Summer Newsletter 2013

The new summer newsletter for this just went out to everyone's mailboxes and inboxes - so I'm posting it here just to keep everyone in the loop.  All the new stuff is easily reached on the Seasonal page of the web site - look for it HERE.

And here's the news . . .

Summer in a word means freedom.  At the very least it’s freedom from socks, pinchy shoes and scratchy sweaters – because all you live in is a t-shirt and flip-flops.  Schedules, work, and deadlines take a back seat to lazing about and taking it easy.  All that “stuff” that you’re supposed to do gives way to spontaneous runs to the beach, spur of the moment barbeques, and days off for fun and play.  It’s an entire season of vacations, for pete’s sake.  How can you not love summer?!

The other thing I love about summer – farmer’s markets and fresh-picked fruits and veggies.  So much juicy, tasty, produce that’s so good for you.  You almost can’t get enough corn, watermelon, peaches, berries, and zippy lettuces.  With that in mind, I’m doing a whole bunch of seasonal veggie based products this summer – living life on the vedge!

SUMMER SEASONAL SOAPS

In a tribute to summer, I’ve cooked up a basketful of healthy veggie-based 100% natural soaps.  These unique soaps may only be available for the next few months and are made in limited production – but I’m hoping that you love them as much as I do, and we’ll figure out which ones to keep on the standard menu.  More detailed info of benefits on the web site too! ($4.25 ea or 4 for $16.00)

Rosemary Tomato – This is a replacement of the Rosemary Orange soap, just amped up a couple of notches with tomato powder and fig powder for better color plus a whole lot of great skin benefits.  The herbal rosemary orange scent is the same, but the bright orange hue comes from the tomato powder packed with lycopene, a terrific antioxidant which nourishes skin cells and helps protect from the assault of environmental pollutants.  The fig powder adds a long list of vitamins and phytochemicals to protect skin and it’s also high in alpha hydroxy acid (AHA) which is thought to help brighten the skin.

Carrot Coconut – Sweet orange and lemon blend with lemongrass and loads of ginger, for a scent that is like liquid sunshine - bright, sparkly, almost effervescent in it’s brilliance. This soap is made with organic coconut cream, coconut milk, carrot powder, acerola powder and carrot extract.  It’s highly moisturizing formula is full  of vitamin C, beta carotene, plus a host of other essential nutrients and antioxidants, great for mature or dry skin. 

Pure Pumpkin – A triple pumpkin recipe with fresh organic pumpkin puree, pumpkin powder and pumpkin seed oil - the scent is so delicious, you’ll want to shower all day.  Pumpkin is a miracle worker for skin, full of essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals, and exfoliating enzymes.  It is decadent in it’s lush, silky feel and the fragrance is spicy, bright, fresh, and happy with citrus, clove, cinnamon, and rosemary.

Cucumber Yogurt – Fresh squeezed cucumber juice and real organic yogurt are calming and refreshing.  Aloe vera oil and avocado oil are easily absorbed into the skin, adding great moisturizing and healing benefits to the creamy coolness.  Great for sunburns or as a dreamy facial soap, it has a mild, peaceful scent of bay, grapefruit and orange.

Tea Tree & Blue Clay – Russian Cambrian blue clay is a rare and powerful cosmetic clay with a mineral content 5 times higher than Dead Sea mud, absorbing oiliness and purifying pores. Tea trea oil is the super hero here – fighting bacteria, infection, and inflammation.  Breakouts and problem skin are history with this soap, although all skin types can benefit.  The tingly, fresh herbal scent is a blend of tea tree, lavender, and peppermint.

AROMATIC SPRAYS FOR SUMMER

Summer is the perfect season to indulge in one of the aromatic sprays.  Keep a bottle in the fridge for a little spritz of icy cool on your neck or decolletage.  Spray a little bit of happy on your summer sundresses, fresh sheets, steamy car seats, or stinky dog.  This superhero stuff goes anywhere and everywhere, making the world smell a little more beautiful, one squirt at a time.  (4 oz bottle $6.00)

Beach House – A dreamy blend of salty ocean air, pretty lavender and green herbs, this scent is clean and light as a breeze.  With a zen-like calm, its soothing marine fragrance and beautiful translucent sea glass color transports you directly to the spa.  If I had a little seaside cottage, I’d have piles of these in every room.

Coconut Lemongrass – Tropical and beachy, this is like a pina colada with a squeeze of lemon – so fun and a perfect way to celebrate summer.

NEW WILDFLOWER DEAD SEA BATH SALT

I’ve added a new scent to my Dead Sea Bath Salts menu – Wildflower.  It’s very softly floral, but mostly fresh-cut green leaves and grass and meadows, which smells like summer and freedom and wide-open spaces.  My new favorite -  deeelish! (16 oz bottle, $ 8.00)

SUMMER FAIRS AND FESTIVALS

The arrival of summer means another season of sidewalk fairs and festivals. I have a full schedule planned and am looking forward to seeing you all.  I’ve enclosed a handy calendar to save for reference, and for even more details, including booth locations, check out the “Show Schedule” section on the website, SoapworksStudio.com.  As always, last minute announcements are posted on the blog, so check there too.

Tunes blasting.  Wind in your hair.  Open road . . . 

Mother's Day Sale

My pop-up shop is back just in time for Mother's Day! I 'm talking about my little retail space at Group Health on Capitol Hill which I do a couple of times each year. I'm open this week Wednesday through Friday.

I am "renting" a little retail space on Capitol Hill at the Group Health central campus.  A portion of all of my sales goes to their Patient Needs Fund, a part of the Volunteer Services Dept, which buys supplies and necessities for patients there.

The summer newsletter just went out today and all the new stuff is on the website (as of about an hour ago!) - so I'll have all the exciting new summer soaps there this week.  Mother's Day is this coming Sunday, so it's perfect timing to pick something up for Mom, or a treat for yourself for all your mad Mom skillz :)

Hours: 

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (May 8 - 10) 9:30am-4:00pm 

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.

Hope you can get a chance to stop by over there!

Studio Closed - just a few days

PLEASE NOTE:  The studio will be closed from Wednesday, May 1 through Sunday, May 5.  All orders, inquiries, etc. will resume on Monday, May 6th.  Thanks for your understanding.

Hi all!  That little red note there - that's what I just put up on all the pages of the web site.  I'm taking just a couple of days off before the whole summer newsletter and hoopla hits next week.  A quick break before the madness begins.

So I won't be shipping orders or available by phone or email until next Monday.  Beginning Monday, May 6, everything will be open for business.  Back on track.  And in full swing mode.  The summer stuff on the website goes live.  The newsletter gets mailed.  The email version gets sent too.  I'll have a copy of the announcement here on the blog.  And I'll start right in with a show next week too - my Mother's Day sale at the Group Health Central spot on Capitol Hill in Seattle.

Until then, however -- just taking a quick breather.  See you soon!

Invited Back

The summer show schedule is up.  People have been asking me when they see me if I'll be at one festival or another.  And I'll be at pretty much everything I've done before.  Except Bellevue.  I'm taking that weekend off for my birthday this year.

I wanted to give a special shout-out to the Anacortes Arts Festival.  They are always, truly always, my best show of the summer.  And I've been invited back again this year.

That means that they liked my products (and my sales) enough to specifically invite me back to the show this year without going through the usual jurying process.  It's a great honor - and not many people get that distinction.  I'm lucky enough to have been invited a number of times over the years - last year too.

They have a special page up on the website to showcase us "invitees" and I wanted to include a link so that you can check out all the other amazing artists on the list.  They also have a few pre-festival events going on - an art show and a run.

Very much looking forward to seeing so many of you at this show - but pretty excited about the other ones too.  There's lots of good ones on the list, including my little Group Health shop for Mother's Day next week.  I'll post more details about that one here next Monday - but if you need any last minute gift ideas for Mom, I'll have a whole shop full of great stuff on Capitol Hill Wed through Fri next week.

Mother's Day is next Sunday - so get cracking!  Oh, and I wanted to mention that the summer newsletter is hot off the presses and getting mailed out next Monday too.  So I'll have all the new summer stuff at the Group Health sale.  Yippee!  Summer baby!

Half Price Bath Salts! What?!!

Showers, Showers, Showers . . . but what about the BATH?!

The month of April is all about the showers.  "April showers . . ."  blah, blah, blah. All anyone ever talks about is those darn showers.  The BATH is getting short shrift! And with all those chilly rain showers and blustery winds, it's a perfect time to soak in a nice, hot, bath tub.  Relax, unwind, and leave your cares at the door.

To give the bath tub a little love, I've put all our Dead Sea Bath Salts on sale this weekend.  A huge 16 oz bottle of Dead Sea bath salts, regularly priced at $8.00, will be the steal of the century at only $4.00 each - this weekend from Friday through Sunday.  So economical too because just a little of these salts goes a long way.  Just a quarter cup or small handful will infuse your whole bath with heavenly scent, detox away stress and aches, and nourish your skin with loads of minerals, leaving you soft, silky and smooth as a baby's bum.

Oh, and did I mention I've got a new flavor too?  It's called "Wildflower" - very softly floral, but mostly fresh-cut green leaves and grass, which smells like summer and freedom and wide-open spaces.  My new favorite -  deelish!

Fill your shopping cart HERE!

Save Big!!! There is no fine print.  Just place an order online, prices will be marked down on the site from Friday, April 26 through midnight Sunday, April 28.  As always, orders are not charged while you are online, but rather processed here at the studio when we get your order information.  That means that your online confirmation will most likely appear slightly incorrect.  We add the volume discounts, adjust shipping charges, and calculate taxes on our end when we finalize the transaction.  The corrected final invoice will arrive in your shipment.

Offer expires midnight Sunday, April 28.

Oh, and if you want to receive these announcements right in your email box so that you will be the first to know when another sale is starting, sign up for the email list HERE.

Tulip Festival Street Fair - This Week

I was just sitting down to write up a blurb about the Tulip Festival yesterday when I heard the news about the Boston bombings.  I was just too disturbed and distracted to do much more.  So gruesome.  And pointless really - what was the message?  It's so confusing - the targets, the timing, why? why? why?

Anyway, back to the topic of today:  Tulip Festival!  My tulips at home have already bloomed, so I'm assuming the fields are full of blooms also, and hoping that they have not had to harvest and dead-head too many of them already.  The display gardens are always in bloom anyway, and they will be lovely.  The actual festival is well under way - starting April 1st and going through the end of the month.  All the details for visiting the tulip growers part is HERE with maps, directions, etc.

The town of Mt Vernon has a street fair that coincides with the whole tulip mania in Skagit County, and it is happening this coming weekend.  Friday through Sunday, April 19-21.  Hours at Fri and Sat 10am - 6pm, Sun 10am - 5pm.  It runs right through the downtown area main street - several blocks from Kinkaid at the south up to the bridge at the north where the Skagit Valley food co-op is.

My location is just outside the front  door of the co-op, in that little bunch of tents at the intersection, but facing the other side of the street.

Web site for details:  HERE
Map:  HERE

I've got all the spring seasonal products, plus a special Tulip Fields soap, just for the occasion.  Looking forward to the first outdoor show of the year!  Hope the weather holds up for us . . .

I'm Paying Your Taxes!

(Cross-posted from my email customer list)

Save some moolah this week!

It's tax deadline week and pennies are tight.  We can save you a little extra cash this weekend - we'll pay your sales tax for you!

Here's the BIG print: order anything, order any amount, have it shipped anywhere - we will pay the sales tax amount on your entire order.

Offer good Friday, April 12 through Monday, April 15.

Fill your shopping cart HERE!

There is no fine print.  Just place an order (or several!) on our website any time between Friday, April 12 and Monday, April 15.  You will not be charged sales tax on your order(s).  As always, orders are not charged while you are online, but rather processed here at the studio when we get your order information.  That means that your online confirmation will most likely appear incorrectly.  We add the volume discounts, adjust shipping charges, and calculate taxes (none this weekend!) on our end when we finalize the transaction.  The corrected final invoice will arrive in your shipment, Capiche?

Gray Barn Nursery - New Show

Just posting a new show I've added to my summer list.  And it's a completely new show. It's called 1st Annual Art at Gray Barn.

Gray Barn Nursery will host Cisco Morris for a live broadcast of his radio show, which airs on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, plus local artists share their garden-themed art.

Saturday, June 1st

9:00am to 4:00 pm

Gray Barn Nursery

20871 NE Redmond-Fall City Rd

@ corner of Sahalee Way NE

Redmond

Gray Barn

I've got almost all of my summer schedule confirmed at this point.  I think I'm only waiting to hear back from one or two - and may still add a couple of dates too.  But the majority of it is set, and it's all posted on my website on the Show Schedule page.  The next one up is the Tulip Festival street fair in a couple of weeks.  Gearing up for a terrific summer!

April Fool

Did you notice Google's April Fool's joke today?  Google Nose (in Beta).  Dubbed "smelling is believing."

The new scentsation in search

• Coming to your senses: go beyond type, talk, and touch for a new notation of sensation.
• Your internet sommelier: expertly curated Knowledge Graphs pair images, descriptions, and aromas.
• Take a whiff: the Google Aromabase - 15M+ scentibytes.
• Don't ask, don't smell: For when you're wary of your query - SafeSearch included.
• • Google Nose^BETA leverages new and existing technologies to offer the sharpest olfactory experience available:
  • Street Sense vehicles have inhaled and indexed millions of atmospheric miles.
  • Android Ambient Odor Detection collects smells via the world's most sensible mobile operating system.
  • SMELLCD™ 1.8+ high-resolution compatible for precise and controlled odors.
• Oh how I wish that was true!  Imagine how cool my website could be if only we had the equivalent of smellivision for the internet!  I could have little thumbnails of fragrance for each of the soaps.  You wouldn't have to guess what the new soaps smelled like - you could just click on it and infuse your room with the latest scent.
• I'm not sure I'd be using the Nose search engine to find horse manure or wet dog, but it would be nice to search a certain gorgeous flowering bush that my neighbor is growing and I don't know the name of.  Some day I'm sure we'll get there - technology is always amazing me.  But for today, sigh, we don't have the scent-ernets ready just yet.

Dont' be a fool - stay safe with all your pranking today!

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