New Stuff in my Etsy Store!

Didn't get any baking done this weekend. I spent my time updating my etsy shop. Just wanted to show you some of my new listings.


Fun things for girls…



Fun things for boys…

Have a great week!

Cookies for a Colonel

This has been a weekend of updating things!

I spent some time yesterday updating my etsy store. I've added some fun new vintage things, fake cupcakes, a new recipe card design and my "Make Cookies Not War" cookie cutters.



I'm really uncomfortable expressing my political views and that sort of thing here. I sort of wish I'd never taken things in this direction with the whole "Make Cookies Not War" thing. I had been watching the news coverage of the conflict between Gaza and Israel. On ABC they did a story about the effects of the conflict on the children there. It made me so mad! How can any leader of any country or organization look at suffering children and think that what they are doing is okay? So I decided I could try to raise a little money to send to Save the Children.

Anyway, it seems to me (though I've not recieved any negative comments) that not supporting the decisions of our world leaders = not supporting our troops. BULL! I am aware that the world is full of truly evil people and I am very grateful that there are people who are willing to make terrible sacrifices to keep us safe and protect our way of life.

Anyway…

Remember Connie from The Constant Baker? She is trying to raise some money so she can send 12 dozen cookies to a Colonel in Iraq. Please visit her blog for details. She's doing such a nice thing!

…& that's IT for me & politics!

Etsy isn't the only thing I've been updating. We've starting working on some redecorating projects around our house too! I'm so excited. We're putting new flooring in the kitchen, living room, entry and hallway. It's just a nice medium to dark shade of wood laminate. I'm going to do a lot of re-painting too. That should really brighten things up. I'll post pictures when I'm done. The down side is, with my kitchen is in shambles, I won't be doing much baking for the next couple of weeks so I'm not sure I'll have much to share with you here. We'll see.

Things Are Piling Up Around Here!

bowls & cupcakes, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

I have some bowls. I like them. I piled them up and took a picture. I made some cupcakes. They turned out ok.

–Nuff said?

Well, it's summer and it's hot, and I just can't seem to think right now (let alone write) but for the sake of all my adoring fans I'll try. : ) ( yes, I'm being sarcastic)

Business Planning…

As far as the business planning goes, I'm in "wait and see what happens" mode for right now. The kitchen space I was interested in is not yet available and as discussed in my last post the response to my things at Art in the Park was mixed. I think everyone liked both the taste and appearance of my cookies and cupcakes, but I'm not sure they're willing to pay what I have to charge. On top of that, our Starbucks is closing (yes, we only have one, unless you count the one in Target). I've always said that people would pay more for my cookies and cupcakes (verses the Walmart bakery) for the same reason they would buy coffee at Starbucks instead of McDonalds. –They're just fancier/better. And I've reasoned that if my town could support a Starbucks then it could probably support a business like mine. Well, now I'm not sure what to think! I know budgets are pretty tight these days. Anyway, I'm not giving up, just cooling my jets a bit. I'm still trying to make some connections in the community and get the word out about what I do.

Interviews…

Ages ago I asked some very nice bakers if they would be willing to let me interview them. That was so long ago that I'm sure by now they've given up on me. In an earlier post, I said that I would try to get those interviews done this month. YIKES! This month is almost over. Here's my dilema… If I just e-mail some questions to these ladies and they e-mail me back with their answers… well…there's no back and forth…it might seem kinda cheesy and boring. I want this to be more conversational. So…I've drug my feet, trying to come up with the best format for this (it's harder than I thought!). Maybe, I should try calling them on Skype, record the call, turn it into a podcast and post it somewhere. Huh…I'm not a journalist, I don't really know how to conduct an interview and I know even less about podcasting, plus I really don't have the time or money required. But… it might be fun! Having a podcast that gives me an excuse to call up bakery owners and cupcake bloggers and just chat sounds great. Plus, I haven't been able to find any podcasts like this on iTunes or anywhere so I might be able to fill my own little niche. Hmmmm… me and my big ideas. Anybody know anything about podcasting? What do you think?

Etsy…

I haven't promoted my etsy shop for a while, so I thought I would show you some of the "cool" things I have listed now. I keep adding new things and I'm working on some new cupcake toppers so stop by from time to time to see what I've got.

Structure…

I function best when things are structured and organized. (Although, I am getting better at flying by the seat of my pants!) Anyway, I think I can improve the content of this blog by adding a bit of structure and planning. By September, this is the structure I hope to follow each month (altough I may change the order):

Week 1 – I'll share a cookie or cupcake recipe, probably from one of my vintage cookbooks, along with ideas about decorating and presentation.

Week 2 – the interviews or podcasts or whatever I decide to do

Week 3 – I'd like to start a feature called "Baking with My Boy" . I'll drag my son into the kitchen and we'll bake/make something together and share it with you. You know… fun, simple stuff.

Week 4 – Kinda random. I might talk about my business planning or my etsy shop or some fun products I've found. Whatever…

I didn't think I had much to say and look how much I've rambled on! I have to say, it feels good to get all those things that have been piling up in my brain all typed out. I just hope it doesn't sound completely senseless!

bye!

Life is Just a Bowl of Cherries!

You gotta love a three day weekend and this has been a great one! Friday, the UPS man brought me my new cupcake and cookie boxes (see the picture below). I love packaging things up all pretty so I couldn't wait to get them. Here's where I found them.

Friday night was also kinda stormy so it was a great night for baking. (I LOVE cozy, stormy, baking evenings at home!!!!!) I tried a new recipe for Italian Cream Cupcakes from the Cupcake Doctor. I topped them with cream cheese frosting and decorated most of them for a wedding with gumpaste flowers and royal icing accents (not a real wedding, just building my portfolio and trying new things). The rest are decorated with some candy raspberries I found at the candy shop and gumpaste flowers.


Saturday was the annual Memorial Day Flee Market in a nearby town so my mom and I went to that. I found a bunch of cute things for myself and for my etsy store. I even managed to get all the vintage stuff shown in the picture listed! (I'm better at buying the stuff than getting it sold!)

Unfortunately, after all that fun, I'll have to devote the rest of today to getting organized, laundry and putting my house put back together!

A Treat to Keep You Coming!

I promise, this blog is not going to turn into one big advertisement for my etsy shop. That's not at all what I want this to be about. But that is what I've been working on lately so it's really all that I've got to talk about as far as "Sugar & Meringue" is concerned.

I sold a couple of things this week and decided it would be fun to include a favorite recipe with my orders. Unfortunately, I didn't have any cute recipe cards. Inspiration strikes! I decided to design some. They are at the print shop right now and should be ready tomorrow so hopefully I'll have them listed by Wednesday or Thursday. I also made some cupcake toppers and they are in the store now.

Okay, so the next post will NOT be about my etsy shop. I want to make some May Basket Cupcakes to share with you. I saw the idea in a vintage Betty Crocker cookbook. Here's the thing…it says to poke pipe cleaners into the paper cup for the handle. I can't see the paper cup holding the pipe cleaner. Seems to me the pipe cleaner would need to poke into the cake a little bit. Is that gross?

Also coming up…My friend Catherine introduced me to a pastry chef in California who is just starting her own business. As soon as her web site is up and running I'm going to interview her and post our conversation here. I can't wait!

Since you've been kind enough to read through all of my ramblings, here's the treat I promised. I had about 10 extra cupcake toppers. I'd love to send them to you if you leave a comment on this post. If I get more than one comment I'll throw the names in a hat and draw out a winner. Good Luck!
Thanks for stopping by!
Emily

Mosaic 2 - the remix, originally uploaded by Flying Time Designs.

I've opened an etsy store to sell some "Sugar & Meringue" sweet, nostalgic vintage kitchen stuff. I will admit I did this mostly so that I would have an excuse to search for and buy more vintage kitchen stuff, but who knows…maybe I'll make a little start -up capital for my cookie business! :) sugarandmeringue.etsy.com

I've only got a few things listed as of today, but keep checking back, I'll be adding more things every day. Everything shown in the picture either is or will be listed.