We are continuing our trend of rolling out more 2016 classes! This time I am excited to share two more upcoming Studio B classes! I am particularly excited about both of these classes, and I am more than excited to share them with all of you! ISAC will be welcoming Kathy Scott in March and Dot Klerck in May! 

Here at the International Sugar Art Collection we are known for offering very high quality instruction on all manner of sugar arts.  Well, this month is no different. In fact, we are busy, busy, busy this August!! The best part is that we have loads of fun classes for you all to take, and it's not too late!

August for ISAC started off big- the 40th annual International Cake Exploration Societe Convention and Show. Chef Nicholas and Scott have been attending the convention for a long time with demos by Chef Nicholas and an ISAC vendor booth. This year was very exciting because we were able to share the Renshaw line of Ready to Roll Fondant and Gumpaste with all the convention attendees!  Yay! Chef Nicholas and Scott drove home from Omaha early this week to prepare for our first guest instructor of the month: Greg Cleary.

Greg is visiting Studio B all the way from Australia! He will be teaching White Wedding Favorites class, an all-white demo cake topped with gorgeous flowers. He will be instructing students on how to make peonies, roses, morning glories, and filler flowers. Tips and tricks on how to assemble and arrange the flowers and foliage will also be covered. It's not too late to sign up for this class, there are only THREE seats left! Since it is not every day that we get an instructor from the other side of the planet teaching in Studio B, we have kept registration open. If you want to sign up you MUST CALL (1-800-662-8925) by 2:00pm EST on Friday August 7, 2015. 

Next up in August is Cake Camp out in Las Vegas, NV. From August 13-16, you will be able to find Chef Nicholas at the Green Valley Ranch! Chef Nicholas is going to be teaching three different gum paste flower classes; overall his three classes will include the tuberose, Love-in-a-Mist, oriental peony, avalanche rose, bride protea, calla lily, bells of Ireland, and bouvardia. These flowers are divided up between each of the three, one-day classes. You can sign up for Chef Nicholas' classes at Cake Camp by clicking here. The course numbers for his classes are NL100, NL101, and NL102.  Who doesn't want to visit Vegas? What makes Vegas even better?! CAKE! Go, sign up now. I'll wait right here. 

The weekend after Chef Nicholas and Scott return from Cake Camp we welcome our second visiting instructor to Studio B- Chef Joe Cumm. This class sounds pretty spectacular to me, plus I think it's a two for one: oriental string work AND modeling chocolate! That's right folks, you heard me, Chef Joe will not only be teaching his students how to create gravity defying oriental string work designs, he will also be teaching them how to make modeling chocolate flowers! I mean, come on... this is a great class to take to learn and build your techniques. You always want to be able to offer the very best to your clients, and if you haven't ever tried modeling chocolate, or the stunning elegance of oriental string work, I want to see you in this class! Oh, and it's just a one day class, so it should fit nicely into your weekend on August 22! 

If you are looking for an activity to do the day after you take Chef Joe's class, then head on down to Pastry Live with the ISAC team on August 23! For three days (8/23-8/25) Pastry Live will be hosting seminars, competitions, and vendors! Chef Nicholas' seminar, New Trends in Wedding Cakes (hosted by Nielsen-Massey), is on Sunday, August 23 at 3:00pm. Last year a pastry chef in attendance told me that Chef Nicholas' seminar was by far the best of the entire weekend. So, I think you should come and watch! Plus, it's a lot of fun to walk around, check out all the different competitions, and chat with pastry chefs and students from around the world. Oh, and Chef Nicholas will again be one of the judges for the Art of Cake competitions! Last year there was a Sharknado cake... I just can't wait to see what the competitors come up with this year! If you would like more information, click here for schedules and tickets.

The judges of the 2014 Art of Cake competition; everyone has fun at Pastry Live!

2014 Art of Cake Winner

The day after Pastry Live, August 26, our third guest instructor will be teaching in Studio B! The wonderful Peggy Tucker is bringing her isomalt skills to her students in two different one-day classes! The first class is Basket and Bow, and students will be creating an adorable basket and multicolor bow, and on August 27, Peggy will be teaching students how to make a little garden fairy. While both of these classes use isomalt, each class teaches different techniques that can be used with this medium. Isomalt classes are not offered regularly at ISAC, so if you have been wanting to try a class now is the time to sign up! If you are interested in both classes, we are offering a special discounted price on the two classes together! 

There you have it friends; our August is chock full of fun visiting instructors, ICES, Cake Camp, and Pastry Live. Chef Nicholas, and all of us in the ISAC family, hope to see you this month!

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie

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

Sidney Galpern AND Joshua John Russell at ISAC!

Is it too early to start talking about our Grand Holiday Open House this coming November? Nope, didn't think so. Well, this year our Open House will be a bit different. We will have two guest instructors! That's right, TWO!! Sidney Galpern and Joshua John Russell will be lighting up ISAC with their cake decorating super powers. So, if you haven't yet signed up for our Grand Holiday Open House it's never too early, especially  since you are getting instruction from two highly skilled guest instructors andour very own Chef Nicholas Lodge! But wait, there's more...

Greg Cleary comes to ISAC

G'day mates: mark your cake decorating calendars! In August, Greg Cleary will be coming all the way from Brisbane, Australia to teach in Studio B! Yay!

Red Hat Happiness

For years, and I mean YEARS, the ISAC team has been just dying to connect with the Red Hat Society Ladies and to create a fun filled class just for them! For those of you who are not familiar with the Red Hat Society, it is a social organization for woman over fifty (although, now women of all ages can join) who just like to have fun! Starting back in 2010, Scott had me look into contacting this fantastic organization. Unfortunately, we were never able to connect with a local group and get a class going. Then we hit the jackpot!

Cake Decorating: Back to Basics

When people think of classes that are offered at the International Sugar Art Collection, "Chef Nicholas Lodge" and "professional level" are probably the first words that pop into their heads.  I am here to tell you that yes, Chef Nicholas Lodge teaches most of our classes (of course!), and yes, many of our students are professional cake decorators. However, Chef Nicholas is not our only in house trained pastry chef and not all our classes are aimed at professional decorators! Nope. Who, you ask, is our other pastry chef?

Joshua John Russell has Class!

Last weekend ISAC hosted a class with Joshua John Russell! I wrote about his upcoming class a few weeks ago on the blog, but the process photos from the class just BLEW UP on facebook and instagram, so I thought I would share how amazing the class actually was! I was very excited because I had never met Joshua before! Before Saturday, I had only seen him on the TV shows Food Network Challenge and Last Cake Standing. He lives here in Atlanta, and is a regular at ISAC (both as a visiting instructor and valued shopper!). Joshua is such a nice guy, and was totally fine with me hovering over him taking pictures while he taught his class. That's right dear readers, I had to suffer and hang out with one of the coolest cake decorators in the world just so I could write a fun and exciting blog for you! :) All joking aside, Joshua was very nice, a wonderful teacher, and just an amazing and stylish cake decorator. If you have taken his Craftsy classes you know that he is inspired by fashion and fun fabrics; seriously, one is called Fashion Inspired Fondant. If you haven't taken his Craftsy classes... well, why haven't you?! His Modern Buttercream Class is FREE. FREE!