When Heather from Cakepunk asked me to join her collaboration celebrating the incredible works of William Joyce, I said, “WHO”?
With one quick Google search I knew exactly who he was – but had no idea the amount of books, stories, movies etc that I already recognised – and never knew were his. There were ones I knew from before like, Rise of the Guardians and Rolie Polie Olie and then some of the works that I never knew and now love, like The Mischievians (which I had to order) and Ollie’s Odyssey. Yup, I loved them all. I was in. Being originally a Graphic Designer and always wanting to get stuck in to the latest project, I offered to help out where I could. And what can I say… it’s been a brilliant ride.
Cake by Isabel Tamargo from Tartes Impossible
The fun began with inviting some cake friends that you know and love. Then, crossing your fingers while you invite some of your cake idols – hoping that they’ll say yes too. And they did! That’s another great thing about these collaborations… building relationships with other ‘like-minded’ cakers. But it was time for us to start the real work on this. I now appreciate everyone who hosts a cake collaboration. There’s so much love, attention, time and WORK that go into these things. The trick is to make it look like it was super easy in the end.
Cake by Jean A Rettmer Schapowal of Cakes with Character
When recreating people’s art – it’s always a good idea to get permission from the original artist. So, Heather sent out a little letter to William Joyce’s publishing company just to let them know what we’re doing and to see if we needed permission to use his works. From someone who has written to favourite authors before – it’s rare to get a response. But he did! “This sounds lovely. She has my enthusiasm and permission. Bill”. I think we literally jumped in the air from the comment.
Cake by Corinna Maquire from Lovin’ from the oven
Buzzing from that response and watching the absolutely incredible pieces come in one by one was such a rush. The butterflies were gathering in my belly seeing it all come to life from Heather’s idea. But the best part of it all was seeing how much each cake artist loved their own piece that they created! And how they were waiting with bated breath to share them. William Joyce’s characters were so fantastic, that you could see the effort each person put into recreating them as best they could.
Cake by Mio Shih from Deliciously Yummy
I couldn’t be more proud of a collection of works. And although this was, and is Heather’s baby – I’m just thrilled to be a part of it all and to have watched it grow. Please enjoy scrolling through all of the works on the Facebook page, website and video, as I have done countless times. And hopefully you’ll be amazed at the end result as I am.
Cake by Myton Ouano from Antonio’s kitchen
After reading about William’s life and family we decided to add a donation page for ALS research. A disease which tragically struck his family. ALS is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that causes muscle weakness, paralysis, and ultimately, respiratory failure. There is a donation page now available on our website. Because every little helps.
I want to say thank you to Heather, who let me jump on board with her collaboration. And also (and especially) a big thank you to William Joyce for creating these fantastic characters that inspired us to create them. I hope you enjoy them all!
To see the full selection of works please visit
www.williamjoycecakes.com
www.facebook.com/SweetBillJoyce
In the meantime, here are a selection of some of the great cakes made in this collaboration to wet your appetite. To see the full selection do head over to the website or facebook page above.
A big thanks to Pretty Witty Cakes for publishing this post.