Search Results for: make it monday

Facebook Photo of the Week 12/3 – 12/7

December 7, 2012 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

This week has been so much fun for us here at Bramble Berry. We started it off with our latest Make it Monday Challenge and it’s all about my favorite holiday…Christmas! I also worked on a fun CPOP (Cold Process Oven Process) soap tutorial with an extended FAQ section and the PERFECT Christmas Red blend that you can check out here. And, if you’d like to try out something new, check out Amanda of Lovin’ Soap’s fun tutorial on how to felt your soap here. Phew, it’s been busy but great! Now onto our winner of this weeks Facebook Photo of the Week.

This week’s photo comes to us from Lisa Bilik. Lisa just got started soaping and she said these cute little moon face soaps have been such a hit at work! Thank you so much, Lisa, for being a part of our Facebook community and we can’t wait to see more of your soaping projects. Be on the lookout for a special little package headed your way!

Would you like your photo or project to be featured in a blog post? Come join us for soap talk, contests and lots of crafting inspiration at Bramble Berry’s Facebook page and share a photo with us of your latest project and your handmade soap might be next week’s feature!

You still have a chance for your soapy recipe to get featured on the Teach Soap website (and a chance to get a $10 Bramble Berry Gift Certificate). Send us an e-mail with a full tutorial, including pictures at teachsoap(at)brambleberry(dot)com. For more details, check out this blog post and some of our featured recipes: Soothing Avocado Foot Balm, Peach Pie Soap, Rose Garden Bath Tea and Refreshing Tangerine Melt and Pour Soap.

#Halloween Challenge Eye Candy

November 28, 2012 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Is it just me or does it feel like Halloween was yesterday? Sheesh, time is flying. It’s already almost December, people! Anyway, I thought I’d share with you all of the great entries from the Make it Monday #Halloween challenge. You can see the winners of the challenger here, and also check out the #Halloween Facebook album which is chock-full of pictures from this and all the previous Make it Monday challenges. Itching to compete? There’s still time to enter the #Nail Polish challenge! And, pssst…our next challenge coming up this Monday will be another holiday themed challenge. Because if I didn’t mention it before, it’s already almost DECEMBER.

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Bath Bomb Winners!

November 19, 2012 Filed Under: Bath Fizzies

This week is Thanksgiving and we have so much to be thankful for and that includes you, our wonderful customers, friends, fans and readers. I’ve enjoyed seeing all the creative ideas that everyone has come up with for our Make It Monday: #Bath Bombs Challenge. From adorable little cupcakes to chill pill fizzies and even bubble gum bath bombs, it has been so much fun to check Bramble Berry’s Facebook page everyday and ooh and ahh over all the fizzy creations you have created. Like all our Make It Monday challenges, it was difficult to choose the winners. But, it had to be done. Drumroll please…

Top Row:

Athena from Antoinette’s Bath House – Orange You Glad I’m Naked Bath Bombs

Odette from Riverlea Soap – Bath Bombs Fizzy Soap Combo

Anntoinette from the Yard Store – Natural Bath Truffles (from the Soap Queen tutorial) with Lavender-infused Olive Oil

Middle Row:

Aneta from Sapuneta – Scented with Raspberry

Laura Harris – Lil’ Animal Fizzies scented with Exotic Fruit Smoothie

Elizabeth from Tidal Creek Candles & Soaps – Happy Snowman Bath Bombs scented with Cranberry Fig

Bottom:

Amy from Sunbreak Soaps – Coconut Lime Verbena Bath Bombs

Marisa from Soaps Temptation – Sabonetes Artesanais

Ginger-Vee from Champ de Fleurs – Sweet Orange and Spicy Ginger Bath Bomb Cupcake

Thanks to all who participated and keep your eyes peeled for our next Make It Monday challenge being posted later today. If you need some extra fizzy inspiration over the Thanksgiving weekend, take a look at our #Bath Bomb Facebook album to check out all the bath bombs that were entered. In the meantime, I’ll continue planning for Thanksgiving (I’m making the lasagna and the kale salad) and being extra grateful for such a fun community of soapers (and fizziers!) to share my days with.

#Halloween Winners

October 31, 2012 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Happy Halloween!

What is everyone dressed up like today? I’m dressed up as a soapmaker and have been testing recipes like a mad scientist all morning. Jamisen’s outfit is way cuter than Mom’s. He’s going to be a dinosaur, which is the cutest thing you’ve ever seen. Babies + Halloween costumes = cute overload. Stand by for pictures!

And now for the main event: Halloween-themed fun on the Bramble Berry’s Facebook page. We have Jack-o-Lantern’s, eyeball cupcakes, mummies, candy corn and fingers (’tis the season for soapy severed fingers). Thanks for going the extra mile in the creativity department! Now, please give a hauntingly happy drum roll for the winners of our Make it Monday: #Halloween Challenge…

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Top Row:

Miranda from Wildflower Avenue Bath and Body – Pumpkin Babies

Kymberlee Ricke – Eyeball Bath Bombs

Sayab Soaps – Melt and Pour Mummy Bears

Middle Row:

Sherry from Sherry’s Suds & “Scent”sationals

Alissa from Just Bath & Body Stuff

Lori from Nemesis Productions/Spooky Grrrl Bath and Body – Undead Pumpkin

Bottom Row:

Dawn Moore – Single Use Soaps using Water Soluble Paper

Char from Little Body Treats – Zombies Loves Brains

Suzanne from Suzy’s Soaps

Thank you to everyone who entered this spooky contest and for more eerily fun inspiration, check out our #Halloween Album on our Facebook page. And look forward to next week when we resume our Make It Monday challenges.

#Packaging Winners!

October 22, 2012 Filed Under: Tips & Tricks

If you’re stopping by Bramble Berry’s Facebook page regularly, you may have noticed our Make it Monday Challenges. They’re the pictures that are posted by our Facebook fans with hash tags like #rebatch, #naturalcolorants, or #uniquetops. This time around, it was all about #Packaging! We’ve seen all sorts of incredible ideas and innovative designs packaging anything from scrubs to laundry soap, lip balms to soaps, and even perfume. And, now for the winners:

Top Row:

Michelle from Mossy Creek Soap Studio – ‘Verbena Handmade Soap’

Christina from Bohemian Soapery – ‘Faerie Lights’

Jana from Heather Glen Apothecary – ‘Sacred Woods Soap’

Middle Row:

Patrice from Melange Jolie LLC – ‘Candy Corn Bath Salts’

Elizabeth from Imaginary Bee – Roll-on Perfume

Christina from Medieval Soap – Solid Perfume

Bottom Row:

Marianne from T he North Street Bubble – Party Favors

Nahil from Four Seasons Natural Soaps -Handcrafted Organic Soap

Kasey from KcSoapsnMore – ‘Chocolate Mint BonBon Soaps’

Thanks to everyone who entered this contest and keep your eyes peeled for later today when we announce our next spooky contest! Check out our Facebook album here to get some more creative inspiration. And if you’re hankering for some additional eye candy, check out the past contests’ winners:

#Rebatch Winners

#Unique Tops Winners

#Natural Colorants Winners

#Soap Sculpting Winners

#Swirling Winners

#Embedding Winners

#Layers Winners

#Rebatch Winners

October 8, 2012 Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

Thanks to everyone who entered this fun #Rebatch Challenge! To see all of the entries in this challenge, take a peek at Bramble Berry’s #Rebatch Facebook album. Let’s have a soapy drum roll for the winners…

Ann from Pitter Pattern Designs – ‘Out To Sea’ – Made with Aqua LabColor and Titanium Dixoide

Andrea from Soap4Squares – ‘Oatmeal Cookie Soap’ – Made with Goat’s Milk Rebatch, Cappuccino Mica and Gingersnap Fragrance Oil

Esther from YouWish – Made with Sandalwood Vanilla Fragrance Oil, Soft Beige Mica, Bronze Mica, and Round 3D Mold

Debbie from SoapyLove – Soap Balls

Are you ready for another soapy adventure? Enter this weeks fun and creative Make It Monday challenge: #Packaging!

#Unique Tops Winners!

September 24, 2012 Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

There was such a great response to this #Unqiue Tops Challenge! So many of you came up with great soaps and there was plenty of drooling-over-soap time. There’s a ton of #uniquetops inspiration in our Facebook album if you’d like to check out all of the entries. It was definitely a tough choice (is looking at soap all day really that tough?) but here are our favorite entries:

Top Row:

NaYeon Kim from CastleLakeStudio SoapArt – Vincent Van Gogh’s Starry Starry Night

Aissa from Nikory Bath Treats

Marcela from Art by Chela – Olive and Coconut Oil Soap Cupcake

Bottom Row:

Marion from Desperate Soapwife

Hrefna Waage – Scented with English Rose Fragrance Oil

Jennifer from Jennifer’s Handmade Soap – Soap Cake

Many thanks to everyone who participated in the #uniquetops challenge! If you missed this go round, not to worry. The next challenge ha #rebatch! Let’s see what you can do!

Naturally Colored Eye Candy

September 18, 2012 Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

These soaps are all made using the cold process technique and colored with natural colorants (think Activated Charcoal, Alkanet, Annatto Seed, Calendula, Maddar Root, Paprika, Spirulina, etc). Can you believe some of these designs? I was totally blown away with the quality of entries in this particular Make it Monday contest. To see the name behind the soaps and some of the natural colorants used, check out the Make It Monday Facebook Album. And be sure to check out the winners of the contest here. Of course, everyone is a winner in my book! So cliche to say, I know, but it’s true! Some of these soaps are seriously jaw dropping.

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#Natural Colorants Winners!

September 10, 2012 Filed Under: Cold Process Soap

I’m excited to share the winners of the #Natural Colorants Cold Process Challenge. We had an amazing turnout and at last count, there were over 145 entries! There were so many incredible soaps that I just had to feature more than four this time. Check out these inspiring (and all-naturally colored) soaps!

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Embedding Challenge Photo Mashup

July 31, 2012 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Need a bit of embedding or soaping inspiration? Our most recent Make it Monday challenge was the best yet(!). Tons of soapers headed on over to our Facebook page to share their #embedding soaps (see the winning soaps here). I’ve compiled all of the entries into one awesome embed-a-palooza! The keys to a successful embedded soap is temperature, non-bleeding colors and a lot of creativity. These soaps display that (and more). Enjoy.

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#Swirling Winners

July 23, 2012 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

It has been an inspiring two weeks watching all the entries come in for the Make It Monday: #Swirling Challenge. The team and I loved seeing the unique and different ideas that you came up with. We had fun going through each picture and oohing and ahhing over the soaps. Check out the amazing swirly goodness:

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#Embedding Challenge Winners

July 9, 2012 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Just like our last soapy challenge there have been so many fabulous and fun soaps entered into the #Embedding Challenge. All of you that have participated have been so creative, and we have seen everything from angry birds to dinosaurs, koalas and even bullets embedded into soap! Check out the awesome #Embedding winners below!

Maria from Kokolele Soaps: “Sunset at the Beach,” using Liquid Black Iron Oxide for the Palm Tree.

Kristi from Life Soap Simple : “Songbird,” using Water Soluble Paper

Kathy Vu: “Penguin in the Water”

Jenna from East Detroit Botanical : “Orange Citrus,” with Organic Melt & Pour Base and Calendula

Thank you to all the wonderful soapers who participated in the #Embedding challenge, we were super inspired by your creations and excited to see what you come up with in the next challenge!

See the latest Make it Monday Challenge here!

#Layers Challenge Winners

June 25, 2012 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Our first ever Bramble Berry Soap Challenge (which we adoringly call Make It Monday) has been completed, and what a fabulous two weeks it has been! We loved seeing your unique, creative and inspirational soaps layered to perfection. There were so many incredible soaps to pick from that we (Team Bramble Berry) decided on four winners. Check out the layered goodness below!

1) Traci from Savon Arts : “Sunset”, scented with China Rain FO.

2) Leanne : “Licorice Allsorts”, scented with Aniseed, Orange, Lemon, Sun-Ripened Raspberry FO, and Lime Essential Oil.

3) Ada from Soap Much Love : “Geometric Soap” scented with Dragon’s Blood FO.

4) Sísí from Heimatilbúnar Baðvörur : “Christmas Soap” colored with Antique Blue Mica and scented with Moroccan Mint and Vanilla Select.

Thank you to everyone who participated in the challenge, we’re super excited to see what you come up with in the next challenge!

See the new #Embedding Challenge here!

Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetic Guild Conference 2017

May 8, 2017 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News, Business Musings

Last week was a whirlwind! The team and I attended the Handcrafted Soap and Cosmetic Guild Conference in Las Vegas. The HSCG is a trade association that represents, supports, and defends the soap and cosmetic industry. Every year there is a conference in various cities across the U.S. where makers can network, attend classes, and listen to talks. Next year, the conference will take place in Atlanta – learn more here.

This year I had the privilege of being the keynote speaker. Amanda, Lily, and I arrived in Las Vegas Sunday afternoon and hit the ground running by immediately setting up the Bramble Berry table. Our “Waft + Found” station included 60 fragrance and essential oils so attendees could smell and find their new favorite. We also brought raw ingredients like cocoa and coffee butter to smell and touch. Shop the fragrances that were at the booth here. If you attended, which fragrance was your favorite?

Lily (left) and Amanda (right) working the Bramble Berry table on the first day of the conference.

While Amanda and Lily manned the booth Sunday, I was busy practicing my speech. The speech was bright and early on Monday morning. It focused on taking control of your life through positive thinking, self-care, goal setting, and purposeful planning. These concepts are abundant in my upcoming book, Live Your Best Day Ever. The book will be available for pre-sale very, very soon. If you’d like to be notified when it’s available, sign up for the Bramble Berry newsletter and you’ll be the first to know!

My talk focused on taking control of your life, resilience and setting goals.

Everybody in the audience received an advance copy of the new book. After the talk, I was able to sit down, sign books, chat, and take photos. I loved meeting you – thank you so much to everybody who took the time to stop by. Without a doubt, that’s the best part of soap conferences for me. It’s amazing to connect online, but being able to talk soap, business, and personal stories in person is energizing and soul-filling.

It was so wonderful to meet everybody at the conference! Thanks to everybody who waited in line to have their book sign.

Below are just a few of the amazing soapers I met. You guys are the best! I left the conference on Tuesday to return to the Bramble Berry offices and my family (which includes a sick kiddo – Jamisen is getting over a blocked salivary gland and it’s been a rough couple of weeks). I’m sorry if I did not get a chance to meet with you in person. Amanda and Lily stayed in Vegas for another night to talk soap and answer questions. It was their first conference, and they had a blast meeting you all.

Top Row: moonlitsoapworks, thesoapygnome, kentuckysoapsandsuch
Middle Row: naturologyproducts, spicypinecone, mokupua
Bottom Row: naturalsoapbyzakia, modernsoapmaking, wildpoppysoapco

In addition to receiving the Best Day Ever book, attendees had the opportunity to sign up for an email series to put the concepts in the book into practice. If you would like to join the series, click here. The series is one email a week and includes worksheets and exercises for positive thinking, creating a life mission statement, and planning purposeful goals. Don’t miss out – sign up now to start living your best day ever, every day.