Tutorials on soapmaking, bath fizzies, lotions and more
I just read an insightful post on the Ben Casnocha blog about how to live to 100. It’s actually parsed down from a much longer commencement day speech given by David Mahoney back in 1996. Ben’s Cliffnotes version is a shorter, easier read and stays true to the basics of the speech.
I had a rewarding evening last night. After work, I went to yoga. Afterwards, I felt strong and zenlike.
Since my dear husband was busy, I knew I could turn our kitchen into my private soapmaking studio. Bramble Berry is testing for some new non-bleeding colorants so I had plenty of stuff to play with.
Plus, we received some new adorable flexible soap moldsand they were calling out for some TLC playtime.
While testing out the new (hopefully non-bleeding colors), I built the simple layers for the owls and daisies. The detail work is nothing like Otion Soap Teacher PJ’s but since my attention span is on par with a toddler’s, I was happy that I managed to have different color eyes for my owl.
The daisies also came out cute though the yellow in the top right daisy? It speckled during testing so it won’t be added to our line up.
Out of all the colors I tested, there was a clear winner in the Non-Bleeding Red color so expect Bramble Berry to add it to our line up in the next few months.
There is an interesting post over at the Indie Business Blog about marketing and buzz building. The synopsis of the post is that Edison did not invent the light bulb. He was just simple better at marketing it. Click here to read the entire post and learn some helpful suggestions for branding and buzz marketing your business.
This is three layer gold-veined, cold process soap created for the Bah-Humbug 6 swap that was made by Denise in PA. I’m using this bar in my shower right now and I love gold vein between the white and burgundy colors.
Our visit to the Healsburg Soap Company was definitely one of the highlights of our Napa Wedding Weekend. I met Jen at the Soap Guild show in 2006. She introduced herself after my talk and we’ve been friends ever since. We’ve even signed up for the Nike Women’s Half Marathon together. Fingers crossed that we both get accepted.
Seeing the success that Jen has made of her business made me happy, proud and inspired me to really clean up our displays at Otion. I loved her aesthetic sensibilities and definitely can learn from her success.
IGourmet.com is an excellent place to start your Olive adventure if you’re not lucky enough to have a grocery store with an Olive Bar.
Much thanks to Jude in Australia from Aussie Soap Supplies for this wonderful blending tip and inspirational photo.
She says,
I was seeking a fresh scent and aftering running along the rows a couple of times nothing “hit the spot”.So, this is10mls Bonsai16mls Pineapple Cilantro3mls Litsea (or any lemon really)Smells delish, but the bonsai is still a little strong, so it could be lowered a little more 🙂 It has bentonite clay beads in the top layer, and black oxidesprinkled/dusted dry between the layers.Thanks for sharing!
I had the privilege of speaking at the Shop/08 Crave business panel this morning on “Turning your Passion into Profit.” Speaking to a full house (there were even seats on the sides of the room as more women signed up than there was room) was a thrill. Speaking to a group of female entrepreneurs was even better – contagious energy. The video below shows the view from the stage.
Founder Melody Biringer started Crave in 2000 out of a desire to have more quality time with gal pals. Since then, it’s blossumed into 6 major CraveParties per year, StartUpJunkie, Crave Parties, three written books, Shop/08 and founded the Seattle Ladies Who Launch. She is one busy lady!
My fellow panelists were very cool. Larisa has a company called “Dreamclinic.” They specialize in massages – specifically the best massages in Seattle. Having won numerous awards to prove it, Larisa is passionate about providing a massage that gets results. In fact, while she and I were chatting before the panel, a woman came up and raved to Larisa, “Your massage therapists are the only ones in town that get rid of my migraines every time.” That’s some endorsement! Larisa didn’t start out as an entrepreneur. She worked in high tech but was so interested in natural and intiegrative medicine and therapies that she chucked it all and started a massage therapy practice out of a one room rental. That has now turned into a full time job with 16 massage therapists. With her MBA, she is uniquely positioned to turn her passion into a business. You can hear her speak about her positive entrepreneurial experience on the Dr. Pat show here.
Rachel from Real Card Company specializes in invitation – custom invitations to be exact. She also does letterpress (be still my beating heart) cards and wholesales them to vendors across the nation. By far the most interesting-sounding part of her company is designing custom invitations. She told me some amazing stories of custom invitations while chatting before our panel started. The textures, color and overall messaging of the invitation sets the stage for parties, weddings and birthdays even before the event starts. Customers trust Rachel to really “get” the feeling that they want to invoke for their event and Rachel enjoys the challenge of designing the perfect invitation to start that ball rolling. She’s been lucky enough to do this for over 20 years. Her longevity in a business that she is passionate about was an inspiration.
Some of the questions asked of us by the moderator and the audience ranged from:
What did your family think when you started your company? (Horrified but loving and supportive)
Did you have medical and retirement in the early years? (No, and if you want daily stability in your financial life, perhaps entrepreneurship isn’t the best choice for you.)
Do you still get to make soap/do massages/be creative with paper? (Not so much; every minute is filled with daily minutia. But I make soap in my spare time!)
How do you finance a business? (Credit Cards. Probably not wise.)
What’s your best advice? (Continuous learning. Surround yourself with books, magazines and people that augment and fill in massive learning and experience gaps)
Shop/08 for Indepdant Businesses was a very good experience. I was honored to participate in this fun, educational, empowering event.
The Lufthansa flight LH44 from Munich experienced wingstrike while landing at Hamburg on 1 March 2008 during Emma storm. My husband who has his pilot’s license said, “Those are some major crosswinds. That is one skillful pilot!” Nobody was injured; the plane landed using another runway. Coming off my “Washington State to NYC and back in 24 hours” marathon, this film makes me shudder.
Note to Feedblitz subscribers: You can see the video in your email. You’ve got to click through to the blog to view it.
Look how vibrant and colorful these Sunflower Calendula Soaps are. They were made by the talented Anke in Berlin, Germany. Anke runs a cute blog about her life and creativity. She is an avid scrap booker and jewelry maker as well.
The soap is also an excuse for me to segue into a lovely shot of the flowers my kind and thoughtful husband brought me yesterday. Aren’t they cheerful? The Sunflowers especially are bright and happy for a dreary Washington day.
Thank you Janie Berg in New Jersey for emailing us a photo of her first melt and pour soap! I think she did a great job.
Hat tip to Shandel at True Life Coaching for emailing me this story.
;When NASA began the launch of astronauts into space, they found out thatthepens wouldn’t work at zero gravity. (Ink won’t flow down to the writingsurface). In order to solve this problem, they hired Andersen Consulting(known as Accenture today). It took them one decadeand 12 million dollars. They developed a pen that worked at zero gravity, upside down, under water, in practically any surface including crystal andin a temperature range from below freezing to over 300 degrees C.
The Russians used a pencil.
Update at 3:24 p.m.: Thank you to Ruality for pointing out that this story isn’t um, quite true.
That’s a good story and a good lesson, but it’s not really true. I like the real story better! Paul Fisher saw the problem with lead pencils (both NASA and the USSR used them, but they were problematic when the lead broke). He developed the Space pen and sold it to both countries!
http://www.snopes.com/business/genius/spacepen.asp
Made by Nature’s Best Soap with actual potato water, this soap is fragranced with Anise Essential Oil. I have hidden it downstairs in the guest room shower for when my Mom visits. She loves, loves, loves a good black licorice and this is one of the best!
The lather is dense, holds up and my skin felt baby soft when I was all toweled off.
Master soapmaker, Duane, says this about the soap:
My initial thoughts were to promote the soothing benefit of potato to skin. An old wives tale promoted raw potato to treat sunburn is one of the things we read when researching about 12 years ago and decided to make a soap with actual potato. We’ve had a number of anecdotal stories over the years from people who rave about the soap with potato and the effect it has on mature skin.
This is Elin’s cat from The Country Soaper. Notice the web site she’s so happy about peeking at?
