Petalsweet in Australia Part I

So...let's see...what have I been up to since my last post?



Well, I've been doing a little bit of traveling...
in Australia...
for the past 7 weeks...
teaching sugar flowers!

Yep! I'm still pinching myself that it all happened, and it truly was the trip of a lifetime. I never thought my love of making sugar flowers would take me to another part of the world...but now it has...and I am truly grateful and feeling very blessed for such an amazing experience. It was an incredible, unforgettable journey...and I want to say THANK YOU to all of my hosts, colleagues, friends and students for making it such a very special trip!

I have been asked a lot of questions about the planning of this trip, and yes, it took a good, solid 9 months of emails, contacts, messages, research, list making, buying/collecting/shipping flower supplies, counting and re-counting, organizing and organizing some more, and making travel arrangements to put it all together. Even my lists had lists, because I wanted to make sure my classes ran smoothly, and that I had all the supplies needed for the students to be successful. In spite of a few manageable hiccups...the entire trip ran very well, and all of my students created really beautiful sugar flowers! I definitely could NOT have done it without so much fabulous help and support from home, and from all of my dear friends in Australia. Thank you so very, very much! xo

I landed in Melbourne, Australia on the morning of May 25, and was greeted at the airport by my lovely and very talented host Alison Thompson of Alison Louise Designer Cakes. Her gorgeous studio is located in Yarra Glen in the beautiful Yarra Valley...which is also wonderful wine country, and about an hour outside of the city of Melbourne:





Alison's studio sign:





With Alison:



Alison is a certified Pastry Chef and Chef, and has a very impressive resume, including authoring two books - one on baking and one on making macarons. And she is already working on a third book about sorbet and ice cream. Here are her beautiful books:





My two sugar flower classes were held at her amazing studio:





And my very kind, welcoming and talented students created a lot of gorgeous flowers including hydrangea, filler flowers, gardenias, sweet peas, peonies and parrot tulips:













Alison also treated us (spoiled us) to some amazing homemade lunches, AND stunning pastries for dessert and tea each day...yes...all made from scratch...sigh...





Fabulous class photos...thank you all SO much for coming to class and making my first stop in Australia so wonderful!





And finally, we can't forget about all of the amazing wildlife...here are a few photos from the Healesville Animal Sanctuary in the Yarra Valley...

Including a few adorable dingoes...



And me feeding a sweet kangaroo named Josie:



Many thanks to Alison for being such a wonderful host, and providing such a beautiful venue for the classes! All my best to you! x

Thank you for stopping by...stay tuned for Part II in Sydney!

Copyright © 2011 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Petalsweet in Australia Part I

Sugar Orchid Class with Ron Ben Israel 2011

Last week I had the wonderful opportunity to attend another sugar flower class with the fabulous and talented Ron Ben Israel! The class covered the construction and coloring of five stunning orchids, and took place at Minette Rushing's Custom Cakes in Savannah, GA. We spent two fun days creating orchid centers, petals, buds and leaves, and a full third day carefully dusting and taping our pieces together to complete our gorgeous flowers! Many thanks to Ron for his excellent instruction, great stories, endless patience and fabulous sense of humor!

As always, Minette and her staff provided a warm and welcoming classroom - complete with morning coffee and light breakfast, a catered lunch, afternoon treats, and her wonderful Southern hospitality. Thank you Minette!

Ron's class was full of students from all over the world...and it was such a pleasure getting to know them over the weekend as we discussed our businesses and our love for cakes and sugar art! Here are some photos from class...

Making buds and orchid centers:



Getting ready to dust:



Rack full of flowers drying:



Time to paint:



Ron posing with one of his Dancing Ladies (photo by the fabulous Kate Essenberg):



Ron and Minette dusting flowers (photo by Kate Essenberg):



Pretty pink Dendrobiums:



Some of my orchids...Phalaenopsis, Cymbidium, Denrobium and Oncidium (Dancing Ladies)...and we were working on the Cattleya orchid too!



Ron's gorgeous work...they look stunning all together on this tray:



What a fabulous three days...thank you for the wonderful hospitality Minette! And thank you, Ron, for sharing your incredible talent with us!



Thanks for stopping by!

Copyright © 2011 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Sugar Orchid Class with Ron Ben Israel 2011

Petalsweet at The San Diego Cake Show 2011

The San Diego Cake Club puts on a wonderful cake show every year in early March. The show is a great fundraiser, and this year the money raised was donated to the incredible Ronald McDonald House which is part of Rady Children's Hospital here in San Diego. The event runs for the whole weekend and includes a judged cake competition for all levels of decorators, lots of different demonstrations, a huge raffle for some fun prizes, and a cupcake decorating table for kids of all ages! I love being able to give back to the local community, and it's always a wonderful opportunity to meet so many amazingly talented people who love the same things I do!

Over the past several years I have not been able to participate in the show, but this year I had the weekend reserved on my calendar, and I was very happy to work on my entry! The month of March is always so pretty here in San Diego and I love seeing all of the flowers as they start to bloom. They were definitely my inspiration this year... I envisioned Spring flowers, something pretty and delicate, and you know how much I love greens mixed with white and a touch of some other color...how about pink?

Here are some photos of the design in progress...

I wanted to use hydrangea...and those always start with lots of tiny centers:



Arranging flowers and buds (my mess!):



The bouquet on the lower tier:



And some images of the topper...

Close-up of some of the pink buds and filler flowers I added:



The parrot tulips from the top:



From the front - where the ranunculus flowers were more prominent:



And the completed design:



It was a lot of fun to see all of the other amazing entries, and such a pleasure to participate...I was very honored to bring home second place in the Professional Division this year! Thank you so much to the kind judges, and congratulations to all of the other winners!



Looking forward to next year...

Thanks for stopping by!

Copyright © 2011 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Petalsweet at The San Diego Cake Show 2011

Petalsweet Class Photos - *February*

I finally have a few moments to share some great photos from recent classes! It has been such a pleasure to have the opportunity to teach at the wonderful Ro Z's Sweet Art Studio here in San Diego, as well as at the fabulous Minette Rushing's Custom Cakes in Savannah. With classes filled with such talented, kind and fun students, I am feeling very blessed indeed!

The first group of photos were taken by one of my lovely students from the Savannah classes, Yoshiko Santoso. She was a student in my Ranunculus and Peony Topper classes, and this was her first time making sugar flowers! As you will see in the photos, not only is she a very talented photographer, but she is also now a wonderful sugar artist as well! She was gracious to share these with me and let me post them here...thank you Yoshiko!!

Pink Ranunculus flowers I made as an example for class:



Dusting the pretty green centers:



Demonstrating and working on flowers:











Yoshiko and our wonderful host, Minette Rushing of Custom Cakes:



Putting a peony flower together:



All of the components for the topper...ready to put together:



Starting the arranging process:



Adding more flowers:



Filling openings with buds:



The completed topper I made as an example for class:



A great photo with Yoshiko:



Class photo with their gorgeous toppers:



Yoshiko took this great photo of her beautiful topper once she got it home...and you can find more of Yoshiko's beautiful photography on her website here!



I also have a few great photos from my recent Peony class here in San Diego! Here is one at the end of the first day with everyone's peony petals drying:



Our completed flowers at the end of class, with the fun pop of yellow stamens in the center:



Fabulous students and their gorgeous peonies:



Many thanks to all of my wonderful students for coming to class and being your fun and fabulously talented selves! It was great to meet you and work with you! And thank you to my hosts, Minette Rushing and Ro Zinniger - I'm so grateful for the opportunity to teach in your studios!

Thanks for stopping by!

Copyright © 2011 by Jacqueline Butler of Petalsweet Cakes. Content of this blog (including text, photographs and layout) is the property of Jacqueline Butler - please respect copyright laws. If you want to link to my blog, or post any of my photos, please contact me - it would be great to have the opportunity to connect with you. Thank you!

Petalsweet Class Photos - *February*