Meet Rosie

Okay, I’ll say it: I’m addicted to cake. Well, just about anything pretty and baked. Heck, even anything pretty, or, well, come to think of it, anything baked. I’m passionate about the art of baking, cake & confection design, photography (although I’m still relatively new), writing, all things vintage, cake pedestals, good coffee (often), and just about anything frilly or French. Since my first job at a German bakery when I was 16, I realized I have a (possibly unnatural) fixation with cakes and baked goods. It wasn’t, though, until I took cake design and baking courses at Bonnie Gordon School in Toronto, that I fell just as in love with designing cakes as baking them. With course instructors such as Bonnie Gordon herself and Lori Hutchinson (The Caketress), among others, I am infinitely inspired. Although I haven’t always been a cake & confections designer, it’s simply what I’m meant to do.

I live east of Toronto, Canada, with my husband, Grant, and our two gorgeous cakelets, Reese Amelia (born in 2007) and Neve Winter (born in 2009). They are the icing to my cake, and they make me laugh—a lot. Surrounded by girls, Grant is definitely out-numbered, but he doesn’t seem to mind and is yet to complain about the colour pink or cake crumbs in the bed. Life is good.

I believe a big part of my love of entrepreneurship stems back to my days as the co-creator of Cake Beauty–a popular boutique brand of bath and body products. I created the initial line of decadent handmade products, with a friend (and all of my heart and soul) in my tiny kitchen in 2000 (yep, my kitchen!). After a year of hard work and determination, we had a collection, and we ran with it. After several exciting years together, I felt I had no choice but to move on. She still runs the company, and, for me, knowing Cake has continued to thrive is like watching my baby grow up. I’m so thankful for everything I learned through the process of starting such a successful company from the ground up. I wanted to mention it because, truly, it’s a big part of why I am who I am today. Turns out you can take the girl out of Cake, but you can’t take the cake out of the girl.

I created the Sweetapolita blog in the fall of 2010, as a place to share my enthusiasm for and experiences with baking and caking, as well as dessert recipes, photos, confection decorating ideas, and other delights I may stumble upon. You’ll also find random musings about my life as a mom of 2 small girls and my new(ish) hobby of photography. It means a lot to me to have this outlet to share my passions, and there’s nothing better than being surrounded with like-minded people, so I would love for you to leave comments or even just say hello!

As I mentioned, I am a lover of photography. In late 2009 I got my first DSLR camera, which was when I really became determined to improve my photography skills. I’m definitely not a pro, and I am still learning, but I’ve learned a lot since then. All photos on this site (unless otherwise credited) are taken by me, using a Nikon D7000  and often my favourite lens, the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 (a macro lens is currently on my wish list!). Wow, that sounded as though I really know what I’m doing, didn’t it?

What’s my secret to improving as a photographer? I take pictures every single day. Lots of pictures. Of anything, really–cakes, my girls, the cat, a jar of sprinkles, anything. It’s amazing what you can figure out. I love to share any tips and tricks I have discovered, as well as several recommendations for beginners–books, websites, and others. So, if you’re also interested in learning more, watch for these photography posts–we can click together.

You can watch my official Hello video here.

To read more about Sweetapolita, please check out my interviews on M.I.S.S., Pizzazzerie, Kate Landers, and Icing Designs or 23 Random Things About Me.

Hope you enjoy!

*Copyright: All images and content on this website are property of Sweetapolita, unless otherwise credited. Up to 2 images may be used on other blogs, along with credit and link back to Sweetapolita. For features that require more than 2 images, please contact me directly.

Categories

Reese Loves: Rainbow Doodle Cake

Neve Loves: Sprinkled chocolate party spoons

where it all began . . .