If you're having problems seeing images on Etsy.com...

...here's something you should try-

Go to etsy.com in a new tab, then go to your AdBlockPlus options (this is easy in the newest version of Firefox, since ABP is a little red stop sign at the top of the browser. Just click the drop arrow next to it.) and click "disable on etsy.com".

Out of the blue about two days ago, half the images on Etsy stopped working for me. I didn't think it was anything I did, because it was half of all the images, not just half of my images. I also hadn't changed any image filters or anything- but I had forgotten that ABP checks for updates on its own. And like all the best programs, it was a bit "over-helpful" in blocking what looked like ads. ;-)

I noticed while doing research to try and fix the problem that most people say that the only images affected are on (or loading from) Etsy.com, and that if they have two browsers, all the images work just fine on one, but not the other. If you're having the same problem, I hope you'll give this quick fix a try.

Finally on Etsy!

Well, I JUST finished opening our Etsy store and listing our first item. Aaaaand, I wasn't wearing my glasses, so now everything is blurry. *l* This evening I have a lotion order to complete, but tomorrow I'll work on listing the rest of the soap and lotion that we have for sale. :-) And I'll wear my glasses this time.

Canfield Fair 2011

Every year, Canfield, Ohio has a 6-day craft and agricultural show, and we wanted to post a link for the people who are getting directed here by search engines. (Having people check out the blog is cool, but that's not exactly what they came here for, *l*)

http://www.canfieldfair.com/index.html
Prices and tickets

It looks like SO MUCH FUN! It's over for the year, but maybe some year we can go... it's only 2,466 miles away! ;-)

San Diego power outage

I just wanted to ask- if anyone has a picture (or knows where I can find one) of the power out in Downtown San Diego, can you point me in that direction? Our neighbor rode his motorcycle down Orange in Coronado and said the sight across the bay was a once-in-a-lifetime sight- all of San Diego with no lights! But on the AM news they were advising not driving unless absolutely necessary... and I guess driving down the Strand to gawk didn't count... ;-)

EDIT: I found a couple of photos online- here are the links to the articles/slideshows.
Slideshow photos by Mark J. Terrill - Check here for a larger copy of the first photo! San Diego looks cool in the dark with only the emergency lights on.
Another slideshow of San Diego's power outage- I liked the first photo of the freeway, but it's also interesting to see people just kind of... waiting for the power to come back on.
This short article includes a map of the affected areas, and an interesting first-person description of the power outage and the "block party" atmosphere that it caused. We experienced the same thing in our neighborhood- people were out on their bikes, in their front yards looking at the stars and talking to their neighbors, and generally having fun. You could hear people all over the neighborhood enjoying just being outside in the cool air.

Site update

I've spent yesterday and today completely revamping our website, and tomorrow and for the weekend I'm going to be working on updating the products page to include our new soaps and a page for lotion and lip balm, which we make to order. I'm also updating the FAQ, since it was previously geared to soap and now we're making other products (and people have had a lot of questions!). After that it will hopefully be maintenance- keeping the scents and sizes in order, that sort of thing. :-)

Lotion update

I took a few minutes yesterday to make some fresh Shea Butter lotion for Mom, who needed something soothing. I used some extracts and allantoin for their healing properties, and I scented it with Chocolate Raspberry. Today it's a bit on the Raspberry side, so I may need to add more Chocolate. (It still smells delicious!) Our Shea Butter lotion makes our skin sooooo soft... I find myself using it even when I really don't need lotion, just for the extra healthy feel of my skin after I use it.

Today's batch will be a lighter lotion with Wheat Germ oil. I'll let you know how it goes! :-)

Autumn S.O.A.P. team time!

Whoa, time flies, doesn't it? I can't believe it's already been a whole season since the last S.O.A.P. team was chosen and did their testing. Bramble Berry is accepting blog entries to choose the new team, and I'd love to be chosen to be on the panel!

Believe it or not, my favorite product from Bramble Berry is still the water resistant label paper! This paper is awesome! I've gotten the paper wet on accident and wondered what would happen, and unlike some other "water resistant" paper, you can't even tell that anything happened. It's also not glossy (which I liked because it looks more natural) and not pre-sectioned, so your labels can be whatever size you choose. Okay, maybe that's a bit boring of me to choose the same thing I did last time, so I'll show you the mold that's a favorite around here- the Wave mold! It's a great, and stylish, all-purpose bar mold- the best thing about this mold is that the soap it makes stays in your hand and keeps its wave shape down to the very last ounce of soap.

I really enjoyed reading all of the entries for the past few panels- everyone did their testing so thoroughly that it seems a bit daunting to try to think of new ways to test the scents, but I'd really love to give it a shot! I have a few ideas that are different from what others made, so I didn't want to pass up the chance to volunteer. My fellow potential scent testing participants (aka, my family!) are helping me get my ideas together, and we are excited about the challenge of testing on a larger scale than what we're used to. Autumn is our favorite season (here in San Diego even the weather seems to agree that it would much rather be autumn than summer!) and we'd love to participate in testing the new autumn/winter scents.

Thanks for reading, everyone! It's great to be part of the ever-friendly and ever-enthusiastic soaping community- here's wishing the best to everyone who gets chosen, and we look forward to reading your entries! :-)

Total lunar eclipse in Tajikistan

I saw this on APOD and wanted to repost- I think very few of us have seen a total lunar eclipse, so my jaw dropped when I saw this. We all love astronomy! Hope you enjoy it too! (And do watch it in full screen if you get the chance! :D )


Here's the description from APOD: "If the full Moon suddenly faded, what would you see? The answer during the total lunar eclipse last month was recorded in a dramatic time lapse video from Tajikistan. During a total lunar eclipse, the Earth moves between the Moon and the Sun, causing the moon to fade dramatically. The Moon never gets completely dark, though, since the Earth's atmosphere refracts some light. As the above video begins, the scene may appear to be daytime and sunlit, but actually it is a nighttime and lit by the glow of the full Moon. As the moon becomes eclipsed and fades, the wind dies down and background stars can be seen reflected in foreground lake. Most spectacularly, the sky surrounding the eclipsed moon suddenly appears to be full of stars and highlighted by the busy plane of our Milky Way Galaxy. The sequence repeats with a closer view, and the final image shows the placement of the eclipsed Moon near the Eagle, Swan, Trifid, and Lagoon nebulas. Nearly two hours after the eclipse started, the moon emerges from the Earth's shadow and its bright full glare again dominates the sky."

SLS vs... SLS?

Looking at the websites of a couple of skin care companies today, I noticed that both of them mentioned that they one, don't use surfactants, and two, stay away from anything with the words "lauryl" or "laureth" in it (Sodium Lauryl Ether Sulfate, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Sodium Lauryl Sulfoacetate, etc). The thought came to me that these statements could mislead some who had never heard the terms... So, having done a mind-boggling amount of research on these terms, I thought I'd post a few links and give some information to help arm you when reading the label of that soap/shampoo/bath bomb/toothpaste etc. Please see the links below to do more research on your own. :-)

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. ;-)