This past Sunday was Mother's Day in the United States. To celebrate, an extremely talented group of cake decorators (all "Mama's Boys) collaborated and designed and created cakes in honor of their mothers! Each cake had to include a sugar flower, so what would this collaboration be without our very own Chef Nicholas! All of the cakes were debuted this past Sunday, and each and every cake is so beautiful and different, that Chef Nicholas and I wanted to share the video with you. Some of you may know that Chef Nicholas was very close to his mother, and she always encouraged and supported him throughout his career; he credits her with making him the person his is today. 

"Life is fragile like a sugar flower: beautiful to look at, but broken in a second."

I hope you enjoy the stunning work of all the gentlemen in the sugar fraternity, and be sure to wish your mother a belated Happy Mother's Day from everyone in the ISAC Family! A BIG thank you to Sharon Spradley for putting together this fabulous collaboration, and reminding us how important mothers are!

Sweetly yours, 

Stephanie

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

Hold on to your isomalt hats everyone! The ISAC team was excited to host Sidney Galpern for our Grand Holiday Open House this past November, and her two holiday themed classes filled up very very quickly. We decided to heat up our Hotlanta summer even more by inviting Sidney back to teach three incredible isomalt classes: Beer on Ice, The Shoe is on the Other Foot, and Dancing Dolphin.

Before I tell you more about each class, let me share a bit about Sidney: she is a Certified Professional Chocolatier, cake designer, sugar artist, and an ICES Approved Teacher. She graduated with honors from the prestigious Ecole Chocolat School of the Chocolate Arts (the youngest student to ever complete the program!). She has trained with top sugar artists and chefs in New York City, London, Orlando, and West Palm Beach. For the last eight years, Sidney has taught, demonstrated and judged sugar and cake decorating at venues such as Keiser University, The Cake Cruise, ICES Convention and Days of Sharing, The Festival of Chocolate, at cake clubs, restaurants and cake supply stores as well as teaching private classes... She is the owner of Simi Cakes & Confections in Melbourne, Florida. Oh, and she plays the drums. I met Sidney for the first time at our Grand Holiday Open House, and let me tell you. She is just as awesome as she sounds. She is a fantastic instructor and her talent is, quite frankly, indescribable. Since I cannot put into words how talented she is, let's just talk about the three classes she will be teaching in Studio B!

On Saturday, June 11, Sidney is actually teaching two half-day classes! From 9am- 12pm, students will be able to take Sidney's Beer on Ice class; and, as the title suggests, students will learn how to make a life-sized, 3D beer bottle and ice cubes! Oh, and every student will get to keep their very own beer bottle mold! Hooray! In the afternoon, from 1pm-5pm, Sidney will be teaching her The Shoe is on the Other Foot class! Students will be learning how to create a stylish 6-inch, free-standing, isomalt high heel shoe! The mold used to create this shoe offers a couple different elements so that you can create a variety of custom designed shoes. Very fancy. Students in this class are also lucky enough to be taking home the three-piece shoe mold Sidney uses in class. These classes will likely fill up very quickly, our half day classes tend to be extremely popular! Experience is not needed for either of these classes, but if you do have isomalt experience, it will be helpful.

On Sunday, June 12, students are in for a real treat; Sidney is pulling out all the stops for her Dancing Dolphin isomalt cake topper class. In this hands-on class students will learn how to cast isomalt pieces and techniques on pulled and blown isomalt. Using these skills, Sidney will teach students how to create a gravity-defying dolphin leaping over waves and coral, accented with beautiful pearl bubbles. As with the two classes on Saturday, no experience is required, and all skill levels are welcome. 

If you would like to sign up for any, or ALL, of Sidney's classes in Studio B, just click the class names above to sign up online. Or you can call and sign up over the phone by calling 1-800-662-8925. If you missed out on Sidney's classes at ISAC in November, don't miss out on taking one of her classes with us this summer!

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

Chef Nicholas has been in "the biz" for quite some time, and he is always on the lookout for tools or tricks to make decorating cakes easier, faster, or more efficient. If you have taken a class with him in person, on Craftsy, or watched one of his demos, then I am sure you have had a moment where he uses a cake decorating tool (or even a common kitchen tool) in a new and innovative way! I cannot tell you how many times I heard, "Oh, man! Why didn't I think of that?!" or "That's going to make things so much easier!"

Well, sometimes you need something that just doesn't exist yet- necessity is the mother of invention after all.  Well, Chef Nicholas has recently debuted three new items in his exclusive NL E-Z product line to make cake decorating easier for everyone! Oh, and there may just be a fantastic special offer in this blog as well!

Ok, I kind of lied. There are no planes involved in this blog. However, there are trains and automobiles! We recently got in some new cutter sets and Chef Nicholas made the most adorable cake! Basically, if there is a little boy you know who likes cars and or trains, we have got two new products for you! The FMM Car Cutter Set and the FMM Train Cutter Set!

Second view of Chef Nicholas' cute new cake! Photo: S. Ewing

Hello everyone in cake decorating land! I am back with another wonderful tutorial from Chef Nicholas Lodge! This one I am pretty excited about, I really love the design and how easy it is to recreate at home or in your bakery. Friends... I'm talking about the Rose Cupcake! Chef Nicholas has taken a simply cupcake and turned it into an incredibly life-like, edible rose. Bridal showers, weddings, Mother's Day, baby showers, elegant ladies lunches, gardening club meetings- these cupcakes are perfect for these occasions!  How about I stop with the chit-chat and just get to the telling you how to make your own rose cupcake part?!

Photo: S. Ewing

WAAAYYY back in 2015 ISAC held a little giveaway in which participants could enter to win a free four hour private class with Chef Nicholas. Not surprisingly, we had an overwhelming response from people eager to win this fantastic opportunity. Alas, only one winner could be chosen (to be fair, people could enter to win the class for themselves, or themselves and a friend); Ginia and Margery were selected as the class winners, and just a few weeks ago they cashed in on their winnings and enjoyed their private class! Margery was even kind enough to share her thoughts on her special class with me!

Attentive students ready for their private lesson to begin!

At our Spring Open House earlier this month we debuted some brand new piping tips by In2Food (you may be familiar with their spokesman, Joshua John Russell!). Joshua has been giving lots of sneak peeks at these tips on his Facebook page, and we were so excited to see the tips in action and share them with all of our favorite people (you!). Since not everyone who reads our blog could attend our event, I thought I would write up a little blog post about these fantastic tips and show them in action!

Just look at all those flowers! (Photo: Joshua John Russell)

Hey guess what?! Today's blog is a decorating TUTORIAL!!! Hooray! Chef Nicholas has decorated some really adorable cookies with an Easter theme, so I thought I would share them because Easter is this weekend AND the techniques easy! Best part, even though the techniques are easy the designs are sure to really impress all your friends, families and clients! Chef Nicholas demonstrated these cookies at our Spring Open House, and they were so popular among our guests, I knew I had to share it with all of you too!

We had so much fun at our Spring Open House this past Saturday! Thank you to Kathy Scott and Reva Alexander for being our guest instructors this year. And of course, thank you to everyone who attended! I hope you all enjoy these photos from this years event! Oh, and you can now sign up for our Grand Holiday Open House! If you are interested in attending, please give us a call at 1-800-662-8925, spots are already filling up!

March is a busy month for us at ISAC! After wrapping up judging at That Takes the Cake and teaching Summertime Gumpaste Flowers at Over the Top Cake Supplies in Texas, Chef Nicholas is back in Atlanta, and we are all working very hard to get ready for this weekend's Spring Open House event! We are excited to be hosting TWO guest instructors- Kathy Scott and Reva Alexander! Hooray! But that's not all we have on tap this month!

Did you know that March is National Craft Month? Neither did I. What does National Craft Month have to do with cake you ask? Well, this year, quite a bit. Because I am lucky enough to work for Chef Nicholas, I am also lucky to work with Craftsy and deliver you not only Chef Nicholas' wonderful cake decorating classes, but also classes in food and cooking, sewing, quilting, knitting, crocheting, photography, jewelry making, painting.... the list goes on and on. Each of these fields help you to hone different crafts in your life, and each instructor is an artist. 

Craftsy is celebrating National Craft Month in the most generous of ways. Giving back. Sure, Craftsy could run some glitzy sale and entice you with deals, but sometimes helping others is more important. For the next two weeks (now through March 13, 2016), every time a student purchases a Craftsy class, they will be entered to win $1000 for the craft-focused charity of choice! Think of how much $1000 could help a charity and change a life! 

Fruitcake. If you are an American, you are probably rolling your eyes. If you are from nearly anywhere else, your mouth may be watering from memories of delicious holiday treat or dense and sweet wedding cake. Fruitcake is a very popular dessert throughout the world, but here in the old United States of America, the humble fruitcake has a laughable reputation. Johnny Carson joked that there was only one single fruitcake in the whole entire world, and people just keep passing that one cake around as a gift. In Manitou Springs, Colorado there is a yearly fruitcake toss (the record for distance, 1420 feet, was set in 2007 by a group of Boeing engineers). In American English slang, a fruitcake is a person who is strange or even crazy. Well, I think it's high time to restore good old fruitcake's reputation with help from Chef Nicholas and his family recipe!

Chef Nicholas' homemade family fruitcake! Photo: S. Ewing

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

I just LOVE when we get new products in at ISAC! I think it's pretty obvious why, we get to check out brand new cake decorating toys, play with them, and I get to tell you all about them! I haven't shared new products in a while, and I am pretty excited to share these three new items with you today! 

7 Days of Sweet Valentine's Day Sales!

I know it's Monday and not Thursday, but I have big news and it just can't wait until Thursday! For a few years now, in the month of December, ISAC and Chef Nicholas welcome Santa Lodge and our 12 Days of Christmas Sale. Well, everyone has loved that sale so much that we decided to make things even sweeter! We are proud to announce that today is the first day of our first ever 7 Days of Valentine's Day Sale!  Meet Isac the Cupid, he is here to make you fall in love with cake decorating and sugar arts this Valentine's Day! 

Everyone here at ISAC loves our students, clients, and fans... and we love showing it. Of course, with all the deals coming up in our sale you should be able to make some tasty sweets for your sweetie on Valentine's Day!!

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! 

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!

And the Winner is...

I know you are all just on pins and needles waiting to hear who won the FREE FOUR-HOUR PRIVATE CLASS WITH CHEF NICHOLAS!!! Without further ado, the winner (and friend to share the class with) is: 

Everyone here on the ISAC Team wishes you, your family and friends the very best of a Happy Holiday!

Gingerbread house created by Larry Hunn, ISAC General Manager
Set design and photography by Scott Ewing

Originally I had planned to announce the winner of the free four-hour private class with Chef Nicholas. However, because we got such a wonderfully overwhelming amount of responses, Chef Nicholas is still carefully reading through everyone's responses! Due to that, I will be announcing the winner next Thursday; please accept our apologies in having to move the announcement back one week! I know the anticipation will be killing you!