Anne-Marie Faiola, Author at Soap Queen

Contest for this week!

August 6, 2007 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

lionheart cupcake
Originally uploaded by ladylucente

Wow, someone had fun with fondant for the adorable birthday cupcakes! They are very creative and colorful.

We’re having a contest this week to share handmade bath products.

Anyone that posts a comment this week, to any posting, about anything, will be entered to win a bath & body basket. Included in the bath and body swag will be handmade palm oil candles, 3 bars of handmade soap, including one by “An Indigo Rose”, a soap dish, a sisal scrub washcloth, handmade lip balm and (drumroll please!) a bath cupcake made by Open Sundaes!

The winner will be announced on Monday!

The Littlest Member of the Team

August 6, 2007 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Little Jorgen loves doing things at the Bramble Berry warehouse when he visits. Back in May, he enjoyed learning how to drive our forklift. Today, proud pappa Norman taught him how to pack boxes. At the rate he’s going, he’ll be a valuable asset to the company when he’s old enough to work here!

I was going for …

August 6, 2007 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

l
… this.

And I got this:

I’m going to salvage this little jungle look with some dark brown paint on the ceiling. I’m hoping for a cool funky cave feel as opposed to a dark, dank, musty feel. First though, I need to figure out how to get the paint onto the ceiling since it’s a stairwell and the ceiling is tall.

Alicia Grosso Class

August 6, 2007 Filed Under: Business Musings

Alicia Grosso’s class is officially open for registration. You can read all about Alicia here.

Alicia is very busy, teaching, running a soap company and working as an in-demand speaker/author. Her interesting philosophy about being fulfilled with self-employment came out in an interview with the Indie Beauty Network:

Alicia says one of the most useful guidelines she’s found is Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. “Maslow orders from bottom to top the things that humans need. At the base are physiological needs, safety need, belongingness, love and esteem,” she says. “Once the ‘base’ is in place, you move to the next level, which is the need to know and understand and the need for aesthetics. When those are working, then you can move to self-actualization and transcendence.”

As an accomplished business woman and consultant, her services are in high demand and we are very privileged to have her teaching and signing books at Otion. There are only 6 more spaces available so sign up today to ensure you get access to learn from one of the best!

soap boat, soap ladder

August 5, 2007 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

soap boat, soap ladder.
Originally uploaded by kooop

This is the last soap carving post for a while – unless there is a massive amount of interest in this long-lost craft (?).

The soap artist-e says:

“Carving soap is stupid hard, but smells neat.”

It is apparent to me that’s it’s a clear vote for soap over sandstone in a carver’s repitoire.

A soap boat carving

August 5, 2007 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

D’s soap boat she carved
Originally uploaded by MrsHappyHousewife

Proving my point that soap makes a great carving and scuplting medium, here is a lovely boat a la Thor Heyerdahl, the Norwegian explorer famed for his 1947 Kon-Tiki raft expedition across the Pacific.

For those of you not lucky enough to have visited the famed Thor museum in Norway, here is the Wikipedia page. You can learn about Norsk sailing tactics with a Kon-Tiki raft:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thor_Heyerdahl

Here’s to his story inspiring you so much that you attempt an elaborate soap sailing ship carving.

Hand carved soap

August 5, 2007 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Soap
Originally uploaded by Slow Boat to China

Wow! These are absolutely intricate, amazing examples of what can be done with soap. Soap Carving used to be all the rage – and actually taught in schools in the ’50’s. I know, because I have textbooks on the subject from 1947.

I’ve tried soap carving. It’s not the most ideal medium but it definitely works. And, if you have an innate aptitude for carving or sculpting at all, soap is a fine medium.

In the meantime, marvel at the craftsman skills of a soap sculptor in Thailand.

Do all these soapers actually buy from us?

August 4, 2007 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Someone emailed me yesterday and asked what they had to do to get onto The Soap Queen as a “Shout Out to Cool Soapmakers” post.

It’s a good question.

The answer is that I have to like your products and find something well done about your product line, web site or materials to shout-out about. You don’t have to buy from Bramble Berry though doing so is the easiest way to get my attention. While I would like everyone in the world to be only buying their soap and lotionmaking supplies from Bramble Berry, um, they don’t. And that’s okay. It’s not a prerequisite for me to want to list you as a soaper to watch.

It’s inspiring to see success stories.So, if you have a great site, innovative product formulations, cool packaging design or are doing something extraordinary with your product, there’s a good chance that I will showcase your products.

Sugar Lips Etsy Shop

August 3, 2007 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

810 positive reviews can’t be wrong! Sugar Lips is clearly one of the go-to gals on Etsy for a successful indie soap operation. The labels are waterproofed and like David from The Bubble Roome, designed by the owner. In her description of the Solid Lotion Bars, she says that they are good as a tattoo revitalizer. Who knew? There’s an extra sales pitch to add to your solid lotion bars.

If you’ve never made solid lotion bars, check back next week for few recipes on making solid lotion bars.

Information Overload

August 3, 2007 Filed Under: Business Musings

I’ve blogged before about my massive information overload problem. I’ve decided it’s officially a “problem” and two of my 9 quarterly goals involve tackling my information overload.

1. I am going to *not* renew 5 magazine subscriptions.
2. I will finish all my partially-finished books. Currently, I have 7 books that are all partially finished.

According to The Economist too much information begins to decrease effectiveness. In their article, they described giving a horse-racing handicapper five pieces of information versus 40. The successes of predictions was worse when given the 40 pieces of information versus the five.

Mark Hurst, the author of Bit Literacy wrote an entire book on how to manage massive information overload and make technology work for you, rather than you being enslaved to technology and the tyranny of the urgent. Given my Goal #2 above, I will not be reading the book just yet but it sounds like a potential fix for my information overload woes.

In a recent post on his blog, Ben Casnocha, the uber-boy wonder who wrote the book “My Start-Up Life” said “I see less and less value keeping up day-to-day”.

The author of “The 4 Hour Work Week” (which I haven’t read) suggests not reading anything besides the headlines to avoid getting overwhelmed with information. While this seems a bit drastic to me, it goes hand in hand with the idea of allowing free space in your head.

This will end up being a bit like my Clean Desk goal– two steps forward, two steps to the side but ultimately a bit of forward movement over time.

Wylde Ivy Soap Rocks

August 2, 2007 Filed Under: Business Musings

Wow! Look at those photos! They are very clean, crisp and a showcase for beautiful soap. Wylde Ivy has it right with their web site too. It has effusive verbiage on product descriptions and goodies that work as well as they photograph. I have ordered from Wylde Ivy twice in the last year and been excited and happy with everything I received.

My two favorite items, on my desk right now, from Ashlee are her “All Olive Lotion” (I’m using S’mores, a limited edition) and a perfume Spritzer in Sugar Cake (it makes me smell just like an edible sweet confection).

Ashlee also does an email newsletter that is well designed and has discounts for the faithful. She is utilizing a Marketing 101 concept. It is easier to get current, happy customers to reorder from you than it is to make a brand new customer.

Nicely designed site, crisply photographed products and a well-executed Marketing Plan make Wylde Ivy a soaper to watch.

Soap from Frances

August 1, 2007 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Soaps
Originally uploaded by Just_In_Time (sometimes too late though)

These soaps from the market in Sarlat-la-Canéda in France have a wonderfully whimsical appeal with fun colors and a unique look.

Alicia Grosso is coming to visit!

August 1, 2007 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Alicia Grosso, noted author, teacher and expert soapmaker will be at Otion for a book signing in August. If you hurry, you can even sign up for her class and learn from one of the best in the industry.

Alicia’s book, The Everything Soap Book, is considered by some to be the most comprehensive cold process soap on the market today.

Here is a customer quote about her book:

I found Alicia’s book whilst perusing a Borders! It was by far the BEST book on the shelf. Loaded with really great info what would take you months of tearing through the [soapdish forum] archives to benefit from. It wasn’t expensive either. I bought it to share with my SIL who wants to learn soapmaking. There were other books that were WAY more expensive and didn’t come close to covering the ground she did.

Having seen Alicia in action at the Arizona Soap Conference, it was clear that she really knew her soapmaking stuff.

Come and spend the afternoon learning from Alicia, visit Otion (and smell all of the Bramble Berry fragrances), buy your supplies and then take in a wonderful easy evening in beautiful Bellingham.

Cupcakes. Yummy Yummy Cupcakes.

August 1, 2007 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

I went to go visit Cupcakes on Denham Street in Vancouver BC. The store did not disappoint. It was bright, happy and colorful. The line of cupcake devotees was almost out the door. The cupcake and cake offerings were creative, colorful and displayed attractively.

They had cute Cupcake-branded hang tags and stickers that were available for purchase, encouraging easy gift giving and helping to further the Cupcakes brand aesthetic.

A 4-pack went for $10. Single cupcakes were $2.50

There were mountains of cupcakes. I devoured a Red Velvet cupcake. It was mushy, yummy, and practically melted in my mouth.

Carried away by the sugar high, I asked for a “I (heart) Cupcakes” t-shirt. The bill for one cupcake plus the t-shirt came to $38. It was one expensive t-shirt. Note to self: check pricing before buying.

If you are ever in Vancouver BC, it’s worth a trip down to Denham street to grab a cupcake (or four) and stroll along the beautiful waterfront, just a few blocks away.