{RECAP} OKLAHOMA STATE SUGAR ART SHOW 2013

This is going to be a L-O-N-G post. I’m going to share with you my ups and downs of my showpiece for the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show. From the beginning to the end!

I will begin by showing you close up photos of my showpiece and then dig into the rest of the show and how I ended up participating even though I am not a cake decorator.

The theme for the 20th anniversary of OSSAS was Ballet.

Let’s start from the top:

I made this beautiful gold bow from Jet-Puffed S’mores Mallows. I glued the pieces together first then airbrushed it gold.

I painted gold dots around the ruffles of the corset with a fine brush and gold cocoa butter.

More on these roses below.

I wanted the marshmallows covering the corset to have a pattern so I went out and purchased a sheer fabric with roses on it that would create a pattern when I airbrushed through it. Well, it didn’t quite come out as I envisioned it but I liked the two tone on the Minis.

I painted vertical lines around the corset to make it look like stitching. Again, it did not come out as I wanted it to so I ended up just airbrushing over it with gold)

I rolled and punched out a border for the union between the corset and the skirt with Jet-Puffed’Stacker Mallows. Then I airbrushed them gold and hand painted gold dots on them with gold cocoa butter.

I wanted the skirt to look like scalloped ruffles and to have an ombre tone. I cookie cut about 300 Jet-Puffed Stacker Mallows then attached them all around the skirt. It was tricky because the dummies underneath were not rounded and they have major gaps from one size to another. Plus, each marshmallow is different and I was unable to align them the way I wanted to so they ended up looking a bit sloppy. To achieve the tone from dark on top and light on the bottom, I used my airbrush. Let me confess that this was the second time I had EVER used an airbrush. Yup, I think everyone could tell (not too proud of outcome but felt brave at the time).

I added a gold border on the bottom ruffle.

The top pieces were mounted on two “legs” of marshmallows. These minis were sprayed with a pearl shimmer color spray to look like a ballerina’s tights.

The legs landed on a bouquet of roses. I coated them in four different tones of yellow to create this effect. I also cut out leaves in two different sizes and coated them in a leaf green and lime green sugar.

Back view of the cake:

Rose topper:

View from top:

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Now…. you want to know why and how I made it??

I’ve know about the Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show for quite some time now and always dreamed of being a part of it. As you may already know, Kerry Vincent is the director of the show and has dedicated 20 years of her life to this huge event. Sugar artist from all around come to compete and show off their skills. I decided to become a sponsor and donate several copies of my book to be given away at the show to winners. I also signed up to make a competing showpiece under the novelty professional category. Then my phone rang.…. Kerry wanted me to make a wedding cake instead and she asked me to participate in the live competition. She wanted me to show the world that marshmallows could be classy and you could decorate a wedding cake with them. Oh boy, I was in trouble. I wasn’t nervous about making a wedding cake, I was just nervous about transporting my piece there.

Coming up with a theme fitting design that would withstand shipping was a challenge indeed. I was very limited to the amount of details I could add and the time I could invest making it as well, being that the show was only three weeks away by now. Well, I gathered my strength, imagination, marshmallows and tools and got to work!

This was the image I used as my inspiration:

I realized this was going to be a more sweet and fantasy cake rather than a romantic and classic one but I decided to stay true to my style and just do it.

Here are the dummies I used as my base: (I purchased them from Dallas Foam and from Global Sugar Art)

Poured me some wine……. why not?

Plain white scalloped ruffles:

Sugar coating marshmallow roses:

In love with my gold marshmallow bow.

Hand-painting marshmallow butterflies with gold and pink cocoa butter. I purchase my colored cocoa butters from Chef Rubber.

Yes, I’m crazy. I even made my own tablecloth. I am afraid of sewing machines so I put it together with my hot glue gun (ghetto, I know). I used felt, crushed velvet and black ribbon to create my theater stage curtain look-alike tablecloth.

To top off my insanity, I made myself a headband to wear during the live competition. I cut out flowers from Jet-Puffed Stacker Mallows and painted them with food gel colors and attached them to the band with royal icing. Next, I attached Jet-Puffed Mallow Bits to a felt flower clip and painted them with food gel colors too. I used The Marshmallow Studio colors!

This is how you ship a 4-foot, 45-pound marshmallow cake via UPS Ground. $200 and 4 days later, my cake arrived in Oklahoma intact. Woohoo!!!!!!!

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SHOWTIME!!

Setting up my table.

Here’s my precious “A Sweet & Fluffy Ballerina Dream” wedding cake:

Here’s a big no-no I did, I didn’t cover my cake board. This is a clear sign that I am no cake designer and I didn’t read the rules all the way. Whoops!

Butterflies flew all around this cake.

Here’s the back:

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LIVE COMPETITION:

Four contestant had 1.5 hours to make a wedding cake for Ms. Scarlett Stoker the author of Dracula in Dior. We had to incorporate 6 items provided and use 100% edible ingredients and decorations.

Well, you know me… I did it all with marshmallows:

The competition was mostly for entertainment. We were to have fun, be creative and put on a show. I had a really time!

Here’s our audience. Check out who was watching us… Julia Usher!!!

This sweet lady had be cracking up the whole time!… Cap, you rock!

Kerry had fun tossing out bags of Jet-Puffed marshmallows and Duncan Hines cake mix boxes to the crowd.

Here’s my final piece. I finished it three minutes before they called time. I won Third place!!

Here’s my inspiration: Dior.

Oh and here are photos of my marshmallow headband I made:

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The last day, I mostly walked around and checked out the other cakes. We started the day by moving the cake to get it photographed by Cake Central Magazine and the show’s photographer. In this photo you can get a better idea of how big the cake really was.

Although my fluffy cake was a little out of place, I was proud of what I accomplished and honored to have been given the opportunity to show my art.

Here’s a 360 view of the show floor:

The talent here was unbelievable. Cakes of all type utilizing all mediums and techniques.

Here are some of my personal favorite pieces from all the categories:

My husband thought these ones were really cool:

Kerry in sugar form:

Beautiful string work:

(cake below by Charra Fulton designer for Lucks.com)

This one below was just crazy!!!

(cake above by Jennifer Matsubara who won the Grand prize)

(cake above by Dawn Coffin-Parrot who won 1st place)

(cake above by Rachael Skvaril AKA Fondant Flinger)

(above cake by Jorge Cruz)

(cake above by Rachael Teufel)

There were also a few vendors on site selling cake supplies and demoing products..

Throughout the duration of the show, Bronwen Weber, Francois Long and their team worked hard on this colossal cake. It was amazing!

There photos don’t give it justice, it was unbelievably detailed!

This is all colored cake crumbs and sugar rocks!

The detail in his eyes is crazy. Francois spent a good amount of time in each one to make them perfect.

On the second kitchen, Julia Usher spent all weekend making this super cute and unique edible party setting with cookies. She’s such an extraordinary cookie artist and incredibly sweet person. My husband and I sat through her last demonstration and were mesmerized by her skills.

The banners, the tablecloth, the cake, the chair decorations…. they’re all gingerbread cookies decorated with royal icing!!!

Check this cake out. If you put it on a turning stand, the ballerinas look like they are dancing and the flowers look like they are going up and down. It’s such an cool cake! One my all time favorites!

Had the absolute pleasure of chitty-chatting with her and just fell in love. She’s humble, sweet, talented and such an inspiration!

Here’s my awesome friend, Jennifer Cucci AKA the genius behind the Easy Roller from Heavenly Cake Pops. She was the judge of the cake pops category.

Here we are with the super funny and lovely Dawn Parrot AKA 1st prize winner!! Go Dawn!!!

Events like these are always fun because you get to see old friends and make new friends too. Here I am with Rachael Skvaril, Rachael Teufel and last year’s grand winner Vivian Pham.

(Below photo by Amelia’s U Name It! Creative Services) We were at Olive Garden having dinner and cracking up from all a the jokes and quick come backs being thrown around LOL

Can you believe the prizes?!?!

Everyone who participated in any of the categories received something 🙂 Kerry and her sponsors are definitely very generous!

Must say, the grand prize winner is one lucky person. She took home $42,340 worth of products and $24,400 cash…. OMG!!!

The ceremony is about to begin:

You can feel the excitement in the audience!

Many of us pitched in to surprise Kerry with a very special commemorative clock to thank her for her dedication and amazing work. She was moved to tears.