Eye Candy: Star Wars

I don't know how well known it is that Susan and I can be pretty nerdy sometimes. Susan knows an *astonishing* amount about Star Wars (and I really like me some Doctor Who). So we present to you the trailer for the deleted scenes in the latest Star Wars DVD edition.

Are you a Star Wars fan? What's your biggest nerdy trait? What sci-fi do you like?

We Know What We’re Doing

We don’t bring it up too often, but we think it’s important for our customers to know that we are indeed licensed food processors in compliance with all the relevant requirements of Washington state.

I actually really enjoyed applying for the license – well, the application itself is pretty long and detailed, so maybe what I mean is I enjoyed meeting with the WA Department of Agriculture inspector last fall. In my experience, the WSDA wants small businesses like This Charming Candy to be successful, and as such they are very friendly and generous with advice to help us improve our processes and practices wherever possible.

So when received our renewed license earlier this month, we figured we’d scan it in. Being approved for the license affirms that both the processes we use in the kitchen and the facility itself have been approved by the state’s inspectors.

Click the picture to enlarge:

How do you feel about buying food over the internet from small businesses like ours? Have you ever asked an online food business whether they’ve got all the relevant licenses from their state and local governments? Do you want to know more about ours?

Custom Labels

If you are an event planner or are just planning an event that you want custom labels for, we offer that service! The details are on our bulk or custom orders page, and our amazing, fabulous designer Justine Kamionsky has put together this image to show you what colors those labels will come in. The text where the label color is is customizable to say anything you want in 22 characters or less. Like "Happy Birthday!" or "Kate & Jeff" or "zombies are for suckers" or whatever.

What's your favorite color? What would you say in 22 characters or less, given the opportunity?

More Celebration Time Photos

photo by Kevin Keeker

We'd never taken a photo of the wrapped quartet before, for whatever reason. It actually looks pretty good!

photo by Kevin Keeker

Here's the front  of the Celebration Time pack, partying it up with a hat and gift waiting for the recipient.

photo by Kevin Keeker

And the back of the package. We show it not because we think it's beautiful or because we think anyone wants to (or indeed can) read the label. We understand that when you can't see a package in person, you want to see all sides of it - or rather we assume you do. What if we'd done something really goofy or weird on the back of the package? You'd want to know, right?

photo by Kevin Keeker

We call these our lollipile pictures - when we just pour them all out onto the table and take a photo. We think that these convey a "look at all this candy!" feeling. Because: look at all that beautiful, delicious candy!

photo by Kevin Keeker

And the photo that we showed you a few days ago and is the lead photo on the Celebration Time Etsy listings. The more I see the photo, the more I like it.

What's your favorite Celebration Time flavor? Do you like seeing the back of the package? Do you wish you could read the label on the back?

Yummy!

Photo by Kevin Keeker

After we're done taking pictures of the unwrapped lollipops, we can't sell them - they've been out of the bags, that would just be gross. So we eat them for a little post-photoshoot pick-me-up. Kevin took the opportunity to grab a couple of pictures of Marika. She said that it's the most self-conscious she ever felt eating a lollipop. I can TOTALLY understand.

What's your favorite pick-me-up after you finish something? What's the most self-conscious you've ever been eating? (If that's not too loaded of a question.)

Eye Candy: Braids

photo from Mundo Chica

I was surfing around the internet last week and found this gorgeous rainbow braid. I don't speak Spanish, so I can't read the text, but I really hope it says "This looks amazing!" I kind of wish my hair looked like that. Wouldn't it be awesome?

Does anyone who does speak Spanish want to translate for us?

Have you dyed your hair non-natural colors before? (I'll admit that I'm a chicken, and while I find this gorgeous, I can't imagine it on my own head.) What colors did you do? More than one at a time?

Samples!

photo by Susan Dziadosz

If you followed us on twitter during UCU, you saw a LOT of tweets going by about what flavors we were currently offering samples of. That's Nutmeg Creme in the picture, btw. Basically, right before we start pouring out the candy syrup into the lollipop molds, we dip in this contraption full of toothpicks. There's just enough candy on the toothpick to give you an idea of the flavor. It seemed to help customers understand that we're about more unusual and delicious flavors. One person said: "[Nutmeg Creme] tastes like Thanksgiving and Christmas all rolled together!" 

photo by Susan Dziadosz

Susan also took a picture of me holding onto what appears to be Guava Colada samples. We got a lot of positive feedback about this one too. (Aside: my hair looks really bouncy in this picture. I think I like it.)

Have you ever had a sample of a hard candy lollipop before? Did you have one of ours? Have you mastered taking photos with the iPhone or other smartphone? What are your tips?

Birthday Cake Lollipops

photo by Kevin Keeker

I've always been fond of the confetti candy that we put in our Birthday Cake lollipops. And in this picture, it looks so natural with the streamers and confetti in the background. The colors even match!

photo by Kevin Keeker

The jaunty, framed against the sky photo in the wrapper. I like it when you can see the glow of the lollipop through the wrapper because the sun is just in the right place. It's the little things that make me happy.

photo by Kevin Keeker

We don't normally include pictures against a flower, but this time we did. The additional color is nice, but I'm not sure if it distracts too much from the lollipop itself.

When was the last time you had confetti on a cupcake or piece of cake? Do you like the flowers in the last photo? What's the little thing that makes you the happiest?

Root Beer Float Lollipops

Photo by Kevin Keeker

We made the Root Beer Float lollipop brown (duh), but were elated when we realized we could put powdered sugar on it to remind you of the ice cream in a float. Mmmm.... Root Beer Floats.... I love the combo of root beer and vanilla and I like even better that you can have it in lollipop form.

photo by Kevin Keeker

The streamers in the background are purple, hot pink, and blue, and the brown is the right saturation or shade or something (stating the obvious: I'm not a designer) to blend in perfectly.

photo by Kevin Keeker

Here's the requisite wrapped outside photo. Brown and blue is one of my all-time favorite color combinations, so I particularly enjoy this photo.

Is Root Beer Float one of your favorite desserts? Have you had one this summer? Do you like blue and brown together? What's your favorite color combination?

Bubble Gum Lollipops

photo by Kevin Keeker 

I love how the hot, neon pink in the Bubble Gum lollipops compliments the pink streamer in the background. I still also love how that neon pink is the color of bubble gum. 

photo by Kevin Keeker

There's something very 1980s-retro about the hot pink candy and blue label color combination. I like it. I also enjoy how sparkly the lollipop looks in this outdoor picture.

photo by Kevin Keeker

And look! We took photos of the back of wrapped lollipop for the first time! We had some requests for it, so here it is. :)

Which photo is your favorite? Did you ever chew on bubble gum as a kid? Have you worn lots of blue and pink together? Are things better when they're sparkly?

Eye Candy: Food Paintings

lovely paintings of dessert by
Joel Penkman, via decor8

These food paintings are amazing! They look super-delicious, and now I'm craving a donut. Mmm, donut...

Cherries Jubilee

photo by Kevin Keeker

Our Cherries Jubilee lollipops are red with a purple shimmer added to make them extra sparkly in person. You can see the purple shine on the lollipop in this picture. It's one of the things I love about them.

Celebration Time!

photo by Kevin Keeker

I drove up to San Francisco a couple of weekends ago and we got Susan logged onto the computer and we had a photoshoot for the new Celebration Time quartet. We tried a few different backgrounds, but ended up liking this one the best.

We'll be showing off pictures from the shoot all week. Stop on by to see more pretty pictures.

UCU Wrap-Up

I, Kate Degelau-Pierce, took this crappy iPhone photo
of our lovely booth.

UCU was this past weekend and we had a blast. I should have gone around to take photos of other vendors' booths, but we were pretty busy. We did see a lot of people we already knew like Cakespy and Wooly Bison and Thea Starr; plus we met a bunch of new folks like Constellation & Co and Dolce Lou (who was next to us and a great booth neighbor). I also really like meeting longtime Etsy customers live and in person. It's great to finally be able to put a face to a name or twitter account (hi there InkyCats!)

Susan and I also gave away candy samples for the first time. We've got a way to put just a *little* bit of syrup onto toothpicks and that really helps get out the message about our delicious and creative flavors. We gave out almost 800 samples to show visitors and almost everyone liked them. Yay!

And as a bonus: we won the very last raffle on Sunday afternoon! Here's a photo of what we got. We've already fought over the take and I'm getting the print and the apron while Susan gets the necklace, apple butter, sewing book, and the reusable bag it all came in.

iPhone photo by Kate Degelau-Pierce

All in all: a good weekend. Thanks to all who came and everyone who helped put it together.

UCU Details

We'll be selling our delicious lollipops - by the collection, dozen, or single lollipops - live and in-person this weekend!

Who: YOU!
What: Eating delicious lollipops (including our new Celebration Time collection)
Where: Urban Craft Uprising, at the Seattle Center
When:  Saturday & Sunday from 11am to 5pm
Why: Because they're delicious and maybe you need a housewarming/birthday/just because present for someone you love.
How: By hook or crook! (We accept cash, checks, and credit card.)

Stop by, see us, eat some lollipops, and visit the other awesome vendors. We promise there's going to be lots of great stuff.

UCU Vendor: Spincycle Yarns

photo from Spincycle Yarns

Beautiful yarn like this from Spincycle makes me wish I had some - any, really - talent at all for knitting or crocheting. Alas, I am forced to admire and buy others' work.

UCU Vendor: Manzanita Kids

It's that time again! We'll be selling at Urban Craft Uprising this weekend, and we're showing off some of the vendors we're particularly excited about seeing. There's a full vendor list on the UCU website.

photo from Manzanita Kids' etsy shop

I wish my daughter were still young enough for me to buy her these. Alas, she's too old now, but these would be a great gift for friends' kids... Hmmm....

UCU Vendors: Constellation & Co

It's that time again! We'll be selling at Urban Craft Uprising this weekend, and we're showing off some of the vendors we're particularly excited about seeing. There's a full vendor list on the UCU website.

photo from the Constellation & Co website

Why do I love this card?

1. It's simple
2. I'm a bookworm and books are awesome.
3. It's made of recycled paper.
4. It's beautiful!

Their library cards are also awesome. I can't wait to see it all in person!

Eye Candy: Foot Candy

Back when we started This Charming Candy, I fell in love with the awesomeness of Dansko professional clogs for standing all day in the kitchen. Now I’m coveting this pair for my civilian life. Behold the Cobalt Prism Patent leather clogs:

I have been crying myself to sleep, however, because they don’t come in Narrow. Curse you, feet!