This week has been a complete whirlwind. The photo shoot for the upcoming book (coming in 2016) was both amazing and exhausting. Thirty-three cold process recipes were prepped and created in four days (39 if you count embeds!). That’s an average of 8 cold process recipes everyday. The team did a great job of prepping all the recipes beforehand; This enabled each recipe to be ready as soon as the previous was made. All the hard work paid off; each soap turned out amazing and I can’t wait to share the book with you!

This weekend I’m attending the HSCG Annual Conference in Indianapolis. So, if you’re here, come find me! I was so thrilled to run into Lela from Lucky Break Consulting, Ellie who has helped save 70 orphaned baby elephants with her soap, and Toushonta who spotted  me in the airport after a long day of flying. I’ll be here tonight and tomorrow so if you’re at the show, please come say ‘Hi.’ I love talking soap!

Here on the blog, we have been sharing a collection of milk recipes including this Goat Milk & Oatmeal Cold Process Soap. This Buttermilk Bastille Baby Bar on Soap Queen TV shows you how to create soap using fresh buttermilk and carrot puree. Want more soapy inspiration? Check out my favorite pins, ‘grams and tweets from this week!

Pinterest:

Left to right, clockwise:

• I love the simple yet sophisticated look of this Palm Free Lavender and Vanilla Cold Process Soap by  Humblebee & Me. The mica painting looks fantastic!
• Speaking of beautiful purple soap, the color combination in the Flirt Gourmet Handmade Soap from River City Soapworks is so eye catching.
• Purple tones also look stunning in food. Want proof? This Earl Grey Lemon Cheesecake is topped with frozen blueberries, giving them a lavender hue.
• Mother’s Day is less than a month away. This Mother’s Day Matchstick Holder and Candle Gift is a clever and adorable way to show her love.

Instagram:
If you follow me on Instagram, you know I was busy soaping up a storm making soap for my new book. Below is one of my favorite recipes, a Dandelion Zebra Swirl soap made with real dandelion petals and an annatto seed infusion.
On the left, is a negative space embed recipe colored with natural colorants. On the right is a soap made with pale ale instead of water. I was so relieved that the swirl design turned out for the shoot…that technique requires a steady hand and I was a little shaky! 

Twitter:

• The article, “Secrets of Woeman Running Billion-Dollar Companies,” is full of great advice and insights into the pros and cons of being a CEO. In particular, I related to how hard it is to have true “balance.”
• Being constantly creative is hard! If you need some tips on keeping your creativity flowing remember…no idea is too weird!
• Love shopping online? I do! These three apps are online-shopping game changers.
• The “experience economy,” is a term used to describe consumers growing love for experiences, rather than only services. Click through to learn more about wowing your customers with experiences. It’s what we try to do at Otion with our classes & crafters corner!
• Jerome Jarre has mastered Vine and SnapChat with 7.2 million followers. The going rate for one Vine video is $25,000! But it wasn’t always that way; click here to read his fascinating story.

To keep up with the latest soapy social media throughout the week, you can follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Pinterest, Vine and YouTube. And Snapchat! To watch my ‘stories’, which include sneak peeks into future projects (including all the soaping I’m doing this weekend), add me. I’m Bramble-Berry on Snapchat.