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 :)