Giving Thanks!

It's been a whirlwind making this dream come true. I am happy that I finally took the leap and decided to open up my cupcake business. It's all still new but truthfully, I've been doing this for so long, that the only thing that's really that new is the logistics of business.

I feel I have offered a delicious menu, put forth my best tasting creations, and even better ~ I'm learning all along the way. It's refreshing to fulfill this creative spark I have through my baking. And it's thrilling me to share in this way. I am so blessed. I am always  

giving thanks. ♥

A lot's going on here, but it was my first attempt at a "cupcake shoot" ;)

Holiday MENU 2013 ~ first official Sweet Joyous menu!

SWEET is in! And with Sweet Joyous cupcakes ~ your holiday parties will be talked about until next Christmas! So let your taste buds guide you and go ahead and try one of every one!

PEPPERMINT TWIST

White chocolate cake topped with twisted peppermint buttercream and sprinkled with a dusting of crushed candy canes!

 

CARAMEL APPLE CIDER

Apple cider spice cake topped with caramel apple cider buttercream drizzled with decadent melted caramel.

 

ANDES MINT MOCHA

Deep, dark chocolate cake topped with Andes mint chocolate buttercream and swirled, melted creme de menthe candies.

EGGNOG DELIGHT

Eggnog spiced cake topped with sweet eggnog buttercream and dusted with fresh nutmeg.

 

RED VELVET

Classical favorite ~ red velvet cake topped with rich cream cheese frosting and gold glitter.

 

SOUTHERN PUMPKIN PRALINE

Classic pumpkin cream cheese with a Southern twist ~ pumpkin spice cake filled with homemade southern pralines and topped with pralines & cream frosting & sprinkled with fresh baked pralines.

*Dare I say ~ my favorite!!!

This is the Sweet Joyous holiday menu ~ and it's enough to get your creative juices flowing and your mouths watering, right?! As always ~ I aim to please, so anything you can think of that sounds delicious, I can bake for you! It does not have to be a regular menu item ~ but it might become one!

Thank you everyone for your support so far! I have over a dozen orders for Thanksgiving, and I am counting these blessings... one sweet cupcake at a time! ♥

Holy SWEET samples, Batman!

....an update from the GoFundMe Sweet Joyous campaign:

Sweet Joyous has "officially" been open now for one week! How exciting is that?! It's been a busy time prepping & preparing & baking & delivering sweet samples to my local community to build a clientele. I have offered over 500 mini cupcakes for tasting and it's all in the name of investing into this business. It's always been my passion to give and to share and it's a blessing to be able to sweeten things up! It's been a really sweet ride.

I haven't had an official order yet but there are some opportunities to display my cupcakes at some local events where at least it's another chance to get my name out there & Sweet Joyous cupcakes into someone's mouth! I am continuing on this journey and excited about every step; a little exhausted too, but I haven't lost motivation and passion.

This is my dream. And today something amazing happened; happenstance? Coincidence? I don't believe in those. So we'll just see where this leads...

Your generous donations have enabled me to get this far and I promise you I will succeed in this. I'm making life sweeter, one cupcake at a time!

THANK YOU! ♥

www.gofundme.com/sweetjoyous ~~ where I have reached my goal, but it's still an opportunity to give. This bakery isn't fully prepped yet but I'll get there... and it's a way for out of town people to still support even though they can't taste the sweet stuff ;) not yet...

 Life really has been pretty sweet. I have been really busy this past weekend preparing literally hundreds of samples and even catered a ladies luncheon at a church. It wasn't a "paying job" yet, but right now I am still in the mindset of giving to where I can and I believe it is an investment into what the future holds for Sweet Joyous. I barely got any sleep from Thursday on... Thursday to Saturday, only a mere six hours of sleep... and oh boy, did I get delirious! I took a four hour nap on Saturday afternoon then went back to it. I finished up what I could for that day and had all the batters prepped and baked up on Sunday. Then somewhere in there, I crashed, hard. Fifteen hours hard. Yikes. Like I had time for that! Lol ^_^

But I served up some ladies with super sweet treats ~ a selection of samples from my holiday menu. I think it turned out awesome! And that is saying a lot, considering how absolutely zombie I felt. 

All in the name of the biz!

What I've been prepping for is what you see above ~ all those tiny, adorable, cute little pink bags full of a sweet surprise. I created enough cupcakes throughout the weekend ~ in a little something I call the "Mega Bake Mini 600" ~ and I packaged these cute little sweet treats into perfectly pink bags & tied them up with raffia & a note. I delivered these throughout the day in my local community. I am targeting on my business clientele right now and hoping to cater to some holiday office parties or gift ideas. I got a little discouraged at first. But my best friend in the whole wide Universe was right there to cheer me on and encourage me to continue with a smile. Thank you, Sissy. You truly are the best ♥

I got a lot of good response. I got a few really appreciative thank you's. I made some face-to-face contact. Best of all ~ Sweet Joyous cupcakes are all over town now! Eeek! YAY!

Also.... this will give you something to come back to... I got a crazy 'right place at the right time' kinda offer today. I'm not sure where I'm going with it quite yet or what it's meant to mean. But I'm a firm believer in all things happening for a reason, and in their season... And oh boy. This could be something. This could be IT. Only time will tell.... 

Keep in touch with Sweet Joyous on facebook where I am most current with updates and posts and pictures. You can contact me through my page to place an order. Local deliveries only, right now. 

www.facebook.com/ohsweetjoyous 

I am continuously beyond gracious for every single one of you out there supporting me. Even tonight I was blessed by a generous offering of love in the form of a donation and a touching outreach of love and virtual hugs. My facebook page got 30 new "likes" today and my lastest post there reached 537 people today. Wow! It's happening! 

Thanks for being along for such a sweet ride.

♥

The Sweet surprise inside!

NOW OPEN!!!

 Oh SWEET! 

The day I've been working towards for so many long days and so many sleepless nights. I kinda always fantasized about maybe one day being serious enough to sell my cupcakes. The thought most certainly crossed my mind at one event or another or this birthday party after that one where I brought cupcakes after cupcakes to share for so many different occasions. I thought "I bet I could sell these" and people would ask me "why don't you sell these"... But it wasn't ever really something I was completely sold on myself as being something I'd really be able to do. Until a couple of months ago when it was time to start figuring some things out and 'what to do with my life' and those kind of serious questions that your mind asks yourself. And it starting really coming back to me more and more often ~ these thoughts of sweet things and bringing smiles to people who are already celebrating something joyous in their life. I want to add to their joy by sharing mine and sweetening things up. I want to "do" something in life that actually means something to me and is something I am completely passionate about. The greatest of these for me is GIVING. I truly live to give and it brings me the most joy and helps me feel the most alive and in tune with my highest self. I enjoy helping others and believe it can be something I can make a life for myself by: Just doing. Just giving. Just being. So... the question came again to me and this time I answered: Why not?!

So here we are today after making it a definite goal and committing myself to starting a business just over a month ago ~ here I am humbly sitting, smiling, crying. This is it. This is happening. Today, I officially opened Sweet Joyous today and let the world know ~ I'm taking orders and ready to start baking up the sweets! *Even though right now... I'm focusing on Idaho Falls!*

IT'S REAL! SWEET JOYOUS IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS!

I'm absolutely excited for this chance to really do something I love. I have a passion for sharing sweet treats for special times and it's something I've been doing for so long already that it's second nature. It's a little different switching gears and turning this into a business but it's truly a dream come true. I am excited. I am scared. I am thrilled. I am hopeful. I know I can do this. I believe in myself.

Thank you to all of you who have shown your support. This includes hearing me out on so many late night phone calls ~ and back and forth email communication bouncing ideas ~ and to anyone who shared a link ~ and to every single one of you who have been able to give a generous donation, large or small. These are the reasons I am able to open business today. You have invested in me and I will go forth with such gratitude. Please know you have filled up my heart with hope. And I am ever so thankful ♥

NOW ~ the details!!! 

Sweet Joyous is now open for orders for delivery in Idaho Falls. I have put together a delicious, delectable holiday assortment of flavors to kick off a seasonal menu that you may start ordering from right now and on through the year. These are warm, scrumptious flavorings that compliment this time of year. It's amazing to me that I get to kick start all of this just in time for Thanksgiving when I have so much to be thankful for. I hope you'll give me the opportunity to sweeten up your holiday dinner or holiday office party or maybe even just a sweet surprise you may want to send to brighten someone's day. 

The seasonal selections are:

Peppermint Twist

Andes Mint Mocha

Eggnog Delight

Caramel Apple Cider

Southern Pumpkin Praline

Red Velvet

If you're interested in placing an order or have any questions, please get in touch through email on this blog or the best way to follow along is to "like" Sweet Joyous on facebook ~ there you will find updates, pictures, contact information and the menu. Additionally, Sweet Joyous will offer fully creative custom orders and will cater to whatever your sweet tooth craves. I am just opening up with a menu to make it easier to initially order and start getting some of my sweets into your mouth! These are classic holiday favorites and I figured a great place to start.

www.facebook.com/ohsweetjoyous

I am truly so thrilled. This has been an amazing journey so far and I am beyond words today. Emotions have been all over the place. Thank you for following my story. Thank you for showing your support. Now the tough stuff begins but the rewards are ever so SWEET! Sweet Joyous is ready. The oven is pre-heating!

YAY!!!! LET'S BAKE! ♥

Riding the roller coaster...

This has been an amazing journey so far! It took a lot of guts for me to finally decide to launch this bakery business I've been dreaming about for years. I have baked up some really sweet treats in my decade plus practice round and am really excited to be taking the next steps. But whoa nelly, has it been challenging. Some days are better than others; most days are sweeter than the last. We all go up and down on this ride called life; and it's been a tipsy-turvy-swervy roller coaster ride heading into the sweet life!

I have a great deal of gratitude for my dozen donors so far. Things don't always happen on our time frame and I am continuously learning patience. Although the words fall short, my heart is full. ♥

This online funding is my only funding and is the investment that will finally open my bakery doors. I still believe I'll reach my goal and be open in time to sweeten up the holidays. Every bit helps. I know people always say that, but it's true. So please take a minute to share and please donate anything if you are able.

http://www.gofundme.com/sweetjoyous

Welcome to the ride ~ buckle your safety harness because we are just getting started!!! SWEET ♥

No tricks, just Sweet Joyous treats!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN! 

This is by far one of my favorite holidays throughout the year. My sisters & brother & I always had so much fun as kids and our parents really let us get as much into the holiday as we wanted to. And we wanted to go all out! We would trick-or-treat in decked out costumes for hours and hours throughout the Florida fall nights filling up pillowcases of candy. And every year we'd end up at my Grandma's yellow house for our final stop. We always remembered to count our candy first & then we'd trade with each other so that we all always got our favorite candy. 

I can clearly remember my son's first Halloween. I was so excited to carry on the traditions we had as kids with my own child. I found the cutest little pumpkin costume I could find. He made the perfect jack-o-lantern with his chubby lil' cheeks. I dressed myself up all in orange and black and even got my nails done to the longest length they could make them and painted them all festive as well. I carried my seven month old pumpkin around showing him off to all my friends and neighbors. This is one of the few pictures I still have of us from this time. I cherish it. I cherish every Halloween we've shared from the cutest little pumpkin to the saddest little clown during his "terrible two-three-fours" to the amazing Darth Maul to even now, his sixteenth year dressed up as the Mad Hatter. These are some of my most favorite memories and I will continue to hold them dear to my heart. And I still call my son Tater-Pumpkin to this day.

So here I am kick-starting the very first samples from Sweet Joyous. I must say this is a very exciting time for me. I baked all day on Halloween and put together about 200 mini cupcakes to give out to the parents during trick-or-treat time. The kids wanted them too, of course! So I just started handing them out to everyone. I had printed a little info flyer announcing my new business and letting people know that I'm open very soon in the neighborhood and to just start getting my sweets & the Sweet Joyous name out there. I am not sure how effective it was, but everyone was sweetly surprised to get candy AND another sweet treat. I feel happy even taking just this tiny step. I'm still in the funding stages but I am so close I can almost feel confident that I'll have enough money to officially open up shop! I wanted to be open by Halloween, so this is a start. Every single step, large or small, is a step toward making my dream a reality. Oh, how sweet it is! ♥

Pumpkin Spice & Eggnog Delight Minis

 

Sweet Joyous treats

Happy Halloween everyone! It's just about time to launch the seasonal menu, just in time for the holidays! I cannot wait to deliver my sweets to you!

Thumbs up for "liking"!

So ~ I have started a facebook fan page as well now for Sweet Joyous & here's my first update ~ just a little bit more info on what's going on & where we're heading in the sweet steps to come....

"Wow ~ over a 100 likes already in just a couple days, THANK YOU!

So here's a little about Sweet Joyous ~ after years in the making & baking, I have finally taken the jump & decided to open a home bakery to finally start selling my delicious cupcake creations. I have come up with all sorts of ideas in the past & happily cater to anyone's creativity.

I am currently putting together a delicious, seasonal menu to kick start my business opening & will be offering favorite holiday time flavors. I will be TAKING ORDERS VERY SOON! I will have samples baked for tasting & deliveries to create my clientele. I am going to offer a friends & family bake sale as well. And! I DELIVER! So ~ get your taste buds watering because Sweet Joyous is just about ready to start baking & making your holiday celebrations & gift ideas a whole lot SWEETER! ♥"

LIKE Sweet Joyous on facebook & please share with your friends & followers! Thank you ♥

https://www.facebook.com/ohsweetjoyous