Anne-Marie Faiola, Author at Soap Queen

#Baby Powder Winners!

March 4, 2013 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

It’s another new month (already?!) and I’ve enjoyed creating and soaping the fun projects and blog posts that have been posted. Missed them? Check out our archives for last month here. Another highlight of last month was seeing the variety of projects that our customers created with our #Baby Powder contest and it inspired me for Bramble Girl themed projects. And now it’s time to announce the winners of our #Baby Powder Challenge; drum roll please!

Top Row: Maria from Kokolele Soaps & Oliver Acres Family Farm – Goat Milk Soap

Bottom Row: Do Me A Favor Designs & Sebastian de Kolly

Thank you to everyone who participated in our #Make it Month contest and you can view all entries here on Bramble Berry’s Facebook page. Sound like fun? Check out our sample contest for the month of March here.

Facebook Photo of the Week (Feb 22nd ~ March 1)

March 4, 2013 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Let’s start out our week with some inspirational soap….Facebook Photo of the Week time. As always, there have been some incredible bath and body product photos that each and every one of you are creating (and posting to our Facebook page). We have such an active soapmaking community and I’m grateful for all of you that continue to participate and make it a better place for all soapers. Are you ready for the winner? Let’s go!

This week’s photo comes to us from Andrea of Soaps4Squares. Andrea told us that she used our soap boxes to create these adorable bridal shower gifts and that she really used loved how the Tropical Vacation Fragrance Oil stuck in her ITP (In-the-Pot) Swirl Soap. I totally agree with her, these little soap favors turned out so cute and show that you can do so much with just a little soap box. You might actually recognize Andrea from when she was on our BBAC Team from last year, and you can check out her super inspirational interview here. Thank you so much for being part of our amazing soapmaking community on Bramble Berry’s Facebook page, Andrea. Keep your eyes open for a special little package being sent your direction.

Andrea’s Facebook Page: Soap4Squares

Andrea’s Blog: Soap4Squares

Would you like your photo or project to be featured on the blog? Come join us for soap talk, contests and lots of crafty inspiration on Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and share a photo of your latest project. Your handmade soap might be next week’s feature!

Top of the Beer Soap To You!

March 3, 2013 Filed Under: Bath & Body Tutorials

It’s March and a favorite spring holidays is coming up…St. Patrick’s Day! There are many fun crafts and ideas you can do to get ready for it (check out my Spring Projects pinboard for more inspiration) and soaping is no exception. For St. Patrick’s Day, a lot of people think of beer, and I have you covered for that with your soaping. Check out these fun beer-inspired soaps that are sure to please those fans in your life.

For the love of beer soap

Black & Tan Beer Soap, Honey Ale Soap, Oatmeal Stout Soap

For the love of beer soap

Reimagining Honey Ale and Luck of the Green Beer

You can also check out all of our beer and wine inspired scents here: Pinot Grigio, Bordeaux Blend, Berry Wine, Pumpkin Lager, Oatmeal Stout, Honey Ale and Raspberry Porter. Are there other beer or wine scents you’d like to see us carry? Or do you have a favorite blend you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments below!

Happy Soaping!

Pins of the Week

March 1, 2013 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

It’s time for another round of my favorite Pins of the Week. Follow along with all the fun food, fashion and some soapy inspiration too on my Pinterest board.

This you are so loved poster would be cute in baby’s room.

It’s my go-to accessory this time of year, so I’m digging these cool ways to tie a winter scarf.

These southwestern egg rolls look downright dee-lish.

Solid Bubble Bath Recipe

February 28, 2013 Filed Under: Soaks & Scrubs

To “chillax” means to both simultaneously chill out and relax. Sounds good to me! And the perfect chillaxin’ wind down is a great bubble bath and a book. Here is a recipe for some bubbly goodness paired with the earthiness of Patchouli, sweetness of Orange and balancing notes of Rose for a perfect bath time essential oil blend. Plus, these solid bubbling bath bars harden up pretty fast, so you can get your bath time on quickly.

Recipe:

1.5 Cup Sodium Bicarbonate

1.5 Cup Cream of Tartar

1.5 Cup Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS)

3/4 Cup Liquid Soap Concentrate

Patchouli Essential Oil

10x Orange Essential Oil

Rose Absolute Oil

Click here to add everything you need to your Bramble Berry shopping cart! [Read more…]

Does It Get Easier?

February 27, 2013 Filed Under: Business Musings

I recently received an email from a business owner in the middle of ramp-up stresses. She asked, “I guess I should ask you of all people, who has achieved what I consider to be the greatest of success… does it get any better? Is there light @ the end of the tunnel???” I ended up writing her a small novel and after I hit the ‘send’ button realized that if she had this question, perhaps other people did as well.

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Ombre Layer Cake Recipe + Technique

February 26, 2013 Filed Under: Soap Queen Cuisine

Oh, Pinterest. You are the best ~~distraction~~ source of inspiration for just about anything! When looking for fun treats for our gender reveal party, I took a cue from this cake pinned from Ms. Martha herself and ombre’d (is that a word?) it up. The plain white frosting was the perfect veil to hide the pink-colored cake inside. The best part is that this concept is so versatile; it can be tailored to you color needs!

Recipe:

3 Vanilla Boxed Cake Mixes + their standard ingredients

2 1/4 Cups Sour Cream

3 Eggs (in addition to the eggs called for on the box mixes)

About 2 (small) Boxes Instant Pudding

1 bottle Red Food Coloring (or color of choice)

4 containers of White Frosting

Tools:

9 inch round Cake Pan

(optional) Cake Leveler

(optional) Frosting Bag

(optional) Frosting Bag Tip [Read more…]

Bramble Berry Athletic Club: Patty Staniewicz

February 25, 2013 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

For every year we have been in business, Bramble Berry has donated a portion of our profits to local charitable organizations and non-profits (see our Social Responsibility Statement here). Last year for the first time ever we decided to bring our friends, blog readers and customers, in on the charitable contribution action with the start of Bramble Berry Athletic Club. 2012 was super fun (and successful) so a new team was an easy decision. We recently we announced BBAC’s Sponsored Athletes for 2013. If you missed the announcement, check it out here. Today we have an interview with one of last years team members, Patty Staniewicz, who ran a half marathon at Disney World (how fun!). You can also check out Patty’s teammates’ stories here: Andrea Edgar, Bonnie Garrity, Harmony Davis, and Kerri Kretzmeier.

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Respite

February 24, 2013 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

I am reading the (amazing, life-changing, wow, must-read) “7 Habits of Highly Effective People” by Stephen Coveyf or the third? fourth? time with my Mastermind Business Group. The book reminded me that taking time to rejuvenate is key to a fulfilled life and the ability to keep going. That was just what I needed to read this week. So, in keeping with that theme, I only opened my laptop twice this weekend – both times to work on the Soap Queen blog (this is pretty much a record; I took my laptop on my honeymoon!). [Read more…]

Judging the ADGA Competition

February 24, 2013 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

My friend and amazing soapmaker Kathryn Hackney shares her experience judging the American Dairy Goat Convention Competition in Boise, ID this past October. She also includes some tips from the judges at the end of the post. Enjoy! -Anne-Marie PS – Longtime readers may remember previous posts (here, here, here and here) about the ADGA convention and judging. I’m still dreaming about their (goat) cheese tables!

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Self Portrait x 82

February 22, 2013 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

The interface between man and machine … is more important than the power of the man or the power of the machine in determining overall capability.

— Shyam Sankar

PS – Jamisen took 82 of these super close-up, not entirely flattering photos in a very, very short time period. This is a screen shot of just a few of them. =)

Facebook Photo of the Week (Feb 15th ~ 22nd)

February 22, 2013 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

What a busy and exciting week it has been. Though I was down for the count one day with a lovely stomach bug, I’ve thoroughly enjoyed watching all the great interaction on our Facebook page. Big thanks to our customers who helped us reach our goal of 500 new likes within a week. I was overwhelmed by the incredible enthusiasm and appreciate all the help to reach our goal. We also had a couple of super fun tutorials, our Sunset Ombre Soap and our absolutely decadently-scented Whipped Coffee Butter (that I’m using every day). This weeks winner of our Facebook Photo of the Week is…

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Sunset Ombre Soap Tutorial

February 20, 2013 Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

Here is the first of many, many recipes included with the brand spankin’ new Business in a Box Kit, exclusively from Bramble Berry. With the kit, you get this Ombre Soap advanced technique recipe along with another (soon to be revealed) technique option and a Business in a Box quick start guide all in a handy PDF. Read even more about all of the contents in the Business in a Box Kit here. Note that this recipe below uses the Quick Mix oils but this technique will work for any slow-moving recipe.

This soapmaking technique is for a super on-trend ombre look. Try out different color schemes with other LabColors from your Business in a Box kit for varied styles. Match colors to fragrance or essential oils, or create multiple colored soaps for a rainbow-esque display. Simply colored soap, when strategically layered, creates a light to dark fade that is sure to impress your customers. A seamless transition between colors will show off your expert sense of color and design.

RECIPE:

33 oz Lots of Lather Quick Mix

11 oz Distilled Water

4.7 oz Sodium Hydroxide

Diluted Canary LabColor

Diluted Orange Labcolor

2 oz Energy Fragrance Oil

10” Silicone Loaf Mold

If you’d love to try out this tutorial but aren’t ready for the full Business in a Box kit, click here to add ingredients for just this recipe to your Bramble Berry shopping cart! [Read more…]

Business In a Box

February 20, 2013 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Have you ever wanted it to just be easier? For someone to pick out all the stuff you needed and point you to the correct resources so all you needed to do was create safe products and sell? That’s what we’ve done with our Business in a Box kit. It is literally everything you need to get started making 100 pounds (roughly 375/545 bars) of soap, learn the basics of safe soapmaking, get an overview on starting a craft business and even includes label templates that are designed with correct INCI labeling. These kits are unique in that they include our most popular Quick Mix oils. You don’t need to worry about designing a recipe that works. We’ve done the work for you (though, full disclosure, soapmaking is addicting and we’re betting that you’ll want to do more research in the future and create your personal idea of a ‘perfect’ recipe). All you need to do to start is read up on business and soapmaking to get the basics under your belt, get your state and city business license, explore insurance, make the soap using our easy and safe recipes, add your address to the labels, cure your soap and get out there and sell! When you buy this kit, even with all the start up costs of the molds, equipment etc… included, the soap comes out to just under $1.39 per bar (without your overhead costs like rent, energy and labor worked in).

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