Early Birds...Are You Ready?

I thought I would put out one last reminder for all of you that are thinking of going to the ICES Convention in August. Early Bird registration begins tomorrow at 11am and continues until June 1, 2011. But the earlier you register, the better your chances are of getting into the hands-on classes and demonstrations that you want to attend before the seats sell out! Also, registering early gives you the cheapest rates into the convention, even cheaper if you are an ICES member! Check out the ICES website for all the information....and get ready for a whole lot of fun!!!

Time for Spring Cleaning

I know most of you couldn't make it to the last meeting...so here's a short version of what you missed. We had a new member, Natasha, join us...YAY for new members! We shared delicious cheesecake treats, made a leprechaun hat cupcake topper, and talked about all the upcoming events, which you can find on our events page.

The major event that we are all excited about is the ICES Convention! It is held in early August, BUT the registration starts in just 3 days. So, if you aren't a member of ICES yet, it's time to get your rear into action!!!

Some other exciting news...at our next meeting we will be having a "Spring Cleaning Sale"! Jane has offered to sell plenty of "impulse buys" that she doesn't need, still in their original packaging. Lucky us! If you have any supplies or tools that have been sitting around your house, and you'd like to do some spring cleaning yourself, please bring them to sell. Or if you just want to see what everyone else has to offer, join us for a mini shopping spree! Start saving some extra cash for our next meeting, March 31st.

Hope to see you all then!

Meeting on Thursday!

Another month is almost gone, and you know what that means....our monthly meeting is upon us! Our next meeting is this Thursday, February 24 at 7pm at our usual place, the South Mandarin Library. 

We will be having a "lucky" meeting, focusing on some fun ideas for St. Patrick's Day, like these cute little cupcake toppers from The Frosted Cake 'n' Cookie.

 There will also be some yummy treats to enjoy! 

Please let us know if you're able to make it to this meeting so there will be enough treats for everyone! You can comment on this post or send us an email.

Also, we are in need of items for our Hero Bakers March event. If you are able to provide anything, such as juvenile birthday cards, goody bags, or small items for the goody bags, please bring them to the meeting! Candy is okay too, just remember, no chocolate or nuts!

If you have looked at our events page lately, you know there is a lot going on in the cake world! We will be going over some of these events and info if you're interested in attending any of them.

And as always, if you want to share any of your recent sugar art, please be ready to show and tell!

Hope to see you all on Thursday!

Are You a Member?

Of  I.C.E.S., that is! I am! YAY! I just joined in order to get a discount admission price (registration starts March 1st!) to the Convention in August. But I will also be getting all the benefits of being an I.C.E.S. Member too, such as all the upcoming cake events, monthly newsletters and much more!

Speaking of cake events, there's plenty coming up if you are interested! First of all, the Panhandle Cake C.R.U.M.B.S. is having their cake competition this weekend, Saturday, the 19th. Then next week, on Thursday, the 24th, we are having our monthly SAGNFL meeting as well as the start of the Central Florida Fair, which features their own cake competition. The fair runs through March 6th and if you are down in Orlando that weekend, don't forget to stop by the Orlando Science Center for The Festival of Chocolate. How yummy does that sound?! 

Lots of events and information to remember. Check out the "Cake Events" tab for more info and links for all these events and future ones too!

Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

In honor of Valentine's Day (and because I've been super busy and didn't get to this earlier), I wanted to share the Valentine's Day Cake Challenge that took place last weekend. Cathy threw another great event at JoAnn's that brought in hundreds of on-lookers, lots of great cakes, and amazing goodie bags for the contestants! This time Cathy made the challenge a little more....well, challenging! There were 6 awards to be given away, two being People's Choice and Judge's Choice. The other categories were a surprise until the competition began. Fun stuff!







For the "Romantic Cake" category,  Marissa (the big winner from the last Challenge) won with a beautiful, flower and petal covered cake. She also made "lace" to border the middle tier. All very romantic!

The next was "Cupid's Cake". Tracee won this award with her hand-molded cupid shooting arrows on top of her lovely cake! The lips and hearts were a cute touch too!












The "Hugs and Kisses" cake was won by Jean with her Lovebots cake! Her figurines were adorable and her "X"s and "O"s were just perfect! I believe they were made of candy melts and covered with red, pink and white sprinkles. Too cute!

"People's Choice" went to Melanie for her awesome Valentine's cake! Her flowers looked amazingly realistic! Everything else was gorgeous too...the quilting, hearts and borders!





















Last, but not least, there was Rod's cake. He was another contestant from the last challenge. This time he took home the most prizes winning the "Red Red" category and also "Judge's Choice", which was chosen by Cathy along with Judy and  Jessica from our Guild! His carved cake with hanging and brush embroidery hearts won us all over! Great job, Rod! 
















Congratulations to all who entered! I know you all got some amazing prizes and cake goodies! And if you want to see all the pictures from the event, you can find them HERE! Can't wait to see what the next challenge will bring!

So, hopefully you all enjoyed my post (and also some chocolates, balloons, and/or hugs and kisses) with someone special today!

A Message From Our President!

Not that President, but our Guild's President, Jane!

 

Dear Guild Members,

This past weekend, Patrice did a demo on her "Celebration Masks" in Boca Raton at the Day of Sharing.  During that time we found out she has been selected and scheduled to do this demo at ICES (Convention) in August!!  Needless to say we are so thrilled for her.

Earlybird Registration is good from March 1 thru June, so be sure to take advantage of the reduced rates.  In the meantime, be sure to check the ICES website to look over the schedules for demonstrations and hands-on classes and have a "wish list" ready to go...otherwise you may not get a seat.  Here is the link:

http://ices11.org/Welcome.html

We will be staying at an Extended Stay and I booked a room for less than $70/nite, it can sleep 4-5 with no problem.  This is 6 miles from the Convention hotel,  Info is:

Hotel:
Homestead Studio Suites Charlotte - Coliseum

Location:
710 Yorkmont Rd. , Charlotte, NC 28217 

Due to the meetings and events a demonstrator is required to attend, we will be going up Wed, Aug 3 and coming back on Monday, Aug 8.  My car is loaded with her demo items, kits and luggage but we will consider carpooling if anyone wants to go in on renting a van - however our travel dates are not flexible. 

Ok, that's all I have right now.  Be sure to check the FLICES.org site for events in Florida between now and then, there is a June DOS coming up in Melbourne.

Remember... if you're interested in attending these events, don't wait until the last minute to make plans!!

Jane  

Seeing Red Yet?

One month has already passed this year...onto the next! I know for me, February is a busy month between birthdays and Valentine's Day? How about you...do you have any Valentine's Day plans? If you don't already have red hearts dancing through your head, and need some ideas for the special day, you can head out to JoAnn's at the St John's Town Center this weekend for the Valentine's Day Cake Challenge! Or if you just want to have fun, stop by to enjoy seeing new cake artists show off their recently acquired skills!

The event takes place this Saturday, February 5th, starting at 1:00pm through 4:00pm. The contestants will be decorating their cakes in front of the entire JoAnn's crowd. They will then be judged (by members of our Guild!) and prizes will be awarded. Don't miss out on this fun event! Hope to see you all there!!!