New year, New outlook

Today is my birthday. Yesterday we hit a new year.

I want to start off and apologize for my abrupt silence for the past little while. Life got really hard really fast. I suddenly found myself taking some of the hardest classes of my college career (including one law class that, I swear, was trying to kill me) along with balancing my grief around the holidays and watching my business flourish online with record sales in my last three months. Blogging, and most social media, really took a back burner as I was filling orders in between writing papers and studying for tests.

On top of that, I am suddenly pregnant again with our last child.

So, things are complicated. The holidays were tough to trudge through. I missed my twins with every breath. My new little person grew by leaps and bounds. I'm already feeling little kicks and I am just 15 weeks along. My etsy shop has exploded, keeping me busy.

Now, with 2014 officially in the books and completely behind me, I think I am ready to start looking forward instead of back. I'm looking forward to a new semester of college classes (my second to last semester before graduation!), I am looking forward to the birth of our last child this summer, I am looking forward to a bit more free time and more time to spend focusing on my business.

Let's do this, 2015! Fresh start!

Christmas Savings and Holiday Coupons!

Its already October and its time to get into the holiday swing! 

Are you already thinking of gifts for your friends and loved ones for Christmas?

This year, only on my Etsy shop, I am doing a Super Awesome Mega coupon, just for the holidays!

Yep! For the rest of the year, all orders over $30.00 can get 

Free Shipping using the coupon code "SHIPFREE"! 

Just head over to my Etsy shop, spend $30 or more and get all of your goodies in the mail for free! This coupon will be valid for the rest of 2014, but dont wait too long, or your favorite soaps and things may be gone!

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Johnson City Folk Festival, 2014

It's official! My craft show season is getting started this weekend with the Johnson City Folk Festival!

The JC Folk Festival will run from Thursday, Sept. 25 through Sunday, Sept. 28! I am so stoked because, beyond just a normal craft show, this is going to be a music festival as well! I love shows with live music, and some of my favorite local bands will be playing here, like Demon Waffle, Kryss Dula and Friends, and Cutthroat Shamrock!

It's going to be a fabulous show, so if you are in the area, stop by and see me and Heather Applegate of Heather Applegate Photography! I will be debuting my handmade liquid soap and body wash, too, so grab a bottle while you can!

Friday Roundup: Week of Sept. 19

September has absolutely flown by! And I suppose that its flown since I've been working nonstop in both school and soaping, preparing for craft shows and tests! Time flies when you are having fun!

On to this week's new goodies:

In soap, I've debuted my new Scrappy Soap, made from scraps of previous batches! Kind of looks out of this world, doesnt it?

Scrappy Soap, scented with Black Currant!

I've also got a new lip balm flavor making waves. Get natural and juicy with my new Tangerine Lip Balm, flavored with Tangerine Essential Oil!

Tangerine Lip Balm

And two new wax tart scents are here, both are year round favorites!

Peppermint Wax Tarts

Birthday Cake Wax Tarts

I have loads of new soaps to photograph and wrap, so keep your eyes peeled for the new goodies showing up! And make sure to check back on October 1st when I announce my awesome holiday sale! Are you excited for... well, I dont want to spoil the surprise, but its my best sale yet!

Second Spring Soaps Fall Craft Schedule 2014

It's time to start announcing my Fall Craft Show line-up! I am so excited... my first three shows this year will be with one of my best friend, Heather Applegate at Heather Applegate Photography! We will be at these shows:
-- Johnson City Folk Festival in Unicoi County, TN, September 25-28
-- Apple Fest in Erwin, TN, October 3-4
-- Heritage Days in Rogersville, TN, October 11-12

I will also be at Mountain View Bulk Foods for their Fall Craft Show, which should be on the last Saturday in October.

For November, I will be at Hal Henard Elementary for the Greeneville Women's Club Craft Bazaar on November 1-2! This will be my third year at the Bazaar and I love attending this one!

And finally, for the last four weekends before Christmas, you can find me and other awesome artists at the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, TN! Check us out every Saturday before the Christmas holidays, starting on November 29th!

Some fun things you will find in my booth: check out gift baskets, handmade liquid soap and liquid body wash, soapy decor for your bathrooms, and more!

Friday Roundup: Week of September 12

The last time I updated my blog, I promised to be more consistent in posting.

Yeah... about that... :o)

Sorry for the lack of updates. My fall is turning out to be fairly chaotic, which was not what I was expecting. My classes are starting off strong and fast. I've already got one paper and one test under my belt and its only week 3! Kiddo had his 4 year checkup this week, complete with his last round of immunizations and he was down for the count for about 2 days afterward, which slowed things down. I have also recently started seeing a therapist to help me get through grieving for my twins. It's a huge step forward for me and I am so thankful that I happened to stumble into the ETSU Counseling Center.

So, this week's roundup is kind of slow, but bear with me!

This week, my Clubs are back! 

Sign up for the Soap of the Month Club or the Bath Bomb of the Month Club and get sweet packages in the mail each month! These are fantastic gifts to give a friend or loved one, or they are a fun treat for yourself! Both the Soap Club and the Bath Bomb Club have different subscription options: 3 months, 6 months or 12 months! 

For Halloween, you can now grab four candy-flavored lip balms in a discounted set! I'm making up a few sets for my nieces for trick-or-treat treat bags! This set includes Marshmallow, Bubble Gum, Caramel, and Candy Corn! Yummm! 

And my shop now features wooden soap dishes! These dishes are made from pressed pine and are cut and sanded before shipping (thanks, Dad! I'm a klutz with a saw!). I leave these dishes natural so you can stain, paint, and finish these yourself to match your house's decor! These dishes help keep your soap dry between uses, making the bars last longer!

Updates, Round Up, and More!

My poor little blog has gotten neglected throughout the month of August. With me picking up a small summer job, participating in a week-long show, and getting soaps together for our local county fairs, I have been really busy. With school starting back, it's just added to my load. So, my blog had to take a back seat while I focused on getting through all of my fun, but time-consuming activities.

So... what have I been up to?

well, I started off my August by taking some new, flashy photos of my wax tarts. I like the tarts with color, but since I am rocking soy wax, I ended up deciding to remove the color option from my tarts and go with a more natural look. What do you think of the new photos?

I also got a job working at the Appalachian Fair, our local county fair! It was fun, but very hard work. I really enjoyed my time at the Farm and Home building, working with the cooking competitions and decorating the building.

I also put some of my goodies in the Appalachian Fair and the Greene County Fair. I'm pleased to announce that my soap at the Greene County Fair won second place and my new Lip Butter won second place in the "made from beeswax" honey competition at the Appalachian fair! Yay! Two more red ribbons to add to my ever-growing collection!

I also got to sell my soaps during the Appalachian Fair with some of my wonderful local buddies! It was my first craft show since last December and my first since my twins passed away, so it took some time getting me back in the swing of selling. I think my new shelving is going to look amazing in a booth! Bonus: these shelves fold down FLAT, which is great for my limited trunk space!

I also celebrated my 500th sale in my Etsy shop! I am so proud and excited to hit this milestone! It's been almost 3 years since I started my Etsy shop. I've taken time off here and there during its run, but I am so proud of this achievement. This one was hard-earned! To celebrate, I am running a 10% off coupon on everything in the shop. The code is "SALE500" and it is good from now until September 30th!

I think I am all caught up on my August shenanigans. School started for me and kiddo this past Tuesday, so things like my blog and social media accounts may start slowing down as classes really gear up. I am going to aim for 1-2 posts a week, so hopefully you will be able to catch new posts on Mondays and Fridays.

So long, August! September, here we come!!