A fond farewell

Things have been pretty quiet around here. 

I took some time off from Candy Calamity to explore new ideas and what I figured out is that it's time to close up shop.  It's been great meeting everyone out there in the craftiverse and I've had a great three years but all good things come to an end.

There's quite a bit still left in my etsy store, everything is set to expire in early November and I'm not relisting anymore so get it while you can.  This is a true 'everything must go' situation so I put together a coupon code for you:  closing40  just enter it at check out to receive 40% off your entire order.

Who knows, someday I may be creating again under the Candy Calamity name, or a different name.  I'll keep the blogspot open and will update you when I do.

 - Emily

Show Calendar

I've got all my spring and summer shows loaded up in my Google calendar, it's going to be an exciting season!  You can find the calendar in the left side bar of the blog.  (You might have to click 'look for more' a few times to see the summer dates).

I was also going to post to my snazzy new facebook calendar, but I saw that the new profile for fan pages got rid of my tab (so hard to get set up) and put a link to the calendar in the sidebar.  Well, that took the wind out of my sails, so I'll fix up the FB side of things tomorrow.

Show Me Etsy Membership Drive

Spring Membership Drive has begun! Looking to connect with other St. Louis area Etsy sellers? Looking to be a part of a creative, fun and business-minded group that promotes the local handmade community? That's us!

If you are interested in applying to join our team, you can find the Membership Requirements and Application on our facebook page:  ShowMeEtsy membership-application-spring-2011.

Applications are due by February 28, 2011 and team invitations will be extended in March.

Where have I been

So I noticed when I posted my Illustration Friday post last week that it had been well over a month since my last post, when I had intended to only take a brief holiday rush break.


What have I been up to?

Working on the Craft 365 project - the original deadline to finish was 12/31/2010 and that did not happen, but I am really close, and I've been doing much better about crafting a little everyday.  See the complete project on Flickr here:  Craft 365 Set  I'm at day 354 now - so close!

Reading other blogs - I've been reflecting on what I'm doing over here and whether I want to go on a set posting schedule.  Some of my favorites:
Bakingdom
Color me katie
Etsy Trashion Blog
Unclutterer

Cooking up some new ideas - I may be moving away from candy wrappers in 2011, this is a big change for Candy Calamity that I've been thinking about a lot, things should be really interesting

Signing up for shows - I've been planning out the 2011 spring/summer season, there are some great shows coming up, I'll be updating my official calendar soon.

Illustration Friday - Surrender

Sometimes it's time to surrender to a brain storm and sketch all the ideas inside your head to see them out and on paper. 

Sprinkles!!

A sprinkle-centric holiday tale? - you know I'm all about that.

Enjoy this wonderful journey in dough by Christopher Niemann:

http://niemann.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/12/16/let-it-dough/

Two shows this week!

You can find Candy Calamity goods at two great shows this week!

First off tomorrow night 5-9 I'll be at at SqWires for Artropy -Thursday Evening December 2nd, 2010 

but if that's not a good night for you, you can also find me at the Missouri History museum on Saturday, December 4th 12-4  for the Third Annual Green Living Expo

I've got some freshly made christmas ornaments and pasticcio resin earrings.  With any luck I'll have some new book thongs done too!

Guest Post on Craft for Health

Hey everyone!

I'm trying to build up some inventory for a bunch of holiday shows I've got coming up, so blog posts will be a bit few and far between for the next few weeks.

In the mean time you can check out an article I wrote over at Craft for Health about the zen of candy wrapper folding:  http://craftforhealth.typepad.com/my_weblog/2010/11/zen-and-the-art-of-candy-wrapper-folding-by-emily-ochiu.html

Halloween Smell

"I immediately experienced that overwhelming olfactory blast known as Halloween Smell; a free-floating bouquet of sugar, cocoa butter, and flavorings" (Steve Almond, Candyfreak pg 41)

On a good day, my craft room is filled with that delicious Halloween Smell :)

Candy Contest Results

Ok here are the answers to the halloween quiz!

H - hershey's
A - Brach's
P - Milkduds (tricky : turned upside down)
P - Tootsie Pop
Y - Laffy Taffy
H - Krunch! (by great american opportunities)
A - Take5
L - Tootsie Roll
L - Tootsie Roll
O - Dots
W - Wonka Exceptionals
E - Nestle (another tricky one - from a bag of chocolate chips)
E - 3 Muskateers
N - 100 Grand


Thanks to everyone who played!  By my count, with 9 correct answers Tina Gaulden is our winner!

Congrats Tina! - You have won a set of Candy Wrapper Fridge Magnets which say "Happy" Please contact me with your mailing address

Happy Halloween!

I've got a prize for whoever can identify the most candy wrappers used here (or whoever names them all first)
Leave your entries in the comments!

Trick or Treat

So, my favorite Spooktacular Holiday is coming up!

An entire night devoted to silly costumes and eating candy?  Sign me up!

It seems like a good time to ask for wrapper donations.  I can't do what I do without all of you kind folks who save up wrappers for me (I can only eat so much by myself).  I can't use foil wrappers or anything with chocolate or caramel or something stuck to it, but other then that I will happily accept any and all types of candy wrappers.  If you also manage to save the outside bag that the little fun size pieces come in, that would be awesome!  Those are really great to work with.

Thank you in advance if you think of me and collect up some wrappers.  I have a special candy themed holiday background I'll be sharing here on the blog this weekend, so stay tuned!

The Tree Huggers

Last July we were lucky enough to get two tree hugger statues installed at the 'entrance' to the neighborhood.

 Designed by artists/creators, Wiktor Szostalo and Agnieszka Gradzik, they are a tribute to sustainability efforts in the area.  Formed from tree branches and other organic materials, they give our trees a gentle squeeze.

I totally meant to take pictures to post here back when they were new, since I walk past them all the time on the way to the donut store, but I'm glad I waited.  Autumn leaves suit them.

Illustration Friday - spooky

10/15/10 Spooky

Actual conversation:
Me: "I'm supposed to draw something spooky this week, what's really spooky?"
The Hubs: "I dunno.... me, getting up in the morning?"



Yeah ..... it would be spooky if I woke up one day to find that my husband had become a decomposing, brain-eating zombie overnight.


and as a bonus:  Last weeks prompt 'transportation' which I drew but then because of a camera failure did not get a chance to post.

One Year Ago Today

I wanted to publish this at 10:10 pm on 10/10/10, but I missed my deadline by a little bit.


One year ago today, Candy Calamity was gearing up for it's second holiday season much better prepared then I was the year before.  I wrote this blog post http://candycalamity.blogspot.com/2009/10/craft-show-rules.html about my 8 craft show rules, and I'm still using those 'rules' today - they're keepers!


I had just invented the octagonal prism shaped recycled christmas card ornaments and was making those full steam ahead (they will be making a reappearance in my etsy store soon - I can't believe it's already that time of year)

I discovered Illustration Friday.  It took me a few weeks to get my feet wet and I posted my first drawing 'blur' on November 6th (Can't believe I drew it on an envelope back - I'm such a dork sometimes)

Two years ago today, I was getting ready to have a craft show table to myself for the first time.  Those were the days that six feet seemed like a lot of space to fill, now I can never get everything to fit!

Around the same time I was interviewing for a new day job and got it, I've been a clinical dietitian at my current hospital ever since.

Three years ago today, I was just starting to hear about a great shopping site called 'Etsy' and Candy Calamity was just a twinkle in my eye.


So what were you doing one year ago today?

Dandy Giveaway

Congrats to Sarah A. the winner of these fabulous earrings on the Dandy Giveaway:

I'm not sure when I'll be doing a giveaway again, maybe if I get really into the Christmas spirit....
stay tuned

Custom Pendant for a Wedding

I've made many a piece of candy jewelry but this one is the sweetest (sorry, candy pun!)

Requested for a bride by her bridesmaid Monica to be her something borrowed and something blue.  Monica mailed me this special fortune she found and I put it into a custom fortune pendant.

  

"You can only live once, but if you do it right, once is enough" What a wonderful sentiment to carry with you on your wedding day.

World's Largest Bar of Chocolate

Wowza!  Weighing in at 9,702 pounds there's a new winner for the Guinness Book of World Records for world's largest bar of chocolate.  It measures 224-inch by 110-inch by 10-inch and looks amazing.




What a sweet way to start the weekend.

Tiny Matchbook Notebooks

Look what I made!

Little tiny Candy Calamity matchbook notebooks!  They fit anywhere you might need a little extra scratch paper.  Plus the white paper is recycled (previously printed on one side) so who knows what surprises you might find.

Now you might be asking yourself: "How do I get my hands on one of those fancy little things?"
It's easy.  These are a free gift to anyone who donates to the upcycle exchange. (bring candy wrappers and coffee bags please!).  Once you get your donation coupon, come find me at any of the shows I'm doing this fall/winter.  You'll get 15% off any purchase, plus you can snag a matchbook notebook just for stopping by, or use your coupon code for a purchase at my etsy store and I'll be sure to include one in your package.

fun new supplies

Pony Snacks!!!

I haven't really decided yet what these will become, but I'm loving these gummi my little pony snacks wrappers that were recently donated.  So pink!