Robots

Oh My GAWWW! Stop with the robo-calls already!

The past week or so has been nuts with all the robo-calls I'm getting here at the studio for political stuff. If they aren't trying to tell me how to vote, they are calling with a survey to ask how I'm going to vote. It's so hard to get anything done when the phone is ringing all day.

And the mailbox is absolutely stuffed every day too. What a waste of trees for all those mailers.

I can. not. wait. for it all to be over next Tuesday.

Please do make the effort to vote though. It's really important stuff and the issues affect everyone, whether you like it or not. You can't just complain about how it turned out later, if you didn't take the time to state your opinion by voting in the first place.

Shows: Nov 3-6

I'm posting my show schedule for next week because it's going to be NOVEMBER already. Ugh.

That "ugh" was just my anxiety about how much is left to do this week before the whole madness begins next week. The Winter Holiday newsletter will be going out at the beginning of next week. Followed by 3 shows the first week, 3 more shows the next week, 3 more shows the week after that, and then a whole bunch more as the month goes on. December is more of the same.

I will be stressed out and ragged, no matter what. I know this. After all these years of going through this madness in November and December, it's just as scary every time. There's no way around it though. This is the shopping season, and this is the time I need to maximize every minute in order to make enough money to continue this business next year. So it's head down and plow through to the other side, one step in front of the other.

One thing I am excited about though are the new winter soap scents. This time all of them came out really good and were just what I was hoping for. This first week of shows will be a mix of both fall and winter scents, and I won't have all of them at all three shows. If you are looking for something specific, please email or call to know where to find it. Starting next week, there will be winter soaps everywhere, and the fall scents will be pretty much gone. Sneak peek: Ponderosa Pine, Red Berry, Holiday Mint, Cinnamon Cedar and Spiced Mocha.

So here's the first week's line-up:

Nov 3 - 6
Red Ribbons & Reindeer
Hollywood Schoolhouse
14810 NE 145th St, Woodinville
Wed 3pm-8pm, Thur & Fri 10am-8pm, Sat 10am-6pm

Nov 4 - 6
Pickering Barn Christmas Show
Pickering Barn, 1720 10th Ave NW, Issaquah
(across from Costco)
Wed - Fri 10am -7pm, Sat 10am-5pm

Nov 6
Eastlake High School's Holiday Bazaar
Eastlake High, 400 228th Ave NE, Sammamish
Saturday only 9am - 4pm

Soapworks

No fancy pictures or exciting stories today. Just popping in to say that I AM NOT the same woman who was on the Glen Beck show on Friday.

Not that anybody is actually going to spend the time to come over here and check out my blog, sigh.

But since my website and email box is going insane over the weekend, and still is today, I just thought I should say something.

Amilya Antonetti started a business named "Soapworks" at just about the same time I did - oh a million years ago now or so. She started big. Really big, with a factory, full staff, etc. Her product line was big too. Shower soap bars, but liquid soaps, laundry soaps, home cleaning products. They were in the grocery stores and Trader Joe's. I think it was in California somewhere.

It was so long ago that I don't think Google even existed. Anyway, I started out small. Very small. But my super bright idea for my brand spanking new business was "Soapworks." Yes, the same one. About a year into it, I realized that I had the same name as another company, because a couple of people said they saw my laundry soap at Trader Joe's. (I guess I never saw that, naive me.) So I changed my name to "Soapworks Studio" just to be on the up-and-up.

I looked her up, knew vaguely what she was doing. And then that was that.

Some years back I started to get contacted by people who were looking for "Soapworks" stuff and found me instead. Computers were big now. So I searched for her. I had clipped a magazine article about her whole back story, so I knew her name. And from everything I could find, she had stopped doing the business. Her great big website was suddenly gone. She was no longer making soap stuff. At least as far as I could track down - just so I could point folks in the right direction.

When you Google the word "Soapworks" today I am the number one listing. So when Amilya Antonetti was on the teevee the other day, talking about her past projects, viewers started searching for her long-ago company name and they are headed over to my place in droves. Some are looking for laundry soap. Others are just looking to buy whatever she's making.

I am very sorry, but I am not her. And I don't make laundry stuff or household cleaners. But my soaps are better than hers ever were :) I would be very honored if you decided to try them. Especially since she isn't making them any more.

From her website, she appears to be a media personality, with a book about leadership and entrepreneurial whatnot that she's promoting. You can continue your search there if you are looking for her specifically.

In the meantime, I'm still making some really great handmade, natural soap products over here. And i just thought I should clear that whole thing up, because there are obviously a very large number of confused and searching customers out there traveling the internets.

This Week: Vasa Park

I was absolutely glued to the miner's rescue yesterday. I had the live feed on the computer while I was working and every time the whistle blew, I had to run over and watch as each men emerged from the capsule. Incredible.

I also set up the Vasa Park show yesterday. Such a gorgeous, sunny, fall afternoon. I took over my new camera to take pictures of the place, but the best one is somehow corrupted and I can't upload it. Wouldn't you know it. So here's a rather uninteresting sign of the actual park across the street. I know you're thinking "how special." And you're right. Dumbest photo ever.



The building where we have our shows is across the street from the park on Lake Sammamish. It was a super hopping ballroom for dances back in the day. Now it's a rickety little wooden building in a parking lot. But it's open and easily accessible, perfect for a craft show. Yesterday was chaos as everybody dragged in cartloads and giant hauls of stuff. Display and goods, decorations and lights. It will be a wonderland of crafts by this morning when it opens at 10am.

The actual park is across the street. It has a little beach, which was so crystal clear yesterday against the mountains. And it's all decorated for Halloween with pumpkins and big scary balloons. There's a campground area too. (More info about Vasa Park Resort.)



If you're looking for handcrafted fall decor, halloween gifties, and great handmade goods, here's the scoop:

Dates: Thursday through Saturday, Oct 14-16
Hours: Thurs and Fri 10am-7pm, Sat 10am-5pm
Location: Vasa Park Ballroom, 3560 W Lk Samm Rd SE, Bellevue

Random Porn

I named my little blog "Random Suds" when I started out, but much to my surprise, it's become Random Porn lately.

I know I've been a little lax on blogging in recent months, and in fact, I haven't even checked in much. But last week, when I had a little more time, I decided to do some housekeeping here. What I found in the comments section was so nuts. Dozens and dozens of comments added to long ago postings - mostly in Russian and mostly containing links to porn.

Huh? Why would anyone think that was a good idea? Seriously, I don't get that much traffic over here, but I can't imagine anyone, even a Russian speaking someone, is traveling back through time and reading all those old posts. And if that Russian speaking someone is just catching up on what I was yabbering about a year (or two) ago, would they even come across those comments? And then Oh! Hello! why yes, it looks like hot Russian girls looking for action! How did I not think of that?! I'd much rather be surfing Eastern European porn than reading about which shows this girl was doing in June of 2008!

Oh, I know, it's probably just a robot. But anyway, it just seemed so crazy. I spent about half an hour deleting all that junk. Just in case you happened to see it before and wondered why I didn't take care of it earlier.

There were other old comments too that I missed. A couple of them had me thinking. Both were along the same lines, that my blog needed more pictures instead of just text if I wanted anyone to be interested in it. My catty self immediately dismissed them - "they probably don't even read books" - but of course they are right. We are conditioned to need all kinds of stimulation from our internets. Video clips, huge strings of photos about what we had for breakfast and what we did today. Usually it takes too long to load and we're already clicking on to the next thing anyway. But we expect all that stuff to be there. Not just reading - that's so last decade.

I recently bought a new camera. My old digital camera started to fall apart, literally - the entire side piece was hanging off of it and to try to hold it together while shooting a pic usually meant there was a chunk of thumb or something in every picture. So I got a new one and my plan is to use it more. Maybe post more pictures of my actual business and products and stuff. Not breakfast. But in the spirit of things, today I have posted a picture of myself. My sister took it on the day I bought the camera. We were taking pictures of each other and the garden and stuff, just to test it out. I typically hate pictures of myself and don't like those candid point-and-shoot things at all. So this is what they mostly looked like. It's a beauty.

Cheers! And oh, if you were actually looking for random porn. You've come to the wrong place. Heh.

And porn linkers (office supplies, electronic equipment, dating sites): I'm on to you.

Procrastination

If you've followed along for awhile, you know that I am a procrastinator. I am. It's not that I like waiting until the last minute, and in fact I try - really try - to work ahead and prepare in advance and get things done before it gets really stressful.

But somehow, there is always a crunch at deadline time, and I realize that I just didn't get enough done earlier and now there's a whole pile of stuff left. The adrenaline rush makes me work extra fast and sorta more efficiently. It also makes me crazy - making stupid decisions, missing important stuff, making mistakes, which isn't so efficient after all. So I've been working at this procrastination problem. And I think I've done a much better job this year.

One of the little quotes that I cut from a magazine long ago and keep in my little stack of goals and to-do's and stuff is this:

"Procrastination is a way for us to be satisfied with second-rate results; we can tell ourselves we'd have done a better job if only we'd had more time . . . If you're good at rationalizing, you can keep yourself feeling rather satisfied this way, but it's a cheap happy. You're whittling your expectations of yourself down lower and lower." - Richard O'Connor, PhD, in Happy At Last: The Thinking Person's Guide to Finding Joy (St. Martin)

This quote, when I read it, made so much sense to me. I realized that I was starting to get a little too comfortable with the "well, it's good enough for now" thinking that I was doing. But if I was honest with myself, it really wasn't good enough. I had bigger goals, higher expectations. Not perfection, but not the rushed and sloppy bits either.

It's all probably a lot deeper than just a habit. There's really only certain things that I put off - other things never get affected. I suppose I should be spending time figuring out what and why those particular tasks are bothering me.

While I was working through some long forgotten piles last week (it was suuuuper slow over at Group Health last week which was both bad for sales but good for my getting work done) I found this little scrap tucked into the wrong folder. I loved reading it again. Just thought I'd share it in case you're in the same place.

Monday morning - I worked a lot over the weekend and was all ahead of the game today. Ran out to do some banking and drop off all the orders I packed ahead. Oh yeah. It's a flippin' holiday today and those people all have the day off. Arrrgh.

Streeeeeeetch

Cats are the bendiest, stretchiest things ever.

Today's fun fact: the average person’s total skin covering would weigh about 6 pounds if collected in one mass.

I can't believe today is already October. September went by in one big blur. I've been buried in orders and the Puyallup Fair. Which was down quite a bit this year. Not just for me, but the whole fair. The economy hasn't gotten better, but they raised the ticket prices and the parking fees. Plus the weather was so wet and cool for most of the time, especially the weekends, so attendance was down overall quite a lot. Anyway, it was still a successful endeavor. And I'm so glad it's over.

Moving on to this weekend. It's Salmon Days. And we're supposed to have dry weather! What a change, eh? It's usually beautiful in September for the Fair and raining and storming for Salmon Days. Sunshine on Saturday? Unheard of!

Details: It's the whole downtown area of Issaquah, with the main streets closed off. Saturday and Sunday, October 2 and 3. Hours are 10-6 both days. I'll be in my usual spot, which is Sunset Way, right at the corner of the driveway into the fish ladder and salmon hatchery.

I will not have the mini-soap sets. I sold out of everything I had made at the fair. I've got more curing right now, but they are a couple of weeks away. I will have everything else - all the fall soaps and bath salts and lip balms. Plus a few scrap bags on sale - not a lot, but some so come early for those.

Next week I'll be back at Group Health for my little mini shop. And the following week is Vasa Park. I'll post details about those later. It's going to be a busy holiday season . . .

Autumn 2010 Newsletter

Just for those of you who may not be on the mailing list or email list - I'm posting the new Autumn Newsletter here too. It explains all the new fall products in detail. And because I'm pressed for time this week, I'm not doing links for each item mentioned, just one link for all the products which are in one place on the Seasonal Products page. And one other link - my schedule of events for the next few months.

Cheers!

Dear Friends,

While we’ve been frolicking about carefree in our shorts and flipflops, summer’s begun to fade. It’s true. The once vibrant flower beds are becoming sort of dry, crinkly and past their prime. Dried, yellow leaves are just beginning to drift out of the trees, signaling another change of seasons. Fall is on its way.

Autumn brings a renewed sense of purpose – a return to school, work, and routines as familiar as your favorite old pair of shoes. It’s a bit of a comfort really, to sink into a warm, cozy chair and spend time just watching the rain drops splash against the window. The cool, crisp brilliance of a sunny September, with its picture-perfect days and star-filled nights come and go so quickly. October’s stunning show of colors turn from yellow to red to brown in a flash. Suddenly it’s already November, a return of the rains and the doorway to the holidays. Savor all the little moments, because like the spookiest little carved pumpkin, it doesn’t last long.

AUTUMN SEASONAL SOAPS

Autumn’s cool, crisp air crystallizes our senses. The whisper of wind and the crunch of dead leaves shoo us back indoors to the comforts of home – soups stewing, goodies baking and fireplaces burning. This year’s Autumn Harvest soaps are loaded with our favorite fruits and spices, taking the best of the season and celebrating the bounty. ($4.25 each or 4 bars for $16.00)

Pumpkin Carrot: Scented with creamy pumpkin, rich vanilla, and a sprinkling of spice, it’s always one of the most popular soaps we make each fall, but this year’s soap has a little something extra. Carrot powder adds both depth of orange color and nutrient properties too. Carrots are packed with vitamins, have anti-aging benefits, and help heal dry, cracked or chapped skin, a common problem as we head into cooler weather.

Nutmeg Buttermilk: Pure toasty nutmeg, warm and comforting. I’ve wanted to do this single spice scent for a long time and I’m sorry I waited because it’s truly lovely. Colored with rhassoul clay, it’s the exact caramel color of a sprinkling of nutmeg. Fresh buttermilk in the recipe makes it extra rich, creamy and moisturizing. (100% natural ingredients)

Apple Jack: Autumn and apples are inseparable partners. This soap is an irresistible blend of tart green apples, orange peel, cinnamon sticks, spicy clove, and nutmeg – a wonderful take on a traditional apple spice style fragrance.

Almond Mint: Candy! This blend of dreamy almond and two kinds of mints is sweet and fresh at the same time. A pretty ivory-colored bar, the combination brings out the best of everything for a deliciously creamy, delightfully fun soap.

Many of the previous Autumn soaps have become such favorites that they’ve continued on and become regulars on the standard menu. Lavender Pear, Moroccan Fig, and Cinnamon Pear are especially lovely treats at this time of the year and worth another try.

HOLIDAY LIP BALMS

For both the Autumn and Winter seasons, I’ve added Latte Caffe, Chai Spice, and Cinnamon Ginger Mint flavored lip balms to the menu du jour. Who can resist these treats? It’s the same nourishing, natural lip balm base that I carry in a dozen lip—smacking flavors, but the perfect flavor for Halloween treats, Thanksgiving celebrations and Christmas memories. See the enclosed brochure or the web site for the full list of flavors – Vanilla Tangerine, Root Beer, Raspberry Soda, Herbal Mint, Strawberry Rose, Coconut Lemon, mmmm . . . (1/2 oz tin - $ 2.00)

MINI SOAP SETS

New! I’ve made bunches of the mini 2 oz bars in the most popular regular fragrances: Lavender Lemongrass, Clove Mint, Vanilla Bean & Honey, French Lavender and Moroccan Fig. One of each of the 5 fabulous scents are piled up in a little stack, tied with bakery twine. Such pretty colors. Such a great idea for guest baths, travel soaps, or small gifts. Such a reasonable price - it’s only $10 for the whole package. I have attached a little card which describes the soaps and lists the scents too, so it’s all tied up for the perfect gift for absolutely everyone. You’ll want loads of these for the holiday season.

DEAD SEA BATH SALTS

Our rustic, chunky bath salts come directly from the Dead Sea. Completely unrefined, these salts are solar evaporated from southern Dead Sea water in southern Israel. Pure, fresh salts with a mineral content that is 7 times 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.

The Dead Sea salts are quite concentrated in their healing and nourishing properties, so a little goes a long way. Just toss a small handful, or approximately a quarter of a cup into your bath water, and use even less for foot soaks. The fragrance may seem a little strong at first whiff in the bottle but they are scented to fill a full bath.

The standard fragrances are: French Lavender, Vanilla Bean & Honey and Almond Ginger. Just for fall, I’ve added Sandalwood Jasmine – a beautiful blend of soft wood and pretty floral. (16 oz bottle - $ 8.00)

WHERE TO FIND ME

The next few months are filled to the brim with craft shows, fairs and festivals too. I’m making an extra effort to bring the goodies to you. See the enclosed calendar or log onto the website to get more details on the “Show Schedule” page.

As always, I sincerely appreciate your loyal business throughout the year, and wish you a brilliant and abundant harvest season!

Bumbershoot

Ok, just in case anyone is driving by the blog this weekend: I'm at Bumbershoot the next 3 days. I'm sharing a booth with my friend Miranda. It's her charity booth - she sells handicrafts made by her friends in Cofan, Ecuador. Cofan is geographically the top of the Amazon in Ecuador, and she guides tours there, and buys hand crafted items - mostly gorgeous woven hammocks, but other things too, like bracelets and small goods. What she brings back with her, she sells here and gives the profits to the Cofan Survival Fund, which helps the children go to school, in addition to saving their culture and environment. I'll get the exact link and post here later.

So I'm sharing her booth space this time around, and a portion of all my sales will go to them too. We're in the Alki Court area, which is just behind and below the Key Arena. There is a music stage there, and the Museum of Hot Glass show tent too, right in front of us. We're next to the building that is doing all the catering for the event (not the food vendors) - the catering for the bands and staff etc. So there will be lots of activity and entertainment all around. We're not part of the official "Indie Market" areas, but we're right in the middle of things, just off the path of the food vendors. That is as specific as I can get.

Bob Dylan and Mary J Blige are headliners, but there are tons of bands. Check out all the info about the festival HERE.

It's all one big cramming fest this week and next. The Autumn newsletter went in the mailbox late this afternoon. It will show up in mailboxes tomorrow or early next week, for those out-of-towners. The email version will hit mailboxes tomorrow morning, And I'll have an online version here too tomorrow morning. The website is live right this very mintue.

All that Autumn push happened in the last few days, in addition to suddenly trying to get ready for this show, all at the same time I'm trying to get my mountain of stuff done for the Puyallup Fair which happens next week. The Fair sets up Wednesday morning, so I have only Tuesday as my turn-around day. After working 3 straight days of 12-15 hour days at Bumbershoot, I think Tuesday is going to really hurt. Bumbershoot goes late. Really late. We stay open til at least 9pm, but the last biggest shows end at 11:30 or midnight and we might stay open later if it's busy.

I'm rambling tonight. Just got back from setting up over at Seattle Center. I'm excited and tired and overwhelmed and so many mixed emotions. I'm really looking forward to this thing. And then I'm a bit apprehensive about how it will all work out in the end too. But you gotta take on new challenges and try new stuff. That's what life is all about. Otherwise you're just dead, eh? Bring it on. Catch ya on the flip side.

This Weekend

Just a quick note to say that I won't probably know any more about my Bumbershoot location until set-up on Friday. We're getting squeezed into some little leftover corner, and probably around the Alki Court area, but I'll post Friday afternoon when I get final word.

I'm sharing a space with a friend, so I have only a half-booth to set up in. I won't have the sprays or lip balms, and I'm not sure what else. It's a work-in-progress this week to figure out what I can take and what I can't fit in. Plus I need to make sure that I'm not over-extending myself this weekend, and that I have enough inventory to set up the Puyallup Fair next week. It's a crunch.

Bumbershoot is Seattle's biggest music festival. Probably the entire Pacific Northwest's biggest music festival. It runs Sat through Mon at Seattle Center. You have to buy tickets and they are cheaper online now than they will be at the gate. I think. Hours that the gates are open is 11am to 10pm, although some concerts run later to 11pm. You just can't get in past 10pm. There are lots of indie craft market booths all over the place - the fountain, the covered walkway, Fisher Plaza area etc. And there are food booths all over too. It's a really big deal and there will be so many people there during the 3 days, whew.

I'll keep you posted here, but if you already have tickets and are looking for something specific to pick up there, then give me a holler by phone or email and I'll try to accommodate requests.

The year of no tomatoes

It's the "year of no tomatoes." Well, to be fair, there have been just a few and they were awesome.

But this past week the weather has already changed. It's cool, cloudy and dry. The lack of heat stopped the tomato plants cold. They were just putting out a bazillion of green tomatoes - some half formed and some fully ready to start ripening. But now they have gone on break. Probably permanently. Without rain for a while, the whole garden is starting to just give up and die out. Leaves are falling and there is dead stuff everywhere. It's so depressing. Summer is over and we're heading back to the grind - fall and school and work and work and then holidays and winter, all happening so fast you can almost hear it rushing by.

Maybe I'm feeling it a little more intensely because I'm in full fall mode anyway. I've been working on the new fall products, and this weekend is the touch-ups on the fall newsletter which will come out probably by the end of the week. I've got website updates and email letters to work on too. All at the same time I'm trying to get a pile of stuff ready for the Puyallup Fair (starting Sept 10th).

Oh, and a little other tiny thing happened yesterday. I got a half a space at Bumbershoot. I was fully expecting to have one more long weekend to truly get ahead of the game for the fair, and this little gem popped up. I'll be totally scrunched for time and inventory, but it's an amazing and wonderful opportunity which I just couldn't say no to. I'll do a bigger post in a day or two when I know more. But this is a gigantic show in Seattle and I'm thrilled to get a chance to display there - even if it's a little half of a booth in a corner somewhere. More soon . . .

Art in the Alley

I'll be at this little Art in the Alley show this afternoon. It's organized by the Columbia City Gallery, and is outside in Dorothy's Alley. Sounds like fun. They'll be selling cold drinks, snacks and otter pops inside, and there's a sausage cart outside. Goes from 4pm to 9pm.

I don't get a big space here - we're lined up in an alley. So I'm bringing just the basics. Most of the regular soap bars, the balms, maybe a few sprays and/or salts if I can fit them in. So if you're looking for something specific - give me a call before I head over there this morning. I know that's last minute.

This is just a little quickie show, that's right near my house. I love this neighborhood and wanted to spend an afternoon seeing what's going on over there.

Anacortes Arts Festival

This lounging flip flop photo? That's the exact opposite of what I'm doing this week. Maybe later . . .

This weekend is the humungous hoopla that is the Anacortes Arts Festival.

On August 6, 7 and 8, 2010, the streets of Anacortes fill with 260 outstanding juried Booth Artisans, first class Fine Art Exhibitions, Culinary Art with an international selection of foods, and a creative Youth Activities area for the youngest artists. It's their 49th annual festival, with live music and entertainment all over the place too.

They are expanding the number of Booth Artisans this year to include a Garden Art area between 2nd and 3rd Streets just north of the Main Stage. Nine Booth Artisans will provide a great selection of artistic creations for your home. Artists come from throughout the Northwest and as far away as New York, Florida and Arizona- it's really a huge event and one of my biggest shows of the year, so this week is pretty hectic trying to get it all packed up and ready to go.

The info:

Dates: Friday through Sunday, Aug 6-8
Hours: 10am-6pm all days
Soapworks booth location: Same spot as always. west side of the street, south end of the 400 block, almost at the corner of 5th street - just north of that intersection in front of the space that used to be La Vie en Rose Bakery. Map Here

I'm trying to get tons done. Really. Tons. For this show I can't even get enough inventory in my car to sell for more than a day. So I drive back and forth home each evening to re-load the car with another day's bundle of goods to sell. I'm never exactly sure what's going to be the best seller each year. But after all these years, I know which ones I need to have bins and bins of. So I'm working like crazy to get tons of it piled up and ready to just load out the door. This is still never quite enough though. And I end up working in the evenings and working again in the early morning hours before I have to jet out the door to drive up in time to open the tent again. I'll be toast by Monday. But fingers crossed the weather is good, the crowds are huge and I make enough money to cover my butt for little while.

Safe Cosmetics Act 2010

In August of 2008 all of us indie bath, beauty and bodycare businesses were in a panic about the FDA Globalization act that was going to put us out of business. I blogged about it then. And for the moment we were saved.

But now comes the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010. And it's got the whole industry in another panic. Much like the earlier proposition, anyone who manufactures and retails soap and beauty products, no matter how big or how small, will have to put their products through expensive and rigorous testing in order to label every single element of every single ingredient in every single product.

Since current technology can literally detect parts per billion through scientific testing, this is going to be a huge undertaking. And it will take its toll on the small, woman-owned, cottage businesses the most. Only the biggest corporate manufacturers will be able pay for that kind of testing.

The intention of this over-reaching legislation is to "protect" people from dangerous ingredients. That sounds great. However, it's not so cut and dried. Natural ingredients are extremely complex, unlike much more simple synthetic ingredients. A plant compound often has so many trace elements in it, that when you break it down into parts per billion, there will be an element that on its own can be found on a carcinogenic or contaminant list. This element, when ingested in extreme amounts by rodent lab animals might cause cancer. But when found in its natural state, in combination with the rest of the elements in that single plant ingredient, might even be anti-carcinogenic, antioxidant, or anti-inflammatory. This new legislation goes so far overboard that many natural product makers will be just give up.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is behind all this, as they were behind the FDA Globalization Act of 2008. They have quite a lot more lobbiest pull than any of us little guys. So we need to work together to petition against this proposal.

This post at Kayla's blog (Essential Wholesale) has infinitely more detailed information about what is being said, what is being done, and how you can help stop this.

And Anne-Marie (Brambleberry) wrote such an excellent, succinct and easy to understand list of reasons why this is going to hurt us, that it's a must read too.

Please sign the petition against it.

Bellingham Arts Festival

If you live in Bellingham, you have probably heard about the Chalk Art Festival over the years. You register for a section of downtown sidewalk space, bring your chalk pieces and create your masterpiece for awards and prizes. The last couple of years, they've added art and craft booths to the mix. And this year it's even bigger and better. With a new name, Bellingham Arts Festival, there are now 60 art vendors, plus music and all kinds of activities.

This year the festival will feature:

60 incredible arts and crafts booths
Local food vendors
Terrific live music from local bands on the Main Stage
Chalk Art creations adorning the sidewalks throughout downtown
Horse drawn wagon tours from the Bellingham Senior Activity Center
Beer from Boundary Bay and wine tasting provided by Bellingham Bar and Grill in our ArtBar

When: Saturday, July 31st, 10am to 6pm and Sunday, August 1st, 11am to 5pm

Where: 1200, 1300, and 1400 Blocks of Cornwall Ave in Downtown Bellingham, Washington

Full list of Participating Artists

Chalk Art Festival part is Saturday, 7/31, 10am to 1pm.

Allied Arts Chalk ArtFest from ENW with Deb Slater on Vimeo.

I'll be participating this year in the art festival. My booth of soap goods is in the 1300 block of Cornwall, between Magnolia and Holly Streets. I haven't been to this one before, so I'm looking forward to a new adventure. Hope to see some of Bellingham fans!

Bellevue 6th Street Fair

Whew! The shows are fast and furious this month. I never even got around to announcing the Gig Harbor festival last weekend, but it was a good show. Weather was great - cool mornings and sunny but not hot afternoons. And I guess it's a good thing I didn't post my location either, because it all got shuffled around. Small mix up with the parking signs, and there were cars parked all over the street when everyone arrived to set up. I got moved around to 3 different places before I finally got a spot I could set up shop in. But it all worked out fine and sales were great.

Now this weekend is the whole Bellevue Art Fair hoopla. The museum show is at Bellevue Square. Plus there's the other show across the street in the Cost Plus parking lot. And then there's us - the Sixth Street Fair - which sets up on 106th, a block over. I'll be in my same space in front of the California Pizza Kitchen, under the trees. This is a really big event, drawing huge crowds.

And so many years it's been hotter than Hades - we're all wilting in the heat and everyone is running for the indoor air conditioning. But not this time. Because this year we are having the summer that never showed up. I'm sure that if you are reading this from the East Coast or other parts of the country you probably don't want to hear us complain about our chilly summer. The heat waves everywhere else are insane. But we are not having any of it. Overnight it gets cloudy and cool, dropping into the low 50's. We wake up to early spring weather. And if we are really, really lucky (maybe a dozen days now) we can get into the 70's in the afternoon if the sun breaks through. It's stupid. Which proves to everyone that I'm not a true Northwesterner. Because a lot of people around here love that. Me? I'd be happier with more sun, warmer temperatures, and an actual summer-like day or two. I have 7 tomato plants that are going nowhere. The 2 squash plants that made it past our freezing spring weather (in June) are now getting powdery mildew. I didn't even try anything else because it was just so darn cold all the time. It's nearing the end of July and I'm still wearing sweaters.

Back to the show this weekend:

Friday, July 23: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Saturday, July 24: 10:00 am - 8:00 pm
Sunday, July 25: 10:00 am - 6:00 pm

Here is the map which lists all the other vendors and their locations. There is food and music too. Hope you get a chance to come over.

West Seattle Street Fair

This weekend is the West Seattle Summer Festival. And it's going to be hot. Well, not East Coast hot, but warm for us.

I love hanging out at this show because it's such a great neighborhood and community event. Everybody knows each other, or runs into neighbors and friends they haven't seen in a while - grabbing tables at the outdoor patios of the restaurants on the street, or having drinks and watching the live music in the evenings. It's a big family party with kids areas (called the "Super Terrific Happy Fun Zone"), sidewalk sales, local business promotions, and of course, all of us with our tents selling crafts, wares, imports and all sorts of cool stuff.

My booth is in a slightly different location this time. I've got a nice corner booth just up the street a bit. I'll be in space #133, which you can find on the zoomable map. It's on the west side of street, closer to SW Oregon St - sort of near the liquor store, I guess.

I'm selling scrap bars of soap this weekend. Dings and dents, or ugly ones that got stuck in the mold. Some leftover older flavors too. They are $1.50 a bar, and all full-size bars too - a real bargain. Come early, they won't last long.

Vendor hours are: Friday 10-6, Sat 10-8, Sun 11-5, July 9th - 11th. There are live music concerts all day and into the evening, with a full schedule here. Hope to see you at the party!

Gig Harbor Garden Tour

At long last, the details for the Gig Harbor Garden Tour, where I'll be selling my wares this weekend. It's organized by Tacoma Community College, located at 3993 Hunt Street in Gig Harbor. This is where the tour starts, and where you can buy tickets, get maps and directions. There are a couple of raffles going on too, so tickets are available at the desk.

I will be at house #3, Jeff and Judy Wilbert's place at 1818 Sullivan Dr in the Point Fosdick area near the water. There will be 3 of us artists at this location, set up on the driveway as you head down to the house. And there are other artists at other locations, but I'm not sure they are set up at every house. There are a total of 7 houses on this year's tour. I think. I'm just going by my written information. I've never done this before. It's a very cool idea.

Hours are 10-5 Sat and 10-4 Sun, June 26 and 27. Weather forecast is looking a little better than it was earlier in the week, which talked about rain both days. Now we've got more sunshine. Finally this week it's warmed up and given us at least 2 days in a row of sun. A real treat! The tomato plants have decided to grow again. I think they've been in hibernation the whole last month.

Oh, one more thing - you can buy tickets to the show online HERE. They are $20 if you buy them before midnight tonight. Otherwise, you need to buy them at TCC Gig Harbor when you arrive.

A little more info about the show HERE - including a downloadable guide.

Another cold gray day in summer

See that hammock? the beach? I really wish I was there. Our summer weather has been crap. Way too cold. Way too many drizzly, gray days. We can't get above 70 degrees here. Totally not summer weather.

It's already the 17th today. My last post was just before Sorticulture - which turned out great by the way and we actually had a day and a half of nice sunshine. I sort of missed it in my tent under the trees in the shade, but I did notice it. Super show this year with lots of great vendors and awesome plants.

Next weekend I'll be at a smaller garden tour show in Gig Harbor. I'm not supposed to reveal which garden I'll be in just yet - I guess it's supposed to be a secret. But I'll give you more details next week, in case you are in that area and planning to go. There are a number of houses on the tour and it's always fun to tour other people's little outdoor spaces, plus there will be artists in each of the locations, which makes it even more special.

This coming weekend there are more house project plans. Always something to work on here. And my last chance to do anything outside of soap this summer - because the next two months will be non-stop festivals and street fairs every weekend. To be honest, it looks pretty daunting from here. But it's the same schedule I give myself every years and I've managed to survive it each time, so it can't be that bad.

I'm working on production all the time now - hoping to get enough inventory made to last the summer. There are a few too many types of soap on my list I think. It's harder to keep up with all of them. I'm re-thinking that. But once it's on the list, it's almost impossible to take it off. Each and every one is somebody's favorite that they can't live withou. Same with the sprays and salts and lip balm flavors too. So I'm doing it all for the time being. Each time I think I've figured it all out, I realize heh, no, I have no idea what I'm doing. Just running in place.

Sorticulture

It's show time! The time of the year when it's all shows, shows, shows. This weekend is Sorticulture, Everett's Garden Arts Festival. This is such a fun weekend - so many plant and garden art vendors with great stuff. Plus there are display gardens, kids activities, demonstrations and lectures, music performances and food too. Free admission. Parking is a little tight sometimes, but there are shuttles from other lots (see here for more info).

June 11 - 13
Fri 10-8, Sat 10-6, Sun 10-5
Legion Memorial Park
145 Alverson Blvd. at West Marine View Dr.
Everett, Washington 98201

Link to the schedule of speakers and music

"Sorticulture unites art and the garden in a celebration of creative outdoor living. Our featured artists create distinctive hand-crafted garden art and our nurseries produce a wide variety of plants to transform your backyard. Learn tips and tricks from top regional gardening experts including Ciscoe Morris."