A HUGE THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO SUPPORTED CHEF NICHOLAS LODGE AND KATY SUE DESIGNS'

FLOWER PRO LAUNCH!

Last week was the launch of the Flower Pro line of molds and veiners, designed and created by Chef Nicholas Lodge and Katy Sue Designs. The product line contains 6 brand new products, and they were flying off the shelves like hot cakes! The product first launched in the UK, and Chef Nicholas was on HOCHANDA, and sold out of all of the products allotted for the viewers of the show! It was so exciting! People were (justifiably) very worried they would be unable to secure their own new Flower Pro products! Luckily, when the products were launched one week ago, here in the USA, there were plenty of items to go around!

This week I have a short and sweet blog post to share! I would wager that everyone who reads this blog knows that Chef Nicholas is the undisputed king of sugar flowers. So it should come as NO SURPRISE that Chef Nicholas has been named Cake Masters Magazine's August Cake Icon! This is a huge honor, and Chef Nicholas wanted to share the link for this month's magazine (see below). We hope that you enjoy his interview honoring him, as much as he enjoyed giving it! Chef Nicholas always says that he is dedicated to his students and clients, so it is so meaningful to be honored in this way. 

http://www.cakemasters.co.uk/product/august-2018-issue/

Now, as the king of sugar flowers, Chef Nicholas also has the best tools. He designs all of his own sugar flower cutters, and has them custom made by a company in the UK with a 25 year history in the business. These metal cutters are made of top quality, tin-plated steel; they are finished with a lead-free solder to ensure your sugar flowers are 100% safe for consumption. These cutters aren't flimsy, and they are not cookie cutters. They are serious cake decorating tools. Guess what? Chef Nicholas has been creating some brand new designs to go with some new techniques he has been developing. So, we have decided to offer a fantastic sale on some of our most popular metal flower cutters! 

Right now, you can get select cutters on sale for up to 50% off! This sale will run while supplies last, so hop on over to our online retail gallery and check out all these wonderful cutters! These cutters will help you create incredibly lifelike flowers that are sure to impress all your clients! I hope that you can all find some cutters that you just need to add to your collection! There are a lot of choices to look through! Click here for some retail therapy!

There are still seats available in these great classes this summer at ISAC! Click the links below to register now. 

5-Day Ultimate Gumpaste Flower Class

French Macarons and Chocolate Bon Bons with Joseph Cumm, 8/25

Tea Party Pastries with Joseph Cumm, 8/26

Renshaw Academy Master Certification Class with Chef Nicholas Lodge, 10/13-10/22

Stephanie 

Our goal is for you to be completely satisfied with your Amazon order! If for any reason this is not the case, we would appreciate it if you would give us a chance to address your concerns, before leaving feedback or a review, by emailing us at customersvc@nicholaslodge.com. We would be grateful if you would leave us a positive feedback and review of your Renshaw Fondant. Leaving feedback seems like such a little thing, but it has great impact on our business and we would greatly appreciate your time in leaving it.

2017 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

WINNER of the 2017 Golden Tier Educator of the Year Award

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award

Just this week Chef Nicholas added one of his most popular classes to his summer class schedule: 5-Day Ultimate Gumpaste Flower Class! YAY! This is a class that consistantlygets requested, fills up, and sells out. What makes this class so very popular you ask? Well, buckle up, because it's a doozy!

I always get excited when Chef Nicholas has BRAND NEW classes on the schedule! Yes, that means Chef Nicholas has two new classes for you all to enjoy: Gumpaste Wedding Flower Spray and Springtime Gumpaste Flowers! 

Summer is coming to a close. The busy summer wedding season is wrapping up, and depending on where you live, the kids are either back at school, or will be in the next couple of weeks. The days will soon become cooler and longer as fall begins. Why not sharpen some of your cake decorating skills, as the summer rush slows down? Chef Nicholas has a lot of fantastic classes coming up this fall, and he would love to see you in class! 

We are celebrating ISAC's 25th Anniversary on July 17 of this year! To celebrate all the students and friends who have helped Chef Nicholas and Scott reach this important milestone, all Nicholas Lodge classes held at ISAC from NOW until JULY 17, 2017, are being offered at 25% OFF!!!!

There is no code needed to register; all the prices are 25% off on our website registration page! This is a pretty huge deal. If you have always wanted to take a class with Chef Nicholas, now is really the time. These classes will not be offered at this discounted price again! There are four classes to choose from: Intro into Rolled Fondant, Exotic & Tropical Flowers, Exotic and Tropical Orchids, and the 5-Day Ultimate Gumpaste Flower class (with PME Certification)!

Introduction to Rolled Fondant and 5-Day Ultimate Gumpaste Flower class (with PME Certification) are two of our most popular classes- sign up today to secure our special anniversary pricing!

We hope to see you in class this month!

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie

Don't just follow our blog! Follow Chef Lodge on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter!

Finalist for the 2017 Golden Tier Awards Educator of the Year

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award. 

Summer is here! One of my favorite things about summer is seeing big, beautiful blooming flowers every where I look. Even when I am at work, I see Chef Nicholas' beautiful gumpaste flowers! While you may not be nearby to take a class with Chef Nicholas in person at our school, you can always create your own stunning summer flowers by taking one of Chef Nicholas Craftsy classes! 

Chef Nicholas has been traveling A LOT. I really cannot say it enough- the man is a machine. He recently had a break from traveling and got some time to relax here at home in Atlanta. He had quality time with Scott, got time to tend his amazing garden, and most importantly we were able to finalize his teaching schedule for the remainder of 2017! Yay!

Chef Nicholas is wasting no time- there are three classes in June. Yes, I realize that is next month! It's never too late to sign up!

Rolled Fondant Techniques with PME Certification is being offered June 17-19th. This class is one of longtime favorites. It's great for both beginnings in rolled fondant, but also helps old pros strengthen their skills! This course is a PME certification course; if you are interested in earning the PME Master Certification and diploma, this course is one of the three necessary modules. Due to the high demand for this class, it will be offered a second time, September 23-25, 2017.

Chef Nicholas will next teach two flower courses back to back: Exotic & Tropical Flowers, and Exotic & Tropical Orchids. Both of these classes are two day classes (June 24-25 and June 26-27, respectively). Flowers included in the Exotic & Tropical Flowers class will include: Hibiscus, Plumeria, Bird-of-Paradise, Bougainvillea, Anthurium and White Ginger. Tropical foliage will also be included. This class is one my favorites- I just love tropical flowers, and watching the students create these gorgeous flowers always makes me want to kick back on the beach with a strawberry daiquiri! 

The Tropical & Exotic Orchid class is perfect for those of you who make bridal shower and wedding cakes; orchids are a favorite wedding flower! In this two day class, students will maximize their time and create seven different orchids under Chef Nicholas' instruction: Vanda, Miltonia (pansy), Slipper, Phaleaenopsis (moth orchid), oncidium, Phaius, and Epidendrum.

July 8-12, 2017, Chef Nicholas will be teaching his 5-Day Ultimate Gumpaste Flower class with PME Certification. This could be Chef Nicholas' most popular class. It is intense, students will learn a total of 18 different flowers. That works out to more than three new flowers each day of class! What flowers are included, you ask? Well, let me share: The Ultimate Rose, Stargazer Lily, Calla Lily, Cattleya Orchid, Cymbidium Orchid, Dendrobium Orchid, Gardenia, Gerber Daisy, Lizianthus, Hydrangea, Stephanotis, Lily of the Valley, Sweet Peas, Carnations, Daisies, Eucalyptus, Ferns, and Ivy. Where appropriate, buds and leaves will be included. Oh, and it is a PME Certification class; it is one of the three modules needed for the Master Certification and diploma. Due to the popularity of this class, it will be offered again September 9-13, 2017.

 If you want to learn how to be amazing with royal icing, you can sign up for Three Day Advanced Royal Icing with PME Certification, August 19-12, 2017. During this class students will learn color flow, run-out, Wedgwood style figure piping, lace and filigree, Lambeth and English-style border work and string work. Students will learn the finer points of how to smoothly coat a cake with royal icing. Many different styles and techniques in this class can only be described as supremely elegant. Please note: Students attending this class must have attended the 3-Day Rolled Fondant Techniques Class with Nicholas Lodge, as the Advanced Royal Icing Techniques class will build upon skills and techniques learned during the Rolled Fondant Techniques Class.) As with the other PME Certification classes, this is one of the modules needed to earn the Master Certification and diploma. This class is also being offered a second time, September 26-28, 2017. This will directly follow the Rolled Fondant Techniques class, a perfect opportunity to take both classes back to back!

Finally, Chef Nicholas is teaching Fall in Gumpaste, August 26-27, 2017. I absolutely love the rich jewel tone colors of the fall flowers and foliage in this class. In this class students will create seasonal fall flowers, berries, fruits and leaves: Maple Leaves, Japanese Maple Leaves, Oak Leaves, Acorns, Blackberry, Chrysanthemums, Buckeyes, Chinese Lanterns and Fall Berries. My favorite are the Chinese lanterns; they are so delicate and papery looking- even though they are made out of gumpaste! 

Well, I hope that you all see a class, or classes, that you are interested in signing up for! We have had loads of requests for PME certification classes, so I expect to see lots of your sunshiny faces soon! 

Oh, and who wants to know the winners of last week's blog contest for the ProGel and edible Food Art Pen?! Without further ado, the winner of the ProGel is:

 Mary Thompson!

"I would love to try the red pro gel color. I make many, many French Macarons and red is a hard color to achieve. I would love i.e. To see how this color stands up against other brands. I have used the pens and I love them!!"

The winner of the Food Art Pen is:

Shupan Abraham

"I would love, love, love, to try the edible food art pen. I make x-box game controller cakes weekly. For one of the buttons, I have to make a round ball of fondant, paint it silver and put an 'x' on the top. Currently, the edible writing pens that I have don't make a defined 'x' on the ball. So, I have had to use a brush with some vodka and black power color to paint the 'x' on the top of the ball. I would like to try the edible food art pen to see if they would make my life just a little easier."

Thank you to everyone who entered, and congratulations to both winners! I cannot wait to hear what you think of the new colors! 

ISAC 25th Anniversary Fun Fact: In 2001, Chef Nicholas Lodge is inducted into the ICES Cake Decorator Hall of Fame. He is the youngest person to ever receive this prestigious award.

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie

Don't just follow our blog! Follow Chef Lodge on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter!

Finalist for the 2017 Golden Tier Awards Educator of the Year

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award. 

Eighteen years ago, in 1999, Chef Nicholas published the first edition of Potpourri of Flowers. That book contained fifteen beautiful, life-sized gumpaste flowers. This book was to be the first of a trilogy of textbooks Chef Nicholas authored on gumpaste flowers. In 2014, New Trends in Sugar Flowers was released, and just last year in 2016, Spring & Summer Flowers in Gumpaste was released as the final book of the trilogy. While all three of these books have been extremely popular as instructional guides for making botanically accurate sugar flowers, Potpourri of Flowers has always stood out among the three.

Did you know that everything is BIG in Texas? I've never been there, but I have heard that. Oh, and I heard you shouldn't mess with Texas. With that in mind, I think that I should tell you to stop messing around and register for Chef Nicholas's Texas-Sized Sugar Flower Class at this year's That Takes the Cake- Austin Cake Show!

This year the Austin Cake Show will be February 25-26, in Round Rock, Texas; Chef Nicholas' two-day class will be held on February 26-27. Now, this class is called Texas-Sized Sugar Flowers, and I already told you everything is big in Texas; Chef Nicholas is delivering with some BIG southern flowers: peony. dahlia, southern magnolia, and fully-blown rose!

Just typing that out doesn't quite do these flowers justice. No, I have included some BIG photos of these beauties for you to admire!

The dahlia, with layers upon layers of petals

The peony with its lush, scalloped petals

The immense southern magnolia!

Finally, Chef Nicholas' signature- the fully-blown rose!

As with all of Chef Nicholas' gumpaste flower classes the appropriate buds and leaves will also be taught!  There is still time to sign up, BUT not much, the Austin Cake show is only a few weeks away!

Finally, 2017 makes the 25th Anniversary, the silver anniversary, of the Nicholas Lodge International Sugar Art Collection. Throughout the year we will be celebrating here on the blog, with new publications, and other surprises! I thought I would kick off by sharing some fun, historical ISAC tid-bits with all of you here on our blog. Thank you to all of our students, clients, friends, and family for supporting ISAC over the last 25 years!

ISAC 25th Anniversary Fact: The International Sugar Art Collection began on Friday, July 17, 1992 with a series of 15 one-day classes being taught at "Confectionery Yours," a cake and candy retail store in Marietta, GA.

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie

Don't just follow our blog! Follow Chef Lodge on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and Twitter!

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Chef Nicholas Lodge: 2015 Finalist for the Cake Masters Cake Hero Award. 

This weekend Chef Nicholas is teaching his Gumpaste Flowers for Fall class at ISAC. Wild Poppy, Fall Cosmos, Dahlia, Ginkgo Leaf, Chili Peppers, and several types of grasses will all feature at this class. These flowers, and especially their bold, warm colors, make me happy. I love the fall. But, what if you love fall and you aren't going to be taking the class with Chef Nicholas Lodge this weekend? Don't be sad, I got you covered.

Today is graduation day for the 14 students in Chef Nicholas' PME Master Certification class! It has been 13 days of hard work AND fun! We had students from Nigeria, Curaçao, Bahamas, Argentina, and all over the United States. It will be so hard to say goodbye to all of our new friends, but I know that all of these wonderful students are going home having learned amazing skills to share with their own clients. Thanks to all of our PME students, we are going to miss you!

Normally I do photo blogs after our Open House events, but I thought I could share some of the photos we have taken over the last two weeks! I hope it might inspire you to take a class with us- from a quick 2-day class or up to our 13-day master class! (and yes, I share the winner of last week's blog at the bottom).

We are smack dab in the middle of our HUGE 13-day PME Master Class! The students have already conquered rolled fondant and they are two-thirds finished with the royal icing module. They will finish up with five days straight of gumpaste flowers! If you know anything about Nicholas Lodge, you know that flowers are his game, so it's fitting to end a two-week class on such a high note. I myself have been a busy bee- printing class textbooks, getting practice sheets made, printing recipes, and preparing the diplomas and master certificates, that I realized I didn't have a blog topic for this week! But thanks to a suggestion from Scott, I realized that I could share some Chef Nicholas gumpaste flower magic with all of you too (his students shouldn't get to have all the fun)!

How exactly can I share sugar flowers through a blog? Well, because Chef Nicholas has a new book out with SIXTEEN different types of beautiful flowers: Spring & Summer Flowers in Gumpaste. Has there ever been a sweeter sixten? I think not. In fact, there is even a chance to win this new book!

I'm always so sad to see summer go. I love hot summer days, and days by the beach and pool. Of course, in the cake decorating world, the summer can be less relaxing; it is wedding season after all. Weddings every weekend, and hot weather making buttercream melt and fondant sweat. Yuck. The end of summer brings in a calmer period for many cake decorators, and it also means that ISAC will be open on Saturdays again! Hooray! Starting September 10th, we will be in house every Saturday for your cake decorating needs; and I know you are all excited, because just yesterday on Instagram, one of our amazing followers lamented that she wished we were open on Saturdays. 

Reopening on Saturday's isn't my only fun fall tidbit. Nope, I have some fun events, classes, demos, and guest instructors to tell you about!

Hooray! Sweet Seasons: Spring Cherry Blossoms is finally being released! You may remember that this class was supposed back in early January. Unfortunately, the class launch was pushed back several weeks to finalize some details Guess what? All those details have finally been, well, finalized! That means on Monday, February 22, I will be sharing the link for this fabulous new Craftsy class and you will all be able to snag it for 50% off! Be sure to visit our website and our Facebook page on Monday to snag Sweet Seasons: Spring Cherry Blossoms! 

In other Craftsy news, I need your help. Do you have a favorite craft-based charity? Your chance to help in a big way is coming up. In a few weeks, Craftsy will be donating $1000 to one lucky student's favorite craft-based charity. I don't have all the details yet, but I have started work on a blog focusing on this generous campaign. I could use some help from all of you Craftsy students out there. 

I didn't know anything about Craftsy until Chef Nicholas became an instructor. Even after he filmed his first class, it took me a LONG time to sign up for my first Craftsy class. I knew how Craftsy worked, I just didn't know if I would actually watch the classes or learn anything. Plus, I work for Chef Nicholas, I get to see him teach pretty often (as you may well imagine), why did I need a Craftsy class? Well, once I began blogging, I decided I needed to stop being a slacker and really explore the Craftsy platform for myself. I started out by watching Chef Nicholas' classes, then other cake decorating classes. Then I realized there were cooking classes, sewing, quilting, embroidery, crocheting, knitting, weaving, spinning, drawing, painting, photography, gardening, woodworking, jewelry making, and paper crafting! I realized that not only could I learn from cake decorators from all over the world that I admire, but I could also try my hand at making some Chinese food for dinner (which I did, and it was delicious!), crocheting scarves, and finally learned how to properly use my big fancy camera! I even got my husband hooked- thanks to a pretty fantastic BBQ class, my husband makes some finger-licking spare ribs! Today I am completely in love with Craftsy, and I have a ridiculous amount of classes in each of the different subject categories, and I have learned so many new tips, skills, techniques, and whole new crafts!

So, that is my story. That is how I fell in love with Craftsy, and I get excited every Monday to see what new classes are launching. Here is where I need y your help. Tell me about your Craftsy experience. How did you find Craftsy? What made you decide to take your first class? What keeps bringing you back to take more Craftsy classes? I would love for you to all share your stories with me, and I would love to feature some of your responses on an upcoming blog. You can either share your stories as a comment below, or you can email me at stephanie@nicholaslodge.com. I'm looking forward to hearing each of your experiences and I am excited to share them on our blog! 

When I get more details about how you can enter to win $1000 for your craft-based charity, I will be sure to share them with all of you! 

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie

Don't just follow our blog! Follow Chef Lodge on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, Flickr, and Tumblr!

Winner of the 2015 Craftsy Blogger Award for Best Craftsy Cake Decorating Instructor Blog

Over the last year, you have all be excited about Chef Nicholas' Craftsy classes and equally excited about the prospect of new Craftsy classes taught by Chef Nicholas. Luckily for all of you, 2016 is your Craftsy year! Chef Nicholas has been filming loads of classes for each of you to enjoy, buth mini-classes and full length classes! 

Several weeks ago, I shared our class schedule for January. This week I am revisiting our January class schedule because we have added some fun new classes! Oh, and I'll be sharing a link that you can click to enter to win Chef Nicholas' NEW Craftsy class that launches next week! I'll dispense with the small talk and dive right into it!

December is halfway done, our big sales of the year are all finished, so here at ISAC we are already getting ready to welcome 2016! Just like I said last week, Chef Nicholas will not be slowing down. In January alone he is teaching three classes at ISAC, three mini classes in Florida, and by the end of the month he will be in Chicago teaching at the French Pastry School! So, if you want to start the year with Chef Nicholas, let me tell you all about January's classes!

On Monday, a new Craftsy class dropped called Show Stopping Sugar Flowers. This class is much different from any class Craftsy has released before. Why? Because it includes lessons from more than just one instructor! And guess who is (of course) one of the instructors of Show Stopping Sugar Flowers... yup! Chef Nicholas!

It's Here! It's Here!

Guess what?! The 2016 Nicholas Lodge Class Schedule has been released!!! Hooray!! I have had lots and lots of you asking me when it would be released, so today is your lucky day. Shall we talk about what Chef Nicholas has in store for all of you?