UCU Vendor: Silent Goddess

photo from Silent Goddess' Etsy Shop

Over on the Urban Craft Uprising blog, they post interviews with all their vendors in the weeks leading up to the show. When I read Silent Goddess' interview, I instantly fell in love with her minimalist design aesthetic. The clean lines are so calming and beautiful. It really lets the texture shine - literally!

We'll be vending at Urban Craft Uprising this weekend. If you're in Seattle, we'd love to see you!

A Lollipop in Every Stocking

photo by Kevin Keeker

One of the things that people tell us when they buy a dozen of our lollipops is, "Oh, I can put one in each stocking!" We love hearing that, and what better way to make sure there aren't any fights by giving everyone the same flavor? Plus, if you don't have 12 stockings to fill up, you get the extras. :)

Buy your stocking stuffers over at our Etsy shop.

Brown Paper Packages Tied up with Strings

Planning to order some lollipops from This Charming Candy? Be aware that the holiday shipping deadlines are soon! Well, it's more urgent for international folks. If you live outside the United States, please place your order by November 30th (that's in 2 days). Inside the US, the order deadline is December 18th.

We're going to be taking 3 weeks off after the 18th to spend time with our families. So if you want candy for New Years Eve, those deadlines apply to you too!

etsyRAIN Handmade Holiday Show

The etsyRAIN Handmade Holiday Show is this weekend. Shake off that turkey food coma and head over to the Intiman Theater to buy some fabulous handmade Christmas presents for your friends & family (and maybe even yourself)!

Where: The Intiman Theater in the Seattle Center
When: Saturday & Sunday from 11am - 5pm

There will be swag bags for the first 50 customers to arrive each day, and some of them might even have some lollipop flavor samples....

Happy Thanksgiving

We hope that you and yours are having a great Thanksgiving today!

EtsyRain Vendor: Nikki Wheeler

Lollipop Lollipop 1 from Nikki Wheeler's Etsy Shop

Nikki Wheeler makes amazing quilts, and the tagline on her shop is "Celebrate Exuberant Joy." I can get behind that. I pulled out this image of her Lollipop Lollipop 1 quilt because I like purple, and we like lollipops! She is one of many fabulous vendors who will be at the EtsyRain Holiday show with us this weekend in Seattle. We hope to see you there!

EtsyRain Vendor: Scary White Girl

Jayne Cobb hat from Scary White Girl's Etsy Shop

How AWESOME is this Jayne Cobb hat from Scary White Girl? (If you don't know who Jayne Cobb is, I suggest you go watch Serenity and/or Firefly. It's wonderful.) She is also a Doctor Who fan (check out her Dalek and Tardis plushies), and general all-around great person. We like her. :)

She's one of many wonderful vendors who will be vending with us at the EtsyRain Holiday show this weekend. We hope to see you there!

Party Favors

photo from A to Ziti

One of our customers used our Greatest Hits lollipops to make party favors for an early Thanksgiving dinner party. Doesn't this Salted Caramel lollipop look cute? She wrote up how to make them on her blog, A to Ziti, in case you want to try something similar.

Do you have any photos or stories about how you've used our lollipops? We'd love to hear about it!

Eye Candy: Mount Rainier

National Geographic photo entry, from In Focus

The In Focus blog over at The Atlantic continues to hit home runs with their pictures. Earlier this week, they had an entry with a 45 of photos from the National Geographic Photo Contest. This one is a 6-hour time lapse of Mt Rainier. The bright lines on the mountain are hiking parties headed towards the summit. There are a lot of great photos over there. Check it out!

Lollipop Edges

photo by Kevin Keeker

photo by Kevin Keeker

This is a not-always-seen angle of our lollipops: the sides. It provides a nice contrast to our more typical, straight-on approach. These are our Blueberry Muffin and Pineapple Heaven lolllipops, both in the seasonal Greatest Hits collection.

A Happy Customer!

A happy customer of ours, Nicole, generously sent us these pictures where she's enjoying her lollipops. Here she is ogling her new set of Love Triangle lollipops.

And here she is enjoying a Honey-Jasmine flavored Sweetheart lollipop.

Thanks for sharing, Nicole!

More Storytelling with Lollipops

 I know, I know. I go on (and on and on) about how we tell stories with our lollipops. That was particularly true when Kevin & Susan took all the pictures for our Love Triangle lollipops.

The role of Edward is played by the heart-shaped Blood Sucker. Bella is played by the flowery Sweetheart (since she smells like flowers to Edward). Jacob is represented by the moon-like Lickanthrope.

Jacob is hovering over Bella in a very protective way, while Edward looks like he's glowering at them.

In this one, Edward is protecting Bella while Jacob pleads (or menaces?) them.

This is the photo we eventually went with as the product photo because it looks like Bella is thinking about Jacob and Edward - and like she might be torn between them. (Which, for what it's worth, Susan and I both think that there was never any question of Bella ending up with Edward. She might have been tempted by Jacob, but she never, ever gave up on Edward.)

Do you ever tell stories with inanimate objects? Do you think that Bella could have ended up with Jacob? Which photo is your favorite?

all photos by Kevin Keeker

Breaking Dawn

photo by Kevin Keeker

Did you know that the latest Twilight movie is coming out on Friday? It's the first half of Breaking Dawn, a book that we might have to admit Susan only got partway through and Kate never started. It's the most controversial of the four books, with Twilight readership definitely being divided over it. I'm sure, however, that the Pacific Northwest will look fabulous in the film, and that everything will be luscious and beautiful.

Have you ever read the Twilight novels? Did you read and/or enjoy Breaking Dawn? Are you going to see the movie this week?

If you want to enjoy some delicious Love Triangle lollipops while you watch Breaking Dawn Part I, head over to our Etsy shop.

Eye Candy: Lady Gaga

Just to try to prove we’re not hopelessly mired in the pop culture icons of our youth, let us point out that we’re also enamored of Lady Gaga. Like Madonna before her, we admire how deeply Gaga understands the power of visual imagery and how to make it work for her. To say nothing of her eye-popping fashion creations!

http://www.ladygaga.com/photos/detail.aspx?fid=15816&phid=15824

Near. Far.

Far:

photo by Kevin Keeker

Near:

photo by Kevin Keeker

(Why yes, I do have Sesame Street songs about near & far going through my head.) Do you like the near or the far photo better?

Art or Product Shot?

photo by Kevin Keeker

photo by Kevin Keeker

I love both of these photos, but they didn't make the Etsy cut because I think they're better art than they are product shots of our Salted Caramel lollipops. Honestly, I think these are some of the best photos that Kevin's ever taken for us. But as far as product shots go, I just don't know.

Am I insane? Should we be using these on Etsy?

Greatest Hits 2011

photo by Kevin Keeker

photo by Kevin Keeker

photo by Kevin Keeker

There are the lollipops from our Greatest Hits collection. We love taking photos of our lollipops in piles because... um... we like giant piles of candy. They're bright and colorful and fun!

Hello World

Hello to everyone who's new around here! A quick guide to the wonderful world of This Charming Candy:

• You are currently reading our blog. We try to update it most every weekday. We like sharing product photos, talking about promotions we're doing, giving details for shows we're doing, or anything else business related. Except on Fridays, when we post either about hockey or anything we like that falls under Eye Candy. It's been awhile since we've talked about hockey.
• If you want to see a list of the different lollipop collections we sell, our products page can help you out!
• Head over to our Etsy shop to buy some candy (note that you'll need to create an Etsy account). We've got a lot to choose from over there. Let us know if you have any questions!
• If you live in the Seattle area, you can also stop into The Wandering Cafe - 7533 Lake City Way NE - on Monday afternoons to buy candy from us. If you have a big/complex order, please email us ahead of time.
• We will also sell lollipops at some upcoming holiday craft shows in Seattle, Portland, and San Francisco - check the blog sidebar for dates!
• We have a Facebook page! We try to post different things over there than we do on the blog, and we do have the occasional Facebook-only deal. 
• We're also on twitter. Twitter is probably the most relaxed, least formal place we talk to folks. It's definitely where we're the most active. I've warned you.

That's it! We encourage commenting here or on Facebook or twitter - we like talking to people! 

Susan's on Television!

Tomorrow morning, Susan will be on TV!

Kaci Aitchison from Q13 Fox in Seattle will join Susan in the kitchen tomorrow to make lollipops, talk about our flavors, and all of the awesomeness that is This Charming Candy. Kaci has a regular segment called Mornings with Kaci where she goes out into the community to show off a local business or attraction. I was watching her dress like a zombie and dance to Thriller at a local haunted house this morning (in a segment from back in mid-October). We're the local attraction tomorrow! So tune in or visit their website to see Susan on your television.

Snohomish Holiday Craft Bazaar

We are selling our fabulous, sophisticated lollipops at the Snohomish Craft Bazaar in Snohomish, WA this weekend! So if you live in the area, head on over to Snohomish tomorrow and pick up some lollipops. They make great table decorations and stocking stuffers. Not to mention that they're yummy.

What: Snohomish Holiday Craft Bazaar
Where: Emmanuel Baptist Church, Snohomish, WA
When: Saturday Nov 5th, 10am - 4pm

We hope to see you there!

Snohomish Holiday Craft Bazaar Vendor: MISCRoot

image from MISCRoot.etsy.com

These birds are beautiful! MISCRoot is an etsy seller who makes amazing mobiles. These lovely birds are part of her Birds Nest Mobile - there's a corner of my office that might need to be brightened up with one of these.

She and we will be at the Snohomish Holiday Craft Bazaar this weekend. Hope to see you there!

Snohomish Holiday Craft Bazaar Vendor: LipLove

photo from LipLove.etsy.com

We'll be vending at a small show, the Snohomish Holiday Craft Bazaar, up in Snohomish, WA this weekend. LipLove is one of the other vendors who will be there. She makes these amazing looking organic lip balms. I'm intrigued by Pumpkin Pie - it's the perfect flavor for the season!

We hope to see you there!

Salted Caramel

photo by Kevin Keeker

I've been editing a bunch of photos of our Salted Caramel lollipops. This one is, I think, the best of the bunch. I'll let the rest trickle out over the next few weeks.