Sugar Pansies

Lauren and I started our second Wilton class last night.  We used gumpaste for the first time to make pansies.  After seeing the pansy picture in the class book I must say that I was not really excited.  It seemed like a nice enough pansy, but something wasn't quite right.  Our instructor made the sample flower and I must say it looked much prettier in person than in the pictures.  So we proceeded to make our pansies and this was the result:

The pretty one on the left is my daughter's.  The sad, cracked one on the right...yep, that's mine.  Well, let me just say that I was a little devastated.  Ready to throw in the towel on this crazy cake business talk.  Who was I kidding?!? I couldn't even make a simple gumpaste pansy. *Sigh*

After a long, cranky night, I woke up determined to try this pansy again.  I looked online for some photos of real ones and realized what was missing from the flower.  I carefully constructed a few new flowers and I think they are much improved.  I am happy once again and ready to take on more flowers.  Bring on the roses! And the peonies and carnations, too! 

Real Pansy

My new and improved pansy

The missing part was the darker center area. I painted it with purple food coloring.  I think it looks much better now. Not perfect, but better.     

First Cakes

I must say I love my Wilton class.  I went in thinking that maybe it would be a waste of time and that with enough practice I could do this on my own.  But I figured that if I was going to have any credentials for this biz I should have some type of training to show that I was serious.  Well, I learned quite a bit and had fun doing it, especially since my daughter, Lauren, was taking the class with me.  Our instructor was terrific and a great resource.  Happy to say she will be teaching our next two classes.  Yay! 

Here are our first all buttercream cakes.  Lauren's is the fish, and mine is the cupcake.  I think they turned out super cute! 

Welcome

Welcome to Sweet Mia's blog! Sweet Mia's is a home-based cake and cupcake bakery. Tired of sitting at a desk and being someone's assistant, I am giving up the business world for fondant and frosting. Follow along with me as I learn cake decorating techniques and skills, but be forewarned it may not always be pretty. :)

My first step is to complete the Wilton courses at my local Joann's store. I just completed the Basic course and start "Flowers and Cake Design" this week. September will be my final course which focuses on fondant, I think. The first three Wilton courses combined with books, blogs and videos will be a good foundation for my business. Plus lots and lots of practice!

I do have a tendency to get side-tracked on other projects, so I really need all the support (and occassional push) I can get. I also do some sewing and scrapbooking. Not being at a full-time job is messing with my time-manangement skills because I have more time to manage and think that I can put things off. Focus, Kate, focus!!!

Thanks and I hope you all will enjoy my blog.