Sugared Productions Blog

A Sneak Peak!

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The Design Gallery DVD is shipping out in a few days! In plenty of time for Christmas! Those of you that pre-ordered should get yours very soon and we thank you for your order. This DVD showcases over 120 photos of my cake designs, which I narrate over beautiful background music, giving you helpful hints and tips, and pointing out tools and techniques used. See the SugarEd website for full information.

 

Click to play preview:

 
 

We also still have a lot of items on sale for a little while longer, so please go check it out!

As always, we thank you for your business.
 
Sharon and the SugarEd Staff
 
 
 
 

Design Gallery is on sale now!

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The Design Gallery DVD is now on sale and will be shipping the week of December 8th! Makes for a great stocking stuffer or little Christmas gift to yourself. As always, a portion of all profits are donated to the support of Klinefelter Syndrome.
 
The Gallery displays over 130 photos of some of my favorite cake designs. They are set to nice background music and arranged into 7 separate categories for your viewing convenience. I narrate a few things about each cake; mentioning tools and techniques used, helpful hints and how to avoid some problems. It will run about one hour, give or take a little bit.
 
Click here to get more detailed info.
 
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We also have brand new items in stock:
 
Baby bootie cutters
Clay Gun
Frill cutter sets
Pearl makers
Ribbon strip cutter
 
 
And we have many other items on sale:
 
Smoothers
Crimpers
Embossers
Textured rollers
Palette knife
Stencils
 
 
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Santa says this is a great time to start your holiday shopping!
 

Thank you everyone!
Sharon and the SugarEd Staff

 

And last but not least, I owe a huge thank you to my BFF Heather for designing the DVD cover and being webmaster of the SugarEd site. Thank you, H. You are the best!

 

 

Mystery Project Revealed!

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Hello Sugar Friends!

I am so excited to let you all know what our lagniappe release is! Since I get tons of emails asking me what techniques I have used on many of my cakes, we thought it would be a good idea to put together A Design Gallery. This DVD is a video slide show of still pictures of over 100 of my personally decorated cakes. The photos are set to nice background music, and I give a very short narration on each cake, describing some highlights of each. I point out some techniques and tools used on each one, and throw in a few helpful pointers. The cakes are grouped by category so you can watch just the section you want to at that time. It is not an instructional DVD, and does not give a complete description of every technique used on each cake. It is intended to be an idea source for cake designs, to help you spark ideas for your own creations. ( However, I have no problem with the designs being copied exactly if you wish to do that.)
 
We are hoping to release it next month, as long as my video guy’s editing schedule goes as planned. A great stocking stuffer! I truly hope this is something you guys will find interesting and helpful.
 
 

 

 

I am so happy with the response we got to our contest! No one guessed the correct answer, although a few were close. So I put all the guesses into a hat and picked 2 random names. And the winners of a free copy of A Design Gallery are:
 
Chris- South Texas
Kdweir

(I need you two gals to email me to get your shipping info.)

As always, the SugarEd staff and I thank you for your wonderful support and enthusiasm for our products. If you guys enjoyed this contest, maybe we can have another give-a-way for the Boxes and Bows DVD. Would you all like that?

Please leave a comment and let me know what you think.

Happy caking!

Sharon

www.sugaredproductions.com

 

 

Behind the Scenes

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Well, as they say in Hollywood when they finish shooting a movie, it is “in the can!” We spent this week filming our next DVD, Boxes and Bows. It was a crazy busy week, and a bit of a wild ride, but we had a great time getting it all done. We are planning for a January release of this one, and a November release of our “bonus” project. (to be revealed very soon!) We plan to film a DVD on topsy turvys in January or February for a spring/summer release. All dates are still tentative at this point, because all kinds of variables can come up that delay the process or affect the schedule.
 
This will be our longest DVD yet, probably a full 2 disc set. It is jam packed with tons of information. I show you 4 completely decorated package cakes from start to finish. A different box technique and bow is presented in each design. And of course we have some lagniappe items thrown in too! I put my heart and soul into it, and I think you guys are really going to like it. It will be a very complete lesson on everything boxes and bows!
 
 
 
 
 
Let me take this opportunity to introduce you to my wonderful Wendy. There would be no SugarEd DVDs without her. She is an amazing cake decorator and a wonderful friend. She has been here for every minute of every one we have shot. She takes 12-15 hour days away from her family to help me. And help me she does. She is invaluable to me in the shooting process. She runs around like a nut behind the scenes to get things ready for me, clean up my messes, feed me, provide me with a steady infusion of Diet Coke, make sure I have lipstick on, give me pep talks, and generally keeps me going. In addition to that, she sits at the monitor with Todd to watch all the scenes being filmed, and see how they appear on screen. She makes sure the camera angles are good, and that what I say makes sense. She helps to assure that everything is visually and verbally clear from a decorator’s point of view. Her assistance in direction and production is absolutely critical to the success of our videos. There is no way I could do this without her. And to top it off, she does it for no payment, no recognition, no glory. She is a true and genuine friend, one of the treasures in my life.
 
 
My Wendy, who refuses to have her picture taken during filming. Can’t you tell she is gorgeous inside and out?
 
 

As promised, here are some behind the scenes photos we snapped during filming. I apologize for the bad quality of these photos, but they were taken in a rush between segments, and the lighting in the room was altered for video and not conducive to camera shots.

 

A cool shot from behind the middle camera , the one I speak into.

 

 

 

Close up camera on my right side as I work on a bow.

 

 

This view is from the “command center” where Todd sits and flips all the switches and thingies to make the cameras work and stuff. This monitor shows what the shot looks like on TV, and Wendy sits here with Todd to make sure it all comes across clearly.

 

 

 

Todd filming me very close up from behind while I was putting little pearls on the edges of a bow. Only my hands will be seen in this shot.

 

 

A bow done in Lagniappe.

 

 

 

Me with the finished Valentine gift.
 
 
 
 
 
 
No, we did not drink it! ( Although at times we wanted to, LOL).We used it on the cake!
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Me primping the wedding shower gift box.
 
 
 
 
 
 

We did it! All 4 finished cakes at the end of the shoot.

 

 

Here are some shots from previous DVD productions:

Todd sitting at his “command center.” The lovely striped sheets cover the windows to block out light.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Me finishing up the stenciling on the stacking DVD.
 
 
 
 
 
 
Todd doing a close up.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
This shot shows how the 3 cameras are set up.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Trish normally works the (my) right side close up camera.
 
 
 
 
 
 
From the fondant DVD.
 
 
 

So guys, I sure hope you all will be happy with this DVD. (I think you will.) I cannot wait to get to the editing part and watch it all come together! Feel free to leave a comment and tell me what you think.

 
I thank you as always for your support of SugarEd.
 
Now I am off to clean the horrendous mess we made of my house!
 
 
Happy Caking,
Sharon
 
 
 
 
 

Back from NY and busy schedule!

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Hello Sugar friends!

I am back from the New York ICES mini classes and what a great time I had. The other teachers were Chef Toba Garrett and Beth Parvu of Sugarpaste, LLC. I had a trying trip up there, as I got stuck in the Philadelphia airport all day due to bad weather. Flights just kept getting cancelled. I finally got on the last plane to NY City at 11PM. That was my last hope to not have to spend the night in the airport and be late for the classes! I made it into NYC a little after midnight, but alas, my luggage went to Long Island, my original destination. We picked up my bags early morning before the classes started and all was well.
 
I had the honor and privilege of spending the weekend with Toba Garrett, who is my cake idol. She is the quintessential cake artist in my mind. Just as I had hoped, she was very warm, gracious, giving and encouraging to all skill levels. A truly wonderful lady, and of course an exceptional talent. I highly recommend all of her books. She mentioned that she has a new wedding cake book coming out soon, that will include cakes with more bold colors and modern designs than she has done in the past. I can’t wait!
 
Chef Toba Garrett
 
 
I also met for the first time, the very talented Beth Parvu. Another wonderful artist. She too was as friendly and sharing as could be. I was thrilled to discover that her company carries a fully FDA approved, truly edible line of petal and luster dusts! No more worries about putting “non toxic” (but truly not food safe) dusts on our cakes! I bought several and cannot wait to try them. Sugarpaste also offers powdered flavorings for icings and batters, as well as a gum blend that can be added to royal icing for elasticity. (which makes string work easier). It can also be added to fondant to create a gumpaste type product. I am anxious to try that out as well!

 

I have a very busy schedule the next 2 weeks, as we are filming our next DVD next week! I am in the process of getting everything ready now. I am so excited! I will post some behind-the-scenes pictures at the end of next week. Keep your guesses coming for the contest; I will reveal the correct answer soon!

Well, back to work for me!

Happy caking everyone,

Sharon

http://www.sugaredproductions.com/

 

 

 

What could they be working on?

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GUESS THE PROJECT CONTEST!
 
Yesterday I spent the day at the office studio of my video production company, Video Specialties. We are working on our next release, to be ready within about 2 months we hope. This is not one of the two instructional DVDs we have in progress. This is a “lagniappe” (or bonus) release. Can anybody guess what it might be? I will take all the correct guesses and put them into a hat for a drawing. The winner will get a free copy of this project. Put your thinking caps on and email or submit your guesses right here in the comment section at the bottom of this post!
 
 
 
 
Working hard, trusty Diet Coke at hand.
 
 
 
 
 
My hero, Todd. The best video guy out there!
 
 
 
 
 

I do not let many people see me with no makeup,
so don’t show these pictures to anyone ok?

 

Tomorrow I am off to New York to teach ICES mini classes. Have a great weekend and I will check in with you guys next week!
 
Happy Caking,
Sharon
 
 
 

 

SugarEd Has a Blog!

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HELLO ALL!

Those of you that have our DVDs know what lagniappe is! (pronounced lan-yap). It is a French creole word used down here in Louisiana that means “something extra.” We think you guys deserve a little lagniappe, so we hope to use this blog to give you updates and a behind the scenes glimpse of what is happening here at SugarEd Productions. We will also throw in some freebie how to’s and helpful tid bits. Email us cake decorating questions and we will answer them here on the blog.

We will add a little fun personal info too, so you can get to know your SugarEd staff a little bit. ( If they let me take their pics that is!)

Thank you to all of our loyal customers for your continued support. And welcome to our new customers too; please let us know what you think! We are always eager to hear your comments and suggestions.

Please check back often and happy caking!

Sharon Zambito
www.sugaredproductions.com

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