Julie’s Cake Hobby – A perfect pastime!

We’ve got a name for students that do lots of courses with us…’Serial Workshoppers’! And I think I can safely say that Julie Marney is one of our most prolific workshoppers to date! We love a familiar face in our workshops because it’s like catching up with old friends. We enjoy building up a cake friendship with our students and Julie truly is a friend of Lindy’s Cakes!   Julie did her first course with us in October 2007 starting  with the ‘WonkyCake‘ no less! 18 months later she joined us on the ‘Introduction to Celebration Cakes’! ‘Wonky’ to ‘Introduction’, oh how we laugh about the order of that!  She continued her workshop portfolio with: Christmas Mini Cakes, More Cake Jewellery, Xmas Cookies, Designer Cupcakes, Cake Jewellery and Summer Cookies. And if that’s not impressive enough, she is booked on the ‘Designer Handbag’ in September!

Julie began cake making and sugarcrafting when her son was a baby. She was keen to emulate the delicious cakes that her mother had made for her. With memories of her own childhood firmly at the forefront of her creative mind she made her sons 1st birthday cake… a round teddy bears head, complete with cupcake shaped ears. She hoots with laughter as she tells me about this cake but I think these ‘first attempt’ cakes are endearing. The wonderful gestures from our parents, or loved ones, are what shape our childhood memories and I know for a fact that I could make any old thing for my own little boys and they would think it wonderful!  Julie’s son, now 11,  has had numerous cakes made for him. How lovely to have a Mummy that bakes cakes! How fantastic to have a Mummy that spends hours creating a fabulous cake especially for you!  Beats a Battenburgh any day!

News spreads and it wasn’t too long before someone asked Julie to make a cake for them, thus Julie’s hobby /  ‘non-business’ was born! Julie consistently makes cakes for family and friends…and friends of friends! She doesn’t charge a fee for her cakes but asks that her costs are covered. If anyone wants to go beyond this her family and friends can pay her in her preferred currency ‘sugarcraft equipment & tools’!  Based on the collection that accompanies Julie to our workshops this is a very successful non-business indeed!  I admire this approach to her hobby, it works for Julie and she feels much more comfortable this way.

Once Julie had completed her initial two courses with Lindy she was well and truly hooked. Not only do you get brilliant tuition on a workshop but there is a great social side to sugarcrafting. On a workshop you are thrown together with 9 strangers but by the end of the day you have 9 friends because you instantly have something in common. The support our students give each other is great to see.  Julie has made a good friend with a woman that she met on a Lindy course, they facebook each other, have been to ‘Cake International’ together and are both booked on the handbag course!  How brilliant connecting with someone away from your usual life, someone that shares your craft and is as passionate as you are. Someone that understands the highs and lows of your craft, someone you can bounce ideas off or just go to for advice and support. You find these friends in the most unusual places and it’s a treat when you do!

Over time, and with lots of practice, with anything you do you become more confident and capable. The cakes, cupcakes, cookies and cake jewellery that Julie makes today are in a different class to Olly’s 1st birthday teddy cake! But the best thing about Julie is her positive, infectious personality. Her enthusiasm for sugarcraft and her admiration of Lindy and her work is humbling. Her ‘can do’ attitude is inspiring and she is a joy to have in our workshops. We have an absolute hoot!  She truly deserves the praise she gets for her work from her family and friends, for this is one selfless and generous cake maker!

Join us, and quite possibly Julie, on a cake workshop!! Click here for more information