The Year I Chose Bigger: A story about courage, community and redefining success.

There comes a moment in small business when you realise growth isn't about doing more .

It's about doing what matters most, protecting your creativity, and building a life that feels as beautiful as the products you create and share with the world.

For me, 2026 will be that year.

I am an optimist at heart. I believe in possibility, generosity, big ideas and beautiful outcomes. But building something sustainable also means knowing when it’s time to be a realist.

It means recognising capacity, honouring seasons of life, and making decisions that allow both the business and the woman behind it to thrive.

So today, I want to share what that will look like at Vintage Sugarcraft.

In 2026, Vintage Sugarcraft will move to a limited-release model, opening for carefully curated windows across the year.

What does that mean?

This means Vintage Sugarcraft will open during carefully selected windows across the year, rather than operating on a continuous basis.

When the doors open, they will open with intention, with carefully prepared releases, and with the same quality and attention to detail you’ve always known from us.

But when the window closes, it closes.

If something is on your wish list, preparation will be key. Shop early. Plan ahead.

It's the perfect time to think about your baking year and my Cookie Decorator's Master Planner can definately help with that.

No last-minute rush. No extended availability.

This rhythm allows me to design better, manufacture better, and serve you better.

Custom orders will be very limited.

One of the biggest learnings in my journey has been understanding where my time is most valuable.

In 2026, I will only be accepting a small number of custom projects. This allows space for creativity, travel, education, and the bigger vision for Vintage Sugarcraft.

These won't be quick turn around customs as we've come to know them. Rather "hey I have an idea, have you ever considered making a range in this particular theme?"

I love this kind of work because it stretches my creativity and helps me stay in touch with what you really want to see.

And more than ever, please know that I only ever take on projects that align to my particular style. This ensures I can give a project my whole heart when I am designing and creating.

I'll never pump out a project just because.

A reset, a refresh, and my bravest year yet.

Over the past 3 months we’ve made some big, life-changing decisions.

We sold our family home.

We built a dedicated studio for Vintage Sugarcraft.

We carefully relocated every piece of equipment, every shelf, every mould, every tiny detail of our manufacturing into a space created purely for creativity and growth.

And at the same time, we made a commitment — to not commit.

For the next 12 months, we are choosing to step away from the timelines, expectations and neat little boxes that society quietly places around us. Instead, we’re choosing to live, to explore, to travel, to fall in love with new places and new ideas, and to allow ourselves the space to grow.

Because here’s what I know in my heart: I am my best creative self when I am experiencing life.

New landscapes, new conversations, new inspiration — they fill the creative well in a way routine simply can’t. And when my creativity thrives, Vintage Sugarcraft thrives too.

This season isn’t about walking away from VS. It’s the opposite.

VS is my baby. I’m not letting it go.

What we are doing is giving ourselves room to breathe so we can be clearer about where we want to go, what we want our future to look like, and how Vintage Sugarcraft fits into the life we are intentionally designing.

This isn’t forever. It’s a brave and necessary chapter.

And from that chapter, beautiful things will grow.

Everything will be alright in the end, and if it isn't alright....it isn't the end.

Of course, not everyone understands this decision.

I’ve heard the questions, the worries, the well-meaning concerns. Will the business survive? What about everything you’ve worked for? Aren’t you scared without the stability of a home? 

And the honest answer is - yes, it can feel scary. But it also feels expansive, alive, and deeply right.

Growth rarely comes wrapped in certainty. Sometimes it asks us to loosen our grip, to trust ourselves, and to believe that by stepping into the unknown we make space for something even better to find us.

I choose optimism. I choose to manifest possibility. I choose to believe that creativity multiplies when life is fully lived.  

If you are standing at the edge of a brave decision too, maybe this is your sign — you are allowed to back yourself.

More digital. More support. More tools for your business.

While our physical releases will appear in limited, carefully chosen windows, you’ll see more from Vintage Sugarcraft than ever before - just in a new form.

Think downloadable edible icing designs, thoughtfully created tools, business guidance, trusted recipes, meaningful education, and resources designed to help you work smarter, not longer.

My heart has always been anchored in supporting women to build profitable, sustainable creative businesses.

Stepping into the digital space allows me to share that support wider, deeper, and more generously than I ever could from one physical location.

This shift doesn’t make Vintage Sugarcraft smaller. It allows it to reach further.

Dates will be announced-and they will matter!

You’ll still be able to place orders across the year, but our manufacturing and shipping will move in clearly communicated cycles.

You’ll always know what’s coming.

We’ll share reminders in website banners, in stories, and again at checkout, so you can plan with confidence and never feel caught off guard.

If you create for seasonal moments, this simply becomes part of your creative rhythm.

It’s your invitation to prepare.

To shop early.

To review what you already own.

To stretch your tools further than you thought possible.

To lead your business with intention instead of urgency.

Because the most successful decorators are not the ones who constantly chase something new.

They are the ones who create extraordinary magic with what is already in their hands.

And I know, wholeheartedly, that you are capable of exactly that.

Built on Community

None of us were meant to do this alone.

Another part of this new chapter that truly lights me up is the possibility of offering one-on-one mentoring throughout the year.

Community has always been the reason behind Vintage Sugarcraft.

The conversations, the messages, the shared wins, the honesty about the hard days - that connection is what drives me. Mentoring feels like the most meaningful way I can deepen that support.

In alignment with this season, numbers will be small and the experience will be intimate, focused and incredibly high value. Think real conversations, clear direction, practical strategy, and the kind of guidance that can genuinely change the way you move within your business.

If you’ve been craving help with your direction, pricing, product development, or building confidence in your brand, this might be the year you stop waiting and step forward.

I would love to know — is this something our community wants?

Because if the desire is there, I am so ready to pour back into the women who have made Vintage Sugarcraft what it is.

To share what I’ve learned, the mistakes I’ve made, and the pathways that truly create growth.

Ambition with heart

If Vintage Sugarcraft has ever stood for anything, I hope it is this:

That women can build beautiful, profitable businesses without losing themselves.

That community will always be more powerful than competition.

That sharing what we know creates room for everyone to rise. And that kindness - real, steady, authentic kindness - is not a weakness... it's leadership.

As I step into this new season of operating, those values don’t soften. They strengthen.

I want to champion a way of doing business where ambition and wellbeing sit side by side. Where success makes room for rest. Where creativity is supported by boundaries, not burnout.

A model where we celebrate one another loudly.

Where we offer encouragement freely. Where we remember that there is space for all of us.

Because there is.

And there always has been.

Final words

2026 will look different.

It will be more intentional. More spacious. More inspired.

At times it will ask you to plan ahead, to move with me in a new rhythm, to trust the process of opening and closing seasons.

But with my whole heart, I believe this change will allow Vintage Sugarcraft to offer you the very best it ever has - deeper creativity, clearer guidance, and products built from a life being fully lived.

Thank you for being here. Thank you for walking beside me. Thank you for being the kind of community that makes brave decisions not only possible, but powerful.

I do not take that for granted. Not for a second.

With endless gratitude,

Catherine

Vintage Sugarcraft"