Soap roundup

Today I've been working on taking stock of the soap we've made over the past few weeks, and thought I'd share a photo of a couple of the ones people have been loving so far. One lady mentioned that she hung on to her Spiced Apple-Pear butterfly for a few days because at first she thought it was just too cute to use!

Okay, I know you can't smell them, but these recent soaps are scented with Jasmine, and two lovely "soapy" scents- Crystal Blue (an herbal/oceany scent that I have been saving for a while) and Fresh Air (an ozone/fresh scent). All very "mmmmm!" inducing. ;-)

My main goal was to make soap today, but I found that I was just about half an ounce short of the amount of yogurt I needed! I thought I'd have to be patient until tomorrow, but my brothers are rescuing me by stopping to grab some yogurt this afternoon. Two tubs of it- "one for eating, and one for soap", as my older brother said. Thank you, guys!

I also wanted to let everyone know that sometime within the next week I'll be updating our site to include all the recent stock we've made, and adding a full page dedicated to the "made to order" products that we provide- lotion, lip balm, etc. Second, in the near future, we will me making a more detailed Yogurt Soap tutorial and posting it here. We noticed that a lot of people are browsing our last entry about our experiences with yogurt soapmaking, and wanted to give them a bit more info in case they wanted to try it themselves. :-)

Upright mold swirl tutorial

http://www.nizzymoulds.com/BLue%20&%20Yellow.htm

I usually save links to LiveJournal, but it's not loading for some reason... so here I am, with a link for making elegant, yet simple swirls in an upright mold. Check it out!

Update: In unrelated news, I found the reason LJ isn't loading... DDos attacks! *winces*

AWESOME soap gear!

For Craft's Sake Soap cutters

This is waaaay out of my price range right now, but can you imagine going through your whole log of soap in just a minute or two? LOVE it!

Craft Show tips from Dirty Laundry

I wanted to be sure I shared Jeanee's blog posts about preparing for, attending, and cleaning up after craft shows. All three are excellent reads for anyone who wants to sell their crafts at a show (or farmer's market, or open house...) and have the minimum amount of stress, while having the maximum amount of fun and, of course, being professional. Or, anyone who wants to "ooh" and "aah" over a lovely display and adorable products! ;-)

Part one: Before the Show

Part two: During the Show

Part three: After the Show

Thank you, Jeanee, for sharing your years of experience! I came away feeling much more educated, prepared and confident- I gleaned so many tips that I will put into practice when we do sell at craft shows in the future!

Chocolate... essential for all soapmakers

Wanted to save this link:

Ghirardelli's 54-count "build a bag" of chocolate squares

I'm a huge fan of the 60% Dark myself. :-)

Jasmine soap woes

Just finished a DELICIOUS smelling batch of Jasmine yogurt soap- the weather here is not making it easy... closed toe shoes, fully gloved, mask on, goggles on... on a warm humid day!

I somehow managed to freeze the yogurt I was going to use, and did not discover it until it was time to add it to the soap! Managed to get it pretty well defrosted, but I fear that my tan soap is going to have tiny white yogurt specks. I was laughing at myself because coincidentally, I did this exact same thing to the last batch of Jasmine soap that I made. It was wonderful soap- but had tiny white specks!

Off to make more soap! This weekend's project will probably involve making soap boxes and making coffee... to put in the soap and also in ourselves. ;-)