The search continues

Wow! I haven't updated since November... The search is still on for commercial lease space and baking continues! I'm gonna attempt to get better about more regular posts...

In other recent news, over the past few months I've had my Ain't Your Granny's cupcake image stolen TWICE! Oddly enough, I discovered this while browsing Etsy. I have an Etsy shop, but I don't sell cupcakes there, so imagine my surprise to see one of my photos on the front page! I would be flattered if it wasn't stealing! Besides, shouldn't these people be using photos of their OWN?? Seems like false advertising to me (especially when they talk about crean cheese frosting on their cupcake...) That lead me to spend the good part of one day last week watermarking all my photos. Thankfully, the people using my photos have taken them down and I've updated the photo. Lesson learned! And for your viewing drooling pleasure, here's the new Ain't Your Granny's!

When opportunity knocks

I've been keeping quiet about some things that are brewing on the cupcake front. Normally when I get excited about something I tend to shout it from the rooftops! Seeing as making this work is EXTREMELY important to me I've been handling this with a "cautiously optimistic" attitude.

I found a very interesting ad on Craig's List at the end of August when I posted my own ad in hopes of finding someone to rent kitchen time to me. It was one of those "that sounds too good to be true, but it can't hurt to try" kinda of things. The ad was for a guy wanting to add cupcakes to compliment his idea for a coffee shop. Well, I jumped real quick on responding (even though the ad was around a month old). I waited... and I waited... and then I pretty much put it out of my mind. THEN... lo and behold, I get an email on Sept 15 saying that he's interested in sitting down and discussing a business arrangement with me. I'm pretty sure my heart stopped beating for a couple seconds. I responded back that I was VERY interested in seeing what we could work out. Then it was quiet again for a little while. Then last night he sent me info on the retail site he's looking at renting and said he'd be ready to sit down and talk soon. So, being curious, the hubby and I took a little trip to scope things out...

Tucked in the corner, but stands out from the rest of the businesses.

It has a HUGE patio area, perfect for some bistro tables!!

Planter boxes on the front, leaded glass in the door, the arched wood trim...

This place is PERFECT!!!! It's adorable, in a great neighborhood, had a packed parking lot when we were there at 10am. I think I was pretty close to squealing! It's going to need LOTS of work on the inside for it to be ready, but it's pretty darned close to what I pictured in my mind what the perfect place would be.

So, now to get a meeting set up to discuss if we are really interested in working together. I'll be bringing the hubby along to help with questions I forget, general business stuff and to keep me from getting too excited and agreeing to something I shouldn't!

Knock, knock... You better believe I'm answering the door!

I have the most awesomest friends!

I love my peeps!  I've made some wonderful friends over the past couple years through various online endeavors.  I've even gotten the opportunity to meet a few of them in person!  Allow me to gush for just a second about my friend Marisa...

When I first started selling jewelry on Etsy, I joined a wonderful group made of mothers.  While getting my feet wet, I asked for some constructive criticism from the other members and the lady from Elegant Snobbery volunteered to give me some pointers.  It helped a bunch.  So I paid a little bit more attention to her shop and her blog (in fact, I spent an entire afternoon reading every single one of her blog posts no I'm not a stalker, I swear).  We figured out that we had quite a bit in common and became buddies.  When we moved to TX and I realized that she was only 5 hours away, it wasn't long before I was scheduling my first visit!  I'll be darned if it wasn't even better hanging out in person, besides the fact the our girls got along famously!

I think that her art is so wonderful!  It's bright and cheery, whimsical and just plain CUTE!  So when she said she wanted to do my logo, I very happily accepted!  I knew it was going to be great, but I think she went way beyond!

I mean, seriously, have you ever... I've made up a "rough draft" of a business card and I think it looks wonderful (the jpg image I saved is bad, so I'm going to attempt photographing it or scanning it)! I'm going to start working on a menu and some stickers too!


On a little side note, I shipped some cupcakes to Marisa to test the shipping method I came up with and, well... unfortunately it was a mess, but she assured me they tasted good! So, I'm back to the drawing board on shipping. Fingers crossed that I've found another possibility.

Laying the groundwork

The Black Apple

I have been subjecting friends, family, co-workers (mine and my hubby's) to the trial and error of recipe testing. I will say there has not been too much complaining going on! If it doesn't taste good, well then, nobody is going to buy it. I have very specific ideas in mind for the flavors that I will have available, but I'm always thinking of new things I want to try.

What really got me going on this whole idea, was a comment by a wonderful new friend I made at my former job (I neglected to mention in my first post that I was recently laid off after being back to work full time for only 6 months, another reason I'm really pushing for this now). Ms. Joanne shares my love of baking and we "hit it off" straight away in the food department in general. After bringing in some cupcakes to share, she pointed me to the website of a local cupcake shop and said that she thought I could compete with this place. That's when I spilled the beans about wanting to do this for a living. I would sit and daydream about what it would be like, how I would decorate my shop (sometimes when I was supposed to be working, sssshhhhhhh...) I never really let myself get past the daydreaming.

A few months ago, my mom was in town while I was recovering from surgery, and the subject came up. We sat for a good 2 hours bouncing ideas back and forth and the REAL framework for what I wanted started coming together. We're talking a business name, slogan, logo ideas, flavor combos, what to have available on a daily basis, flavor of the day specials, seasonal flavors and even what I would do with what cupcakes didn't sell at the close of business. I even went so far as to decide that each flavor would have a personality and a name. By this time, I was completely consumed and determined to make this happen.

The journey to a cupcakery

I have been obsessed with baking for a long time. I'm fairly certain that this comes from my Granny! Baking relaxes me and just plain makes me happy. There's been more than one occasion that I have baked for the sake of baking and wasn't even interested in the eating part. That's not the case with cupcakes, however!

I got caught up in the cupcake craze when most people considered it to be over. That's generally how I "follow" trends though. That's ok with me, because I think think that people will always love cupcakes. I'm mean honestly, what's not to love. Individual portions, perfect size, no fork required and easy clean up.

So I decided that I want to be the owner/operator of a cupcakery! I know that this is not something that will happen overnight or be easy in any way, but I KNOW I can do this! I'm using this blog as a means to collect my thought, share recipe hit and misses and HOPEFULLY take you on the journey to my dream.

Keep Calm Shop