Happy Memorial Day 2014!

Photo by Elizabeth King (my awesome sister in law)

Before I head off to my husband's family's cabin along the Holston River to enjoy a cookout and a sweet day of fishing and nature, I thought I would take a moment to wish you all a very happy Memorial day! While I come from a family filled with members of the Armed Services, my family has been so lucky to have all of those members come home safe and sound. My heart goes out to all of the families who have lost servicemen and servicewomen, and you will be in my thoughts today.

Have a safe and happy Memorial day!

Friday Roundup: Week of May 23

This week has flown by and it's already time for another Friday Roundup! Let's see what all has been popping up on Etsy this week...

I've added quite a few new SOAPS this week:

Simply Buttermilk Soap (Unscented)

Lavender Chamomile Sea Salt Soap

Red, White, and Blue Star Soap Set (Scented with Fizzy Lemon Pop)

Pine Tar Soap (Pine Needles and Rosemary Scent)

And a few new BATH BOMBS are floating around:

Kumquat Bath Bomb 

Blackberry Sage Bath Bomb

And I finally got around to making a new YouTube video of my latest soap creations:

These soaps will be ready to list next month, so keep your eyes peeled for them!
And make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel to keep up to date with my videos. More coming soon!

Comeback: Production Week!

Last Thursday, I woke up feeling fabulous and got my booty in gear to FINALLY make some new soaps! The last new soap I made was back in February before my morning sickness forced everything to a grinding halt, and I've had a few soap ideas floating around in the back of my head all of this time. So, since I felt so great, kiddo was being super cooperative, and I had all of the supplies I needed, I got down to business to make two mini-loaves of soap!

My first batch of the day is a scent that I have been mulling over for a year: Tomato Vine and Raspberry. I love this scent because the tomato vine scent is so strong and the raspberry is more of a bottom note. Totally summer.
I started off the soap with a base of creamy yellow, then did a drop swirl with some rich chromium green and shimmering pink mica. I then swirled the three on the top for a nice color mix. The shimmering mica really helped to round out the bars.

My second batch is a restock of black raspberry vanilla with a new design. Black raspberry vanilla is a classic bath and body scent, and I just adore it! I think the name is a bit of a misnomer though, because I smell more blackberry than anything. ;o)
This batch of soap started off with a white base, then I added some pastel purple and bright blue in another drop swirl. For the top, I splattered the purple and blue in alternating angles and left them unswirled. I really love the splatter effect... I need to pull that one off more often!

Here's a pic of the wet soap headed to "bed", with black raspberry vanilla on the left and tomato vine/raspberry on the right:

Since these are new molds and I did not line them, it may be a few days before I get to unmold them and cut each bar. As soon as I cut the bars, I'll be uploading photos of the finished soaps... I am so excited to see how they will look in the end!

Ahh... It feels wonderful to be soaping again!

Friday Roundup: Week of May 16th

As I work to get myself back into the groove of blogging, I figured that Fridays would be an excellent day to recap the week! So, let's get started with this week's Friday Roundup!

I am starting to list new goodies on Etsy and relist some old favorites. Let's take a look at the new:

Mint and Berries Bath Bomb

Green Apple Soy Wax Tarts

Strawberry Fields Soap

 And some old favorites coming back:

Pearberry Bath Bomb

Pumpkin Lager Soap

Snow Cone Lip Balm

 As always, make sure to head over to my Etsy shop and see all of the new and favorite goodies! New stuff is coming every day, so check back often!

Comeback: New Goodies Heading to Etsy

Getting back into the swing of things on Etsy is taking a bit of trial and error, but I think that things are coming along swimmingly! I'm already playing around with some new products, including three new lip balm flavors (hint: Ginger!) and I'm testing out a new recipe for bath truffles!

I've been listing a few new items as well, including some soaps that I made before I took my break, so they are cured and ready to go.

My new strawberry fields soap! It smells like an amazing strawberryand floral perfume! Wow!

And I have done a complete inventory of all of my fragrances and picked out loads of new scents for bath bomb fizzies! Want some sneak peeks? The ones I am the most excited about are nectarine, monkey bread, sandalwood, and a mint/berries blend!

The first of the new bath bombs: Orange Sherbet!

I'm going to be working hard on getting all of my new goodies online in the next few weeks, and I am so excited to play around with developing some excellent bath truffles! Thanks for sticking with me through the past two months!

Time for a Comeback

March was awful. April wasn't much better. But May looks to be spectacular!

As I've waddled my way through my first trimester with the twins, I've been focused on keeping myself as healthy as possible while keeping up with my school work. My soap shop has really fallen to the wayside, and I think that putting it on hiatus was a smart decision on my part. It really freed up a large chunk of my time and energy to get through the past few months and come out healthy and happy on the other side.

Now, with only one final to go and most of my debilitating morning sickness behind me, I am excited to announce that I will be opening my soap shop back up online only! My Etsy shop and Zibbet shop will be up and running Wednesday, May 7! I will be going through my inventory this weekend and updating all of my listings, as well as updating my turnaround time for orders (I am expanding my turnaround time to 3-5 from order date) to give myself some leeway. BUT! I am very excited to get everything going again and return to the soap making world!

And since you all have been so patient with me, here's the latest pic of our little troublemakers:

(If anyone is interested, they are di/di twins (two placentas, two amniotic sacs) 

and have a 70% chance of being Fraternal!)

Have a wonderful weekend and I cannot wait to see you all on Wednesday!