Baby Shower

I recently received an order from a wonderful lady, who described herself as a "cake snob". By "cake snob" she meant that she likes cakes that are as delicious to look at as they are to eat. When she came to pick up her order, we had a chance to visit a bit more and I found out that she is a photographer, so her original comment made sense. She was planning a baby shower for her friend and insisted on something beautiful and unique like Cake Pops instead of the typical sheet cake. I had fun making these pretty pink treats for her and her friends to enjoy.

Her name is Marcie Smith and she owns Star Portrait Design. (http://bludomain7.com/star/index2.php) You have to check out her website. She does amazing work!! (She's also on Facebook)

She shared the following photos that she took at the shower. They are displayed in sippy cups! What a great idea for anyone planning a shower.

Enjoy!

Sidewalk Angels Fundraiser

When I started my Cake Pop business, I knew that I wanted my company to participate in fundraising of some sort. We donate arrangements of Cake Pops to local charities when they have a need for an auction item, but I felt that we needed to do something on a larger scale.

I have been a Rob Thomas and Matchbox Twenty fan for over 13 years, so when the idea came to me to partner up with Rob and Marisol Thomas' Sidewalk Angels Foundation for a fundraiser, I was more than excited when I received the email accepting my offer. I had heard about their support and help for Pets Alive and being a pet owner myself, I was ready for my first fundraising challenge. I emailed Sidewalk Angels and discussed the details with Maria, Rob's Mother-in-Law, who helps them run the foundation. I sent a dozen Cake Pops for her to try.

To give you a little more information about what Sidewalk Angels Foundation does, I've referenced their website to give you a quick overview:

"Established by Rob and Marisol Thomas, Sidewalk Angels Foundation is a New York-based non-profit organization that works hand-in-hand with charities in and around America's big cities. Life in the city can be so fast that those in need are often passed by. People who are destitute or homeless and get lost in the system; those who cannot afford proper medical care; animals that have been abandoned or abused -- these are universal problems that Sidewalk Angels encourages people to address locally." (http://www.sidewalkangelsfoundation.com/)

We were able to schedule a photo shoot when Rob was doing a concert in nearby Kansas City and although I had met Rob at another time, I was very excited to do an actual photo shoot with him. So I asked two of my best pals, Erin and Danielle to tag along. Erin was our photographer that day. We didn't really know what to expect, but were allowed to observe Rob's Meet and Greet time with local radio winners. Once they had all exited the room, we had our time with Rob. I had brought enough Cake Pops for his band and crew but I also made a special dozen just for him that looked like cats and dogs. He was amazed that two of the Cake Pops looked like his two dogs. We talked about the work that Sidewalk Angels was doing and how he and his wife, Marisol enjoyed the Cake Pops that Maria had shared with them when we first set up the fundraiser. He loved the fact that Erin and Danielle kept calling the Cake Pops, Crack on a Stick. Rob made sure that we had great seats for his concert and we had a memory that we'll never forget!






























We didn't raise as much as we had hoped but I look forward to working again with them in the future. I highly recommend getting involved with a charity or foundation that you believe in and have a passion for. We can all make a difference in some way.

Emmy Style Event 2009

I mentioned in my Year One blog about the Emmy Style Event that we participated in. I've had a few questions about how we participated in such an event, so I thought I would expand with a quick blog about it.

When I first started this business, I had several sleepless nights and was brainstorming about how to market my new "baby" to the world. So I Googled Unique Marketing Ideas and after sorting though a ton of stuff that just wasn't very unique, I came across the idea of Gifting Suites. I looked up a few companies that special in celebrity gifting suites and found Secret Room Events. They responded quickly to my initial email and after a few emails back and forth, I found myself signing the contract to participate. Most of the gifting suites are associated with a charity and this one was sponsoring The Tigerlily Foundation, which raises money for Breast Cancer Research. I knew that this was the right one for me, as my own mother had passed away from complications of breast cancer.

My son, Josh flew out with me to help with the event, and my friend Melissa came up from San Diego to help out too. It was held at the beautiful SLS Beverly Hills Hotel. It was an experience that I will never forget. I even met Deidre Hall, from Day's of Our Lives!

See if you can pick out some of the celebrities below:

(Nick & Jay from Project Runway, Nancy Cartwright - voice of Bart Simpson, Kirsten Warren, Riley Weston, Sonia Rockwell are a few names that you may recognize)

WB Special Events

We were contacted by Warner Bros Studios Special Event Dept several months ago about using our Cake Pops for an International Screening Event that they were planning in May. It turned out to be our largest order to date. We blocked off an entire week of our calendar to fulfill this order of 2,500 Cake Pops. Yes, you read that right....2,500 Cake Pops. We could not have done it without the help of my family and friends, that is for sure.

Below are some of the photos that were taken at the event. The colors are so bright. We made up three special tinted colors for the event to coordinate with their color scheme. We also put the Cake Pops on longer sticks for their arrangements.

Cake Pops and Broadway

My sister-in-law had invited my youngest daughter on a trip to New York City for a graduation gift and I jumped at the chance to visit my favorite city and market my Cake Pop business. Our second night in town, we attended the musical, Promises Promises, which stars Sean Hayes and our family favorite, Kristin Chenoweth. We have followed Kristin's rise to stardom, because we have a mutual friend with her. Before the show began, I dropped off a dozen of Cake Pops to her at the stage door, name dropping our mutual friend. By intermission, my friend had sent me a message telling me that Kristin LOVED the Cake Pops, so after the show, we went back to the stage door to see if there was any chance that we could meet her. The stage manager, said that she definitely wanted to meet me. Meet me? Really? I have to say that Kristin Chenoweth is as warm and adorable as she appears to be. She loved the Cake Pops so much that I dropped another dozen off to her and one for Sean Hayes the next night. In fact she liked them so much, that she ordered for the whole cast and crew, even saving a couple of dozen for her interview with Rosie O'Donnell and for co-hosting with Regis!

I also met with Bobbie Thomas, of Bobbie's Buzz on The Today Show. What an fabulous young lady and the Brand that she has built on her expertise in showcasing new things and businesses is unlike any other. She's simply amazing! http://bobbie.com/

One of the contacts I made was with the owner of Swank Productions, Maya Kalman. Loved her and her staff! They had all kinds of ideas on how to incorporate our Cake Pops into their events. I can't wait to work with them! Check them out at http://www.swankproductions.com/

Coming up, we will be "sweetening" the Twilight Eclipse movie premier at a local event on Wednesday and Thursday night. We are making "Team Jacob" and "Team Edward" Cake Pops. If you follow us on Facebook, you can see the photos once those are done.

This business has opened doors and opportunities for me and my family to meet some of the most amazing people, not all of these people are movie and television stars. Some of the most fascinating have been just regular people that have a great story. I am so appreciative of every one of my customers.

Year One

When I started my business over a year ago, I thought that I would blog about starting a business, but starting a new business took up so much time that I didn't have time to blog. So much has happened in this first year of business, that I thought I would hit some of the high lights in my first official blog.

In September 2009, I was invited to participate in an Emmy Awards Style Lounge by the good people at Secret Room Events. It was a great opportunity and a chance to spend some time in one of my favorite cities...Los Angeles. It was a very hot afternoon at the SLS hotel in Beverly Hills, but the celebrities didn't care, they LOVED the Cake Pops.

Since then we have worked with several celebrities and some pretty impressive event planners, such as Big Dog Productions (Jay Leno's company) who ordered Christmas gifts from us. Paris Hilton's party planner order "hot" pink Cake Pops with a white "P" monogrammed on top for her 29th birthday party in LA. The same event planner ordered some for the Jimmy Kimmel Live show too. These are just a few of the celebrities that we've had the privilege of working with.

During our busiest time of the year, Christmas, we were approached by BRIDES Magazine about featuring our Cake Pops in an upcoming issue. We gladly shipped a couple dozen to their New York office. Believe me, when that May issue hit the news stands, I bought 2 copies. We are still receiving phone calls and emails from exposure.

In May this year, we were fortunate enough to be involved with an International event on the lot of Warner Bros Studios. It was so much fun working with their Special Event Dept. We made 2,500 Cake Pops for their event, customizing them with special colors and longer sticks.

We have also had the pleasure of doing a fundraiser with Rob Thomas' Sidewalk Angels Foundation last fall. It wasn't as big of a fundraiser as I had hoped it would be, but in this economy, anything can really help. It was fun to meet with Rob and do a quick photo shoot with some special Cake Pops that we had made for him and his crew.
We have also made donations to some awesome local charities and events, such as Taste of the Ozarks to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters, The Heart Ball, which supported the American Heart Association.

I definitely could not have had this successful of a year without the support of my family and friends, especially my husband, Darryl.

So much has happened over this 1st year of business and I'm sure that I'm missing something, but I just wanted to catch up, so that going forth from here, I can write about current happenings. After all, it's the small things in between the larger than life things that sometimes matter the most.