My Inspiration Wall

I love to read books on crafting, and one of the suggestions that I have came across a few times is to start an inspiration wall, filled with gorgeous things that inspire you to create. So, I started one of my own! Mine isn't big yet, but I hope to keep adding to it as time goes on to make a beautiful collection of awesomeness!

Ignore the panic button in the middle...  All, college living!

I started by adding my three favorite photographs of my three favorite people. First, I added a photo of me and my husband at our wedding, a picture of my son blowing kisses at 2 weeks old, and a picture of me and my sister making chocolate dipped strawberries for my wedding. I also added the note from the Fall/Winter S.O.A.P. team that I received last year. And I picked out three gorgeous handmade cards from ChickenCoopStamper last winter at a local farmer's market that I cannot part with and they have made their way onto my inspiration wall! My wall still looks a little bare, but I am always keeping my eyes open for great new things to add to it! Inspire me, wall!

What's in a name?

A few weeks ago, I was talking to my Mom about my soaps and showing off my shiny business cards from Vista print, and she asked me "Why Second Spring Soaps?" (... then she made a joke about my soaps sounding "second-hand," but that's neither here nor there!)

So, I got to thinking about it... maybe others out there are curious as to why I chose this name for my soaps!

"Second spring" actually comes from a quote I stumbled upon over three years ago by French philosepher Albert Camus. The quote reads:

"Autumn is a second spring when every leaf is a flower."

I fell in love with this quote! I honed in on the words "second spring:... They spoke so softly to me... At the time, my husband and I were dating... We actually met when we were 7 and in elementary school together, but my parents and I moved away when I was 10, and we had just re-met and fallen in love about 4 months prior. I had been married previously, and I looked at my new life and new marriage to my husband as my second spring in life... my new shot!

So, I clung to the name for over a year. I've always wanted to make my living by creating things with my hands, and a friend directed me towards Etsy.com. After a few ideas at shops, one of which included knitted items (never got off the ground) and hemp jewelry (I worked hard for 6 months before deciding to rethink my shop), I finally settled on soap making, and Second Spring Soaps was born!