Search Results for: Make it Monday

I Heart Onesies!

October 17, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Thank you, loyal Soap Queen readers, for all of the congratulatory comments on the newest addition to the Bramble Berry Team! We’re calling the little one BrambleBaby for now until we figure out if it’s a boy or a girl. I’m so exited to have finally shared the belly news! It’s been a quiet Sunday after a full SoapQueen.TV shoot on Saturday that will continue on Monday evening.The projects are fresh and fun; I can’t wait for you to see them!

This was a little something extra we received in the latest shipment of Soap Queen Aprons. Isn’t it the cutest little onesie you’ve ever seen? I squealed and awwwwed at its miniature cuteness!

Little Toy Piggies making their Soap Queen TV debut.

It looks like I’m really concentrating here. Filming SQTV isn’t all giggles all the time.

Upcoming episodes will include a new Jelly Roll project, the marching piggies and a gardening soap. And we’re thinking about doing a natural colorants Cold Process soap one and a mineral eyeshadow make up one. This means that I’ll be reacquainting myself with natural colorants all week and starting the scripting process with the team this week. It will be fun to play with infusions and make soap all week.

Mighty Weighty Kudos

September 1, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

The new Kudos Molds are selling so fast. I can’t believe I already had to place another order to get more. WOW! I wonder if it has anything to do with the Facebook Coupon Code (grin)? It only lasts until Monday so get the deal while you can. I also had a couple of emails from customers wanting to see the actual mold and see how it differs than ‘regular’ molds. Here you go! It’s the super flexible silicone that allows for the meticulous details and I can’t tell you how easy they are to unmold. I could do it blindfolded with one hand tied behind my back (that would be a sight to see).

In other news, Bramble Berry just launched our TWO new calculators: The Liquid Soap Calculator and The Fragrance Calculator. Check out the Lye Calculator- There are some new features like an option for liquid soap, grams and ounces and the addition of some new butters and oils that we didn’t have before. There’s also a place for notes on your recipe!

Below is a screen shot of the new fragrance calculator. You’ll never have to second guess yourself again about how much fragrance to use. Just plug in the product that you’re making (lotion, soap, etc.), the size of your recipe and which fragrance or essential oil you want to use. Then hit the ‘calculate’ button and we’ll give you the recommended usage rates! Easy!

Do you have any other suggestions on how you’d like to see us improve the Bramble Berry site to make it more useful to you? If you do, I want to hear them!

Finally, The Saponifier magazine is having their ‘Academy Awards for Vendors’ contest to choose the best soapmaking supply house on the ‘net. You can vote for your favorite supplier here!

Five Days of Father’s Day: Golfer Soap

June 15, 2010 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

It’s day 2 of Father’s Day Week on the Soap Queen Blog. Today’s soapy project is for the Dad that loves to hit the links. It’s a personal project that couldn’t be easier (seriously, it’s a three step project). I call it the Pebble Beach Soap!

Ingredients

12 Cavity Rectangle Silicone Mold

14 ounces of Clear Soap Base

1 ounce of White Soap Base

Liquid Blue or Liquid Green

Grass Stain Fragrance Oil

Syringe or Dropper

Spatula tool (optional)
Buy everything you need to make this kit right here.

ONE:Melt 1 ounce of white soap base in a microwave safe container. Use a syringe to fill in the border and outline of the golfer. If you accidentally “color outside the lines”, no problem. Once the soap dries, use the mini spatula tool to clean the edges. NOTE: The Golfer Soap Mold has been discontinued. It has been replaced with the 12 Cavity Rectangle Silicone Mold.

TWO: Melt 14 ounces of clear soap base and mix in 1/2 ounce of Grass Stain Fragrance Oil. Add 10-15 drops of Liquid Green colorantand mix well.

THREE: Once the melted soap has cooled to about 120-130 degrees, spritz the white soap in the mold with rubbing alcohol and pour the second green layer. Spritz with rubbing alcohol to get rid of any pesky air bubbles. Let the soap set-up for 4-6 hours before unmolding.

Ready to get started? Add everything you need to your Bramble Berry shopping cart by clicking here.

Check out Monday’s Father’s Day Project HERE, Army Soap!

Money Wi$e Honorable Mentions

April 2, 2010 Filed Under: Business Musings

Yesterday, I announced the winner of the Money Wi$e contest. It was a totally random contest so I didn’t get to play favorites with the answers. I had asked participants to leave a comment on the blog and share their best money saving tips (for our current eh hem, challenging economic situation). There were so many great money saving tips that I had to share a couple of my favorites…

Denette: Budgeting and money management has been a topic on my mind a lot lately and was so excited to see your post about it!! Here are a few tips that have really helped me:

1 – I will echo a few others here and suggest making your own meals including lunch for work. When my husband was in grad school we went 9 months without eating out! This was difficult in the beginning with our “date nights” but once a week I made a special dinner and ate by candlelight. It was really fun to try new cooking techniques and it was quite romantic to boot! Taking the time to develop my skills in cooking/baking not only helped my family during a financial crunch time, I also have these skills that I can teach to my children to help prepare them for the future and help them become more self-sufficient!

2 – Pay yourself first! When pay day rolls around, we take 10% of our net pay and split it into 2 different savings accounts. Two-thirds of that amount goes into one savings account that we don’t dip into unless it is an emergency or until we have enough saved up for our large purchase we are saving up for (right now that would be a down payment on a house!), and one-third of the amount goes into a second savings account that we use for unexpected or less often purchases like car repairs. Most people don’t need to split them up, but this helps us out because we can see the progress we are making on saving up for our home while we still have money set aside that we can use for other purchases.

3 – Save your change! It is a rare occasion that I pay in cash, so I am talking about saving your change from your debit card/checking account. Now, some banks will do this for you, but mine doesn’t so I keep track of it on my own. I have actually been doing this for about 10 years now and it is crazy how fast it all adds up! What I do is I document in my checkbook registry the purchase I made and then in the balance column I put down the amount I spent rounded up to the nearest dollar and then I write down the difference in the deposit column. I write my whole registry in pen and the change in pencil so I can keep it strait. For example: I just paid my cell phone bill which was $56.45, so in the balance column I deduct $57.00 from my balance and I added 55 cents to my running total of change! Over the past month I have saved up almost $17 just in change! Every six months we take the saved up change and make an extra payment towards our debt. If you don’t have any debt you could use that change to treat yourself to something nice like a vacation or extra holiday/birthday money! My parents have been doing this for years and have used this money to build a new deck, take a trip to Europe, and just recently bought two new wave runners!

Financial freedom has really been on my mind a lot lately and I loved reading all the fantastic advice and comments, a few of which I will be implementing into my routine so thanks everyone!

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Donna Maria Coles Johnson: Use coupons and cash.
Coupons. Contrary to popular belief, there are coupons out there for healthful food items. You just have to keep an eye out for them. Sometimes, grocers have coupon stickers on items that offer discounts on the spot. For example, yesterday, I purchased two quarts of Organic Valley Farms milk. Each container had a .75¢ coupon stuck to it. The regular price of each was $2.50. Since it was triple coupon weekend at the store, I paid 50¢ for $5.00 worth of organic milk! That’s $4.50 more in my pocket, without even trying — just being on the lookout for the bargain. As you shop, keep an eye out for opportunities to use coupons. If you’re more industrious, clip them in the Sunday paper and in inserts that come in the mail. By clipping coupons, I save hundreds of dollars a year!

Cash. Another tip is to use cash for non-business purchases. Forget using credit cards — we ditched ours years ago and are debt free, except for the mortgage. (No car payments either.)

When I say use cash, I don’t mean a debit card either. I mean green dollar bills. You’ll be amazed at how many more of them you will hold onto if they actually have to slip through your fingers with each purchase. It’s easy to swipe a card, and when we do, it doesn’t feel like we are spending that much, when we really are. But when you have to actually count out the dollar bills, you’ll think twice before putting them in someone else’s hands!

I withdraw a certain amount of money from our checking account each Sunday or Monday. I use it for all of that week’s home-related purchases — food, toiletries, personal items, clothing — everything except home repairs and maintenance. I always take out less than I think I’ll need to really challenge myself. I am rarely out of cash at the end of the week, and I have not even touched the ATM. I hold onto a lot of money this way.

There are only 4 things you can do with money: spend it, save it, invest it or donate it. Because I spend with coupons and cash, I have more left to save, invest and donate!!

Thanks for the opportunity to share, and I hope these tips are helpful. dM

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Jody Bergsma: Have 10% automatically taken out of your paycheck and placed in a savings account…It really adds up! Take a to go mug full of coffee in the morning and avoid the “Latte” habit…4.00 day times 360=$1440!!! each year!

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On Dealing with Disappointment

December 16, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

Waiting in the airport hoping to catch an early flight back home and I’m thinking about how my meeting didn’t go quite as I had hoped. But I took away so much positive from it and already have my awesome action plan for improving the next meeting. I realized that I am seeing the optimistic side right off the bat because I’ve trained myself to have that point of view. So, I thought I’d write a quick post before my flight about how I deal with disappointment and set-backs. Like all of my ‘experience-sharing’ posts, take it all with a grain of salt and feel free to share your experiences too!

There’s a reason clichés are …. cliché. There are many experiences that are universal. Yes, I’ve watched a pot not boil. I too have counted my chickens before they hatched and had my back against a wall because I bet my bottom dollar barking up the wrong tree.

And, the ‘When God closes a door, he opens a window’ characterization is equally true.

When you are in business, there are often doors closed, shut and slammed in your face. And sometimes, it’s hard to see the window at first. Here are my favorite tips for recovering when you are disappointed in a business situation:

1. Have a pity party. Acknowledge you are disappointed. Your feelings ARE justified. You just had your favorite store say ‘No’/(insert your experience here). Wallow. FOR ONE DAY. No more than that. Another pithy yet true saying Bramble Berry’s business coach says is “Celebrate your successes for one day. Mourn your losses for one day. After one day, move on.”

2. Call your trusted friends and advisors. Talk it out. Tell them about the experience. If you’re on Day One, you can wallow and whine about how unfair it all is. Good friends are awesome for this. They’re on your side no matter what. But, if you’re not still on Day One, suck it up and start to problem solve with them.

3. Action. So you didn’t land the sale/get into the juried craft show/get product placement in a big magazine; that’s okay. And what’s your plan to change it and make it better next time? Rip that scab wide open and Monday morning quarterback. What went wrong? If there is someone to ask, be sure to ask your account rep/media contact/decision maker why you didn’t make the sale or why you didn’t get product placement rather than speculating. Then, move into planning: what is the action plan to fixing it next time? WRITE IT DOWN. Action plans are useless if you don’t write them down and commit to being accountable.

4. Work off that stress and tension. Like the song says, “move it move it.” When you work out, you give your body something to do while your brain can zone out and process without you constantly second guessing yourself (you already did that, remember?). Physical activity is a great stress relief no matter if it’s walking, running or weight lifting. Just do something to get yourself out of your house/office and in a different situation. Move your body. Let your brain wander as your limbs work out your stress and dismay.

5. Fake it ’til ya’ make it. Just like the ‘Shopping is Psychological’ post, what is the way you can reframe this in your head?

You didn’t get the account: “Wow, I didn’t walk out with a Purchase Order but I sure am closer to one the next time!”
You were promised placement in magazine/tv and it didn’t happen: “We didn’t get placed this time but I am so excited that I have this contact for next time.”
You didn’t get into a juried show: “Well, that’s okay. They have my stuff for next year and man, look at the cute designs I thought up just for the show. They will be great on Etsy/my own site/Artfire/another craftshow/to send to potential wholesale accounts”

There will be another chance. Just think how much you learned. Work on those takeaways. And, be sure to look out for that window. It will open up. I promise.

Plan Little Mouse, Plan!

December 9, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

In my office with one of the planning whiteboards (taken with my webcam)

I was heartened by the level of reader engagement on my post about scheduling yesterday. Thank you for reading and participating.

A couple questions came up on the comments – some easy ones:

How much do you sleep? 5 to 7 hours a night

What is a ‘Big Rock’? It’s Stephen Covey’s term for the ‘Must Do, Really Important, Lines Up with Value, Vision and Life Purpose’ things. For more on this, keep reading this post.

“I’m sure coffee helps.“ I wish. I don’t drink caffeine. Any. Nada. Zilch. One day, I could write a long post about weaning myself from that addictive substance and the subsequent walking-zombie month.

And the not easy one:

Could you share something about your marketing strategy?Yes! I totally can and will. And it’s complex enough to probably warrant a few well thought out posts. Plan on that in 2010 from me.

What did I say? Always on the iPhone. This is on a vacation to scout my brother’s wedding!

As I mentioned in this post, a full 10% of my schedule is devoted to planning my schedule. For me, planning happens in three stages:

1. Yearly Planning – I do this in November for the entire year. What goals do I want to achieve in an entire year? I’ve posted about this type of planning here and here. It usually takes about 2 days of planning, refining, planning, refining, planning and refining some more before goals, vision and value is aligned. And, this is a living document. If it needs to be changed during the year (say, we land a huge account or I get an awesome opportunity to travel abroad for work), it gets changed. I’ve blogged about the process of goal setting, planning your year, determining your vision and values here, here, here, and here. The yearly planning is by far the most difficult and challenging. Once it’s done, everything rolls easier from there.

2. Monthly Planning – I do this monthly with my Management Team for business and my Accountability team for personal stuff. I’ve blogged about the Management Team meeting here and the Accountability team here and here. This is just the process of looking at the big yearly goals and breaking them down into more manageable chunks of what needs to be accomplished in 30 days.

Project task board at Bramble Berry

3. Weekly Planning – I do this on Sunday or Monday morning. I look at my schedule for the entire week, revisit my goals for the year and the month and then start to slot those things in accordingly. Some of my weekly goals and tasks are around family and friends – they’re not all about business. Remember, it’s the extra 20% (health, family and friends) that makes me feel fulfilled in my life so my ‘Rocks’ also include nurturing important relationships. It usually starts with a list. I want to take XYZ class his week, see XYZ friend, go to So-and-So’s house for dinner, make XYZ sales calls, write 5 blog posts, work on X SoapQueen TV scripts etc…

Then, I go through my schedule and literally slot these goals (or “Rocks”) in (using PlanPlusOnline software), leaving lots and lots of time for the smaller pebbles and sand. In any given day, my task list is typically not more than 4 to 6 items. This allows me to be extremely flexible in helping out where needed for customer service, answering emails and all the other stuff that comes fast and furious when you own your own business.

Some of the things I do every single day don’t get written down as a task because they’re just part of the routine. For example, unless it’s a scheduled work out class, I just fit in gym time when I can. Or, daily clean up at the office. Routine, mundane things don’t go on my planning.

The whole process takes 20 minutes max and it’s easy to do. Productivity isn’t about running around, trying to get every single little task done, jumping from fire to fire. It’s about doing the few things that matter. It’s about doing the things that help to move you, your company and your family towards your goals.

Do I drop the ball and disappoint myself and others by not always meeting my deadlines and goals? Yes. I do. Life happens. And, tomorrow is another day. Do my days get totally messed up and not go as planned? Of course it does. Today was one of those days (thus the blogging at midnight). And, when it does, like a diet, you just get back on track and find time during the rest of the week or the weekend to complete your ‘Rocks.’ The pebbles and sand somehow always seem to find their way into the day without any help. Need help determining your rocks? The Cliff Notes version is here. Or, you can buy the book ‘First Things First’ by Stephen Covey (highly highly highly recommend) and do the exercises. They are enlightening and life changing.

Other tools: Whiteboards, whiteboards, whiteboards everywhere! I have FIVE huge whiteboards in my office. They are constantly changing with whatever project is being worked on, whatever the quarterly goals are and whatever we’re brainstorming on that everyone needs to see.

Planning your life isn’t difficult once you knock out the Yearly Planning – everything flows from those ‘Super Goals’ that you give yourself at the beginning of the year. Take a stab at it. Give it a try. Get started now and I’ll do a post in late December so we can all share our yearly goals and help one another get excited about goals, dreams, schedules and even a little pixie dust.

Nellie Cashman Awards tonight!

October 8, 2009 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

I can’t wait to share with you who won and photos from the evening. The awards banquet is tonight (eek!) and I’ll be blogging it up with photos and tidbits by Monday at the latest. I am sooooo excited for tonight’s dinner. My whole family will be there, along with my business mentor Charlie Billow from Charlie’s Produce and Bramble Berry’s COO, Norman. It’s going to be a night to remember for sure. I have to give a six minute talk in front of 350 people and have butterflies already … But right now, I’ve got to make it down to Seattle for a full day of meetings before the awards ceremony starts. I haven’t forgotten it’s ‘Tutorial Thursday’ though – expect one later today!

Re-Vote for the Saponifier Survey

August 13, 2009 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

The Saponifier Survey was reset to 0 late Tuesday afternoon because of ‘leading questions’ in the original survey.

The Saponifier, an industry magazine, does its ‘Best Of’ survey yearly and gets feedback from soapers everywhere on who their favorite online vendor is in a variety of categories: fragrance oils, herbs, molds, packaging and many more.

If you took the survey on Monday or Tuesday, go and revote here to make sure your vote gets counted. If you haven’t voted yet, now is the perfect time to take 5 minutes and let your enthusiasm for your favorite supplier out.

How Much Can You Learn in One Day?

July 18, 2009 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

The second day of the Soap Weekend intensive was… well, intense! There was so much information and hands-on projects that we are all exhausted. The students all seemed a little shell-shocked by the end of the jam-packed day.

Here were the highlights:

First I discussed and demonstrated the basics of Cold Process Soapmaking. Yes, I know I should be wearing long sleeves – but it was so hot. We were so lucky to have my husband’s borrowed air conditioner form his office but the temperatures still got above 80 degrees in the Soap Instructional Lab; thus the short sleeves.

For the second part of my class each student was able to come up and weigh out one of the ingredients or try their hand at stick blending the soap. Notice the bag they are pouring out of. They are the Bramble Berry boilable fixed oil bags so that you can melt solid oils in the microwave or boil them. Plus, they are space saving from a shipping standpoint saving money and saving the planet through less packaging.

Every student ended up with 2 bars of soap that they fragranced and colored themselves. The bars use the nearly same recipe with the only difference being one had a superfat of 1% and the other 10.5%.

Next up, was Lori Nova sharing her incredible swirling and layering techniques.

Lori generously shared her award winning and precise way of swirling soap perfectly. Her method of soaping is detail oriented and she keeps copious notes for every batch, assuring that she can replicate every success, every time.

Here is one of the completed soap batches getting ready to be covered and insulated. Can you believe she actually made this gorgeous soap while 15 people watched? Lori is the consumate professional who kept cool and delivered a perfect batch of soap, even with questions being fired at her from left and right.

Finally, Jill ended the day with a hands-on lotion making class. She has a wonderfully organized way of teaching lotion making in stations all around the class room. We had a bit of a kerfuffle when beeswax was put out instead of emulsifying wax. No one could figure out just why our perfect, fail-safe lotion recipe wasn’t turning out until we realized that the emulsifying wax container was filled with bleached beeswax. Whoops. We quickly reset and everyone made perfect lotions with just a little delay. The mishap proved two things: beeswax isn’t the best emulsifier and that everyone makes mistakes. So, if you want to lessen your chance of mistakes, do the Lori Nova method of taking copious notes and follow a preparation check-list, each and every time.

Fany and Audrey working together to weigh out their oils for lotion.

Check back tomorrow night or Monday morning to get the Sunday wrap up. Debbie from SoapyLove is going to be teaching us her fabulous Soap Tarts and Plaid Soap.

When Plane Delays Are A-Okay

March 15, 2009 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Me and the Birthday Girl

We had a big surprise today that turned into a blessing. It sort of makes up for the United flight that wasn’t. Guess I must have been banking my flight karma because when we checked in for our return flight (bless you internet), we found that our return flight was delayed due to snow and rain in the Seattle/Bellingham area. Upon closer inspection, we realized that our newly delayed flight would arrive too late to make the final connection back to Bellingham. Alaska Air, bless their hearts, thoughtfully let us spend an extra night in Hawaii rather than making us spend a miserable 6 hours in the Seattle airport waiting for the first Bellingham flight on Monday. Thus, we got an unexpected day in Hawaii.

We made the most of our bonus day. We found a fabulous little cove and snorkled the morning and afternoon away. The fish in this little cove rivaled any fish I had seen scuba diving and better yet, there were snacks and a warm sun to dry off to (no freezing boat to climb back into and wait for the next dunking). We finished the day at the Four Seasons on the point, with Kauai visible in the distance, and watched whales off the point while sipping lovely chilled drinks with umbrellas.

The whole day was an unexpected surprise; an extra free day on the island. We felt especially lucky to be rebooked on the same flight … only tomorrow. And we are thankful for our bonus day on the island along with our extra special time together with friends laughing all day. Joy joy.

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!

Soap Wish Interview, Day One

February 27, 2009 Filed Under: Business Musings

Sheila and her husband own the up and coming soap company called Soap Wish. They currently sell their soaps on Etsy and you won’t believe your eyes when you see what they make.Sheila was kind enough to send us a soapy goody bag (you shouldn’t have, Sheila, but we’re SO glad you did). The whole office was abuzz with anticipation and we opened the soapy surprise! See her wares for yourself on the Soap Wish Etsy Site and her Soap Wish Blogwhere Sheila shares her thoughts on soap, life, love and laughter.

Generous Sheila was kind enough to let us drill her with questions in hopes of finding out everything we could about her new business. Sit back, relax and enjoy the interview…

Anne-Marie: The question we always like to ask – What got you into soapmaking and how long have you been making your fabulous soaps? Soap Wish: First of all, thank you for the compliment!! My husband and son were away for most of the summer last year and I started looking around for something to do. I started with hot process primarily because I have the patience of a gnat. By the time the guys got home I was hooked. My husband is extraordinarily creative and when we discovered melt and pour (which requires even less patience) he got hooked on making all sorts of designs out of soap.Anne-Marie: Is this a full time or part time business for you (or just a fun hobby)?

Soap Wish: We’d like it to grow into a full time business in the future, but for now we’re doing it part-time while we continue to learn the craft.

Anne-Marie: I love your Etsy site! Do you have any other outlets for selling? Farmers Markets, craft shows, etc?

Soap Wish: Thank you again! We’ve done a few small craft shows and we’ve also sold quite a bit through word of mouth. We love to have people come back to us or send their friends, it really makes our day.

Anne-Marie: Your soaps are so creative and detailed. How do you have the time to put so much detail into all of your soaps? What type of things do you outsource?

Soap Wish: I wrote this description of creativity in our house awhile ago and it pretty much sums it up:

Me: “Look at the pretty colors I layered”
The Man: “I finally finished my scale model of the Taj Mahal made out of 4 toothpicks and two pieces of tape”
The Boy: “Do you think it’s okay the dog ate my experiment? You know- the one I had growing in the sink?”

Now, who do you think makes the intricate soap designs? As for outsourcing, I’m pretty much focused on exploiting my husband’s talent at this point.

Anne-Marie: Your chocolate soaps look so realistic (and delicious). How much practice did it take to perfect these tiny pieces of art?

Soap Wish: We tried quite a few different techniques before we hit on one that gave us the look we wanted. The next step was getting it to the point where we could count on the same result each time. Let’s just say there was some waste involved.

Anne-Marie: Your chocolate soap is so convincing that one would think you’ve actually made chocolate before. Where did you get your inspiration for your fabulous chocolate creations?

Soap Wish: There is a really great bakery not far from us that carries fabulous chocolates as well as baked goods. We (okay, I) love stopping in there to look at all the great things they come up with. One day we decided to see what we could do using soap instead of chocolate. We had never made chocolate before, but now that we’ve made chocolate soap we’d really like to try making the real thing one day. Of course, that’s the day I start on the road to weighing 1,000 pounds…not enough willpower.

Yes- these are (in fact) soaps and NOT chocolates; jaw dropping cute!

Want to hear more about Soap Wish? Check back in Monday for another round of Q & A with Sheila.

Money Soap for Last Minute Gifts

December 19, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

A bribery idea – Trying to get your kids to wash their hands more? In this project we put a dollar bill in a lip balm container then embedded it in a bar of soap. Once the soap is all used up you get the dollar that has been safely stashed in the lip balm pot. This is a perfect last minute Christmas Gift or Stocking Stuffer. No more hastily shoved dollars in cards – instead, make this easy soap to give any amount of money (or jewelry or secret messages) and reap the rewards when your child can’t wait for bathtime!

What you will need:

Clear Melt and Pour
Clear Lip Balm Pot
Money
Rubbing Alcohol in spritzer
Fragrance
Mold

Instructions
1. Cut melt and pour soap into 1” cubes and put into microwave safe container (about 5oz should be enough for one bar). Cover with saran wrap and microwave for 30 second intervals until soap is melted. Stir in the fragrance oil at approximately .25 – .5 ounces per pound of soap (new to melt and pour? Click here to be taken to TeachSoap for basic instructions).

2. Pour the clear soap into your mold until the cavity is about 1/3 of the way full and spritz the soap with alcohol to get rid of any floating bubbles

3. Get your closed lip pot container w/ the note or money folded up inside and spray it on all sides with the alcohol and set it down into the melted soap base and give the whole bar one more spray to make sure there are no pesky little bubbles.

4. Let the soap sit for a few minutes until there is a skin on top that is semi-stiff when touched. Then take the rest of the melt and pour soap (pop back in the microwave if needed) and add your color, stir until color is mixed through. Then spritz the top of bar of soap with your alcohol.

5. Make sure that your colored melt and pour is not too hot (it is not steaming and you can comfortably press and hold your hand against the bottom of the container) then pour the colored melt and pour over the bar of soap, filling the mold up the rest of the way and give the bar one final spray to pop any bubbles.

6. Let your bar sit and harden for a few hours before removing (the longer you wait the easier it will be to remove from the mold). Wrap with saran wrap and prepare to amaze and delight the recipient of the Hidden Monday soap.

Voila! You have a nice bar of soap with a fun hidden surprise inside!

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.

Gobble Gobble! Soapy Family Project

November 19, 2008 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Thanksgiving is next week! (Public Service Announcement: Bramble Berry is closed from Thursday November 27 to Monday December 1. But, I’ll be working at Otion on the 28th so stop by if you’re in town.) You’re probably preparing to either go to your in-laws or for them to descend onto your house. If you are looking for a fun family project to do together, or perhaps something to entertain your long-lost-cousin who just wants to hide in the corner, this is the seasonal project for you. Plus! It’s an easy beginner’s project so even though the final product looks complex? It just requires you to follow directions.

Items needed:

Jelly Roll Pan
Festive Seasonal Cookie Cutter
Clear Melt and Pour
Soap Kit Syringe Injector
Micas in Fall Colors
Spritzer full of Rubbing Alcohol (Isopropyl Alcohol)
Fragrance (suggestions: Pumpkin Spice, Gingersnap, AppleJack Peel, Rum Nut Cake)

Step One
Prepare the Soap for the cookie cutter portion. We used Cappuccino Mica color in clear soap, scented it with Rum Nut Cake. The Jelly Roll pan uses about 8 ounces of melt and pour soap to make a thin layer (thin enough to push through, that is). To prepare your soap, melt it in the microwave on 30 second bursts. Color your soap to preference and add about .13 – .25 ounces of fragrance. Stir well.

Step Two
Pour your soap into the Jelly Roll silicone pan. Spritz with a finishing touch of alcohol. Allow to harden.

Step Three
Gently peel the soap out of the mold. Use your cookie cutter to press out Fall holiday shapes.

Step Four
Prepare your clear soap. Melt the soap in 30 second bursts. Once it’s melted, add fragrance. Be sure to choose a non-yellowing fragrance or at least a fragrance that stays clear.

Step Five
Pour off a little of your fragranced, clear soap into 3 little pots. You want .5 ounces to 1 ounce of soap per pots. Bonus points if your pots can be reheated in the microwave. Color each of these with a fall color. You want these to be bright vibrant colors so they really stand out.

Step Six
Pour a thin layer of clear soap into the bottom of the Jelly Roll Pan. Wait for soap to harden.

Step Seven
Spray the thin layer of clear soap liberally with alcohol. Spray your turkey (or other fall cut out soap) liberally with alcohol. Place the turkey down on the top of the clear soap.

Step Eight
Take your Soap Syringe/Injector and draw up a syringe full of colored soap (remember those little pots of colored soap? Now is the time to use them! If they’ve solidified, it’s okay, reheat and remelt). Pretend you’re Jackson Pollock and start drizzling. Alternate colors. Spray some more rubbing alcohol. Alternate more colors. Syringe, soap, syringe, soap, syringe. Let this masterpiece harden.

Step Nine
Prepare your background soap. It can be any color you want (we used green, gold, white and ivory – they all looked great!) so long as the drizzles stand out from the rest of the soap in a dramatic and impressive fashion. Spray your Pollock strings with alcohol. Make sure your overpour soap is around 120 to 130 degrees so it doesn’t melt your design. Pour the overpour soap gently over the entire pan, filling it 7/8th to the top or as thick as you want your soap to be.

Step Ten
Wait for the soap to harden. This will take at least an hour if not longer. It’s a thick slab of soap at this point. Gently peel out of the mold and cut into squares. I used the handy dandy scraper cutter but you could use a butcher knife.

Wrap in saran wrap, give away at Thanksgiving or use these for fun and easy place settings. Stick a skewer in them to make a sign.