Maggie Austin Cake

A long wishlist! A beautiful palette, a short timeline, a big talent. Congrats to ! 🥳

I’m not one for picking favorites…however!! I will admit to being extra happy having my mother take her very first class this weekend! Couldn’t have been with a more lovely group of ladies. Congrats to all of these budding artists…and maybe most especially, my mom. 💞

Heirloom clay ornaments coming soon…inspired by the perfect imperfection of still life paintings. Made entirely by hand…right down to the crooked little stem.

A little behind the scenes from our studio as we get closer to launching an heirloom clay ornament collection. A perfectly imperfect pile of English Walnuts.

A rose is a rose is a rose. Congrats to these students for taking on the very challenging rose and making it look easy (and very beautiful)!

This workshop was so much fun! No fussy centers, no wires, no rigid dry times. Two day workshops fly by. Congrats to these students who came from as far away as India and as close as a few blocks! We are working on workshop dates for 2024…stay tuned. 🤍

The always lovely and talented Sam came through for a private three day workshop. As always, Sam put me to work (in the very best way) with a big wishlist and epic inspirational images. I enjoyed every minute. Congrats on another round of exceptional work, ! 🥳💗

A handful of pretty from a family trio private workshop. We covered a ton of content in just eight hours. Congrats, ! It’s exciting to watch you grow in leaps and bounds!

Happy Birthday, Mr. M.

What a beauty! A private workshop means a tailor-made curriculum. On the menu here…leaves, branches, dogwood, roses, hydrangea, trumpet flower…with a heaping side of business chat. Congrats, 🎉

Student Work! Let’s see…we talked about ambrosia salad recipes taken to the grave, the pastry preferences of the Supreme Court, and the best taco spot in Hawaii, to name just a few. We also made some incredible arrangements and Dad treated the class to homemade shortbread on the last day. P.S. If you think these are all created by seasoned professionals…the first cake in the slide is by a woman who had never touched gumpaste before. 💪🏻

Maggie Austin is coming to London September 11 through 15! The Dutch Masters Floral Design workshop is an immersive five-day session, exclusively at . Drawing inspiration from lush and dramatic still life paintings, Maggie's unconventional approach to gumpaste flower construction, painting, and arrangement will take your work to another (moody) level. Create cream frilled roses, smoky pink ranunculi, white hyacinths, parrot tulips, daffodils, morning glories, blue wildflowers, soap w**d flowers, green grapes, plover eggs, and murex seashells all arranged on a single faux tier. For the grand finale, photograph your masterpiece in the timeless chiaroscuro style. For more information and to reserve your spot, please email [email protected].

Five and a half hours later…wow! Had a super productive (and fast!) private workshop for and as usual the work is beautiful and the time flew by. Congrats on this beauty!

A beautiful mess from our Wreath Workshop. Link in profile for details.

Just wrapped a four day private workshop for the charming, funny, just downright joyful, talented ladies from . Cincinnati is in very capable cake hands. 🙌🏻 Scroll through to see all the beauties.

Just a peek behind the scenes of a private workshop…more to come.

Thought I’d share a great question (and hopefully helpful answer) from our latest batch of Q&As (in your inbox now). 
 
𝘋𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘸𝘴 𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘨𝘢𝘳 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴? 𝘞𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘮𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦-𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴, 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘨𝘨𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴. 
 
Yes, having a straw-like holder for a taped arrangement or even a single heavy flower is a good idea. I use Poly-Dowels (a strong, straw-like product that is safe for food contact that can be cut to size with scissors) in 1/4" and 1/2" diameters depending on the girth of the arrangement. 
The Poly-Dowels serve a couple of purposes. One: it acts as a vessel for your flowers keeping things nice and neat (less covered in cake goo for the removal of keepsake gumpaste flowers) and a more sanitary barrier between your floral tape (which has been handled quite a bit) and food people will eat. Two: it adds a structural element that extends from just under the surface of the cake, all the way to the base of that tier. That means a thicker, stronger "vase" to catch the weight of your flowers vs. wires that can easily tear through a cake tier, particularly when inserted closer to the edge. 
Insert a Poly-Dowel and make a mark level with the top of the cake. When you pull that guide dowel out, it will have some cake and buttercream in it, leaving a cleaner hole to insert a fresh (and cut to length) dowel.

Hydrangea by hand in clay. 💙

Simply gorgeous results from a private workshop. A lot of hard work and a lot of sumptuous handmade blooms to create this dynamic and vibrant arrangement. Congrats!

The Wreath! One of my all time favorite workshops…absolutely loaded with flowers. We’re bringing this class back April/May 2023 to our studio in historic Old Town, Alexandria. Six days of intense learning in a calm and supportive environment (that’s a big deal for me) learning Moth Orchids, Dendrobium Orchids, Japanese Anemones, Peonettes, Roses, Leaves, Buds, Fruit and elegant branches all magically (and strategically) tethered into a wreath. I’ll also be demonstrating how to use your floral garland to create a dreamy cascade on a tiered cake. Students of all levels of experience are welcome and thrive!

Yay! 2023 workshop dates are here! Link in bio for details. See you soon!

From the vault…circa 2013. A little deconstructed lace overlay on a barely ivory background. And gumpaste monster ranunculus (not a real thing) before I had seen a real one in person and just how tiny and featherlight they could be. Hah!

Four super productive days with the lovely and talented …and puppy. 🥰

*new workshop* Capture the painterly beauty of a wild, tumbling garden. Create gumpaste Belle Epoque tulips, butterflies, gardenias, trumpet vines, bellflowers, robins' eggs, wild strawberries, Victoria white forget-me-nots, and leaves all brushed with petal dust and arranged a single tier.

This intensive five-day sugar flower workshop is open to students of all levels.

We stay together on all the flowers. We dust using the same brushes and the same palettes. We tape the same little bundles and stems. And then…a tiny and quiet little panic as the vessels come out and it’s time to arrange. No direction here…except the assurance that they have a bounty of beautiful things that will come together harmoniously…a unique reflection of the beauty of each artist.

I just love these intro classes…we often have people who stumble upon our work and decide to come to a workshop on a whim. To transform a preconceived notion that someone has little to no artistic talent and prove them absolutely wrong is a thrill! Congrats to these budding artists.

Dad with the endless patience and generosity and creativity. ❤️ Happy Father’s Day.