Great Ideas

The Cutlery Commission Australia

In 2011, on the hunt for a unique gift and struggling for inspiration, Katie Dobson found herself at her favourite car boot sale knee deep in boxes of chipped china. This is where she found it…’it’ being a rather sad looking silver spoon, which unbeknown to her was soon to become the inspiration for what is now The Cutlery Commission!  Using her old steel letters (tired remnants from Katie's silversmithing days) and a hammer, she stamped the words ‘HEY SUGAR’ onto the spoon and there and then…fell a little bit in love. It’s been a cutlery love affair ever since!

Soon after the ‘HEY SUGAR’ epiphany, and with Katie's creative passion reignited, she started sourcing silver cutlery to stamp and give as special gifts to friends and family. Amazingly word spread and within months she went from a part time crafter to ‘The High Commissioner’ of The Cutlery Commission working with a team of six ‘Spoonettes’!  Just four short years later The Cutlery Commission is now sold in Liberty & John Lewis, two leading retailers in the UK as well as a number of smaller boutiques.   

On September 1st 2015, The Cutlery Commission launched in Australia.  As dedicated tea drinkers,  friends and business partners Jo Coles and Laurie Creasy have joined Katie in her quest to spread the love via her hand-stamped spoons 17,000 kilometres away in Sydney.   They hope you fall in love with the story and the spoons,  just as much as they did.  

The Cutlery CommissionAustralia - Jo Coles & Laurie Creasy
Having both had corporate careers before kids, Jo Coles and Laurie Creasy began their own boutique PR agency in 2009. Fast forward 6 years, 2 more little ones, another on the way and one interstate move, Lily Blue Communications is running well and they are excited to have taken a leap of faith once more, with their latest business venture - The Cutlery Commission Australia! 

It all began when Laurie's best friend Lizzie sent her a gorgeous hand-stamped cake slice for her Wedding in 2014. Instantly falling in love with her hand crafted gift, she started to follow The Cutlery Commission on Instagram.  After sourcing 20 personalised tea spoons for a Beauty Media Press Kit and sending a teaspoon/cake fork/Pimm's stirrer to anyone celebrating anything, she watched the stream of delight flow from one recipient to the next and wondered if the spirited super mamma on the other side of the water might consider her as a distributor.  

Originally founded in the Cotswolds England in 2012, Katie Dobson is the brainchild behind The Cutlery Commission, also known as The High Commissioner.  She is without doubt an innate entrepreneur and lover of all things lifestyle .  Katie lives in The Cotswolds, a beautiful part of South Central England - just around the corner from Laurie's friend Lizzie (small world… connection of dots! ) 

There's something about a cup of tea, something very comforting and almost calming about a sip or slurp of your favourite brew.  Perhaps it's part of their Brit DNA or that fact that Jo and Laurie just love a good cuppa?  Whatever it is, they are thrilled to be launching a brand that stems from the lifestyle of lady that seems to mirror much of their own, a mere 17,000 kilometres away, back in the Motherland.

And here they are...a few months in with a talented group of local Spoonettes hammer ready, spreading the love via bespoke butter knives and other silver -plated mementos launching The Cutlery Commission in Australia.