Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs, or, Why I am Tired

Genevieve of LightboxSF talking about branding

I am tired and worn out and I just had a BLAST at the Conference of Creative Entrepreneurs. I am so inspired by everyone who loves to create things, wants to support their community, and everyone who is determined, in this not so great economy, to start and grow their own small business.

There's a large number of tweets over at our twitter account (and you can also search on #CCEWest) to get a lot of the nuggets that came out of the conference. I have 24 pages of notes in my notebook that I need to write up for Susan. TWENTY-FOUR.

Some of the mini cupcakes we were served

It was great to meet NerdJerk, Genevieve from LightboxSF, to name 2 of the many people I got to put faces to names. I also got an unexpected chance to talk to Marlo (though I knew she was coming, but I was still like, Hey, it's Marlo! I forgot she was going to be here!) and learn so much more about all of the amazing things that small businesses all up and down the West Coast are doing. Expect a lot of Eye Candy in the next few weeks.

In short: I loved it. But now I am tired, and I need to spend a lot of time typing. Where's my glass of wine?

Eye Candy: Lifesavers

photo from here

I'm not quite sure where Susan found this photo of a Lifesaver, but OMG YOU HAVE TO GO SEE THE BIG VERSION NOW. It's gorgeous!

Sweets for the Sweet

What would a Love Triangle be without the girl everyone loves to love - that is, a sweetheart?

photo by Kevin Keeker

We've made her a flower because she's often described as having an irresistible scent, like a beautiful flower. So our Sweethearts taste like jasmine (one of my favorite flowers and definitely my favorite tea) and honey. Because fragrant+sweet=amazing.

Buy your Sweethearts as a dozen or as part of the Love Triangle in our Etsy shop, or email us to learn about in person pickup in Seattle.

Blood Suckers

Blood Suckers is such a cute name for lollipops. How could we not have used it?

photo by Kevin Keeker

You can get the apple-anise flavored Blood Suckers over at This Charming Candy on Etsy as a dozen or as part of our Love Triangle collection, or email us about in-person pickup in Seattle!

Vampires and Lollipops

photo by Kevin Keeker

Is it early for a Halloween product? Yep. Is it early for vampires? Never! (Well, unless you're reading this post while the sun is up, in which case the vamps might want to be a little careful.)

We've brought our Love Triangle lollipops back - if you loved them the first time, you can get them again, and if you haven't tried them, why not? They're delicious. They are:

• the tingly apple-anise flavored Blood Sucker;
• fragrant, delicious honey-jasmine flavored Sweetheart; and
• the warm, slightly bitter hazelnut-coffee flavored Lickanthrope.

You can find them at This Charming Candy on Etsy, or you can email us about in-person pickup on Monday afternoons in Seattle.

Strange Food Combinations

 Vanilla-Cardamom lollipops photo
by Kevin Keeker

Here at This Charming Candy we like to think that we're finding a good niche by creating delicious and sometimes unusual flavor combinations. Pistachio-Marshmallow, Watermelon-Basil, and Vanilla-Cardamom are just some of the flavor blends we offer that seem to be developing loyal, devoted fans and for that we're very grateful.

You might think that Kate & I must be super adventurous eaters in real life. Speaking for myself, I don't know if I'm truly adventurous, but I've been known to eat really weird foods together. (I'm just extraordinarily picky. But I like trying new things. -K) Probably the weirdest thing is that I put jelly on grilled cheese. After both pieces of bread are toasted and the cheese is melted and the sandwich is assembled, yeah. My first choice is to spread some sweet, delicious strawberry jelly on the top side. But I'll use any kind of berry jelly, really.

My dad always did this, so I never knew it was Not Normal until I went away to college and started doing it in the dining hall. Boy, did I get some strange looks! But c'mon. If you put jelly on plain toast, what's so weird about having a little melted cheese in the equation? You should totally try it sometime!

What whacked-out food combinations do you enjoy? Have I convinced you to try putting jelly on a grilled cheese sandwich? WHY NOT?