Shine in '09! Post Your Goals.

Today and tomorrow are a great time to shore up your 2009 goals. Where do you want to be in your personal and professional life at the end of 2010? Some of you have already chimed in:

Write a business plan. Kelly in Texas
Keep a journal. Allyson
Do soap as a part-time business. Dawnie in Wisconsin.
Adopt a baby. Carmen Rose in Virginia
Do an inventory. Anonymous
Introduce 20 new scents. E-Scentual in Florida.
Finish Chemistry course. Susan in British Columbia, Canada.

There are more on this post. Read through them if you missed the early starters. Their goals are inspiring. Like last year, I'll randomly award one commenter a goody packet of essential oils, overpoured and underpoured colorants and random mis-pours from the Bramble Berry warehouse for readers who post any of their goals (it's okay to keep some to yourself) here or on the previous post.

I have some goals to share as well. In 2009, Bramble Berry will be launching a series of How-To videos for cold process, melt and pour and all manner of toiletries. My goal for Q1 (Quarter One) is to finalize the set, write the scripts, shoot 3 months worth of videos and edit them. Another goal for Q1 is to launch our brand new website. Based on the feedback from this post, we've been working on a new, smarter shopping cart. My goal is to launch the cart in Q1.

In the personal goals category, I'd like to continue learning Chinese with 2 lessons per month, work out five times per week and start every work day off right with a protein shake.


To give yourself a better chance at success for your goals, they should be:

Specific
Measurable
Achievable
Realistic
Time Oriented

A generic: "Get Healthy" goal is none of these. Breaking down "Get Healthy" into something that is SMART looks like:

I will lose 10 pounds by April 15th. To do this, I will work out 5 times per week, eat a salad daily for lunch 5 times a week and limit my wine intake to 4 glasses per week.


Once you have your goal, write it down. I keep my goals (and my team's goals) on whiteboards at the office (the whiteboard photo in this post is my actual goal board for the site launch), on Visionboards at my home and have emailed them to my Mastermind Group to help me be accountable. Sharing your goals is a great way to help keep yourself accountable.

What are your goals for the upcoming year?
Post them and inspire us all!

Vision Boards and Goal Setting

One of the things that makes a Mastermind Group so effective is the power behind shared visions and goals. Typically, when thinking of goals, writing them down is the obvious way to state and work towards goals. However, this method has some disadvantages: if you’re not naturally great with language, connecting the words on paper with action steps might not come easily; if you’re a visual learner, boring words on a page might not excite you; written long-hand goals aren’t easily digestible at a glance.


My Mastermind Group follows the Jack Canfield idea of a Vision Board. I’ve also heard this referred to as a Painted Picture. The practice is simple:

1. Write your goals down
2. Look for visual representations of your goals in magazines or online
3. Make a collage with the visual representations
4. Put this in a frequently viewed area
5. Extra: put your written goals in the middle, so that the visuals are flowing outward from the actual original ideas


My Mastermind Group takes these Vision Boards and spends our December meeting reviewing the boards and getting feedback from the group about the goals and also the pictures on the board. Then, we have a good time for the rest of the year as various pictures off the Vision Boards come true as we reach our goals.

Eye Shadow Kit makes Best Of List

We were so excited that our DIY Eye Shadow Kit hit the "Best Beauty Products of 2008" list by Beauty and Fashion Tech Blog.


They said:

Making my own mineral eye shadow was a bit messy, but also a heck of a lot of fun!

Wonder what you're missing? You can buy the kit here.

The Balanced Wheel of Life

My good friend and fellow Mastermind Business Group member, Lynn Giuliani, introduced our Mastermind Group to this concept two years ago. It has been a huge help for me in setting goals. I shared it at the Alabama Soapmakers Convention this year and based on the comments in my post yesterday, attendees liked it. I hope you will find it useful and take the time to fill out your balance wheel to help you set your goals and priorities for 2009.

The excercise is simple.

1. Draw a circle (or if you're artistically challenged like me, trace a circle)

2. Divide your circle into 6 parts. Try to make them equal.

3. Label them: Financial, Physical, Social, Family, Mental and Spiritual



4. Take a few minutes to decide how you feel about each of these categories in your life. What is your level of satisfaction in each of these areas? Only you can determine what your level of satisfaction is. Your idea of how successful or happy you are will not be the same as your sister's, neighbor's or brother's. That's okay. This is an exercise just for you and you don't need to share it with anyone. Shade in your piece of the pie to your level of satisfaction.

5. Cut out your wheel. Does it roll? If it doesn't roll, think of the area that your wheel is flat in. Is this an area you'd like to see improvement in? Make some goals around it.


Finding the balance in life is a constant negotiation with all six of these areas. Doing this quick and easy exercise will help you determine where to put your energies and focus towards in 2009.

Tomorrow, I'll write about goal setting and putting your goals into action by creating a vision board.

We Love Our Commentors!

The last five days off have been glorious, filled with family time and much laughter. I feel less stressed out than I have since my honeymoon! The time off has been delightful. Thanks for the break. But, it's time to get back to work (inventory at Bramble Berry and Otion this week) and get focused on what will help move me forward in the New Year. Like last year, I'll be soliciting you to tell me what your goals are for the new year. Fifty-four of you chimed in last year and I'm hoping for even more this year. Expect this upcoming week to be filled with tips on best practices for meeting your goals in the new year. And, like last year, I'll randomly award one commenter a goody packet of essential oils, overpoured and underpoured colorants and random mis-pours from the Bramble Berry warehouse.

I'm telling you this now so you have a few days to plan the upcoming year and spend some time thinking about the things that will really move you forward in your personal and professional lives. Quality goals take planning, effort and quiet contemplation. Take some time in the next few days to plan your goals out and then, on Wednesday, hopefully you'll share a few of them with the Soap Queen community.
I also have goodies for those of you that comment faithfully and often on my posts. I really appreciate the feedback (and need it to know what you're interested in!). I know it takes time and effort to read this blog and comment. I don't take your participation for granted. In the last week, 36 of you have given of your time and commented on posts. In a randomly drawn number (by my husband), Mary from Annie's Goat Hill will get a little package of Bramble Berry love headed her way, including samples of all five of our Lavender Essential Oils, three Labcolors, our latest fragrance Marrakesh and a sample of our not-yet-released Salty Marinerr fragrance. Thank you for participating in the Soap Queen blog. It's an honor to have your readership.

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas from our family to yours. May your holiday be filled with the joys and laughter of the season.

Christmas Makes the Best Soap

Merry Christmas Eve! I'm snug in Olympia, Washington with my family and rejoicing in the family-togetherness joys of the season. My Dad went through a "Top Christmas Movies of All Time" list and rented quite a lot of them so we're on a game playing, DVD watching spree - complete with homemade peppermint-filled shortbread and caramel and nut shortbread cookies. We'll need to be rolled out of this home after Christmas and have a little more togetherness by going on a family diet.

In the meantime, before all the calorie-laden gaiety ends, check out these great Christmas Soap finds:


Vegan cold process Holiday Mint soap by Layla for $4


Handpainted soap by PaintedKreations for $4
Felted Christmas Soap by PoofNoggin for $10

Coal Soap from SunBasilGarden for $5


Yuzu Naughty Soap by Grumpy Girl for $2.95


Cranberry Bounty Essential Oil Soap by Crowley Manor for $5


Holiday Balsam Pine soap by LaveMeSoap for $5.40

Remember, handmade soap always is a welcome and perfect gift for anyone and any occasion, especially Christmas.

Elegant Boh Bon Soap Company

Colette in Customer Service found a soap site a few months ago. She immediately came to my desk, eyes all big, practically begging for me to buy some of their goodies so she could see them in person. I'm a sucker for simple, elegant packaging and handcrafted products so I wasn't too hard for Colette to sell. Boh Bon Soap Company has an adorable web site, beautifully crafted products and inspiring design. I love the story about how they got their name. It's always good to pay homage to those that have influenced and encouraged you.

I purchased lots of goodies from Boh Bon Soap - their "Fresh Squeezed Citrus" pack (which had a bar of Citrus Soap, one bottle of bath salts, and one soy candle in a tin). I also purchased the "In Bloom" gift box with 4 bath tea bags. And, since soap is my passion, I couldn't resist just one more bar - their Pink Grapefruit Ylang Ylang Shave Soap.

The packaging of these products is simple but clever. They use standard white take out containers for gift boxes and corrugated cardboard to wrap their soap in. It all looks fabulous because of the well thought-out, colorful matching labels.


In the photo above, the basic white takeout box was dressed up with a plain kraft round label, ta cool printed grosgrain ribbon and finally the professionally printed label. You can't really tell but the "Fresh Squeezed Citrus Relax Pack" part of the label was actually printed on a clear label and stuck on top of the Orange label. This is a really smart thing to do. This way they can have thousands of orange labels printed to save money and they can use them to label any of their products. Being a small business means thinking about the cost of everything, even something as "small" as your labels. The overall look and feel of the entire brand is a well organized and strategically bright which dovetails nicely with the superior products inside of the clever packaging.

Thus far, my favorite part of the entire box of goodies I purchased is the candle that came in the "Fresh Squeezed Citrus" pack. It is a tiny little travel candle but it really packs a serious smell punch. And, of course, it's packaged well which only adds to the delight. I wouldn't hestitate to buy more goodies from Boh Bon Soap Company.

Winter Grapefruit Blends

Winter Grapefruit is a blend of fresh grapefruit with pine needles, red currant and a touch of Juniper. It also makes for a smashingly fun blending note. I've included a few here for you below to give you a heads start with your own blends. Happy Holidays!

2 parts Winter Grapefruit
1 part Morrocan Mint

1 part Winter Grapefruit
1 part Pepperberry

1 part Winter Grapefruit
2 parts Cream Cheese Frosting

My fave! 1 part Winter Grapefruit
1 part Gardenia
1 part Patchouli EO

1 part Winter Grapefruit
2 parts Red Apple

1 part Winter Grapefruit
1 part Cucumber

1 part Winter Grapefruit
1 part Spearmint EO

2 parts Winter Grapefruit
1 part Vanilla Select

1 part Winter Grapefruit
.5 part Baby Rose
1 part Patchouli Dusk

1 part OMH
1 part Winter Grapefruit

Thanks for the Mail

A big thank you to everyone for sending cards and gifts to Kyle & Nicolas (along with fans of Kyle's Blog and readers from The Bellingham Herald). Here's a pile of the mail that they received on Saturday. Thank you!

It's Snowing ... again!?

Whatcom County is getting another dumping of snow. It is a snowy white wonderland outside with well over a foot of snow everywhere in town and more in the outlying areas. This is a photo of my husband, Chris, getting our mail. Getting in and out of the driveway proved mostly impossible because of snow drifts so we parked on the road.

This is the road leading to our home. Underneath the thick layer of snow is an even thicker layer of ice. Only trucks and cars with chains are out on the road today.

Our buried birdhouse with a lovely view of the surrounding snow-covered hills.

The shallow end of the lake has started to freeze. My husband said that it's been at least 30 years since he's seen the lake freeze. The snow is scheduled to go through Christmas day, making life snowy white, children happy and drivers fearful.

Woodpecker at our Home (video)

We were so lucky when this little Woodpecker decided to grace us with his presence. He seemed very friendly and let us get quite close to snap this video.

Money Soap for Last Minute Gifts

A bribery idea - Trying to get your kids to wash their hands more? In this project we put a dollar bill in a lip balm container then embedded it in a bar of soap. Once the soap is all used up you get the dollar that has been safely stashed in the lip balm pot. This is a perfect last minute Christmas Gift or Stocking Stuffer. No more hastily shoved dollars in cards - instead, make this easy soap to give any amount of money (or jewelry or secret messages) and reap the rewards when your child can't wait for bathtime!

What you will need:

Clear Melt and Pour
Clear Lip Balm Pot
Money
Rubbing Alcohol in spritzer
Fragrance
Mold

Instructions
1. Cut melt and pour soap into 1” cubes and put into microwave safe container (about 5oz should be enough for one bar). Cover with saran wrap and microwave for 30 second intervals until soap is melted. Stir in the fragrance oil at approximately .25 - .5 ounces per pound of soap (new to melt and pour? Click here to be taken to TeachSoap for basic instructions).


2. Pour the clear soap into your mold until the cavity is about 1/3 of the way full and spritz the soap with alcohol to get rid of any floating bubbles

3. Get your closed lip pot container w/ the note or money folded up inside and spray it on all sides with the alcohol and set it down into the melted soap base and give the whole bar one more spray to make sure there are no pesky little bubbles.


4. Let the soap sit for a few minutes until there is a skin on top that is semi-stiff when touched. Then take the rest of the melt and pour soap (pop back in the microwave if needed) and add your color, stir until color is mixed through. Then spritz the top of bar of soap with your alcohol.

5. Make sure that your colored melt and pour is not too hot (it is not steaming and you can comfortably press and hold your hand against the bottom of the container) then pour the colored melt and pour over the bar of soap, filling the mold up the rest of the way and give the bar one final spray to pop any bubbles.

6. Let your bar sit and harden for a few hours before removing (the longer you wait the easier it will be to remove from the mold). Wrap with saran wrap and prepare to amaze and delight the recipient of the Hidden Monday soap.

Voila! You have a nice bar of soap with a fun hidden surprise inside!

It's a Snow Day!

Bellingham has been blessed with a winter white wonderland the last few days. It's been gorgeous (albeit a bit treacherous on the roads).

Despite a small team, the Brambleberrians have been working very hard to get all of the holiday orders out. Since schools have been canceled, we even had employees' children on site, helping to ensure a timely turnaround (our goal is always 24 hours on normal orders).

Everything looks magical and pure outside. I can hardly wait to get home and snuggle on the couch with a good book and a hot cocoa.

(Thank you Jody Bergsma and Heather Othmer for sharing their photos)

Martha & Snoop Dog make Mashed Potatoes

In a most incongruous match-up, Snoop Dog made an appearance on a Martha Stewart Living segment where they make Mashed Potatoes. I think it came out pretty funny. Video is below.

TAS Soap or "Spare No Expense" Soap

I recently received some TAS soaps in the mail. They were so gorgeously wrapped that I hated to unwrap them to photograph them. On the inside of each handmade paper wrapping, there was an extra special touch of wax paper to protect the soap from any scent loss or color bleed due to the fragile nature of the handmade paper. Teresa, the owner of TAS, has a very artistic approach to soapmaking. She was a textile artist in her "previous life" and focused on museum-quality tapestries. Her attention to detail with her packaging shows her love for art and beautiful things.



Teresa has been soaping since 2001 but has a much longer history with soap. Her Mother actually made soap in a big black kettle with tallow that she rendered herself. Teresa says, "It's in my DNA." When she started soaping, her philosphy was to "spare no expense." She thought to herself, "How much can I pack into this bar of soap so that it has the optiumum quality, luxury, look and feel?" With ingredients like yogurt, coconut cream, rhassoul clay, beeswax, aloe vera and even champagne, Teresa has set about to make each soap a unique and nourishing art form. It took her many years of "pushing the envelope" to figure out ideal recipes that incorporated all of her exotic ingredients and wonderful essential oil blends.



TAS square-ish shape was originally inspired by a square shaped cookie cutter that Teresa found. She refined the shape, little by little, from there, eventually coming up with two sizes of bars (4 and 6 ounce) that retail from $7 to $9 from the TAS site here. Some of the stores that sell TAS soap sell it for as much as $12 per bar. With the beautiful handmade paper and exquisite designs in each bar of soap, her soaps sell very well in upscale boutiques. Teresa is actually looking for a few more boutiques to sell her product so if you have a store that is interested, you can contact her here.


Teresa hand wraps and hand stamps her soap bars and calls it a "labor of love." Her philosophy on running her own business is that "Ya' gotta have fun, ya' gotta have balance and ya' gotta have it within the paramters of your health and well being."

TAS has a soap of the month club as well. Click here to check that out. It's a great gift for anyone that will be sure to delight and impress, all year round.

Cost Analysis for Mistletoe Soap

I just did the cost analysis for this fun Mistletoe Soap project (here, here and here). If you own the molds already (jelly roll pan and basic shape), it's only $1.46 for each 5 ounce bar *including the colors, glitter, fragrance and ribbon*!

Send Kyle & Nicolas a Card

My little friend Kyle was diagnosed with an inoperable brainstem tumor in February 2007. Since then, he's undergone radiation, clinical trials, chemotherapy, surgery and more. He is a very brave boy. To read more about his treatment, see pictures and learn more about his family, click here to be taken to his blog. Kyle's Mom, Christin, also writes a blog about her daily experience of juggling two active boys, a full time job, Kyle's medical treatments and side-effects. You can read her blog here.

One of the things that makes him and his older brother Nicolas very happy is mail! When I went to visit them last night, they were both opening Christmas cards from well wishers. Many of the cards were corporate cards from local businesses who had tossed Kyle and Nicolas onto their own mailing lists and other cards were elaborate handmade cards with long notes. It didn't matter what sort of card it was - the boys were thrilled to receive holiday wishes from people all across Washington state who were wishing them well.

If you have a moment, please send Kyle and Nicolas a Christmas card. They love opening them and their Mama is planning on stringing them up in the hallway, for a giant reminder of how many people are rooting for Kyle and his family.

Their address is:

Kyle and Nicolas Roger
837 South Hills Drive
Bellingham, WA 98229

PS - If you have any bath fizzies lying around, Kyle loves to take baths and bath fizzies make it much more fun for him.

Etsy Purchases

I'm very excited that almost all my letterpress card purchases from Etsy last night.

Peace Cards by Blackbird Letterpress

Cupcake cards by Dingbat Press

Cards by Studio Olivine

With Christmas here and many thank you cards to write, these will be sent out into the world in no time.