Deanna O'Connor has been decorating beautiful cakes since 2002. She spent more than two years as a professional cake decorating instructor, and has taken gumpaste classes taught by Nicholas Lodge, and completed the Ecole Chocolat chocolatier program. She won two first-place blue ribbons in the 2003 Sugar Wonders Cake and Sugar Arts Show, one in the Intermediate Sculpture category, and one in the Intermediate Special Occasion category. In the 2005 Sugar Wonders Cake and Sugar Arts Show, in addition to being a demonstrator of cake sculpture technique, she won five ribbons in the Advanced division: One first-place ribbon in the Doll Cakes category, one second-place ribbon in the Novelty Tiered category, one second-place ribbon in the Sculpture division, and one first-place ribbon and Best of Division for her calligraphy Wedding Tiered cake. At the 2006 Austin Culinary Institute Cake Show Deanna won three first place and two second place awards. In Tulsa, at the 2006 Oklahoma State Sugar Art Show she won a Silver medal in the wedding cake competition, a first place and a second place as a Semi-Professional.