Enjoy!

The results are in and it’s time to officially announce the winners of the CakesDecor Quarterly Awards - Spring 2013.

There were 132 beautiful entries posted in the Easter category. Thank you all for submitting your cakes and for voting. And here are the winning cakes…

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Winner – $200 Cash Prize and Custom Apron from Calli

89 points

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Runner Up – $50 Cash Prize and Custom Apron from Calli

86 points

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One Random Draw Winner – Custom Apron from Calli

• Coocakecachoo

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Click here to see the complete results

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And following are the three lucky winners of the CakesDecor Apron (randomly selected from all the voters):

• SweetLin
• cassjett
• LMCakeDesign

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Congratulations! I’m going to PM the prize winners shortly.

Big thank you to all the amazing cake decorators who submitted cakes in this awards!

After one month I can proudly say that there are 633 cake decorators already in 41 countries and still growing – perfect! Thank you all for joining!

For those who didn’t join us yet, feel free to sign up as well – basic listing is for free and If you would like to upgrade to Premium Listing to get more exposure, it’s only $2,49/month now!

Use coupon code 1NTRO to get 50% off Premium listing for 6 months (expires on April 30).

Also, don’t forget that you can win One Year Premium Account for free in our giveaway:

Awards entry period is over and we ended up with 132 amazing entries in ‘Easter’ category. Now it’s time to pick your top 5 list and cast your votes. Voting deadline is on April 30, 2013 at 6 PM GMT .

Please note that if you submitted an Awards entry, you will not see your cake listed on the voting page. (You are not allowed to vote for yourself.) So don’t panic – others can pick your entry without any problems.

The results will be announced on May 1, 2013 at 6 PM GMT.

Click on the VOTE AND WIN button on the Awards pages to cast your votes and three lucky random voters will win the CakesDecor Apron.

GOOD LUCK!

Hello, friends!

My name is Neli Josefsen. Living in Norway. A native Bulgarian though.

An ex-musician. There are those who say, there is no such thing as ex-musician. Well, they are maybe right.
My job with music has given me so enormously much, I consider myself extremely lucky to live the life I have had so far.

Long time ago I came to Norway as a musician, and I stay there. Grateful to all the nice people that I have been given the chance to meet through the years.

I would like to tell you about a particular one: a little story, that has something to do with cakes.

In a Norwegian forum I said once, that I don’t have many – if any – tools to use in my working with the sugar dough. I just mentioned it like that, among other things… Then, in some days, suddenly a parcel appeared in my postbox, just out of the nowhere. I was a set of modelling tools, and some other different things for cake decorating.

A lady from that forum sent me this great, great surprise – as a gift!!! This is something, that still make me feel so overwhelmed and short of words to describe. It is one of the dearest things that have happened to me in my life!

Answering to such an act is not easy. I did not really know how to; angel was the first thing that came to my mind. And that is what I made – a simple sugar angel, to that lady-angel.

And guess what! This fondant angel is actually still living. The last month I saw it on the cake-show. The lady had put it in the exhibition, just as a show-piece, with my name on it. Things like that make you speechless! I do not know if every one of us is blessed with such moment in our life, but I hope so! For such miracles make us better people, they give meaning, they do make the world brighter, richer and better. Thanks for all the nice moments I have been given!

Neli’s: CakesDecor Profile

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Interview

How did you first get started with cake decorating?
I started with the pictures of the cakes and figurines to the great Ballina, Sanchez and Marcela Capo that I saw. It was like a golden door opened and let me in to a different space and time, better than the one, we usually live in. It was like magic, I suddenly find myself believing in Santa Claus and Donald Duck again, it was so fantastic! I didn’t find peace of mind before I mixed some fondant and gave it a try. And it was heavenly. Though so impossible to achieve the ideas I had in my head! I started with the simplest gelatin-fondant and it was doing its best to discourage me. I won.

I did repeat three or four of those known cakes before I decided to make my own design. And after that I actually stopped looking at cakes at all. I deliberately avoided the “traps” that could lead me to others’ cakes. It was because I did not want to – deliberately or not – copy someone else’s style or a particular cake. But that was in the past; now I do enjoy others’ work and it is a great pleasure to find all the beauty there is all over the world.

What has been your greatest challenge?
The most challenging thing must be to find someone to make a cake to.
Well, this was the funny thing (at least I’d like to think that It was soo very funny ;)
But, thinking over it, there is a big portion of truth in that sentence. We are a small family and it’s hard to find really many occasions for a cake. Then, after long time, passed since the last time, one looses the motivation, things begin looking kind of out of perspective and I do struggle sometimes to ever get started with a new project.
Otherwise, when it comes to the technical issue, I in a way believe, that the essential thing is to find your own “formula”. To “discover” that fondant, which suites one’s own way of working and modelling. I myself use only homemade fondant and this has been a rather long process of trying, trying and trying again to make it willing to cooperate.
When it comes to the figurines, I am in no doubt: the most difficult thing to make is a couple, or two pieces in contact with each other. Like the banjo-playing skeleton. And the ice skating snowmen.
One project, that did really gave me a hard time, was the season-box. Such a finicky job! I promised myself never to do something like that again :)

What is the most rewarding part of cake decorating?
This can vary. Sometimes I find it really funny to make a tiny face, it happens I smile to it, all alone, it gives me a nice feeling. Some other time it is the fulfillment of a bunch of sugar flowers, or the moment I realize that yes, this is going to work! And yet, forming, and especially coloring the faces must be the part, that is the greatest pleasure. I notice that I move further and further away from figurines, cakes without “dolls” attract me more and more, but still I haven’t quite given them up because of the pleasure making them.

Could you give some tips to people who have just started decorating cakes or would love to start?
To those, who are just beginning with cakes I would tell…Well, I don’t know if I am in a position to give advises, but I could speak about my own experience. I never asked questions. I simply looked for the answers. I believe, that knowledge, which we have made an effort to achieve, is worth more than the one, that we are just given the easy way. Trying to come to the solution, we discover other useful things on our way and this for me has been very helpful. I could maybe say something else, too: it may be more difficult to repeat a design than to create own one. Trying both ways one will soon discover how giving this is to create something, that is one’s own completely, made with own hands and soul, too.
One really useful thing to remember can be this: if you can’t beat it, join it (sorry for the cliche’.) If something can not be done completely (or acceptably) straight, then it might be better to leave the whole idea of “straightness” and go for something deliberately twisted. It is a rule, that is very helpful not only in cake making, but in anything else we do also.

How did you find CakesDecor.com and what is it that keeps you coming back?
This is a difficult question. I…I don’t remember exactly, it happened somehow, from link to a link…But after I first got here, it took me just a glance to see the beautiful, stylish design of the site. It was friendly too. And it still does. And, not at least, there was such stunning quality of the cakes, that was shown here. Great, great talents, amazing creations, a need to see them again and again – the old ones, the new ones, it must be the beauty, that leads me back here again and again. No cake is really completed before we show it to those, who share the same interest and get their approval. This community is so important, thank you all!
But there is one more thing that is important, at least for me. I like very much, that there is someone here for us all the time. Michal never lets us alone, always gives us a nice word and encouragement and it feels good and safe. Thanks for this feeling!

Which one of your cakes is your favorite?
It is a question, that made me think a bit. The answer though is far from clear. Because of my profession (or maybe not), I am extremely fond of the great Nat King Cole. And I just had to make him a cake. This one was a dummy, something else would have been unthinkable to me. So this cake is very dear to me, each time I see that face, my heart skips a beat, this is such a nice feeling.

There are those, who say, that their favorite cake among mine is the one with the mouses. Others put high the 3D-Bakhus. Or Africa.

No, it’s not easy to pick just one; I think, that I more or less find the big pleasure in making the cake and after it’s done, is the next one that counts. Even though I’m not too sure in what I am saying right now, because it is not that simple anyway. But still, the more work, the more feelings, so those big and difficult cakes are higher up on my personal list. Like the Rococo and the one with the unfortunate mouse couple over the sleeping cat.

What’s been the biggest surprise in all of this for you?
It surprises me sometimes how a cake, that does not want to cooperate at all and I have had a hard times working on it, ends up as a favorite one for the audience. Africa is such an example. And, of course, how much of us we are willing to give just for the love of this sugar art.

Thank you so much for your time Neli.

Some of Neli’s Cakes

I just wanted to say thank you for posting feedback to other bakers’ cakes and creating positive mood on CakesDecor. I know that I told you this already, but I wanted to show others that we really appreciate what you are doing.

Since you both reached the number of posts that I have and you are the most active members right now, we decided to give you CakesDecor Aprons.

Thanks again!
Michal

What we added already

We added a counter on the home page and some links to hot locations as well, so you can see how many of you joined this worldwide directory.

Also, we increased the number of cards on the home page to 6, so you have better chance to be showcased to customers.

Please Don’t forget

Please help us to create the World’s Largest Directory of cake decorators by spreading the word on your websites and facebook pages. Our dream is that there will be no location without a cake decorator on the site.

The most important thing is that you can use any language you want – and you should use the one, that is most common in your area. No one will use english to search the cake decorator in Spain – use Spanish, In Italy use Italian …etc.

Thank you

Thank you all for joining, sharing and liking…. you help us make this website successful!

After some research on the internet, we found out that directory of cake decorators is a much needed resource. That’s why we decided to create CakeDecorPros.com – the world’s first and largest visual, location based directory of cake decor professionals.

Free Listing

Free Listing perfectly fits for smaller bakeries and cake decorators. If you’re like most cake decorators, you have a great site but you’re having a hard time getting customers to visit your site. CakeDecorPros is here to help drive potential clients to your site. If you don’t have your own website, create a CakeDecorPros listing and use it as your main website. Creating Free Listing takes you just few minutes and there are absolutely no plans to charge any fees.

Premium Listing

If you are a larger Bakery or high quality cake decorator, you would like to show more to your potential customers. Premium Listing for only $4.99/month includes a larger interactive display card, up to 16 large images and placement above free listings. Also, with a premium listing you will be featured on the home page. You can upgrade, downgrade, or cancel at any time.

Special Offer: use coupon code 1NTRO to get 50% off for Premium Listing for 6 months. Coupon code will expire on April 30.

See our members’ listings that are on CakeDecorPros already

• Royal Bakery
• Cakes by Raewyn
• Callicious Cakes
• Tea Party Cakes
• La Belle Aurore
• Mc Greevy Cakes

Example of a Premium Listing

Spring is here, snow is melting down(at least for the countries on the Northern Hemisphere) and we are looking for the Easter. Let’s celebrate it by entering the CakesDecor Quarterly Awards. Go ahead and share your Easter cake with all of us.

The rules are simple and, like everything else at CakesDecor, there’s no fee to enter. The best part of this competition? There will be no designated jury of experts. You and your fellow cake decorators will cast the votes. This creates a truly democratic voting process from our exceptional cake decorating community.

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Category – Easter

Easter or the Pasch or Pascha is a Christian festival and holiday celebrating the resurrection of Jesus Christ on the third day after his crucifixion at Calvary. We all know that characteristic Easter symbols are bunny, little chicks and eggs. Share your easter cakes with us in the CakesDecor Quarterly Awards and don’t miss a chance to win!

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Prizes

• Winner – $200 Cash Prize & Hand-painted Apron
• Runner-Up – $50 Cash Prize & Hand-painted Apron
• One Winner (random draw) – Hand-painted Apron

Cash prize winners must be able to accept the PayPal payment.

Wonderful hand-painted aprons will be made by Calli from Callicious Cakes.

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Entry opens on April 1, 2013 at 11 AM and ends on April 24, 2013 at 6 PM GMT.

Please help us Spread the Word by clicking on your favorite social networking button on the Awards page .

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Good luck and have fun!

I have been a stay-at-home Mom since the birth of my daughter in 2003. I have always had an artistic side, even at a young age. When I was little I spent many hours creating with the odds and ends found in the craft trunk my father made me, and when I wasn’t making some fantastic piece of art for my mother I was in the backyard in my sandbox making mud pies. It seems to me these two things have been a constant in my life, art and baking. It wasn’t until 2010 my two hobbies merged when I discovered cake decorating. It is the first time in my life that I have stuck with a particular artistic medium, before I was what I call a dabbler. I dabbled in drawing (mostly portraits), painting, knitting, cross stitch, card making and scrapbooking. Now I know my place in this world. I am a mother, a wife and a cake decorator! Naomi’s: CakesDecor Profile | Facebook Page

Interview

How did you first get started with cake decorating?
The very first cake I ever decorated was for my best friend when I was 19. There were five of us living in a small two bedroom apartment, living away from home for the first time. I didn’t own a mixer or cake pans, but I did have an icing bag and a star tip, go figure, lol. I baked a box mix cake in three flat bottomed metal bowls that I had and mixed them with one of those smoothie drink blender. After they baked I put them together in the shape of a Mickey Mouse head and decorated it star tip style with chocolate and vanilla buttercream that I mixed by hand. I used KoolAid to colour the icing red for his tongue. I’m still very proud of that cake.

After that I made my daughter’s birthday cakes by searching the Wilton Yearbook and just following the directions. It wasn’t until February 2010 that I finally took my first Wilton cake course with some friends. Of course one turned into two and then a third. I was hooked!

What has been your greatest challenge?
I think my greatest challenge has been to recognize my limitations of how much I can take on. I have a hard time saying no and for the first couple of years I found it very difficult to do and so I would take on more than I could comfortably handle. After a few occasions where I just didn’t go to bed, I had to come to terms with the fact that I needed to say no. I’m much better at it now, lol.

What is the most rewarding part of cake decorating?
Besides the obvious, the reaction that people have to what I have created, I think my own satisfaction in creating something from a piece of cake and fondant and icing. Molding and shaping it into something beautiful. I find it so relaxing and it has given me a confidence in myself that I think I lacked before. I know have this sense of I did this, I made this, I have worth.

Could you give some tips to people who have just started decorating cakes or would love to start?
Just do it! Get in there and play and find joy in the discovery of what you can do! It’s like children playing with Playdoh. They don’t worry that it’s a perfect replica of a rabbit or whatever they are making, they enjoy the process!

How did you find CakesDecor.com and what is it that keeps you coming back?
Truthfully I’m not sure where I saw it first. Probably on the Facebook pages of either Mayen, Peggy or Ann-Marie. I love that it’s like a little community and I’ve met some really great friends through CakesDecor and I am constantly blown away by all the talented people who are members. I also love that it’s easy to use!

Which one of your cakes is your favourite?
That is such a tough decision. Each time I make a cake I think it might be my favourite, but if I have to choose I think I would choose the First Communion cake that I did for Antonia because of the gum paste flowers. I have found that I love making gum paste flowers!

What’s been the biggest surprise in all of this for you?
I think the biggest surprise for me is the recognition that I get for what I do. I never would have imagined that there would be people from all over the world who would be interested in what I’m creating in the kitchen or that I would be published in Cake Central Magazine or even asked to do this interview.

To me I’ll always be a stay-at-home Mom who has an interesting hobby. I have a wonderful husband and daughter and I get to do something that I find to be very fulfilling. I’m very lucky!

Thank you so much for your time Naomi.

Some of Naomi’s Cakes

Next milestone is 10 000 Members. When? Take a guess and win!

Rules:

• Post a comment to this thread with your guess, when we will reach the 10 000 members on CakesDecor
• Use this format: month/day/year
• Each member can post only one guess
• Member of the guess which will be the closest to the day, when we’ll reach the 50 000 cakes, wins!
• If there are two or more exactly the same guesses, the one which is posted sooner, wins!

You can win our T-shirt

Have fun!

What can I tell you about me as cake maker, decorator and photographer? My name is Michelle Rea and my home is in Sydney Australia. A long time ago I was a pastry chef but most of my recipe development experience comes from working in the food manufacturing field. Working for some of Australia’s leading food companies taught me the importance of having a recipe that works every time. I have also been food editor for the Australian Country Collections and Rick Rutherfords Country magazines. This I called my fifteen minutes of fame! I can still remember how proud I was when the first issue containing my recipes came out. I was responsible for the concept, the recipes and choosing the location and props for the photo shoots. It was a fabulous time that really stretched my creativity. Michelle’s: Facebook Page | Website

Interview

How did you first get started with cake decorating?
My mother always decorated cakes so it was naturally something I thought everyone did. My first real decorated cakes were part of my training as a pastry chef where we had to complete two and three tiers as part of our assessment. It was something I really enjoyed and the fact that I one both awards probably helped!

What has been your greatest challenge?
In cake decorating I would have to say it is not the actually decorating but finding the time to fit everything in. I have a completely unbalanced life where it is 90% to do with cakes. Whether it is designing, creating, teaching or just the mundane aspects of buying supplies and paperwork my life revolves around cakes.

What is the most rewarding part of cake decorating?
That is easy to answer – the smiles the cakes put on people’s faces!

Could you give some tips to people who have just started decorating cakes or would love to start?
For someone hoping to start a business my best advice and one that occasionally I need to remind myself of is not to worry about what everyone else is doing. Just be yourself and spend more time listening to your clients than to what is trendy or happening on social media. There is only one successful cake and that is the one that you create that mirrors what your customer envisioned for their occasion.
For the first timer my advice is Just Do It! It really is not that difficult and no one knows what you thought it was going to look like, they just see someone who has taken the time to make something for them.
My favourite students are first time Mums making their child’s cake – that is so wonderful because children will always remember their Mum making their birthday cakes and they don’t care what it looks like they just see that you made it for them. Well that is until they become teenagers then it can be a painful process!!

How did you find CakesDecor.com and what is it that keeps you coming back?
One of my most memorable students is Raewyn the face of cakes decor. She is the one that introduced me to Cakes Decor and since then I have found it to be such a positive space in the cake decorating world.

Which one of your cakes is your favourite?
That is also an easy answer – it is actually the one that is in my sketch book yet to be created. There is a cake I have designed that says everything about me and what I love most about cake decorating. The only problem is, it is about 6 months full time work and as I currently do 100 hour weeks it is still very much a sketch. One day when I get the balance right I will start work on it – actually for anyone that follows me on Facebook it is the reason I bought those 400 petal dusts at Cake International last year.

What’s been the biggest surprise in all of this for you?
I am constantly surprised that people know who I am. I work in my little studio in Australia trying to keep to myself and yet people all over the world know my work! I have to say that I absolutely love it and many people have now become my friends which is even more wonderful as we get to meet on my travels. I have to say, just before I decided to make cakes my life, I was quite cynical about the world and now all I can say is I am constantly amazed at just how many truly, truly amazing, generous people there are in this world that make cakes.

You have been teaching in the UK and Europe recently, what have been your best and the most challenging experiences?
The best would be the actual travelling side as that is my first passion but putting faces to names is really a wonderful side to it. Plus I guess the fact that people actually wanted to learn from me, that puts the biggest smile on my face and something I’m still not used to. The most challenging is just a small thing – the fact that we do not have a universal cake language. Sugarpaste/fondant, can use a wooden rolling pin/ can’t use a wooden rolling pin and even yes you can use cornflour/ no you cannot use cornflour. The one thing that really worries me is that it is safe to use some food colours in one country and not in another – surely it is safe or it isn’t. The other challenging, probably more frustrating thing is flying in and out of a country with no time to actually see anything!

What do you enjoy most about teaching?
Meeting people is the most enjoyable thing about teaching. Sometimes cake decorating can be quite isolating so to get together with a group that loves the same things as you is always enjoyable. There is a lesson I learnt from one of my pastry teaches all those years ago and it is something I live by “there is no such word as can’t” it is so nice to see a student’s face when they realise they can!

You’re so busy; it must be hard to get time to create new things, what inspires your new designs?
Anything and everything around me including my students. I see the world as a cake design. Whether it is the colour combinations in a top someone is wearing on the train to walking through a gallery and looking up at the ceiling and seeing the design detailing. If you asked me what frustrates me the most it is not having time to create for me. I often think I do not have a style that really shows what I love about decorating cakes because what everyone sees is what I have created for others. If I ever won the lottery I would take a year off and just play with cakes and turn my sketch book to life.

If you could pick just one, which would be the decorating tool you just can’t live without?
The tool I use most and probably on just about every cake is the double ended wheel cutter – I love it!

You are a Cake Idol to so many people around the world…do you have a Cake Idol?
Reading this question made me laugh!!!! I really don’t see myself that way. To be honest it’s only since I started teaching that I have become aware of “the cake world” but there are few that I do admire. The first would be Peggy Porschen because I really admire that she has put a value on what she does. We are our own worst enemies when it comes to valuing our cakes. There not many professions that work for so little and it is our own fault. I admire that she has created a brand that is professional in every aspect and without question.
Another group that I admire is the Hall of Fame cake decorators I met at ICES a few years ago. You could not meet a more generous and giving group of ladies that actively build this profession and lead the way in new ideas and techniques. They left a lasting positive impression on me that really changed the way I look at what I want to achieve in this cake world.
I love cake decorators that make me think differently. I took a class with Karen Portaleo and what she did with an airbrush completely changed my way of thinking. I love anyone that does sugar flowers as that is what I love to make the most and the one thing I have the least amount of time to do.

You were one of the very first to make free tutorials available on YouTube. Most people are unaware that you suffered a bit of a backlash from those who felt this knowledge shouldn’t be freely shared. Can you tell us about your experience and what positives you took from such adversity?
There have been two incidences where I was so hurt that I thought of closing my business and this was one of them. Some time ago I put the very simple videos on how to make ganache, how to ganache a cake and how to cover a ganached cake on YouTube. I received a very nasty email claiming that “How dare I” “I was going to ruin all the businesses in Australia” and “I must take them down”. Unfortunately it came at the busiest time of the week so I could not answer straight away and to be honest I was really shocked and taken aback by it all. The other thing I should add is that this was right at the beginning of me starting my business and my business had started purely as a way of coping with the most devastating time in my life. I was working incredible hours as I needed every single cent to stay afloat so I was not ever going to intentionally do something to hurt my business or anyone else’s. By the time I did go to reply she had already sent this email to many others as my inbox was filled with people telling me to ignore her – so I did not even reply. The positive thing is that I chose to keep doing what I do and the funny thing is that when I started teaching, I teach exactly the same thing in those videos as the beginners class and people still come to the class and most of them have actually watched the videos and this is in Australia and overseas.

Can you tell us one thing from your Cake Decorating Bucket List? Something you dream about and hope
to achieve…
On a really boring practical side it would to be to actually earn enough to have a life that is not all about cakes!!
On the dream side it would be able to have the time to create a cake that is about me and puts the biggest smile on my face and have the world fall in love with it (I have always dreamed big!!!)

Michelle, you have some amazing news soon to be announced, what can you tell us?
Oh! Oh! Oh! How I wish I could. I’m busting to tell everyone but I have signed a contract that stops me. It is something that I know the cake world is going to love no matter what style of cake you like creating. I’m only a very small part of it but I was so thrilled to be asked.

Thank you so much for your time Michelle and also thank you Raewyn for doing this interview.

Some of Michelle’s Cakes

Every week(2/19, 2/26, 3/5) one random winner will get a copy° of Cake 101 DVD and Cake 102 DVD from Pink Cake Box: http://university.pinkcakebox.com/

Giveaway duration: February 2 – March 5

° US and Canadian winners will get physical copy, International winners will get an online copy

Good luck!

Daily Top 3 Widget

Once you make it to the Daily Top 3, you will get a link to new Daily Top 3 Widget in the notification email. Feel free to share it on your blog, website or facebook page.

Editor’s Choice Widget

If your cake is chosen as an Editor’s Choice, you will get a link to new Eidtor’s Choice Widget in the notification email. Feel free to share it on your blog, website or facebook page.

Enjoy!

The results are in and it’s time to officially announce the winners of the CakesDecor Quarterly Awards - Winter 2013.

There were 177 entries posted in the Ruffles category, 99 votes were cast during this period. I’m really glad that we beat the number of entries, but what I’m really proud of, is that there were more than 2 times more votes than the previous awards. Thank you all and I hope that next time there will be more votes than entries. And here are the winning cakes…

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Winner – $200 Cash Prize and Custom Apron from Calli

88 points

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Runner Up – $50 Cash Prize and Custom Apron from Calli

85 points

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One Random Draw Winner – Custom Apron from Calli

• Oriettabasso

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Click here to see the complete results

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And following are the three lucky winners of the CakesDecor Apron (randomly selected from all the voters):

• Tatyana Cakes
• HomemadeSweetLove
• ValeSugarWonderLand

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Congratulations! I’m going to PM the prize winners shortly.

Big thank you to all the amazing cake decorators who submitted cakes in this awards!

Awards entry period is over and we ended up with 177 amazing entries in ‘Ruffles’ category. Now it’s time to pick your top 5 list and cast your votes. Voting deadline is on January 31, 2013 at 6 PM GMT .

Please note that if you submitted an Awards entry, you will not see your cake listed on the voting page. (You are not allowed to vote for yourself.) So don’t panic – others can pick your entry without any problems.

The results will be announced on February 1, 2013.

Click on the VOTE AND WIN button on the Awards pages to cast your votes and three lucky random voters will win the CakesDecor Apron.

GOOD LUCK!

Bio

The last thing I ever thought I’d ever be doing is baking and creating cakes as for the majority of my life I have been a Graphic Artist working in all kind of Commercial fields ranging from Textile Designing to the contrast of running a CAD studio for a large Computer Company in South Africa.. My hobbies were extension of that so would dabble in pottery painting, book illustrations, photography and medical drawings.

I was born in London and the eldest of 3 girls. My parents moved to Kenya and from there my African journey started aged 3. I was educated in Kenya, Tanzania and Zimbabwe (Rhodesia back in the day) . I moved to South Africa after I graduated from Art College, married and had 3 sons who are now young men with great careers. I am very proud of them. I am also a grandmother of 2 grandsons that I just adore!!! I have been married 3 times, not something I am proud of, but got it right 3rd time and met my soul mate Martin. I believe marriage is a wonderful institution and have the greatest admiration for long and successful marriages I see around me.

From a young girl you would find me sketching. My prize possessions were my colouring in books that I kept meticulously. I think my tendency to be a perfectionist started there as all these pictures I coloured-in had to be neat and even and no going out the lines. I even loved handling and touching my crayons…I giggle when thinking about it now. I had no intention of being an artist and viewed this as a hobby only. From around the age of 9, I was playing the piano at school and doing my grades. At Grade 3 I won the Junior Cup for our school via The Trinity College of London, this changed the hobby into a career to be developed as a Concert Pianist. This was all-consuming and subsequently never did an art lesson at school, or cookery lesson, or sewing lesson or played sport… it was dedicated music & practise all the way to Grade 9… but the time I had reached my last year at school, I then realised this was not for me, much to my mother’s horror as it came without warning my intentions to stop. As there was nothing on the horizon for me to do before I hit the outside
world in 6 months, my mother urgently sent me off for career assessment and the artistic side came out. S here I was in the last 6 months of school, taking up art lessons for my O’Levels (School Leaving Certificate) … that was a challenge!!! I passed and went and studied Commercial Art but sure had my work cut out to catch up with everyone else. My artist’s career lasted for 26 years. I did become disillusioned by the exploitation the Commercial world demanded of me and so bailed out to look for a different career. I came to the UK and took up administration which led me to Facilities Management which I LOVED. I did not do anything arty for 10 years until a friend of mine persuaded me to illustrate his book… I was reluctant, but did it and enjoyed it… but really, it was my wonderful husband who finally won though in persuading me to stop this rat race I was in and get back to my creative roots which started with a couple of oil paintings and then down went the canvas and up came the icing sheet as my new “Canvas” to create on.

From the first cake I decorated 3 years ago, to date, I have lived and breathed this fabulous confection of delights!! I must bore people as I am such an addict… it is the most fulfilling, satisfying joyful, creative thing I have ever done. I have been able to express myself though my cakes.

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Interview

How did you first get started with cake decorating?

It all started when my youngest son was turning 30 and my husband and I travelled to Malta where he lived and I made my first designed cake. It was a chocolate ganache with an African theme, as my son is South African… I look back on it with such fondness and pride as the cake made my son so happy he took it to the restaurant to have it displayed there for his party. It was the joy it brought my son that really kicked me into action so off to cake classes I went on a Monday night for 2 hours for 6 weeks course… I landed up doing 4 of them. I call Ange (www.Authneticake.co.uk ) my mentor as I got so much encouragement from her and she is now a very good friend of mine. In 2010, I joyfully made a wedding cake for my middle son and that we me totally hooked after that with no looking back.

What has been your greatest challenge?

Without doubt, it was my first official wedding cake order in December 2012. It took so much planning and administration not just in construction but in time-management as well as I had to fit Christmas into this, along with home renovations too. It was a challenge, but I have to say I loved every bit of it. I drew up some sketch ideas of what the bride-to-be required and she loved it, so winning me the commission. It was for a high profile venue in London… yes, MORE challenges… and assembling the cake on site for 6 hours (with onlookers ) was terrifying. I survived and the bride and groom were so happy and have had wonderful feedback from her guests too. I got great feedback on the taste which is so important.

What is the most rewarding part of cake decorating?

Without a doubt, the smile, the wide eyes and the joy it brings others… it is like an aphrodisiac for me and how wonderful it would be to be able to bottle it… it would make a fortune!! I love giving and my mother used to call me “little friend of all the world” for just that reason… there is no price for that smile and the joy that a cake can bring… A kind photographer sent me some photos of the reactions to some christening cupcakes I made a few months ago.. it made me cry to see these excited faces…that frozen moment put to frame.

When people feedback on yumminess, I am delighted as after all, the visual sensation is one thing, but it HAS to taste good too and I work hard on perfecting taste.

Lastly, I LOVE to teach and so wish I had the facilities to do this and dream one day I will be able to. I have taught one-to-one and have got so much satisfaction out of that especially when the student has a Eureka moment in seeing their self-doubt melt away…. Fantastic!!! I have some online tutorials planned for later on this year as it is a great way to share knowledge.

Could you give some tips to people who have just started decorating cakes or would love to start?

If you have the desire and inspiration and eagerness…… then DO it… as this is your fuel to launch you forwards with the rest happening along the way…

I am not qualified in cake decorating, I have learnt skills from Ange (mentioned earlier) then also loads of source books and references I get off You Tube and Google too.. I watch tutorials and learn from other fellow decorators I see on Facebook pages and here as well on CakesDecor’s fabulous website. I have put myself on 3 weekend workshops to learn more on modelling and absorb all I can from these experienced professionals. I am also a member of The British Sugarcraft Guild and attend meetings where professionals come and do demos and share their knowledge. So all in all… these have helped me….

PRACTISE!!! Make cakes for everyone!!! That way you build skills. It is so important that you have fun and treat it as a joyful experience. It is part of that gift of giving.

How did you find CakesDecor.com and what is it that keeps you coming back?

I found it though the wonderful talented “ Rock Cakes”. I saw it on her page months ago. I had a look at CakesDecor website and loved the wide range of cakes and designers that were on there, with the additions of tutorials, blogs and so much sharing and support for each other. I visit it every day now and really enjoy following people’s growth. The competitions themes are such a great idea and keep me interested and keen to follow, even though unable to enter as yet. I have gained more knowledge from looking at the tutorials people so generously share. I was honored when you asked me to do aprons as prizes for winners and delighted what winners say when they win one.

Which one of your cakes is your favourite?

Tough call as each one has a story and love attached to it… I think my wedding cake I made for my son’s wedding is high on the list as it was my first big cake and what really kick started me onto the path of creative cakes. I can still see my daughter-in-law’s face when she looked at her cake with head in hands and tears in her eyes saying “look at our cake!” … That was an emotional and joyful moment for me… I have had many more since then.

What’s been the biggest surprise in all of this for you?

The biggest surprise is how my cakes have been so well received. I am humbled. I see so much talent that comes out of peoples kitchens all the way up to the experienced professionals. But by far the biggest and most heart-warming surprise is the incredible support I have had from my family and friends. It was my ex-boss who came up with the name of my company whilst we walked around a lake one day… it was my nephew who set up my website and then my eldest son Warren who took it over and spent many long hours in his spare time and after work in the evenings enhancing and making additions etc… he designed my logo and business cards and even set up my Facebook page in 2011 which I did very little on until May 2012. I have sure met loads of fabulous talented people and have forged great friendships too. Warren says “you’re a legend mom” …My other 2 sons have also been involved and so supportive with advice and putting the word out there. Robert has helped me to raise money for “Teenagers with Cancer Trust” though raffling my cakes. He put a lot of time and effort into advertising for this worthy cause. My family tell me they are proud of me and that makes me feel so special as I am dead proud of them too.

The biggest kudos though, has to go to my husband Martin as it was he that made me stop my day
job to get back to creativity. He has a t-shirt with his favourite cake on and it says “I love Callicious
Cakes”

Without him I could never have thought of venturing into this wonderful world of confection.

Some of Calli’s Cakes

Thank you Calli for your time ;)

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2012 year will be over soon and it’s time to launch our CakesDecor Winter Awards. Go ahead and enter the competition by submitting you Ruffle Themed Cake.

The rules are simple and, like everything else at CakesDecor, there’s no fee to enter. The best part of this competition? There will be no designated jury of experts. You and your fellow cake decorators will cast the votes. This creates a truly democratic voting process from our exceptional cake decorating community.

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Category – Ruffles

A strip of frilled or closely pleated fondant used for a decoration. Ruffles are always a great addition to the cake, making it more stylish and elegant. No matter if it’s a fashion inspired wedding cake or a birthday cake for young girl – If it contains ruffles, it should definitely be submitted to our Ruffles Awards.

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Prizes

• Winner – $200 Cash Prize & Hand-painted Apron
• Runner-Up – $50 Cash Prize & Hand-painted Apron
• One Winner (random draw) – Hand-painted Apron

Cash prize winners must be able to accept the PayPal payment.

Wonderful hand-painted aprons will be made by Calli from Callicious Cakes.

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Entry opens on January 1, 2013 at 11 AM and ends on January 24, 2013 at 6 PM GMT.

Please help us Spread the Word by clicking on your favorite social networking button on the Awards page .

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Good luck and have fun!