About this website:

Sweetopia is a site about women’s lifestyle, home decor, fashion, finding balance and living a fulfilling life, and lastly but especially, my passion with sugar art. It also covers topics on fitness, cute things, recipes and tutorials related to sugar crafting.

Navigating Sweetopia:

New here?  There’s a tutorial index, a page dedicated to baking terms etc., an RSS feed and a place to sign up to have new posts sent right to your inbox (top right).

Mainly interested in decorating cookies?  The Cookie Decorating Tutorial or Top 10 Tips post may be just for you.  Would you like more detail?  Check out the KopyKake Projector Tutorial or How to Marble Royal Icing post.  I’ve also shared my favorite sugar cookie recipe here.

Join me on facebook and twitter as well for more sweet news!

About the author:

Hi I’m Marian, and I currently live in a forested area near Toronto, Canada, with my husband and furry friends. Besides my funny husband, spending time in nature makes me happy, as does my passion, sugar art.

My fascination with sugar design began eight years ago, when a illness (ITP), prevented me from engaging in physical fitness; what I had previously spent much of my free time doing. I needed to keep busy, and as I had always been charmed by gingerbread houses, I decided to try my hand at one. The first house I made wasn’t the prettiest, but I was hooked! The possibilities were endless, and the more I made them, the more I found there was to learn. Thank goodness the ITP only lasted about six months, and I’m grateful for it now, because it led me to find one of my favourite hobbies.

Eventually, I began delving into decorated, cookies, cupcakes and am now starting to learn about making cakes. It’s a hobby in which the learning and possibilities are endless; I have so many projects that I’d like to try, I know I’ll be busy for many years to come.

People often ask how I make my cookies, cupcakes etc., so I decided to create a fun place here to share all my information. By no means am I an expert! There are so many people with much more talent and skill than myself, but I can share what I know, even if it’s a yummy recipe or which tools I use to make my sugar crafts.

I teach Culinary Arts full time at a local Secondary school and have a B.A. in Modern Languages & Linguistics and a Bachelor of Education. I have worked in and around Toronto and on three different cruise ships with Royal Caribbean International.

I try to keep healthy and active, although I do have a major weakness for chocolate and sweet things. I love taking walks, jogging, yoga, swimming, and just generally being outdoors. I’m not very competitive, so I tend to shy away from organized sports, but play the occasional squash game with my husband. Living out of the city means giving up many conveniences, but for me, the pluses outweigh the drawbacks. Health and wellness are definitely a priority for me, so I’ll be including those topics in my blog.

I’m a bit of a shopoholic for clothing, shoes, accessories… fashion items basically. Shopping for clothes is my next major weakness besides chocolate. I do love bargains though; once in a while I stumble across great deals and/or stunning designs, and I’ll be more than happy to share them with you.

Cute and beautiful things also float my boat. =) I love Sanrio, home made crafts, jewellery, cards, scrapbooking paper, stamps, illustrations, graphic art… and the list goes on and on.

Decorating our home has become a bit of an obsession. We’re doing it slowly, renovating room by room. You’ll often find me engrossed in Pottery Barn catalogues, watching HGTV, or looking for unique finds on Avenue Road or Queen Street in Toronto. I’m looking forward to posting my inspirations here!

Snuggling in bed with a good book is also one of my favorite pastimes. Getting lost in a novel, or being inspired by philosophers is one way for me to relieve stress. There really are too many good books to mention… but a few I will anyways are: Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follet, The Clan of the Cave Bear series, the Harry Potter series was a fun read… and that list goes on and on too.

I’m excited to have a place to journal about my loves, and am happy to share with you. I love to read feedback and comments, so drop me a line anytime. I may not add to my blog every day, as I try to keep my life balanced, but I do love to hear from you and will respond as soon as I can!