How did we start?
August 31, 2012
Nick had always loved cotton candy and joked about buying a cotton candy machine with his first teacher paycheck. That didn’t happen, so Kate gave Nick a small cotton candy machine for his birthday, his first birthday they were together as a couple, thinking it was a great present. Neither of us wanted to eat the stuff with artificial colors and flavors, so we began experimenting with flavors that we’d like to eat, using no artificial dyes. It was all just for fun in our kitchen.
Read moreDreaming Up Flavors for Fun
September 1, 2012
Soon after, at Nick’s birthday dinner (shout out to Gandhi, Cuisine of India), we wrote all the flavors we wanted to make on the back of an old receipt. We managed to make a lot of them; some, like cotton and water, haven’t worked out. We really just wanted to see what we could make and taste, neither of us were considering starting a business.
Read moreOur First Event!
October 13, 2012
We were invited to spin cotton candy at The Sacred Machine, the coolest gallery in Tucson at the time. There was also a Zombie Walk this day, turns out zombies will eat more than just brains. How did we get here? Well, we started to bring our cotton candy to family parties and sharing it with friends. We had flavors like Candy Cane and Coffee at the time. Everyone was just blown away because they’d never tasted anything like it before. We kept hearing, “you should sell this!” so we decided to buy a bigger machine and see what happened. We’ve been spinning ever since.
Read moreOur First Logo
January 16, 2013
We began using a logo designed by Matt Phelan, an old friend and stellar graphic designer. It combined regional aspects, like the Pima cotton grown around Tucson, with our new organic cotton candy.
Read moreUp for the Challenge
March 10, 2013
We began selling our organic cotton candy at large events like the Tempe Festival of Arts and Tucson Festival of Books.
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I’d Always Wanted to be in the Newspaper.
August 14, 2013
I never thought cotton candy would get me there… “A few years ago when Flowing Wells High School science teacher Nick Breckenfeld was asked what he wanted to buy with his first teaching paycheck, he joked that he wanted a cotton candy machine. The 29-year-old readily admits he’s been fascinated by the fluffy stuff since he was a kid. Though he didn’t follow through with that purchase, he finally got a sugar-spinning machine last year as a birthday gift from his girlfriend, Kate Keelen, 27. He’s like a child at heart still, and he embraces it,” she said. That night, the pair…
Read moreSelling Online
October 31, 2013
After a lot of hard work figuring out how to package our cotton candy we opened our Etsy shop and began selling online to people across America.
Read moreOur Kickstarter
March 16, 2014
In the midst of event season and fulfilling regular orders, we ran a successful Kickstarter campaign to raise money for a barcode so we could begin wholesaling. Thanks again to our supporters!
Read moreAward Winning Cotton Candy!
November 21, 2014
We competed in a dessert challenge put on by the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance with our Aztec Chocolate and Candy Cane cotton candy. We won Best Candy for Aztec Chocolate and then were shocked to also win Best in Show! There were some big players there.
Read moreWe Learned that Tootsie Roll Industries was Afraid of Us.
October 5, 2015
After a 3 year trademark dispute with Tootsie Roll Industries, parent owner of Fluffy Stuff, the judge ruled in their favor and we could no longer call ourselves Fluff It Up.
Read moreAnd We Become SpunLight!
November 12, 2015
We took the ruling in stride and took the time to find the perfect name for our bright future. After mulling over a few options, we chose SpunLight. The trademark application was approved quickly and smoothly, which was a huge relief after such a long legal battle for our previous name. Technically SpunLight is a “doing business as”, so we’re Fluff It Up LLC dba SpunLight. What I love about our new name is the reference to sunlight, what…
Read moreNick and Kate get Married
April 16, 2016
Took us a while to commit, huh? Of course we had cotton candy there.
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Award Winning Cotton Candy Part 2
November 18, 2016
We returned to the Southern Arizona Arts and Cultural Alliance’s Sweet Charity Dessert Challenge and won two more awards, Best Chocolate and Best Sweet & Salty. We brought Aztec Chocolate cotton candy and an exclusive flavor, Chocolate Salted Caramel Silk.
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