One of a Kind Vancouver Vendor: Mena Dragonfly

In two weekends, we'll be up in Vancouver selling at the One of a Kind show there. I'm really excited to see what Mena Dragonfly has. I'm in love with her Dots pottery, white bowls with orange dots at the bottom. I love the minimalism and the burst of color.

They're beautiful! If you're in Vancouver from Dec 9-12, stop by our booth and Mena Dragonfly's!

UCU Vendor: Secret Stash Sea Salts

As part of our attempt to persuade you to come to Urban Craft Uprising this weekend, we're going to be featuring a couple of other vendors on the blog this week. First is Secret Stash Sea Salts, mainly because I can't think of a simpler, yummier side dish than pan-roasted potatoes with their chipolte salt. I bought it from them at the last Urban Craft Uprising and it's been popular in our house ever since. Visit us and them at UCU this weekend!

What We Are Thankful For

It is the day before Thanksgiving and many of you are likely reading this on a phone while you're stuck in an airport or riding somewhere in a taxi or on a train or a bus. Safe travels to you all.

Susan and I would like to say THANK YOU. We are thankful for our friends and families and that we are relatively well-off in this crazy world. But also: YOU ARE AWESOME. Without you, we wouldn't have a business. We wouldn't be pursuing our dreams to make the world a little bit happier with sugar on a stick, nor would we be learning so much about ourselves and how the world works. And that is all because you make it possible.

Thanks. From the bottoms of our hearts.

Now go stuff yourselves on turkey (or a vegetarian turkey-substitute) and watch some football. You deserve it.

2010 Holiday Gift Guide

If you regularly scan the right hand navigation bar of our blog, you may notice a new addition to the press section. Our lollipops were included in the 2010 Holiday Gift Guide in Alaska Airlines magazine! We're on page 66. So if you're flying anytime soon, take a look for us!

Try a Popular Flavor

Are you new to our lollipops or have you not tried every single solitary flavor that we make? Why not try our Greatest Hits collection of lollipops? We selected the most popular flavor from each of the packs we've had for sale this year and put them together into one pack that would make fabulous stocking stuffers or favors at a holiday party.

These delectable flavors include:

• Pistachio-Marshmallow
• Salted Caramel
• Root Beer Float
• Maple Sugar
• Sweetheart (Honey-Jasmine)
• Pomegranate

They're bound to please even the pickiest of tastes!

New Music for Kate

It's Friday and that means a non-business related post from us. Mentally, this is the time when we take a small break from promoting everything we've got going on (UCU, OOaK, our Etsy shop) and write about hockey or music or we share something that's caught our eye lately.

Today, it's going to be music.

Susan loves music. Going to shows and seeing new bands and discovering new tunes is one of her favorite things to do. I, being a working suburban mom, don't really have either the time or the opportunity to do that. I rely on Susan to introduce me to new music and I love that she loves sharing and recommending bands and songs that I would otherwise not hear of.

So when she IMed me before a recent trip down here to ask if I wanted her to make me a CD my response was "Of course I do!" The CD she made was wonderful and both I and my daughter like listening to it.

Here is the full playlist:

1. Rill Rill - Sleigh Bells
2. I'm in Your Church at Night - Active Child
3. Windstorm - School of Seven Bells
4. Walls - Shout Out Louds
5. Higher Than the Stars - Pains of Being Pure at Heart
6. God Knows I Had Plans - Mary Onettes
7. Coast of Carolina - Telekenisis!
8. Zero - Yeah Yeah Yeahs
9. The Lessons: The Exploding People - Cloud Cult
10. Designer Skyline - Owl City
11. Swim Until You Can't See Land - Frightened Rabbit
12. Beautiful Amnesia - Visqueen
13. 5 Years Time - Noah and the Whale
14. Song Writes Itself - Pela
15. Angela Surf City - The Walkmen
16. The Weekenders - The Hold Steady
17. Stadium Love - Metric
18. Bloodbuzz Ohio - The National
19. Wolves, Live@KEXP - Phsophorescent
20. Threads - This Will Destroy You

What's your favorite new music? 

Congratulations!

Thanks to both gen and Miranda for their recommendations! To show our gratitude, we will give both of you a pair of free tickets to the One of a Kind Vancouver Show, December 9-12 at the Vancouver Convention Centre!

Please contact us – thischarmingcandy@gmail.com – to claim your tickets and a free candy sample. We just need your mailing address and you’ll be all set. We’re excited to meet you next month :-)

OOAK Vancouver ticket giveaway

Do you live in Vancouver, BC? Are you going to be visiting there soon? Like, say, between December 9th and 12th? Would you like two FREE tickets to the One of a Kind Vancouver Show (adult admission is otherwise $10)?

Leave a comment below before 9 pm Pacific time tonight. Tell us the name of your favorite Vancouver restaurant and your favorite dish there (a link to their website would be double-plus awesome).  Hey, we need to eat while we’re in town, right?

We’ll pick a winner at random from among the commenters. Check back tomorrow to see if you won. We will ask you to e-mail us your postal address so that we can send you the tickets and a bonus candy sample. Now, how awesome is that?

p.s. Become our fan on Facebook so you get advance notice of the next giveaway. We have a total of 3 pairs of tickets to give away…

Thanksgiving Lollipops

If you want to have some yummy lollipops at your Thanksgiving feast (like this pictured selection of Greatest Hits lollipops) please note that it typically takes about a week for a shipment of our lollipops to get from Seattle (where we ship from) to the other side of the country. We encourage you to order by tomorrow, Wednesday November 17th to be sure that you'll get your lollipops before the big meal.

Setting a Pretty Table

I love a pretty table setting, and I suspect I'm not alone. There's a reason all those sell-your-house shows on HGTV always staged with a set table - it makes it easy to imagine yourself having a big dinner like Thanksgiving, with all your extended family invited and a plethora of food.

That said, I'm not very good at actually creating those settings for everyday. Sure, we've got nice dishes (I love Villeroy & Boch) and matching napkins (which are always wrinkled because who irons napkins every week?) and sometimes even flowers sitting on the table. But during the week with a 7-year-old and a business to run, who has time? Getting everything on the table is more the goal, not making it look good.

But this year, I'm looking forward to Doing Things Right for Thanksgiving. It's going to be just a small family affair, but we've already got the turkey and we're planning on a peanut butter pie (yum!). I'm going to pull out the good dishes, and I might even iron the napkins! I will include some Maple Sugar lollipops as part of the place setting though. I'm not sure yet if I'll put them on the plates or maybe at the top of them, but their warm brown color and toasty labels will complement the fall table colors perfectly.

November Promotion Reminder

We know that people enjoy giving and receiving our beautiful, handmade lollipops as gifts. Whether you’re picking up an Adventurer’s Pack stocking-stuffer for your foodie brother, a Greatest Hits for your child’s music teacher, a Breakfast Tray treat for your carpool organizer, or all of the above -- you thoughtful gift-givers deserve to be rewarded, in our opinion!

During November 2010, all orders totaling more than $60 (excluding shipping) will receive a free 6-pack of those lovable misfits: the Charm School Dropouts.

Get a jump on your holiday shopping and you’ll receive a little something extra from This Charming Candy as thanks. We love our customers ♥♥

Eye Candy: Sherlock

I've just finished watching Sherlock, the updated version of Sherlock Holmes from the BBC - it's just aired on PBS, and they've got the episodes online until December 7th. It was fabulous and I loved it (yes, I'm also a big Doctor Who fan), but the reason that this qualifies as Eye Candy was the third episode - the art direction for the whole thing is lovely, but The Great Game was PHENOMENAL. Kudos to the designers and cinematographers and everyone who worked on it!

This is the series promo video on YouTube.

Lollipops to Hand

I don't know about you, but there's a point in almost every day when I could use a little pick-me-up. It's usually in the afternoon, my energy levels are lagging a bit (or a lot), and a little tea and sugar gives me the energy I need.

When I first got to Silicon Valley, I used to take my daughter over to a neighbor's house. The kids would all play together and we would sit and have tea and cookies together. It was a lovely little ritual we had. Now, of course, there's no time for such leisure, and I often eat my pick-me-up while I'm volunteering or emailing or helping my daughter with her homework. A little bit of candy, like a Salted Caramel lollipop, is often just what the doctor ordered.

Being a Good Host

It is the time of year to travel and have house guests. Last summer, Lifehacker put a wonderful post together about how to be the perfect 21st century host, and I have to confess that I read it over with a fine-tooth comb. Not that we have that many house guests, but it's always nice to be able to treat everyone right.

If you are going to have some visitors for Thanksgiving or another holiday this year, why not put some lollipops into a small vase in their room? Often when you've just finished traveling, you're exhausted. A small pick-me-up is just what the doctor ordered. (Our Root Beer Float, Bubble Gum, and Birthday Cake lollipops are pictured here for just that purpose.)

Share Your Lollipops!

Back when I worked at a Large Technology Company, the department admins always had a stash of candy. It was a great excuse to get up from your desk and stretch, and maybe even go carry on a face-to-face conversation, not just type some words into your computer's IM window.

May I suggest that our lollipops, perhaps even our warm, fall-ish Tangerine-Clove lollipops would be perfect to have on your desk? This is the time of year when a warm, spicy flavor would be most welcome, and what better way to meet people at work?

Charming Ways to Display Lollipops

If you’d like to become one of those wonderful, smart, beautiful, creative people who’s incorporating lollipops into a party, huzzah! Here are a couple of cute ways to display the lollipops.

If you’re putting lollipops at individual place settings, BlumeBuds combine a name card with a little test tube for holding a flower… or better yet, a lollipop :-)

If lollipops will be part of your dessert table, this peacock-shaped holder from Jonathan Adler is elegant and would look impressive filled out with colorful suckers in beautiful packaging… such as our Greatest Hits collection.

We’re always interested to hear of ways to display lollies creatively – so drop a link in the comments if you’ve got one, or shoot an email to thischarmingcandy [at] gmail [dot] com!

Eye Candy: The Winged Victory of Samothrace

The Winged Victory of Samothrace is easily my favorite sculpture in the world. I'm impressed when it looks like the marble fabric could actually move like regular fabric.

That, and it's impossible to stand like that and *not* feel like you could accomplish anything you set your mind to. Go on, try it. I dare you. Feels good, doesn't it?

In fact, I think I'm going to stand like that right now.

photo from Wikipedia

It’s Too Early For This

Does any of this sound familiar?

• Your project team has a regular 7 am conference call with colleagues halfway around the globe.
• Your six-month-old is up. Again.
• You're signing in runners at a Sunday morning 5/10k run.

People are coming through for you at unreasonably early hours of the day. Bring a creative treat to show your gratitude for their dedication: Breakfast Tray lollipops honor the tastes of morning and are sure to bring smiles to tired faces (though maybe not to your six-month-old).

Blueberry Muffin, Sweetened Grapefruit, and Maple Syrup. Now that’s what I call a sweet morning!

TCC Invades Canada

This Charming Candy will close out our 2010 craft show schedule with a four-day extravaganza in gorgeous Vancouver, British Columbia. We are so excited to be making our first appearance in Canada, the birthplace of our favorite sport – that’d be hockey, for those of you who are new :-)

If you’re anywhere near Vancouver, BC, come to the One of a Kind Vancouver show. It will be an incredible source for thoughtful and creative gifts for anyone on your list. We’ve been browsing the list of artisans and getting pretty excited ourselves.

Western Canadians who’ve been considering buying our beautiful small-batch confections can save considerable time by getting them in person and not having to deal with waiting for shipping and customs that’s part of the territory when buying online. Everybody wins!

DATE: December 9 - 12, 2010

TIME: 10:00 am to 9:00 pm Thurs-Sat / 10:00 am to 5:00 pm Sunday

PLACE: The New Vancouver Convention Centre
1055 Canada Place
Vancouver, BC, V6C 0C3

TICKETS:

Adults $10.00
Seniors (65+) $6.50
Students (13-17) $6.50
Children (12 and under) Free

P.S. – become our fan on Facebook and you might win complimentary tickets to enter the show! Details soon.

Handmade Holidays

Recently I’ve noticed a rack of 2011 calendars for sale in the grocery store… which I’m taking as a sure sign that holiday shopping season is upon us :-)

Even if you’re not yet ready to start buying lovely handmade lollipops for all the lucky folks on your list today, you’ll probably be ready in early December. Great news for Seattle area residents! This Charming Candy is thrilled to be a vendor at Urban Craft Uprising Winter 2010, Seattle’s biggest indie craft show with the world-famous swag bags for the first 100 customers.

Buy handmade for the holidays!

DATE: December 4th & 5th

TIME: 11am  - 5pm

PLACE: Exhibition Hall @ Seattle Center

Exhibition Hall is in the basement of the Pacific Northwest Ballet building on Mercer Street, roughly across from Teatro Zinzanni.

Gifts for the Gift-Giver

If you happen to be one of those super-organized people who is already starting their holiday shopping*, we are kicking off the season with a special promotion. During the month of November, if you buy more than $60 worth of candy** from us on Etsy, we will throw in a pack of Charm School Dropout lollipops for free! Buy candy as gifts for your friends or as a Thanksgiving dessert and you'll get some extra for yourself. You can relax for ten minutes, enjoying a delicious lollipop, and get a small kick of sugar-energy when you're done.

* Will you come help me organize my life? That'd be awesome!

** Not shipping, just candy