76
MAGAZINE
We spoke to Vicky Teather
about the incredible Sugar
Witches collaboration! Read
on to find out more about
some of the pieces made, the
theme inspiration and more...
Tell us about your collaboration
The Sugar Witches is the second
collaboration by the Sugar Bees, ran by
Vicky Teather of The Yellow Bee Cake
Co. Last year’s theme was pirates and
after having a crazy amount of fun, I
had already decided to run a second
collaboration before I had even finished
the first! We'll be displaying our work
at Cake International in November,
which is a dream come true for many of
us. The display will have a main feature
with life-sized witches and a cauldron
along with a group table featuring work
from the talented team.
What inspired you to do this theme?
I love anything dark so a witch theme
was right up my street. It’s a theme
where you can really get your creative
juices flowing and create old, haggard
ladies with hook noses and beady eyes
or gruesome eyeball plants. Something
you don’t really get many (any!)
customer orders for haha so it lets the
team have a bit of fun.
Tell us about a few of the pieces that
have been made
There are some amazing stand out
pieces that have been submitted. I love
the variety in the designs. Without
giving too much away (you'll have to
come see us at Cake International), here
are a few of my favourites from our
online team. Tanya Ross' recipe book
with ingredients and a very sad looking
frog is full of details. We also have a
very haggard 3D portrait of a witch by
Michal Katz and an absolutely stunning
witch bust by Valentina Terzieva.
Corinna Maguire has created a creepily
realistic skull and crow cake and Paula
Chandler has created an extremely
cute witch figurine, one of her first
models! There’s even a free tutorial at
http://www.saracinodolci.co.uk for the cute
witch model created by myself (Vicky
Teather).How many members are in your
collaboration?
We have a very large group with over
150 members.How did you decide on this group of
people?
I am happy for anyone to take part if
they have an affinity with the theme. I
don't mind if you've never made a cake
before but want to get stuck in or if
you're a cake celebrity who is famous
for their creations. We're all equal in
the group and I try and keep everything
as fair as possible by holding raffles
to see who is awarded a space on our
display tables.Did anything go wrong during the
process?
We did have a little wobble in July when
I checked with Cake International if we
still had our four tables for the display
and was told we actually only had two...
Oops on my part! I had already set out
a table plan and given everyone their
space so it was a major setback. But
instead of giving up, I spoke to Melanie
at CI and she upgraded us to a display
area. So in the end, it worked out better
than I could have ever dreamed!If you were to do it again, what would
you do differently?
For a start, confirm with Cake
International what space we had before
starting work on a plan. I felt awful that
I could have gotten hopes up and then
taken away their space on the display. I
think having team leaders is also going
to be something
I organise early
on too so that I’m
not drowning in
all the photo
submissions!Sugar Witches
The Yellow Bee Cake CompanyIf you were to do another
collaboration, how should others get
involved?
I would love for more people to join in.
We are an inclusive group so I’m happy
to take on any skill levels, even absolute
beginners. If you’d like to join us, please
contact our Facebook page or email me
at [email protected]
I already have next year’s theme in
mind, but it’s a secret for now!To find out more, visit:
http://www.facebook.com/SugarCollaboration