From Instagram to Blog: Why I'm Sharing My Creative Journey with You

Hi there, I’m Catherine, the founder of Vintage Sugarcraft by Catherine.

If you’ve found your way here, it’s probably because you’re a baker, a cake maker, or someone who loves to get creative in the kitchen.

Maybe you’ve stumbled across my Instagram or you’ve used one of my products like the acrylic cookie stamps or textured cake embossing mats. Whatever brought you here, I’m so glad you’re joining me on this journey!

Skip ahead to:

• Why a blog

• Unexpected career changes

• Mum life

• My first cookies

• The obsession I kicked for cookies

• Making it my business

So why now? Why a Blog?

Firstly, I’ll be completely honest. I never imagined that this would be a path I would be taking. I mean isn’t Instagram my go to place for sharing ideas and cookie tutorials? Of course! But in a way it’s a little superficial.

You get to see the polished end process of creating and decorating and the occasional behind the scenes, but is it completely authentic?

If you’re a cookie decorator, cake maker or a creative person, then you know it’s not all rainbows and lollipops. There’s ups and downs. The highest of highs, and some downright crappy lows.

I wanted a space to share those experiences and create a community of authenticity. A space where we can talk honestly and openly about navigating social media, working through personal growth, juggling our beautiful families and being part of a community of women who are reinventing themselves every single day.

So, grab a coffee (or a glass of wine!) and let me share with you how I started on this journey and what led me to you.

It's not all about cookies! Click the picture to get my free carrot cake recipe!

From Criminal Justice to Cookie Stamps:

My Unlikely Career Path

Yep you read that correctly. Criminal Justice…even the words seem scary, right?

I’ve had several careers in my life, but working in Justice was an unexpected passion that completely shaped me as a person.

It wasn’t a field I initially set out to pursue. I tend to “fall into things".

But once I was in it, I realised it was exactly where I was meant to be.

Working in Justice provided me with a unique opportunity to see every side of human behaviour—how complex and nuanced people can be, and how deeply their own experiences influence the choices they make.

Some of the stories I encountered were heart-breaking, filled with trauma and pain; while others were incredibly inspiring — showing the resilience of the human spirit.

I felt privileged to be a part of that world, even in the hardest moments. It taught me to never judge someone by a single moment in their life, but to look at the broader picture—at the years of experiences that led them to that point.

That perspective is something I carry with me today, both in life and in business.

On the flip side, it was intense. It consumed me.

Working in this field also provides you with a lens that impacts the way you see the world. The way you interact with people, your choices, your decisions and most importantly it affects you as a person. 

At the time, I didn’t understand how profoundly the career impacted me – for good and for bad. But that wasn’t all to my story.

And then there were cookies.

From Mum Goals to Grandkids:

How Family Shaped My Creative Journey

Aside from being an obsessive, career driven control freak, I was a Mum and a wife. Somewhere along this crazy path we raised 5 gorgeous kids who have now all grown up and embarked upon their own life journeys.

I had simple goals as a Mum: to raise happy, healthy kids who would follow their dreams no matter what. Kids who would travel and bravely experience life, free from the expectations of society.

That dream bit me on the butt!

I now have 4 of my babies living more than 4000kms away and whilst we are in constant contact, I only get to see them around twice a year.

I know you want me to say that kills me. It kind of does, but no that’s not completely true...

It makes me so damn proud that they have grown up to be confident, brave, inquisitive young people who know they are loved and supported in whatever they choose to do and wherever they choose to be.

And I have the best consolation prize ever….my middle daughter, her fabulous husband and two of the most delicious grand babies you ever did see living 30 minutes away from me!

In case you’re reading this Georgia, my goals for you have changed and they involve never moving away and granting me creative freedom to spoil these babies until my last dying breath.

How can you not love designs, tastes and textures that have lasted generations?

The Truth About My First Cookies

Spoiler: They Were Awful!

I’d never really been a baker.

Let’s be honest…I’d never really enjoyed cooking. I just wasn’t home enough!

Hubby finished work well before I got home for the day and thank the lord, he LOVED cooking.  Meals were his thing, and it suited where we were in our lives. Seriously how lucky am I?

I think not having the added pressure of meal prep everyday left me with the space to be creative on the weekends.

As is the case for many cookie artists, I craved a creative outlet to unwind and destress from the intensity and rigidity of my job.

I also wanted something I could share with my family.

I saw some personalised cookies online one day and thought “Oh how hard can they be? It’s just a plain cookie, some premade icing and you stamp some words on it, right? Easy peasy.”

I made my first ever decorated cookies for one of my daughters’ birthdays.

I was so proud! I thought they looked great (wait til you see them…).

I boxed them up, shoved them into a post pack and shipped them across Australia to Karratha.

I’d like to say they died along the way via a combination of Australia Post throwing them about and the extreme heat of their destination, but that would be a lie.

I’m sure the travel had some impact on how they looked on arrival, but seriously, they were hilariously bad. 

You can see these original cookies I made on my Instagram account. ABSOLUTE SHOCKERS!

Regardless of how they looked, my daughter absolutely loved them (or so she said) and I was hooked.

I've always considered myself a hopeless perfectionist and cookies was my new obsession.

Little did I know where this journey would take me.

From Shoes to Cookie Stamps:

The Unexpected Addiction That Changed Everything

I’d like to say I started small, researched online, took my time and started to practice the art of cookie decorating before going crazy. But that is absolutely NOT what happened.

I have this “all or nothing” attitude. I found so many amazing Aussie businesses creating and selling cookie stamps and cutters online, and I spent way too much money thinking I just had to have everything.

Let’s reflect for a moment (because I didn’t at the time and hindsight is a wonderful thing).

I 100% did not need everything. I had no idea what I was doing and nowhere near the skills I needed to recreate these beautiful cookies I was seeing online.

I just knew I had zero motivation to cook dinner after a long day at work and a supernatural, adrenaline-fueled passion to stay up into the early hours of the morning scrolling beautiful cookie content and playing with cookie dough and icing.

Before I knew it, I had swapped a completely sensible shoe obsession to everything and anything cookie related.

My picture-perfect kitchen was swamped with all things cookies. My cupboards were teaming with equipment, and I was running out of places to stash my stuff (away from the prying eyes of my husband who would have died on the spot if he knew the true depths of my addiction…).

From Hobby to Hustle:

How I Built My Cookie Business (And How You Can Too!)

So, here I am, an obsessive cookie enthusiast with a kitchen full of gear, a heart full of creative ideas, and a mind racing with dreams of turning this obsession into something bigger. But how did I go from baking cookies for family and friends to shipping them across Australia and turning it into a profitable little side hustle?

That’s what we’ll dive into next time, and I’ll be sharing the five key things you need to know before starting your own cookie business—because I didn’t know these things and life would have been so much easier.

I’ll tell you why I think these things are crucial, how they helped me build a business that was sustainable and why it’s never too late to realign, reassess and follow your dreams. Stay tuned—this journey is far from over! 

I'd love to hear what led you down your own sweet path.

So tell me, what sparked your love for cookies?