Handmade soaps on Zibbet!

Black Crown soap available to buy here

I don't know whether it is the recent change in Etsy's status, or the relevancy search but so much is new at Etsy since last year and the lights appear to have gone out! I am going to stick with it anyway, and try and find out how to get my shop moving with the times! 

However, I have opened a second SoapyChica over at Zibbet, as there is a lot more going on over there now for the genuine handmade crafter and the community as a whole seems to be very pleasant.

 I should be receiving my new gift packaging in the next day or so, so there will be a few photos to show the new soaps in their gift wrap by the end of the week.

Spring soaps

We are busy making new soaps with a Spring theme in pastel florals, and some hearts and corsets in Valentine red . I fancy making up some gift baskets with Easter just around the corner, and I think we are all pretty desperate for some Spring and Sunshine in our lives after such a long Winter! I find myself craving the smell of Hyacinths and Freesias and Lemongrass this week :) there will be some new Plain Special bar designs, and also the bath truffles that Joy from Dragonfly Dawn is making to add to our boxes!

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 :)

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!

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!

Pear Soap

This is one of those soaps that I makes me wish people had 'smelly-vision' over the internet! One has to experience it to believe how realistic the pear fragrance is-not like pear-drop sweets, but more like a fresh and ripe pear, which is one of my favourite fruits. The colour is a greeny gold achieved with the use of mica, and the natural colouring of the clays and butters in the soap also shows through. Each soap is unique as they are all individually hand poured with a slight swirl. I have a box of these soaps all wrapped and packed and it is making my spare room smell amazing ;)

Almond Coffee

When I was pouring this soap, the whole house smelt like a coffee shop. The fragrance is almond milk but I coloured the soap with coffee which means there is a goodish coffee smell about the soap. I made three colours of soap and then poured them all together to make the soap a little bit swirly. There is Rhassoul clay in there, which is one of my favourite soap ingredients, shea butter and avocado butter and a little copper mica. The finished soap reminds me of an appaloosa pony!
I am planning to make another couple of soaps next week with this plain mould, and then hopefully by the second week in June my new moulds will have arrived from America and I can get busy with those!

Pilfered Post!

What a shock! My lovely order of custom double-poured soap favours, for my USA customer arrived damaged and with only one of the soaps present. I imagine someone somewhere has 7 of my beautiful daisy soaps and I am furious, but what can you do? My customer was understandably really upset, and I made the soaps again for her. Fingers crossed that she gets them all this time, but I am worried that they might not arrive in time to give her party guests . Future orders will go out wearing their drabbest attire, instead of the pretty packaging I had been using. We joked that I ought to put 'haemorrhoid soap' on the customs label from now on, to discourage any more 'accidents'.