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Hi! Thanks for visiting my website. Naturally I am Charlotte and I live in California with my husband, Daniel, and we have 2 lovely children -- Matt and Shaina. Cake decorating has been a hobby of mine long before any of them ever became a part of my life. Having always been interested in any kind of arts and crafts, I have tried so many things -- like crocheting, macrame, embroidery, quilting, dried flower arranging (even on driftwood), and oil painting to name a few. Although I enjoy doing these things, after a while the interest tends to die out or you run out of space or people to give your crafts to. This has not been the case with cake decorating. It is as fun and interesting to me today as it was when I took my first lesson back in the early 70's. I used to live in Pasadena, Ca. and often shopped in the nearby town of La Canada. There I kept passing a store, named "Create a Cake", whose display window was filled with the most beautiful cakes. It turned out that it was not only a supply store for cake decorating, but they also gave classes in that art. The only problem was that they had a one year waiting list for new students as no one ever wanted to drop out of the classes. My cousin and I signed up and finally the day came that our names came up and I could begin learning how to decorate cakes. At the time, it was just "another" or different artistic craft for me to get into or try. I was told that for my first lesson to bring a cake baked in the large dome pan, what tips I would be needing, how much frosting to make (they gave their recipe), and all the other information about what one needed to bring to decorate a cake. It turned out to be a 2 hour class, meeting once a week, though we often went into overtime (at no extra charge) and each week we decorated a cake. For my first cake I was to make a basket full of flowers, hopefully looking like the model sitting in the middle of the work table. So my first lesson was learning how to do the basketweave and make roses, mums, and large drop flowers. (Click on first picture of the Misc.-Gen. cakes page to see the kind we made.) On the blackboard would be written what we were to bring for the next class so we all came ready and prepared to make a cake like the model, never knowing what it would be until we arrived. There was really no starting point in these classes; one just made the cake for that week and on it went. The main focus was not even on decorating a cake but rather on teaching us how to use the tips in a variety of ways. Not too long after I started, they changed their policy so that after 3 months of classes you had to sign up again. This gave others the chance to learn and enjoy this art as well. If I remember correctly, I took classes for about 1 1/2 years and then went on my own, even teaching a few others over the years. Cake decorating has now been a hobby of mine for over 30 some years. Since I don't eat or keep the cakes, this has proven to be a very rewarding and enjoyable art. I call it "self-theraphy" for I not only use my creative and artistic talents, in a way that is all my own, but it is also a good way to release my emotions as I work out the designs for each cake. Then seeing the joy and appreciation of the finished project makes the time and effort all worthwhile. Sometimes I am criticized for taking too long or spending too much time on a cake. I just tell them to leave me alone, that as long as I am enjoying myself then it doesn't really matter how long I take. It is my choice and decision how much time and effort I want to put into decorating a cake. That is the fun part to me. The baking, making frosting, and clean up is the work part. Most of the time, I do my decorating at night when the others are already in bed so I can work undisturbed. My family is usually okay with my cakes, understanding that they can't have "a slice" of the decorated cake but the cupcakes drive them nuts. They can't understand why they can't have "just one" when there are so many. My children have long learned not to touch mommy's cakes, just look -- and do they ever, so longingly too! Of course there was the time when Matt was 4 years old that he thought he'd help mommy's cake look prettier by squirting hot sauce all over the finished cake. Mommy wasn't too thrilled at having to scrape clean and redo the decorating. Once when he was about 5 years old, he asked me, "Mommy, why do you keep giving our cakes away?" so since then I have tried to make a small one for the family whenever I have a cake order. Now they don't feel deprived and can enjoy my hobby more. The pictures you see on the following pages are just some of the cakes I have done throughout the years. I don't always take a picture and there are times I don't have a camera to use, but here are some that I have taken. (The pink Easter basket and the Christmas tree are two that we did in class). All the flowers and drawings or designs are done in soft frosting and/or royal icing. Guess you can call my cakes "Traditional" as they aren't done with rolled fondant and/or gumpaste. At least not yet. Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed making these cakes. Click on the pictures to see a larger view.
There's no guest book because of those who pollute such with their lack of taste and manners. Thanks for looking..
 New: Panoramic Sugar Creations Book
Other Cake Decorators and Food Links....  coneofakind06@sbcglobal.net
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