Denver Vendor Spotlight: Sweet Caroline Confections
1. How did you get your start in the handmade community?
I started making intricate handmade jewelry back in 2010 with natural semi precious stones. I was currently living in my birth city of Miami, FL and participated in lots of shows just like Jackalope! Roll around Halloween 2012, and each vendor was required to provide candy for the show patrons, so I decided to make hard candy lollipops with orange and black sugar crystals, candy corn and licorice. Everyone loved them and paid no attention to my jewelry. By the end of the show, I knew what I needed to do. I decided to quit the jewelry and transfer my interest to candy making. The rest is history!
2. What do you feel makes your work unique and truly your own?
There is really nothing else on the market like our lollipops. Dozens upon dozens of people worldwide have attempted to replicate them with little success. I guess imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery! It is only one of the things in our business that lets us know that we are doing something right. Imitators need to realize that they may be able to try and replicate our existing designs, but you cannot take our creativity and ability to stay one step ahead with new designs coming out every few days, and hard candy techniques that have never been seen in the candy industry. I am constantly brainstorming new ideas that are both classic and trendy to cater to every event theme and taste.
We make sure to cover all aspects of our product. We not only focus on how they look (which is usually the first thing customers notice) but also make sure to offer delicious flavors that everyone enjoys. We also cater to all price points, our lollipops range from $1.50-$5.50 each, depending on how intricate and customized your candies are.
3. What or Who Inspires you?
Honestly, everything inspires me. I feed off color, angles, sparkle, photography, even the hundreds of green tonalities inside a tree leaf.
I also receive lots of ideas from customers, they tell me what they are working with (colors, party themes, etc.) and I can come up with something to fit their celebration. Wedding trends and color palettes also inspire me, I am constantly reading wedding magazines, instagram wedding posts, wedding dresses, party blogs. I also love to work with whimsical themes such as unicorns, fairies, and mermaids. I was definitely not a girly girl as a child, and now I love working with pretty colors and of course, sparkle!
4. What is your creative process like?
It all starts with a conversation. Either with myself, or with a customer.
If it is a new design that I am coming up by myself, I immediately write it down. This usually happens RIGHT BEFORE I fall asleep. My mind seems to go wild! Ideas just start flooding my head. If the idea is really good, I wake up thinking about it. I go to our shop and immediately make it a reality.
If it is a design for a customer, I discuss ideas with them, or send them links of designs that we already have that fit their theme. Otherwise, I design an edible image for them to approve before production or draw up a sparkle lollipop design for them to provide a better idea of what we would be creating for them.
5. What can we expect to see from you at Jackalope?
Lots of sparkle, delicious flavors, Nutella filled lollies, sweet and salty varieties, unicorns, gorgeous colors!
6. Where can we learn more about you?
We are so proud of our website, we have worked so hard in having all the information necessary to understand our product, who we are, how we started, and what we offer.
Our website is www.sweetcarolineconfections.com
We also have our Etsy shop which is www.sweetcarolineconfect.etsy.com
Can't wait to see you all at Jackalope!