Beacon Creations

Tiggy's "Pirates" Handmade Cold Process Soap

2011-08-17T09:02:00.001-04:00

Through the wonderful world of blogging, I was fortunate enough to come across an extremely talented soapmaker named Tiggy who is the owner and creator of Future Primitive Soaps. I'm sure that many of you are already familiar with Tiggy and her beautiful rustic creations inspired by the English countryside. I am so in love with her original essential oil/fragrance oil blends.

One of the very first soaps that I received from Tiggy was an aquatic/ozonic type bar called "Pirates".

I chose this soap because I was so intrigued by story behind it's creation, the scent description and how perfectly her design captured the essence of the ship that inspired it.

Unfortunately, Tiggy discontinued this soap. BUT, she was kind enough to pass along the fragrance blend to me to recreate the soap. I suppose, I could have done a different design, but part of the soaps appeal is the design so I decide to carry on the design as best I could.

It's funny, because although she gave me the exact fragrance formula, it still only smells like a very good dupe! I still have a piece of my original bar and it's sooooo close...but just not quite a perfect match.

Regardless, this was so fun to play with and Tiggy was super sweet to let me try♥

"Blowing Bubbles" Handmade Soap

2011-08-12T08:32:00.000-04:00

So I've decided to give Blowing Bubbles yet another makeover. This design was mostly Brandon's idea. He wanted me to try something different with the soap ball embeds.

Still using his overall color scheme and design, I decided to make the embeds a ball within a ball. Though I'm sure that someone somewhere in the world has done this before, I've never personally seen the type of ball before, so it was very fun to create.

Posh Petals Handmade Cold Process Soap

2011-08-09T08:48:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure if I've stated this before, but I'm am not a fan of floral scents. For me they are too overpowering and perfumey. However, due to customer demand, I've been venturing into the world of florals and have found several that I honestly really like. One of which is called Posh Petals. It is a lovely fragrance that is mostly rose water but also has some light citrus notes along with pomegranates and aloe.

I've tried some new soap colors for this batch as well. The pink portion is mostly Pink Kaolin Clay. I was afraid that it looked more red than pink so I did add some pink mica to it. The black portion a Activated Charcoal and the bars are topped with dried Rose Petals.

It's been too long...but I'm back :0)

2011-08-03T08:17:00.005-04:00

My poor blog has been sadly neglected for several months now. Business has slowed down a bit, so this is good time to get back into the swing of things. There are many batches on the curing rack right now, but I'll start with sharing a batch that I call "Pishsalver Potion". The name is inspired by the Drink Me elixir in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. The fragrance is actually a scent called Purple Hooters which is a super fruity blend of grapes and berries.

Pishsalver Potion

On the Curing Rack: Blowing Bubbles

2011-02-22T08:28:00.000-05:00

This soap was not only super fun to design but it's even better to smell. The fragrance is a fun, fruity blend of Strawberry, Blackberry, Huckleberries with just a hint of Pineapple, Soft Rose and a bit of Caramel.

On the Curing Rack: Watalappan

2011-02-18T08:12:00.002-05:00

Cardamom definitely a new favorite scent of mine. The scent is warm, sweet and spicy. A little goes a looong way. This new soap is called Watalappan. It's named for a a dessert from Sri Lanka that is pretty much a tropical version of Creme Brulee.

The scent is a delicious blend of Coconut Milk, fresh Eggs, Jaggery (a traditional unrefined cane sugar from India), Vanilla, Tonka Bean and of course Cardamom. Mmmm!

On the Curing Rack: Oatmeal, Milk & Honey

2011-02-15T08:54:00.000-05:00

Oatmeal, Milk & Honey seems to be a must have in every soap shop. It's sweet, warm and comforting. I've tried this fragrance oil from several suppliers but the Cylliba oil from Bramble Berry is the one that I keep coming back too. The fragrance oil in CP soap tends to be on the light side (no matter who I purchase from). This time I gave it a little more of a kick by adding Honey and Brown Sugar fragrance oils to the mix. Yummy! The scent gets stronger and the soap cures.

These bars were made with of course Olive Oil but also enriched with Goat Milk, unrefined Shea Butter, Cocoa Butter and Lanolin and ground Oatmeal for a mild exfoliation.

Chai Tea Cold Process Soap

2011-02-10T09:37:00.001-05:00

Another delicious fragrance from Bramble Berry. I added a bit of a Vanilla FO that I had from Sweetcakes to this to add a bit more buttery notes and to ensure that I got a nice dark brown color on the soap.

I know that most people don't like browning but for this batch, I wanted the contrast between the soap and the swirl. This is a super yummy soap.

Mini Cupcake Bath Bombs

2011-02-02T09:30:00.003-05:00

These cute little cupcakes were in my shop during the holiday season. They're all sold out now, but I thought I'd share anyway. The basic recipe came from Ann Marie on Soap Queen TV. It took many, many failed attempts to finally get the "icing" on these right and I really haven't had the patience to take a day and try it all again. Maybe I'll make some more in time for Easter.

Almond Macaroon

Shelter

Apple Toffee Buttercrunch

Polar Express

Honey B. Harvest

(HIWTK Dupe)

Midnight Rose Soap

2011-01-31T09:35:00.002-05:00

Just in time for Valentine's Day! This soap is literally just off the curing rack :-) I'm not usually the floral, rose scent type of person, but I really, really like this fragrance.

It's classic Rose sweetened just a bit with juicy Black Currants.

I used Clear MP soap and a cookie cutter for the heart shaped embeds.

Twilight Woods Cold Process Soap

2011-01-27T09:18:00.000-05:00

Twilight Woods is my other favorite "grown-up" fragrance.

It's a stunning and beguling blend of berries, flowers, fruits, earthy roots and warm vanilla. LOVE it!!

Cold Process Soap Sieze & Save

2011-01-24T09:48:00.001-05:00

This soap is scented with Mardi Gras, a yummy fruity fragrance that I purchased form the Sage. For the most part, their FO's are pretty reliable in CP soap, but this one went very wrong really fast. Although, I must say that it's most likely my own fault. I broke too many soapmaking rules using a fragrance that is new to me. I discounted the water (a definite "no no" when using an untried FO), soaped at a warmer temp (for me) than usual, used quite a bit of Jojoba Oil (which I once read can increase acceleration) and the list goes on. First, the batter started to rice. So, I used the stick blender to smooth that out. This took it to a med-heavy trace. Then I separated it out for the colors (which were mixed in more Jojoba Oil), stirred some more and by the time I was ready to pour, it was completely unpourable.

I won't say that the soap turned into a brick on my spoon, but I couldn't stir it anymore and had to spoon, bang!, bang!, spoon, bang!, smoosh, BANG! it into the mold. I coun't use a chopstick or skewer as it was too thick. So, the colors were dragged through for a semi-swirl with a small spatula. I don't normally insulate, but I grabbed not one but two towels for this to make sure that everthing meshed together.

It's really a miracle that this batch turned out as well as it did. One side was suppose to be purple and the other side green with a gold swirl down the center.

Love's Spell Cold Process Soap

2011-01-21T09:33:00.001-05:00

I first came across this fragrance back in 2002. Everywhere we went, I would catch a whiff of it and literally chase down the scent. It drove Brandon crazy. He said I looked like a hound dog sniffing through the mall (convention center, park, grocery store, you name it) trying to track down the person with this scent.

Finally, I did manage to catch someone and she pointed me to Victoria's Secret and this lovely fragrance called Love Spell. It became my signature scent months. Since I don't use over the counter soaps and shower gels anymore, it's nice to have finally captured this fragrance in something that I can bathe with.

CLEAN Warm Cotton Soap

2011-01-18T09:24:00.001-05:00

This is a wonderful scent for those who like that fresh, straight from the dryer laundry type fragrance, It's a dupe of a fragrance from the company CLEAN.

To get this pretty Teal color for the swirl, I simply mixed Blue ultramarine and Green iron oxide.

I also used a skewer instead of chopsticks to drag the colors

Rice Flower & Shea Soap...New Name, New Look

2011-01-15T09:01:00.001-05:00

This wonderful fragrance oil comes from Bramble Berry. It's one of my favorite "grown up" scents right now. Twilight Woods is the other. I really like all the sweet, edible type fragrances. But, when I'm looking for something feminine but not all florally and perfumey, this is my go to.

The original is never in stock when I go to B&BW, so I haven't had the opportunity to smell it yet. However, the response from my customers has been awesome. From what they tell me, this version is waaay better than the original which they don't like at all. SO, with that in mind, I've decided to give the soap and new look and to change the name.

It's inspired by Rice Flower & Shea but apparently (to everyone's pleasure) not an exact dupe. I was thinking of something like 24 K Gold or Midas Touch, but I don't think those are soft enough for such a beautiful fragrance. For now the new name is Golden Blossom. We'll see how well that goes over.

Bubble Bars

2011-01-14T09:30:00.001-05:00

Bubble Bars are a really fun way to take a bath. It's bretty much a solid bubble bath. You simply crumble the bar under running water and the water preasure will create the bubbles.

Monkey Farts Bubble Bar

Most peolpe like to cut them into half or even into 3rds. I like lots and lots and lots of bubbles, so I use the entire thing. For an even more luxurious bath, I use the corresponging soap and drop in a matching Bath Bomb OR create a "Bath Cocktail" by using different scents that compliment each other. I once used a Salty Mariner Bubble Bar with a citrus scented Bath Bomb. The bathroom and my skin smelled soooo good.

Monkey Farts Gets a Makeover

2011-01-13T09:27:00.003-05:00

I really wasn't that happy with the way my first batch of Monkey Farts turned out, so I decided to give it another go. Initially it was still going to be yellow but I wanted to improve the red swirl. The red swirl turned pink and then lost it's sharpness and sort of started to blend into the yellow. I used mica and oxides this time, so the colors will stay put and I'll be happy :0)

I found these really cute stickers to decorate the package for the soap as well as the matching Bubble Bars.

Rock Starr has a new look

2011-01-12T09:01:00.000-05:00

I'm back :-) Happy new Year to everyone. It was a crazy and busy 2 months for me closing out 2010. Which was awesome because that meant SALES! Now that things have slowed back down, I can get back into the groove of things. Starting off, I'll share my newest batch of Rock Starr which is a dupe for LUSH's Rock Star fragrance.

This scent wasn't a favorite of mine when I first made it (still isn't) but it's grown on me.

My thing right now is all about trying to get cool swirls in a loaf soap without doing the in pot swirl.

Oatmeal Stout Beer Soap

2010-11-19T09:39:00.001-05:00

Move over Oatmeal, Milk & Honey...there's a new kid in town!! I swear this is one of the best fragrances that I have ever, ever smelled!. (Pumpkin Lager too, but I'll talk about that in another post.) Bramble Berry really outdid themselves with this delicious fragrance.

Do you know how we aren't really suppose to sniff the fragrance out of the bottle to determine it's true scent? Well sniff away I say! Even through the rigors of cold process soaping, it still smells the same as it did oob. This fragrance oil totally delivered and all of the promised flavors came through beautifully.

Using Samuel Smith Oatmeal Stout beer, I mostly followed the soaping instructions found on the Soap Queen blog.

*NOTE - She really does mean don't turn your back on the beer while boiling! Don't ask me how I know ;0)

The only exception is that I soap at room temps, so I placed the beer in an ice bath to cool down while melting and mixing my oils. This fragrance oil does accelerate trace a bit but it wasn't really a problem. It discolored to this gorgeous shade of brown that has darkened to a rich chocolate since taking these photos.

Overall, I give this Oatmeal Stout fragrance oil two enthusiastic thumbs up OR for any In Living Color fans out there: "2 Snaps Up!"

Snowcakes Soap (semi-whipped)

2010-10-29T08:23:00.001-04:00

This batch of soap is a dupe for the wildly popular Lush fragrance "Snow Cake". The soap was suppose to discolor to a light beige but I really wanted it to stay white, so I used Titanium Dioxide.

To doubly ensure the whiteness, I also used more hard oils than usual and whipped them up some with an electric hand mixer before adding the liquid oils. For the "stars" I did a second batch of soap that was completely whipped and pipep them on using Wilton 2D & 21 decorating tips.

While purchasing my tips from Michael's I also grabbed a few flexible rubber molds that are perfect for leftover soap batter. I can make these cool samples to give away to my awesome customers!

As you can see, the 2D tip is my favorite.

Lime Coconut Pie Soap

2010-10-25T08:54:00.004-04:00

I was browsing the net and came across this super yummy recipe for Lime Coconut Cheesecake.

Right away I start thinking of the soaping possibilities. I rarely plan batches of soap out, but I worked on this one for a couple of days before settling on a design. At one point I even considered pulling out my spring form pan do try to mimic the actual dessert. I decided to go with the loaf though...

This batch is scented with a non-discoloring Key Lime Pie (Southern Soapers) fragrance oil. I had some leftover end cuts from a batch of Island Coconut (Brambleberry) CP Soap and since that batch did discolor to a pretty goldenish color, it was perfect for the toasted coconut required for the recipe. I used Wilton's 2D tip to pipe some whipped CP soap for the whipped cream portion. Finally, I topped it with real lime zest for garnish.

There was even enough left over to get 2 soap cupcakes.

Bamboo & Sugar Cane Soap

2010-10-04T09:36:00.000-04:00

Awww! This fragrance is an intoxicating blend of Cane Sugar, Roses, and Jasmine with burst of Citrus. I love it. It's the perfect combination of Sweet & Fresh.

There's a thin layer of ash on top, but this time I actually don't mind. I like how it made the colors lighter.

Monkey Farts Soap

2010-09-30T09:26:00.001-04:00

I've seen this scent floating around the web for awhile, but to be honest, the name really turned me off. Finally, I decided to purchase a bottle and give it a whirl. Boy was I surprised!!

Despite the name, this fragrance smells absolutely delicious. It's a fun, fruity combination of everything that monkey's love: bananas, pineapples, cherries, watermelon, grapes and much more.

Love Child Soap

2010-09-27T09:11:00.000-04:00

I know that I said that my next swirled batch of soap would be 15-20 colors but... I chickened out. What can I say. Instead this has only 8 colors. This scent is a delicious blend of Clementine and Trippy Hippy (both from Southern Soapers) which is an Indonesian Patchouli. Patchouli is one of those scents that you either love or hate and I LOVE it. It reminds me of wet dirt, awwww.

Usually when I make Orange Patchouli, the Patchouli tends to dominate the soap (which is fine with me, btw). This time, however, I decided to let the citrus take center stage. The Clementine fragrance oil is very realistic true to it's name and the Patchouli grounds it beautifully with an earthy edge. I can't stop sniffing it.

Lavender Fantasy Soap

2010-09-24T09:03:00.002-04:00

For this batch I used a fragrance oil from Southern Soaper and Labcolors from Brambleberry again. The Vanilla content in the FO caused it to darken. It started off as a nice off white color with Purple and Flamingo Pink dropped in.

As you can see, glitter is my new thing. It's perfect for cosmetically fixing up "soaps gone bad".

Water Nymph Soap...saved from disaster

2010-09-21T09:01:00.004-04:00

This batch of soap gave me the honor of experiencing my very first seize. After adding the fragrance oil directly to the soap mixture, (although the manufacturer recommended diluting in oil first), I poured a portion into two jars for the colored portion then began pouring into the mold. The mixture actually firmed up on me mid pour!!

I quickly began spooning the remaining batter into the mold then clumped the colored blue portions on top. I was determined to get some sort of swirl in there, so I forced the spatula in to the mix and pulled everything around a bit, then banged the heck out of it onto the counter. The top actually reminded me of the rustic look that Hot Process soap has. I decided to cover that with some iridescent glitter. It's a good thing that I tend to soap at cooler temps or this would have wound up being HPed

"Water Nymph" has a fresh aquatic scent.

Passionate Pomegranate Soap

2010-09-18T10:42:00.000-04:00

I swear this scent form Southern Soapers is hands down one of the most delicious fragrance oils that I have EVER smelled. My favorite type of soap is almost anything fruity and this takes fruit to a whole other level!

It smelled nice out of the bottle but was nothing to scream about. But, WOW! It really came to life in the soap.

I've really mastered the use my Birch Mold and those dividers that didn't seem to want to let my soap go. lol. I'm 2 for 2 with it now :0)

The uncolored portion of the soap turned yellow at first but has lightned to an off white in the time after these pictures were taken.

O.K., so, this is not a regularly scheduled post!!

2010-09-13T20:15:00.003-04:00

I am so, so, so excited right now! I am literally twitching in my seat and making so many typos that it isn't even funny. Don't worry, I'll clean it up before posting :D

I was contacted to do and interview and giveaway contest for a blog that I found back in my EntreCard dropping days AND today it was finally posted. Besides my own blog, I've never had a entire post dedicated to just me and my products. I feel like a Rock Star!!

Please go check it out. Here's the link: http://theredheadriter.blogspot.com/. The Giveaway ends October 8, 2010 at 11:59 p.m

Brown Sugar Etsy Treasury

2010-09-13T09:31:00.000-04:00

Fall is my absolute favorite time of the year so of course I had to share thisbeautiful fall Treasury curated by Beth owner of The Queen of Cups on Etsy.

BROWN SUGAR

Polar Express Soap

2010-09-10T21:17:00.001-04:00

"Polar Express" is another fragrance that I grabbed from Southern Soapers. I'm not sure what I was expecting it to smell like exactly, but it I was a little bit disappointed to find that's it's pretty much Rosemary Mint. Which has actually been a huge seller for me in the past. It's just not one of my personal favorites. I think that the soap is pretty though :0)

I mixed blue ultramarine with a bit of black oxide to get the wintry blue and sprinkled some iridescent cosmetic glitter that I just got from Brambleberry on top.

It's fresh and uplifting without being too overwhelming. I did add just a bit of Peppermint and Rosemary essential oils to this so that it would still have that little tingle to it.

Cherry ba da Bing! Soap

2010-09-07T09:40:00.002-04:00

Southern Soapers is closing and I managed to nab a few ounces of their fragrances in time. I’ve never used any of their products before but I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I used their Cherry Garcia and Chocolate Serendipity along with Brambleberry's Vanilla Select for the scent.

I also used Brambleberry's Red Velvet Labcolor for the pink portion. It was supposed to be red. That's my fault though, because I didn't read the instructions first and had to wing it. I diluted a few drops with a few drops of distilled water and then added that directly to the soap. I know that I missed a lot of important steps but I was already making the soap when I discovered that there is more involved to this coloring process than I initially thought.

Hopefully the color sticks and doesn't fade out or, worse, morph as it cures.

I'm naming this soap "Cherry ba da Bing!".

Honey I Washed the Kids

2010-09-04T08:58:00.001-04:00

This is another LU$H type soap. I've been trying to come up with some ideas for renaming it. Brandon came up with "Honey B. Harvest". I kind of like that but, we'll see. I've been wanting to try making the soap with the holes on top for awhile and this fragrance gave me the perfect opportunity to try. I only made a 6 bar batch because I wasn't sure how the fragrance would work in CP soap. I've never used fragrance oil from this particular company before. I'm really funny about deviating from what's tried and true when money is involved, lol. But, the oil soaped beautifully. No discoloration or acceleration.

Pumpkin Spice Soap

2010-08-31T09:26:00.000-04:00

I grossly overestimated how much soap I needed to fill this mold. The bars came out ridiculously over sized. The heaviest one weighed in at 7.8 ounces when I cut them. I cut the tops down some and these are much better. They're still huge but, still, much much better.

This was also my first attempt with the Cocoa Powder black line.

Pumpkin Spice

Available in 4-6 weeks

Sliced Cider Barrel Saop

2010-08-24T09:18:00.008-04:00

Not too bad for my first time. The base of the soap was originally suppose to be red (for apples) but I guess the Brown Sugar fragrance oil must have had some vanilla in it because it's turning dark. I think it still works though. This is suppose to smell like apple cider with a little twist. I was serious when I said that I had to keep the kids away. I just caught one trying to lick it, lol. I don't think I've had a soap of mine smell this realistic and edible before. It really, really, really smells good. Did I emphasize that enough? It really smells good!!

I'm not sure if the picture shows all of the detail, but there is a thin line between the colors made with Mocha mica and I've also sprinkles some on top.

Soap Curls and Chunk Embeds-First Attempt

2010-08-23T09:10:00.013-04:00

This is my first time attempting to add this type of stuff to my soap. It always looked a bit too much in my opinion, but I'm kinda of bored with the whole swirling thing and wanted to try something new. The crazy part is that I just got my Slab Birch Mold from Brambleberrya few days days ago and the only soap I can think to put in it right now is Castile. I've been longing for that mold for months and now I finally have it and...well let's just say Brandon wouldn't be very happy right now after spending money on it, lol.

So, back to what I was saying. I'm over the swirls right now and I decided to give these decorative soaps a try. Now, I'll admit, I cheated a bit. It's not my fault though. I have a serious problem with impatience. I decided to make my curls and chunks with melt & pour soap. I have the low sweat CP like base from BB. I think most soapers make their embeds ahead of time using CP soap colored and unscented. Most of my ideas come to me when I'm laying in bed too wound up mentally to fall asleep. All these ideas just start running through my head and I jump up ready to try one. Needless to say, that doesn't leave much time for planning ahead.

At any rate here are the results. I'm tentatively calling it "Cider Barrel" It's a combination of scents that include apples, brown sugar and spices. You may also pick up some notes of caramel and pecan. It smells really, really good. I'm having trouble keeping the kids away from it :0)

"Rock Star" 5 Swirl Soap

2010-08-19T08:36:00.001-04:00

I just received my Birch Mold from Brambleberry about 2 weeks ago. Until this point, I've had 2 unsuccessful attempts at soaping in it. However, I've gotten over that learning curve that comes with new things sometimes and now my new mold and I are getting on quite well. This soap is scented to smell just like the "Rock Star" soap from LU$H (Great store. I've been there to visit, but the prices are kind of...WOW!). I only used 5 colors but it was still really fun to make. I'm hoping to move up to a 15-20 color swirl next time :0)

This is what the soap looks like on the inside. It's pretty cool when the swirls are throughout the whole bar because it's like a piece of art that changes everytime you use the soap.

Delicious Green Smoothie for Breakfast

2010-08-16T09:55:00.000-04:00

This is how I like to start and end my day. A nice tall glass of Green Smoothie. I'm sure you may be looking at this and trying not to gag, but this drink is absolutely delicious. I first heard about Green Smoothies about 2 years ago when I decided to become a Rawist (eat raw food) for awhile to detox my body. It wasn't an extremely difficult transition for me since I've been a vegetarian my entire life. Unfortunately, I'm also anemic and never really had a lot of protein in my diet (I have "0" muscle tone).

Green leafy vegetables are extremely low in calories and loaded with antioxidants, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium (I don't drink milk, ugh), Iron (yay!) and of course fiber (double yay!). I like to make my smoothie like a frozen desert. I start with some bananas, then add strawberries, a generous scoop of whey protein and a several handfuls of spinach. Spinach is really cool because, raw, it doesn't have a whole lot of flavor so it tends to take on the flavor of whatever fruit you add to it. Dump in some ice sometimes a spoonful or two of honey and there you have it! A nice healthy, totally delicious drink.

Chai Tea Soap

2010-08-12T09:40:00.001-04:00

This is really a super yummy scent from Brambleberry. I didn't have to add any color to this batch. Right now it's they're this pretty beige color but, I don' t think that it's going to last. This fragrance oil is suppose to discolor brown.

These little fancy spots that pop up every now and again are so cool. I couldn't duplicate it even if I tried.

Lavender Breeze Soap

2010-08-09T09:08:00.003-04:00

This was my second attempt making soap with this fragrance. The first time, I used Alkanet root powder to color it, but that didn't work out too well. But, I'd say that this time things went much better. These probably won't make it to my Etsy shop though. My in-laws LOVE pretty much anything Lavender... and that's about it. So, most likely these soaps will be taking a little trip north up to Maryland.

Our New YouTube Channel

2010-08-05T09:10:00.014-04:00

I'm so excited!! I've been quite busy this week. Creating new products (I'll post them over the next few days) and tweaking some of the old ones. Brandon, my fabulous husband, has once again become active in helping me to expand my humble little company. For me that's really great news. He's taking over more of the business side of things, which leaves me more time to concentrate on creating.

His first official act as the Business Brains of this operation was to get my Twitter account activity going again. Check us out: https://twitter.com/beaconcreations.

Next, he helped me start a YouTube channel. I know that I am VERY late to the party but they do say, "better late than never" right? I'm way behind the times when it comes to utilizing social media, but I'm starting to catch on :0)

We've even had our very first Haul Review (I just heard about one of those for the first time 4 days ago)

Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/beaconcreations

A word of Encouragement to my fellow Artists

2010-07-31T10:05:00.001-04:00

So this morning I log into my Etsy shop and this message was waiting in my inbox:

Hi,

I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoy your soap. I bought about 4 or 5 bars in April and I put them aside in a basket by my tub. Fast forward to about 3 days ago and I was feeling a little blue while getting ready for my day and I spied your soap. I opened it and placed it in my shower. I know it is a little thing, but it was such a nice start to my day and I did feel better using such a lovely bar of soap.

Have a great weekend.

Susan

How cool is that!! Sometimes slow sales, creative dry spells, etc. can really get me down. To know that something I created could bring a little bit of joy to someone else, totally makes the ups and downs worth while. I hope that this can be encouraging to all my fellow artists as well. Keep your chin up :D

Sunripened Raspberries & Honey Soap Unmolded

2010-07-28T09:38:00.000-04:00

Here are the pictures of the soap unmolded. I poured these in, went to the theater to see Twilight Saga: Eclipse (woohoo!!), came back home and they were ready to unmold. How fast was that!? I'm considering adding salt to all of my recipes now.

Sunripend Raspberries & Honey Soap

2010-07-27T10:09:00.000-04:00

Don't ask me what made me combine these two fragrances. I can't stand the smell of raspberry bath & body products. But, the two bottles were sitting there and I thought, hey, why not?

The combo really does work. If you're a fan of raspberries, you should like this.

As you can see, I'm really having fun with this whole swirling thing. I most likely will keep it up until my lye runs out and then move on to something else. But for now, I'm really diggin' this. It's a lot of fun!

Using Old Soap as Laundry Detergent

2010-07-21T09:44:00.001-04:00

When we were younger, my sister and I and some of our cousins used to go with our grandmothers down to the family house in Virginia. It is out in the middle of nowhere. Back then it even had an out house. We had to do the laundry with a wash board and brick hard bar of lye soap.

That got me thinking of a batch of soap that I made back in November scented with Cool Water. I forgot to superfat with Cocoa Butter. It's rock solid and just doesn't look like anything that I would want to use on my skin. I was feeling adventurous, so I pulled out the cheese grater and shredded it up and also threw in some lavender essential oil scented soap; also lye heavy...I forgot to add the Palm Oil :0( Combined they sort of remind me of Gain's Spring Lavender detergent.

I know that there is a proper way to make laundry detergent that includes borax and washing soda and I know that this isn't it. But, it's my laundry and I'm allowed to experiment, lol. The shredded soap dissolved completely in the water and made lots of bubbles. Pretty cool. I did a load of bath towels and then a load of clothes (although I did add some baking soda to the 2nd load). Both smell and feel like any other load that I wash with store bought detergent. I'm definitely going to try this again, but,with the borax and washing soda added.

Dreams for Riley

2010-07-18T10:34:00.000-04:00

This is a beautiful Treasury curated by Julie of Julieslittlebits on Etsy. She made this collection with prayerful thoughts of her young nephew who is in ICU right now battling for his life. He's been fighting leukemia since he was 5 years old and the family can really use lots of prayer and support right now. You read about Riley on her blog: http://juliesbits.blogspot.com/ .

More fun making Bath Bombs

2010-07-16T09:44:00.001-04:00

Now this is what I call a Bath Bomb! Granted my hands are on the small side, but this thing is huge (and heavy)!! My Mondo mold arrived a few days ago along with my Kaolin Clay. I used my last bit of Citric Acid to make this as soon as I had it out of the box. It's scented with Juniper Breeze and weighs just under 8 ounces (a tad larger than a tennis ball).

It was super easy to make and popped right out of the mold without a hitch.

Soap (name still unknown) Unmolded

2010-07-12T10:05:00.000-04:00

This was my first time using Dead Sea Salt in my soap making process. Dead Sea Salt is known to be great for the skin but it is a killer of bubbles when it comes to making bar soap. So, I chose to use Coconut Oil as the first of my oil ingredients because of it's bubble making properties. Unfortunately, it can also be drying when used in higher quantities. To offset that, I superfatted by 10% and added Lanolin & Goat's Milk to the recipe. The salt caused the bars to get hard really fast so I was able to unmold within a few hours of pouring. Which was a really good thing for me since I'm so impatient. At any rate, I have dry skin and eczema, so I'll be my own guinea pig this time. My family can take a break, lol. If my skin can handle it, then: Mission Accomplished!

I have no idea what to call this soap...

2010-07-10T09:48:00.001-04:00

I actually combined two different fragrances to create this soap. I had a little sample of Celestial Waters from Brambleberry and left over Bermuda Sands from Sweetcakes. They're both aquatic, spa like fragrances that are very fresh with a bit of sweetness. So, I figured why not combine them?

The two really compliment each other well but now I'm stuck with the dilemma of figuring out a name. I'm really stumped on this one. I'm trying very hard to channel some of Patrice's (the Soap Seduction) creative energy to come up with the perfect name. She has a real knack for that sort of thing. Nope. Still nothing. Well, at least I have about 3 more weeks of curing time to figure something out. Wish me luck :0)

Practice Making Bath Bombs

2010-07-08T11:00:00.001-04:00

My first attempt at making bath bombs was a fizzing disaster. I gave up a year ago and never looked back. Last week, I found a fantastic tutorial on the Soap Queen blog and just kept watching it over and over again. She makes the process look so easy that I felt brave enough to pull out my ingredients and give it another go. I actually ordered the mold to make the jumbo mondo bath bombs, but it won't arrive here until next week along with the kaolin clay. I'm not exactly known for my patience, so I used ingredients that I already had on hand to start a few fizzies.

These are my ingredients:
2 part baking soda
1 part citric acid
10 sprays of sweet almond oil
5 sprays of liquid silk
3-5 sprays of water mist
iron oxides and ultra marines
fragrance oil

Here are my results

Starting with the one at the top with the little lavender buds and going clockwise: Lavender & Chamomile, Salty Mariner, Lime Margarita, Japanese Cherry Blossom, Clean Cotton, Night Blooming Jasmine, Tahitian Vanilla and Coconut Lemongrass in the center.

This is what happened when I sprayed too much water into the mix (I need to get some witch hazel). After that, I held the bowl 6-8 inches from the spray bottle and sort of caught the mist in the bowl. Worked like a charm :0)

Lime Margarita with Dead Sea Salt

Japanese Cherry Blossom

These have the whole room smelling soooo good!

So now to see if they will actually fizz.

That piece fizzed for about 3 minutes.

Now I'm all out of citric acid and need to order more. Which means next week I'll finally have my mold but not all the ingredients, sigh.

Creamy Citrus Mint Soap Unmolded

2010-07-06T09:44:00.000-04:00

Citrus Mint Soap

2010-07-05T09:15:00.002-04:00

This soap combines Orange 10x, Peppermint Essential Oils with just a hint of Patchouli to hopefully "anchor" the citrus in. It's hard to describe the scent but I'll try. It's not sugary sweet, nor is it super minty. The Patchouli lends a slightly earthy scent to the mix. Actually that sums it up pretty good. It's an earthy combination of citrus and mint.

The overall scent is medium to strong yet none of the fragrances overpower the rest. It's actually quite pleasant I'll post the unmolded pics later today or tomorrow.

Bella Soap Attempts 1 & 2

2010-07-03T08:44:00.003-04:00

I came across the "Bella" fragrance oil while shopping on the Magestic Mountain website for shrink wrap. It was my first time trying any of their fragrance oils. The scent is of course Lavender & Freesia rounded with notes of rose, iris, violet, and soft musk. Very feminine. This is actually my second attempt with this particular fragrance.

The first attempt turned out too soft even though I discounted the water. I think I've finally figured out what went wrong. Too much fragrance oil (I think). The Sage doesn't really require that you use that much. I tested my theory with the second batch (above) and it turned perfect. Those bars are already pretty hard even though they still have about two weeks of curing to go.

Pomegranate & Black Currant Unmolded

2010-07-01T11:10:00.001-04:00

Here are the pictures of the unmolded Pomegranate & Black Currant Soap. I'm very happy with the way they turned out. They smell great too :0)

You may not be able to tell from the picture but they have a bit of sparkle to them from the crimson mica.

I've always wanted a slab soap mold with dividers for two reasons:

1. So that I could do these really cool swirls

2. So that I could drag the colors down the sides with the dividers.

Kind of silly, I know. But, I'm really giddy over these drag lines! Lol.

Pomegranate & Black Currant Soap

2010-06-30T11:42:00.000-04:00

This is one of my favorite scents from Brambleberry. Surprisingly, it took a while for me to finally sell out. I think it's because of the presentation. The first batch looked kind of boring. I didn't take any chances this time. I had a half an ounce of fragrance oil left over from my first batch of this soap, so it was the perfect amount for a 1lb. batch using my "Nizzy Mould".

I added a just little bit of Orange 10x essential oil to it for a twist. Love it! I can’t wait to unmold and see how these turn out.

Cool Etsy Finds for Father's Day

2010-06-11T11:07:00.002-04:00

Etsy loaded with LOTS of talent. I'm really impessed with many of the things that I come across. While browsing for a Father's Day card for my Dad, I came across some items that would make awsome gifts for any Dad.

Quick Sketch Custom Portrait 8 x 10

by: Sketchbookstudioar

This portrait sample is in pencil on a warm toned paper with white highlights.

A Custom Sketch is a really special way to personalize Dad's gift this year.

❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀

Father's Day Scotch Cupcakes

by: cacaobakery

They say that the best way to a mans heart is through is belly, lol.

These manly Scotch Cupcakes are sure to fit the bill!

Your choice of two cocktails:

*Aggravation (Chocolate Scotch Cupcake with Chocolate Kahlua frosting and green sprinkles)

*Godfather (Chocolate Scotch Cupcakes with Amaretto Frosting and gold sprinkles)

❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀

Steampunk Style Money Clip

by: 19 Moons

What in the world is steam punk? I'll admit that I had absolutely no idea whatsoever, ha! The official web definition is: a sub-genre of science fiction and speculative fiction, frequently featuring elements of fantasy.

Well Dad can keep his stash golden with this unique Steampunk style money clip made from 100% recycled vintage materials

❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀

Copper Guitar Pick Keychain

by: TirasTreasures

Last minute shoppers can take advantage of this item that is ready to ship today!

❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀:*¨¨*:❀

Beer Soap - Made with Guinness Beer

by: ConcordSoap

I've never made this type of soap but it's all the rage right now and apparently it doesn't smell like beer at all!

Then why use it? Well, besides of all that great lather, Hops which is a major herbal ingredient in beer, has been long known for its soothing, healing properties. It is full of amazing amino acids & is great for sensitive skin.

Handmade is always a wonderful and really personal option for any gift, so get on over to Etsy and check out all these talented artisans :0)

Taking Honey for Allergies

2010-05-17T11:44:00.000-04:00

Honey an antimicrobial, so it's great for treating cuts and burns to prevent scarring. You can keep a jar in your medicine cabinet for years. It’s slightly acidic, so it never goes bad.

Did you know that taking 2-3 spoonfuls of local honey each day for several months prior to pollen season can help with seasonal allergies? Local honey is produced closest to where you live and so it contains trace amounts of pollen specific to your area. So if you eat the sweet treat that is made by bees in your area, the honey will often act as an immune booster, reducing your allergy symptoms to the local flowering plants.

This may work for some people, and may not for others. But if you suffer from seasonal allergies, it's worth a try. If it doesn't help with your sniffling and sneezing, it still makes a delicious alternative to refined sugars AND you're getting vitamins B6, thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenic acid and minerals like calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, potassium, and zinc. Honey also contains antioxidants and vitamin C.

Mango Iced Tea Soap

2010-04-09T08:18:00.002-04:00

I hate iced tea. I really do. That's like speaking blasphemy when living in the south where everyone has this syrupy stuff called "Sweet Tea" running through their veins. Call me wierd, but I just feel that tea should be hot and that's the only way I'll drink it. However, since I seem to be the only person who feels this way, I've had to master making a great pitcher of iced tea. This is a recipe for iced tea that even I have to admit is pretty tasty (although I still do prefer it hot)

Mango Iced Tea

11/2 quarts Cold Water

6 high quality Black Tea bags

2 cups Mango Nectar

Sugar

1/4 cup fresh Mint Leaves

Thinly sliced Mango

Bring water to a boil. Add tea bags a steep until tea is dark (about 5 minutes) Remove bags.

Add Mango Nectar. Add sugar to taste. Stir until sugar is dissolved.

Place in pitcher and add mint leaves. Pour over ice and garnish with Mango slices

Mango is definitely one of my all time favorite flavors. This has inspired me to make a batch of cold process soap using the same concept of this tea recipe.

Mango Iced Tea Soap

Just like the Lime Margarita soap, I used a high quality clear glycerin soap base to make the "ice cubes" and scented them with Peppermint Essential Oil. The peachy/yellow swirls are "mango slices" and I added dried peppermint leaves to garnish.

Goats Milk Soap

2010-04-05T08:58:00.001-04:00

I was in the store looking for Coconut Milk the other day. After checking all the isles (twice) I still couldn't find any. What I found though was a can of Goats Milk. I know I kind of live in the country now, but sorry I don't have any goats running around so the canned milk will have to do for now.

Milk tends to heat up and even scorch & curdle when it meets with lye. I found that if I put it in the freezer and allowd it to turn slushy before adding this can be prevented. I mixed about 1/3 of the liquid portion of my recipe using water. After that cooled (I like to mix at cooler temperatures) I mixed the lye/water with the oils to a medium trace THEN I added the milk. It gets hot and starts to set up pretty quickly so you have to move fast.

This is Toasted Almond & Honey scented. As you can see, it rose up and split like a loaf of bread. I don't know if it helped but I put a fan on it to help cool it down. Eventually the top flattend back out and the split closed back most of the way. I filled the split with more ground almonds. On the sliced soap you really can't tell.

Note to Self: Do NOT Add Lye to Hot Liquids...

2010-03-31T17:08:00.002-04:00

I did something pretty careless the other day. I decided that I wanted to make Black Tea scented soap using actual Earl Grey Black Tea for the liquid portion of the recipe. That wasn't the careless part. First I boiled the water and steeped the tea bag until it turned nice and dark. That's still not the careless part. I decided that there really was no need to wait for the tea to cool before adding the lye since it's going to heat back up anyway, right? WRONG!! I measured out the correct amount of lye and began to slowly pour it into the tea. Big, Big, BIG mistake. The water started to literally boil in the pitcher and then began to rise up like it was going to boil over!

After shrieking for assistance, my hubby came to the rescue and helped me quickly dumped all of the ice from the freezer bin into the sink. We filled that with water and placed the boiling pitcher in to cool down. Afterwards I was able to safely add the remaining lye. To be honest, I'm being very generous with myself by calling my actions careless. It was actually quite stupid. I should have known better. I'm so impatient and just wasn't thinking. What can I can I say? I won't make that mistake again though. Fortunately the soap turned out fine. At first it was this really nasty shade of brown. I added a black swirl anyway and by the next morning it had lightened to almost white and now has a pretty cool contrast.

Margarita Treasury on Etsy

2010-03-08T10:35:00.000-05:00

This morning I had a message in my inbox to check out this Treasury on Etsy.

Isn't it cool?! Of course I'm also very proud to have my Lime Margarita soap featured. This is the second Treasury to feature this particular soap. It was suppose to be a summer soap and now it's completely sold out (YAY!!). I had no idea that it would do so well. Now I'm going to have to make some more.

It's not even summer yet!, lol.

This soap was also featured on this blog: "I Love Etsy". The author, Nicole, has dedicated her blog to featuring Etsy sellers. If you would like to have your shop featured or would like to nominate a fellow Etsian to be featured, you can submit the shop URL to be reviewed.

Uncut Pearberry Soap

2010-02-10T07:50:00.001-05:00

I've been busy. Right now I have about 12 batches of soap sitting on the racks curing. I'm slowly working my way through photographing them all.

Pearberry

I like the colors in this one. There's a little split in the top. What's that from I wonder? Overheating? I'm trying to remember if I insulated. I don't think I did. It didn't matter once I sliced the soap though. You can't even see it.

Kiwi Strawberry

Mmm, I really just want to take a bite out of this one. I go and pull it off the rack just to stand there and sniff it. BTW, those are poppy seeds in the top.

Lime Margarita

This is still cold process soap, I just added some clear glycerin "ice cubes" to the top of it and "salted the rim" with Dead Sea Salts. Amazingly, it really does smell just like the drink!

YAY!! I'm featured in a Treasury

2010-02-04T08:30:00.001-05:00

I woke up this morning and logged on to Etsy hoping to see some overnight sales (no such luck) but I found something almost as good. I had a nice little message in my convo box regarding my "ENERGY" soap:

Beautiful soap! It's in a treasury. You can view it at:

Listing: http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=110651

I recognize ALL of these soaps and their makers. I've spent time browsing their shops and visiting their blogs and it is really cool that someone thought that my soap was good enough to be included with a group of such talented soapmakers. Thank you ciennamoss!!

My quest for color continues on to Grumpy Girl

2010-01-31T08:49:00.001-05:00

Acid Trip

I saw this soap for the first time a while ago in thread on a forum (I can't find it now) where the maker, Grumpy Girl, shared a step by step tutorial on how to make it. I was new to soapmaking at the time and just reading the process completely overwhelmed me. To this day, I still think this is probably the coolest looking soap EVER!

Great use of color in these soaps too.

My new soap from HAUNT

2010-01-28T08:16:00.001-05:00

I LOVE getting packages! I think I said that before and this package was no exception. This soap is a blend of Key Lime, Fresh Ginger, Cardamom, Coconut Milk & Black Tea. It really smells good. Soaps from this company are a bit hard to come by these days. This was acually the only bar that wasn't out of stock when I went to order. I really like it though =0)

"Feuerwerk" or Fireworks! The quest for color continues...

2010-01-25T07:41:00.002-05:00

No, I don't speak German, but a another talented soap makes does. The more I follow other soapers blogs, the more a realize that no matter how much I may already know (about anything in life really) there's always so much more to learn.

This soap was made by Dörte.

Feuerwerk

Schön!! (beautiful!)

More soaps from the Curing Rack

2010-01-23T14:49:00.000-05:00

Energy

Lavender Breeze

I used Alkanet Root Powder to color this soap and that can be a little tricky. If you use too much it turns a deep purple if you use too little it's a very pale lavender/gray. I used too little =0( So you can't really see the contrast between the Lavender and the White swirls as much as I'd hoped. I think it works though because it goes along with the whole "Breeze" motif. This soap makes me think of sitting on a grassy hill near a lavender field and the breeze is carrying the scent over. It's really cool because you can smell the lavender as well as hints of air and grass. I don't particularly care for lavender but I really like this one. The fragrance is soft and pretty.

So begins my quest for color...

2010-01-18T17:04:00.000-05:00

Okay. I'm guilty and I'll be the first to admit that I overthink pretty much everything. I'll make a decision then second and third guess myself. As a result, I often find myself on neutral territory; playing it "safe". After constant urging and (ahem) a very well placed low blow (lol) by my fellow soap maker (and very talented soapmaker might I add) over at the Soap Seduction, I've begun my search for color and creativity. I'm hoping that it will inspire me to step further out of my tight little box and try some new and exciting things with my craft.

So this is my first step out of that box. I'm going to do something that I swore I'd never do and feature a fellow Soap maker. Here's to personal growth!

Who better to start with than the Soap Seduction ;0) I really like this girl. Patrice has carved out a nice niche for herself with some bold & and sassy soap names and desriptions. She creates bath and body products that look down right edible! The creative things that she does with Cold Process soap is actually quite amazing.

Lard-y for the Party

Snicker Doodle Sugar Bubbles

Caramel Apple

My personal favorite. Yummy!

On the Curing Rack...

2010-01-15T08:53:00.001-05:00

These are a few of the soaps that are currently on the curing rack. Right now we have about 20 different soaps that are curing and I am (impatiently) waiting try them and then list them on my etsy shop.

COCOA BUTTER

I've always wanted to try a soap made mostly of Cocoa Butter. I used raw cocoa butter, which has a great natural chocolate like scent then added Cocoa Butter fragrance oil to enhance it. Smells yummy!

SUMMER MELON SPRITZER

For this soap, I took my husbands advice and finally stepped out of my box to try some bold colors.

STRAWBERRIES & CHAMPAGNE

I'm very excited about this one. It's very true to it's name. I was a bit skeptical about a "Champagne" fragrance oil, but was pleasantly surprised to see that it held up EXTREMELY well in cold process soap. I really, really, really can't wait to try it.

VALENTINES DAY Handmade Etsy Finds

2010-01-13T12:11:00.004-05:00

Looking for some unique gifts for Valentines Day?

Why not try Handmade items from these talented Etsy sellers.

Love In A Bottle

Leogistic

Don't just Say it... Say It with Love, say it with Meaning, say it with Uniqueness.

These bottles are the perfect way to send a custom message of love to that special someone in your life.

8 oz Valentine Decorated Pretzels

sever96

The sweetness of the chocolate and the saltiness of the pretzel is wonderful.

These yummy goodies would be a perfect gift or a delicious snack for yourself!

I Heart U Cozy Mug

vesselsandwares

Share the love! Let them know that you care, everyday.

This lovely mug is wheelthrown and hand-stamped then glazed a really gorgeous red.

6 Crocheted Valentine Chocolates. No Calories.

Lazymuse

What great way to share your love this Valentine's Day

- a guilt free, calorie free gift that will last forever!

Love Valentine Gift Tags Set of 6

BuncoBettys

Love! It's sparkly and soft and well...lovely!

Express your love perfectly with this set of 6 gift tags.

Cherry Heart Truffle

calabasascandyco

This shop has so many tasty delights that it was hard to choose just one, but here it is.

Dainty pink colored white chocolate hearts are drizzled with milk chocolate. Tucked inside is a delicious filling of chopped marachino cherries and creamy white chocolate! The filling is naturally colored with the cherry juice, yummy!

Merry Christmas Everyone!!

2009-12-25T01:43:00.000-05:00

May peace and joy

be with you

and yours during

the holiday season

Happy Holiday's to you and your loved ones.

Vacation Over...Back to Work

2009-12-23T19:07:00.000-05:00

I've had my little vacation thanks to the Twilight Saga (huge sigh) now back to work. I've started making soap again. My holiday sales were pretty good. Much better than expected, so now it's time to restock the shelves and start getting ready for Valentines Day. I know it's a bit early but it takes nearly 6 weeks for soap to cure, so I need to get started now.

I'm waiting for a shipment of fragrance oils, so I started with what I already have here.

Since I keep a journal of all everybatch of soap that I make, I like to sketch my soaps and plan out the entire process from start to finish before I start a batch. That's why it frustrates me so much when a batch doesn't turn out exactly the way I envisioned it in my head.

This batch, scented with Patchouli essential oil, turned out to be a pretty close match. Yay!

Obsessed...

2009-12-20T11:56:00.000-05:00

I'm terrible and I know it. I've been neglecting my blog. Why? Well after much persuasion from my sisters, I decided to pick up a book called Twilight. I'm sure many of you have heard of it. In fact, I'm sure there aren't too many of you who haven't. At any rate, Brandon and I were sitting in the Raleigh airport waiting for our flight to California by way of Newark for an ACN International Convention (WhooHoo!!, But, that's a story for another day). I knew we had a looong day ahead of us with 3 flights and 2 layovers, so of course I needed to get myself a book.

I've already read the Dan Browns Secret Symbol. Unfortunately, I haven't seen too many good reviews from my fellow Outlander fans about the most recent book so I settled on Twilight. I'm not a fan of horror movies or books. I don't even like vampires, but oh my goodness! I've been bitten. I LOVE this series. I couldn't put it down.

Even though we had a jam packed weekend at the convention, I still managed to get the book finished in time to purchase the next 2 books, New Moon and Eclipse, during the return trip home. I sped throught those then purchased the final book Breaking Dawn. It took me about a week to go through the entire saga. When I was done of course I had to see the movies THEN I started reading the books again. What's wrong with me?! I'm totally obsessed. Team Edward all the way!!!

You are what you think...

2009-10-20T10:39:00.002-04:00

This passage is from one of my favorite books: Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill. I keep a copy posted on the refrigerator so that I can read it when I'm working, cooking, etc. I find it to be very inspiring and it's a constant reminder for me to keep a positive mindset. Please enjoy :0)

If you think you are beaten, you are

If you think you dare not, you don't

If you like to win, but think you can't

It is most certain you won't

If you think you'll lose, you're lost

For out in the world we find

Success begins with a fellow's will-

It is all in the state of mind

If you think you are outclassed, you are

You've got to think high to rise

You've got to be sure of yourself before

You can ever win a prize

Life's battles don't always go

To the stronger or faster man

But soon or late the man who wins

Is the man WHO THINKS HE CAN!!

I won a giveaway!

2009-10-17T09:06:00.001-04:00

This is really cool. I just found out this morning that I won a free giveaway from Vermilion Star Press.

The funny part is that I didn't intentionally enter the contest. A few days ago I watched the movie "7 Pound" starring Will Smith. His love interest in the movie had two antique printing press machines. They were just very cool. So then a few dayslater I came across this blog and right away it reminded me of the movie. It looked interesting, so I decided to follow. Apparently, I entered myself into a contest and won! What luck :o)

Blood Orange Patchouli Soap

2009-10-16T01:26:00.000-04:00

So here's yet another attempt at those darn swirls. So far I like them. We'll see how they turn out when I unmold them in the morning. I think this one just might work.

2 New Soaps

2009-10-12T21:48:00.000-04:00

Right now I'm working on a wholesale order and these are two of the batches.

Energy

I can't wait to slice this one and see how my attempted swirls turned out.

Lavender

This is an interesting batch. It's my first time using Alkanet Root Powder. Right now it's almost blue. I think it's pretty. But, apparently this is not the final color. As the ph balance of the soap changes, so will the color. Fingers crossed. It should end up purple or lavender. I hope it doesn't turn gray. That would not be very pretty.

Yay!! I got an award...

2009-10-09T15:14:00.000-04:00

At least I think that's what it is. At any rate it's my first one and I'm excited!

Thank You FC!!!

I think "FC" means "first comment".

Thank you Liz :o)

I love getting packages!

2009-10-09T09:03:00.003-04:00

As soon as I hear the loud rumble of a truck I get up and run to the window. I just checked the date on my computer and I know that I'm due to get a shipment tomorrow. Perhaps it's early. I get to the window, look outside and what do you suppose I see? Oh my! Can it be? YES! It's the FedEx truck and I just know it's for me. We've only been down here in North Carolina (shout out to B-more!) for about 3 months and already the delivery driver knows who I am. He brings me my box with the familiar logo of maroon branches, leaves and berries. I sign on the line, wish him a great day and then carry the newly arrived package to the counter. I placed the order so of course I already know what's inside, but still I tear into the box with the delight of a child on Christmas morning. Inside are my badly needed soaping supplies. I haven't made a batch in over a week!

I've been wanting to try a particular fragrance oil for a while and wouldn't you know, there was a sample of it inside too.

Now, I can finally get to soaping again.

Unmolded Applejack Peel Soap

2009-10-08T07:26:00.000-04:00

Still not right. I can't really figure out what I'm doing wrong. I just can't get these swirls to turn out the way that I want. Maybe I am just too picky, but this isn't doing it for me. I keep a journal of every batch of soap that I make so at least I know what not to do next time. I'll keep at it. One of these day's I'll get it right. At least it smells great.

Uniquely Ewe

2009-10-07T07:37:00.000-04:00

Nana, my greatgrandmother taught my mother to crochet when she was a little girl and my mom of course taught my sister and I. Unfortunately, while my mom and sister can create intricate patterns for pochos, shawls, hats and such, I am sadly limited to blankets. I've been working on the same on for the last 8 years!!

It's great to see the things that other artist come up with. I really fell in love with the unique items that I saw in this particular etsy shop.

Uniquely Ewe

Autumn Hat, Scarf, Pin Set

Baby Bunny Hat/ 0 - 3 months

This is just way to adorable!

I want this dress!!

Out of the Box

2009-10-06T14:56:00.000-04:00

I've recently joined a new team on etsy called Out of the Box Sampler a.k.a. OOTBS. I've been working on what will be my contribution for the last two months. It's been alot of tedious work, but hopefully it'll all pay off in the long run.

One thing is for sure, it forced me to come up with some new creative ideas for packaging my soaps. There are so many talented artist contributing to the sample boxes each month and I really want my items to be able to hold their own.

I made these little boxes to put my soap samples in. My goal is for the person receiving the soap samples to feel like they are opening a present.

Arabian Spice

2009-10-05T19:44:00.000-04:00

This scent has the perfect blend of spice warmth and sweetness. I know that I always say that my soaps smell good, but the reason is really no secret. Any soaper that purchases from Bramble Berry would most likely say the same about their soaps.

This frafrance is a blend of Myrrh and Orange, with middle notes of Ginger, Cinnamon and Cloves. It is then rounded out with Caraway Seed and Vanilla to give it a warm, tranquil feeling. "Tranquil" is actually the perfect word to describe this fragrance.

It still has a few more weeks to cure. It's brown, of course because of the vanilla content. I think the brown is beautiful. The bars have gotten darker since I took this picture.

Applejack Peel Soap

2009-09-28T16:57:00.002-04:00

I've finally gotten up the nerve to attempt swirls again using my Nizzy Mould. Although the Home for the Holidays a.k.a Sleigh Ride Soap turned out nice, the colors were way clumpier (is that a word?) than what I really had in mind for that batch.

I knew that I wanted to swirl the Applejack Peel using two colors but I didn't trust myself not to screw it up. This turned out much, much better. Still not quite as feathery as I wanted but still, much better. I can't wait to unmold them and see how they turned out. The swirls should be completely throughout each bar, but we shall see :D

I Love Fall Continued - RED

2009-09-07T19:40:00.000-04:00

Great Afordable Fall Etsy Finds

Floral Double Sided Linen Napkins

By: CreativeChics
12x12 floral double sided napkins made of floral linen on one side and deep red rust colored linen fabric on the other side.

2T-4T Apple Cap

By: NuxieMade

Hand Crocheted Apple Cap in Brick Red made with 100% cotton yarn. This will look cute with any outfit in any season.

Fall Tree Box

By: LazyLightningArt

This is a small wooden box that has a autumn tree with rust colored leaves woodburned and painted onto the detached lid.

Butterflies and Red Berries Earrings - LIMITED EDITION

By: ShihoYamashita

Unique earrings with delicate brass butterflies, tiny red Coral beads and brass rings. Ear wires and findings are antiqued brass.

Welcoming Fall

2009-08-31T05:00:00.002-04:00

Autumn is my absolute favorite time of the year. I love the colors and those beautiful Indian Summer days. It makes me think of Hot Apple Cider and Pumkin Pie :D This is a soap I recently made that was inspired by the coming season.

Pumpkin Spice Soap

Here are some really cool Autumn inspired items from a few of my fellow etsy sellers.

Set of 6 Miniature Cards - Autumn Thank You

by: HandMadeByGrace

This set of 6 miniature thank-you cards features a rich pumpkin card base with orange paisley accents.

Little Pumpkin Felted Merino Baby Ankle Booties

by: PrettyLittle

These baby booties are crocheted with soft, natural, 100% wool yarn.

A Whimsical Woodland Comb

by: TheHoneyComb

Just in time for an autumn party or wedding!

Breakfast for my little champions...

2009-08-30T13:30:00.001-04:00

I'm a little old school. I pretty much feel that children are to eat what they are served. I don't force them to eat too many things though (except green vegetables, sorry). I keep meal request in mind but I do not take daily meal orders. You either eat the House Special or you don't eat at all.

The younger two are usually good about eating what I give them. My 8 yr, old, however, is Mr. Picky. Everything for him has to be plain. No blueberries in the waffles or raisins on the pancakes for him. He sniffs his food! If the pancakes don't smell exactly like they smelled yesterday, he is NOT touching them. If I add salt or butter to the grits, he know's it right away. Papaya in the fruit salad? No thank you. I do try to keep that in mind when I prepare meals though and simply take his portion out before adding the extras.

Cream of Wheat, Cream of Wheat, Cream of Wheat. For the past week my boys have been asking for Cream of Wheat for breakfast. No matter what I prepare for breakfast they (all 3) come to the kitchen asking "Mommy can we have Cream of Wheat today, pleeease". No one wants fresh fruit salad, peacan rolls or even cold cereal and I'll loose my mind if I hear "Oh, it's just pancakes" again.

Anyway, I get up Friday morning and prepare what else but Cream of Wheat. I set the bowls on the breakfast bar to cool and wait for the boys to come out. I'm expecting big smiles and "Thank you, mommy!" Instead I hear "Cream of wheeeat? Can't we have pancakes?", from the older 2 and a request for "hot dogs and baked beans pweeze mummy", from my 2 year old, lol. What's up with that?

Coconut Lemongrass Soap

2009-08-26T14:16:00.005-04:00

I have been purching my fragrance oils from a supply company called Bramble Berry for the last 6 months or so and I haven't been disappointed with one yet. This one was no exception.
This soap is made with calendula infused olive oil and generous amounts of cocoa butter and smells soooo good.

Coconut Lemongrass Soap

Anyone care to join me for a "Sleigh Ride"?

2009-08-25T21:44:00.002-04:00

I'm so, so, so excited! I used my new Nizzy Mould today. I've been wanting to try my hand at some of the fancy color swirls that I've seen many soapers do. Unfortunately, I couldn't get the look that I wanted by using my loaf soap molds.

There are alot of really great slab molds out there. I've fallen in love with Terry Nisbet a.k.a. Nizzy and his products. I would encourage anyone to check him out. Nizzy is truly a soap artist. He is super sweet & kind and his moulds cost less (even with shipping cost from Australia!) than any of the slab molds I've found online in the states.

Anyway, I'm actually quite satisfied with the way the soap turned out. Not bad for my first time, IMO...

When I unmolded this soap, the room was full of "oooh's" and "aah's" as everyone came over to smell it. It really does smell good. I'm still trying to settle on a name for it though. The fragrance oil is called Sleigh Ride but I'm leaning more towards "Home for the Holidays". That's what it makes me think of. It's a very warm and comforting scent. The bars still have to cure for about 4-6 weeks, so I guess we'll have plenty of time to debate over a name, lol.

Achilles Bay Soap

2009-08-25T08:38:00.000-04:00

My Mom has lived on the beautiful island of Bermuda and I live in North Carolina, so I don't get to see her often and I miss her so much. I started trying coming up with some beachy-type fragrances that make me think of the beautiful azure waters and pink sands of Bermuda and, of course, my Mom.

I named this soap Achilles Bay after a beautiful beach in Bermuda. It's an upscale, spa like aquatic fragrance that really captures the essence of the sea, salty air and gently rolling waves.

Achilles Bay Soap

Scrumptious Oatmeal, Milk & Honey Soap

2009-08-25T00:00:00.000-04:00

I made this batch of soap using a new recipe. I used Olive Oil, Coconut Oil and Cocoa Butter as my base ingredients. Olive Oil is always a great base to use because it's mild. Coconut Oil increases lather and bubbles but can be very drying, which is why I normally don't use as much as I did in this batch. However, to offset the increased amount of Coconut Oil, I added even more Cocoa Butter for it's great moisturizing properties. Cocoa Butter also will help make the bar hard which will ultimately help soap last longer.

I then added Palm Oil (hardness & lather), Unrefined Shea Butter (more moisture!) and Castor Oil (for even more bubbles). Also new to my recipe is Tussah Noil Silk Fibre*. Silk Fibre adds a rich and silky feel to the lather which is suppose to feel really, really good in your skin.

The Result

I am extremely happy with the way these bars turned out. The high liquid oil content really gives the bars a nice smooth texture and they seem to have a slight sheen to them. Here's the best part: THEY SMELL GREAT!! The longer these bars cure, the better they smell. The scent of some fragrance oils morph in Cold Process soaps. In my opinion, this is one of them. But, in this case, that's a really good thing because I love this soap.

*The Tussah Noil Silk that we use in our soaps is made by wild Tussah Silk Worms when forming their cacoons and is hand harvested AFTER the Antheraea Pernyisilk Moth has emerged.

2 YUMMY New Soaps

2009-08-24T14:47:00.000-04:00

These are pictures of the soaps I recently made. They're all sliced and beveled now. They both smell sooo good! I can't wait to try them.

Ginger Pear Soap

Pink Grapefruit Soap

Welcome to my new blog!

2009-08-24T13:47:00.000-04:00

I have to say, I'm pretty excited about my new Blogger account. This is such a HUGE change from Typepad. I think Blogger is more user friendly. Posting and editing is a breeze and I've been having alot of fun checking out the different features offered.

Hopefully this will be a smooth transition :D