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Boy or Girl?

November 26, 2010 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

After making my poor family and friends wait for a full extra week so I could tell my folks in person, we’re ready to share our little Bramble Bump news with the world. 2800 of you voted in the poll – as of this morning, the votes give a little girl the edge. Were you right?

Now can you guess?

Of course, we used cupcakes to tell them about the baby – Vanilla Peppermint Cupcakes filled with a white chocolate ganache. They were INSANE sweet but yes, I will definitely be sharing that recipe (right after I share the Key Lime Cupcakes from last week). The color of the ganache was the sex of the baby. Yes, we are officially having a BOY! The entire family is thrilled, tears were shed (of happiness!) and now the fun begins – decorating the nursery, my new (large) baby office and choosing a name!

Blue Cupcake for BOY!

Erik (my younger brother) made the Onesie mold just for my baby gender announcement but when we saw how cute they turned out, I had him whip up a bunch more just for you. You can buy the soap mold here. The technique to make the dual colored Onesies is just like the technique in this Gingerbread Man tutorial.

We Made Stuffing Cupcakes!

November 25, 2010 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours. I hope you spent today with family or friends, laughing and reminsicing about fun adventures and memories.

The best gift was that my husband made it home from his business trip to Saudi Arabia with one hour to spare before dinner. We’re reading ‘Parenting’ Magazine. Note our ‘Team Baby Girl or Boy’ shirts. =)

My sister-in-law and I baked up a storm – portabella mushroom lasagna (recipe here), mashed potatoes, two kinds of vegetarian faux-loaf, homemade rolls, and an amazing decadent butterscotch butterscotch dessert (recipe here).

We didn’t go hungry, that’s for sure!

We made cupcakes out of our stuffing. They were perfectly sized for perfectly filling carb loading.

But of course, the real show stopper was the ‘Guess the Baby Sex’ cupcakes. You’ll be in suspense for just one more day and then we’re telling the world what’s kicking up a storm in my belly.

Of course, no family gathering would be complete without the original grandchildren, Samantha and Toby.

Look how big Toby has gotten! Our little puppy has grown into a big 8 month old. Remember how little Toby was when Erik first got him?

I hope that you had an equally fantastic Thanksgiving. Stay tuned tomorrow for the Bramble Bump announcement.

Whipped Belly Butter Tutorial

November 24, 2010 Filed Under: Lotion

6 oz. Cocoa Butter

3 oz. Calendula-Infused Jojoba Oil

1.5 oz. Unrefined Hemp

14 oz. Shea Butter

.3 oz. total, equal parts: German Chamomile, Carrot Seed, Frankincense (optional), Helischryum (optional),

Get all of the ingredients you need in the click of a button!

Wondering why I chose all the ingredients I did? I wrote an explanation here. Curious about how to infuse oils? Tutorial here.

Directions

Weigh out all of your ingredients (volume doesn’t provide the same. This is a photo of the German Chamomile. It is a dark beautiful blue.

Warm your liquid oils in the microwave and put the cocoa butter in with them. Melt until the cocoa butter is melted in. You might need to stir it a bit to get the last of the cocoa butter melted in. Do not melt the shea butter. Add your warmed oils onto the shea butter. Using a stick blender, ‘trap’ the shea butter chunks under your stick blender and blend them up until they incorporate into the mixture.

Turn on your stand mixer on low (it can splatter oils otherwise). Slowly start to increase the speed to medium and whip until all the butters are fully mixed in. The mixture looks lighter and fluffy, sort of like a warm frosting. Pour into containers.

Allow to harden before use. Balm melts almost instantly on contact with skin and is incredibly skin loving and nourishing. Amber in the office swears that is has cured her dry and cracking fingers (darn that cold spell we’re having) and my belly looks moisturized (albeit a bit larger than normal). No more itchy, peeling skin for me! Note: This is designed to be a more therapeutic recipe. It won’t smell delicious and fruity. If you’re going for sweet and fruity smells, stick with fragrance oils.

Exotic Belly Balm – Oil Choices & Why

November 24, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Even though I’m only 18 weeks along, my belly is stretched tight and it’s itchy and peeling. It’s really not all that attractive. Given that I make yummy products for a living, I took this on as a personal challenge! Stay tuned for the recipe later today. The oils I used:

Cocoa Butter – Long used for centuries for stretch marks, cocoa butter has proven to be no better than a placebo for actually preventing stretch marks (NYTimes article). So, why did I put it into my formula? Cocoa Butter has a compound called CMP (cocoa mass polyphenol), a substance that helps with dermatitis.

Vitamin E – Vitamin E beat out Cocoa Butter for stretch mark relief (citation here). Vitamin E is a an anxi-oxidant that helps to defend skin from free-radicals. Free-radicals attack the skin structure leading to aging, wrinkles and generally unhealthy skin.

Jojoba Oil infused with Calendula Petals – Jojoba oil is a liquid wax. Out of all the oils (or in this case, liquid waxes!), it is closest to the human skin in its make up. Calendula is incredibly nourishing to skin, especially irritated skin. For infusion directions, click here.

Hemp Seed Oil, Unrefined: Hemp Seed Oil is fantastic to use in skin care products because of its lipid profile; it has over 80% Essential Fatty Acids. Additionally, Hemp Seed Oil has been found to help with eczema.

Shea Butter: If there was only one butter I could be stranded on a desert island with, this would be it. High in unsaponifiables, this butter is extremely emollient, making it a key ingredient in many body butters and lotions.

Essential Oils:

Carrot Seed: Carrot Seed Essential Oil is well known for its help with aging skin and to protect skin against wrinkles. Carrot Seed has a very earthy smell.

Frankincense: Used by some of the large cosmetic companies in their anti-aging skincare, Frankincense is known to be soothing and skin-loving.

Helicrhrysum: This essential oil has almost a magical lore about it for healing bruises and soothing dry skin.

German Chamomile: One of my favorite essential oils for skin care, German Chamomile helps calm itchy, irritated skin because of its high azulene content. German Chamomile smells herbal-y and not sweet at all.

What is a Fragrance Oil Made Of?

November 23, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Q: What exactly is a fragrance oil made out of? I went to buy some today and noticed there was no ingredients listed.

A: Fragrance Oils do not have full ingredient disclosure; they fall under ‘Trade Secret’ status with the FDA and so simply putting “Fragrance” on an ingredient list will suffice.

There are over 3500 materials (aroma chemicals, essential oils and essential oil components) that are approved for use in fragrance oils. Fragrance oils are not policed by the FDA; rather, they are a self-regulated body. Each individual ingredient is tested for things such as irritation, solvency, absorption, to physical characteristics like flash point, specific gravity, and flammability as well as more serious things, such as carcinogenic indicators etc… Once an ingredient is fully tested, the results are published in a peer-reviewed journal. A group called ‘RIFM’ performs all the tests (RIFM stands for Research Institute for Fragrance Materials).

The International Fragrance Association (IFRA) is an international organization that represents fragrance manufacturers. IFRA takes the data and reports from RIFM, evaluates it and publishes guidelines for usage. IFRA will make recommendations for which raw materials are safe to use in fragrance oils; often, what is safe for potpourri will not be safe for the skin. Your supplier should follow IFRA’s guidelines and use only RIFM approved materials in their fragrance oils. Of course, Bramble Berry follows IFRA’s guidelines and uses only RIFM approved materials in our fragrance oils. =)

Curious to learn more about safety, sustainability and the technical details behind fragrance oils? Chemist Stephen Herman has a great article that he wrote for Perfumer & Flavorist that you can read here.

Latest Etsy Purchases

November 22, 2010 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Wow! Where did the day go? All of a sudden I look up and it’s past 9 p.m. and I haven’t even written my blog. Whoops! I’ve got some exciting projects underway for this week – a Belly Balm recipe to share with you, the Cranberry Fig soap instructions and (eeeek!) the sex of the baby. It’s going to be a jam-packed week. Yay! But in the meantime, I’ve been doing a little shopping on Etsy and here’s my latest finds and purchases:

Recycled Baby Thank You notes. I’m thinking about having this seller (graciegirlnotes) make all the baby shower invitations for the new Bramble Baby. This is my trial order to see the quality and consistency of this seller. I love supporting small business.

A Butter Caramel sampler for my family at Thanksgiving. With flavors like Matcha Green Tea, Rose, and French Lavender, not buying from Fusion Sweets was a virtual impossibility. My family is excited to try the veritable sugar feast. And I’m just excited to see my family, caramels or not! =)

For some reason, I am an absolute sucker for necklaces with sayings and whimsical things on them. I was looking for a pendant that actually said “Be Happy” but out of all of Etsy, I couldn’t find one but I did find this adorable one from Always A Memory and I couldn’t help but make it mine.

Etsy is always my shopping downfall but in this case, there’s no buyer’s remorse. =)

Keeping the Bramble Bump Safe

November 21, 2010 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Aromatherapy & Pregnancy : The History of Warnings

Since I’m 4 1/2 months pregnant, of course I’m more careful than ever with soapmaking, fragrance oils and essential oils. Given some of the scary warnings about essential oils (and my proximity to them daily), I went to my friend and aromatherapist Kayla Fioravanti to get some advice. She kindly wrote the guest blog below about aromatherapy and pregnancy. In aromatherapy the use of essential oils during pregnancy remains a contentious subject debated by many in the industry. We get asked about aromatherapy in pregnancy most commonly by those who become pregnant while running their own soap, aromatherapy, spa or personal care product line.

From Aromatherapist to Aromatherapist you may get varying answers when it comes to prenatal aromatherapy. Some believe that essential oils should be completely avoided during the first trimester and others believe they should be avoided all together and then there are others that don’t avoid them at all. I, personally, worked as an Aromatherapist through two of my three pregnancies. I handled, blended and manufactured using essential oils on a daily basis with no ill-effects on my pregnancy or babies. I also used aromatherapy for massage, and baths to treat my stress, body aches, fatigue, morning sickness and labor successfully. To confidently use aromatherapy in pregnancy it is vital to understand the root of aromatherapy warnings and contraindications.

The fears surrounding aromatherapy in pregnancy are found in historical cases in which essential oils were misused purposefully or accidently. All of the cases of adverse reactions in pregnancy are related to women drinking large doses of essential oils. Any responsible Aromatherapist would never suggest that essential oils should be consumed. In reality essential oils no matter what the circumstances are should never be taken orally.

Aromatherapists all warn their clients away from pennyroyal essential oil due to a case in the USA in which a woman drank a large dose of pennyroyal in order to induce an abortion that proved fatal to her (Gold and Cates, 1980). One out of four cases in which pregnant women accidently drank Camphor oil instead of Castor oil resulted in the death of the baby (Weiss and Catalano, 1976).

There has never been a reported case of a woman or baby being harmed by topical or inhalation therapy used during pregnancy or labor. Another reported cases in which pennyroyal and parsley seed were taken in large doses caused hepatotoxicty which resulted in the death of the baby. There are two other case in which women consumed the same large doses of pennyroyal (100 to 200 times the recommended topical application) in which both the mothers and the babies survived unharmed.

It is cases like this that give essential oils warning and contraindications.

Worldwide a large number of midwives and nurses have become Certified and/or Registered Aromatherapist over the past ten years. Aromatherapy in the labor and delivery room has been a common practice in England since 1987. After 22 years of regular use of aromatherapy by midwives and nurses in England one would think that by now if topical and inhalation usage of essential oils was dangerous during pregnancy there would be a case reported by now, but there have been none.

The most recent case of a pregnant woman consuming essential oils resulted in a midwife losing her job and license, but no harm to the mother or baby. In North Wales, midwife Sandra Hughes who was trained in aromatherapy mixed some sweet almond oil with two drops of lavender and one drop of lime in a plastic cup and left it by her patient’s bedside. Her intention for it to be massage onto the patient but after a mix up while she was out of the room the patient drank the blend. The mother and baby were monitored but suffered no ill effects. Communication and proper application of essential oils is vital.

In reality essential oils have been used by pregnant women for thousands of years safely. Most perfumes on the market use essentials oils or components of essential oils combined with synthetic fragrance chemicals. Yet you never see a warning on perfume bottles to avoid during pregnancy. Chemical components of essential oils have historically been used in the production of fragrance oils as well and have caused no ill effects during pregnancy. For instance, nutmeg essential oil is one of the ingredients used to make Green Tea fragrance oil. Below you will find nutmeg on the “essential oils to avoid during the first trimester” list, however, it is a component of a common fragrance oil that pregnant women use every day all over the world with no ill effects.

You will find that the aromatherapy field, in general, has chosen to err on the side of caution.

Be aware that during pregnancy a woman has a heightened sense of smell. Always use half dose of essential oils for pregnant women. The highest percentage of essential oil in aromatherapy products for pregnant women is 2%. Be completely in-tune with what essential oils she finds repulsive or dislikes during pregnancy. I have found that most pregnant women find essential oils that are highly hormonal distasteful during the first trimester of pregnancy. My theory is that her body warning her away from essential oils with properties that it does not need at a given time. I have also found that women crave and adore highly hormonal essential oils when they have PMS or are going through menopause. It is as if the nose if leading her to oils that it needs at a given time in her life.

There is no documentation on whether or not essential oils pass through the placenta but because they have low molecular weights and are negatively charged molecules it is feasible to assume that they do. The placenta acts a barrier to positively charge molecules but negatively charged molecules do cross the placenta (Maickel & Snodgrass 1973) which makes choosing the right essential oils used during pregnancy vital.

For instance, savin and Spanish sage could be extremely detrimental during pregnancy. They are not common essential oils used aromatherapy; however, they are a good example of why precaution is used by Aromatherapists. Savin (Juniperus savina) and Spanish sage (Salvia lavandulifolia) essential oils contain the compound sabinyl acetate which has been proven to have a teratogenic effect (ability to interfere with normal embryonic development) in laboratory animals (Guba 2002).

Many essential oils are believed to have emmenagogic actions (cause uterine contractions believed to induce menstrual cycle) and are believed to be dangerous to use during pregnancy. However, many Aromatherapists believe that emmenagogic actions are not enough to affect a stable pregnancy. The controversy lies in the history of a pregnant woman. If a woman has had miscarriages in the past it is always best to err on the side of caution and avoid emmenagogic essential oils.

When buying essential oils always cross check them by using their Latin nomenclature in combination with the common name. This will ensure consistency and above all safety. It is critically important to know the difference between various essential oils, for instance, clary sage is very helpful in labor yet sage is contraindicated for pregnancy. Aromatherapists use Latin nomenclature to identify essential oils for that very reason. For instance, clary sage is Salvia sclarea and Salvia officinalis is sage. Using both names to identify and crosscheck your essential oil choices is the best practice to protect your business.

The safest essential oils to use in pregnancy are the citrus essential oils including; bergamot, lemon, lime, sweet orange, mandarin, grapefruit and tangerine. They all such low molecular weights that they disperse into the air shortly after application. There are no contraindications, no safety data and no warnings that are related in any way to pregnancy.

Occasionally you might find them on a list of essential oils to avoid during pregnancy but that is only when the Aromatherapist has taken every essential oil with a warning and lumped them into the avoid during pregnancy list. The only warning for all citrus essential oils is that they may be phototoxic which means that they may increase the risk of sunburn when used undiluted. But since you won’t be using any essential oil over 2% on a pregnant woman you are well within safety limits.

I highly recommend the use of grapefruit essential oil for massage throughout pregnancy. It is the only citrus essential oil that is not phototoxic so you even avoid that warning. It uplifts the spirit, eases the mind, has an astringent property that leaves the skin feeling great, helps with water retention and is generally known as safe in all cases. If you were to add one essential oil from pregnancy massage grapefruit is the safest, most universally liked essential oil on the market.

Common Essential Oil Warning for Pregnancy
Emmenagogic essential oils: basil, carrot see, German and Roman chamomile, sweet fennel, clary sage, juniper berry, lavender, sweet marjoram, myrrh, rose, rosemary, peppermint.

Safe throughout pregnancy: bergamot, lemon, lime, sweet orange, mandarin, grapefruit and tangerine.

Avoid in first trimester: palmarosa, sweet fennel, peppermint, carrot seed, nutmeg, bay, anise, cinnamon, sage, myrrh, juniper, lovage, Roman and German chamomile, cajuput, peppermint, melissa, marjoram, rose otto, rosemary, clary sage, vetiver, basil, oregano, black pepper, sandalwood.

Essential Oils to Avoid Completely During Pregnancy:savin, Spanish sage, angelica, calamus, buchu, wormwood, davana, mugwort, mustard, wild basil, calamint, wormseed, brown & blue & white camphor, horseradish, blue cypress, turmeric, bitter fennel, Bulgarian geranium, wintermint, star anise, cade oil, latana, Spanish lavender, bog myrtle, dog basil, Brazilian sassafras, parsley seed, lavender cotton, sassafras, tansy, thuja, dill, yarrow, tarragon, caraway, camphor, broad-leaved peppermint, hyssop, pennyroyal, spearmint, rosemary, tagette.

photo credit: Miche Photography

This guest blog was written by author Kayla Fioravanti. She is a Cosmetic Formulator and Registered Aromatherapist. She writes for Demascope Magazine, Les NouvellesEsthetiques & Spa’s and NAHA. In addition to that, she is passionate about small business; she went to Washington DC with a committed group of small business advocates to talk about the small micro beauty businesses.

Thanks-Soaping Technique Tutorial

November 18, 2010 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

Melt and Pour Tools *really* make a world of difference for Melt and Pour soap designs, especially intricate patterns like the Thanksgiving Mold.

What you’ll need for this project:

Thanksgiving Mold

Non-Bleeding Brown, Green, Yellow, Merlot Mica and Liquid (Bleeding) Orange

Melt and Pour Tool Kit

Clear Melt and Pour Base

White Melt and Pour Base

Pumpkin Pie Fragrance Oil

Get everything you need for this project at the click of a button.

To make the Pumpkin Soap

1. Mix 2 ounces of clear soap with Liquid Orange Color until you achieve the color you want.

2. Fill in the entire cavity. Allow to harden.

3.Once the Orange Soap has fully hardened, take your Scraper tool from your Tool Kit and cut ‘n’ pry the orange soap out of the corn cavities.

3. Prepare your Yellow and Green-Brown soaps (using Clear Melt and Pour). Using your syringe, drop yellow colored soap into the corn and green with a touch of brown colored soap into the ‘leaves’. Tilt the mold as necessary to allow the yellow to fill in the corn entirely. The soap dries fast so it doesn’t take long.

4.Cut out the Pumpkin Stem and fill that in with the syringe. Allow all of the colors to fully harden.

5. Prepare your background color. I used an Orange Brown mixture so the color was a warm fall tone. Add fragrance to this soap. It is about 2 ounces per cavity so make up approximately 4 ounces of soap colorant.

6.Check that temperature before you pour. Is it 130 or below? If it’s not, it may melt that first layer. Spritz the first colored layers with rubbing alcohol and slowly pour the background soap over. Give one final touch with rubbing alcohol and wait for 4 to 6 hours to pop your soap out.

Tip! I always keep warm boiling water on hand to rinse my syringe out in between each use.

Tip 2: I prepare ALL of my soap colors for these projects at once and then let them sit, covered, so I can work quickly.

Follow this same process for the Turkey Soap EXCEPT fill in the feather plume first. You can use the scraper/pick to scrape away any of the parts that spilled over. I used different gradients of yellow to make it look more varied and interesting.

These very basic scrape/layering techniques produced all of these bars of soap below. I love how versatile Melt and Pour can be with the Melt and Pour Tool Kit.

Soap Weekend Intensive Teacher Announcement

November 17, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

It’s hard to believe that we’ve been doing the Soap Weekend Intensive for four years now! With last year’s long waiting list, we are determined to get everything organized quickly so you can plan to visit Bellingham. The dates are set – June 10-12.

Our Melt and Pour Teacher is still being finalized but, drum roll, we have confirmed our fan-soapy-tastic Cold Process teacher. Kristy from Kristy’s Lovely Lathers! You may recall that I’m a Kristy fan (blog posts here, here and here). And heeeeeeere’s Kristy!

Kristy Schemrich

My name is Kristy Schemrich and I am the founder and owner of Kristy’s Lovely Lathers. I am a 43 year old housewife and mother of 3 grown children. I live in Shreve, Ohio. I started creating soaps in February. 2006 after going to my husband’s cousin’s home in Atlanta, Ga. at Christmas in 2005. I walked into her house and kristy_schemrich she had a tray of these square “things” (I thought at the time) sitting out on a plate on the kitchen bar. I asked Bonnie what they were and she said “Oh that is soap, I made it!”.

I was so intrigued that I went home starving for information on how to make it. I made my first batch and it turned out horribly. I broke my wrist after that first batch and couldn’t make soap for 12 weeks. I thought I was going to go crazy. I started selling in 2007 to a major hardware store called Lehman’s Hardware in Kidron, Ohio. They are my biggest customer to date. I started making “fancier” soaps available on Etsy in March 2008 because I have a big love for colors and creating art out of soap. My soap is strictly cold process and mainly goat’s milk.

For more details about the 2011 Soap Weekend Intensive, click here to see a tentative list of classes. Keep checking back too. We’ll announce information here as we add things as well as on the SWI page.

The Soap is Rolling in!

November 16, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

The swap entries are rolling in! And we couldn’t be more excited. The soaps are beautiful and some of the packaging is just amazing. Here’s a photo of just a few of the bars we have received – more to come!

In addition to the beautiful soap, this is a great photo showing all the different ways you can label your soap if that part of the swap is confusing for you.

On the far left, Jennifer printed out the type of soap she made and the ingredients in card stock, punched a hole in it and then tied it around a cellophane bag with raffia.

Next, Traci used standard address labels to seal the tissue paper she wrapped around each bar and list the ingredients and name of her soap company.

In the center, Emma printed out her info on paper, trimmed it down and then attached it to some really cute card stock – like the type you can find in the scrap booking section of the craft store – and tied it on with a pretty ribbon.

Next, David made a label that is almost exactly the same size as a business card. He attached it to one side of the bar of soap so you can still admire the lovely swirl on the other side.

And finally, on the far right, Ann from Pitter Patter did a classic cigar wrap style and made it extra cute by attaching a ribbon to the top. So cute!

For more info about our soap swap check out this post. Remember, Dec. 3rd is the deadline to get your soap to us. Be sure to ship early and avoid any holiday shipping delays!

Thanks so much everyone, I can’t wait to see more.

Soapylove Tutorial: Cute as a Button Soaps

November 15, 2010 Filed Under: Melt & Pour Soap

These adorable soaps are super easy – they would be perfect for a gift or to sell at a craft fair! All you need to know is how to layer glycerin soap. {Just spray with alcohol between layers and make sure your soap is no hotter than 120 degrees when you pour it onto a hardened layer. There! Now you know!} 🙂

Supplies:

1 lb. Soapylove Naturally Clear Soap base (Or Clear M&P Base)

Sweet Treats Colorant Set

Delectable Desserts Fragrance Set

Soapylove Scalloped Round or Hearts Mold

Plastic drinking straws

Dropper

Mug of hot water

To create the polka dots, melt 1 oz of clear soap base and color with pink colorant. Use pipette to place drops of soap in the mold and immediately rinse pipette with hot water.

To create “button holes”, pour a thin layer of soap into mold (I used clear soap colored with the white colorant), then place straws vertically into soap, ends standing on face of mold, and hold them steady until soap sets.

Proceed with layering in any color combination you like. All of the Sweet Treats Colorants are non-bleeding!

Once your soaps are hardened, unmold as usual (the straws make nice handles for pulling soaps out!). Then pull straws out from the back side. You can use a chopstick to clean or perfect the button holes if needed.

The holes are really cute as a little detail, plus they make it easy to stack into gift bundles. Just thread a ribbon through all holes and tie. Voila!

-Debbie Chialtas, Soapylove

There’s a Sparkle in your Soap

November 13, 2010 Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

New Glitters at Bramble Berry!

Surplus Royal Blue Glitter, Iridescent Pink Glitter

Opalescent Star Glitter, Gold Star Glitter

Opalescent Bordeaux Mica, Gold Glitter

Fine Silver Glitter, Fine Iridescent GlitterCheck out a fun episode of Soap Queen TV using glitter!

Orange You Glad? New SoapQueen.TV Episode!

November 11, 2010 Filed Under: Personal Ramblings

Here’s another fun project perfect for the holidays on Soap Queen TV!
In this episode I share how to make Orange Slices, which you may remember from this series of blog posts I did in 2008. Using our Orange Spice Fragrance Oil, this project has been transformed into a wonderful Holiday treat.

Orange Slice Soaps from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

Ingredients:

8 oz Honey Melt & Pour Base

3 oz Clear Melt & Pour Base

2 oz Shea Melt & Pour Base

Orange Spice Fragrance Oil

Orange Mica (or Perfect Orange Color Block)

Jute Bags (optional)

Click here to add everything for this project to your Bramble Berry shopping cart (you can always add or remove items before checking out)

Other tools you’ll need:

Heat safe container for melting soap

Microwave (or a double boiler)

Spoon or stirring implement

Spray bottle with Rubbing alcohol

Knife or soap cutter

Note: The Orange Mica has since been discontinued at Bramble Berry, but you can use the brand new Perfect Orange Color Block to get a similar color! Try it and other color blocks out here.

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!

You are Responsible for What You Do and What You Don’t Do.

November 10, 2010 Filed Under: Business Musings

What chronic situation in your life are you complaining about routinely but not doing anything about?

I had a conversation this week that I’ve had many times before. A good friend came to me with the same gripe I’ve heard for the last ten years, “XYZ won’t quit doing this incredibly annoying behavior and it’s ruining my life. I don’t want to go to work. I don’t want to see them socially and I hate my life.”

Wow, “I hate my life” is a pretty powerful statement. That’s a lot of power to give over to someone else.

The conversation didn’t end well. I pointed out, as I have for the last decade, that they have a CHOICE in how they are going to act and react to this person. I said what many wiser teachers before me have said: in a relationship, you have 100% responsibility for the relationship. You cannot control the other person. You can only control yourself and your actions and reactions in any given situation.

The conversation got heated. I feel so strongly about the concept of “Take 100% responsibility for your life” that I get worked up when I see people close to me in pain because they’re not living by this principle.

You chose to eat the last Twinkie. Every day. For the last 15 years. Now you’re obese. That’s not the food industry’s fault.
You chose to have that last drink at the bar. Every Wednesday. For the lats 10 years. Now you’ve gotten your license taken away for your 3rd DUI in 10 years. That’s not the bar’s fault.
You chose to buy the big house knowing you’d have to vacuum 6 rooms and clean 4 toilets. Every week. For the last 5 years. Now you’re feeling like you don’t have enough quality time with your family. That’s not the house’s fault.

I was in Seattle yesterday, dealing with their horrendous traffic. But, in sharp contrast to some of the drivers around me, my blood pressure was stable. I had prepared for the traffic by packing a book on tape, stopping at the store to get 3 different healthy snacks and had a full bottle of water. All around me, you could see tempers flaring as the traffic stressed and entire commute worth of drivers out. We were all in the same chronic situation – yet some of us were happy and others were downright angry and miserable. How you act and react to situations is a choice. Listen to yourself for the next week. Are you routinely complaining about something? What can YOU do to change? How can YOU control your reaction so that the situation or the person isn’t taking up so much space in your head?