Kate's Studio

Inspired by Susan's post about the kitchen, I wanted to post about my little corner of my house that's my office. This is, unadulterated, how it looks right now. It's a mish-mash of personal and business stuff, though heavy on the business side of things.

One of my jobs is putting the stickers on the bags - you can see sheets of lollipop labels sitting on the left-hand side and some bags sitting on top of them, and sheets with all the stickers removed on top of the books.

Most of what I do is computer work, and my trusty Mac is peeking in on the right-hand side of the picture. (That's a dark corner of the desk, which is why it's not pictured.)

And yes, that's a Stieg Larsson book sitting on my desk, waiting to be returned to the friend I borrowed it from.

If Our Lollipops Were A Boy Band

I have no idea why I started thinking about this, but what if our lollipop collections formed a boy band? We’ve got five collections, which is the perfect number for pop superstardom!

• The bad boy – he’s irresistible and ends up in a Love Triangle without even batting an eye.
• The sweet one – Celebration Time is popular with everyone, wants to hang out and have a good time; he parties but not too hard :-)
• The nice boy – the Breakfast Tray is an early riser, gets his homework done on time, offers you a ride to school when he sees you standing at the bus stop. Awww.
• The jock – snowboarding, bungee jumping and capoeira? Definitely the Adventurer’s Pack. He’s XTREME, man. Mmm, I bet he smells really good.
• The serious, shy one – the Spice Rack writes poetry and seems grown-up for his age. Don’t break his heart!

Who’s your favorite boy band? I just discovered Super Junior M, but they’ve got 7 dudes! I guess we’d better come up with more flavor themes, haha.

This Is My “Studio”

Sometimes people are surprised to learn that I don’t make This Charming Candy at home. I’m quick to let them know that any food that’s for sale to the public must be made in an approved facility by people who know safe food handling practices.

It’s somewhat similar to artist renting time in a studio. For example, many of my crafting colleagues use the excellent facilities at Seattle’s Pratt Fine Arts Center to do metal, jewelry, glass and other projects.

So, I rent a professional catering kitchen in which to make our delicious lollipops. I’ve met some great people who work for and who rent from the kitchen. I love having access to a large workspace and tools and equipment that I don’t have at home. Did you know that the dish sanitizing cycle in a professional dishwasher takes only about 90-120 SECONDS? How cool is that!

This picture happens to have been taken on a Sunday, which is why I appear to be alone in this large kitchen. Sundays tend to be quiet days in the catering business. When I’m making candy on weekdays, I have a lot more company!

photo by Kevin Keeker

Your Commute Sucks

A friend mentioned that having one of our lollipops handy during his long, traffic-y commute just might make it suck less.

That’s a theory worth testing! Do you keep a stash of charming candy in the car for long trips and boring commutes?

An Eclectic Morning Playlist

Some mornings I need an extra boost to get going. And some days, post-lunch food coma is worse than others. When that happens, I pull out this extremely eclectic play list with a today-is-going-to-be-great theme. It consists of:

• Someday, Tegan & Sara (alternative)
• Perfect Day, Hoku (you know, that song at the beginning of Legally Blonde)
• Today is Gonna be a Great Day, Bowling for Soup (uh, yeah, the theme song from Phineas & Ferb)
• Ordinary Day, Great Big Sea (celtic)
• Constructive Summer, The Hold Steady (more alternative)
• Pocahontas Proud, Gretchen Wilson (country)

It's, um, not what you might call coherent in terms of music. But all the songs are about either building something or having a good day or both. And it gives me the energy to make myself be something someday.

Wholesale Accounts

Also, due to our tightly packed Q4 production schedule, we just don't have the bandwidth to take on new wholesale accounts right now. Please contact us again in 2011!

(I can't believe I just typed that. It's only September!)