Postcards from San Diego

On the eve of the first day of September, I can barely keep up with all that has passed in August!

Early on this month, my family and I traveled for the first time to California to attend the ICES Convention in San Diego. WOW - can I just say I LOVE California!! Palm trees - EVERYWHERE! The weather was gorgeous every day - it was a much needed break! Besides the convention, my family & I were able to enjoy the sites - visiting the San Diego Zoo, SeaWorld & LegoLand!

The convention was amazing - not only were there some great demos and displays, but all the amazing things to see and buy in the vendor room was a much added bonus! Keep your eyes out for new items coming soon to the store!

My all time favourite part of convention is catching up with old friends and meeting up with new ones! My first day in the vendor room I never saw a single thing for all the socializing I was doing! ;) I had the pleasure to finally meet in person my dear friend Debbie Goard of Debbie Does Cakes. And right after meeting her, I was introduced to Wayne & Chuck from Swank Cake Design. We started to walk around the show only to bump into Becky Rink from About the Cake and Sharon Zambito of SugarEd Productions.

And if that wasn't enough, that evening I joined my amazing sugar friends for a great Mexican dinner in Old Town - Minette Rushing, Jacqueline Butler, Tandra Watkins & Tracy Auseklis. Best margaritas ever!!

The following day was my day for demos - amongst the many I attended were Stop to Smell the Sugar Flowers with the talented James Rosselle and Character Sculpting with the adorable Lauren Kitchens. Anyone who attended the packed demo was in for a major treat - not only was the subject so fun - but it was a star studded room! Lauren demonstrated her techniques for creating creative characters from structure & modeling chocolate - her subject - James Rosselle aka James Rosecake! Don't miss out when Lauren comes to Flour Confections in February to teach her techniques in person!!

photos courtesy of Lauren Kitchens

That evening I had another fabulous dinner at Searsucker with an amazing group of talented people - all aboard the hot tamale train!!!! But that's another story....

Farewell San Diego - I hope to see you again very soon!

3D Bulldog with Bronwen Weber

August has been a busy month - travel, cakes, classes - oh my!

The day after Bronwen's demo in support of the MS Society, we hosted 2 classes.

The first was a 3D carved bulldog complete with lessons on airbrushing techniques. Students watched in awe as Bronwen demonstrated how 3 half sheet cakes quickly became a cute bulldog perfect for any birthday! Bronwen is a natural teacher and has a way of making everyone at ease - those that were terrified to pick up the knife were quickly carving away without fear. It was amazing to watch all these dogs come to life!

getting ready to make the first cut

cake anyone??

One of the highlights of the class (besides our famous signature cookies!) was to see Bronwen in action doing what she does best. Using fondant and her hands, she quickly "pulled a face" on her dog - amazing to watch!

After all the dogs were covered with fondant, out came the airbrushes so that students could learn how to control the gun and ways of blending colour. Once confident, students started to give colour to their dogs.

learning how to airbrush

putting on the finishing touches

who let the dogs out??

Bronwen's BACK!

Last year as part of our celebrity guest series, we had the privilege of hosting 2 fabulous classes with Bronwen Weber. Well, she and Francois had such a fabulous time (as did we) that they wanted to make it an annual event!

And now it's that time of year again - Bronwen Weber is here!!! Today we hosted a special event for the ICES chapter of Ontario and for the MS Society of Canada. Bronwen & Francois graciously donated their time to do a demonstration with all proceeds going to the MS Society.

Today's demo: A carved dragon in 1 hour!

Using 2 1/2 sheets, some buttercream, fondant, a knife and an imagination - Bronwen took us through the process and how NOT to fear carving cake!

Attendees were in awe of how quickly a sheet of cake became a cute & creative dragon!

Bronwen demonstrates how you need VERY fancy tools to create details in your cake!

Now for a touch of colour...

A few more final details.....

TA - DA!! A fun loving dragon anyone would love to receive!

Thank you so much Bronwen & Francois for an amazing demonstration. Together we raised over $850 for the MS Society of Canada!

Off to San Diego

On Wednesday my family & I will be off to San Diego California to attend the ICES convention - we are so excited to be seeing our friends and finding out what is new in the world of sugar!

Upon our return, we will be hosting classes with Bronwen Weber but we will be sure to keep you posted to any exciting new finds!

While we are away, the store will still be open for business - both in store and on-line - so don't despair!

Lots more exciting things happening in the coming months ....stay tuned.....

Bronwen's Comin Back!

Things never stop here at Flour Confections!

On the heels of our last guest class with Lorraine McKay, we have a short break, a quick trip to the ICES convention in San Diego, then right into classes with the fabulously fun duo Bronwen Weber & Francois Long of Frosted Art Bakery.

Last year we hosted 2 classes with Bronwen - Airbrushing Skills & a 3D Standing Clown. Our classes were hugely successful and everyone walked away with amazing creations! Bronwen had such as wonderful time last year, that she wanted to return again.

This year we will have 2 more fabulous classes:

On Monday August 23rd Bronwen will be teaching how to sculpt freehand a bulldog out of cake! She will then teach her tips & tricks to icing a 3 dimensional piece, covering with fondant and bringing it to life with an airbrush. Anyone who fears the knife won't want to miss this class! For more information or to register online, please visit our website. Space is limited!

class: http://www.flourconfections.ca/shop/carved-bull-dog-with-bronwen-weber-p-1645.html

On Tuesday August 24th Bronwen will be back to teach her gravity defying Caddy Wampus cake! Each student will receive the stand TO KEEP! You won't want to miss this class - not only will you learn how to construct these show stopping cakes, you will also learn a wide variety of side designs - 16 different techniques! For more information or to register online, please visit our website. Space is limited!

class: http://www.flourconfections.ca/shop/caddy-wampus-cake-with-bronwen-weber-p-1646.html

And we have another special treat! Last year Bronwen graciously donated her time to offer a free demonstration in support of the food bank. We raised over 200 lbs of food!!!

This year we decided we wanted to give back yet again. On Sunday August 22nd, Flour Confections in conjunction with the Ontario ICES Day of Sharing, Bronwen will be offering another free demonstration in support of the MS Society. Seating is limited. To reserve your seat, you must register in advance with a $20 donation, with all proceeds going directly to the MS Society.

To register, please complete the attached form and forward to Flour Confections via fax or post. As seating is limited, forms/donations will be time stamped in the order in which they were received. Please ensure that all forms are completed properly and donations are included at the time of registration.

Form: http://www.flourconfections.ca/shop/DOSAugust222010.pdf

August is gonna be HOT! We hope to see you all soon!

Sugar Figures with Lorraine McKay!

What a fabulous last few days at Flour Confections!

We had the privilege to host the extremely talented & funny Lorraine McKay of The Icing on the Cake. Students were treated to two classes, the famous "Bride & Groom" and "Claire" AKA "Girl's Best Friend". Lorraine took us through the step by step process of creating her fabulous & charming characters, and all the while she kept us laughing.

On the Sunday, students were welcome to coffee, tea & juice before settling in to learn how to create a stunning bride & groom topper. As always, all tools were supplied, students were only asked to bring a willingness to learn!

students Monja & Nancy working on their brides


Lorraine took us through the step by step process of creating a standing bride and a sitting groom -it was wonderful seeing each character come to life!

Lorraine working on her famous faces


On the Tuesday, students learned how to create a charming topper called "Girls best friend" - a sitting girl complete with a pair of cute little dogs.

Student Siobhan (who attended both classes) putting some of the finishing touches on her figure

Lorraine helping a student with the finer details

And like all good things, the fun ended way too soon! Lorraine is now safely back in Scotland, but has plans to return in 2012!!

Thank you Lorraine for some wonderful classes!

Lorraine McKay is crossing the pond!!!

We are excited that Lorraine McKay of Scotland will be crossing the pond tomorrow as her sold out classes are taking place this coming Sunday & Tuesday!

Lorraine is a very talented sugar artist who specializes in fabulous figure models. If you are not familiar with her work, you need to check out her website. She will be teaching her famous Bride & Groom class along with "Claire" as seen in the image above. Students will learn how Lorraine gives life and personality to her sugar figures.

She travels around the world to teach her craft, and she is finally coming to Canada!! Lorraine and I have been friends for several years now, so I'm very excited to finally be able to meet her in person.

Class pictures will be posted soon - so stay tuned!