Apartment Therapy

Apartment Therapy: that's the name of one of my favorite websites, permanently bookmarked. It's mostly interior design oriented, but it's inspiration for all kinds of things. Even though my business is scents, I'm really a visual person. And I love the eye candy here - so many gorgeous photos. I love to check into the NY and SF pages especially (no Seattle one -- yet). I used to live in San Francisco years ago, and it's always fun to see the insides of people's homes there. Usually drop dead gorgeous. I can't tell you how many great ideas I've gotten from here, or how thrilled I am with the note that came in my email box today.

Anne R.M. sent me a message that she has been using my sprays for awhile now and loves them. And when she wrote a little piece on spring freshening and aromatherapy today, she included a photo of my Lavender Lemongrass spray, plus a link to my site in her little resources section at the end of the article. What a lovely compliment! Especially sweet since it was out of the blue, and yet from a website that I truly admire and enjoy.



I've already gotten a little bunch of orders for sprays this afternoon, so I know that people are paying attention. I'm tickled pink to be sharing my aromatherapy goods with the world.

Oldies but goodies

Have you noticed how much more satisfying it is to check something off your "to do" list when it's a task that you really dreaded doing and put off for a long time? I've procrastinated on a few things for days, and yesterday afternoon I forced myself to finally get them finished. Wow. That was a relief and it felt good. It wasn't really bad at all to actually do them. And it was such a nice feeling to be done. I wonder why I waited so long in the first place.

I usually start my day with the little, super easy stuff first. Just to get something going and once the ball is rolling it's easier to move on with some of the harder, longer tasks. And in the back of my mind, I'm hoping I run out of time in the day to do those last few things on the list that I really didn't want to do anyway. That's my method. It not one I recommend to everyone. But it usually works for me. Unless I let those icky jobs go too long . . . Sure, it there's probably a more efficient way to work. I'm too old now to change my ways.

Speaking of old. I found a new radio station the other day. I usually listen to NPR when I'm in the car, catching up on news that I missed. But I got bored of world events and punched around and came up with an oldies station. Yeah. Gah. They supposedly play 60's and 70's stuff (104.5 fm). 60's is way before me, and I'm not really sure that they do that much of it - the occasional beach song. Mostly it's 70's - Top 40 pop/rock that I listened to when I was a kid and I know all the words. No soul music, no disco music, just white bread. And seriously, I know all the words. Which is scary. I can't believe any of that is still in my brain - it's been so long since I've heard those songs or even thought about that time period.

It feels sort of like a little vacation - going back in time, especially this week when summer feels like it just busted out. Riding in the car with the windows down and a warm breeze. Singing (badly) out loud and just remembering a different place and time. What I used to feel like many long summers ago, when the world was innocent and my whole life was still ahead of me. I must be really losing my grip. Didn't we used to groan when our parents did this stuff - and make them turn off the radio in case somebody in the car next to us looked over? Yes. Yes we did.

Heaven help me . . . Peter Frampton, Journey, Firefall . . . they are keeeeling me.

U District Street Fair

This weekend is the U District Street Fair. I always feel like this is my first summer street fair. It never really feels like summer until after Mother's Day around here. And right on cue, this week is finally warming up and everything is leafed out, green and growing.

I finally pulled out the patio furniture and cleaned it all off today. I can sit outside and sun with the cats! Well at least for a couple of minutes in between racing around here with orders and prepping for the weekend.

The details for the show:

University District Street Fair
University Avenue, Seattle
May 15-16, Sat 10-7, Sun 10-6
My booth location: #323, between 42nd & 43rd, west side of street (in front of Chipotle's)

I'm in the same block as always, a little further north than last year, same side of the street. I'll have a few of the spring soaps left - there isn't much. And all the new summer stuff. Plus the rest of the kit & caboodle. And the weather looks like it's going to be beautiful, so it should be a great weekend. Hope to see you there!

Summer 2010 Newsletter

As I like to do, I am posting the full text of the Summer 2010 Newsletter here. I've got the snail mail letters shlepping arouand in the mailman's sack today. And the email version has just been pinged off to that little list too. So I'm posting the whole shebang here for anyone else I might have missed. And just because it's easier, I'm adding only a couple of links instead of the overkill for each and every one of the items mentioned. Happy Monday!



Dear Friends,

Summer is the season of romantic flings, sexy novels by the beach, and sensuous star-filled evenings. The warm, sunny days lure us into getting a little more intimate with the outdoors and the elements. Skin, oh lovely skin, hiding under sweaters for months, gets to cavort with the breezes and skinny dip in the water. Bare toes flirt with anything - tall grass, sandy beaches, flip flops, even hot sidewalks.

The four elements of nature: earth, air, fire, and water are at their very best this season. Sweet, warm earth grows a mind-boggling array of flowers, herbs, veggies and weeds. Bright blue sun-filled skies give us more fresh air than we can drink in. And who can resist the scent of sizzling, fiery, barbeque grills, the smoky goodness that curls and swirls from our neighbor's patios to our own little deck and then on down the block? Ahhhh, the cool water - beaches, pools, rivers, or creeks, we've all got our own favorite watering hole. Summer is simply grand!

SUMMER SEASONAL SOAPS

In a tribute to summer, I've created a couple of special soaps to celebrate the flavors of the season. These unique soaps are available only for the summer season (May - August) and are made in limited production. ($4.25 ea or 4 for $16.00)

SWEET SPEARMINT: When it's hot and steamy outside you want just one thing - to feel cool and fresh. A chilly shower with this bar is the ultimate in refreshing - an icy breath of luscious spearmint paired with the tiniest squeeze of juicy lemon just to kick it up a notch. (100% natural ingredients)

PEPPERMINT GRAPEFRUIT: Due to popular demand, I'm bringing this one back from last summer's menu. Cool and tingly classic peppermint with the energizing pop of pink grapefruit, sweet orange and a teeny pinch of ginger. Colored with a spoonful of real tomato powder, it's a luscious cantaloupe color. (100% natural ingredients)

OTHER SOAP BITS

SACRED SMOKE soap is back by request. I've added it back to the web site for ordering any time. But I won't bring it to my summer street fairs or fall craft shows - only because I have such limited display space. If this is a soap that you are coming for specifically, call or email in advance and let me know. I am happy to bring what you need to whichever location works for you. Hey - this special request thing is good for any of my other products too. If you're needing a few of this or a dozen of that and you want to pick it up from my booth at wherever, just give me a heads up and I'll have it set aside for you.

DEAD SEA BATH SALTS

Did you think that bath-taking was only for the cooler months? Silly rabbit. Soaking in a cool bath after a hot, hard day sounds a whole lot better than packing up and shuffling down to the public pool - no screaming tots, no splashing belly floppers, no getting chopped in the head by the lap swimmers. It's just steps away, quiet, private, and smells a whole lot better too.

These bath salts work wonders on purifying and detoxifying, improving circulation, moisturizing skin, soaking away stress, and relaxing muscles, aches and pains. Chill out with SWEET SPEARMINT. GRAPEFRUIT LEMON and MANDARIN ORANGE, are both incredibly juicy, bright, and sunny citrus blends that are super fresh for summer. Or relax with one of our standard scents, FRENCH LAVENDER, VANILLA BEAN & HONEY, or ALMOND GINGER. Giant 16 oz bottles of beautiful spa-quality soaking salts ($ 8.00 each).

AROMATIC SPRAYS FOR SUMMER

Summer is the perfect season to indulge in one of the aromatic sprays. Splash yourself and your little summer sun dresses, freshen your rooms, liven up your sheets, spritz the car seats, and squirt the dog. I've brought back the much-loved ORANGE GINGER spray, a delightful sweet orange scent with a bit of spicy ginger. And for a touch of the exotic, SANDALWOOD ORANGE is mellow, earthy and woodsy with a bit of citrus. Take one of our lovely sprays with you everywhere this season - LAVENDER LEMONGRASS and FRENCH LAVENDER are perfect warm weather pals too. ($ 6.00 ea)

I also have the ever-popular BUGGER OFF spray, an all-natural bug repellent that really works! Essential oils of cedar, bay, orange and eucalyptus mask your human scent and repel all kinds of irritating little critters - mosquitoes, fleas, and gnats. Safe for kids and pets, this spray works best when sprayed on clothing or bedding so the scent lingers longer. It's clean, woodsy and pleasant to wear, with no strong citronella that keeps the people away too. ($ 6.00 ea)

WEB SITE ADDITIONS

I've been in this business for 14 (!) years now, and I've researched a library's worth of information on oils, herbs, skincare, and health. So I've added a new page on the site with detailed information on my ingredients and the process, for anyone who wants to know more. (See "Healthy Ingredients") Plus, I've added a bit more skincare and aromatherapy info to each product page too, under "Mind/Body."

SUMMER FAIRS AND FESTIVALS

I get so excited each year to pop up my tent and start another season of street fairs and festivals because I get a chance to meet and talk to all of you. For more details on my summer schedule, including booth locations, check out the schedule section on the website, SoapworksStudio.com.

What's on your summer list? Drive-in movies, camping, garage sale hunting? It's time to get out there!

Heidi Risse

Happy Mother's Day

What a beautiful weekend we have to celebrate our Mom's!

Thanks to all the Mom's out there. Nothing would run at all without them.

Summer Schedule

I'm working on updating my summer show schedule on the website today - in preparation for the summer newsletter announcement which goes out Monday. But just to get it in place here too, I'm posting the full list. Most of the usual stuff. A few new ones, like the Gig Harbor Garden show and the Bellingham Art Festival. I'll give you all more detailed info on these as they come up - like booth locations, directions, descriptions. But if there is anything you want to know more about right now, just let me know.

Trying to get this all done quick so I can get out and enjoy the sunshine today. It's gorgeous out there!


Upcoming Events

May 15 - 16
U District Street Fair
University Ave, Seattle

Jun 11 - 13
Sorticulture
Legion Park, Everett

Jun 26-27
Gig Harbor Garden Tour
Gig Harbor

Jul 9 - 11
West Seattle Street Fair
The Junction, West Seattle

Jul 17 - 18
Gig Harbor Art Festival
Judson St, Gig Harbor

Jul 23 - 25
6th Street Fair at
Bellevue Art Festival
Downtown, Bellevue

Jul 1 - Aug 1
Bellingham Art Festival
Bellingham

Aug 6 - 8
Anacortes Arts Festival
Commercial Ave,
Downtown Anacortes

Aug 18 - 20
Summer Gift Shop
Group Health Campus
108 - 15th Ave E
Capitol Hill, Seattle

Sep 10 - 26
Puyallup Fair
Western Washington
Fairgrounds, Puyallup

For more information, please see the calendar section of the website

Mondays. Bother.

I'm not the biggest fan of Mondays. It's the day when I have to do all the stuff I procrastinated on Friday and avoided doing all weekend too.

It's not only work chores, but house chores too. Because I didn't get around to cleaning or doing laundry either this weekend. I spent it outside doing garden work. I'm making a little rain garden pit under my rain chain downspout. And pulling out a couple of waaaaaay overgrown bushes, so I can put in more appropriate plants there. Tucking in the tomato, zucchini and flower starts that I've been babying in the kitchen the last couple of months. Plus fighting aphids. Oh. my. stars. Those little suckers are bad this year - all over my favorite euphorbia and hellebores.

I like the gardening stuff. I'm not that keen on the inside stuff. Bother.

Just a small timing update - usually the summer newsletter goes out this week. But it just hasn't quite felt like summer yet, and I could use another week getting all the little details together. So I'm finishing it up this week, and it will be in the mail next Monday. Oh yeah, another happy Monday. But it will feel great to have that out the door and into your hot little hands.

Science Friday

(Photo: New York CIty in the Fog)

I've featured "Science Days" in the past, but not for a long time. Today seems like a good day to share a few links, stuff I've read lately that's interesting. About food and diet, scent and stars. Science stuff fascinates me. And the new information about health and nutrition changes daily.

In case you've got a minute or two, here's a little snippet of spots that's I've surfed in the past week or two.

Just for Earth Week, whale poop will save our oceans. (New Scientist)

Being fat is bad. But it's especially bad for your brain. (New York Times) Heavier people in their middle age have significantly atrophied brains in later life, leading to dementia and other problems.

Eating healthy is getting harder and harder. Agave sweetener is worse than high fructose corn syrup (Huffington Post)

Health insurance companies invest in fast food corporate stocks. (ABC News) Not surprising, but very telling. Here's how it works: they want to make profits. They profit on us being sick. The more we eat fast foods, the un-healthier we are. Connect the dots. And the top 5 investments? the five largest fast-food corporations: Jack in the Box, McDonald's, Burger King, Yum! Brands (KFC, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and others), and Wendy's/Arby's. Reason enough not to eat there.

"Of all the people in human history who ever reached the age of 65, half are alive now." That's a pretty shocking thought. We are becoming a planet of elderly folks. Welcome to the elderly age (New Scientist)

Portable ozone machines, found in hunting stores, are scent killing devices which could be the new secret weapon for terrorists and criminals. (Fox News) It destroys scents completely, allowing drugs or bombs to saunter right past the bomb-sniffing dogs at airports.

Learn about the stars in the sky at Hubblesite.org. A short video explains the constellations to watch for each month. April is the beginning of spring and features Leo the Lion. (Hubblesite.org)

And because this always makes me laugh: the most stupid wheel of fortune fails of all time (Urlesque)

Garden Art Fair this week

Here's where I'll be this weekend - in Anacortes:

Depot Arts Center's Annual Fundraiser - 7th Annual Garden Art Fair

Saturday, April 24 & Sunday, April 25, 2010
10 am to 5 pm both days. Rain or shine.
Green gardening meets tight budgets at Depot Arts Center’s 7th Annual GARDEN ART FAIR in historic Anacortes. Display gardens, plants, garden art, art exhibits, demos, food, wine & beer garden in a marketplace for one-of-a-kind shopping.

Whether it’s indoor and outdoor gardens or the gardens of our imaginations, inspiration and opportunities for creative, budget-minded gardening and outdoor living abound as Depot Arts Center’s Garden Art Fair returns for a 7th year in historic Anacortes on Saturday, April 24 & Sunday, April 25.

Visitors can enjoy a series of outdoor display gardens specially created for the show. From small space and container gardens to larger designs with special features, see what’s possible when plants co-mingle with fertile imaginations.

Sat and Sun 10am-5pm
Located 611 R Avenue, Old Town Anacortes

It's happening "rain or shine" which means we'll have a little of both, just like last weekend. Rainy day on Saturday, sunshine on Sunday. See ya there!

Tulip Festival

This weekend I'll be at the Mount Vernon Street Fair - part of this month's Tulip Festival.

The weather was so warm in early spring that the tulips started to come out early. But then the last few weeks has been quite chilly, gray and rainy, and it all slowed down. So who knows? There probably are some tulips still blooming, and some are done. The display gardens are always a good bet. And the weather is supposed to be quite nice the next few days, with sunshine and low 60's temps. Remember a few years back when we had that freak snowstorm on this weekend? And almost every other year it's dumping rain or freezing cold on this festival weekend. So this is going to be a real treat!

Details:

Friday through Sunday, Apr 16-18
Fri 10-6, Sat 10-7, Sun 10-6
Downtown Mt Vernon - it runs for blocks through the main street of downtown

My booth location is space #151, which is the very topmost block to the north, on the west side of the street. Everyone gets a corner booth. I don't have a great map, but I'm guessing it's pretty close to the food co-op up there.

Hope to see you there, having fun in the sun!

Tax Season Special

Save some moolah this week!

It's tax deadline week and pennies are tight. We can save you a little extra cash this week - 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 Monday, April 12 through Thursday, April 15.

Fill your shopping cart HERE!

Save Big!!

There is no fine print. Just place an order on our website any time between Monday, April 12 and Thursday, 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 be for merchandise only. We add the volume discounts, shipping charges and taxes (none this week!) on our end when we finalize the transaction. Capiche?

No Foolin'

Here's the birdie picture I tried so hard to post the other day. Super cute.

Watch out for pranks today. Text-only Youtube? A Walmart being built in Wallingford? Their concessions to the school and park they are replacing: classes in the children's section of the store, and senior citizens activities in the RV area of the parking lot. Heh.

What's not a joke is that the city of Seattle will have no 4th of July fireworks this year. So sad. I love those Lake Union fireworks shows - they are the best by far.

I'm at Group Health this week. Started yesterday. It's just me there this week, none of the other gals joined me - so no jewelry or caramel corn. But it's all my stuff, new tin flower pots and gardening gloves for garden sets. A bit of Easter decor stuff. Piles of the little wire baskets to make Easter baskets for grown-ups. Ribbons and cards galore. Mother's Day isn't too far off. And it's Secretary's Day (oops Administrative Asst Day) in a couple of weeks too.

Here's the deets:


Mar 31 - Apr 2, Wed-Fri 9:30a-4:00p
Soapworks Studio Spring/Easter Shop
Group Health Shop Space, Central Campus, Capitol Hill
Address: 108 - 15th Ave E, Capitol Hill
half a block south and across the street from the Safeway at the corner of John St.

Monday

I wanted to post a picture here today, but it ain't working. Just another thing. I've tried in several browsers and it looks like it's going through the whole process of uploading, click "done", etc. . . . and nothing. I can't seem to authorize my computer to play any of my songs from ITunes today either. Something funky in the air. Electrical or magnetic or whatnot. Which shows up as a computer malfunction first. So frustrating.

It's Monday and I'm pooped. I just typed "popped". That's probably true too.

Two shows last week, with only a day between them and last weekend's show. And I've got only today before I set up my shop-style show at Group Health tomorrow. It's a bit of a run. And it's all just "ok". Not great. I haven't lost money on these shows yet, but I haven't made much either. It's a tad slow this month, yet such a grind.

I want to wear my softest clothes today. And sit in silence. Eat only warm, creamy foods. Sigh a lot.

Which I'm sort of doing. At the same time I'm packing up a pile of orders from Friday through the weekend. A wholesale order, which needs extra sprays and bath salts made too. And catching up on email and calls - there were a bunch.

Easter is next weekend, and I'm doing brunch here. Which I am looking forward to. But I've got to get it set and planned out and start working on it, because I'm at the shop all week. So that's a priority today too. Menus. What to cook.

I can't type real sentences today. It hurts to think in more than little chunkies. I wish that stupid picture would load. It's little birdies and so cute.

The weather is teh suck today too. Windy, dark, rainy, stormy. I'm not unloading my car. I'll just take the whole mess over to the shop and deal with it there. Figure out what more I need to bring, from the leftovers of yesterday.

Gotta get to the bank too. I need change. Maybe an item or two on my list can wait til tomorrow. I'll just start the first one first, and then see how long I hold up.

That's what a busy show schedule feels like. It ain't pretty. I know some people do back-to-back shows all the time. Even go out of town from one to another, without the days in between to sleep at home, restock, recover and recharge. I don't know how they do it. Lots of them are much older than me too. Although I can't imagine anybody can actually feel older than I do right now. My eye bags are carrying extra bags. I should charge them, like the airlines.

Shows this week: Mar 23-28

First off, I have to thank Mamafey for the lovely Sunshine award she bestowed on me the other day. How lovely of you to include me!

I know the rules are that I need to link to a dozen other sunny, creative and inspirational bloggers and pass this on. But I just have 5 minutes to post this morning before I have to rush off to a show, and I can't do it now. I will do it later tonight or tomorrow when I can sit down at this computer again, I promise. Just wanted to acknowledge it for the moment - it's been days since I've even checked in here.

Next, I wanted to post about the 2 different shows I'm doing this week. It's a busy little flurry in March, and I need to keep up.

Here's where you can find me this week:

Mar 23 - 27 Starving Housewives
Echo Falls Country Club
20414 - 121st Ave SE
Snohomish (Maltby)
Starving Housewives

Mar 27 - 28 Best of the Northwest
Hangar 30, Magnuson Park, Seattle
Sat & Sun, 10am-6pm
Northwest Art Alliance

Next week I'm doing another one of my little retail shop gigs at Group Health on Capitol Hill, Wed through Friday. I'll post more details about that later too. Just a heads up in case that's a closer place to stop by for Easter presents or spring gifts.

Enjoy the sunshine and warm weather today!

Shows this week

I've got a show this week, one day only on Saturday.

It's a fundraiser for Eastlake High School in Sammamish. The Leadership committee is hoping to raise money for a new electronic reader board for the school.

This is a different group than the fall show, but they are hoping to have a somewhat similar craft show. It's held in the gym and cafeteria, like we did in the fall. There are over 80 artists participating in this show, so it should be a fun event, and lots of great spring gift ideas. Easter is coming up in a couple of weeks (April 4) and Secretary's Day and Mother's Day are right around the corner too. So it's a good time to find a little special something.

Address:
Eastlake Sammamish High School
400 - 228th Ave NE, Sammamish

Time:
Saturday, March 20, 9:30am-3:30pm

ps sorry for the double postings today, i'm having real trouble with google. and am i the only one who can't get into gmail for the past two days? what's up with that?

Happy St. Patrick's Day

The luck o' the Irish be with you today!

Milky Way

The White Mountain from charles on Vimeo.

Just in case you haven't seen this little video somewhere else, it's a gorgeous time lapse of the Milky Way from Mauna Kea Hawaii.

I heart stars (not the Hollywood kind) and never get to see them enough in the big city. Love this.

p.s. if you click on the link you can see a much bigger version.

March. Forward.

I can't believe that the third month of the year is already under way. Great scott, those last two months went by fast. And here we are, in March. Marching onward. I hear drumming, and feel like high-stepping around at a brisk pace.

Oh I've got nothing else today. I've just started wading through all my tax documents to get started on that hideous project. It's spread out all over the place.

Other items on my list? internet searching for wholesale garden gloves. Cleaning out my old cd pile to sell. Books up next. Maybe closets after that. Spring cleaning, I guess. Or maybe watching that episode of "The Hoarders" inspired me to purge. Urgh that show is creepy.

I spent the last few days filling out show applications and writing booth fee checks. I've got a lot on the schedule, if I get accepted to them. That part I won't know for weeks. So nothing is really updated on the website for a bit until I get notifications.

I'll need more daffodils for next spring. I used to have a lot more, I think. It seems like less than usual came up this year, and I'm green with envy at the houses that have borders just stuffed full of the sunshiney flower faces.


Happy Friday. I'm going to get out in the dirt while the sun is shining this afternoon.

Happy Friday

Apologies for the brief absence, I've been painting. I usually try to get a short vacation in around this time of the year. But we're redecorating a room instead.

So the last week has been cleaning, prepping, painting and more painting. The built-in cabinets with all those shelves are really tough. The "red room" is now olive green and cream. So long "lipstick lounge." It's so much brighter and cleaner. Carpet goes in Monday. There's still a bit more painting - another coat on the walls and window trim touch-up. Whew.

Next week it's back to soap full time, instead of squeezed in around the edges. I've got bunches of shows in March, so I need to get busy.

And can I just mention how darn glad I am that I live in Seattle instead of the East Coast. What's more fun -- early spring or Snow-i-cane? The third crippling snow storm in a month, or my rhubarb and peonies starting to leaf out? Plum and cherry trees in bloom. Daffodils and crocus sprinkled throughout the yard. Tra la la, it's SPRING!

Fresh This Week: Helping Hand soaps

Yanno how I had that brainstorm last year to add some little mini soaps to my product line, with half of the profits going to Kiva.org? I spent so much time trying to hatch up a good name. And eventually I decided on "Suds for a Brighter Day." I don't even remember how I arrived at that one. I just know that I wanted it to be cheerful and give some sort of hint that it was a "doing good works" kind of thing, without it being overly "charity"-like. If that makes any sense. Anyway, last week while I was just staring out the window in a stupor, a moment of total brain fog and I sort of got lost in what I was doing, a new name just popped up out of the blue and brought me right back to reality. The new name is "Helping Hand" soaps. It's so much more accurate. Perfect really.

The small sized soaps are truly hand soaps (or travel size) soaps. And they are designed to fundraise a little bit for one of my favorite organizations: Kiva.org , thus the helping hand part. The next little bit (in italics) is directly from the website and explains it all in more detail. I've kept the "Suds" listing on the site for now, but added the "Helping Hand Soaps" listing too, so that you can find one or the other easily. It's a perfect gift item. And I've sold bunches of them in the past couple of weeks, so I'm super excited to send them a really big number of loans at the end of the month.

The new soaps are more of the mini-soap bars (a la The Pacific Northwest Collection) that I added last fall. They are roughly half the size of my standard bars, 2x2 inches square, and weigh 2 ounces each. I am selling them in groups of four, packaged in a sweet, natural jute string bag, and the scents will change with each new batch.

The “Helping Hand” part is that half of all the proceeds for these new soaps will go directly to Kiva, the world's first person-to-person micro-lending website, empowering individuals to lend directly to unique entrepreneurs in the developing world. Tiny little loans of $25 go towards goals of several hundred or a thousand dollars, whatever is needed for a small business owner in a developing nation to get the help they need to start their business, or to take the next step towards sustainability. It doesn’t take much to help somebody who is struggling to make their little business a livelihood for themselves and their families. I’m so grateful that for the last 13 years I’ve been able to make a living with my own micro business, and I want to share just a little bit of what I have to help others do the same. It’s my way of having Soapworks Studio give back, and having you all - my most fabulous customers- share in that process, while getting the most adorable little mini guest or travel soaps in return.

One more thing – the fragrances of these will be in a constant rotation. This first edition has a fruity floral combo. I’m constantly doing experiments with new scents for seasonal soaps, or testing out samples, so I seem to have an endless amount of scents to try. These will be my new playground for now. You’ll get to try different, fun, new stuff. And as the year continues, there will be new groupings of 4 soap scents to choose from, matched so that they go well together.


Alright then? It's the same great little sack of tiny soaps with a new name. When the summer newsletter comes out in May there will be new scents to choose from. And the Helping Hand name will be official on the website and in the brochure that I send out. Have a great weekend - don't get too crazy with Spring Fever in all that sunshine!