Petalsweet in Australia Part III

The adventure in Sydney continues...

After an incredible round of classes at Faye Cahill's studio (see my blog post Part II below), I had a few days to prepare for a small, private class with some very talented decorators from all around Sydney. The class was put together by the owners of Cake Couture Classes and we spent a lovely three days working on a number of different sugar flowers including gardenias, magnolias, peonies, ranunculus, filler flowers, and phalaenopsis orchids.

Lots of peony and magnolia petals drying:



Dusting and assembling flowers:



All of our completed flowers below...thank you the very kind and thoughtful Louise, Sharon and Lilia for hosting me and putting together a fabulous class!



The last two weeks in June I had the absolute pleasure of being hosted by the wonderful staff at Planet Cake in Balmain, Sydney. For those of you who are not familiar with their work, I encourage you to pop over to their site to see their amazing cakes and the incredible classes they offer. With highly skilled decorators who are also jaw-droppingly talented artists AND amazing instructors, and a wonderfully kind and organized team in the office, Planet Cake is a leader in the cake industry, and they also run the largest cake decorating school in Australia. Sound pretty fabulous? Yep - they are!

The Planet Cake studio can be found along a quaint street in Balmain, just a 10 minute ride outside the bustling city. Love their entrance and windows:



Upon arrival, I was greeted by the fabulous Jess and Leslie who ushered me inside and gave me a tour of the facilities, and introduced me to the very welcoming Paris Cutler, owner of Planet Cake. Two gorgeous classrooms are set up next to a wonderful office and tons of storage, and a lovely lobby to welcome clients and students. Here is one of the classrooms, complete with adorable cupcakes and staff faces painted on the walls:



My first class was a three day workshop on making sugar flowers (peonies, hydrangea, filler flowers and ranunculus) and arranging them in a sugar vase. I had students from all around Australia, as well as New Zealand, Singapore and Malaysia, and they all did a fabulous job on their projects!

Sugar vases drying:



Petals and buds ready to assemble and arrange:



Student arranging flowers in her sugar vase:



All of the gorgeous sugar vases:



And our fabulous class photo:



Many thanks to all of my students for coming to the class, and congratulations for doing such beautiful work..it was a pleasure to meet you and work with you!

Next on the calendar were two days of demonstrations covering six different flowers! Each of the demos was 2 hours long and included the construction and coloring of the specific flower, and a Q & A session. The room set up for demos:



And some of my flower prep:





Thank you to all of you who attended the demonstrations! It was wonderful to meet you and finally put some names and faces together!

Next, I had the pleasure of teaching a three day sugar flower jam session with the fabulously talented Greg Cleary of Sweetums Designer Cakes. Greg is a dear friend of mine, and an amazing artist who makes stunning wedding cakes and sugar flowers in Brisbane, Australia. We decided we would teach together to offer the students an opportunity to learn two different styles of flowers. Greg's style is more realistic, and mine is more stylized. Greg taught roses, cosmos and tulips, and I taught gardenias, hydrangea and peonies...

Here I am with Greg:



Gardenias drying:



Student gardenia:



Student work:



More student work:



Many thanks to all of our wonderful students for coming to class and working with both of us! I'm sorry I don't have a class photo to share...we ran short on time on the final day and some of the students had to rush off to catch flights home. Thank you, Greg, for an amazing three days, and for giving me the chance to work and teach with you...it was a blast!

My sincere thanks to Paris for welcoming me to the Planet Cake studio and for giving me the opportunity to teach in your amazing facility! And thank you to Leslie, Jess, Anna Maria, Cat, Emma, Kylie, Ritzy, Antony, Neen, Michelle, Naoko, and Margie...what an honor and a pleasure to meet you all - thank you for taking so much time to make my visit and classes a success!

The big finale in June was my climb to the top of the Sydney Harbor Bridge! We could not have asked for a more beautiful day, and my heartfelt thanks to my friends Betty at Glasshouse Cakes & Supplies and Linda at Whimsical Cakehouse for joining me in the adventure!

The Bridge Climb facility:





It was an absolutely amazing experience...about 4 hours total including all of the preparation before climbing to the top of the bridge. Once at the top, our guide pointed out all of the beautiful sights in the Sydney Harbor, and gave us the history of the gorgeous surrounding areas. I'd do it again in an instant!

At the top of the bridge with the gorgeous Opera House in the background:



With Linda and Betty...thanks lovelies!!



Thanks for stopping by...stay tuned for the next stop in beautiful Brisbane, Queensland!

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