Soap Love

Every now and then, when I need a little creative inspiration or idea brainstorming, I spend a bit of time wandering the internet looking at soaps made by other soapmakers.  Just checking what's out there, what the latest trends are in scents, ingredients, packaging.  Keeping up with the latest.

I ran into so much beauty this past weekend, that I ended up spending way more time than I expected, and found some of the coolest stuff.  It's mind-blowing what some people come up with and are doing - all over the world too.

I'm going to post photos and links, because these are too good not to share.

From South Africa - Woolworth's Soap Shop:  soap in the most beautiful tins!

I love the simple rustic wax paper and string wrapping on these wedding soap favors by Prunella on etsy:

This woman from Russia designed long, thin soaps that look almost like book-marks with the typography embedded into the soap.  So cool!

This special promotion has a USB flash drive embedded in a clear glycerin bar.  Not sure how the flash drive doesn't get ruined in the water, but interesting idea.

Brown paper wrapped rustic bars that almost look like candies, from Padua Farms.

From Montreal, Quebec - felted soaps and shampoo bars for The Surf Lodge.  Cute little minis for a hotel.

And finally - love these super rustic versions of soap on a rope.  No links for these, I tracked them around Pinterest and tumblr, but not sure where they came from originally since there is no label.  

This was fun!  I think I might make this a semi-regular feature here and post more lovelies when I find them.  I've got a whole bunch more stuff book-marked that I can sort out and share with y'all.

Just to be clear, I'm a cold-process type only girl, so there will be no photo journals of glycerin, melt and pour, or embedded type fancies - although there are TONS of those out there.  And I'm a little split between my love for the super primitive, rustic, simple stuff and the fancier European packaged stuff - like the tins and gorgeous boxes.  Who says you can't have it all?!

Save some GREEN on St Paddy's!

Sending a bit of luck 'o the Irish to you on St Patrick's Day with a chance to save some GREEN!  Take 15% off your entire order this weekend, with a minimum purchase of $25.

Here's how to keep a little change in your pocket:  orders must be placed between 9am, Friday, March 15 and Midnight, Sunday, March 17.  Type the word SHAMROCK in the discount code box to receive the 15% discount off your entire order amount.  No restrictions on what you buy - anything on the website is included.

How do you celebrate St. Patrick's Day?  We'll be keeping an old tradition called "drowning the shamrock." On St. Patrick's Day, the shamrock that has been worn in the hat or lapel is removed and put into the last drink of the evening. A toast is proposed and then, when the toast has been honored, the shamrock is taken from the bottom of the glass and thrown over the left shoulder. Sláinte!

Shake your shamrocks this St Patrick''s Day!  

Updated Show Schedule

Just wanted to pop in and let you know that I've been busily working away on the summer show schedule.  We've been sending in applications for the last couple of months, with even more going out this week for some of the fall shows.  It's a little dizzying trying to keep it all straight so early in the year.

But a few of the shows have started notifying us of acceptances.  So I spent a little bit of time this morning updating the show schedule on the website.  I jumped ahead with a couple of them that haven't officially gotten back to me yet - but they are ones that I do every year, so I'm just assuming I'm in again this year. (Fingers crossed)

I'm also waiting to hear on a new one or two, and I'll squeeze in a couple of weekends at the Waterfront Festival which NW Art Alliance (Best of the Northwest folks) organizes down by the ferris wheel and cruise ship docks at the Seattle waterfront every weekend during the summer.  Those will be added to the calendar just as soon as I know how they turn out.  I am hoping to give it a try on a few open weekends in June/July/August - if I have time and inventory available.

In the meantime, the schedule is starting to look pretty full - much of the same ones, all goodies.

May 18 - 19                 University District Street Fair
                                  University Avenue, Seattle
                                  Sat 10am - 7pm, Sun 10am - 6pm

May 8 - 10                   Mother's Day Gift Sale                                   
                                  Group Health Central Campus, shop space
                                  108 - 15th Ave E, Capitol Hill
                                   Wed - Fri 9:30am - 4pm

June 7 - 9                    Sorticulture
                                   Fri 10 - 8, Sat 10 - 6, Sun 10 - 4
                                   Legion Park, Everett

July 6 - 7                     Choochokam                                                   
                                   Sat 10 - 6:30pm, Sun 10 - 5pm
                                   Downtown Langley, Whidbey Island

July 12 - 14                     West Seattle Summer Fest
                                   Fri 10-6, Sat 10-8, Sun 11-5
                                   West Seattle Junction

July 20 - 21                  Gig Harbor Summer Art Festival
                                   Judson Street, downtown Gig Harbor
                                   Sat 10-6, Sun 10-5

Aug 3 - 5                      Anacortes Arts Festival
                                   Fri and Sat 10am-6pm, Sun 10am-5pm
                                   Commercial Ave, downtown Anacortes

Sep 6 - 22                    Washington State Fair
                                   (previously named The Puyallup Fair)
                                   Artists in Action, Grandstand Building
                                   Western Washington Fairgrounds, Puyallup
                                   Sun - Thurs 10am-10pm, Fri - Sat 10am - 11pm

Best of the Northwest - Spring Show coming up!

24th Annual Best of the Northwest fine art and craft show will dazzle the docks this Spring!

The spring Best of the Northwest fine art and craft show    a kaleidoscope of art, fine craft, entertainment, wine, beer and hard cider, moves to a new home in Seattle March 23 & 24, 2013.  A local favorite and national award winner, the show sets up at Smith Cove Cruise Terminal on Pier 91 next to the Magnolia Bridge. Follow the signs at the Magnolia Bridge to the cruise terminal parking lot at Pier 91 Shop from more than 140 Northwest artists, designers and craftspeople providing handcrafted jewelry, designer clothing, paintings, works out of glass, wood, metal, clay and more who have met the quality standards of our judges in order to participate in this event.    Enjoy continuous live music with groups from across the musical spectrum including bluegrass, Cajun and folk. Artist demonstrations throughout the weekend. Utrecht is bringing its Kid's Table for hours of enjoyment and creating. Skillet food truck comes to BON along with Chopstix and Metropolitan Grill Outstanding boutique wineries from Family Wineries of Washington State and the Blue Moon Brewing Co. will be offering tastings on both days.    Chopstix and Skillet food trucks will be on site and gourmet eatery Metropolitan Grill will be serving as well.  Locally crafted beer, wine & cider tasting Join us Saturday 10-6 & Sunday 10-5 for the best shopping, best music, best wine and craft beers. And support manylocal artistsand crafts people!    Free improved shuttle bus and convenient $5 all day parking. Event tickets just $6 online(one ticket gets you in all weekend) and $7 at the door. More info at www.nwartalliance.com.

Credit Card Processing - Don't Call Me!

Warning:  Cranky vent post ahead.

I just got a telemarketing call from a credit card processor.  Did I know that they have these new super cheap rates and that my small business can have the same credit card processing rates as the big stores, like Walmart?

Why yes.  I did know that.  Because you called me yesterday.  Very same company.  And the day before that too.  Very same company.  Are you so hard up that you have to call the same list every. single. day.??

But I've gotten almost this exact same groundhog day telemarketing call several times each and every week for like a year now from a huge list of credit card processing companies.  I can't stand it any more.  I guess it doesn't matter that you are on the "Do Not Call" list.  This law applies to everyone else except credit card processors.  Oh, and that creepy robo woman who calls about once a month to steam my carpets.

Here's the longer version.  When they first starting calling, it was when the Durbin law or some blah-de-blah came into effect, and I actually did have the first company do an estimate and comparison of what I was currently paying.  And it was a lot less.  Sort of.  The rates were less, but I had to buy all new equipment to do it - at a substantial cost.  The next company was pretty much the same.  But I took those rates back to my current company, and they adjusted me down to lower rates all around.  And I was happy.  I like my little system right now.  It works great.  And when my machine breaks down or gets technologically obsolete (which could be three months from now, meh) then I would re-look at my options and find the best deal at that point.

Now?  I am not spending another minute listening to every single sales rep's schtick about how much cheaper (by a penny or two) they are to the next guy.  It's all such a math game anyway.  And it gives me a headache.

If you have not had a merchant account before, then you have no idea what a pain it all is.  These people are bankers.  Enough said.

Some have minimum fees.  Some have statement fees.  If you decide to go wireless, there are wireless fees.  There is a transaction fee for each transaction.  Plus there is a percentage rate for each card transaction - which of course, varies with each card.  A credit card is different from a debit card.  And a rewards card costs more.  A swiped card is the cheapest.  But when I do mail order or internet orders, and do not have the card in hand - only the number - that's a different rate altogether.  Then they make you buy a terminal.   If you're doing it only online, that's a whole different kind of fees.  Oy.

Of course, there's now the Square - one flat rate for every single swipe and the reader thingy is free if you have a smart phone.  But that doesn't help me much for my mail and internet orders.  And their rate is probably the highest of anything else I've seen.  So there is no need to pay more if it's only for my show sales.

I am quite sure there is something a little less expensive out there.  But I am not interested in spending a month of tedious hours trying to ferret it out from all the other deals out there.  It's not worth my time.  I'm good where I am.  The cheapest thing usually comes with it's own set of problems.  Like bad customer service.  Or going out of business suddenly.

The entire system is going to change in the next few years anyway.  The entire credit card system is being transitioned from having those magnetic strips on the back of the card where all the information is stored, to having a chip in them.  For security.  Apparently the chip is much harder to read and steal from than the current stripe type card.  So we'll all be getting new cards and merchants will have to get new equipment all over again.  There is a date by when it's required to be effective and I think it's some time in 2015, but don't want to look it up right now.   It will affect every single person with a card - and for every single card too.

But back to the telemarketing dilemma:  Caller ID doesn't help me at all over here.  They have regular phone numbers that just say 'Dallas, TX' or 'private number' - something ambiguous that I would never know is not a customer or other business type call.  In good faith I try to answer everything.

These people are really trying my patience.  What's the solution?  Are you hounded by telemarketing calls too?  Or do you have some gem of information about credit card processing that you'd like to share.  Let me know.  I'm all ears :)

Ingredient Insider: Basics 101

I've spent quite a bit of time over the years, researching and experimenting with different ingredients for my soaps and other products.  My intention is to really try and use the best stuff out there, both in terms of skin and health benefits, sustainability and green merits, and cost effectiveness.  Because you can use the very bestest most expensive drops of liquid gold in the world to make a batch of soap, but if you have to charge $25 per bar, then almost nobody would buy it.  And they would probably go bad before they could be used properly, which is just a waste of good stuff all around.

So yes, cost has to be a factor too.  But I'm definitely not into cheap.  I buy pretty top-of-the-line ingredients, from base oils, to essential oils, even to fragrance oils.  I'm always on the lookout for better stuff at better prices.  And this past year, I was able to negotiate a little better deal on my base oils from a local food supplier.  Instead of pocketing all the cash, I'm getting a few more organic oils and sustainable oils, keeping the cost per bar the same, only with even better quality ingredients.  Hooray for you (and me).  

A bazillion years ago, when I started the blog, I wanted to do a lot more behind-the-scenes posts to explain my process and how it all works over here in the little studio at the bottom of the stairs.  But as the years rolled by, I felt like I had said it all, and that the web site had grown to cover most of what else there ever was to say.  I had added a "Healthy Ingredients" section that gave a bunch of specific information about all the ingredients I use in my products, their benefits and uses.  I guess I just gave up on 'splainin' it all over here on the blog.

This year I've got a bug to change up some of my soap line.  No panic!  I'm not going all organic and crunchy granola in one swoop.  But I want to up the ante a bit and get more green, more natural, more organic.  A sort of wellness revolution so to speak.  People always ask me "which soap is good for (blank)?" and most of my soaps are just the same - good for the general, average, everything.  A few of them were oomphed up a bit with goat milk, or fresh honey, or whatnot, but I didn't have a something for each skin condition kind of soap line.

Well, flash to a LOT (ahem) of years later.  My own skin is older, drier and I'm looking down the tunnel at that dreaded aging thing.  Gone are the fresh-faced, I can put anything on my skin days.  I need to slather on grease, moisturize ceaselessly, and freak about the SPF in order to keep them guessing my age.

So I want to make better soap for me.  And for you too of course.  Loaded with anti-oxidents, nutrients, vitamins, creamy goodness.  I'm just working out the whole "how" of that right now.  There will be a few for summer.  And the few experiments I've done have some really cool stuff in them: pumpkin, carrot, coconut cream, cucumber puree, fresh yogurt, tomato, Russian cambrian blue clay - just a whole farmer's market of juicy goodness.

I'm not ready to spill the beans on all of it yet.  I'm just playing around, imagining and dreaming, tweaking recipes.  But I'm going to post regular features here about some of the ingredients I use, why I use them, and just how darn good they are for you - look for the "Ingredient Insider" tag to find them.  

Eat your vegetables!  Or mash them up and wear them :)

Not Yet Spring

(For photo credits and to see my other photo sets, visit me on Flickr)

It's that barren and brown time of year, when spring hasn't quite sprung.  I'm so anxious for spring to arrive with warmer weather and things that actually grow in the garden.  Staring out my window at the blah dirt, empty branches, and grey skies is so very, very boring.

But as antsy as I am to get out there and do stuff, this incubating time has been wonderful.  I've been planning, creating, dreaming and building for the year.  Some things are in the works, some things are just in the imagination process.  Good things are on their way.  In the garden, in the business, and in life.  

I feel like I've got so many things I want to create and bring into the world this year.  There seems to be more energy and more ideas just flowing and floating around.  My hope is that I don't get overwhelmed by it all and just poop out, falling back into the comfortable tried and true.  

Maybe there really has been a shift.  Are you feeling it too?

The February Bee

The February Bee

The bumblebee crept out on the stone steps.
No Roses. Nothing to gather.
Nothing but itself, the cold air,
and the spring light.
It rubbed its legs together
as if it wished to start a fire
and wear its warmth.
Under its smart yellow bands
the black body shone like patent leather.
It groomed itself, like a pilot
ready for takeoff and yet not ready:
when my shadow fell over him
he flicked his wings, checking them,
and took off into the bare garden.

- Nancy Willard, from The Sea at Truro

And the Oscar goes to . . .

I don't currently have customer reviews posted on the website, but I hear from folks all the time about what they love the most about Soapworks Studio products. Here's what people are saying about their most coveted items:

Lights, Camera, Action!

Best Soap:  Vanilla Bean & Honey  

"I am your biggest fan in Mount Vernon and Anacortes, and at the last show I purchased a scent I hadn't bought before - the Vanilla Bean and Honey soap.  I initially bought it because the smell was HEAVENLY to me, but then I brought it home and used it.... OH MY GOODNESS!!  I have THE WORST SKIN, adult acne and hard core t-zone oily spots and this soap has cleared me up!  Over the years, I've spent THOUSANDS on skin care / acne clearing soaps, from Clinique to Demalogica to Wexler and Proactiv... you name it, I've tried it.  NOTHING has cleared my skin like the Vanilla and Honey soap."

Best Natural Soap:  Lavender & Lemongrass

"This year our managers gave us bars of your soap for our holiday gift.  BEST GIFT EVER!  I'm a vegan so before I took soap I went to your sight and was delighted to see that your soap is vegan!  I enjoy the feel of my skin after using your soap and the smell is delicious (without setting off my allergies like perfume soaps do)."

Best Aromatic Spray:  French Lavender

"I just tried your French Lavender spray for the first time and it's wonderful!  The fragrance stayed on my sheets and pillow cases and I sleep like a baby.  This is the best lavender spray I have ever tried.  I had gotten some recently when visiting the San Juan Islands at a lavender farm and it wasn't nearly as good as yours.  Keep up the good work!"

Best Bath:  Dead Sea Bath Salts

"I just wanted to tell you how much I am enjoying the Dead Sea Salts!  I have never enjoyed taking a bath so much - and I do enjoy my baths!  It makes the water so silky and nicely fragrant.  My skin feels incredibly soft too.  These are the best bath salts in the world!"

Best Customer Service:  Always

"After years of buying from your wonderful product line, I just made my first online order - I'd like to compliment you on your INCREDIBLE service!  I've never received an order so expeditiously and/or  securely packed!!  THANK YOU SO MUCH!  What a class act!"

"Wow! I can't believe this package arrived in Niagara Falls today. Talk about speedy!"

"I just wanted to say that I've been ordering from you for YEARS and LOVE your stuff!"

"I just had to tell you how pleased and thrilled I was to receive my soaps from you yesterday.  I love that it was such a fast turn around from placing the order to receiving the soaps.  But the big deal is how much I love the soaps.  I intended them for Christmas gifts, but somehow I think I'm going to have to place another order because I want to keep them all for myself. I love the fragrances--especially the lavender pear.  I will be a repeat customer over and over again.  Great product, great service!"

Flower and Garden Show

This week is the Northwest Flower and Garden show at the Convention Center.  I don't usually go to this show but I love gardening and all things plants, so I was excited to see it this year.

My friend, Dianne Kimball, makes pottery and garden art.  She is doing the show this year for the first time, and I went down for a couple of days to help her out and give her a break since the hours are so long for one person to work a booth themselves.  With a free pass, I had the chance to mosey around and see the sights too.  What a treat!

I always think the display gardens are way too dark.  There's so little light in that area that you can hardly read the little plant signs, or see what's planted towards the back.  And it's impossible to take a good picture.  Maybe that's why they do it?  So people don't take photos and copy all their designs?  I don't know.  It's "mood" lighting and very dramatic, but not so great for actually seeing up close what is in there.

One of them had a very cool hobbit house, but Megan Black was filming a promo in the middle of it when I was there, and I couldn't get close enough to get a pic or see the whole thing.  Never could get over there when there wasn't a herd of people planted in front of it.

But here's a few pics of other cool gardens, mostly the displays in the very well lighted glass walkway between buildings:

I'm so excited to plant stuff in my own garden now.  I already had big plans to move stuff around and do new things.  I haven't really done a lot with it lately except maintenance, but this year is going to be different.  Big ideas.  If only it would get warmer and spring would arrive.  The cold, grey drizzle here is getting so very old.

I had to move a few things around last week.  Crappy story - the water line from the city sidewalk to our house cracked and had been leaking (rather pouring) down the sidewalk for the last few weeks.  We had problems with that water before and both times it wasn't our water, but the neighbors.  So we assumed it wasn't us again this time.  But alas, it was.  We had to put in a whole new water line.  Which required removing part of our rockery wall, and huge holes dug in all over the front yard.  Plus it cost a ridiculous amount of money too.  Ugh.  More than ugh.

When they finished and piled all the dirt back, I found a lot of broken stuff, and had to move a couple of big heathers - just trying to get things back together for now.  But I've got pictures in my head about what I'd like to do this spring.  I'm dying to have one of those gorgeous little rustic salvaged sheds built out back.  Probably don't have enough space.  For sure there will be more beds to grow food.  My lettuces were too small in pots.  I need a few more herbs.   All kinds of moving around to freshen it up and get the tired perennials better spots and better shape.  Plus color.  Lots more color.  Year round color.  Can't wait.

Bluebird of Happiness

Today was show application day. I did a few last month when the early deadlines came up. But today was a big huge pile of all the other ones, basically my entire spring and summer season. Now I can chirp happily for the rest of the week, like the little birds which are twittering and dive-bombing the bushes outside for the last of the winter berries.

The birds seem so happy out there lately. Maybe it's the intoxicating berries. I heard somewhere that late in the season the berries have begun to ferment, and when the birds ingest them, it's like getting drunk on wine. They get a little loopy and wild - which explains why they seem to hit the glass windows every now and then.

I'm feeling a little like that myself, not that I'm going to slam into a window, but just a bit giddy for finally getting that long and tedious chore off my to-do list. Every single one needs a different type of application form, some online, some paper. Some need a check for jury fees, others need copies of licenses or whatnot. All of them need photos, but each one in a different size or format or named in some special way. It's tiresome, long and a headache at best. It's a necessary part of the process, and I do rather like to be in the shows.  But I've just been procrastinating on the application process. Or was. Until today. It's done. DONE!

And in a few short weeks or possibly a month, I'll know how it turns out and have my schedule all lined up. There is only Best of the Northwest next month, Tulip Festival in April and U District in May which I have totally confirmed at this point.

Do you put off the stuff you don't want to do too? Or are you one of those that does the crappy stuff first and gets it out of the way in order to spend more time on the fun stuff. Sigh. I wish I was the latter. Instead, I spend more time fretting and fussing over the yucky stuff, pushing it around my desk and moving it back day after day on the calendar until I can't stand it any more. Probably not the best method.

Maybe while I'm on a roll I should tackle the next big thing I'm resisting and get it taken care of.  Hmmm.  That would be an overload of productivity.  Maybe too much.  Nah, I'll do that tomorrow :)

Spring 2013 Newsletter

I'm publishing my Spring 2013 newsletter here for any of you who might not be on my email or snail mail lists.  I wouldn't want you to miss a thing :)  And to keep things simple, click this LINK to take you to my Seasonal page on the website where everything discussed below is listed in one place.  

January is a month of hibernation and rest for me.  Probably for everyone else too.  It's the bleakest month of winter when the outdoors is least inviting and we're all pooped out from the holiday-ing.

Soon enough along comes lovey-dovey February with all its hearts and flowers.  And slowly, every so slowly, a sunray breaks through the grey clouds, a light begins to shine and new life starts up all over.  Tiny little twittering birds gently wake us from our slumbering silence.  The promise of a new day, a new season, a new year whispers quietly in the tiny pink buds sprouting from branches. Spring creeps in on tiny mouse toes, but when it finally arrives, it brings a warmth and joy so powerful that memories are made in an instant.

SPRING SEASONAL SOAPS

To celebrate spring -the season of love, flowers, and new beginnings - I’ve created some new takes on some very traditional European soap fragrances.  For me, spring scents are inherently light in a palette of green, fresh and flowery.  After months of dead leaves and naked trees, the hint of blossoms in the breeze is a breath of fresh air. ($ 4.25 each or 4 bars for $ 16.00)

Lilac Garden:  One of the first scents of spring, lilac blossoms are both powerful and fleeting, stunning in their beauty and symbolic of innocence and purity.  This is an absolutely true and perfect lilac scent - a just-picked bouquet straight from the garden in a pretty purple bar.

Orange Blossom:  A classic and pretty Spanish orange blossom fragrance with a squeeze of sweet orange for a bit more citrus brightness.  Lovely and timeless, this is a very traditional European soap, a soft floral scent in a peach tinted bar.

Gardenia:  A lush, gorgeous, elegant and nostalgic flower, gardenia is said to be the blossom of love.  This is a vintage perfume and another classic French soap scent which has stood the test of time.  Notes of aloe vera and green leaf blend with a beautiful gardenia floral, for a very fresh, very light version in an ivory white bar.

Lemon Verbena:  Lemon verbena is one of the most loved classic soap scents, from Yardley's of London to modern Mrs Meyers.  This soap features bright lemon and bergamot citrus with dreamy lemon blossoms - a very soft and pleasant lemon, uplifting and sweet.

SPRING AROMATIC SPRAYS

Turn up the volume on your romance dial - try the Lilac Garden aromatic spray for spring.  A companion to our seasonal soap, Lilac Garden is incredibly true, a lush and fragrant floral mist to brighten up the winter doldrums.  This fragrance makes a lovely sprintzer for everything imaginable - delightful as a body spray, a great deodorizer for linens, rooms, closets, cars, plus a fabulous pick-me-up anywhere, any time. ($6.00 each)

WINTER CLEARANCE SALE

During the last month I've had all my remaining fall and winter holiday seasonal soaps, sprays, bath salts, plus lip balms at big discounts on the web site.  There are still deals left and it's a great time to stock up on your favorites.  Check it out at SoapworksStudio.com/sale.

SPRING SHOWS

It's still early in the scheduling of shows for 2013.  Deadlines are in the works with notifications and contracts to be determined in the next couple of months.  But here are a few that are on the calendar right now.  Check the website any time ("Show Schedule" button) for all the latest information.

March 23 - 24

Best of the Northwest - Spring Show

Smith Cove Cruise Ship Terminal, Pier 91

Magnolia neighborhood, Seattle

Saturday and Sunday 10am - 6pm

April 19 - 21

Tulip Festival Street Fair

Downtown Mount Vernon

Fri and Sat 10 am - 6pm, Sun 10am - 5pm

May 18 - 19

University District Street Fair

University Street, U Dist, Seattle

Sat 10 - 7, Sun 10 - 6

Come on everybody, let's do the happy spring dance!