New Soaps for June!

Sweetgrass with chamomile buds on top

Sedona Sunrise - Sweet orange with rosemary essential oils and ground rosemary

Goldcoast coffee - Coffee soap with coffee "swirls" topped with 24k gold mica

Oklahoma Mimosa - with 24k gold on top

As the most interesting man in the world would say.....Stay soapy, my friends!
Cindy

Congratulations to the winner!

Happy New Year and congratulations to Nancy Heath, who submitted the best name to rename "autumn tryst" to "vanilla dreams." Ironically, Nancy also submitted the name autumn tryst - prior to the contest, of course. Thank you to all who submitted their suggestions!

Happy bubbles and New Year to all!

Monthly Contest -name this soap!

A little birdie gave me an idea today. I love it. I'm so bad at coming up with creative names for my soaps (they tend to be called whatever they are - lemongrass, patchouli, cranberry fig, etc.), which tends to be boring. Now how can you have a beautiful artisan soap with a boring name?

So let's start this off - I'm looking for a name that is "winter" themed, and fits this vanilla soap:



So - want to win a bar of this soap? Name it! The best name submitted to me wins a bar of this wonderfully sweet vanilla and cocoa butter soap. It has 24k gold sprinkled on top, too!

Happy naming!

New Stuff!

Sorry I have been so lax in posting since vacation was over. I've been busy busy busy. Here's a pic of a 2 color swirl I did in Cucumber Melon - now ready! The swirling I did with Leann really paid off.



I am so psyched for a coupon I have coming out next week in the newspaper. And I've finally finished my brochures (coupon also in there)!

Body butters are now going to be available in the shop, too. So far, I only made Cherry Limeade and Island Vanilla, but this week I will be making some more wonderful winter scents. There is nothing like the feel of freshly whipped mango butter with virgin coconut oil for those dry winter scaly hands! We all wash our hands a lot more during cold season, and even with moisturizing handmade soap, you still dry out your skin from the hot water, towel rubbing, etc.

So let me get out to the shop and start on those butters. You all have a great day~!

Peace and bubbles...... 'tis the season!

Vacation is officially OVER - 10/19/10

OK - so my last blog had the dates completely messed up. That's what happens when you are deprived from making soap and chomping at the bit to use a newly-learned skill (in my case swirling soap in the mold - I had previously only done "in-the-pot" swirling).

To end the journey, we went back to Lance and Barb's house - in OKCY. The "girls" (that's what I call my dogs Missy and Lucy) were ecstatic to see us. Why? I don't know - they got more treats and people food than I've ever given them. Both had gained weight. We thought when we dropped them off that Missy (the food hog) would be 80 pounds and Lucy (the food snob) would be a walking skeleton. Nothing could be further from the truth. Even Lucy had a paunch. I'm glad they enjoyed themselves. Evidently, people food and treats weren't enough, though - I was told that they tried to eat the cat. Oops. I won't tell you what Missy ate (hint: cat's produce it).

So back home to Checotah we went on Sunday. We stayed out WAY too late watching the OU game to attempt packing the dogs and everything back into the truck and heading back on Saturday night.

Upon arrival, 2.5 hours later - exhausted and relieved at the same time - Bullet discovered he forgot his golf clubs, so yesterday he went BACK to OKCY to fetch them (and of course play a round).

Today, Tuesday, I am finally back 100% and will be taking pictures to complete the newly-designed website. It is up for production, but this website is very different from the last one - you actually get to see pictures of each individual soap.

So - off to work on my pictures now!

Peace and bubbles....... and now swirling!

Vacation News - day 10 - Oct. 17, 10

The end is here - I think I'm starting to get my days mixed up. We left Keith & Judy's home Saturday morning and went to Leann's. We arrived at Leann's yesterday and after doing the video continued on to finish up in Sullivan, Missouri for an overnight rest. Bullet sure does drive a long time while I nap. I am really catching up on my sleep!

So let's talk about food. Yum. We've eaten at a lot of restaurants along the way - some new to us, some old favorites. So here are just a few of my observations:

Abuelo's "Mexican Embassy" - does that make the Manager of the restaurant an embassador??? The marketing of these restaurants is amusing, but the food is fantastic.

and...

PJ Chang's "Chinese Bistro" - Aren't bistros French? This one baffled me, but it was absolutely delicious! I finally got Bullet to eat Chinese food (and yes, he enjoyed it).

Now..... if you want to eat a HUGE omelet, go to Nick's, in Toledo, OH. This isn't a chain. It's a one-and-only. Seven (yes, 7) eggs go into this omelet. Then, if that isn't enough, they add every single thing on the breakfast menu INTO this omelet. It's absolutely HUGE, and none of us were brave enough to tackle it. But I could see a family of oh, say, 10 people sharing it!

Enough of food talk - time to move on to get back to Oklahoma.

Peace & bubbles.... and napping is good, too!

Vacation News - day 9 - Oct. 15, 10

Friday - We left Keith & Judy's home to trek back home. Stopped in again at Leann's in Gillespie, IL to learn to be a swirlmaster. Definitely going to continue this fantastic procedure in the future, as it seems to be completely foolproof (hence, I can do it - haha).

You can see the video of how we did it here: http://www.youtube.com/user/LeaWildSense

The picture above is the swirl I did!

I'm gonna love swirling now.... it is no longer a chore.

Peace...... and bubbles!

Vacation News - day 7 - Oct. 14, 10

Happy birthday to Lance! Don't know if you're reading this or not, but congratulations on winning your bet! Lance just won $500 for losing 30 pounds in 30 days. Wow. I'd love to lose even HALF of that in that amount of time.
: )

Today we spent with Judy and Hannah. Had lunch at City BBQ with everyone (took Jeremiah and Keith out of school). Delicious!

We went to Hidden Valley Farm and bought some NATURAL, unsweetened REAL cider and apples. Yummy! Makes me think I need to make some apple cinnamon soap when I get back. I just ADORE the Autumn season and all of the scents and activities that go with it.

Here's a pic of Bullet and Hannah (and her caramel apple).

Vacation News - day 6 - Oct. 13, 10

OK - so Bullet's BIL finally moved her car so we could move on to the next leg of our journey - to visit Keith (one of Bullet's sons) and Judy (Keith's wife, not Bullet's sister). They just moved from Germany to Centerville, OH - has to be culture shock for sure (especially when you consider that we actually have a speed limit here).
: )

It's Wednesday afternoon - what an easy drive (oh, ok - I slept, but it didn't rain, which is what we were expecting), and we arrive to their brand-new home. Very nice - lots of space and techno stuff! And I have access to the web, so I can get caught up on some updating.


Peace and bubbles!

Vacation News - day 3 - Oct. 10, 10

Yes! It IS 10/10/10 - a unique number combination as far as dates go. Sunday morning we leave Gillespie and travel up to Toledo, where Bullet's sister (Judy) and brother-in-law (Joe) reside. They just purchased this new home in a retirement community, even though they aren't yet 55 years old. Must be nice!

So we arrive Sunday night. What a wonderful, warm home. And of course Judy and Joe have to keep us full to the gills the entire time we're there (I understand that Judy is STILL full). They attempted to bribe us to purchase a home there by offering a brand new riding mower (I'm told it's the "Benford" model), but we are now rooted in Checotah. My little soap shack is getting customers, and we have other places to stop and visit.

BTW, Judy loved her antique lilac body spray I made and labeled just for her.

Off to Keith & Judy's on Wednesday....... stay tuned.