Handmade Craft Items: Sticky Wrappers

Sara, the owner of the sticky wrapper is the mother of a very active 4 year old boy. We live in Washington state. Both my husband and son are very supportive of my business and both help out as much as possible.

Question: How long have you been selling online?
Response: I have been selling online for almost 2 years. I opened my Etsy shop on January 2011.

Question: What got you started making such wonderful treats?
Response: When I was laid off a friend of mine told me about Etsy. I came up with the candy idea because it's fun, versatile and fairly easy to ship. The only problem would be the candy melting in the hot months.

Red Velvet marshmallows

Question: Why did you decide to sell your treats on the web?
At first I played with the idea of doing lollipops. I ordered a sample pack of flavorings and the pack came with lemon oil. My other flavorings come from a local shop that has larger sizes that are a little more affordable plus I don't have to pay for shipping.

Question: How much does it take to make your treats?
It takes about 4 hours to make most of my treats. The butters don't take as long.

Question: Your lemon/lavender caramels state that you added the oil of both lemon and lavender. I have never heard of those ingredients before, can you tell me what they smell and/or taste like?
Response: The tastes and scents of the oils are very similar to regular extracts but are slightly stronger and can be used in chocolates as well.

lemon/lavender caramels

Question: How long have you had an interest in specialty candies?
Response: I have always loved specialty candies and will try anything once.

Question: Where do you get your ideas for some of those wild treats, like the maple bacon caramel or balsamic strawberry marshmallows?
Response: My ideas come from family and cooking in general. There are so many choices out there and I want my items to stand out.

Question: Do people really love those unusual types of flavors?
Response: The bacon flavors are pretty popular as well as the spicy caramels. The other flavors seem to sell at certain times.

Question: Are any of the items in your shop the result of a request for a custom product?
I have not had any custom requests yet.

Lime in coconut caramels

Maybe no one has made any requests because she has 67 items to choose from and such a great variety.

Question: Do you add new items on a regular basis or at least try to?
Response: I try to add items as often as I can to keep my shop fresh and add variety.

Question: What do you use to wrap and package your treats when preparing them to be shipped?
I used FDA approved packaging. I heat seal it, I recently found some self sealing ones and can't wait to try them.

Question: Do you use molds or your hands to shape your goodies?
My caramels and marshmallows are all made from scratch. They are cooked on the stove and then poured into molds so I can keep them as uniform as possible.