Art Sparks Stuff

Last year around this time I participated in an "Art Sparks" event at our local rec center to promote my cake decorating classes. I had only just started teaching there, and it was a great way to get the word out.

This year, since I now offer classes at two different locations, there are two Art Sparks events for me to do. Only, I can't attend the first one, which is this Saturday. Since I won't be there in person, I'm making display samples that are (hopefully) representative of what students can expect to learn in my classes.

Wanna see?

The decorated cake boards from last year were looking faded, and nearly all had bits missing or cracks in the fondant. I wanted to do something similar, yet slightly different for the ones I really liked, such as the fish and daisies. Plus, I have more fun tools now, like cutters, molds, and texture mats that I wanted to play with use.

Unfortunately, what I thought was a safe spot to let my display samples dry turned out to not be a good place once the dog realized they were there. He managed to get to the fake cupcakes (which is why they're not pictured--I'll have to do those again) and my daisy cake board (pictured above under construction) before I realized what he was up to.

I made the sign using that My Memories digital scrapbooking software--that I'm currently hosting a giveaway for--and while I'm not entirely happy with it, I'm not sure what I need to do to make it better. I'm open to any and all suggestions, but I need to have it finished and ready to go by tomorrow afternoon. Yes, I tend to procrastinate.

Also, I just received a new batch of cake dummies, and those will need to get decorated as well at some point, but I don't know if I'll have time to get them done for this weekend's event. Especially now that I have to redo some stuff.

Anyway, if you're a local and find yourself at a loose end this Saturday, check out Art Sparks at the Longview Rec Center in Spring Hill. There will be door prizes, family-friendly activities, an art show, and the opportunity to speak with other instructors about the classes they offer.

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My Other Display Samples

I know I was supposed to post pictures of the other display samples I made for the Art Sparks event before now. The thing is, I procrastinate, and so I ran out of time and didn't even get two of the dummy cakes decorated--although they are iced. I had grand visions of setting up an awesome table to promote my cake decorating classes, snapping a few photos of it to impress everybody, and then posting all about it. That didn't happen. Despite arriving with a good 45 minutes to set up, I didn't have a chance to take a picture of my booth. Honestly. I was busy the entire five hours because everybody wanted to decorate a cookie or cupcake. Some folks opted to do both, which I suppose I shouldn't have allowed, but there ended up being plenty for everyone and I even had a few left over.

Apologies for the glare on this.

Technically, since my clases are for teens and adults, the cookies and cupcakes were for ages 12 and up to decorate. However, this was a family-friendly event, and while I did my best to encourage the moms and dads to decorate a treat for their kids, I wasn't able to stick to that policy very well. I also really wanted to take pictures of cookies and cupcakes the visitors to my station decorated, but I didn't have a spare moment. There were maybe three very brief lulls, but I had to use that time to quickly reorganize and try to get things tidied up as much as possible. Whenever icing, sprinkles, and kids are involved there is going to be some mess. That just goes with the territory. But it was loads of fun.

I would like to thank Publix for providing the cupcakes, cookies, and icing, and I especially want to thank Roundabouts Cupcake Sleeves for generously sending me enough cupcake wrappers so that everyone who decorated a cupcake had their choice of Valentine's Day themed sleeves, A Tisket, A Tasket, and Tickle the Ivories. I quickly ran out of the candy hearts, so it was the most popular design. I really wish I had pictures, because some of the cupcakes were really awesome.

I had to wait until I got home to take photos of my other display pieces. So, as promised, here they are. I think they held up pretty well considering I didn't so such a great job of packing them to bring back home, and I let people touch them. I also made a white color flow heart with smaller pink hearts on it, but the pink really bled into the white and looked awful, so I threw it away. I'm bummed that a string on the football laces broke off, but other than that these things stayed pretty much intact. I definitely like the laces positioned in the middle of the football as opposed to on the top edge, but I had to try both ways in order to see which would look better. I'm not so great at visualization.

The cupcakes didn't turn out as well as I would have liked. I used some old Wilton rolled fondant to makes these, and they were way too heavy and took forever to dry. Next time I'll just spend the money and get some styrofoam balls or something more practical to use. I meant to pipe little pastel dots around the chick to make it look like he's sitting in a field of Easter eggs, but I forgot. Also, the dark purple grapes bled a little. I'm not sure why, as that's not an issue I've encountered before.

This is actually a cake board I decorated a while ago to put in the display case at the Rec center as an example of what students can learn in Buttercream Basics. Since I'm not scheduled to teach that class again until March, I swapped it out for the cake dummy I decorated to represent Buttercream Flowers. I wish his eye wasn't baby blue, as I think it looks kinda creepy. I should have made it black.

Since Valentine's Day is coming up, I had the obligatory hearts and love cake. Please pretend like you don't notice the dips on the top. They're not entirely my fault, as the styrofoam had some nicks and dips in it, but I still should have filled those in with royal icing before covering with rolled fondant.

I wanted to do a tablecloth cake, but I'm not entirely happy with the bottom border. I probably should've just piped simple beads, but I had already done that on the other two cakes and didn't want to be repetitive. Also, the roses aren't supposed to be a dingy grey color. I think some Nu Silver was left on my brush when I went to apply the Super Pearl. Oh, well. At least I used a better green for the leaves this time.

Here is my redux from this week's Should've Done Sunday. Yes, this cake was entirely inspired copied from my cake I did in the Fondant II class (as were the roses on the cake above). But nobody else knew that.

All in all, it was a great day, and tons of fun. Hopefully this week I'll get around to trying a recipe that's worth sharing.

A Heads Up For the Locals

As some of you may already know, I'm starting a new cake decorating class series this month at the Franklin Recreation Complex. The facility is hosting an "Art Sparks" event on Saturday, January 29 from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m. to promote all the arts and crafts programs they offer.

I'll be there with my little display, along with some cookies, cupcakes, icing, and maybe even some sprinkles in an attempt to drum up interest in my classes. The event is free to the public, so if you don't have anything else going on, why not stop by? It's never too late to learn a new skill, and we all need creative outlets. Come see me, and I'll let you decorate a cookie or something.