On Thursday, August 29 I was so lucky to participate in an author event at Bellingham’s locally owned Village Books. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I was touched by the support of friends, family, soapmakers and the Bellingham community.
The evening started off with a ticketed event hosted in the home of Chuck and Dee Robinson, owners of Village Books. They live conveniently right above the bookstore! How great would it be to live right above your business? I mean seriously; I would never leave. Their home is beautiful, their art inspirational and I was grateful to them for opening it up to my soapy friends and fans. As a bonus, proceeds from ticket sales benefited the Boys and Girls Club of Whatcom County! You can’t beat cupcakes and treats for a good cause.
Setting up cupcakes and desserts from Pure Bliss
Complete with Soap Queen crowns! Yummy Salted Caramel, Lemon Bliss, and Red Velvet.
Jamisen’s latest skill – cheers! With a champagne flute of orange juice. =)
And my other special guest, Miss Lily Leah, who was enthralled by her Aunt Cheriss off to the right in this picture.
My brother Erik was there well, despite having to battle some seasonal allergies.
Bellingham City Councilwoman Cathy Lehman and TheFitSchool.com CEO, Carol Frazey, checking out a copy of Soap Crafting
After Chuck and Dee’s condo, we headed downstairs to the Reading Room where I gave a presentation about the process of recipe testing, writing and editing the book and working with a publisher for the first time. Synopsis? It took two years and multiple editors and copyrighters and I loved working with Storey Publishing.
I was delighted by the turnout, and the crowd was (thankfully!) receptive to my talk. It was a bit of an emotional roller coaster to revisit the different stages of the book writing process over the last two years (!), and there were thoughtful questions from the crowd on everything from my time-management strategies (I’m a Crenshaw devotee) to how to subsitute lard in the recipes in the book. Everyone left the event with a soap favor or two from recipes in the book. There were even requests for me to sign copies (which I’m still a little amazed by).
A bouquet of flowers, soap, and kale (I know, right???!!) from my parents who weren’t able to make the 5 hour trip.
So many photos were taken that evening! Here I am with Silvia Reed, the founder of Bellingham Explorer.
Thank you again to everyone who attended the reading — I had a wonderful time and it was fantastic to feel the love from the soaping community. And, the bookstore did as well. Soap Crafting was the Number One (#1!!!!) book sold at Village books last week. Woot Woot, indeed! If you want more Soap Crafting goodness, join our brand new Soap Crafting Club! You’ll have access to personalized instructions and feedback directly from me on how to make recipes from the book. Click here to check it out and read more, and happy soaping =)
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I love your new book and so far have made the pumpkin spice bars and avocado moisturizing bars. Directions are easy to follow, photographs of soap are amazing, and looking forward to trying other recipes. Thanks so much for your 2 years of hard work-you are an inspiration to all soapmakers!
I always love coming over to see what you are up to. Congrats on the book, and it looks like you had a great party!! Love the cupcakes with crowns for you!
Oooh it looks like it was such fun. Wish I could have been there.
Hi Odette!
It was so much fun seeing Anne-Marie talk about her book and we wish you could have been there as well. =)
-Becky with Bramble Berry
Oh the cupcakes alone would have inspired you =) It was a lot of fun; the champagne and sugar probably had a lot to do with that. I’ll get to meet you one day in person – and it will be great to chat soapy cupcake techniques =)
I am reading the book for the second time…. love the photographs and the soap designs. So you were surprised that guests wanted you to sign the book, not me… to have you autograph this book is on my bucket list! 🙂
That is so funny. It never, in a million years, occurred to me that someone would ask me to autograph the book.! =) I hope I get to see you in person to autograph yours one day.
Congratulations on the book, Anne-Marie! It looks like everyone had a wonderful time at the event. I’m looking forward to getting a copy soon – it’s on my wish list!
Thanks Jenny! I think everyone had a good time. A lot of cupcakes and sugar definitely helps with that =)
What an amazing milestone to have in ones life.You must be thrilled to see your work of 2 years come to fruition. You are an example to many. Congrats!!
It was and is so exciting to see two years of hard work come together to create something that I’m incredibly proud of (in no small part due to the publisher’s hard work at design and the amazing photography of Lara Ferroni). =)
What a great event and fitting kick-off for your book. I think this book is perfect for an experienced soap maker like me who wants to be more creative and get out of the routine a bit.Your hard work and expertise has produced another great product. congrats! By the way, I pre-ordered..twice! A friend will soon have the second copy. One of these days when our paths again cross I will have you autograph mine.
Pre-ordering twice should get you double the love! Ha =) Thank you so much for believing in the book enough to buy it ahead of time. That means a lot to me.
I’m am so happy that you think the book is interesting and you see value in it, even though you’re a more experienced soapmaker. That is a big compliment.
Thank you for being a supporter. I appreciate it.
Sounds like a fantastic night all around! You are an excellent speaker so I’m sure it went well. Congratulations again on the book, an amazing accomplishment. I’ve seen an electronic copy so I know how great the book is, but I’m looking forward to my hard copy which should arrive very soon… And all the copies we ordered to sell in the studio. Great pics, thanks for sharing 🙂
Awwww, that means a lot coming from you. Thank you! You’re a great speaker yourself! =)
What a huge compliment that you’ll be carrying the book at the studio. That is awesome news.
The hard copy of the book is breathtaking if you love soap; the photos are absolutely out of this world (thanks to the great photographer, Lara Ferroni, that we worked with).
Thank you always for your kind support.
Congratulations! Your book is just so great and inspiring! I hope you had a great party!
Thank you! The party was really fun – and there were cupcakes left over that I was able to share with the warehouse the next day so it was a total win-win. I’m glad you like the book. =)
You’re book was one of the first things I bought in my very first order from Bramble Berry. I didn’t know the significance of the book until recently and even happier that I made that purchase. What a wonderful evening! Thanks for sharing 🙂
p.s.
I love the book!!!
You’re book was one of the first things I bought in my very first order from Bramble Berry. I didn’t know the significance of the book until recently and even happier that I made that purchase. What a wonderful evening! Thanks for sharing 🙂
p.s.
I love the book!!!
Yay! So glad you like the book.
Yes, the book was a labor of love for over 2 years and absolutely the fulfillment of a lifelong goal. The party was icing on the proverbial (cup)cake =)
The book is an amazing and beautiful resource for soap making. The event was so much fun. Thank you for giving us the “behind the scenes” look into the book writing process. I am so inspired at how you have married business with crafting.
Thank you so much for coming. It was such a boost to my spirits to see soapmakers in the audience =) It was great to connect with you and I hope our paths cross again in the future.
Looks like you had a great time!
It was so ridiculously fun. I think I need more excuses to throw cupcake-laden parties in the future =)