Liz Marek is the owner of Artisan Cake Company in Portland Oregon and runs the online cake decorating school Sugar Geek Show. She specializes in sculpted and special effects cakes, and enjoys making tutorials, teaching classes around the world and coming up with new and innovative cake techniques.

Liz is the author of the highly acclaimed cake decorating book, Artisan Cake Company’s Visual Guide to Cake Decorating. Her work has been featured in many magazines such as BRIDES, Oregon Bride, Portland Bride and Groom, Cake Masters, American Cake Decorating Magazine and more. She has competed and won on Food Network's Duff till Dawn (2015) and her work has been televised on Food Network's Outrageous Cakes series and news stations. 

Liz is also an early adopter of Sugar Shapers as her professional go-to tool for sculpting and modeling. Today she delivers an update on one of her first highly popular tutorials. The original mermaid cake topper tutorial was made before Sugar Shapers were developed. This new one reflects her current sculpting habits, as well as her growth as an artist. We adore this mermaid and we know you will, too! Check it out!

One of the very first videos I ever made for my YouTube channel was a fondant mermaid topper tutorial. It quickly became very popular and was one of the reasons I began making more videos for youtube.

That was four years ago! I have learned a lot about making figures and the tools that I WISH I had when I first started sculpting. Yep, I'm talking about those amazing Sugar Shapers!

It would have been a lot easier to get those face shapes and little details with Sugar Shapers and I'm not just saying that! I use mine so much, I even found one in my purse the other day! My favorite sugar shaper is definitely the pointed shaper!

I use it for everything from shaping lips, eyes and making my signature smiles.

I love the rounded wedge for making perfect scales or fingernails. The knife is great for making wood grain texture or soft lines without tearing the fondant. The ball tool is invaluable for all kinds of textures but I especially love it for making eyes on my toppers faces. 

I have put together an updated (timelapse) version of my popular mermaid topper tutorial her for your enjoyment! And you can learn more about sculpting figures and making awesome cakes on my online tutorial school Sugar Geek Show.

This time-lapse video should give you a good idea of how to use Innovative Sugarworks Sugar Shapers to sculpt your own mermaid, or another figure using similar techniques. To see the full step-by-step video, click this link to Sugar Geek Show!

We hope you've enjoyed this mermaid topper instructional by Liz Marek! If you want to see more of Liz's work, visit Artisan Cake Company and follow her on Facebook. And if you're interested in learning more and crazier cake decorating techniques, go to Sugar Geek Show and check out its extensive library of tutorials. With skill levels ranging from beginner to advanced, Sugar Geek Show has something for everyone!