Today is a new day and today I am self-employed as a cupcake baker...

Last week I was called into a meeting at work and was told that I was being made redundant. Big shock, yes. Emotional, yes. Scary, yes. I guess during these "Global Financial Crisis" times, it is quite common for people to lose their jobs... and even though the possibility of losing your job is in the back of your mind, it is still a huge shock when it happens to you. I had never wondered how losing one's job would feel like and I don't know if any of you have experienced the same thing but now speaking from experience it feels oddly similar to a break-up with a boyfriend. You get that same sickly feeling in the pit of your stomach and you lose your appetite...I guess it is that sense of loss you feel. Not only do you lose that sense of security of having a paying job, you also lose the great people you work with, the feeling of belonging to a company, sense of sadness because you wonder why you've lost your job - could you have done anything better to keep it? Sure they say that it is nothing personal and it wasn't performance based but surely it can't all be a luck of the draw to get the chop.

So today is a new day, after going out and buying myself a brand new laptop, I've decided that everything happens for a reason and this is my calling. I am not happy as an IT Consultant/Business Analyst, I don't have that passion or drive to be an IT Consultant for the rest of my life...I know I can do a great job at it but at the end of the day it isn't what makes me feel alive. I want to work for myself, I want to put in the hard yards for my own business and reap the rewards but also experience the lows and learn from them.

So I have been having mixed feelings and emotions in the past week. There are times when I feel absolutely excited to the point where I can't sleep till 5am even though I'm dead tired because I keep thinking of all the possibilities of what's out there for me...what I can achieve...what I can do with my life now that I don't have a job I have to force myself to wake up in the morning to. But there are still times, like today, where I get scared and feel lost, not knowing how I will get through this. How I can achieve my dream to bake my own Cupcake business. How I will be able to survive without a constant income and what would happen if it didn't work.

But then I get little surprises along the way, like another cupcake order or blog comments from people I don't know telling me that I'm inspiring and that they heart my blog. These are the signs that I'm doing something right, I have a sense of certainty that I will succeed because I won't accept anything else. Failing is just a step closer to success. Reading about all the stories about inspiring people who have made their own ideas and businesses work, I want to aspire to be one of those people. I want to bring more than just my cupcakes into this world, I want to make a difference to the world. However small I want to be able to give back to society, those that aren't as fortunate as us. I may have lost my job but at least I have a family that love and support me, a roof over my head and my whole life in front of me. I've been supporting Save the Children for many years now. During these tough financial times it may seem difficult to be able to donate money you can still make a difference, it's less than $25 a month which is about 6 coffees a month you have to give up. By making this small gesture you will be supporting an organisation that fights for children's rights across the world. Children that are brought into poverty, abuse and prostitution before they even get a fair chance at what we call a fair life. So when I feel down, depressed, unsure or scared I will think about how lucky I am. How blessed I am to even be able to have the choice of what I want to eat tonight for dinner, what outfit I should wear on the weekend and to be able to drive my Type R.

I will be posting much more regularly now, hopefully they will be shorter posts with more photos! I also wanted to thank everyone for their support, it means so much to me. It keeps me strong and I will make this happen.

Much love,

Sheryl

Chanel Cupcake order that took a good few hours to make but it was heaps of fun.





Cupcakes I made for Mum's Birthday.

Cupcake Stall at Dingley Village Craft & Produce Market

THANK YOU to all that bought cupcakes at my Cupcake Stall at Dingley Village Market on Sunday 3rd May. It was fun and exciting selling cupcakes there and simply adored all the lovely customers that gave me the nicest feedback - it really just made my day!! After all those hours of baking and decorating it was well worth it. I always believe that you just have to keep trying & trying, no matter how many times you fail. If you believe in it enough - you will succeed...one day. So thanks for helping me get that one step closer to my dream of baking cupcakes for a living!!

Here I am setting up my first cupcake stall at Dingley. And I will definitely be back at Dingley next month with more exciting flavours like Lemon & Lavender, so stay tuned..



Here are some cupcake signs I made using trusty old Photoshop.


Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Buttercream in baby pink. I use free range eggs, organic butter and real vanilla bean seeds in my cupcakes. I think they just taste so much better with quality ingredients.





These babycakes were snapped up quickly, so adorable to see little kids eating them. I wish I could've taken some photos of them. I'll have to remember to make more of these next time.

Red Velvet Cupcakes - at the market several people have never heard or seen of these cupcakes before and seemed quite afraid of the red food colouring. Aside from the colouring the cupcake itself is less sweet than the vanilla & chocolate cupcakes. This cupcake has cocoa, buttermilk and a touch of vinegar in it. It also has a creamy soft cream cheese frosting and seems to be a big favourite of those that love cheesecakes. These cupcakes are extremely popular in America, they're usually baked as a whole cake for festive seasons like Christmas or Thanksgiving over there but they've now become a favourite cupcake flavour. Apparently Oprah loves red velvet cake too - perhaps she started the craze, you know whatever Oprah endorses becomes an overnight best seller. She is awesome.



Devil's Food Chocolate Cupcakes with Lindt Milk Chocolate Ganache (with Maltesers on top!). Just realised that when I had put the signs out for these cupcakes I had forgotten the word "Food". Oh well I'm pretty sure everyone understood. These were gooey fudgey moist chocolate cupcakes and were the first to sell out.


Cookies & Cream, always a favourite with the kiddies and especially the older boys because they don't want to be seen with 'pretty' cupcakes. Oreos are more manly.


Before the end of the market day, almost all the cupcakes had disappeared and I was over the moon!! I was expecting to only sell half of what I made so I was so delighted. There were only 3 left and the boyfriend who so nicely helped me to sell the cupcakes and even wore my cupcake apron, wanted to take these home. They're his favourite. He does bake a mean cheesecake but I think that's a secret because boys don't bake. lol.



I did make some Honda Type R cupcakes the other week as a guy from my clubitr car club went back to the states, I am awaiting these photos so will post them up later.Ciao for now.