Sharla and Mei Lynn at Rare Bird Finds have the most adorable cute finds on their blog. Some semblance of a conscience and decency prevents me from turning this blog into the Rare Bird Finds-slash-Design Sponge fan site entirely but this Surprise Mug was too precious to pass up. I mean, really, … Continue Reading
Make Your Own Packaging
You can use packaging to make your products stand out on shelves and differentiate yourself from other soaps and lotions with just a glance. What a little gem The Toymaker site is for that purpose. A site originally for designing paper toys for children, it has a small selection of do-it-yourself … Continue Reading
Determining Wick Size
Phew! I just got back from a full day of Otion Location Scouting in Seattle. There are lots of options for us to open a second store and I'm excited to go scouting again next week. The post on Wick Size got a few comments wondering how to determine appropriate wick size. If a few souls were brave … Continue Reading
Candle Experiment Gone Awry
I made some candles with our Container Wax, brown candle color and Basmati Rice fragrance. The candles smell amazing (yum, yum, yum!) and look appealing with a double pour. But, they cracked. In hindsight, I poured the wax too warm. And, judging from the chemical smell coming from the brown … Continue Reading
Happy Annivesary, Nicole
Nicole in Customer Service has been at Bramble Berry for four years. She does a great job, answering emails, phones and processing orders. Thanks Nicole! p.s. Yes, I made the cupcakes. p.p.s. Yes, I ate about 33% of this bowl of batter prior to baking the cupcakes which is why they ended … Continue Reading
Best of Beauty 2007 & Etsy Showcase
Paula Begoun (writer of "Don't go to the Cosmetic Counter Without Me") has come out with her Best of Beauty List. It's a long read but is bound to save you some money in the upcoming year. Summary: expensive products don't work any better than Oil of Olay and Neutrogena for the most … Continue Reading
Congrats to DCCyril – Winner
DCCyril, also known as Diana from the Shea Bath Blog, won last week's contest! Diana, email me with your address (info at brambleberry dot com) and I'll get your box of soap, essential oils and soapmaking dvd out to you right away. In case you didn't read all of the comments on the Long Road to … Continue Reading
Spiced Mahagony Soap
Thank you to a Bramble Berry customer Sharon Predoehl, of Gig Harbor, Washington for sending us this fabulous bar of soap. Hasn't she done an amazing job of a thick and even swirl throughout her bar? She used our Limited Edition Spiced Mahogany fragrance in a tallow-based cold process soap. The … Continue Reading
Screw Luck? Really?
After I wrote today's blog post on the importance of being prepared, I read an interesting post over at Lip-Sticking (a blog devoted to marketing to women online) that got me thinking. In almost every interview I've done, I credit luck, a great team and being in the right place at the right time … Continue Reading
When Opportunity Calls …. We Stay Up!
Local t.v. station, KVOS, called on Wednesday afternoon to invite us on their well-regarded morning show, Northwest Notebook. Of course, we were thrilled to get the call. Panic quickly set in as we realized that a project needed to be designed, prepped and made for the show. And, we only had 36 … Continue Reading
Wick Size
The above photo is what happens if you accidentally choose the wrong wick size. The candle above was made with Palm Stearic Acid, giving it a mottled and unique look.Over time, the core of the candle will burn straight down, eventually suffocating the weak candle flame.If you missed the Beeswax … Continue Reading
The Martha Cookies
Frequent Soap Queen commenter, Shades Of Grey took on the challenge of making the adorable Martha Cookies (see post here). I think she did a great job! She used no food coloring based dyes, which accounts for the difference in color between the Ms. Martha photo and hers. But the swirling and roll … Continue Reading
Coming Soon! New Molds!
Just to whet your appetites, these molds are coming soon (soon = late next week): Ounces per bar: 4 Dimensions: 2.625" x 2.6265" x 1.25" Cavities: 4 Ounces Per Bar: 3 Dimensions: 2.75" diameter x 1" The three below are stamps. For … Continue Reading
First Soap of 2008!
Bramble Berryhas been testing a new house soap base for almost a year. We've been very hard at work formulating a high quality, economical soap base for our bulk soap users (bulk = purchases over 500 pounds at a time). After the tests below, I think we might be close!First, we test for clarity: this … Continue Reading