Yellow

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

It's Thursday.  Yesterday was the official start of summer.  And today it finally feels like it here.  Warm, sunny, yellow.

I'm not usually a huge fan of the color yellow.  I guess I like it best mixed with grey.  But when it's sunshine - I lurve me some bright, light, sunlit yellow.

It's final packing up day before the Redmond show tomorrow.  I totally didn't get enough sleep last night, having to be up before dawn to race over and meet the delivery truck for my new oils supplier.  I'm on a new route, but they can't squeeze the semi-truck down my super narrow, very steep hilled street.  So I need to meet them at their first delivery of the day (5:30am!) and pick up my order.

It's going to save me money in the long run.  The constant increase in base oils has really put a dent in my bottom line the past year or two.   So I'm hoping this new supplier works out - that the oils are great quality and stay a bit more reasonable.  I can certainly give up a few hours beauty sleep to make that happen.

Tomorrow is going to be another early one - having to be in Redmond for set up by 7am.  With all the morning traffic between here and there, through downtown Bellevue and all that 520 congestion, I'm sure it will be rough.  Hmm, note to self, maybe I can map a different route through surface streets.

Ok, I'm out.  So much to do.  But head on over to the Redmond Town Center this weekend to see what it's all about.

Redmond Arts Festival

This coming weekend I'm doing a brand new show (for me).  It's Redmond Town Center's Art Festival.

It's co-organized and sponsored by VALA Eastside which stands for "Venues for Artists in the Local Area".   This show is an arts festival and sidewalk sale, plus a gallery show in their space at Redmond Town Center.  Click their link above for a schedule of artist demonstrations, workshops and street performers.  There's going to be a lot going on.

The main street there will be closed off to traffic and we'll have our tents set up in the middle of it all for the art festival portion.

General details -
Dates:  Friday through Sunday, June 22-24
Hours:  Fri and Sat 10am-8pm, Sun 11am-7pm

My booth spot is #78 which is closer to the REI/Macy's end of things, almost at the very end of the tents - second from the last one.

Honestly, this one is all new to me.  So I'm not sure how it works.  It's always fun to try something brand new and change things up a little bit.  If you're in the area, come on over and check it out.  Maybe on the way back from the Saturday Farmer's market nearby (which is a great! market, by the way).

What did you do today?

Someecards.com

If you've been reading along, you already know I'm a procrastinator.  I need the urgency of a deadline to really get going.  But my job here requires constant moving it forward.  Not lolly-gagging and then all-nighters, but batches of stuff day after day, every day.  So I'm constantly struggling with myself to keep on truckin'.

There are totally days when I have so darn much on my to-do list that I just crumble and end up spending way too much time on the internets surfing nonsense.  Or take a nap instead.

I think the mentally healthy route would be to decide to take an hour or two, or half a day, or even the whole day if that's what required - and do the exact thing that my heart desired to be doing right then.  Just get out of the office and check off an item or two of pure fun.  Then come back to work and dedicate myself to being productive for the day.  I might really get a lot more done that way.

Because mind-numbing hours doing nothing fun and nothing you're supposed to do is just an obnoxious waste of time.    Except when you really truly do need a nap.

I tried this new theory today.  I was working really good up until lunch - got a lot done.  Then the take-away Chinese food took me down.  I napped.  I got up and wasted another hour (or two).  But I was able to finish up the afternoon with another boost and finished my list.  For today.

It's going to be a full summer of shows.   I've got to keep the ball rolling.  Let's see how much ground I can cover tomorrow.  Hope floats.

Build A Little Biz - Manifesto

Awesome.

Oh yeah, it's Sorticulture weekend!

This weekend is Sorticulture, Everett's Garden Arts Festival. This is such a fun show - tons of nursery and plant vendors, plus lots of garden art vendors with great stuff.  I always spend a little more than I planned to because I just can't resist all the pretty and unusual plants for my garden.  

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 nearby lots.  See here for more info.

It's going to be rainy and cool I think.  There'll be rain boots.  And mud. 

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

"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 KING 5's Ciscoe Morris Saturday at 2 pm. Sorticulture also features display gardens, food fair, wine garden, live music and free activities for the kids."

Memorial Day

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

Happy Memorial Day!

It finally feels like it's officially summer now.  Strawberry cake for breakfast.  Grilled burgers for dinner.  Sunshine is so nice.

Top 5 regrets

I came across an article in the Guardian UK about a nurse who recorded the top 5 regrets she heard from her dying patients, and one of the biggest was "I wish I hadn't worked so hard."  Duh.  I've been feeling that all week and I'm not even dying.  U District last weekend was a tough one.  And it ended up raining the whole day on Sunday, so it wasn't even worth all the effort.   It happens.  You work like crazy to get ready and then for whatever reason - weather, location, etc.  the show doesn't meet expectations.  That's "show" business.  Life goes on.

This week is mail orders.  Catching up on everything coming in and going out.  And making sure that I'm still covering all the bases of prep for the rest of the summer shows.  But I'm trying not to work quite so hard and have a few hours here and there to catch up on life too.  I'm starting to just feel tired and burned out.  Which can quickly be remedied by a little less work focus and little more fun.   I'm going to bake something this afternoon. 

The article though, is really interesting.  She has been keeping a blog and has now written a book too - so I'm copying a bit of the article text here with the top 5 regrets.

(Copied from the article) 

 "Bronnie Ware is an Australian nurse who spent several years working in palliative care, caring for patients in the last 12 weeks of their lives. She recorded their dying epiphanies in a blog called Inspiration and Chai, which gathered so much attention that she put her observations into a book called The Top Five Regrets of the Dying.

Ware writes of the phenomenal clarity of vision that people gain at the end of their lives, and how we might learn from their wisdom. "When questioned about any regrets they had or anything they would do differently," she says, "common themes surfaced again and again."

Here are the top five regrets of the dying, as witnessed by Ware:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

"This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it."

2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard.

"This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence."

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

"Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result."

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

"Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying."

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

"This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again."

U District Street Fair 2012

This weekend is the U District Street Fair. It's the first big street fair of the summer, and usually it's still cool or rainy, but we've been having weeks of summer-like weather already which has been so welcome.  It's going to be another warm and sunny weekend, so pull out your shorts and sun dresses and come out to play!

The details for the show:

University District Street Fair
University Avenue, Seattle
May 19 - 20, Sat 10-7, Sun 10-6 
My booth location: #309, just a few booths south of the intersection at 43rd, across the street from the Post Office on the west side of the street

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. Hope to see you there!

The shop is open

Just a reminder, I'm over at Group Health on Capitol Hill all this week in my little shop space.

I've got all the spring seasonals.  I've got all the summer seasonals.  I've got gift basket-y stuff all over the place - tote bags and wire baskets and flower pots and the watering cans too.  All ready to make loverly Mother's Day presents.

Mother's Day is Sunday.  And I'll be open there through Saturday - so those of you who might not have had the chance to visit during week-day working hours can come on over and check it out.  Or pick up a last minute gift.

Address:  108 15th Ave E, just south of the intersection at John where the Safeway is
Hours:  Wed, Thur, Fri 9:30am to 4pm, Sat 10-3

Simplicity

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

"I believe that a simple and unassuming manner of life is best for everyone, best both for the body and the mind."

Albert Einstein

Summer Newsletter 2012

It's Summer newsletter time, and I'm posting it here to make sure you don't miss all the new goodies!

Rather than posting links all over the place in the letter - I'll just pop in this one link to the Seasonal Products page on the website where you can find everything at a glance.

So here goes:

Summertime!  And the living is easy. Who doesn’t love this season best of all?  It’s so chock full of good times that a few simple words bring back years of happy memories.  Vacation.  Road trip.  Beach.  Ballpark. 

Summer is laid back and care free, with time built in for hangin’ with friends or hangin’ ten in the surf.  It’s the freedom to enjoy life, mostly outdoors.  Chores, to-do lists, and worries can take a back seat to fun in the sun - preferably with the top down and wind in my hair.

SUMMER SEASONAL SOAPS

In a tribute to summer, I’ve cooked up a couple of special soaps to celebrate the joys of the season.  These unique soaps are only available for the next few months and are made in limited production.  ($4.25 ea or 4 for $16.00)

SUMMER LINEN:  Crisp and oh so clean, like fresh laundry flapping gently in the morning sun.  This is a dreamy white linen fragrance – like vintage tablecloths draped for a picnic in the garden.  A sparkling white bar, it’s the essence of pure and simple.

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.


HONEY LEMON GINGER – A squeeze of soft lemon and bright orange citrus dances with candied ginger.  It’s subtle, soft, creamy and sweet, a truly charming pairing that’s perfect for summer.

GARDEN MINT – Fresh, cool, peppermint delightfully blended with a pinch of spice and garden earthiness.  Tingly and refreshing, in a lovely celery green color. (100% natural)

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 décolletage.  Spray a little bit of deelish 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)

THREE! scents to try, just for the summer season:  COCONUT LEMON (which was a huge hit last year), BEACH HOUSE and HONEY LEMON GINGER.  Coconut Lemon is tropical creamy coconut with a squeeze of tart lemon, dreaming of Pina Coladas.  Beach House matches our new seasonal soap scent with a calm, relaxing spa feel.  Honey Lemon Ginger is a replacement for the Orange Ginger spray, a little lighter and brighter with a hint of sweetness, a pretty pick-me-up for any time.

NEW LIP BALM TINS


Small round tins with a screw top have replaced the sliding tins I’ve used for years.  They are easier to open – and safer to keep closed, matching the little tins I use for balms and salves.  These new containers are a pinch bigger, but the recipe is the same, and all your favorite flavors will be available all summer.  Vanilla Tangerine, Raspberry Soda, Coconut Lemon, Herbal Mint, Root Beer, Green Apple, Strawberry Rose, and Lavender Vanilla – YUM!  (half ounce tin, $ 3.00)

SUMMER FAIRS AND FESTIVALS

The arrival of summer means another year of sidewalk fairs and festivals. I’ve got a full season planned and am looking forward to meeting and seeing you all.  For 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.

I’m planning to make this a summer to remember – belly flopping in all the way!

Comparison

This is a good one to keep close.  Every time I read someone else's gorgeous blog about their fabulous life; every time I see a website for another soap maker with really really pretty stuff; every time I peek around the corner at a show to see how super busy another booth is; and a million other instances where I look across the fence and start to think maybe the grass is greener - I try to remember this.

And honestly?  you really can never judge what's going on anywhere else in comparison to what's going on in your own little space.  There are so many related and unrelated factors, so many steps in the journey, that you just cannot make comparisons.  Even when you think it looks like apples to apples - it's probably more like pears to fuzzy slippers.

Just be happy in your own place at your own pace.  Because that's all that matters.

Mother's Day Shop

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 few times each year. I'm open next week Wednesday through Saturday.

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.

Usually I'm just open during the weekdays - but this time around I'm going to be open on Saturday from 10 to 3 for all of my other customers that can't get to me during the week because they have their own jobs.  This is your special opportunity to stop by and pick up a gift for Mother's Day (which is Sunday!) or stock up on spring things, find other gifts, or just check out what's happening.  

Hours: 

Wednesday, Thursday and Friday (May 9 - 11) 9:30am-4:00pm 

Sat (May 12) 10am-3pm

Location: Group Health central campus, Seattle

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

I've got all kinds of goodies for Mother's Day and spring celebration gifts!

P.S.  behind the scenes I'm trying to get all the pieces together so the Summer newsletter can go out Monday and have the website live with all the new stuff etc.  Check back next week for more big announcements.

Blooming Tulips - New Products

New product announcement - Blooming Tulips soap!


I created this soap just for the Tulip Festival that we celebrate here in the Skagit Valley during the month of April.  It was a HUGE hit at the street fair last weekend and I'll have it available on the website for just a bit longer while the festival continues and I still have a few bars left in stock.
So you think tulips don't have a fragrance?  Well, it's subtle, that's true.  But when you're out in the fields you can't help but sniff all the fresh green of the leaves mixed with the light foral scent of the petals.  This soap is absolutely true - a very "green" leafy scent, fresh and clean, with a very pretty floral note at the end.  It's totally delightful and has been a huge hit with tulip fans.


Pair it with our matching "Blooming Tulips" bath salt for the perfect spring gift!

10 worst chemicals in cosmetics

10 worst chemicals in cosmetics via unhealthy earth

A great primer on what to watch out for. BTW, my products don't use any of these. :)

Tulip Festival and watering cans

This weekend is the Mt Vernon Street Fair - part of the bigger Tulip Festival in Skagit Valley. And it looks like it might be our 3rd dry and partly sunny weekend up here in a row. Good times. That second link will get you to the Tulip Festival page with maps of the fields, other events, all the happenings for the whole month.

Details:
Friday through Sunday, Apr 20 - 22
Fri and Sat 10am - 6pm, Sun 10am - 5pm

Located up and down the main street in downtown Mt Vernon, starting at the bridge and heading south. (Still don't have a map yet, argh)

Soapworks Studio booth - space #21 (new booth numbers this year) but same spot as last couple of years. I'm in the very north block of the festival, sort of kitty-corner from the main front door of the co-op. I'm in the southwest corner of that little quad of booths, with a Tulip Festival info booth right next door to me on the north side. There's a new acoustic entertainment stage on our corner this year too.

I've got a brand new tulip scented soap which is gorgeous - really green and fresh, actually smells like tulips! Can't wait to see how you like this scent. If I can squeeze it in I might try to make a few small size bath salts in the same scent - and take a few of those to the Berry Barn show for the last couple of weeks over there too while the Tulip Festival continues. The tulip blooms are just opening up, daffodils are done, but it's all in full swing.

More good news - the watering cans that I make little gift sets with finally arrived just today! Hurray! They've been on back-order for a while. But now I'll have those at the show to make sets out of too. And I've put the Gardener's Gift Set back on the web site for ordering again, now that I have the containers back in stock.

Here's what they look like - and as always, you can stuff them full of whatever products you like. The watering can by itself is $6.00 - and then you add in your choice of goodies.

Hope to see you this weekend!

Tax Day Deal!

Save some moolah this week!

It's IRS tax deadline today 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 Tuesday, April 17 through Friday, April 20.

Fill your shopping cart HERE!

Save Big!!

There is no fine print. Just place an order on our website any time between Tuesday, April 17 and Friday, April 20. 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?

Bunny Fluff

(Flickr photo credits)

Have a fabulous, slow, lazy, celebratory Easter weekend! Gorge on chocolate bunnies and jelly beans. Roll around in the grass hunting for eggs. Spend time with a large ham and a buffet of goodies. Sounds pretty good, right?

What lucky really is

"Every living thing is, from the cosmic perspective, incredibly lucky simply to be alive. Most, 90 percent and more, of all the organisms that have ever lived have died without viable offspring, but not a single one of your ancestors, going back to the dawn of life on Earth, suffered that normal misfortune. You spring from an unbroken line of winners going back millions of generations, and those winners were, in every generation, the luckiest of the lucky, one out of a thousand or even a million. So however unlucky you may be on some occasion today, your presence on the planet testifies to the role luck has played in your past." - Daniel C. Dennett - from Freedom Evolves

That quote gives me goosebumps. It's so terrifyingly inspirational - completely freeing and at the same time so full of responsibility and accountability. You want to live up to the opportunity you've been given. A little thought for a Friday.

BTW - the photo is a teacup piggie. I have seen this photo all over the internet repeatedly the last few weeks, so I have no idea where it came from originally or who to give credit to. But it's so adorable that I just couldn't help myself.

Spring Green

(link to Flickr credits)

Hard at work this week, getting everything ready for the Best of the Northwest show this weekend. Set up is tomorrow, and I've got a million things left to do. The pressure of a deadline always makes me work more efficiently. So I'm on high buzz today.

I'm looking forward to this show in particular, just to see how the spring soap scents do in person. It's one thing to have people buy them sight unseen, just by the description on the website or from the newsletters. But it's even better to watch them choose the scents in front of you. To see which ones they gravitate to, which ones they pick up, what they have to say about them - either to your face, or to the people they are shopping with. I get so much better feedback that way. And I'm mulling over if any of them will continue on through the summer.

If you've got a special favorite that you've tried and want me to make more of it - please let me know. I'm always happy to hear my customer's requests and ideas about what they want. I almost always try to make it happen eventually.