cake home" is always on the shelf in a 3 ring binder with my caking, baking, & decorating toys ahem essentials.
Remember how we managed to live out lives, including baking, decades before the internet?? It's all good.
In fact it just might be time for me to sweep & toss most of what I don't even use anymore. I trashed, donated, or sold 3/4 of it before moving to Florida. Maybe that last 1/4 needs to diminish also. The notebooks though, I'll go to my grave with those.
You sound like me MBalaska, I have my drawings of cakes designs I created & saved along with LOTS of cake books/magazines. Anyone remember 'Mail box news"?. "Sweet Sensations". Don't know what I'll do with them. I still enjoy looking at them and getting ideas.
Betty I have 2 massive binders full of cake inspiration pictures, tutorials with instructions, unique recipes, like gum glue, quick cornstarch gumpaste, templates...for shoes, tea cups and other things, cake recipes. I have many cake decorating magazines and books. We are currently finishing our basement, creating a rec room for the grandchildren. So I had to pack up a lot of my cake stuff up into boxes. I had a wonderful cake decorating book by Liz Malek/Sugar Geeks. When I packed up my books, it was nowhere to be found???? I know I gave away/donated a few books a few years ago in a clean up. They were decorating books for a beginner, which I’d long since surpassed. But I remember double checking that none of my “good” books were in the donate pile. I remember getting Liz’s book in some fab deal from a tip-off from Goreti. Something like $5. I’ve since looked up the book, and it’s like $45 cad to buy. I was sad and frustrated to say the least to have lost/misplaced Liz’s book. As I packed up my decorating stuff, I thought surely I would come across the book....nope. Oh well.
This is so sad. I've been reading everyone's thoughts and following the different memories and ideas for the future. Cake Central was a world unto itself and just what we all needed at the time. Maybe it is time to move on but it's just so hard. Makes me want to stick pins in my Heath and Jackie dolls. (Just kidding?)
I probably won't be going anywhere else. I get on CakesDecor fairly often just to look at the cake photos posted. They really are fantastic but the whole site just doesn't have that special "whatever" that made Cake Central home.
I send my warmest thoughts and good wishes to all of you as well as my sincere thanks for all the help and advice I've received over the years. I'll miss spending time here but I'll probably be looking back in from time to time just to see how things are progressing (or not).
Good luck and Cake On!
Jan
Oh Jan:( You put my exact thoughts into the right words — neither place really has that same feeling we had here As I said in another post they will be a place where we castaways can talk amongst ourselves KC&CO is very difficult for new people to join so there will not be many posts requiring our help I already feel a great loss of my good friends I would get on here dozens of times a day one of the 1st things to do in the morning And to you..... keep on creating beautiful cake creations!
I just came across this post. Is CC no longer to be? I do find the site doesn't work well sometimes and some features are hard to use, but the advice I've gotten here has been so invaluable in helping me become a better cake decorator and specifically trouble shooting problems I've encountered which you can't always find on generic cake tutorial websites.
I def. want to be part of this wonderful community. ......So is everyone moving to Cakes Decor or is there another we can still stay in contact? Can we create a new FB group for CC members who still want to stay in touch? People can still post questions and get advice. And if more people want to join, the community can grow?
Btw...who is the original person who started CC?
What about a Wordpress site? Those are free and you can always go back to old posts / comments. That could like a bit of a forum for popular topics / questions cake decorators have. Other than that, I'm stumped for a forum type besides FB.
Jackie & Heath were the originators of the I believe back in 2004 They worked hard to make it great but they seemed to disappear about 3-5 yrs ago Over the past year it has gotten overrun with Wspam — especially the past 6 months M any of us old timers have tried to make it work but when the spammers started infiltratqing our posts — not just flooding the site we looked for somewhere else to go & still keep most of the group together Most have gone to a group on FB “Keep calm & cake on & some to cakesdecor
I don't have anything new to say that hasn't been said or that I've added in different forum topics. But I just want to be in the group lol! Even though I'm here infrequently I treasure the good advice and general chitchat this site has offered. I'm on CakesDecor as well but many of those members are such incredible artists and sculptors I'm more than a little intimidated!
Theresa
CakesDecor is a great site. Many members from CC, including me, joined CD in 2012/2013 when CC first started having big issues. CD was really great in the beginning, lots of involvement. I became friends with several top decorators. One I have regular communication on FB. The rest haven’t been on CD in 3-4 years. I went through my follow list last year. And about 70% no longer participate on CD. So the huge interest in cake decorating has wained. Decorating sites have hit there peak, not as popular as they once were.
Quote by @theresaf on 3 hours ago
……….." I'm on CakesDecor as well but many of those members are such incredible artists and sculptors I'm more than a little intimidated!...."
Theresa
Exactly, they are so WAY out of my little home hobby baking league; that It's more of a professional showcase of very expensive cakes & cookies by highly skilled artists. Not a little chat place for people just starting out & learning how to make a batch of frosting or a scratch cake. I joined years ago.
Quote by @jchuck on 3 hours ago
………" So the huge interest in cake decorating has wained. Decorating sites have hit there peak, not as popular as they once were. ………."
Very true. Probably because of everything that is now available on the internet. You don't need to go on a forum to find out how to make a nice buttercream, just go on YouTube or google it. The whole home decorating may have well peaked out. I've only been on Cakes Décor for about 5 years, and have seen great changes in the level of decorating. I just look at the pictures most of the time. There used to be a few chat forums, now every decorator has their own website with photos, tutorials that you can purchase, along with their own tools for sale.
You don't have to learn how to pipe buttercream sugar flowers, just buy a Chinese mold for $10 bucks and pop them out. No skills involved. Big change.
I still want my full service gas stations back,...……
Ha Ha MBalaska....there are literally NO self serve gas joints around here anymore. There’s a small family run gas station near where my daughter lives that does pump gas. When it’s freezing cold, daughter will opt to pay a few more cent per litre and get her gas pumped. But usually she goes to Costco and fills up after grocery shopping.
And as for CakesDecor....when it was in it’s infancy, the cakes were rudimentary. Then many professional and elite decorators joined, and many seasoned home and hobby decorators too. And as you say, very professional cakes. Pretty hard to compete with. There are still some of those masterpieces cakes posted... painting/drawing on cakes, gorgeous amounts of gumpaste/wafer paper flowers, extraordinary designs, but not as many as in the past. I’ve never had an occasion to make anything that elaborate..3/4/5 tiered, with exquisite embellishments. I’d dare say most hobby bakers don’t. I’ve made many wedding cakes, but 2 tier, and not high end by any means. Now there are also many, many decorators who make pieces for collaborations and competitions...those are usually quite showy and elaborate. I’ve been in 3 collaborations, but they were fun pieces. Didn’t spend hours upon hours making. Now Miss Sandra, her collaboration pieces have been fab. And she does spend hours, weeks. I don’t have the time, inclination or money. And honestly, the Scottish half of me can’t stand the waste of making a show piece to be thrown in the garbage!!!!
And, yes, with all the moulds out there, skill levels needed have certainly diminished. And as for piping...flowers, scroll work, anything intricate, no way would a average customer pay you enough for that type of skill or time. Would have to be a customer with deep pockets. But there are always some that will continue for just the love of the decorating challenge, whatever the skill be fondant, buttercream, isomalt...etc.
............You don't have to learn how to pipe buttercream sugar flowers, just buy a Chinese mold for $10 bucks and pop them out. No skills involved. Big change. ..................
So, so SO true :( All these molds etc has totally taken the skill out of learning to PIPE a beautiful cake :(
........ I Didn’t spend hours upon hours making. Now Miss Sandra, her collaboration pieces have been fab. And she does spend hours, weeks. I don’t have the time, inclination or money. And honestly, the Scottish half of me can’t stand the waste of making a show piece to be thrown in the garbage!!!!..............
Ditto! Exactly my thoughts :)
Hey ladies, I'm reading the whole two pages of bla-bla... and at this point I feel I'm sitting with you in a corner of our vintage ice cream parlor shop, or our thrift store... you all are so very sweet, hilarious to say the least! This is the warm feeling/gossip/camaraderie... that I have not been able to find anywhere! Spending fifteen minutes to read the whole thing made me laugh, cry, think and ultimately made my day! The page is still up... kind of running... let's keep going together here to the end!
I agree. It's not the same. Kakeladi, you and k8memphis I remember were always commenting on my posts fro the veri beginning. I would honestly follow you two anywhere LOL!! It was so helpful to newbiew like me. I find some of the FB cake groups intimidating too as the cake artists are well...artists!! lol
Quote by @kakeladi on 1 day ago
Oh Jan:( You put my exact thoughts into the right words — neither place really has that same feeling we had here As I said in another post they will be a place where we castaways can talk amongst ourselves KC&CO is very difficult for new people to join so there will not be many posts requiring our help I already feel a great loss of my good friends I would get on here dozens of times a day one of the 1st things to do in the morning And to you..... keep on creating beautiful cake creations!
K8memphis---I was just saying to another poster that I would follow you and her anywhere if CC closes as you two were always guaranteed to respond to my questions when I used to post on here! So unfortunate about CC :(. Although there's a wealth of info out there now, def. not the same as being able to post a specific question / problem you're encountering and receive a multitude of suggestions of what worked / didn't work for others. And it was a place for learners / hobbyists to learn and not be intimated asking "dumb" questions.
Quote by @-K8memphis on 1 week ago
sandra, yeah, that’s cool — i’m comfy on the fb one — and I can’t believe i’m still posting here! agh!
this poor beleaguered place puts the funk in dysfunctional— >shiver<
Hey, thanks for the kind words, but I don't spend very much money on any of my pieces.....well, some of the larger cakes, but I do them as gifts for people I love. I make all of my cake boards out of left over building materials or heavy cardboard, make my own fondant, modeling chocolate, cake lace, gum paste, everything and use no molds except flower veiners and a few borders. Molded flowers suck! Since it is a hobby and rarely brings in money, I do everything on the cheap. Yes I do spend hours and hours on some of my pieces, but again, that is because it is my hobby and the way I entertain myself, lol. Gosh knows, no one could afford to pay for the hours I spend playing with sugar! I happily give away my pieces to anyone who wants them. Wish I could give them all away, they are eating my house.
I have to disagree to some extent on the level of expertise on CakesDecor. You are just remembering the magnificent pieces, there are lots of more simple and less professionally executed pieces. Back when I was more interested, I tried to comment on every piece. Now, it just seems I am spending too much time on the computer, so have started to back off. I think that is what happened to a lot of people who were very active.
Agreed, we should stay here as long as possible, BUT there is absolutely no reason why we can't do exactly the same kind of chitchat on the CD Forum. Maybe a few others would even join us!
MBalaska, your "little home baker" cakes can hold their head up high in an group! You do yourself an injustice!
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