Lizzy's pressie!

I reckon the chances of Liz reading this blog before she opens her presents this morning (yes I know its boxing day) are so slim I am going to go ahead and post a piccy of it- I bought it from Purseona at Etsy about 3 months ago as it had to be made and sent from the USA. I love her bags and have long admired/coveted them. Lizzy's old handbag was deeply loved and rather ancient in fact I think she had it for at least 8 years although I could be wrong . Anyway she needed a new one and here it is. I had to get mum to choose from the array of beautiful fabrics as I feel I have absolutely no taste in these things! I especially love the little magnetic clasp. Hope my sister loves it too!

Having a sale!

I have always wanted to hold a sale, so now seems to be the appropriate time. I would rather hold a sale than try and go shopping in the Boxing Day sales today in town! I would hate that! So, although there are slightly bare shelves here at SoapyChica since the Christmas rush, I am holding a buy two-get a third soap free sale both on my main site and on Etsy. All the soaps will be freshly made and beautifully wrapped as always, its just that you get a bit extra :)

Phew!

I bet all those who sell handmade items in a small way online are all breathing a sigh of relief, that everything got out on time!
Well this year Christmas was totally hectic-even with my sister Liz's sterling help. I'm glad and happy for the sales and I know now that I must be over-prepared, not under prepared! Last year seemed busy, so I organised enough soap for the same level of sales, but sold four times as much in December so Im going to bear it in mind for next year. Somehow I thought the recession would have had more effect on the sales for all of us. Of course I didn't help myself by deciding Mid November to start presenting the soaps in luxury fabric, instead of cello bags. I remember that I was low on cello bags, and needed to make an order of soaps look pretty, and so I parceled them up in the chiffon that I normally use to line the boxes. 'Ah, I thought-they look rather nice, I think that is how I would like to receive a luxury soap, if I bought one' and that was it. I have been tying bows in my sleep this week I swear!
It will be nice to catch up with life again now, and tomorrow is set aside for making our house look like someone owns it once again!

Forgotten Flowers!

I totally forgot to post about these new chrysanthemums . I think these are most likely a soap you would perhaps prefer to look at rather than use, but then I'm all about that anyway most of the time! :) These go in a cello bag with chiffon ribbon and a handmade tag, I havent found a box the right size yet, and anyway they look fine in the bags as you can see the petals more clearly. I suddenly had quite a few sales last evening, which was weird as I was just sitting here browsing away and buying my sisters pressy (* I will post about what I bought her after Christmas), and my Paypal balance kept going up instead of down. It was weird but in a good way obviously.
So I have a lot to do this morning, and yet my van's battery is flat and I am stuck till Mark gets home to 'bump' me! I have to walk to feed the horses-its only just over a mile luckily, and I cant get to the studio till this afternoon. grrrrrr, I am raring to go!

Baby Soaps

I had the idea when making baby soaps for my cousins' babies and we were looking at designs that would be cute. Murielle and Barney caught my eye and they are so sort of roundy and smooth I just love them. Murielle the Cow is furious because three people have already ordered a Barney of their own, and she hasnt had any followers of her own, but I rather think she is 'sitting pretty' and have told her so- I said 'good things come to those who wait' - its a good job I didn't name her Patience the Cow! Anyway they are delicious and I love them both :)

Parcels all arriving ok!

Duck Egg Heart

Well my fears were allayed, and everyones parcel has arrived safely so thats great-well one hasnt but we've sorted that out - it was en route to the USA. Its the only one this year so far that went missing. Well three new moulds have arrived this week and I shall post the results asap- two childs soap moulds and one fancy floral one. I have had a few Victorian hearts to make this week, and have veered toward a tiny bit more green to make a true Duck Egg blue, they all came out beautifully I am happy to say, with copper flowers. I am feeling the urge for some special moisturiser and that kind of thing this week as the weather turns ever more Wintry, you know when you can feel it in your skin? Well last year I remember I was using products from Maia Skincare which are my most very favourite- a bit like the Liz Earle range but in my opinion better. I must get onto that site and order some more for this winter-they have balms and potions to die for! And they smell amazing too. Body lotion I can get away without using because of the special ingredients in handmade soap, but I sometimes suffer from dry skin on my face where the weather gets me when I am out with the horses and dogs.
I find myself relying on 'smells' a little more now its colder, also as a pick-me-up, I am using a honeysuckle soap in my bath, taking turns with a lavender bar, and a hazelnut bar.

Postal Strike

I wonder how much the parcels will be delayed by, and how long this is going on for? I have sent loads and loads of soapy parcels out this week, and some moulds for my sister Liz, and a parcel for Joy is on its way also! As long as they store them all properly if theres a backlog, I have the horrors of someone sitting on all my parcels and squashing them all!! Am hanging on to todays packages and will send them tomorrow and hope for the best. I wish I could use a courier instead but for the smaller packages you cant beat the RM on cost, as we all know.

I am having to have a re-jig in my online stores as am getting quite busy now, and the most time consuming soaps that I make are going to have to go by the wayside for a short time. I make them to order and as they take ages to make, I get a bit snowed under at times! (Like now)! I have had a bit of a run on crowns and corsets so have enlisted Lizzie's help -its all hands on deck! I now have a pretty tableful of sugary pink and cream sparkly soaps -lalalala!

Pamper evening!

I was invited to have a table at a pamper evening organised at my local primary school last week and I thought why not? It ran from 7-9pm so was not too long to attend on my own. I took all sorts of soaps because I really could not decide what to take! I was quite nervous also :) I sold quite a few simple spa soap slices-they were really the best seller and I had them piled in baskets at the front. One white chocolate and one coconut truffle bath butter jars were sold, and I think it helped when I actually opened a few up for people to have a 'go' at, and placed them in the centre of the table. The fancier, pricier soaps I did only sell a couple of but on the whole I was pleased with the evening and had great fun attending! There were some lovely candles and things there but I held myself in check admirably on the spending front for a change! I was able to use the stands I had got from off Ebay that are meant to be for cards, following EJ's tip off about them, they were easy to put together and I used them for my gift boxes and jars. I suddenly remembered half way through to take a picture of the table set up for future reference and also to show my sister liz , who has been such a help!

I love this!

I was lucky enought o be featured in a treasury on Etsy today (well my soap is) :) and alongside I saw this adorable ring which I am coveting! This is right up my street and the seller SweetMelodies has some lovely things in her store thats for sure! It has put me in mind of doing a blog treasury list as there are so many lovely items on Etsy, great excuse for a browse!!

Gloomy lighting-enough already!

It seems the days are all overcast by the time I am ready to take pictures- I prefer to use natural light but such grey days really are not helping. Funnily enough when I took my pictures in my little room at home they all seemed to be light enough no matter what. It must be a magic window sill and I am going to resort to taking things home and snapping them there. Its annoying but not insurmountable-just a bit weird. I have been messing about with my website again today trying to get it to look right and be a little more user friendly, and I could do with some good pictures of my new boxes but its not going great so far!
Here are my latest tries- I promise the soaps do look better in real life :)

A milestone?

Christmas soap truffles to cheer us all up :)

100 followers, surely thats something to be celebrated? I shall do a nice dance (luckily no one can see me doing that) , what a lovely cheer-me-up on a day which I had thought ruined by my OH. Yes he has had the wise idea that I give up my soap studio as he thinks it a waste of time and money and I would be better working at home again. So I now feel flat and fed up. Thankfully I am made of quite sturdy stuff really, so shall simply listen to the comments, take them 'on board' and then carry on as before. Funnily enough you tend to spread when you have the room don't you , so my soapystuff will now never fit back into the one room in our house so thats the end of it! And I am receiving so many more orders these days than I used to, so I really feel justified in keeping my little workshop.

In the paper again?

Hmmm lovely Fiona from NotMassProduced.com has been in touch and tells me that there is a link to the site together with a picture of a SoapyChica Royal Crown Soap in the Daily Mail Weekend magazine today. Well that is a surprise and I am going to try and get a copy if I am quick enough today so that I can have a sneaky look- I am working in the salon so I might just miss out but I hope not! I have had to work today even though I was supposed to be doing 'Pooch in the Park for St Giles Hospice. Its a long story and involves a horrid emergency tooth extraction yesterday *shudder*, anyway I am here and I might as well enjoy it!

Some good, some bad, take the rough with the smooth etc!

Well it has been a bit like that the past few weeks, suddenly a rush of sales- delightful at any time of course and most welcome. Then an oven that caught alight and a small scale 'situation' and no oven ( it persists in bursting into flames- not a great quality really, so has been retired) . Now I have a ceramic hob with which to heat my blends and I am far happier-problem solved! And I have finally caught up with my orders so all is well. Happily Lizzy my sister has offered to help out with SoapyChica which will be fabulous as I need an extra pair of hands, particularly going forward into the Christmas season. Of course there was the Express feature, and now a possibility of a feature in another magazine also- which I will explain if and when anything comes of it so that I dont jinx it! The thing I am most excited about really are my new gift boxes- I like to offer the luxury soaps in a presentation box and I have found the perfect ones, so have been having a lovely play haha!
And yes- that iS the same soap as shown below-it wanted to be in 2 posts, it likes it- so who am I to argue?

In the paper today!

The Daily Express have featured one of my soaps in an article full of British goodies. Union flags and Crowns galore! This pink roses scented Royal Crown soap has been a bit of a best seller this year and its one of my favourites as well.

The giveaway! A winner at last!

Today I have to find out who has won my giveaway of soap! Thanks to everyone who commented and entered the competition-its been fun reading all of the comments!
Watch this space!
* Here we are then - My winner is Allotment 1 otherwise known as Sonja! Well done Sonja-where do I send your prize?
Lovely! :)

Under the weather!

Oh Dear! today I am supposed to be working -dog grooming but it has all gone wrong and I woke to find my throat feels like a razor blade is in it and I am all hot and ill feeling. Therefore I have decided not to try and press on, inflicting it on others, and I am glad I am home -but bored! Of course soap making is also out of bounds when ill, so I am stuck! Here is hoping its a simple dose of cold :)

Harry Potter Soap! well....sort of....

This is another soap that I just couldnt resist making, and I love how it has turned out. Do excuse a slightly fuzzy picture! This just reminded me of Harry Potter , and seeing as how I am excited to go and watch the film, I allowed myself the treat of it! :) Around the frame of the picture are such cute little details like a sorting hat, glasses, a quill!
The fragrance is a nice one, a little like face cream, clean and fresh. I know I am supposed to be taking pictures of my studio place, but its not quite as I want it to be yet. Mind you I do keep getting curious visitors popping in for a look :)

Soap Gift Sets

Chocolate and Pear Brocades

I love these new sets. Liz my sister has taken better pics-but I am using these for now! I have had a great time putting sets together because I have had several requests for gift baskets etc recently so here we go :) Its a job to find enough hours in the day though at the moment!

Chocolate and Duck Egg Daisy

The new studio/workshop

Well I don't know what to call it really- I have almost finished painting it. At first I was not going to bother, but it was a vibrant yellow and orange with blue carpet and I just dont think I can work with that ! Also it has been used as an office for 5 years so looked a bit worn in places. I unearthed a massive tub of white paint that we had around and painted the main work space, and for the little foyer bit I chose Classic Duck Egg, which I think looks gorgeous. I think I will do the glossing tomorrow afternoon which I have arranged to have free of work (doggy work that is) and then I can get on with making soaps at last. I am looking forward to experimenting with more products as well now that I can really spread out. Obviously I had to paint before I started-not after! My hair and clothes are bad enough-covered in splotches tonight!
Not only that, I really didnt think I had so much soapy paraphenalia until I had to move it-Nightmare on Elm Street!
Oh and I havent taken any pics yet - because it looked a bit like Macdonalds before, and its not quite finished yet, but I will!

Soapy Giveaway!

Pretty Knit Effect Embellished Soap 120g approx

I have decided to celebrate my new soap workshop with another blog giveaway. Its so simple to enter- just leave a comment here saying what tempts you into buying handcrafted soap. Easy as that -and a winner picked at random will win one of my newest designs-the heart shaped soap shown above, in Vanilla Cream wrapped in a pretty gift bag( as with all my soaps). This giveway is open to all as I ship worldwide.
Good luck and thanks for visiting my SoapyChica blog!

Slowly getting there.......

I have had a lovely thursday and friday off from grooming to move into the new soap place- I am glad because although I love the hot weather, its very itchy when the dogs' clipped hairs stick to your glowing hot face, and when you try and itch you just transfer more over! Of course having two days off in a row fills me with guilt, as people are suddenly desperate to have their dogs clipped because of the heat, and the phone has just not stopped ringing. The last extra time I had off was Christmas week though so I must take this time before I explode!

I have collected a couple of tables kindly donated to me through freecycle, so I have surfaces to work on, and I am collecting another today-my little van has never seen so much action! As I am waiting in for my supplies and labels though this morning I have found time to update my website with a few more soaps-guest ones this time. My site looks full-although several products overlap categories really so they show up more than once! Now I am going to start making a few other product types I will not know where to put them! here is my link to my new page if anyone fancies paying me a visit! SoapyChica

Last soaps before the move

Today I have been completing my last two orders before I get to move my bits and pieces over to the new unit, and I cannot wait although I have no furniture as yet. I have begged borrowed and bought two large tables which I need to install, and we will have to see about the rest :) I have also poured a couple of designs in new colours just to see how they come out.

My Horses

Here are my horses doing what they like second best. Their first best is, I think, grazing - and they do plenty of that as well :) Holly and Humphrey have formed a pair over the last couple of years, and are now inseperable and as you can see they like to do things in pairs. Moonie has to have a bit of extra care as he has laminitis, so he is used to being either on his own, or moving paddocks and groups of horses regularly. Therefore Moonie makes friends very easily, and has a lot of them! I have had these ponies with me since they were about 2yo and they are now in their teens.

Oh! Yeehah! What have I done?!

Well I have been wishing for a while that I needn't make my soaps in the kitchen and spare room as we have very little space and my fella is a keen cook who doesn't appreciate any loss of space :)
so we have rather a battle of wills at times. Anyway today I aquired a workshop/office down at the farm where I run my grooming business, in fact its just nearby - so I am delighted today and looking forward to moving the whole operation to the farm. Of course I must get some photos and post them here as soon as I can so you can see , although it will be higgledy piggledy to begin with till I get used to my surroundings :) .

Wedding Favours

I seem to be getting more orders for wedding favours and I am pleased to think of my soaps gracing someones table on their big day-what an honour that is! Now that I am not offering my soaps wholesale to anyone else, I am left with more free time to concentrate on wedding orders and other pleasurable projects, so I am pleased that I chose this route. Some of the soaps seem to be geared right towards weddings and bridal showers. One lady chose some as bridesmaid gifts and for her 'hen party' - which I think is a classy idea. The most popular ones this month have been the royal crown soaps in Rose and in Vanilla which I have posted pics of. I am trying to despatch the favours early in plenty of time for their deadlines!

rose scented soap

My latest favourite scent (so many favourites)! is a really lovely Rose that I have recently began to use again after a year or so. I am not usually a rose sort of person, but this one has converted me!, because it is not overpowering, just very very moreish! I have made a batch of Pink Roses soaps, including some Royal Crowns for a lady in Australia, some travel soaps in little cases, and a nice heart shaped soap with a cute knitted design which is pictured here.
I have sent for some cute hang tags that I found on Etsy which I want to use when I package the soaps, so many talented people selling pretty things on Etsy-almost too much choice!

Gourmet Chocolate Soaps

http://www.soapychica.co.uk/gourmet_chocolate_soaps

This week I have given myself two days off from my salon, so I can catch up on the things of life. I have spent some of that time updating my website with the soaps that I have made recently and taking pictures. Of course its cloudy overhead this week so they are not the best ever pictures. I have tried top divide the shop into sections to make it easier to find the right soap. I have placed the chocolated truffles and chocolate fragranced soaps all together in a gourmet chocolate soaps section. I have many more items to add to that page, its just I haven't got the pictures ready yet. It is a trial to invite guests to a website, as I remember from the early days of setting up the Mutley Makeovers site, but with an allocated budget of £0 I will simply work hard myself and hope for the best :)

Where the bee sucks

I have added a few new soaps this week, but to the same luxury recipe and fragrances as the others. I like the detailed ones- I am a sucker for them!! I especially like the little bee detail on the heart shaped cake, he is drinking nectar from a tiny flower! I have updated my website with many new soaps, the only trouble I am having is the international shipping calculator-it continues to insist that everyone lives in the UK. Here is the link again for anyone who wants a look-any critiques welcome (its a work in progress for sure)!

Kerrera Skye

I have recently discovered this brilliant seller on Etsy- she is a Scottish lady now living in New Jersey, and she makes the most lovely, wonderful knitted items! I saw in particular this amazing bag which is firmly on the old wish list now of course! Wow but the rest of her shop is the same! Check it out here Kerrera Skye

Dita SoapyChica!

Hey look what my friend Les has made up- how cool is that? He sent me the spoof ad as follows:

"Here, world famous Vintage/retro model Dita Von Teese wears Soapy Chica's new Bustier soap design for Fall '09 ... 'You Can Actually Wash It Off!' ..........."

I dont know how he did such a clever thing but I love it! Oh see my writing has gone all blue with the excitement of it all!

Packaging re-think

I am having a think about how best to package my wares! I am happy with my recipe now, and am making all of my soap to the same recipe-apart from adding honey to the Honey Galore and Honey Pudding. My packaging leaves a huge amount to be desired however. I love the little bags that I use for the fancy soaps, but I need other packaging also, especially for the plain bars of goodness. I have taken up an idea from someone who tweeted me last week and re packaged the corsets in ribbon. I have wrapped them in soft tissue first as there is already a bow on the front of the design which doesnt suit the addition of a ribbon bow. I shall post a picture I took in dim light (what else do we get round here) of the new look! You can still smell the soap fragrance through the wrapping, and I think this looks cute for giving as a gift now. I am stumped as regards hang tags though-I fancy tags rather than cigar bands for the plain soaps so that I can wrap them in tissue or paper first, but tags elude me at the moment......plenty of rummaging on the internet should help! I have seen some lovely ones on Etsy but may be too large.......

Gifts for Teachers

I have been busy re stocking my little online shops last month-it seems silly but I am kind of getting ready for Christmas in my mind as far as soap making goes. It was all a bit of a shock last year and I was overwhelmed rather by the orders I had. I am sorting out getting my labels printed for me, and things like that which make life easier. I am also starting to put together my packaging in a more organised and attractive way. I have also been thinking that teacher gifts may be a possible market towards the end of term, hopefully all those hard working teachers will be getting something nice from their grateful students :) I will be making some more of my ornate square soaps next week hopefully and I am really looking forward to that... That one there is Honey Galore a great favourite of mine!

200 Sales on Etsy

I am delighted this morning - my store has been at 199 sales for days and days ( and it was so tempting to make a target of 200 all those months ago) , so when I woke up to a sale this morning I am full of joy! Also the items are a thank you gift for someone-how lovely, I am excited to get them in the post asap. They are going to Belgium. One of them is a vanilla cake in a small gift box wrapped with ribbon, and this is the first I have sold of those, so I am pleased. I am making some more in Chocolate 'flavour' but probably not till next week now.

Travel Soaps

Yesterday I managed to pour some travel soaps, that is soap in a little container which is perfect for travelling with. I made English Roses for my Mum, and Lavender and Amber for my stepdad. They are over from Spain for a couple of weeks and I spent the day with them yesterday so was up early making the soaps.
You can pop the soaps out of the container to use, and then put them back and click shut, so the soap is then fully portable. You can also use the soap while it is still in the container, but I would prefer to take it out. I have made the soaps to the same luxury recipe as all the soaps I make, so people can have home-y comforts on the go. Ive poured several other fragrances - so we will see how they look.

Sunny

What a great day for taking pictures of things! I have been working in the salon for the past week and this is my day off so I am loving it very much! I need to take soap pictures so I am using the herb garden, which is a bit overgrown but still....
Here are Alegria and Beach Cafe bathing in the sun, my hands smell of rosemary and sage now.

Very creamy soap!

I have made this week a new soap, in a Choc Fudge Cappucino 'flavour' . I am calling it Choccacina which incidentally is a pet name I also use for my horse :) . The thing is, this soap is the most creamy, lotiony soap that I have ever made and I am really not sure why! I look at the recipe and I think "why this one"? I nearly wrote off this soap as a disaster too when I first unmoulded it I didnt really take to it. The chocolate chips seemed to look funny. Anyway I tried a small bar in the bath-just to see how bad it was, and instead it was beautiful!! I love it, and am keeping most of this batch, but will list some in my etsy shop sometime this week, together with a few more new soaps as yet untested. I will take pics of the Choccacina once the sun is up to post on this blog. It really doesn't look much though..., you have been warned! :)

'doing' a sale!

I am having a little promotion in my website this week, which is to celebrate the new soaps, and also so that I can try the code system! The discount code for 10% off is Tamworth , and this applies to any size order of any soaps on the site. I will be adding the new guest soaps and others this week too . These ones pictured are the chocolate ones which I will be re introducing over the next couple of weeks.

Violetta guest soaps

I have made these today to satisy an urge for Parma Violet that I have had for months! Its a summertime thing! I love these, though my other half took one smell and screwed his nose up. He hates it! They are very much like the smell of the sweets, but I have added a twist so that the soap fragrance is not overpoweringly sweet, but very pleasant and dreamy!! I have made the same little soaps in the Paradise Pear fragrance too seeing as I am being so self indulgent today, but they are not ready yet. I had an order for one of the Pear soaps today, and I really hope the lady likes the scent as much as I do-its fab!