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Soapy Social Media Roundup

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Two weeks into the new year and we’re off to a running start. I’ve kept up with the S.M.A.R.T. goals I set for myself this year (thank you Carrot app, my VitaMix and Bellingham-based Dandelion produce delivery). I’m excited to track my progress along with everyone else who told me about their goals. There’s big plans for Bramble Berry this year, and we have lots of awesome promotions and campaigns planned, as well as adding to our continually growing product line. Be sure to check our What’s New page frequently to be first in the know about new items.

For now, take a look at my favorite social media happenings from the past two weeks for all of our social media accounts:

Pins:

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Soapy Social Media Roundup

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Welcome to 2014, everyone! I have so many goals both personally and professionally for this year, and I’m excited to put them in motion. In fact, I’m inviting everyone to join me in my goal-setting mission. Earlier this week I wrote about SMART goals and how I make them work for me, and I encourage you to set your own goals in a similar format (as an added bonus, we’re offering a prize to three commenters for sharing their goals). My plans for this year include placing a higher priority on personal fitness (yay treadmill desk!) as well as taking a few Friday mornings off per month to spend more time with Jamisen (he’s gotten less time with me after baby Lily was born).

Over at Bramble Berry, they’re back running at full capacity busily getting orders packed and shipped. If you placed an order over the holiday period (between Dec. 24 – Jan. 1), rest assured that your order is on it’s way =) For now, take a look at my favorite pins, tweets and ‘grams:

Pins:

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Facebook Photo of the Week (December 28th ~ January 3rd)

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

I hope everybody had a happy and safe New Years! This week we did plenty of reminiscing on 2013 and planned for a fresh new year. Soap Queen’s Best of 2013 features our favorite and most popular blog posts, ranging from informational posts for beginners such as the Free Beginner’s Guide to Melt and Pour Soapmaking, as well as more advanced tutorials such as the Rainbow Squirty Swirls Tutorial. Reviewing soaps from 2013 (156 likes and counting) makes me excited for what 2014 will bring!

If you’re also feeling inspired by a new year, check out A Goal Without a Plan + Contest post and learn how to make your goals more tangible. Plus, tell us about your goals for the year and you could win some Bramble Berry goodies!

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Soapy Social Media Roundup

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Hello everyone, merry (almost) Christmas! There is holiday hustle and bustle both at home and at Bramble Berry. We’re gearing up to shoot a few episodes of Soap Queen TV tomorrow before taking a small break for the holidays. Bramble Berry will be closed for Christmas and have a skeleton crew the 23rd, 26th and 27th. The warehouse also has to do inventory (Thanks IRS!) and as soon as they’re finished, will ship orders in the order they were received.

Take a break from the holiday madness and check out my favorite pins, tweets and ‘grams from the past two weeks. Happy Holidays, all!

Pins of the Week:

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Soapy Social Media Roundup

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Welcome to the end of a very chilly week, everyone! We’re packing up the kids this weekend and driving 4 hours out to the coast for a mini vacation at a cute little cabin. The kids have never been in the car for that long, so it’s going to be an interesting drive for sure. We’re bringing one of Jamisen’s good friends along, and we’re prepared for an energetic — I’m avoiding the word ‘exhausting!’ — weekend.

We’re also gearing up for hosting Christmas at our house this year, so I’ve got the holidays in mind. I definitely started playing Christmas music in the office the day after Thanksgiving (and would have started before that if the team had let me). Before all the holiday hustle & bustle hits, take a look at my favorite pins, tweets and ‘grams from the past two weeks.

Pins:

 

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Soapy Social Media Roundup

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Welcome to the second-to-last-week of November, everyone! I can hardly believe that next week is Thanksgiving, and I’ve got a ton of prep to do because this year I volunteered to host both Thanksgiving AND Christmas at our house (in retrospect, what was I thinking?!). Needless to say, it’s been a happily chaotic week.

As a side note, we’re still busy getting out orders from the Givember rush, and we appreciate your patience as we soldier on through this busy holiday time. We have a dedicated warehouse team that lovingly packs each order by hand, and they’re working ’round the clock to get your goodies shipped out. To tide you over, take a look at our favorite soapy social media items from the past two weeks.

Pins:

Clockwise:

  • Such a great quote. Just more reinforcement that doing nice things for others is often times the best medicine for yourself too.
  • These past few days we’ve been waking up to freezing temperatures which means winter weather has arrived (booo!). Cold winter air means chapped lips, and this Winter Clementine Lip Balm provides the perfect barrier against the chilly cold.
  • My mouth is watering as I type this because these peanut butter fudge squares look too good to resist! I’m trying (very hard!) to cut sugar out of my diet, but I might make an exception for these treats!
  • These are cute little thank you tags that you can easily whip up after the holiday gift-giving season ends. I often find that it’s the little things like these little tags are the things people appreciate most.
  • As a contrast to those indulgent peanut butter fudge squares, these Sweet Potato Chocolate Chunk Cookies are probably more up my dietary alley!
  • Why wrap presents in wrapping paper when you can turn the whole package into a confetti bomb?! These are four great ideas for spicing up holiday packaging.

Instagrams and Vines:

The warehouse has been so busy these past few weeks so we hired a few of our Givember Gingerbread Men to help us out. They are providing comic relief for the whole team.

Here is a quick look at how we made that super cool Mt. Mica Lava soap that came out in the newsletter yesterday. Subscribe to our newsletter so you don’t miss out on future awesome projects!

Tweets:

  • If you tend to carry around all sorts of credit, debit and gift cards like I do, you might be interested in a new service called Coin. It allows you to combine all your cards into one super card! I pre-ordered mine last weekend 🙂
  • I’m always looking for strategies to help keep me organized. Evernote is great, and Penultimate looks pretty interesting too.
  • If cats could soap, I’m sure this little guy would be soaping up a storm!

Have a wonderful weekend everyone, and try to stay warm!

Soapy Social Media Roundup

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Winter seems to have hit us early on this very chilly and blustery Friday. We had an awesome office-wide pumpkin carving contest last week (scroll down to see our “scary” winner), and took Jamisen out for a Halloween party as well (with a bucket full of goodies by the end of the evening, Jamisen was much happier than he was in this photo!).

In other news, we’re smackdab in the middle of Givember 2013! If you’re not familiar, head over to this post to read all about how you can access 25 unique tutorials as well as get in on some super special deals and coupons. These are my favorite soapy social media things from the past couple of weeks:

Pins:

 

Clockwise:

  • This Coconut Lime Soap so totally makes me miss summer. Plus I love the very rustic-looking top. This would be perfect for a beach house by the seaside!
  • How cool are these little mini soap jewels? What a fun projects to try on a very blustery November day like today, and plus they remind me of our Geode Soap tutorial from awhile back.
  • I want this chair in my office! Such a good vintage find, and the colored stripes are subtle yet super fun. The price might be a bit out of my office decoration budget though!
  • I’m always game for easy kids projects, and these colored wooden blocks are no exception! Great for learning colors and building forts =)
  • If you haven’t gathered by now, I have such a weak spot for macarons! These lemon macarons with salted honey and thyme buttercream sound absolutely gourmet.
  • So it may be fairly flashy, but I am in love with this rainbow glitter watch from Kate Spade. It’s playful but still very elegant! Might have to add it to my Christmas wishlist.

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Soapy Social Media Roundup

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Halloween is just around the corner, and we’ve been taking full advantage of the season. We took a fantastic trip to the apple orchard last weekend, and picked a ton of apples — if you’ve got any good festive apple recipes, I’d love to hear them! And of course, no Halloween is complete without pumpkin carving.

Between all the holiday festivities, I attended a super fun charity event for Blue Skies for Children (Bramble Berry sponsored the event) with my besties and then it was off to Las Vegas for an awesome business conference. I even got to meet one of my idols, Ram Charam, author of “Execution: The Discipline of Getting Things Done” and “Global Tilt: Leading Your Business Through the Great Economic Power Shift.” I highly recommend any of his books to small business owners, and I am still in awe that I got to meet him face to face.

As usual, there’s all sorts of exciting things going on in social media too. Take a look!

Pins

First column, top: Love the idea of using fruit baskets as a way to display soaps and other bath & body products at craft fairs. This reminds me of our visit to the orchard.
Bottom: This is one of my favorite motivational quotes as of late. Hopefully you’ll be rewarded ten-fold for the time you put into working toward your dreams.

Second column, top: For quick and easy Halloween decor, these little modge podge blocks are adorable. This would be a great craft project for a blustery night in.
Bottom: I have a weakness for scones, and these Sweet Potato Scones look absolutely delicious. I am loving the sweet potato trend lately too — from french fries to these scones, they seem to be everywhere!

Third column, top: These are so totally not part of my healthy eating plan, but they looked too good not to post: homemade twix bars! How much would the neighborhood kids love me if I passed these out instead of regular old Halloween candy?
Bottom: This Fall Soap from Chrissy B Soap is absolutely gorgeous. I love the color palette, and Arabian Spice, the fragrance oil she used, has such a warm, sensuous scent.

Instagrams

We went on a soapmaking marathon a few weeks ago, and here we are cutting two soaps from that session. The left one is our Shades of Grey inspired soap scented with Indian Sandalwood and the right one is the Dandelion Zebra Swirl we submitted for the Great Cakes Soapworks Soap Challenge.

Jamisen cutting his first soaping project! He was so elated, and he is budding into an excellent little soaper. =)

This was our first attempt at the Bird Wing, a technique we borrowed from the world of paper marbling. This didn’t turn out quite like we’d hoped, so we soaped it up again today and while we didn’t get it perfect, it got closer. Hopefully the third time will be a charm on that one.

Tweets

  • I’ve been searching for a recipe for this forever, and I’ve finally found one that sounds absolutely delicious: paleo dark chocolate! Might have to head to farmer’s market and pick up some local honey for this.
  • Around this time of year, some of the most common questions my team and I hear pertain to how to price soapy products for craft fairs and markets. If you’ve ever wondered how to set your prices, take a look at these four questions to consider.
  • This quote rings particularly true when we’re up in the soap lab experimenting with new designs and recipes!
  • Interested in learning a new thing or two? Take a look at these 15 awesome (and free!) online courses on everything from statistics to artificial intelligence.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone! To keep up with the latest soapy social media throughout the week, you can follow me on Twitter, Tumblr, Vine, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube.

Soapy Social Media Roundup

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Welcome to a very special edition of our Soapy Social Media Roundup. Why is it special? It’s Friday the 13th! Hopefully you haven’t crossed paths with any black cats or broken any mirrors today. This superstitious day has gotten me thinking about Halloween and the quickly approaching holiday season, and we’ve been busy planning plenty of seasonal tutorials (and dreaming of Pumpkin Spice Lattes)! While I’m excited for fall, I’ve also been trying to soak up the last of summer fun. Chris and I went on a fantastic hike over Labor Day, and we’ve been working to totally overhaul our garden. The hard work is paying off — look at the size of these potatoes!

I’ve got lots of goodies for you this week, including sneak peaks of two new soaping projects. Take a look!

Pins:

Clockwise from top left:

  • Okay, so how gourmet does this sound: Grilled Vanilla Bean Marscapone Peaches with Salted Bourbon Caramel… just let that sink in for a minute! It sounds perfect to bring to a sophisticated fall celebration.
  • I love the simple elegance of these crepe-paper flowers. The best part is they won’t wilt and die like real flowers so you could keep them up year-round.
  • You can’t have a conversation about fall without having a conversation about roasted pumpkin seeds. They’re the quintessential fall treat, and while they’re obviously good for eating, they’re good in bath and body products as well (like this Pumpkin Seed Exfoliating Mask, for example). I can’t wait to try this recipe for cinnamon sugar roasted pumpkin seeds.
  • One of the many snapshots taken at the Soap Crafting book release party two weeks ago. Lily was the little life of the party, and I was thrilled to meet so many of my fellow soapers!
  • So these Marcia Moran earrings are definitely on my wishlist. The champagne-colored gems are just gorgeous.
  • A quote to live by! Practice excellence to make it a habit =)

Instagram Videos:

We went on a rainbow kick this week (consider it a final sendoff to summer). The one below is our Super Squirty Rainbow Swirls, and we scented it with our brand new Amazon Lily & Rain Fragrance Oil.

This one is the Swirled Rainbow Layers. Two colors were swirled within each of the three layers — I can’t wait to see what it looks like when it’s cut!

Tweets:

  • Once Instagram introduced the ability to shoot video, we jumped right on board (obviously, see above!). These are some great tips for creating stellar Instagram videos, and it’s incredible how much thought and consideration goes into a quick, 15 second video clip. I love the idea of doing more with stop motion videos.
  • Gift-giving season is almost upon us, and these are some excellent tips if you plan on setting up a booth at your local holiday market or craft fair. Making a great first impression is totally the key to maximizing your sales this holiday season.
  • This is a fascinating look at the new Yahoo CEO, Marissa Mayer. I love her personal proverb, ‘It’s not what you know, it’s how you think.’ Knowing how to ask the right questions and make the right observations will make you an innovator in any field.
  • Kids + fruit = always adorable!

I hope you all have a wonderful (and lucky?) Friday the 13th!

Soapy Social Media Roundup

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Welcome to the end of August, everyone! Although I am sad to see summer go, and I’m getting excited for fall and all the great things we have planned. Thursday was our Soap Crafting book release party at Village Books in Fairhaven (and the launch of the Soap Crafting Club). I was beyond thrilled to see so many of my fellow soapers in attendance. It’s always a pleasure to chat with the folks who have helped Bramble Berry become what it is — we wouldn’t be here without all of you!

In baby news, Lily is growing more and more everyday, and I can really tell that she is actively trying to explore the world around her. We took a trip to the zoo last Saturday with my Entrepreneur’s Organization Group and she was fascinated by all the animals. Jamisen had a wonderful time too, and fell in love with not the exotic lions or tigers or bears — but a group of baby ducks! Needless to say, it was adorable.

And now, the latest and greatest from Planet Social Media!

Pins:

Top left: If you’re like me, you somehow seem to be a magnet for stuff. Sometimes my junk drawer seems like it’s becoming more of a junk room! To tame the junk problem, I decided to try my hand at making these cute and easy fabric bins using just a cardboard box, some scissors and a bit of glue. I hope they’ll help me stay organized and look good while doing it!

Center: So to be totally honest, I’m not sure how practical this is, but I could not get over how cute these tiny books are. I love the idea of building a mini library that you can hold in your hand! There’s a tutorial at the link but I’m not sure I have the patience or dexterity to try it.

Top right: It’s impossible for me to not highlight a delicious dessert whenever I collect my favorite pins, and this week’s dessert is truly delightful: it’s a gluten-free, dairy-free, vegan Brownie Pudding Cake. It sounds so decadent and rich while still containing lots of healthy ingredients. Might be something to try out this weekend =)

Bottom: Gemstone soaps seem to be trending this week! On the blog, we borrowed a fabulous tutorial from Otion on how to make geode soap, and then I came across this awesome handcut gemstone soap tutorial from soaping duo Jean and Oliver Pelle. These soaps are so simple and yet so pretty.

Instagrams:

We made many, many Peacock Swirls this week (not an exaggeration, we made at least six!)  in order to get the perfect batch to release on camera as we shot Soap Queen TV today.  With each batch, I was mesmerized by the In-The-Pot swirl technique that we used to form the base. Check it out below!


This is a two-for-one: this video demonstrates how to unmold soap in our 2 lb. Wood Loaf Mold and it also reveals our very spooky eyeball-inspired soap.


Tweets:

  • So Jamisen needs to wait a few years before trying to hold Lily…
  • These are four excellent things to keep in mind if you’re trying to build a great workplace. On the flip side, they are also great things to consider if you’re experiencing struggle in your own workplace — chances are, the struggle is happening because of one (or more) of those four factors.
  • This is a great quote. You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take!
  • The holiday season is upon us (okay, so maybe it’s not… it is still August after all) and I can’t stop thinking about all the baking I have planned. These chocolate chip cookies are definitely going to be a staple in the gift baskets I give to family and friends this year.

We are so thrilled that two of our customers (and friends! I’ve met both of these talented soapers in person) are in on the Martha Stewart American Made contest. You can vote for Etta + Billie and Bathhouse Soapery here and here.

I hope everyone has a fantastic Labor Day weekend. Please keep in mind, the warehouse and our customer service department will be closed on Monday, so we won’t be shipping orders out and we may be a bit slower to return your calls and emails. However, we will work hard to catch up on Tuesday and as always, you can always ask us questions on our Facebook page. Enjoy the holiday!

Find me on Twitter here, Pinterest here and Instagram here.

Soapy Social Media Roundup

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Another week has come to a close, and we started to catch the first glimpses of autumn (it rained for what felt like the first time in months). We rounded out our Soap Crafting-inspired tutorials this week with a citric-acid Shampoo Bar recipe. If you missed the other tutorials, you can check them out here, here and here. Speaking of Soap Crafting, we’re planning something exciting at the end of this month (I may or may not be signing the book at a local bookshop in Bellingham *winkwink*). As usual, we had plenty of activity on planet Soapy Social Media, so take a look at a few of my favorite things from the past two weeks.

Pins:

Top left: This is a great little primer on how to frost beautiful cupcakes. Bonus points: these tips apply to frosting soap cupcakes too!

Center left: This sandwich is so pretty that I would almost feel bad eating it. I love the idea of incorporating edible flowers into simple meals, and lately I’ve been trying my hand at growing some of my own.

Bottom left: You might have to do a double-take with this one — it’s not just a glass, it’s an edible glass! Better yet, it’s made with ingredients that complement the drink itself.

Center: Some excellent advice to keep in mind each day. If I’ve learned one thing from being in business for 15+ years, it’s that things don’t happen if you sit around and wait for them.

Top right: I am so in love with this awesome rainbow soap by Amathia Soapworks. The soap in the front left was made with a cool leopard spot technique, and I tried my hand at it for week four of the Great Cakes Soapworks Challenge.

Center right: So letting a two year old go wild with finger paints may not be the best idea, but this touch painting project still looks like so much fun. It could be something fun to try on a sunny weekend afternoon (out in the garage, with plenty of newspaper down, as far away from the kitchen as possible, of course!).

Bottom right: Who doesn’t love a bit of gold glitter to spice things up? I love mixing a bit of gold glitter with a clear nail polish base for a little pop of color.

Instagram:

Believe it or not, we’re already thinking about Halloween. We worked on a very spooky eyeball-inspired soap this week.

More Soap Crafting awesome-ness! This is the Neon Swirl.

Even though it was sad to realize Fall is approaching, we got some much need rain in the Pacific Northwest this week. Jamisen couldn’t wait to play outside in it!

Tweets:

  • I’m a sucker for fun fonts, and this font by ElliotSix is adorable. The catch? According to the font description, it was created by a boy named Elliot, who is (you guessed it) only six years old.
  • I typically stay as far away from Taco Bells as possible, but this caught my attention: they’re adding waffles to their menu. And by that I don’t mean they’re serving breakfast; I mean they’re creating some kind of taco-waffle-monster hybrid! Is this the best marketing decision of all time, or the worst? Only time (and a lot of waffles) will tell.
  • You may have heard the adage that smoke is attracted to beauty, but does the same hold true for mosquitoes? A new study aims to find out.
  • I’ve been thinking a lot about this quote lately. With patience and perseverance you can do anything.

Find me on Twitter here, Pinterest here and Instagram here.

Soapy Social Media Roundup

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Welcome to August, everyone! This week we wrapped up our collection of Home Spa tutorials, which will hopefully keep you refreshed, relaxed and revitalized as warm summer days begin to turn into cool fall evenings. We also chatted with a fellow soapmaker about her delightfully tropical bath & body products and started wrapping up our August Soap Swap.

Outside the office, my parents celebrated their 41st wedding anniversary! My dad surprised my mom with that yummy looking berry cake, as well as a rather fun note (“Still happy to be married at 41 years to a hot babe!”). They are both great examples for me on how to be as individuals and also how to be completed in a relationship.

There was plenty of activity on social media too. Take a look below for my favorite tweets, pins, and ‘grams of the week.

Pins:

Top left: I think half the fun of creating your own bath & body products is creating the packing that goes along with them. Your presentation is just as important as your product, and I love this simple, elegant cardboard design.

Top right: Breezy summer evenings call for breezy summer tops, but why spend money on pretty blouses when you can make them yourself? These tops are super cute, and you can customize them any way you want. Definitely a good weekend project for me to practice my sewing skills!

Center left: I’ve been a devout vegetarian for 36 years, and I’m always looking for ways to incorporate more iron and protein in my diet. My secret weapon? Beans! They really are the magical fruit =) We have a local Bellingham store (The Market on Lakeway) that has the most amazing bulk food section I’ve ever seen with beans of all colors, shapes and sizes. Our household has been dining on delicious homemade chili all week thanks to the inspiration at The Market bean station.

Center right: It’s always exciting to give new life to old household items, and this old toolbox re-purposed into a garden planter is an excellent example of that. It has a such a rustic, old farmhouse look.

Bottom left: These dulce de leche cookies look like they are to die for. Nothing wrong with satisfying your sweet tooth every once in a while!

Bottom right: I’ve been spending what little free time I have working on my garden lately, and this Rose Geranium Sea Salt Scub has inspired me to look to my garden for both bath & body ingredients as well as tasty snacks. I’ll start with the trellis of sugar snap peas Jamisen and I built last week. And, I just happened to plan a fresh Rosemary bush last week too.

Instagrams:

Here’s a look at the Firedrop Swirl, from the Soap Crafting book. Want to try this for yourself? You can order a copy of the book, with full color photos and instructions for this recipe and 30 others, here!

More soap cutting madness; this is the Goat Milk In-The-Pot Swirl, another Soap Crafting recipe. It’s scented with a lovely (and pleasantly surprising) blend of peppermint and patchouli:

Tweets:

  •  This is an insightful article on something we all love so much: soap! From laundry soap to liquid soap to the evolution of the artisan soaps we see today, this is an excellent read for anyone who wants to delve a little deeper into how the bath & beauty industry grew to be what it is today.
  • We’ve all heard the phrase you are what you eat, but this article frames that idea a little differently. For entrepreneurs and other people in high-profile or high-stress positions, being in the workplace is like being an athlete in competition. You must eat like an athlete to perform like one, so that means lots of fruits, veggies and lean proteins.
  • Bramble Berry took a trip to a Bellingham Bells game on Tuesday! It was a perfect evening for baseball, and Lily sure enjoyed her first game. Jamisen even got to throw the first pitch! We may have the next Walter Johnson on our hands =)
  • This is a nice reminder that learning takes place at every age and in every stage of life. Learning on the job is something that should never stop.

Have a great weekend everyone. We’re headed to either a children’s festival or a tractor exhibition today. It will all depend on the whims of a two year old. Find me on Twitter here, Pinterest here and Instagram here.

Soapy Social Media Roundup

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

Welcome to mid July! I saw a funny little photo on Facebook this morning; it showed cars under snow with the message “Don’t complain about the heat. This is just 16 weeks away.” Yikes!  The summer is flying by, and there has no shortage of activity around here. We’ve been busy planning a super secret collection of tutorials for the end of this month, rolled out a Free Beginner’s Guide to Butters and Oils and (somehow) Chris and I managed to take the kids on a train ride. It may be organized chaos, but it sure does make for a fun workday and life.  For now, sit back, relax, and take a look at my favorite things from the past two weeks on planet soapy social media.

Pins:

Top left (going clockwise): I love how elegant and charming salt soap can be. The pink salt in this soap adds a pop of natural color and acts as a wonderful exfoliant.

Center: Something to add to my wishlist: this collection of mint-colored dishware from Cambria! I (eh hem) may or may not have placed an order for half of them this week. Our dishes at home are 16 years old and we don’t have a full set anymore, after many years of breakage, cracks and chipping.

Right: I’m constantly on the hunt for the perfect summer scent for my soaps. Year after year though, I find myself returning to Lemongrass Essential Oil. It has incredible staying power in cold process soap, and the slight citrus note grounded by a more earthy tone make this a complex, all around fantastic essential oil.

Bottom right: This is such a cute motivational poster. If you do what you love, you’ll never work a day in your life! So thankful that I tripped on this truth when I was just 20 years old and founded Bramble Berry. #Lucky

Bottom left: What a fun twist on decorating Easter eggs — these are not only painted, they’re also filled with glitter! Such a clever way to fill an eggs while keeping the shell (mostly) intact.

Left center: Some Lemon Sugar Cookies to compliment the Lemongrass Essential Oil (coincidence is completely unintentional, I swear!). These look absolutely delicious, and so perfect for summer. I had a work party last weekend and brought everyone sugar cookies from Pure Bliss Desserts. I had one on an empty stomach for breakfast. That was not a good choice but I’m ready to go at it again  (maybe with a little food in me next time!) with this delicious recipe.

Instagrams:

We’ve been hard at work on a fun collection of tutorials (we’re channeling the idea of a day filled with relaxation and pampering). Expect lots of special deals coming at the end of this month too, but for now, here’s a mini preview give you an idea of what’s to come! (P.S. Interested in making this lovely scrub yourself? Buy the kit with everything you need on Bramble Berry.)

No spa experience is complete without a flickering candle flame. Here’s a behind the scenes look at how to make a layered candle. Full tutorial coming soon!

Tweets:

  • This is an excellent (and galling) example of why we need more women in office: women make up the bulk of voters in Virginia but there are no elected female officials statewide.
  • We’ve rolled out a brand new feature on the Bramble Berry website — product reviews!  If you absolutely can’t live without a product (or maybe you had a not-so-great-experience with it), let us – and your fellow soapers – know on the product’s page.
  • This is a fantastic article on how one company has funded an incredible number of startups and shaken up the crowdfunding game in the process. Their secret? Cut out the middle man!
  • If you need some help organizing your thoughts or deciding which direction to take a big project, check out this mind mapping software. It looks super helpful when you have lots of ideas floating around.

Find me on Twitter here, Pinterest here and Instagram here.

Soapy Social Media Roundup

Filed Under: Bramble Berry News

I hope everyone had a fantastic Fourth of July with lots of friends, food and of course, fireworks. We just wrapped up our 4th of July Make It challenge, and we received a number of fantastic entries. The variety was incredible! We saw lip balms, bath fizzies, all kinds of soaps and even some patriotic nail polish. You can check out the winners here.

We’ve also added a new social media outlet to our quickly growing roster. Bramble Berry is now on Wanelo (which is a combination of “want,” “need,” love,” — cute!) You can search for products, stores and even key words, and Wanelo aggregates results from all across the web. It’s a great place for one stop shopping.

Here is the Soapy Social Media Roundup for this week.

Pins:

Top left: How awesome do these Curry Vegan Kale Chips look? They’re the perfect alternative to regular potato chips at summer backyard barbecues.

Center: It’s here it’s here, it’s finally here! If you couldn’t tell, I am elated about the arrival of the advance copy of Soap Crafting. The book won’t ship out until August, but you can pre-order a copy here. Our international friends can email sma(at)brambleberry(dot)com to request their copy.  Each pre-order comes with some awesome extras (two exclusive videos, two never-before-seen recipes and a complete guide to colorants — hint hint!), so don’t miss out.

Bottom: This elegant penny ball serves two purposes — it looks great in your garden, and it also (supposedly, at least according to Pinterest) keeps slugs away. Whereas salt only dehydrates slugs,  the tiny amounts of copper in pennies repels them completely. It’s a great way to keep those summer strawberries safe and sound.

Right: Something to keep in mind each and every day!

Vines and Instagrams:

Making the Mantra Swirl for the Great Cakes Soapworks Challenge club. We decided to go with high contrasting colors — black oxide, titanium dioxide and Fizzy Lemonade! The best part? It’s scented with our brand new Cucumber Oak Fragrance Oil =)

And then everyone’s favorite part, the reveal! I love the way this turned out.

Soap Challenge Mantra Swirl

This is one we’re calling the “Hawaiian Shirt” soap. Even if you can’t take a Hawaiian summer vacation this year, you can still dream about a tropical paradise. Keep your eyes peeled for a tutorial on this one coming up soon. (Tip: this video doesn’t play automatically, so be sure to click the start arrow!)

Looking for more Bramble Berry videos? Check out Vine and Instagram online. If you have the apps on your phone, my username is @BrambleBerry!

Tweets:

  • This is a thought-provoking blog post on how the age-old phrase “boys will be boys,” can be problematic. Sometimes it takes a group of preschoolers to teach us all a valuable lesson about respect and compassion.
  • We all know exercise is important, but this article emphasizes how the type of exercise you do should be tailored to your health goals. Looking to control your weight? Go for a run. Trying to stave off heart disease? Walking reduces the risk of heart disease by nearly 9 percent!
  • If you have to give a big presentation at work, consider these tips to help hammer home your message. How you frame a topic can make it or break it.
  • With temperatures pushing 90 in Washington this week, these adorable ice eggs  were just the thing to cool off and have a little fun.

Our warehouse was closed yesterday and we have a skeleton staff today, but we’ll be back running at full capacity catching up and fulfilling orders on Monday. I hope everyone enjoys the rest of the holiday weekend!