Two Melbourne best friends who started a “side hustle” making unique cookie cutters and stamps have become so successful, they’ve had to quit their full-time jobs.
Monique Graziano had worked as a professional cake decorator for 10 years when the pandemic hit.
“My specialty is wedding cakes, but during lockdown everything got postponed so I suddenly found myself without work,” Monique, 27, tells 7Life.
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Looking for a project to keep her busy, Monique turned to childhood best friend, Lisa Goodwin, who worked as a graphic designer.
The pair had remained incredibly close since meeting in Year Six and Lisa, 28, went on to be Monique’s maid of honour at her wedding.
“We had both used cookie stamps in the past, but there weren’t a lot of businesses doing them and we figured we could use our creative talents to make our own,” Monique says.
So the pair purchased some small 3D printers and a laser printer and got to work developing a range of unique cookie cutters.
They also developed cookie stamps from Lisa’s hand-drawn designs that could be pressed on fondant to create intricate and professional-looking cookies in seconds.
Launching their business, Lulu & Stone, in January 2021, Monique and Lisa had a range of original designs centred around events and occasions like weddings, baby showers and birthdays.
“When we launched, we had about 50 designs and we’d spent months in the lead-up making that stock – but within a few hours we had completely sold out,” Monique shares.
Completely blown away by the response, the friends worked until 2am that first night packing orders to ensure their customer service was top-notch from the very beginning.
Within weeks, Lisa had to quit her job as a graphic designer and Monique closed her cake-decorating business so they could focus full-time on Lulu & Stone.
The Melbourne friends now have eight full-time staff, more than 450 designs and have just expanded to 35 3D printers as the business continues to grow.
All made and produced in Melbourne, each piece sent out is hand-polished to ensure quality craftsmanship.
The results speak for themselves with hundreds of happy customers leaving five-star reviews and sharing impressive photos of their creations.
“I recently purchased the mermaid stamp, slim arch cookie cutter, seashell silicone mould, ocean tales silicone mould and medium mermaid tail silicone mould. They were absolutely perfect! The quality is incredible and so easy to use. My cookies and cake decorations turned out exactly as I had wanted!” one customer shared.
“I love using Lulu & Stone cookie stamps. They are so easy to use and make my cookies look professional. Definitely recommend,” added another.
“Lulu & Stone never disappoint when it comes to quality with their cookie embossers! A beautiful finished professional look to your cookie,” another customer said.
The brand’s best-selling cooking stamp design for baby showers, Minimal Mumma, has now inspired similar products by other brands.
“It is amazing to see how the designs we’ve come up with have influenced the cookie-making space,” Monique says.
“Our arch-shaped cookie cutter is now incredibly popular and we’re constantly coming up with new designs for the major holidays.”
Lisa and Monique – who are both now mums to one-year-old boys –have just launched an Easter and Mother’s Day range.
To check out the products, click here.
