Winter Holiday Newsletter 2009

I've sent out the Winter Holiday newsletter and it should arrive in mailboxes today or tomorrow. The email version will ping into mailboxes this afternoon. So I'm posting the letter here too, just to keep everyone up to date with the latest.

I haven't time to include linkie-poos here for each and every item. But if you want to click directly to the web site, on the winter holiday seasonal product page, CLICK HERE!

WINTER HOLIDAY NEWSLETTER

Dear Friends,

What I notice most as we slip from late Autumn into early Winter is the darkness. Daylight arrives in the morning long after our day has begun. And the deepening dark of sunset creeps over the sky before we’ve even begun our suppers. Staring up into the inky black skies of a chilly winter night, the stars blink and twinkle, more sparkly and clear than any other time of the year. Scientists say we are made of stardust. Our human bodies, like all life forms, were created from the dust and elements in the explosion of a star - the atoms of our bones glittering with the magic, chance, and chaos of those twinkling stars so far away. The wonder and sparkle of Winter is more than the season of parties and shopping. It’s a celebration of just being here, made all the more special when you share it with others.

As the holidays get closer, the gift lists begin to grow – but the intentions seem a bit different this year. Rather than the usual exchange of “stuff” , we all seem to be looking for more simplicity and meaning. Handmade gifts and items that are both useful and use-able make more sense, especially while we are watching our budgets a little more closely. Soapworks Studio’s little gifts of soap and bath goodies are the perfect fit. All locally handmade and reasonably priced, there is something for everyone on your holiday gift list.

Holiday Seasonal Soaps

The upcoming holidays have sparked a bunch of new wintry wonderful soap scents for a little fun in the shower, or a special gift for someone (or everyone) on your list. ($4.00 each or 4 bars for $15.00)

Cool Yule - Oh baby, the ultimate cool. This scent is a soft blanket of freshly fallen snow, an icy breeze, and a wintry breath of juniper. This clean white soap is as cool, fresh and tingly as a snowflake against your cheek.

Eucalyptus Lemon – Cold, wet weather sparks sniffle season and this soap is the perfect antidote. Bright, sunny lemon banishes the drearies while eucalyptus opens up breathing in your chest, head and nose. A dusting of French green clay adds soft color while adding detoxifying benefits. Lather up and breathe deeply in a hot steamy shower to give you a lift on a grey morning. (100% natural soap)

Winter Day – The perfect winter day is spent outside in a lush Northwest forest – skiing, hiking, skating, or searching for that magical Christmas tree. I’ve tried to capture that essence in a unique fragrance blend. While the list of elements will at first sound perplexing, it’s really quite lovely. Pine trees and dark forest, wood smoke and flannel shirts, woolen mittens and sugar plum treats all stirred together. This soap is the soft red color of Grandpop’s Union Suit long johns.

Tangerine Cinnamon – Tangy sweet, juicy orange and tangerine mixes it up with warm cinnamon. This is a classic and lovely holiday combination in a pretty cantaloupe colored bar. (100% natural soap)

All the Autumn seasonal soaps, Cinnamon Pear, Pumpkin Carrot and Honey Orange Clove are still available too!

Holiday Spice Home Fragrance Spray

Add a little festive spirit to your home with one of our winter holiday home fragrance sprays. Mist your house and holiday decorations just before guests arrive, or spritz your gift boxes, cards and stockings -- your family and friends will receive a whoosh of holiday scent when they open their presents!

Holiday Spice - this is our most requested seasonal spray, every year since the very beginning --oranges, cranberries, spices and greens all blended together for the perfect scent of magic and delight. (4 oz bottle - $ 6.00)


Sugar & Spice Bath Salts

Sugar & Spice – and everything nice. That’s the winter seasonal scent we’ve added to the regular menu of Dead Sea Bath Salts. Sweet vanilla cookies, warm spices and a splash of orange make this a wonderful holiday treat in the bath.

Our rustic, chunky bath salts come directly from the Dead Sea. Pure salts with a mineral content that is much greater than other types of sea salts, they work wonders on purifying and detoxifying, improving circulation and moisturizing skin, soaking away stress, and relaxing muscles, aches and pains. These bath salts dissolve in water almost instantly, with a lush, silky feel – no gritty bottoms. What we know for sure is that when you finally drag yourself out of the luscious bath waters, you are left with unbelievably soft, silky smooth skin that seems brand new. For little footbaths or long evening soaks, these are the best bath salts ever.
Standard scents: French Lavender, Vanilla Bean & Honey, and Almond Ginger (16 oz bottle - $8.00 each)

Festive Lip Balm

Just for the holiday season I’ve added Hot Cocoa, Pumpkin Pie and Candy Cane flavored lip balms to the menu. It’s the same nourishing, natural lip balm base that I always carry in a dozen-lip smacking flavors, just a few new flavors for Christmas stockings and holiday memories. See the enclosed brochure or the web site for the full list of flavors – Coconut Lemon, Vanilla Tangerine, Root Beer, Raspberry Soda . . . . mmmmm. (1/2 oz tin - $3.00 each)

Gift Ideas
Attention Holiday Shoppers! It’s the gift-giving season, and fun bath stuff is the perfect gift for everyone on your list. I’ve got an elfin mountain of new gift sets and packaging ideas.

Gift Boxes: New, unique, and downright adorable origami style boxes to hold a single bar of soap, two bars of soap, or perfectly sized to hold a bar of soap and one of our cotton scrubby accessories - like the cotton washcloth, soap sack or scrubby mitt. These are the perfect small gifts for those special office folks, the patient teacher, the friendly neighbor, the lovey who watches the pets while you're away, the dear who does your nails or hair, that gaggle of book club gals -- you know who I mean. Two colors/patterns: Chocolate brown/Paisley Chicken, Sky Blue/Cherry Bomb. ($ 4.00/box)

Gift certificates: So you know they love Soapworks Studio products but you’re not quite sure which scents they like the most? Or you have a choosy someone on your list that likes to select their own signature scents? Or you’re just plain out of time in all the holiday rush? I’ve got the perfect idea! Give a gift certificate from Soapworks Studio so they can choose their own favorites from any of the products on our list. You may purchase a gift certificate in any denomination to fit your budget. We’ll pretty it up and send it off in a lovely decorated envelope. Gift certificates are the perfect gift for that exacting person on your list with a flair for sensual pampering.

Go Green!: Skip the wrapping paper this year and gift a bar of soap inside one of our scrubby mitts or sacks. A little piece of recycled ribbon makes it special. Order them separately on the accessories page, or as a set on our gift ideas page.

My Own Holiday Shop

I’ll be repeating my little temporary storefront at Group Health in November. I will have my own retail shop for several days – Wednesday through Friday, December 9-11. Group Health has a tiny storefront that I am “renting” to have my own shop space. They loan it out to artists from time to time, and a percentage of our sales funds their TLC Guild, which helps with patient's needs. It’s designed to be a gift boutique, full of winter holiday gifts, and a great way to shop the entire Soapworks Studio selection. It’s located at 108 – 15th Ave E, kitty-corner from the Safeway on John St. See you there!

Internet & Mail Ordering

Holiday shopping online or by mail saves you time, expense, and the headache of traffic jams and crowded malls. We usually ship within two business days, and can send your items directly to family and friends with gift enclosure cards too. Send in the enclosed order form, call during business hours, or for late night brainstorms, order from our website at SoapworksStudio.com. Spend more time celebrating and less time fretting. Let Soapworks Studio be your answer for holiday gifts!

May your holidays be twinkly and bright!


Again, I would love to have the time to type in a perfect little clickable link for each new item I've listed in the newsletter, but there's too much to do today. So if you want to click directly to the web site, on the winter holiday seasonal product page, CLICK HERE!

This Week's Shows - Nov 2

It's going to be a busy week - lots of running around. I'm at Meridian Valley Monday and Tuesday, Red Ribbons the rest of the week, and a one-day show at Eastlake on Saturday.

November 2 - 3 Meridian Valley Artisans Festival
Meridian Valley Country Club, 24830 - 136th Ave SE, Kent
Monday 4pm-9pm - members only, Tues 9am-8pm open to public

November 4 - 7 Red Ribbons and Reindeer
The Hollywood Schoolhouse, Woodinville

November 7 Eastlake High School Holiday Bazaar
400 - 228th Ave NE, Sammamish, Sat 9-4

The Best of the Northwest show is next week - I have postcards for $2 off admission, and there is a downloadable coupon on the web site for the same thing. Click HERE for more info and the coupon. Northwest Art Alliance, who runs this show, has a new director and a new marketing director too. So there is all kinds of new energy and a huge advertising push this time around, which is much appreciated. We'll be at Seattle Center Exhibition Hall again this time. I'll have more details about next week's shows in the blog next week. Oh yeah, if you want a postcard with the coupon, let me know if you see me this week at Eastlake or wherever. I'll have them at my tables at the other shows, next to the brochures. Or give me an email or quick phone call and I'll send one off.

The Winter Holiday Newsletter is going out this week - in a few days. I'm getting it back from the printer today, with a stuffing fest going on in between everything else. It will be in mailboxes before the week is over. I'll post it here too, and send out the email versions at the same time, so everyone will be updated at once. I started all the website updates over the weekend. Just need to get some new photos on there of the winter soaps. One more project on the list, whew.

Stamps and blather

These are the stamps I'm using for the Winter newsletter mailing. It's called Thanksgiving Day Parade, and it looks like a window pane of 4 designs on the USPS web site, but they've just arrived and it's really a vertical strip, with one entire design spread across all 4 stamps. Kind of cool. If you look closely the bottom row attaches to the back of the first two and it's a little slice of band and giant turkey balloon from the New York Macy's parade.

I just thought the colors were nice and it was more hip than the stupid holiday stamp designs this year. I never like to do religious ones - just doesn't fit with business. But the generic holiday is usually dumb - nutcrackers, ornaments. I'd love a pretty snowflake design. But the parade it is. And I'm running on about this why? Because I don't got nuthin' else.

I've been mulling over the blog, which is especially dusty and forlorn. In order to write a blog - a personal type blog, not just a business/advertising/marketing type blog - you have to be doing or thinking something interesting. Or else be an especially great writer of boring nothings. None of the above going on over here. My life is so singularly dull right now. Nothing but work.

It's a week or two before the big kick off of November and December holiday sales. Next month is when the newsletter goes out. The craft shows will be 3 per week. The mail order stuff will be piling up into mountains. And I'll be buried deep for a couple of months, just running frantically. And right now is just as frantic, but in prep work. Finishing up the last minute decisions, writing the letter, updating the web site etc. I spend all day making as much soap as possible, running around from task to task, doing half of it, while my mind reels out of control, jotting notes, starting another little task, another little pile. Printing labels, making supply runs, endless lists, questioning everything. So, so dull.

And the blog? Well, there's hardly time to write. But I can't think straight enough to get a sentence out anyway. And honestly, even thinking about doing a blog post seems like another chore. You know what happens when you commit to a personal blog? Your whole perception of your day, your life changes - like you work your way through each activity thinking about how to describe it to strangers rather than just doing it and moving on. Should I write about this? or this? or this? Oh, maybe I should be taking a picture of my breakfast? Or talk about what I had for dinner? which might be interesting, if it weren't just toast or noodles.

So alas, I'm just incredibly busy. Doing the doing that has to be done right now. And not having any kind of entertaining thoughts about any of it. Just head down. Shoulders hunched and sore. A slight headache. Because I'm a one-gal show over here and there's way too many things on my plate at the moment. It's like this every year. This one isn't worse, or better. It just is and that's what I do.

Vasa Park This Week

This week is the fall Country Creations show at Vasa Park Ballroom on Lake Sammamish in Bellevue. Just to explain again, this is a different show than the Country Crafts (unique names, huh?) show that was at Vasa Park for a million years. Sue quit the business and the show stopped for a couple of years, until last year when Sandy Roundy started her show in that same location. So it's a little different organization. Some of the same vendors, some new ones. Lots of fall gift and home decor.

We will be setting up the displays today. And it gets into full swing tomorrow. The deets:

Country Creations Home and Gift Show
Vasa Park Ballroom
3549 W Lk Sammamish Pkwy
Bellevue, WA

Dates: October 15-17
Hours: Thursday and Friday 10am to 7pm, Saturday 10am to 5pm

Link to directions: Vasa Park Resort

The past few days has been a whirlwind of laying pavers for a path and a patio in back. Everything hurts - hands, knees, back. So loading the car doesn't look that fun this morning.

Group Health Shop

This week I am starting my first of two little holiday gift shops at Group Health. I am "renting" their little retail space on Capitol Hill to set up my own gift shop for the next 3 days. A portion of all of the sales goes to their Patient Needs Fund, which buys supplies and necessities for patients there, part of their Volunteer Program.

It's a great time to start shopping for Christmas presents a little early, just to spread out the budget a bit. And this year, consumables are the way to go. Nobody wants "stuff" this year. But a little treat that you can use up quickly and enjoy is just the ticket. Soap and bath goodies are better than food, because you don't have to worry about your waistline!

Dates:
Wednesday through Friday,
October 7 - 9
9:30am to 4:30pm

Location: Group Health central campus, Seattle
Address: 108 - 15th Ave E, Capitol Hill, half a block south and across the street from the big Safeway store at the corner of John St.

I'll be back there for a few days at the beginning of December with the winter holiday products for last-minute Christmas shopping too.

October

It's all good. The weekend ended up being beautiful weather, though a bit chilly on Saturday. And sales were great. But what's even better?

The sweetest little girl stopped by the booth with her family to sniff up the soaps. She picked up one after another, mmmmm'ing and ahhhhh'ing until she got to one specific one. With the bar smooshed up under her nose she cried "Oh Mommy, I love this one! I could smell it for my entire life!!" Yes indeed.

It happens to be my favorite one too. But I'm not telling which one. Because if you don't care for it, you'll think we're crazy. And if you happen to feel that way about one of the others, I don't want to make you doubt your choice. Hopefully somebody thinks that about each and every flavor.

It's all good.

This week I'm at Group Health - my own temporary shop space that I've done in the past. Wednesday through Friday. I'll get the details together and post that later. There's way too much to do today to get ready for it all. Just wanted to pop in and say it was a great weekend and life is good. That's all it takes.

Issaquah Salmon Days

This is the 40th anniversary of Salmon Days in downtown Issaquah. This year’s festivities promise to be the best ever with all your favorites...the Grande Parade, delicious Foods of the World, creative and colorful arts and crafts, exciting live entertainment, and our central hub of family fun at the Field of Fun.

Dates: Saturday and Sunday, October 3 and 4, 2009
Place: Historic old downtown Issaquah
Times: 10am - 6pm both days
Booth Location: Same spot as last few years! Booth #318, located on W. Sunset Way, at the corner of the driveway entrance to the hatchery.

Link: Salmon Days They've got all kinds of info here - schedules of entertainment, maps, etc.

They say don't bring your pets, but bring your umbrella. And don't miss the fun!