Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
I fell completely head over heels in-like with a volunteer helper during my Advanced Lotionmaking classes. Gillian (from Little Bitty Soap Company) was amazing. She fixed everything, was everywhere and did it with a smile on her face. She also has hidden talents. She made the above soap and entered it in the “Soapers’ Showcase” at the Handcrafted Soap Guild conference. Clearly, she’s talented a being an amazing helper but even more clever with her soapmaking.
I was delighted (but probably not more than she) when she won the BEST cold process soap in the Handmade Soap Guild Show tonight for the soap (‘Picture‘) above. Her unique style of swirling, layering AND embedding clearly wowed the voters and deservedly so. She is inspiring in person with her can-do attitude and her soaps are an aspirational art form for us all to aim for.
Check out her site here. Drop her a line and tell her how cool her soapy art form is.
Soap Queen TV Episode 3: Swirling M&P from Soap Queen on Vimeo.
We’ve made it really easy to follow along by creating a kit for making this exact soap project! It’s only $29.99 and you’ll end up with at least 10 bars of cosmically swirled soap. Check it out!
Wall of Cold Process Soap Entries from the Soapers’ Showcase Entries
I am a wee bit tired, after a day that started with a fabulous 6:15 a.m. Indie Fitness walk led by the incorporable Donna Maria and did not stop until 10:30 p.m. after a wonderful dinner (complete with hilarious entertainment!) sponsored by Essential Wholesale. In between those 16 hours, I also taught two back-to-back, hands on lotionmaking classes where we made 5 from-scratch recipes, testing different emulsification systems. Given that I have a 6:30 a.m. date with Donna Maria again tomorrow morning for a fitness walk, I hope you’ll forgive the short post about The Handcrafted Soap Guild Conference goings-on today.
Erin Brockovich started us off with an inspirational story of how her movie was made, the behind-the-scene details, and her personal philosophies about life. One of the things I really appreciated about her messaging was that determination, persistence through adversity and “sticktoitiveness” (stick-to-it-ive-ness) is key to overcoming obstacles, meeting all challenges and thriving in life. It was refreshing to have someone say, “I’ve failed more times than I can count,” and finish with the silver lining that resulted.
Above is one zany photo from the amazing full sit-down meal, comedy night stand up that Dennis and Kayla Fiorivanti put on for the entire Guild Gathering. This is just a few of us having fun (notice my ultra cool, supermodel pout?) – the fabulous Sindi from Georgia, Sandy from Alabama, Lela from South Carolina (Lela of Bella Lucce fame) and a helpful mime jester.
Tomorrow, I’ll post more about the Advanced Lotionmaking classes and new tidbits that happen tomorrow. Thus far, this has definitely been the best Soap Guild ConferenceI have attended. It has run incredibly smoothly, the classes all have had A+ take-home value, and the mood of the attendees has been positive and happy. They announce the 2010 Conference location on Wednesday night; I can hardly wait.
Remember that Birthday present I mentioned last week? Well here it is!
For immediate Release
Brambleberry.com is pleased to announce the purchase of an exquisite line of soap molds, originally produced by SpinningLeaf. Says founder Anne-Marie Faiola, “Purchasing the 4-cavity soap molds portion of SpinningLeaf is a dream come true for Bramble Berry. We had long looked for a strategic partner in the soap molds industry and this was a perfect opportunity.”
Bramble Berry has carried the SpinningLeaf line of soap molds under the name “Heavy Duty Molds” for over six years with excellent sales and customer comments. Because of this acquisition, Bramble Berry will continue to carry the soap molds under the Heavy Duty Mold line and supply other wholesalers with the quality soap molds. Debbie Chialtas, from soapylove.com, is delighted about the acquisition, stating, “I have long used the Heavy Duty Mold line because they are the most hearty and easiest to work with of all the molds. As a Bramble Berry customer, I’m thrilled about this news.”
Eye of Horus Soap by PJ Soaps using Heavy Duty moldFaiola is so excited about the possibilities this line has that she has started an entirely new plastics manufacturing company called ELF Industrial (named after her younger brother’s initials) and promoted said-younger brother Erik Faiola to a managerial position within the company. Erik expands, “After two years of working at Otion – The Soap Bar, I am delighted to be taking this leap and learning an entirely new trade. The Spinning Leaf line is a natural choice for us to start with and I look forward to designing additional soap, wedding and plaster molds for custom projects.”
Lori Carter, the founder of SpinningLeaf says. “SpinningLeaf is honored to have passed the Heavy Duty Soap Mold line on to Bramble Berry! We are very confident that they are in great hands, and we are proud to be a part of Bramble Berry’s growth. We look forward to working closely with Bramble Berry in the years to come to serve soap makers better than ever. We wish Bramble Berry and ELF Industrial all the best in their new venture!”
ELF Industrial will start producing the Heavy Duty Mold line in early June for retail and wholesale purchase.
Greetings from the amazing and fabulous Miramonte Resort in Palm Springs, California. I’m here for the Soap Guild Annual Conference and so excited to see all the familiar faces.
Me, Kayla and the fabulous Marie (President of the Soap Guild)
My shameful little secret was that earlier I had snuck a little bit of cheese back to my room from the reception, knowing that I had a full day of emails to catch up on and of course, sharing to do with you from the event. See my little cheese plate? Isn’t it cute?
When I got back into my room around 9:30 after checking in all my boxes, what was waiting for me but the mother of all cheese plates? Four kinds of cheeses, flatbread Parmesan crackers, and copious amounts of fresh fruit and nuts along with a gracious note from President Marie Gale and Conference Organizer Leigh O’Donnell, thanking Bramble Berry for its sponsorship of the event. It put my (stolen) cheese plate to shame!
I am embarrassed to admit how much cheese I ate. There was some left and it is shoved into my mini-fridge in the room for tomorrow’s midnight snack.
Tomorrow is a big day with a keynote by Erin Brokovich, a media presentation by Donna Maria Coles Johnson and a variety of breakout classes, including Melt and Pour by Lisa from Feto Soaps and yours truly for Lotions. I can’t wait to share the details with you.
Here’s a link to the recipe if you want to give it a try too!
Thanks to the creative team at Otion for making this homage in soap for Mother’s everywhere. And, a special loving wish for our amazing, wonderful and spirited Mom. She’s the best!
The background story about my Mom is that she was my first soap salesperson. When I was 16 and making soap in her kitchen, she would take those bars of soap and buy them for for her friends and then force those same friends to buy even more from me.
She helped get me my first store that I sold in. It wasn’t even a store. She convinced the local gym to put my soaps in a basket and put them out for sale as an “honor system.”
And through almost every Bramble Berry move (we’ve moved 5 times!), she’s come up to help by moving boxes but more importantly, treating the staff to her delicious sandwiches. She makes some yummy creations for us.
Both Erik and I are so lucky that our Mom supported us, cheered us on and has been our biggest supporter for years.
Thanks Mom. We love you!
Here’s another one I just found: Pockey for Men at the Asian Food Grocer. Apparently it’s not as sweet as the original pocky. We women can handle our chocolate sweet!
Joyfully,
Jennifer Zurick Burma Humanitarian Mission
My sweet and thoughtful younger brother (the indomitable ELF) baked me a giant cupcake birthday cake out of my favorite flavor (Cherry Chip, in case you’re wondering) to celebrate my birthday. Even though all the caloric goodness was enough, I also used my birthday as an excuse to finalize a big purchase for expanding Bramble Berry. Expect details and a press release on the exciting news early next week. In the meantime, I’m away for a long weekend with my sweetie to celebrate the joyful passing of another year but have some fun ideas for blog posts while supposedly relaxing (chocolate for men, anyone?).
Soap Queen TV Episode 2: Herbs and Colorants from Soap Queen on Vimeo.
For easy reference, here is the ingredient list for this week’s project:
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