I'm so excited! I'm so excited! I'm so... scared! But not really. I'm actually just excited.

Well!!! The time has come for me to inform everyone that I will not be in town from November 1st to November 16th. (Unfortunately, I won't be able to take any cake orders between these dates). The reason for this leave of absence is that I am going to be attending a 3-day cake show in Birmingham, England! I officially received my entry ticket today, and the tickets for the 2 demonstrations that I will be seeing.

As you can see from the pamphlet to the right, I am one of the first 4,000 people to pre-order their tickets for the show... is it sad that I am incredibly excited to receive a free reel of ribbon??! I don't mind being a bit of a nerd... I'll be the one with the free ribbon reel!

There's also going to be a live cupcake decorating competition. The entry deadline is October 4th, and several entrants will be selected to participate in the live competition on November 5th. I'm thinking I might make a submission of my own, considering the top prize totals over $500. Perhaps something with a Canadian theme...? Any suggestions or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

The two classes I'm going to be attending are with two of the top cake decorators in the world... I can't even explain how excited I am for this. These are the two individuals that I specifically look up to in this business. If I can ever achieve half of their talent, I will be over the moon! The first class is with Alan Dunn, whose specialty is sugarpaste flowers. He has quite a few books published now, and a new one to be released shortly. His attention to detail is exquisite, which is what I truly admire about his work. The second class is with the most talented royal icing artist on the planet. For reals. His name is Eddie Spence, MBE (Yes, he has his MBE in sugarcraft!), and he is the official cake decorator of the Royal Family. He does stuff with royal icing that practically defies gravity... His new book - The Art of Royal Icing - is 320 glorious pages of techniques and tips that I can't wait to practice. I'll make an effort to document my attempts in the coming weeks and months!

Okay well I am going to check on flight prices and accomodation... I suppose I should probably get all of that sorted out. If anybody has any suggestions on what I should see in Central England, I'd be glad to hear them! I've seen almost all of Southern England when I was living there, so it will be exciting to do some more exploring!

Just in case you had any doubts at how excited I am...Check out the details of the Cake International Show here!