Karen Grew up in bakeries in South Florida, where her grandfather was a pastry chef.  Combining this history with her background in art has been a seamless although unexpected evolution. She has appeared on Food Network's Cake Challenge 4 times, Halloween Wars and Cake wars, winning all but one, Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern, as well as designing set pieces for "Sugar Dome". She has also appeared on her own show, called "Caketastrophe" on Food Network, and many more as well as various publications and websites worldwide. She spends much of her time teaching Cake Art internationally and has taught in more than 23 countries, with new locations added every year. Teaching has become a passion, and she travels quite frequently to give classes, demonstrations, or to make appearances at events.