I'm clearly in a very giveaway type mood lately.  The mixer giveaway is going on....the open day giveaway...and now this photo contest!  So let me tell you how it will work!  

I LOVE seeing your photos of Steph's Sweet Treats goodies and events so send them my way!  I will add each photo to an album on my Facebook page and send you a direct link to your photo.  I will take a week to collect photos.  Once I have all the submissions, you will have a week to get your friends, family, etc to go "like" your photo.  The photo with the most likes at the end of a week will win a free 8" specialty pre-design cake along with a Steph's Sweet Treats cup and can koozie!  

Don't have a photo with your Steph's Sweet Treats goodies yet?  Here are some ideas of what you can do to qualify:
Photos of/with:
-Your Steph's Sweet Treats cake, cupcakes, cookies, etc. (you, your children, or guests, can also be in the photo!)
-You at an event that has Steph's Sweet Treats goodies (ex.  photo from a wedding where you are eating a Steph's Sweet Treats cupcake, snapping a photo of a display containing Steph's Sweet Treats goodies, etc)
-Decorating cookies from a Steph's Sweet Treats cookie kit
-Your visit to an open day
-Wearing your Steph's Sweet Treats shirt
-Spotting the Steph's Sweet Treats vehicle and snapping a picture of yourself or kids with it
-Smash cake session with a Steph's Sweet Treats cake
-Birthday person posing with their Steph's Sweet Treats cake/cupcakes
-Cutting into/eating your Steph's Sweet Treats gender reveal cake/cupcakes
-Pretty much anything Steph's Sweet Treats related!

Need some examples?  Visit the Steph's Sweet Treats customer experiences photo album below: 

https://www.facebook.com/stephsweetreatsDodgeville/photos/?tab=album&album_id=266425793536702

Thanks for another week of orders!  Send me your photos now!!  (You have until Saturday November 12 to send photos)

If you remember last year around this time I did a big KitchenAid mixer giveaway/raffle....well guess what???  I have decided to make this a yearly giveaway! It was so popular and who doesn't want to win a mixer AND help a good cause?

How does it work?  All you have to do is buy a ticket/tickets to be entered to win-  I draw the winner on my business anniversary (December 31st)  How does it help a good cause?  Once ticket sales reach the cost of the prize, all remaining funds get donated to the Iowa County Humane Society.  Oddly enough, last year's winner adopted a cat from ICHS the day they picked up their mixer!  How cool is that?!  

I will be doing a regular open day in November (date to be announced) so you will be able to purchase your tickets at that time if you wish.  You can also contact me to stop in at another time or mail money and have me enter your name/tickets into the drawing.  The photo from above is of last year's basket, but this year's will essentially be the same.  I will be raffling off a white mixer, measuring cups, utensils, pot holder, birthday candles, and Steph's Sweet Treats can koozie!  Get your tickets now!

Thanks for another week of orders and being patient with my limited ability to take calls at the moment (no cell reception for a bit over here!),

It's only 12 days into October, but my oh my has it been a whirlwind crazy month already!  So let me tell you a little about it...
​
The craziness started the very first day of October....when I had four weddings!  Who's the crazy baker with a new baby who decided to take on four weddings??  This lady right here!  I rationalize this by telling people they were all smaller weddings (250 and under) and only one had to be set up by me.  This last bit is always an advantage, but also means I usually miss out on getting setup photos, which is always a bummer!

Even with a new baby, this four wedding weekend probably wouldn't have been too crazy for me...but I also had a 720 cupcake order (all decorated) three days later, moved the day after and closed on the selling of our house two days after that!! So if it has taken me longer to respond to customers you now know why.  

​Trust me I didn't plan for last week to be so insane, it just kind of happened.  I've had the big 720 cupcake order booked for a very long time...then we sold our house and the closing date just so happened to fall during that week.  So we made it work!  

The 720 cupcake order was a big deal for me.  It was for Hoard's Dairyman and was delivered to the World Dairy Expo in Madison.  Now that's a herd of cows!

My life the first week of October was bake, bake, bake...pack, pack, pack....snuggle, snuggle, snuggle baby.  Which brings me to baby Wyatt.  I am soooo lucky to be able to go through all this bakery craziness with him by my side.  My mom semi-retired when I had him...so even though I had long days the bakery, he was right there with me!  My mom is kind enough to come along on my long days and take care of him while I fill orders so that I don't have to go hours on end without seeing him.  To make things even easier, we are currently living in my parents basement (we sold our current house, and the our new one isn't ready to be moved into yet!).  This made moving a bit harder and makes contacting customers a bit complicated (no cell service), but makes packing up and going to the bakery with grandma in tow a bit easier.  Thanks mom!!

Things have slowed down a bit this week, but not by much!  Thanks to everyone for their patience with me in my delayed responses and thanks for all the continued orders! Wyatt was pretty wiped out by the crazy beginning to the month too....  :)

I don't know about you, but fall is my favorite season!  Sweaters, boots, sweatshirts, fall flavors, and an excuse to drink warm beverages (like coffee!) all day long...sign me up!  Fall is also when I have the most weddings.  It is definitely the new summer as far as weddings go.  But that doesn't mean there aren't plenty of summer weddings!  Here's a peak at the end of summer Steph's Sweet Treats weddings.

August 27- 200 cupcakes at the fairgrounds in Lancaster- french toast, Choco-mallow, raspberry cheesecake, and butterscotch.  I had never been to this venue before and was shocked at how perfect it was!  It's the newest building at the fairgrounds and is the perfect space for a wedding.  This setup used my crates and I added their sunflower and tulle decor as I went.  They also got a larger rosette style cutting cake to match their wedding colors.

September 3- 150 cupcakes at Folklore Village- crazy pig, strawberry shortcake and mint brownie. This was another first time venue for me and I was again amazed by how perfect the space was.  The setup was provided by the couple and I loved being able to use multiple heights and platters...plus they had such fun flavors!  

September 10- 150 cupcakes Wisconsin Riverside Resort vanilla raspberry and chocolate peanut butter with a vanilla two tiered cake.  This was a fun wedding in so many ways!  I loved the display (provided by the couple) and I loved making a cake I had never made before!  It is definitely nerve wracking when someone asks for something new, but so fun at the same time.  I loved the end result of this two tier cascading rose cake!

September 17-  This was a double wedding weekend!  The first wedding, delivered and set up by me was: 350 cupcakes at Wisconsin Riverside Resort - s'more , strawberry cheesecake, chocolate peanut butter craving, and cookies n cream.  So many fun flavors, display rented from me (one of my favorite ways to set up) and the room was set up beautifully!  

The second wedding of the night was delivered and set up by my husband.  It was 250 cupcakes at The Barn At Harvest Moon Pond - cookies n cream , vanilla raspberry, chocolate peanut butter, red velvet and apple pie cupcakes.  The fun rustic setup was provided by the couple.  I must say I'm very jealous that he got to see this amazing Poynette venue!  I have never been there before and from the pictures he brought back, it looks beautiful!  Thankfully, I have another wedding here next year so I'll still get to see it!  

Thanks for another week of orders!  These next couple of weeks are going to be crazy busy with weddings- check me out on snapchat for behind the scenes peaks!  (stephsweetreats)  

This year should be called the crazy year with a million changes (a good crazy of course!).  Not only did my husband and I just have a baby, but we are also moving!  Why do things one at a time right???  Go big or go home!  If you follow the blog or facebook page regularly, you probably already know this.  However, I need to post about a little limbo time period where it might be a little harder to reach me.  

After the first week of October to sometime in November, I will not have regular cell phone service.  We will be having to live at my parents house for a short time before we are able to move to our new home.  They live in the boonies with little to no cell service....which makes things a bit complicated for my business huh?!  Solution?  Be patient with me-please!  If you call or text my phone please allot a grace period for response due to not having service and needing to get service in order to receive calls and messages.  That means, depending on when you contact me, it could be over a day before you hear back from me.  

The easiest way to contact me with be via Facebook or email.  I will try my best to have my computer near me and on so that I can respond to messages and emails quickly.  I will be sure to check them regularly.  Since it is a whole lot easier and faster for me to check online that it is to drive up the road to see if I have voicemails and texts, please use this method to contact me.  Especially if you need to hear back from me quickly.

This temporary move is farther away than our new home will be....this is very important because it means (as I continue to stress) showing up on time for pickups and meetings is very important.  I cannot get to the bakery in two minutes anymore and if I have to return for you because of lateness, it could be awhile..even longer if you try calling me and I have no service for you to rearrange a pickup.  So please make the extra effort to be timely. (I hate when I have to enforce the late fee!)

Thanks for another week of orders!

I have heard and said it a million times...but seriously...where does time go?!  It does NOT seem possible that a month ago I was in the hospital having a baby.  Because time is going so quickly (and maybe a bit because I'm just a big sap) I cry a lot over the passing of time.

I think the real reason behind all the tears is the overwhelming joy and love of having this little boy in my life.  There's more to the story of Wyatt than I have told people.  Some people know, but I could count on two hands the number of people who know/I've talked about it with.  So why tell the story now?  Because my husband and I didn't want people to feel the need to express any sympathies (and still don't), and now that Wyatt is is here I feel like sometimes things happen for a reason...something I could not fathom at the time.

When I originally posted about being pregnant, I wrote that we had tried to plan for not having my labor being during the "busy wedding time," but things don't always go as planned.  Many people took this as meaning that the pregnancy wasn't planned or that it was a surprise.  That wasn't the case.  What it meant was that I was originally due in February of this year, not August...but things didn't go as planned.

Last May I went into the emergency room thinking I had a kidney stone.  While there I learned that I was pregnant (we had been trying) and that the pain was from an ruptured ovarian cyst.  After running some tests, the next day I found out that the pregnancy was not okay.  It was ectopic  (stuck in my fallopian tube).  The only option for this type of pregnancy is to remove it.  Needless to say, we were devastated.  My husband is good at looking on the bright side and reminded me many times that things happen for a reason.  If I had not had the ruptured cyst I would not have gone in until later...meaning the pregnancy would not have been discovered (or the problem with it until later; I would have been even more attached and in more danger.  When not discovered, an ectopic pregnancy can rupture a fallopian tube and/or result in major damage and surgeries.  Even knowing this, I could not come to terms with there being a "reason" behind why this had happened to us.  As I'm sure anyone who miscarries feels.  

​There's a radio show I use to listen to where the host (who was a doctor) always told callers that "you get the baby you are meant to have."  Whether that means through carrying a baby, using a surrogate, adopting, etc.  This is easier to say than it is to accept.  At least it was until Wyatt came into our lives.  

A few days after being home from the hospital my husband and I were just staring at our precious new baby when he asked me if I ever wonder what it would have been like with the other baby.  This was a shock to me because it is something he doesn't really bring up or talk about.  He was always said the ectopic happened for a reason...even if we don't know what the reason is.  Well I think it's safe to say we found our reason.  Wyatt was meant to be in our lives.  It's not that the other baby wasn't meant to be in our lives, because it still is.  Our angel baby brought this rainbow baby into our lives for a reason.  We will never forget the hurt, but we can celebrate the joy of Wyatt every single day.  

So as I shed tears writing this post I want people to know that there is no reason to express sympathies; we are celebrating the little life we now have.  I am writing about our experience because like myself, I think it's something people often keep to themselves.  It's therapeutic to talk about and part of the story of Wyatt and what makes him more special to us.​ 

The love and joy I have for Wyatt is something I can't express.  So what do I do?  Cry!  I find myself constantly just staring at him and crying, holding him and crying, or just crying.  They are tears of mixed emotion....love, wanting time to slow down, fear that I won't remember the details of him being so little, just wanting to take it all in and hold onto every moment, and/or just pure joy.  I'm sure it's like this for all parents, especially first timers.  But I can't help but think I'm so emotional and trying even harder to take it all in because of what happened.  Every second feels so precious to me and like it was just meant to be....

Thanks for another week of orders guys!

It's been a crazy (good crazy) year so far over here at Steph's Sweet Treats!  With the year coming to an end...can you believe that?!..there are still a few events you can attend.  The first event you should know about is Off the Vine. 

I participated in Off the Vine in 2014 and had a blast.  It was not put on last year so I was very excited to hear it was back this year!  What is it?  It is an event put on by the Dodgeville Area Chamber of Commerce and local downtown businesses.  Each participating business has two wines and a snack; participants get to explore the businesses, meet the owners, snack, and taste great wines at each location.  If you are a wine lover, get your tickets now!  And don't forget to stop at Steph's Sweet Treats!  My snack will be some bite size cupcakes and cutout cookies.

Last year I did an event that I would love to do again, if time allows and if people are interested.  It was called "Ladies Night" and was held on a Friday night in April.  I had cupcakes for sale and then "hosted parties" of Norwex, Perfectly Posh, and Chloe+Isabel at the same time.  Anybody who stopped in had the opportunity to buy cupcakes, cleaning products, skin products, AND jewelry!  Sounds pretty amazing right?!  

Well I'd like to continuing doing events like this, but switch up the vendors every time so I can offer a good mix of goodies to people.  But I can't decide when to host the event and which vendors to have.  I do have a business card for a younique makeup consultant so I will probably contact them.  If you are a consultant for a company feel free to contact me!  I only have space for 3 (maybe 4 if you can take up a small amount of space) sellers and will have to weigh which vendors to take.  However, I can always keep a running list of people for future events so don't hesitate to contact me!

Please comment on here, on the Facebook post, or vote below.  

I hope to see you at these events!  As always, thanks for another week of orders!

I know a lot of people thought I was crazy...heck I even thought I was a bit crazy...to have weddings booked so close to my due date (2 weeks after).  Why did I allow this?  Well because I had to cancel and turn away enough weddings around my due date... I wanted to at least keep the weddings at the end of the month and just do whatever I had to do to make them happen.

I added to the craziness by agreeing to take on an additional wedding the weekend of August 20th.  I already had one booked, but since they were both on the small side and both in the same area delivery wise, I said yes....I have a bit of a problem with saying no (but I'm getting better at it now that I have a baby!)

If baking for two weddings, and a limited amount of orders, less than two weeks after having a baby doesn't sound crazy enough...I also decided my husband and I could pull off a double delivery with a newborn in tow!

I have had a lot people curious as to whether or not I am baking and I think some of these people are concerned that I am not taking advantage of the precious time with my newborn.  So I want to clarify that yes I am baking, and yes I certainly am taking advantage of EVERY moment.  I have the advantage of owning my own business...which means I'm on my own time and can take Wyatt with me when necessary or my husband can bring him so I don't have to go without seeing him (which he's amazing for doing for me!).  I'm adjusting my schedule to Wyatt; which means baking later in the day (reserving those 3 a.m. wake-ups for him rather than baking.  Between taking him with me when he was sleeping and my husband bringing him, I only had to go a 4 hour stretch of baking without seeing him last week.  And trust me...it was super hard and I probably didn't put him down for the rest of the night!  

Now onto the double delivery.  I would have had my parents babysit Wyatt...but they had a wedding of their own to attend...and well I just couldn't bear to go without him just yet!  We had to deliver to Richland Center and Spring Green and were on a tight timeline.  While we left promptly at the time I planned on leaving....Wyatt's schedule got a bit thrown off around lunch time (had to let him sleep when we planned on having him awake)..which meant I knew at some point we'd have a hungry baby on our hands right in the middle of delivering.  

So while it was a little more hectic than usual (yes he woke up and wanted food just like I predicted), we made it work!  While I set up the cupcakes my husband tended to Wyatt (again, did I mention how amazing he is?!).  And we still managed to get in and out of the venues with time to spare!  I know we can't take Wyatt on every delivery, but I think I may have just wanted to prove to myself that we could do it.  And we did!

Thanks for another week of orders everyone!

Don't get scared by the words "new policy"....it's really not all that new.  I should probably reword that to "policy that will now actually be enforced."  As much as I HATE to do it...I've talked about it for a long time and it has now become more important than ever.  Steph's Sweet Treats will now have a late fee for pickups. 

I know, I know...boo right?!  I apologize, but since I do not have regular hours and all pickups are scheduled, it is very important that people show up on time for their pickups.  I have talked about this on the blog before but have never actually made the move to enforce it.  Mostly because it's going to be very hard (and awkward) for me to enforce the fee...but I know I have to do it if I want people to make more of an effort to show up on time and respect my time.  

Why now?  Well, like I said,  It has been a long time coming...but having a newborn definitely pushed me to toughen up and just enforce it.  Time is precious; time with your baby is even more precious! My method of feeding also makes it very important for customers to arrive on time....otherwise you might find yourself locked out for a period of time until I can get to the door/help you.

In addition to all of this, I will be moving in a few months.  Not far, but no longer a minute from my shop. (Which reminds me- if you or someone you know is interested in buying a 3 bedroom one bathroom house in Dodgeville message me!)  Being close to the shop made running back and forth for people who were late not that big of a deal.  Now, it will take me at least 10-15 minutes to get back to my shop...and that's not taking into account packing up a baby.  

All customers are made aware that their pickups are scheduled; I am not there all day every day...and sometimes I am just there for one specific pickup.  So coming on time is expected.  I have made an extra effort myself as well to send a quick text, message, or email or phone call the night before or day of the pickups to remind people of their pickups. I understand that things come up that can make you late....that's fine...just let me know.  Not letting me know and leaving me sitting and waiting for 15 minutes- to an hour + sometimes ends up meaning I leave the shop and then have to return once I can get a hold of the customer- having a baby and living farther away will make that trickier.

So what's the policy?  This is what I have been attaching to messages, texts, emails, and what I will tell people over the phone and post in my shop: Late Fee- Steph's Sweet Treats schedules pickups. Customers are expected to show up at their scheduled pick up times.  If customers show up 15 minutes or more late (without notice) there is a $5 late fee for every 15 minutes.  If I have to leave and return due to lateness there is an additional fee.

I hope everyone can understand why I have choosen to go this route.  I have debated on it for a long time and have finally decided to do it.  If you have been late in the past please do not think this policy is being put into place because of you.  This has been a slow build up of events and is certainly not being done because of anyone specific.

Thank you for another week of orders!

The last week has been a crazy one folks!  Wyatt William Halvorson entered this world on his due date-August 7 at 8:42 p.m.  Want to here a little about his entrance into the world?  Don't worry I won't insert any of the stuff you don't want to hear about!

Let me start by saying this little man put me to the test!  And as any mom would say, it was worth every second of it and more! So I filled orders last Friday like any normal Friday and did the pickups Saturday morning at 10am.  However, that Saturday morning was different....I woke up Saturday morning around 4 with contractions.  I had A LOT of braxton hicks contractions during my pregnancy but I was pretty positive these were different because they weren't going away...but they weren't exactly regular.  

Shortly after my 10am pickups I got some signs that yes this really was labor but still, having never gone through it before, I didn't want to alert anyone and I wanted to ride out as much of it at home as I could.  Funny thing though....my cousin and godson came to visit...which is a big deal!  They live all the way in LaCrosse and they came to see me and I got to give my godson his birthday present (his is August 8th!).  We chatted, hung out, and even got lunch together...all while I quietly hid contractions that were starting to get a little more uncomfortable, but still 15-20 minutes apart.  

In the afternoon things started getting a bit more serious and around 5 I called the OB to tell them what had occurred throughout the day and they said that I did in fact need to come in.  After some checking, it was confirmed that I was in the early stages of labor.  They let me go home to labor as long as I wanted, but told me to for sure come back when the contractions got to 5 minutes apart. 

So of course I did what any person would do....stop by the bakery! I make baked goodies for people to give to the OB staff all the time after they have babies so I couldn't just walk in as the actual "cupcake lady" empty handed now could I?! (Note- I do not freeze customers orders-although some people do choose to do that on their own-but since I wanted to make sure I had cupcakes and cookies to take, so I had to have them ready to go in the freezer).  I also had to eat something because I knew there would be no food once I was admitted to the hospital..and for some reason I really wanted pancakes....so I made pancakes through the contractions!

Once things got a little more intense and hit the under 5 minute apart mark (around 9:30 Saturday night) we headed to the hospital.  Of course we assumed things would progress quickly since from 5-9pm things seemed like they had....boy were we wrong!  This not so little man (8 pounds 3 oz and 21 1/2 inches long-holy moly nobody was expecting that!  We weren't expecting the head full of dark brown hair either!) wasn't born until 8:42 the next night!  Not that I'm counting or anything....but if you start the clock at 10am that's a good 34 hours!  But like I said, worth every bit of it!

I wanted to do this post since customers know my due date was this month and so people know about ordering.  You are welcome to still inquire about any order you may have.  I am taking it one day at a time and doing orders based on how I feel and how my schedule is going with Wyatt.  So if I feel okay and I can fit the order in, I will certainly do it.  Don't be deterred from asking; I am doing whatever I can.  

Thanks for another week of orders!  Especially those who were brave enough to order the last week of my pregnancy :)  Thanks for taking the risk!