Im waiting for the postman :)

I have itchy soap making fingers this morning! I can't wait to get started, and I am waiting for some lovely supplies. Maybe tomorrow I may get started as I have a nice day off, all to myself - what bliss! I have some new soap ideas planned, as well as enhancement of some of last years favourite designs. Hopefully I will also be having my labels made at a printers this year, as label making is very unpredictable using my own printer to say the least. I am also looking forward to helping my sister with her new designs and formulations-very exciting! I will keep my dog grooming head on for the day today though as I have some really great puppies to pamper!

Two months away

I cannot believe that I have not had any soapy news for two months. Its true though, I have had to concentrate on my salon for a bit really, to get it up and running. I have to make soap now though, and am eagerly awaiting my new supplies and moulds,. I love waiting for pressies like this, its fab! Oh thats just reminded me about Fablet (must order some more of that lovely stuff too).
Well I am going to add some more soaps to my stores and I will also be helping my sister get her soapmaking off the ground too, from her little pink cottage in Suffolk(sounds ideal for soap making doesn't it)? I have been choosing my fragrances carefully this year and I am going to use the ones that family and friends, customers and of course MYSELF cannot do without! I will always play with new fragrances of course-every soapmaker knows the addiction! (I am hankering over parma violet today of all things-perhaps parma violet Fablet is still available, have to check)

If anyone has not tried Fablet then I heartily recommend its delights to all here is a link Fablet
The picture is not of Fablet, but of a soap I made that smells like dairy butter fudge, I could eat it as soon as look at it!

New fragrances

I love the new allergen-free fragrances that I will be using this year! They arrived last week and I have made a couple of batches using them. My favourites are the Sweet Milk and the Sweet Lavender, I just cannot stop smelling the soaps that I have made using them. I also adore the Hazelnut and Honey, it discolours the soap, but the resulting shade is lovely and suitable for the fragrance. My fiance even likes that one, he thinks it smells like freshly baked shortbread, and he usually does not have much interest in smelling the soaps. The floral blends that I have chosen are delicate and very pleasant and I am really looking forward to using them all for my flowery soaps. I have chosen to use Vanilla Sugar for a set of Victorian Cakes for my Etsy shop, the cakes naturally turn a lovely creamy brown and I dust them with shimmery pearl, just to accentuate the tiny details. I will be starting to make a few more guest soap designs next week-pictures will follow!

The Soap Boutique

Lovely Michelle from The Soap Boutique in Malta, has ordered some soaps to add to her Valentine gift sets this year. I just popped onto her Facebook page to have a look at some of her products and wow! she has a really tempting looking catalogue with some gorgeous looking pictures of soaps. Perfect for a soap addict like myself, and I am going to be telling my friends and family about this boutique!,
The Soap Boutique

A streamlined range of soaps

My poor blog has been sorely neglected these few weeks, as I have been concentrating on deciding which soaps to include in my range this year. Soon I will have all my new pictures ready to show and I will of course post them here!
I am honing the range in order that I can continue to give a quick turnaround time on my orders and I am switching to all allergen-free fragrances this year also, so that each soap is ideal for sensitive skins. I am updating some of the packaging, introducing some lovely new gift sets and updating my website. Of course this all takes a fair bit of time, and I miss my blog!

Hyacinth Bowl for Christmas

I received a bowl of three blue Hyacinths for Christmas from one of my lovely customers this year. What an amazing gift! We have so enjoyed watching the flowers grow, and now that they are open-the scent! The fragrance is all over the house and its beautiful, smelling almost like honey. These are one of the best presents I have ever had. I think I must have another try at making Hyacinth soap this year.

Gift Sets

I have been surprised and delighted by the amount of Christmas orders that I have received, and I am just about keeping up with the challenge of sending them out on time!
I have put together a few gift sets this week, which I really enjoy doing. Sometime soon I am going to have to get my Christmas buying organised-sometime this week I think! I am a nightmare for leaving it all till the last minute.......

Etsy Front Page

I missed it this time but I was lucky and a couple of kind people emailed me to let me know my coffee bean soap was on the front page, and to offer congratulations.
The lovely Pennydogaccessories got me a screengrab! I really like this treasury, compiled by Redheart13 and I am so glad it got to the front page.

EtsyVeg Blog Treasury!

I am a proud member of EtsyVeg Team, an Etsy team made up of vegans and vegetarians, and am excited to have the honour of my soap appearing in the latest blog treasury. Its the Sweet Drizzle Fairy Cake soap, containing shea butter and mild clay, and smelling rather like jammy sponge.

Misi - Make it Sell it

This morning I had an email inviting me to join Misi which is a site where you can sell things that you have made-the lovelier the better! I have had a little look, joined the site, and so far so great. In fact I emailed the administrator Emma about a query I had, and she replied straight back and was extremely helpful (its 7am) . The site appears to be smooth to use and has a nice clean look about it so I am rather pleased!

Fresholi Bites!

I am so delighted to have had a soap featured on the Fresholi Bites blog, which is a lovely site which talks about natural handcrafted soaps, lotions, bath & body products, aromatherapy and all things natural beauty!! Fresholi is a great place to buy all sorts of luxurious supplies for making soap and natural cosmetics, and the customer service is second to none.