Our Story

How did we start?

August 31, 2012

How did we start?

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.

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Dreaming Up Flavors for Fun

September 1, 2012

Dreaming Up Flavors for Fun

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.

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Our First Event!

October 13, 2012

Our First Event!

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.

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Our First Logo

January 16, 2013

Our First Logo

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.

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Up for the Challenge

March 10, 2013

Up for the Challenge

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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Some Early Press

June 5, 2013

Some Early Press

I’d Always Wanted to be in the Newspaper.

August 14, 2013

I’d Always Wanted to be in the Newspaper.

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 jotted down on a napkin about 25 different flavors they could spin into wisps of candy.  Click here for more: Tucson Business Spins Gourmet Cotton Candy – AZ Daily Star

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Selling Online

October 31, 2013

Selling Online

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.

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Our Kickstarter

March 16, 2014

Our Kickstarter

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!

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Award Winning Cotton Candy!

November 21, 2014

Award Winning Cotton Candy!

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.

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We Learned that Tootsie Roll Industries was Afraid of Us.

October 5, 2015

We Learned that Tootsie Roll Industries was Afraid of Us.

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.

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And We Become SpunLight!

November 12, 2015

And We Become SpunLight!

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 could be brighter and more refreshing? Also the word Spun refers to spinning cotton candy and Light has so much to do with what we make – it’s light in calories, light in weight, and light in chemical footprint since we use…

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Nick and Kate get Married

April 16, 2016

Nick and Kate get Married

Took us a while to commit, huh? Of course we had cotton candy there.

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Our New Logo

May 5, 2016

Our New Logo

Our new logo was made public!

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Featured in Edible Baja Arizona

August 20, 2016

Featured in Edible Baja Arizona

Award Winning Cotton Candy Part 2

November 18, 2016

Award Winning Cotton Candy Part 2

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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