Hey guys! My name is Kimberly, and even though I've been a member for a few years, I have never actually formally introduced myself. So I thought I would take the time to say HELLO.
Anyways - yes. My name is Kimberly. I'm Canadian. Ever since I was little, I always wanted to be an artist. I've always done crafty things. I used to be a sculptor - I've been sculpting under my online alias "Monster Kookies" for more than a decade, but I got burnt out. I don't sculpt as much as I used to, but when I do, I just make what I wanna make and I don't take orders anymore. I also do chainmaille.
I decorate cookies, obviously. I've only been doing it for a few years, now. I live in a rural area, and we seem to have our share of cake decorators and little bakeries, but I noticed that nobody was doing sugar cookies. I got inspired by people like Flour Box Bakery and SweetAmbs. My first ones were super duper simple and boring, but I kept at it.
I was feeling really low when I got burnt out at sculpting, and I was searching for something else to feed the fire. You guys know that I have a background in Art but I also went to Chef School and apprenticed as a cook when I was 17, though the baking part is what I excelled at. So I feel like cookie decorating is a nice mix of the two, ya know? I like simple designs and a good colour palette, but I also have a soft spot for more complicated things like lace, embroidery, and needlepoint on cookies.
I have a small business out of my inspected home kitchen (in my area, you need to be inspected twice a year by the local health unit) - Sweethart Baking Experiment. I started as a little FB page that "experimented" with recipes and I'd share these experiments with friends and family. When I started decorating cakes and what not, I decided to keep the name. Why not. It was cute.
Anyways. I guess that's it. Cookie decorating, like sculpting was, has become my therapy, really. It keeps me sane(ish). I've been dealing with depression and anxiety over half my life now - I won't really go into detail about that - but I'm content to have something that keeps me busy and interested and always learning. I'm happy to be here introducing myself to you all.
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