Eye Candy: Still Life with Onions

I'm a sucker for a Cezanne still life. Not sure why, but I find them appealing and comforting in a way that more formal still life paintings just don't. I'm planning to see this one and hope they have others at the Post-Impressionist Masterpieces exhibit at the deYoung during our break.

Eye Candy: Local Fashion Trends

My recent trip from where I live in California (Silicon Valley) to Seattle and then on to Vancouver made me realize all over again about the little fashion trends that pop up even up and down the west coast. For example, every single person I saw wearing a scarf in Seattle - and I saw a lot of people wearing scarves in Seattle - had it wrapped around their necks like this. (It's folded in half, with the loop end holding the other end in place.) No one wears scarves like that here. Of course, it's warmer here. :)

And then in Vancouver there were a lot of boots, including an extraordinary number of stylish over-the-knee boots like these. I'd never wanted to wear over-the-knee boots before, but by the time I left I was drooling over them. Again, it's colder and wetter in Vancouver than Silicon Valley, so boots are probably always more common, but they were incredibly beautiful too. 

As for what's popular in Silicon Valley? I'm not sure what would pop out at other people. We're pretty laid back - people in San Francisco are always better dressed - but there must be something, right?

Last Chance

If you still haven't ordered your holiday lollipops, this is your chance to do it! We're going on vacation starting tomorrow morning, which means we'll be closing the shop up this evening. You can use HOLIDAYS2010 to get 20% off your order before then.

We'll be taking some well deserved vacation time - the shop will reopen again on January 10th. We may pre-schedule some Eye Candy or Hockey Friday posts, but that's going to be it until then.

See you in the new year! Happy holidays!

Vancouver Wrap-Up

photo by Justine Kamionsky

I'd intended to write a long blog post much earlier than this about our wonderful time in Vancouver. I wanted to tell you all about the cute, delicious waffles and high-quality coffee at Cafe Medina and Rangoli where we had some amazing Indian food (though at least some of its fabulousness was from hunger - the best sauce of all).

I also wanted to tell you about all the wonderful people we met a One of a Kind Vancouver, from Mena Dragonfly to Natur'el Tea (I'm enjoying her Jasmine Pearl Tea right this very second) to the Luv'n Nuts folks who were right across the aisle from us. Not to mention Doug and Ally and Michelle and everyone from One of a Kind who were incredibly helpful and patient.

Alas, it's now three days later and the blog post schedule for the second half of December has gone completely out the window while we catch up on orders and customer service and everything else that you have to do to run a business.

In short: Thanks to everyone who came to One of a Kind Vancouver and thanks to everyone who helped put the show together! You are all awesome and wonderful!

One of a Kind Vancouver Details

We hope that if you live in/near Vancouver or are visiting this weekend, you'll stop into the One of a Kind show. We'll be setting up today and selling lots of candy (we hope!) for the next four days. Stop in and buy a Spice Rack, Breakfast Tray, or any of our delicious candy and say hi - we'd love to meet you!

Who: us, This Charming Candy
What: One of a Kind Vancouver
Where: in the Flavours section of the NewVancouver Convention Centre
When: Thursday - Saturday 10am - 9pm / Sunday 10am - 5pm
Why: Because you deserve a 10 minute treat!
How: any which way you can

We hope to see you there!

One of a Kind Vancouver Vendor: Bronsino Designs

I was wandering through the One of a Kind Vancouver listings, looking for Christmas presents to buy. My eyes lit upon the Haarlem bag (pictured) from Bronsino Designs and I AM IN LOVE. I'm 95% sure I can't afford it, and 100% sure I don't need it but, man oh man, do I want it. I'm at least going to visit her booth and drool for awhile.

Thanks and a Quick Announcement

Thanks:
A big HUGE thank you to everyone who came out to Urban Craft Uprising this weekend! We had a great time and we hope you did too. Sales were good (which we like) and I, personally, had a great time buying some Christmas presents for my family and stocking up on Secret Stash Sea Salts.

The Quick Announcement:
Susan and I are heading up to Vancouver for OoaK first thing tomorrow morning, so any Etsy order placed between now and next Monday will ship out on Tuesday December 14th. That's still plenty of time to make it through the US for any Christmas celebrations you might be having. Our last shipments of 2010 will be on December 18th, after which we will be taking a well-deserved break to play in the snow and spend time with our families.

Urban Craft Uprising Details

By the time you are read this post, I (Kate) will be in the air, flying up to Seattle for Urban Craft Uprising. It starts tomorrow! If you're coming - and I hope if you're in the Seattle area, you are - our booth is off to the right, towards the front of the room. Stop by, say hi, and buy some of your favorite lollipops!

Who: Us!
What: Urban Craft Uprising
Where: at the Seattle Center Exhibition Hall (in the first level of the Pacific Northwest Ballet building)
When: Saturday & Sunday from 11am - 5pm
Why: Because you like candy and need to buy holiday presents!
How: by hook or crook, plane or train.

Laughing (And Bragging)

We received some completely hilarious feedback in our Etsy store, about our wildly popular Salted Caramel lollipops:
“Well, this didn't work out too good. I ordered these for Thanksgiving but they are all gone. They have been all gone since the box was opened and everyone grabbed one. These lollys are ecstatically tasty. Whatever you think you need, order a billion times as much and they may last you a month. O.K., you have been warned!”

We totally endorse this advice :-)
photo by Kevin Keeker

UCU Vendor: Bread and Badger

The second of our UCU vendor posts is Bread and Badger. We had the wonderful luck of selling in the booth next to her at summer UCU, where Susan got this awesome little octopus soap dispenser:

It's lovely and functional and she's great. Visit her and us and everyone at Winter UCU this weekend!