Anne-Marie Faiola, Author at Soap Queen

Soap Guild Greetings

April 27, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Apparently, they alerted the kitchen that I was coming. Look what dessert was for lunch!

The grounds here are luscious and green and there is nary a fall foliage color to be found. In addition to practicing my speeches for tomorrow, I was able to take a walk outside with Lori Nova from the Nova Studio today and spend time by the firepit reading.

This evening, I had a chance to meet Sandy Maine from Sunfeather Soaps. She was one of the original instigators of The Soap Guild. Sandy was as sweet and humble as could be and told me that the secret to her 29 full years in business was work/life balance. She doesn’t work weekends and tries to keep her family always first.
It was a delight to meet her and I’m looking forward to hearing her key note address tomorrow morning, bright and early.

Ha! I caught you, Dreyers

April 27, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

On my smooth and easy flight to Vermont (thank you Alaska & United!), I came across this ad. Check it out! Ice Cream that has HALF the calories and HALF the sugar of regular low fat yogurt? Rejoicing all around! After all, that healthy probiotic laden yogurt I’ve been eating down daily for breakfast for years is getting boring. And, with summer coming on, frozen, slow churned yogurt from Dreyers (owned by multi-national Nestle who also, shocker of shocker, makes Haagen Daz ice creams and Starbucks ice creams) sounds way better than boring ol’, low fat yogurt.

The Dreyers Product has: 14 grams of sugar and 107 calories in a 4 ounce serving

The ad claims that there is 26 grams of sugar and 162 calories in a 6 ounce yogurt.

Well, CLEARLY, the ice cream thing is the winner …. right?

Not so fast there. Let’s read that fine print all the way at the left of the ad, running up and down the page (left of the luscious ice cream cone) in a very non-readable manner. Dryer’s is pulling a fast one. Did anyone else notice that they are comparing a 4 ounce serving to a 6 ounce serving? Of COURSE less product would have less sugar and calories (duh).

Let’s see what happens when you do the math though.

107 calories divided by 4 ounces = 26.75 (Dryers)

162 calores divided by 6 ounces = 27 (Example Yogurt in Ad)

So, actually, the calories per ounce is exactly the same.

What about their claim of sugar? By their “Example Low Fat” yogurt, the sugar in the yogurt really is more than their slow churned yogurt ice cream.

Except, that I didn’t find any “Light” yogurts when I was surfing the ‘net that had as much sugar as the ad claims. In fact, Yoplait Light Yogurt has just 14 grams of sugar in 6 ounces. Their regular yogurt has 27 grams of sugar in 6 ounces. But, that’s not what the ad said – the ad said “when compared to refrigerated low-fat yogurt.”

If you actually compare the Dryers Slow-Churned yogurt to a refrigerated low-fat yogurt, the yogurt wins on sugar counts as well.

Finally, let’s look at the actual ingredient listing of the Slow Churned “yogurt.”

INGREDIENTS (Chocolate Fudge Brownie Yogurt Blend Slow Churned): skim milk, corn syrup, chocolate brownie pieces, sugar, cream, cultured skim milk, fudge swirl (sugar, skim milk, corn syrup, cream, water, cocoa processed with alkali, bitter chocolate, modified tapioca starch, sodium alginate, potassium sorbate, salt), corn syrup, chocolate brownie pieces (sugar, wheat flour, soybean oil, eggs, cocoa processed with alkali, corn syrup, water, natural flavor, salt, soy lecithin, xanthan gum), cocoa processed with alkali, maltodextrin, whey, mono and diglycerides, milk minerals concentrate, guar gum, locust bean gum, carrageenan

So, the slow churned “yogurt” is really like eating milk with corn syryp and flavoring in there. I don’t see *any* probiotics or yogurt starter in the ingredients listing. According to WiseGeek, in order for a product to be called “Yogurt” it must contain either Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricusbacteria. The Dryer’s Slow Churned “Yogurt” contains milk, corn syryp and a thickener to make it seem like an actual health food.

It’s not. It’s a low-calorie ice cream subsitute. Skip it and have some healthy real yogurt instead.

Guess Where I’m Going?

April 26, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Woo-Hoo! And, I’m off to the airport! I’m flying all day to Burlington, Vermont. Natch, I’m with with United of the previous angry-little-yelling-man debacle. However, I am confident that this time, United will have 100% on-time flights, great service and friendly gate staff.

I’ll be speaking four times to the Soap Guild Conference attendees on Monday during the Business Power Sessions about Growing Your Business & Adding to Your Customer Base.

I’m hoping to get time to blog from the conference but it sounds like a jam packed time. Just in case it’s too busy to live blog, I have some fun projects and soapy obsessions to post about from Vermont that I’ve been working on this week.

Updated: It’s 11:28 p.m. and I’m safely tucked into my room at the Inn at Essex! Phew …

But, I Have a Vacation!

April 25, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

One of my girlfriends recently gave her 2 weeks notice to a well-respected company in Seattle. She had been given the opportunity of her career to get a promotion and a 50% raise … in a different company.

Though I am not a saint, I generally am thrilled when any of my staff find greener pastures (granted, sometimes, I smile through gritted teeth as a I frantically try and salvage the situation in my head).

Not so much this boss; having already taken 5 weeks of vacation by April 1st, partially based on the excellent responsible work my friend was doing, all she said upon hearing the news of this fabulous opportunity and promotion was:

“What?! Well, that’s inconvenient! I’m scheduled to be on a three week vacation then!!!“

Latest Etsy Purchases

April 25, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

The entire office erupted into peals of laughter and joy when they saw these bath bomb cupcakes on Etsy. Being very frosting-impaired, their mounds of luscious frosting intrigues me.

Hey Card Lady has a cupcake bath fizzy shop on Etsy, though it is down a few products since I purchased 8 bath candies total. I can’t wait to get the goodies and use them as an excuse to take a relaxing bath.

Soap Love

April 25, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Roses Love Patchouli Soap $5.65 at Flower Peddler

I love the use of soap gratings to provide texture and color interest to the bar.

Pink Peonies from Flower Peddler. $5.35 here.

Mastermind Your Way to Success

April 24, 2008 Filed Under: Business Musings

I had the honor of speaking to the IAAP (International Association of Administrative Professionals) yesterday. I spoke about the importance of having a very strong support network. Every successful person has a huge massive support team around them – you may not see them, but they’re there. Not only am I lucky enough to have a fabulous group at Bramble Berry, I also have my Mastermind Group. Here’s a photo my Mastermind Group, comprised of women business owners in Bellingham, Washington.

What is a Mastermind Group? The concept of a Mastermind Group was introduced to the world in a formal manner by Napolean Hill, the author of “Think and Grow Rich” in the 1900’s. He defined the Mastermind Principle as, “”The coordination of knowledge and effort of two or more people, who work toward a definite purpose, in the spirit of harmony. No two minds ever come together without thereby creating a third, invisible intangible force, which may be likened to a third mind.”

My Bellingham Mastermind Group meets once a month. We have homework, book reports and a long update process that involves talking about our business (and personal!) goals and our progress on those goals. We rarely talk about problems but instead focus on getting more success out of our lives.

I felt honored (and humbled) to speak to the group of (mostly) woman professionals about starting their very own support network to help them reach their goals and potential.

From the Get Rich Slowly Blog: “Without goals, you are living reactively, letting life push you around. With goals, you can live a proactive life, steering toward a destination. When you have an end in mind, it’s easier to see when you’ve made a wrong turn. You know where your path is supposed to lead.” And with a Mastermind Group around you, helping you and supporting you down that path, it’s a lot easier to get on and stay on the path to your personal bliss

You are the sum total of the five people you spend the most time with. Do the people you hang out with lift you up? Inspire you to reach your highest potential and urge you to shoot for the stars?

If you’re interested in learning more about this concept, here are some resources that you can draw from to start your own support network.

Mastermind Resources

Books:

Think and Grow Rich

by Napoleon Hill

The Success Principles

by Jack Canfield

Mastermind Group Resources Blog

http://www.evancarmichael.com/Mastermind-Group/

The Masterminding Maven

http://www.makeadifference.com/

(online courses, books, movies)

How to Start a Mastermind Group (in a nutshell):

Decide what the focus of the group will be
Decide the criteria for membership
Look around; find members
Determine a meeting structure & time schedule
Agree on the “spirit” of the meetings (judgment free, proactive)
Decide on a Leader
Start Masterminding your way to success

Cow Soap, by Spotted Cow

April 24, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

I just love this soap by frequent Soap Queen Commenter, Spotted Cow. Check out her Etsy store here. She’s an active blogger as well. Her blog can be found here.

Make Your Own Eye Shadow

April 23, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Bramble Berry’s Eye Shadow DIY kits launched this week! I’m so excited about this product line. The kits come with instruction booklets and everything you need to make 10 eye shadows. You’ll have lots of material left over though, so have extra pots on hand to use up the extra material.

In this photo, we used the exact same recipe but added varying amounts of Luster Black Mica to the green. Isn’t the difference striking?

We have two kits: one totally all natural, mineral make up based and one mostly natural that has a few vibrant colors thrown in for the more daring among us.

The full kit, with booklet and the cutest little stacks of colors, retails for $44.95. It’s on our general kits pagefor now, but we’ll have them on their own page soon enough.

Drowning in Onions

April 22, 2008 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

I made the most delicious Greek Salad last night … or rather, the recipe has been delicious in the past. I got the recipe from InStyle magazine (of all places) and it makes a great easy cost-effective healthy salad.

Easy Greek Salad Recipe

4 Vine Ripened Tomatos, seeded and cubed
1 English Cucumber, cubed
8 ounces Kalamata Olives, cut in half
1 Red Onion, chopped
4 – 8 ounces Feta Cheese Crumbles
1 Tablespoon minced fresh Oregeno
2 ounces Olive Oil
Salt & Pepper to Taste

Directions: Add everything together. Stir well. Eat. This keeps for a few days and tastes even better on Day 2 and 3 as everything marinates together.

The whole thing is a lot of food prep if you don’t have a Cuisinart (I don’t. Mom and Dad, if you’re reading this, maybe that would be a good birthday present?) But, it’s a delicious recipe. I even shopped at the local organic store yesterday and all of the produce was farm fresh and locally sourced.

I’ve made this salad before and it was a huge hit. So, though I was crying profusely by the time the onions were chopped, I tossed them all in.

For future reference, onions can be different strengths!? Who knew!?! Locally grown, fresh, organic red onions are way stronger than the onions I normally buy in the produce section of my grocery store. So, we picked out 75% of the onions and the recipe was back to balance and delicious.

PJ’s Soap Goodies AND Giveaway

April 22, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Do you want to learn how to make glorious soaps like these? The easiest way to learn is to be taught by the actual master herself, Paula Kates from PJ’s soaps. You can learn in person at our Soapmaking Weekend Intensive this July at Otion. Two days of expert teaching from some of the best soapers in the business. There are just 8 slots left. Click here to learn more about the fabulous weekend.

The next best thing is to buy PJ’s kit. PJ has an entire kit that she’s designed available through Bramble Berry to make these amazing soaps. To kick off our new product, PJ has graciously donated a deluxe, ultra super duper kit just for Soap Queen readers. This kit is valued at $45.

What do you have to *do* to win this kit? It’s simple. Post in this thread and tell me what project you’ve made off the Soap Queen blog and what you thought of it. If you didn’t exactly make the same project but did something utilizing a technique you learned from the blog, that’s okay as well.

You have all week to do it. I’ll pick a winner next Monday from the Soap Guild Conference and announce the winner next week.

Weight Versus Volume

April 21, 2008 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

This is a candle I made with 100% Stearic Acid. Why Stearic Acid? Because I saw some candles at a high end gift shop that were made with “Palm Wax.” They were very expensive candles and I thought, “Gosh, Stearic Acid is derived from Palm Oil. I wonder if I could just use Stearic Acid for my candle?” The natural Palm Wax candle at the store had a cool, crystallized look. The candle in the photo, though difficult to see, does have a crystalline, unique look that is high end and sophisticated. Success!

I measured out 16 ounces volume of Stearic Acid for my candle. For this project, I used Stearic Acid, Carrot Cake (discontinued – see all our candle fragrances here), the cotton core WU-250 wick and a Bramble Berry’s Candle Container.

Check out what 16 ounces volume looks like melted down! This illustrates why it’s important to always use weight when making any recipes. It’s a more precise crafting method. Precision and predictability is important for crafters. You can cost better and ensure less batch variation when you weigh out products rather than using volume.

I fragranced the candle with a full .5 ounces of fragrance. I like my candles strong and use a full 1 ounce of fragrance per pound (weight) of wax. Then, I carefully poured the wax, taking care not to spill all over the table. Finally, I positioned the wick in the center, propped up the wick on either side to ensure that the wick would remain straight and waited.

The candle burns well but next time, I’ll either use the WU-150 wick or experiment with a little Soy Wax addition to soften up the wax for an easier burn. The 100% Palm Stearic Acid candle is harder than I expected so the candle isn’t burning fully out to the edges. But, overall, the experiment is a success. The candle looks unique and interesting, burns well and has excellent scent throw.

Pastel Soap is in the Air!

April 21, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

I want summer to be here. The snow this weekend tells me it’s not quite ready to appear but I still made springy pastel soap in the hopes it would! These soaps are made in the Small Ovals Flexible Mold with Clear Melt and Pour Soap Base, LabColors and Super Pearly White Mica. I really like how versatile the Super Pearly White Mica is, it adds a pillow-y opaque shimmer to clear melt and pour and really dresses up the stained glass effect that LabColors give in melt & pour soap.

Have a question about this blog post? Come join us at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and we can help you out with any of your soapy questions!

Otion Soap Stars

April 19, 2008 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

The Beginner Cold Process class today at Otion was a huge success. We had eight students. For our little store, that’s a full house! Three of the students drove all the way from Portland, Oregon (a 5 hour drive). Erik and I co-taught the class and had a blast.
Erik did a great job during his hands-on segment. I am so proud of his progress as a soapmaker. He’s been at Otion only 9 months but has already logged over 550 pounds of soap in his short time as the lead soapmaker.

Like all of the Otion’s Beginner Cold Process classes, students were able to fully customize two seperate batches of soap. Check out the differences in these two take-home soapy creations. Each student used their personal preference to pick fragrances and color. The colorful artistic soaps were beautiful. They would be considered a success at any level of soapmaking.

While Manager Erik was teaching his segment, I used the time to test an exotic fragrance for Bramble Berry (tamarind). The fragrance performed well enough for a swirl using Red Labcolor. Fingers crossed that the fragrance holds up in the larger, five pound batch. It did well in the first 4 ounce mini test batch.

If you’re thinking about taking a class at Otion, consider the Soapmaking Weekend Intensive. It’s two days of intensive, full days, of Cold Process, Melt and Pour Advanced Techniques and Lotionmaking. You can go here for more information on this 2 day Intensive Class.