Soapy Things
11/8/08
Hmmm. Many of the molds are still lined up on the counter. Got a few batches done but realized I was OUT of peppermint when I went to soap it, so have some on order. Just cut a new batch of Bonsai Shaving Soap, OMG it's so silky just cutting it and it smells wonderful. It's made with aloe vera juice instead of water, and has tussah silk (cruelty free) and bentonite clay for a wonderful silky slip perfect for shaving. I've made this soap before but this batch is exceptionally delicious - I put a little more silk in the soap than last time and you can tell. Mmmmm. Pretty holiday green color too, perfect for a stocking stuffer. Also recently cut are batches of Lemongrass Tea Tree, Black Lavender, Almond Oatmeal and Clementine Lavender.
10/17/08
So I have 10 molds lined up on my counter, ready for lots of soap....guess I better get busy!! On the horizon: Wood Coffee, Mimosa, some holiday fragrances like Bayberry, Peppermint, Tannenbaum, Lebkuchen (German Honey Cookies aka Nut Tree Cookies) Cinnamon Stix.
9/1/08
It's Labor Day so that means I am in the kitchen laboring over all the soaps I was supposed to be doing this summer but didn't :blush: Stocking up for Fall/Winter with lots of favorites, probably not much new; depends how much I get done!
8/9/08
Time to get working on the fall/winter soaps which also means clearing out some springy type soaps to make room (I have no room!)
7/28/08
Smoke has cleared (although it was really bad last Thurs-Friday) picture perfect 72 sunny degrees with a sea breeze. Doesn't get much better than this. Been slacking on the soapmaking this summer but I have several that need to get into production!! Also sold out of some I never got listed yet, they were gooood (sorry! LOL) Maybe I can cajole my old Olympus camera to take some decent pix so I can list what new soaps I do have available, like the KILLER Green Tea, ever popular Mimosa and Honey & Lemon. And then get my Nikon in for repairs.
6/26/08
All smoked in here because of the fires around the state. Brown haze all day. New soaps to be listed this week! Need to make room for more stuff so probably going to have a grab bag sale of odds n ends and some of my Secret Stash Stuff!
5/26/08
So what's up with this weather??? Rain on Memorial Day Weekend? Not since I lived back East! Didn't get above 65 today (after 100 degree temps 1o days ago) so that was conducive to soapmaking. New yummiest just put to bed are Maple Oat, Honey Buttermilk, Hippie at Heart and Green Tea. Off to make more, which flavors not sure until I look in the cupboard and say hey this floats my boat!
5/17/08
Taking a quick break from soaping this afternoon to update the site...sort of. Just put to bed two fantastic batches - another Mimosa (because as expected I screamed through the last batch and have just ONE bar left) and Clementine Lavender. I know this one won't last long either - I did a batch for a bridal shower in February and I already have folks clamoring for this batch. They both smell sooooo good! This Mimosa is a little different (more "fancy") because I used cubes of double citrus soap with the Champagne base.
5/7/08
LOL I just realized I never posted my last update. D'oh. I'm sure Dorque will have something to say about that!
New soapies on the horizon, my current favorite being Sugar Magnolia. OMG this is so wonderful! Fragrant Magnolia blossom with a tiny hint of sweet honey. I've been testing it the past couple of weeks and just LOVE it, so creamy and smells so good. Should be listing that one in a couple of weeks from now along with a small restock of Oatmeal (small because I've already sold out 2 bars of the batch and there were only about 5 bars!)
4/1/08
April Fools! LOL. Haven't soaped in a while, no room until some of the current inventory moves out. Will be putting together "grab bags" of soap that is discontinued, or out of my secret stash, etc. Such a deal!
2/24/08
Lame Blog, oh how I have neglected thee. Day job has been keeping me hopping. Someone won $80 M Lotto at the Safeway in town and it wasn't me. Boo. But I don't shop at Safeway so the likelihood of it having been me was pretty nil anyway. Hey lots of new soaps up and running here folks! Check out Etsy or if you don't want to sign up on Etsy to buy, send me an email!!
2/2/08
A fellow Dorque has pointed out that I am indeed a dorque because I forgot to change the date to the new year. So I have with this post. Happy now SO? More soap last weekend: Lemongrass Sage and Blackberry Sage. They both look and smell delightful!!!!!!!!!!!!
1/19/07
Spring soaps are on the way - last weekend soaped a couple that I just LOVE so far! A week after I cut the bars I try them out and so far these two are fantastic! They can only get better as they cure. The Honeysuckle is the most delicate and green - smells like honeysuckles on the vine. Gardener is a crisp green like the garden soap with little swirls of scrubby jojoba beads. Fresh Fresh Fresh!!! Today's soap is going to be a beer soap (those lather like crazy!) and if I have time, Lilac and Violet (not together, separately!) Also have more Good Karma, Honey & Buttermilk (formerly known as Country Comfort) Black Lavender, Honey Bunny and Pink Peony curing. OH and let's not forget Dragon's Blood!
1/6/07
D'oh!!! I forgot to upload the changes I made a week ago. Ready to start soaping again for the new year!
12/30/07
Happy New Year all - See you with new goodies fresh for Spring!
12/09/07
Woohoo! New packaging! I'm shrink wrapping the soaps now, they look much nicer. The little white french fry bags are very handy but this shows off the soap and makes it easier to wrap if they're being given as gifts. (hint hint!). Never did get any more batches done, that's it for this season. But I do have lots of yummy new soapies lined up for next season.
12/05/07
I'm such a dork. Totally forgot to renew my domain name so my site was down this morning. It just snuck up on me! Paid up and all better now. Going to get my last batches before Christmas done tonight since I've been putting it off.
10/13/07
Need to get on the stick here and spiff up my site and get the rest of my soaps listed. Oh this last run is just wonderful I love them all. The Cinnamon is fantastic I think I'll call it Cinnamon Stix. It's got swirls of colorful and scrubby Jojoba Beads too. Made a very small sample batch so I only have 5 bars of it and want to hoard it all! LOL. Naw, I'll share. Showered with the Eucalyptus Cedar this morning, it's much better now as it cures out, very fresh. I wasn't too sure of it when I soaped it. I'm very happy with it. The Hipp Bee is killer insane good, another small batch that I'm wanting to hoard. The fragrance lingers on your skin for hours. I sit at work and think about how good I smell!
10/06/07
GAH!!!! My not even a year old Nikon decided to stop working so I can't take decent pictures of all the new soapies I have! I'm at the mercy of my old beater Olympus that I've had for many years (but still works) I think I'm going to start selling soaps direct off this site again in addition to Etsy. Have lots of new stuff ready to go now, some don't yet have names but I'm working on it! If you like Cinnamon Red Hots, I've got the soap for you it's wonderful! But no name yet. New stuff includes Heirloom Apple, Blackberry Kijafa, Bay Rum, Grapefruit, Grapefruit Marmalade, Eucalyptus Cedar, Tabac, Harvest.
09/24/07
Just dropping in to say HI since it's been a while. The holidays are just around the corner and to help ease the shopping crunch, I'm offering free shipping if your order totals $60 or more. And as always, order 12 bars of soap, you get one free for a Bakers Dozen! I DO accept pre-orders on the On Deck soaps if you want to reserve a bar or two before they are finished curing. Unmolded and cut tonight are Bay Rum, Grapefruit and Eucalyptus Cedar. Mmmm!
08/20/07
OK I seriously have NO room on the counter for any more curing soaps!!!! All lined up like good little soldiers are: Almond Oatmeal, Honey Oatmeal, Wood Coffee, Vanilla Sandalwood, Lemongrass Tea Tree, Manuka Lavender...whew, as well as a handful of others I made in really small batches and will probably hog all to myself for Christmas gift giving. :) These in addition to what I made below. But seriously - holiday shopping is just around the corner and I want to be stocked UP this year!!!
By the way, did I happen to mention how GOOD it smells when I walk past all those soaps??? I could stand there all day sniffing!
08/10/07
Mmmmm I forget how wonderful the Sanguigno smells until I soap it again...Yum. I only soap it about once a year but should do more because it always sells out fast. Speaking of selling out fast, also just put to bed a batch of Mimosa, by far the most popular soap at two local venues I sold at this spring. Dragons Blood is the most popular web soap. The Vervaine and the Lemon Verbena are also just heavenly!!! Going to get some Vanilla Sandalwood and some Wood Coffee done tomorrow.
07/22/07
Getting ready for the Summer Sale - I love summer so I want to celebrate! 10% off and free samples your first order, 15% and a free bar of soap if you are a repeat customer from any venue - just tell me where!
07/04/07
Happy Fourth of July! One of my favorite holidays because it’s SUMMER, BBQ’s and of course FIREWORKS!!! Wow, the blog is almost a year old already. Reflecting back so much has happened over this past year, both good and bad. Hooray for SOAP!!!! Fixed the site up a little, was neglected. Well, just colors and some formatting. I realize not everyone is going to flip over my neon hot screaming PINK background! Hope this will be easier on the eyeballs.
06/20/07
Happy First Day Of Summer Tomorrow!! I’ll be sad to have the days start getting shorter again though! Soaping shipments will be offline for about a week while I recover from gall bladder surgery on Friday. Ugh. Hopefully it will go smoothly and I’ll be up and around in no time. Just want to make sure I allow time time to get enough rest and can start soaping again, I have a ton of new goodies lined up and old favorites too.
05/28/07
Happy Memorial Day! Got three new Castiles poured - Lavender & Rosemary, Raspberry Martini and Osmanthus. Since Castiles take longer to cure than my regular recipes, these should be available sometime in August or September. Mint soaps are put to bed oh they smell wonderful. I also did something I said I’d never do and that’s make an unscented soap. It was by accident of course...left out the Peppermint essential oil from one batch! But I hope the swirls come out pretty and if anyone wants a soap that is not fragranced, this would be the one.
05/12/07
Got a couple of requests for Peppermint soap so it’s off to whip up a couple of batches after a few weeks of not soaping. Will make some Peppermint and some Rosemary Mint (very Spa!). There are so many others I want to work on so I’ll soap until I run out of supplies and counter space!
04/29/07
Finally got some of the new soaps listed for sale. The ones that don’t have a link yet don’t have photos but are available - Mimosa (SOLD), The Dunes (6) and Tropix (SOLD). Tropix is like Caribbean Creme but has notes of citrus and mango, plus chunks of Lime Colada and Caribbean Creme soap mixed in. The Dunes is a fantastic Salt Bar, sandy fresh. Mimosa turned out to be the most popular soap at the April in Carneros - champagne, citrus and strawberries.
04/23/07
Whew! Survived my first show - a friend and I had a table at Bouchaine Vineyards during the April in Carneros open winery tour. The weather left much to be desired, Saturday got progressively colder and then started to rain - fortunately the heavy rains came after we were packed up and on our way home. Sunday was a little better but windy with a few scattered showers. I chased earring cards all afternoon. It was a lot of fun, got to talk to a lot of nice people out having a good time. Thanks to all of you who were there and are now visiting my site! Hope you are enjoying your soap, and if you passed it up then you don’t know what you are missing!
04/12/07
So much soap I can’t see my counter! Next weekend is April in Carneros and I will have lots and lots of soapies and jewelry at Bouchaine Vineyards. Any soap that doesn’t sell at the winery will be available for sale on Etsy! The Aloevado spa bar is just wonderful, so rich and creamy with Aloe Vera juice, Avocado oil and Shea Butter. Will be hard not to hoard this batch! The Cabernet may not be ready by the show (FIGURES the one soap I so wanted to have there) but the test bars are very nice.
03/22/07
D’oh!! I couldn’t find my Lemon Verbena...well duh, when I was making the soap I grabbed the wrong colorant; instead of yellow I used orange so it smells like lemon verbena but looks ORANGE so I didn’t recognize it. Oh well. This should be ready in a couple of weeks. Smells great, but I may just offer this one for sale because it doesn’t look the way it smells! Also just listed a couple new soaps - Lemongrass Sage and Good Karma. If you like Lush Karma, this is supposed to smell like it. I love this but have not smelled the original. Pretty to look at too! Got the big show coming up in a month so there will be lots more soap available as it comes out of cure time. AND I’ve resized the bars, they have a much nicer look and feel to them, thicker cut with beveled edges, fit nicely in hand.
03/16/07
LOTS of soap curing right now!! More on the way. The current On Deck batches should be ready in a week to two weeks!!
02/17/07
Soap is now back in production!!! Last night I made a salt bar batch that is dead on Margarita. Seriously, my kitchen smells like Cinco de Mayo! Even has coarse salt on top. Unfortunately the salt isn’t sticking to the tops as I had envisioned but the bar is salt through and through, it’s going to be awesome! Hope to get many more batches done this weekend, especially since Monday is a holiday, I have a little more time.
02/11/07
Woohoo! On a roll! Went through my soapie stash yesterday and found some goodies that I want to share. As you may have noticed, I am moving soap sales from this site to Etsy so the inventory clearance of the soaps I have listed are available here now for a limited time. Many of these fragrances will be coming back but if they’re your favorite now, best to snap them up while you can!
02/07/07
Time to get soaping again, haven’t made a batch since Thanksgiving weekend. I’ve got a bunch of fabulous new fragrances that I can’t wait to work with. Will have to be a surprise because I don’t know which ones to make first! There will also be some changes made on the site that I want to implement before offering the new soapies. But since it takes a good 4-6 weeks cure time, I can work with that. If you don’t see your favorite soap being offered at this time, drop me a note, I usually have some stashed away that I can spare (I always keep some for myself!)
ps - Wait until you see the new Dragons Blood!!!!!
01/20/07
Sorry about the sparse offerings...I haven’t made any new soap yet this year but am very very excited about some wonderful new fragrances I’ve gotten a hold of and can’t wait to soap! Will also be offering limited edition Castile soaps - they take a minimum of 6 months cure time and are even better with a year’s cure so they will be a while coming yet! The Castiles I make now I hoard all to myself and sometimes spare a bar or two for my family and a couple of close friends. They are truly luscious soaps, the most gentle cleansing of all bars. I also plan on revamping the site a bit, time and motivation permitting. More soaps that will be back this year are Good Karma, Black Raspberry Creme and Cinnamon Oatmeal.
01/01/07
Wow. The New Year is here already. Time to start anew. Will be bringing back old favorites, along with some new of course. In the hopper - Lemongrass Sage, Sugared Pink Roses, Black Vetyver Cafe, Rosemary Mint Salt Bar to name a few. Coming back - Pear Dare, Lemon Verbena, Dragons Blood, Okika for now.
12/22/06
Happy Holidays to all - thanks to everyone who purchased my beads and soap this year, I hope you enjoy them as much as I enjoyed making them!
12/15/06
Just listed the last of the 2006 soaps - Bay Rum and Apple Spice. I have a few more but they aren’t ready yet and won’t be until about Christmas so they aren’t up. It’s been a really rough past couple of months around here, wasn’t able to get all the soap done that I intended, and was late getting shipments out to those of you who placed orders (thank you for your order and your patience). Here’s hoping for a better more joyous 2007 for all.
11/27/06
Well, I had to pull the Hippie Hemp from the On Deck list. Why? Because it’s just SO good that I know I’d be bummed if I sold out of it!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It was a small batch so I wanted to make sure I had enough for Christmas gift giving plus some extra to have around because I know this is going to one killer soap! I showered with a sliver this morning and was blown away by how creamy and wonderful the hemp oil and butter made this soap, not to mention the divine fragrance of sandalwood and patchouli. Sorry guys! Oh sure, I could make more and I may again down the road but for now we’re just going to hoard it here...
11/22/06
Happy T-Day everyone! With the holidays breathing down our necks now it’s going to be hectic. Hope to get more soap made this long weekend but unfortunately most of it won’t be ready before Christmas. I am going to try to get a Peppermint Salt Bar done, those are cured out in 2 weeks so that could be the last squeaker I get in before Christmas for all you shoppers out there stalking the site. Will be offering Pre-Orders on soaps that are made but not yet cured so you don’t miss out on something you want but it isn’t quite ready! The Bay Rum and Apple Spice will be ready in 2 more weeks, they both smell DIVINE. The Cinnamon Oatmeal also smells divine as does the Hippie Hemp. This is truly a Hippie bar, Sandalwood and Patchouli loaded with hemp butter and hempseed oil - a very rich bar in fragrance and performance!!!
10/24/06
O.M.G. Just soaped a new fragrance last night, Black Raspberry Vanilla. I can’t stop sniffing this soap I wish I could use it RIGHT NOW!!!!! It’s really delicious and is my new Flavor du Jour for this week! The name is a bit deceiving, you don’t really smell vanilla, but it’s a rich raspberry with a creamy smoothness. It’s a dupe of the Bath & Body Works fragrance so if you like that one you’ll love this!! Should be ready to go in about 5-6 weeks (of course I will be testing it much sooner than that, can hardly wait as it is!!!!) Also soaped Magnolia, a light happy floral that’s been a favorite of mine for several years. Watch for these to be available the end of November! Also need to get crackin’ on more seasonal soaps, Apple Cider was very popular last year, and of course one of my all time favorites, Bay Rum. I like to add a hearty splash of Lime essential oil to it, adds a bit of crispness to the mix.
10/14/06
Two batches made today, Honey Bunny - scented with a L’Occitane dupe of heavenly Honey Harvest. Yum. Also another oatmeal scrubby soap with a delicious almond fragrance, I wavered between this and more Cinnamon Oatmeal but figured I’d give the almond a go this time since I know the Cinnamon Oatmeal is a winner!! One of my favorites. Now to decide what to prepare tomorrow...
9/30/06
*FINALLY FINALLY* got the Dragon’s Blood put to bed tonight!!!! This was a long time coming and I’m sure this double batch will go fast once it’s ready to roll. Tried something new this time, a gold mica swirl. Dragons Blood turns a dark root beer color when it cures so hopefully the gold mica swirls will dress it up a bit...provided they show up! We shall see! Also have a (shhhhhh) private batch of my Tweakers Tea made (caffeinated soap), smells just like a tall glass of iced tea. I don’t list that one for sale...but it’s very popular with my friends just the same! (No I am not a tweak nor are my friends!)
9/22/06
FINALLY made soap! A very fragrant batch of Oatmeal Cookie is put to bed. This was very popular last Fall - scrubby with oat bran and lots of creamy cocoa butter and smells good enough to eat. This one goes FAST. Tomorrow night will be the Dragons Blood, a good two months behind schedule....Oh and yes there are beads up on the JustBeads site! Have more auctions to list over the next few days too.
9/7/06
Oops...been a little negligent on the soaping front here...completely forgot to update the Crema Cararibe. AND have not yet made all the batches that I need to make...sigh. The Wood Coffee is ready to list too so will try to get that done tonight. The final soaped version is true to the fragrance name. Smells like Wood and Coffee! Nice soap, kinda sexy. Also have 4 bead sets ready for JustBeads that need to be photographed. Been very distracted the past month, struggling to get my resume done and shopped for a new job and other things going on that really tax my poor scrap of grey matter floating about in my head.
8/23/06
Time to get back on the soaping horse again, it’s been several weeks since I put the last batches to bed. Got some crazy stuff going on right now so I need the comfort and delight of preparing a batch or two of soap. I think next up will be some Oatmeal Cookie, Oatmeal Milk & Honey, Honey Bunny, Bay Rum, and more Dragons Blood! The Crema Cararibe is going to be ready for the site soon - it’s ready now but the soaps are better and last longer if they have a significant cure. Of course I can’t wait - I use them within a week of cutting just to test them out.
8/2/06
The Lemon Verbena - A-W-E-S-O-M-E. Lemony fresh. A very clean happy uplifting fragrance and lathery to boot!!! Doing the happy dance for this one!!!
7/31/06
Gah. Just pulled Lavender Gardens - the Lavender essential oil faded to nothing. There is the faintest hint of the other fragrance I added, but I didn’t use enough to make an impact. It’s still a nice soap and would be especially lovely for folks that don’t like a strong fragranced soap. It’s practically unscented. If this interests you and you want some let me know! If you’ve already bought some and are disappointed with it now, please let me know also so I can get a replacement to you. Did my first test shower with Wood Coffee this morning, nice soap! It has now turned deep chocolate brown. You can definitely smell the coffee in it. The fragrance is a lot different in the soap than it was straight from the bottle. More woodsy and coffee (as the name would suggest!) than the heady spicy scent of the fragrance itself. Tomorrow I will test out the Lemon Verbena, which smells just fantastic so far!!!!!!!!!!!!!
7/28/06
Just put up a batch of Crema Cararibe to cure. OHHH it smells SO good!!! A fresh, tropical fragrance. Not too heavy on the coconut and it’s just about drinkable! This soap will be ready the first week of September.
7/27/06
Bad day yesterday, my beloved Randall Rarebit passed away...he was very old, 12 is old for a Mini Rex. He will be greatly missed.
7/25/06
It’s cooled down finally - with any luck I’ll have a chance to make some beads this week before I have to go back to work next Monday. Was shopping yesterday and caught a whiff of someone wearing Bath & Body Works Coconut Lime Verbena. MMMMM. Now I want to make my Crema Cararibe soap!! It’s due anyway, I only have one bar left that I’m saving for ???. Yes I hoard soap. When I make a batch, the heel pieces off the ends are what I save for me and sell/gift the rest. But sometimes I make soap just for me. I have a Castile that would bring tears to your eyes (ha ha all soap does if you get it in your eyes, silly!) No this stuff is beautiful. Silky and fragrant, 100% pure olive oil soap. Cured to perfection. The ONLY person I share it with is my mom. I hope I can duplicate the recipe to come out the way I made it the first time cuz I’ll be very sad when this is gone. I hoard glass too...there are several pounds of beautiful glass sitting here not being used...sigh! But what if they can’t make that color any more???? LOL.
7/22/06
WHEW! Thermometer topped out at 111 this afternoon. Put a batch of Pure Seduction to bed this morning, smells just like the Victoria Secret fragrance. The air is scented with Casaba Melon, Plum and Freesia....mmmmm!!! It’s just TOO HOT to make beads this weekend....
7/20/06
Tonight was the unmolding and cutting of Lemon Verbena and Wood Coffee....oh sigh...the Lemon Verbena is so nice and fresh - I used Mango Butter in the recipe for the first time and cutting the bars the texture was just wonderful. I can’t wait to try this one out because I hear so much praise for mango butter. And the fragrance of course - tangy lemon with a touch of green and the slightest hint of perfume... I don’t know how else to describe that fragrant note other than it’s perfumey but in a good way! This will be a goodie. I so love L’Occitane fragrances and this is similar to theirs. Now if someone would come up with a dead on Thé Vert dupe...The Wood Coffee - this dupe of the Comme des Garcons fragrance on its own is just killer - very spicy Cardamom and Ginger; woody with subtle notes of coffee and light patchouli on drydown. This soap has coffee butter in it so it’s creamy smooth and has delicious coffee undertones because coffee butter is made from coffee bean essential oil. The real deal. The color is a milk chocolate brown. So many brown soaps but in order to get some of the more complex fragrances, you have to live with discoloration. Vanillas are the worst! The deeper the vanilla, the darker it turns. Yes there are “white” vanillas out there but they smell like plastic and even that fades to nothing. No thanks!!! I want the richest most intense Vanilla out there.
7/19/06
Oh...thought I’d start a blog so I could blab about my soaps. I love them all like babies and have millions of bars in my shower...well as many as I can fit. I did have to go to Target and get the BIGGEST shower caddy they have so I could fit all my bars in there...and it’s still not enough room. Off to make a couple of batches - stay tuned!
