Thing: Sweet Tiers Cakes

Made by: Shannon Smith

With: Love

Because: You can't pay her

This is all: A passion

She simply: Loves to make cakes

Yielding results of: Amazing cakes

Yes, they are: Amazing cakes

One more time: AMAZING CAKES

We've all thought it. I know I have. You love a certain craft or hobby and think to yourself, "I should do this as a business!" Your friends ooh and ahh at your hamburger/cupcake/auto-repair awesomeness all the while slowly convincing you it should be done for money.

"You could be rich!  Be your own boss!  Do what you love!"

Friends chant this from a distance, promising they'll be your loyal customers.

Eventually, with courage in hand, you begin your hamburger/cupcake/auto-repair business only to invest your entire savings into a venture that strips you of all the passion you once had for hamburgers/cupcakes/auto repair.

Shannon Smith, amazing cake-maker extraordinaire, knows better than to take money for her cakes. There'll be no business venture for her. She believes in keeping the passion alive.

Only working through favors and a quasi-bartering system, Smith will take cake orders in exchange for things she needs.

Bartering. That's the key. That, and you have to ask nicely. You have to use your manners. You know, say please and all that shit.

It all began in 2008 when friends traded babysitting for a child's birthday cake.  Eventually, Smith started taking baking supplies in exchange for her unbelievable cakes. Now, the bartering world is her oyster.

Being a military spouse of a mortar platoon sergeant in the 2^nd Ranger Battalion, stay-at-home-mom Smith enjoys the days of effort that go into fabricating an intricate cake. After all, husband Jake Smith has been deployed 13 times since 2001. THIRTEEN TIMES.

Spawning cakes while raising two spawns will surely keep you busy while your husband is deployed for the 10th, 11th, 12th or 13^th time.

As cake-generous as Smith already is, she still manages to donate her time and money by volunteering with Cakes for Kids, a non-profit that brings birthday cakes to families who can't afford them.

Since Smith has chosen to only work through favors and trades, I cannot give you a business website, prices or really much info at all.  I can, however, direct you to her Facebook (Shannon Smith) where you can message her for trading info.

And stalk her cakes. 

Try not to drool on your keyboard.