Anne-Marie Faiola, Author at Soap Queen

People I Follow on Twitter

November 30, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

I follow over 100 people on Twitter – some for their blogging expertise, others for their marketing knowledge, a few because they’re funny and some just because I like their perspective on life. About 20% of the people I follow on Twitter are bath and body industry related. If you’re in the handcrafted bath and body microbusiness niche, I recomend that you follow them as well:

http://twitter.com/BellaLucce
http://twitter.com/saponifier
http://twitter.com/drflower
http://twitter.com/nahiacreations
http://twitter.com/CountryMeadow
http://twitter.com/soapylove
http://twitter.com/essentialU
http://twitter.com/fetosoap
http://twitter.com/MarrWilliams
http://twitter.com/packagingdiva
http://twitter.com/indiebusiness
http://twitter.com/TheBathProject
http://twitter.com/TheSoapGuild

Bath Fizzies – Gift Series – Day One

November 29, 2008 Filed Under: Bath Fizzies

Cinnamon Sugar Bath Fizzies are fun, easy, and very affordable! We added up the cost of the ingredients, divided it out and found these little bath treats are just 60¢ each! This is the final project in our Christmas Gift Idea series. Now that we’ve shown you all of these projects, you will have all of the knowledge you need to create delightful gift ensembles that are the perfect gift for holiday party gift exchanges, office co-workers, as well as family and friends. We think making holiday gifts with your children or friends is the perfect way to spend quality time with the ones you love. On to the recipe and bath fizzy fun…

update: Now that the entire series is posted learn to make guest soap here, lotion here, and sugar scrub here.

Ingredients:

1 pound Citric Acid
2 pounds Baking Soda
¼ ounce fragrance Cappucino Mica
Shredded Glitter
Witch Hazel (in a spray bottle)
Mold – I used our guest party stars mold (NOTE: The Guest Party Stars mold has been discontinued. It has been substituted with the 6 Cavity Christmas Assortment Silicone Mold.)

Get the kit from Bramble Berry with all the ingredients to make this project. Choose from two great fragrance combinations. Traditional Christmas Forest & Cranberry Fig or a more modern Cinnamon Sugar & Fresh Snow.
This recipe makes about 18 bath fizzies in a 2.5 ounce size. If you want want to make more (or less) just remember that it is always 1 part Citric Acid to 2 parts Baking Soda. Add as much fragrance as you like (our recipe produces a highly fragrant fizzy) and use LESS color than you think you need. The color will always look faded until they are used in the bath when they bloom and sparkle! Step 1 Measure out your Citric Acid and Baking Soda and thoroughly blend them together. Then blend some more! You can’t mix them up too much. Making sure there are no clumps and that the mixture is very smooth is a key to having a great looking final product. Step 2 Add your fragrance and mix it in well. If you find your blend is really lumpy and you can’t break up the lump with your fingers, you can use a sieve to get rid of the chunks. If you fail to blend in the fragrance enough, it can cause “warts” in your final bath fizzy so blend, blend, blend. Step 3 Set approximately a cup of the bath fizzy mix aside and add a few scoops of the Cappuccino mica to the main batch. Add a few pinches of glitter to the white mix. The glitter looks sooooo pretty in the bath. Step 4 Check your recipe for consistency. It should stick together when you squish it in your hand as shown above. If it doesn’t hold together, add a few spritzes of witch hazel, blend your mixture and do the squish test again. I’ll finish off this tutorial tomorrow, including information on how to make two-toned bath fizzies like the photo above.

Bath Bomb Cupcakes – Redux

November 28, 2008 Filed Under: Bath Fizzies

The tutorial below is the most popular tutorial The Soap Queen blog has ever published. It seems like a perfect tutorial to enter the Birdie Know It All Tutorial contest with. If you haven’t seen this tutorial before, thanks for the visit. If you’ve seen the tutorial, used it and made goodies with it, post a comment below and tell me how they turned out. If you missed the week worth of painful testing to get to this point, here are the trial runs (1, 2, 3).

I used the Wilton Easy Decorating Frosting Kit. Having the extra tips were perfect and made the cupcakes look ultra professional. Two days later, the frosting has dried to a hard plaster-like cast and will easily make it through the mail with proper packing.

1 part Citric Acid
2 parts Baking Soda

Additives: SLS (for lots of Bubbles in the Bath) or Bentonite Clay (makes a harder bomb)

Example Recipe:

4 oz. Citric Acid
8 oz. Baking Soda
1 oz SLS
.25 oz. Caramel Sundae Fragrance Oil
5 drops La Bomb colorant
Witch Hazel in a Spray bottle

Mix Citric Acid and Baking Soda so there are no clumps. Add the SLS or Bentonite Clay. Mix in the fragrance and color. If consistency is not a dry pie dough consistency, spritz on witch hazel until dry powdered product easily sticks together.

For the frosting:
3 Tablespoons Meringue Powder/Powdered Egg Whites
1 lb. (By weight) Powdered Sugar
5 Tablespoons warm water
1/4 tsp Cream of Tartar
Optional:
few drops Butter Cream Lip Flavor
few drops La Bomb Color

Get everything you need with the click of a button!

Mix Meringue into warm water first. Add cream of tartar and Powdered sugar. Whip on medium speed for 4 to 7 minutes. Frosting will form stiff peaks and harden within an hour (or so!). To make it smell better, use a dab of Butter cream flavor oil. We used Rosy Pink Lab colors to color our “frosting.”

The Hunger Games

November 28, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

I’m lucky. I belong to two book clubs with amazing, strong, powerful and creative women. Both book clubs are dictatorship systems – meaning, everyone reads what the host wants. It’s a rotating system and so most months, I find myself reading a book that I typically wouldn’t have chosen. In the last two weeks, I’ve read four books from cover to cover. I’m reviewing a few for Elle magazine that will be out in early 2009 (Honolulu, The Piano Teacher and The Missing). If you’re in a book club, when Honolulu comes out in January 2009, I would highly recommend it. It’s a female-centric historical novel with real events woven into a fictional set of characters.

Last night, I started a new book: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins.

Nancy Pearl, the NPR Librarian, recommended it at a Whatcom County Literacy Annual Fundraising Breakfast some of the book club and I attended. They decided to read it. Normally, this isn’t a book I would choose to read but because book club is a dictatorship, I had to read it. I’m glad I did. Technically, it’s young adult fiction. I don’t care what it is – it is one compelling read. I finished the book in one sitting last night. The story line was that engaging. Normally, I don’t go for futuristic “the world as you know it has ended so try to get on board with this new and harsh world” books but this one is definitely an exception. If you have a young adult on your gift list, or maybe just a winsome, wanna-be teenager, this is the book for them. It’s action packed and has some interesting messages about relationships, loyalty, integrity and the rise of reality t.v. shows. Just don’t make the same mistake I did and read it before bed. You’ll find yourself very tired the next day (yawn).

Happy Thanksgiving!

November 27, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at Bramble Berry & Otion to you and your family.

Here are the Thanksgiving Gourds I made last year; I’m pulling them out again today. If you want to make your own, they’re easy. Click here for a rundown of the project. And, if you want to just sleep off your trytophan high and not be all crafty, that’s okay too. Have a great Turkey Day!

Hey, What’s that Seaweed in my Soap?

November 26, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

If you missed the Eco Chic tutorial, click here to see it.

Here are the finished soaps from the Eco Chic Tutorial.

Coffee Grounds in Organic melt and pour base, made in a Yogurt container, sliced with sharp kitchen knife

Spirulina Herb, in organic melt and pour base, in a tofu container

Leftover bits from each batch poured into an empty, clean soy milk container. Wrapped with raffia and natural craft corrugated cardboard.

A Gift for Everyone on Your List

November 25, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

1. ‘Cupcake Soap Tutorial I Blissfully Domestic’ – blissfullydomestic_com_creative-bliss_cupcake-soap-tutorial, 2. Hybrid-Living, 3. Soap and Candle Making Budget Conscious Gift Ideas & Kits’ – candleandsoap_about_com_od_holidayprojects_tp_BudgetSoapGiftProjects_htm, 4. ShoppingByMail

Thank you About.com & David Fisher, Blissfully Domestic, ShoppingbyMail.com and Hybrid Living for recognizing that Bramble Berry has great instructions and kits that are perfect for everyone on your list for Christmas. You can use them to make awesome, from-the-heart gifts or give them away to family and friends.

Click here for the DIY Mineral Make Up Kits and here for all of our other kits (including the fun lip balm kit and Father’s Shaving Kit).

About.com said this about our $97 Holiday Gift Series Kit:

The world is in financial crisis – times are tough for everyone. Now, more than ever, it’s time to hearken back to our frugal candle and soap making roots and celebrate the fact that we can make wonderful holiday gifts very frugally! Here are some wonderful pre-assembled kits from Bramble Berry with everything you need to make some amazing gifts. Whether you use a pre-arranged kit, or put them together yourself, you’ll be able to create wonderful gifts and save money too.

Grumpy Girl Candle & Bath Company

November 25, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Seems like everyone is singing the praises of Grumpy Girl these days. And after I received my purchase from their shop, I can see why! In addition to the gorgeously packaged products, they sent free samples and a really sweet thank-you card. They have an online shop (free shipping this Friday!) and a very popular shop on Etsy.

Their Cuppy Cake Bath Bombs are packaged so well that they really do look like the picture on their website when you get them! Ours was scented with their Booty Call blend – an intoxicating blend of almond, honey & brown sugar. Her frosting skills are definitely better than mine.

These totally fascinating soap slices are part of their Cranky Kid line. Everyone I showed this bar to was totally entranced. You can help but to look at it from every angle trying to figure out how it’s done. I like the creativity; it’s a nice take on the “fish in a bag” approach that has been popular for a few years.

This bar was scented with their appropriately named Acid Trip fragrance blend – a mix of Patchouli, Orange and Lemongrass. The talent to do a swirl like this takes my breath away. Working with so many colors, and such a thin trace … wow. The soap is a true work of art.

If you’re looking for a gift that won’t disappoint this Christmas, you can’t go wrong with Grumpy Girl Candle and Bath Company.

Eco Chic Soap Project – Tutorial

November 24, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Using your leftover soymilk and tofu cartons was never this fun! The environmentally conscious can now recycle in a new and creative way using handmade soap or pre-made organic oil melt and pour base. This project can transform even the most novice crafters into mini, environmentally-friendly Marthas.

What you need:

Herbs, oatmeal, coffee, spirulina, clay, or food-grade charcoal
1 pound (16 ounces)Bramble Berry melt and pour soap, organic base
1 ounce essential oil (we used lavender, orange and eucalyptus)
“Soap mold” (a clean, used plastic food dish, like an empty yogurt
container)
Rubbing Alcohol

1. Prep your herbs and make sure they are the right size for exfoliating gently. Sharp herbs may be too abrasive on the skin.

2. Cut the organic melt and pour blocks into 1 x 1″ cubes.
3. Melt the soap in 30-second increments until the soap is fully melted.
4. Add .25 ounces to .50 ounces of essential oil. Remember, if
you use a yellow or orange colored fragrance, your soap base will look less
clear and look more yellow/orange.

5. Mix in your herbs or additives. Stir until the herbs seem mostly suspended. The cranberry seeds are very light and will float to the surface of your soap so make sure you keep stirring until the soap is thick enough to suspect the seeds.

6. Pour your scented and herb’ed soap into the make-shift mold
7. Tip: Don’t fill your make-shift soap mold all the way up. It helps for easy release to fill 85% of the way to the top and not the entire way.
8. Do one finishing touch of rubbing alcohol to finish off your soap and give it a nice smooth surfaceWait for the soap to harden, get the soap out, wrap with saran wrap, label and enjoy the compliments you get on your innovative way to help save the earth.

Fizzies, Lip Balms, Seizing Soap – Oh My!

November 23, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

1. 4 test candles with different waxes, 2. Testing new lip flavor, 3. Bath Fizzies, 4. Seizing Soap! Oh no!

Today was a busy day. I spent this afternoon with our newest Customer Service team members at Otion. We did a basic overview of the main things that Bramble Berry and Otion customers make. First, we did a batch of Cold Process soap. That pinkish purple in the photo above was acheived with a heavy dose of Ultramarine Pink Oxide. Unfortunately, the test fragrance accelerated trace a bit too quickly to get a triple-color swirl done and we ended up glopping the entire thing into the mold. The soap will probably not be taking any “Best Of” prizes anytime soon. On the plus side, the test fragrance (a Banana Leaf floral mix) smelled delicious, even while wrecking havoc on our batch. I’ll work on reformulating it and hopefully bring it in for Spring 2009.

To show the difference between Cold Process and Melt and Pour, we did a quick and easy Citrus Melt and Pour loaf. Holly in Customer Service was delighted at the instant gratification of melt and pour.

Then, we made two different lip balm recipes – one with deoderized cocoa butter and one with regular cocoa butter to compare the smell in the final product. We used this opportunity to try out some of our edible essential oils. We even tried including the lip tingling Clove essential oil in a few of the tubes, in the hopes of creating the next lip plumper. Our lips tingled but they didn’t look a whole lot more plump after application.

We also made two batches of bath fizzies. One using micas (Violacious Violet with Lychee Red Tea fragrance) and one using La Bomb (Lilac La Bomb with Cybilla Yuzu fragrance). Holly in Customer Service was particularly surprised to see the color changes with the La Bomb batch once the color was fully dispersed in the batch.

Finally, we finished with four test candles. The purpose of making four was to educate and show the Customer Service team at Bramble Berry the various burn rates of the different waxes we carry. On Monday, we’ll have a “Burn Off” and see which wax burns the longest, the fastest, the hardest and gives the best throw. Our offices will be smelling especially good tomorrow. I predict the 100% beeswax candle will be the last one standing.

Once I got home, I made a batch of delicious (well, I think it’s delicious) Carmel Fudge to bring to work. High doses of sugar are a great way to start out any slow Monday.

Just a reminder: Bramble Berry is closed Thursday and Friday this week for Thanksgiving.

Chippie! Chippie! It’s Fall!

November 22, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Want to make this soap? Click here to view the tutorial on our Fall Jackson Pollock soap.

Free Label Designs

November 21, 2008 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

Hope I don’t sound like a broken record but I just want to makes sure and share these fabulous and free label designs. And I while I’m at it, I’ll list the other free labels designs we’ve offered too – so they can all be found in one convenient place!

To use these files we designed them to be printed onto our full sheet water resistant labels. But you can use any label that is a full 8 1/2 x 11 size. Alternatively you can just print them onto the paper stock of your choice and glue or tape them onto your bottles and soaps.

First I’ll start with the labels above that were created for our Christmas project series:
Christmas Forest Labels
Fresh Snow Labels
Cranberry Fig Labels
Cinnamon Sugar Labels

For our Mother’s Day projects, we made
Rose Amore labels

For our body powder projects we made labels that fit the Bramble Berry white plastic powder shakers. Powder labels here.

I hope this makes your Christmas and Holiday projects look even more snazzy and professional.

Chocolate Cake in a Mug

November 21, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Photo by Su-Lin in London

Thanks to HowAboutOrange for finding these cool recipe on Haydee’s Chocolate Journal from the Traverse City Record. Phew, so this is now a fourth-hand shared recipe! TCR says:

Why is this a dangerous cake recipe? Because chocolate cake is now just 5 minutes away!

Dangerous Chocolate Cake-in-a-Mug

1 coffee mug (microwave-safe)

4 T. cake flour (plain, not self-rising)

4 T. sugar

2 T. cocoa

1 egg

3 T. milk

3 T. oil

Splash of vanilla

3 T. chocolate chips, optional

Add dry ingredients to the mug; mix well with a fork. Add egg and mix thoroughly. Pour in milk, oil, and vanilla, and mix well. Add chips, if using.

Put mug in the microwave, and cook for three minutes at 1,000 watts. Cake will rise over the top of the mug — do not be alarmed. When finished, carefully remove mug from microwave and allow to cool a little. Tip onto a small plate prior to serving, if desired. Yields one generous serving or two “more virtuous” servings

Sushi Soap Art

November 21, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Isn’t this Sushi Soap made by Teresa at The Two Tadpoles clever? I squealed with delight when I got her creative care package in the mail. Everything is soap, even the Wasabi! She packages up everything smartly, with a finishing touch of chopsticks on top. For $20, you could have your own Sushi Soap set.

Teresa shows more details of the soap and how she packaged the set on her other blog Demeter’s Dance.

Gift season is almost here. This would be the perfect present for the Sushi Fan in your life.