Soap Queen TV is here!

The first episode of Soap Queen TV!




Soap Queen TV Episode 1: Fragrance and Essential oils from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

This is the first episode and will lay the foundation upon which I am building all future episodes - so pay attention. Just kidding!

For more information about fragrance oils visit the RIFM (Research Institute for Fragrance Materials) here

For more information about essential oils and how they're made, this wikipedia article is a great place to start.

For easy reference here is the ingredient list for this week's project:

4 oz. clear melt and pour soap base
2 ml tangerine essential oil

Soap mold
Heat safe container
Dropper
Spray bottle with rubbing alcohol.

You can subscribe to us on our YouTube channel or on our Vimeo channel. Please note you do need to sign-up (which is free) to subscribe to either channel and receive automatic notifications of our latest posts.

Apologies to all who wrote applauding my fine dance moves in the preview video - I was too busy making soap and trying not to forget anything to dance.

Home Spa Experience for Mom

Mom already has a birdhouse made of popsicle sticks! This year, give her something pampering. Let your Mom kick off her shoes and relax with a home spa experience including a handmade Fizzing Foot Soak, a Sea Salt Foot Scrub and a Luxurious Foot Balm. Her toes will be rejuvenated and flawless just in time for spring!

Get creative and make your own labels or cheat a little and use ours (we won't tell). Print the labels here.

Stay tuned. Recipes to follow.

Secret Message Soap on Craft Gossip Blog

CraftGossip.com is an entertaining crafting blog and network that covers all crafts under the sun. I love this blog because there are several posts a day on my favorite subjects like quilting, bath & body, edible crafts, scrapbooking, knitting, stamping, jewelry, and MUCH more. The catchy thing about the site is that each crafting subject has its very own editor. So thanks to the bath and body editor, Jessica Neaves, for posting our Secret Message Soap Tutorial!

Read the full tutorial here.

Sign up for the CraftGossip Newsletter here and check out Jessica Neaves Etsy site here,

Meg Whitman on her Past & the Future

One of the reasons I went to the Womens' Presidents' Organization Annual Conference was the great line up of speakers, including Meg Whitman, most famous for running E-Bay and now, for running for Governor of California.

Meg Whitman was very funny, witty and talented at speaking off the cuff. Her candor and quick thought process was interesting to watch and listen to.

She graduated from Harvard Business School and worked at Proctor & Gamble right out of school. Business has always been her passion.

She said:

"No company changed my life like E-Bay. I joined because I was so impressed by the then-29 year old founder who had written the code in one weekend." He [Pierre Omidyar] told her, "Meg, what I need is adult supervision."

"I stepped down after 10 years. I thought it was time to turn it over to someone with a new set of eyes and a new set of vision. Two individuals encouraged me to think beyond business and think about public service - Mitt Romney and John McCain." Meg Whitman is now running for governor of California. Her web site for this campaign is here.

How has being a woman contributed to being a leadership success?

"From the earliest days at P & G, I decided the only thing I could really do was try my hardest to deliver the results. I like to work in teams. I am better when I am surrounded by very good people. I don't know if that is male or female but that [working hard], plus being focused on results, has made all the difference."

Tell us about how you went about building your team at E-Bay?

"I hired ahead of the curve. When I joined E-Bay, it was growing at 70% compound monthly growth rate. I knew I had to hire someone to whom the company would grow, not who the company would outgrow. An example of this is that I hired the CMO of Pepsi at a time when we were not larger than a $40million company. Right person. Right job. Right time. Hire ahead of the curve. "

On Family

"I'll be honest with you. It was a challenge. It was always a challenge.

I'm a perfectionist and I finally gave way to the notion that I could not be the perfect wife, the perfect mother, the perfect entertainer and the perfect hostess and my house could simply not look as though Martha Stewart had just left. In the end, there are only 2 priorities, my family and my job. "

Focus. Focus. Focus.

"We only did things socially when we could take the children. When I came to E-Bay, my boys were 10 and 13 and a [I had a] neurosurgeon husband. I had to take E-Bay from teenager to a grown up. [It is key to] Choose the right partner. My husband took over the family finances and managing the house. He and I split those jobs but when I would travel overseas for 10 days, he would be on the job. He deserves a tremendous amount of credit for being on the plate and being on the job."

Who helps you? Who helped you?

"Close female friends and their families. When push comes to shove and the child is home sick with a meeting that needs to be attended, the ability to call up one of your friends to help out is a huge difference. My sister also helped out a lot. Anne deserves a huge amount of credit for coming out to help me. On the business side, the most influential person I worked for was the President of Disney, Frank Wells. He took a real interest. Disney is a tough place. You have to stand up for yourself. You have to be tough as nails. He helped along the way. "

How did you deal with the toughness in business?

"What I learned at Disney is a great deal about executive communication and how to stand up for yourself; how to engage in give and take and how to stand your ground in a firm way. I had to learn how to state my point of view, and argue persuasively for what I thought would be important. I just did it by doing it. Everyone has their own personal style and I would encourage everyone to know themselves and know what their personal style is. What I've learned over the years is that you can only be your authentic self. You cannot pretend and try to be someone that you are not. Being better prepared than anyone else was essential. It's hard to argue a point when you don't have the data so that gave me the confidence, because I had done the extra work, to stand by what I thought."

What are you proudest of?

"I feel best about my husband and two boys. They are really nice young men and we have a great family. My husband is a prince of a guy and a huge supporter. In the end, that has been the most important. I am also incredibly proud of what we did with E-Bay. We started on a great idea. A brilliant idea. I am proud of the fact that we made many of the right decisions and when we made a mistake, we acknowledged it. We fixed it fast and we moved on. What really excited everyone at E-Bay is that we were helping people start their businesses, change lives and do things they never thought were possible. That ability to help change the world on a small scale is something I am really proud of."

On the lack of integrity in today's business economy.

"It's a tragedy in many ways. There have always been people in business who have done the wrong thing but it seems like there are more than ever before. I am very sorry about it because you can have 100 people that behave beautifully and there can be 1 person that spoils it for everyone. I worry that what has happened has given business people a bad name. 99.9% of people are doing the right thing. But if you'd read the magazines, you'd never believe that was the case so I think we have a lot of work to do to regain our good name as business leaders. You can only control what you can control and model the right behavior for your family and your employees. If your family is sitting in the room and is watching you, would they be proud?"

On the economy, right now.

"We are seeing a paradigm changes. Things are fundamentally different. I do not think that we are at the bottom here. We are in the eye of the storm and it's going to get really bad again. This has turned into a consumer led recession. 72% of our economy is consumer led. Consumer behavior has fundamentally changed. I think those shifts may well be permanent. There's also a silver lining though - people are focusing on what is really important. You have not seen the full default on consumer credit card debt, commercial real estate is just starting to crack. We do need to spend money. The government has a role to try to have the economy regain strength fast. We need to focus on employment. There is one most important metric - it is unemployment. The federal stimulus package must focus on jobs, jobs and jobs. It must be targeted, timely and temporary. Small business is the engine of the United States economy. It has always been and will always be. 72% of jobs in the US are created by small business. We need to put the spotlight on 'How do we make small business successful?' The role of government is to create the conditions for small businesses to grow and thrive."

How to thrive in this economy

"If you're running your business better than your competitor, you have the ability to gain market share. Make sure you are taking advantage of this downturn. When we come out, if you've been doing the hard work, you'll be in a better position than today."

Check back in the next few days for Meg's essential lessons for success in business.

Jazzercise & Finding Your Beat

"You should never edit one dream. Never edit. Just go for it!"
Judi Sheppard Missett

Judi Sheppard Missett, the founder of Jazzercise, spoke to the Women Presidents' Organization on its last day. In fact, she was the last speaker of the entire conference and she brought the event to a fitting, high-note, close. Wearing an adorable silver skirty leggings outfit thing (the photo doesn't do it justice), she dominated the stage, at times leading us in group exercise to bring points to life.

This is Judi's musical trilogy for success:

Bass is passion
Cadence is change
Melody is mind, body, spirit connection

Her premise is that life and success is analogous to music. First, there is the building block of the bass line. For Judi, this is passion. She exhorts that you must have a passion for what you're doing. You should get up every morning with that kind of fluttery exciting feeling that happens when you're anticipating something great. She says that's this is what passion does for you - it gives you that opportunity to feel the butterflies of excitement every day. I was lucky enough to take a Jazzercise class from her at the conference and can attest first hand that she loves what she does.

During her talk, she went on to explain that when you are passionate about what you are doing, you can dream great big fabulous dreams - and orchestrate them because passion helps you to work really hard and helps you crank up the proverbial volume. When you need to be able to put in an extraordinary effort, if you're passionate about what you do, it doesn't seem like work. Passion helps you listen to your gut, your voice of truth. Just like the base beat keeps the music on target and tuned in, that's what passion does for you. It helps to keep you excited, motivated and on target.

The next building block in music is its cadence and tempo. Cadence gives you cues, messages, signs and signals. You need to be aware of life's cues and opportunities and be aware for changing messaging and signals. When you get results that don't match what you were expecting, the clues (the cadence) help you to modify. You have to do things differently if you want different results. You have to want to change.

Finally, the melody helps to bring everything along in a smooth and predictable pattern. You get the melody in your life by maintaining your mind-body-spirit connection.

According to Judy, the keys to maintaining this melody in your life are: surround yourself with people that lift you up. Kick out the negative and don't allow anyone to bring you down. Create a family culture in your work so that you enjoy and care for those that work with and around you. Improve your mind by challenging yourself. And of course, the rockin' healthy, 60ish year old grandmother strongly advocated fitness as part of a healthy life. She said, "Strengthen the body - practice well being through exercise and nutrition. Get enough sleep. Eat things in their natural state. "

Finally, to keep your melody going, make room in your life for spontaneity. Leave room in your life for serendipitous happenings. (Random aside: I totally took her advice yesterday and spur of the moment, went to go see the Mt. Vernon Tulip Fields by bike. Expect pictures later this week) Don't become so rigid that you have no fun doing what you do. You won't even be aware when things pass you buy if you are too rigid. In addition, practice gratitude. Every day Judi makes a gratitude list from A to Z. This outpouring of gratitude makes Judi want to share and give back. She strongly believes in the power of 'giving back' and suggests that you try to make a difference in someone's life every single day. Proving that she walks the walk, she has raised $26million for charity (WOW!)

She closed with the exhortation: "Be brilliant and absolutely humble."

Success is a combination of three things:

Idealism
Realism
Plain old hard work

Learn more about Jazzercise at their site here or read more about the background of Jazzercise and Judi's rise in building a $93million/year business here.

I scream. You scream.

We all scream for ice cream!

More sunshine in Washington has focused my attention to the popular spring time treat: ice cream cones. Not only are they a scrumptious, hot weather treat but they are also charming, colorful and have inspired these adorable buys on Etsy. After spending too much time browsing Etsy sites (shocker), I've narrowed it down my favorite Etsy ice cream "wants".

Folded Note Card Set- $16.00

Ice Cream Cone Greeting Cards- $3.25

Multi Purpose Blank Mini Cards- $2.75

Ice Cream Cone Earrings- $4.00

Girls Apron with Ice Cream Sundae- $32.00

Onesie with Pink Ice Cream Cone- $13.00

Ice Cream Cone Cookies- $39.95 (dozen)

Ribbon Scrabble Pendant Necklace- $7.99

Ice Cream Cone Classic Tote- $18.00

Celebration of Color by Poras Chaudhary

If you haven't seen the photography of Poras Chaudhary, head to his site to see it right now. There are 28 amazing photos that will thrill and delight you (especially if you make soap. The pigment splashing across the crowd is amazing).

T. Boone Pickens on Energy Indepdence

"Start being informed about energy. Read everything. You need to assume responsibility for energy. We all do." T Boone Pickens

Greetings from Day Three of the Women Presidents' Organization. T. Boone Pickens is here talking about energy Independence and his rise in business. His manner is chatty and personable. It's clear he feels very comfortable with a microphone and is good at playing to crowds.

My take-aways:

• Never discount luck for your success

• A strong support system is imperative for success

• America uses 25% of all the oil produced in the world with 4% of the population. Much of this oil comes from unstable regions or unfriendly governments. This is not wise.

• Begin with the end in mind. For example, he planned to elevate energy independence into the Presidential debates after getting little interest from George W. Bush.
  

• A new energy plan will be passed by August.

Pickens spoke passionately about luck - a factor that he credits to his very existence after he was delivered via emergency c-section by a surgeon that had only seen photos of it in a book. He also mentioned how imperative having a strong father was in his life.

Pickens quickly moved into what he is truly passionate about - reducing America's reliance on foreign oil. He told many anecdotal stories (including one that was "off the record"). One that was on the record was his story about meeting with both presidential candidates to talk to them about our energy situation. Both candidates met with him and both listened thoughtfully. One thing that stood out about both meetings was that after meeting with Obama, Obama asked T.Boone "Do I say things about energy that make you feel uncomfortable?" T. Boone told him that his reliance on the idea of car battery cars wasn't enough. New energy plans coming out of Washington DC have more wind, solar and natural gas in them and do not just rely on plug in cars as a fix-all. HR1835 is now in the House which includes Natural Gas in the bill and there is another plan working its way through the Senate.

You can find out more about the Pickens Plan, energy issues and educate yourself on his site here. Or just watch his videos at YouTube here.

Part of the Disney Family

Disney Family.com included our Mother's Day Soapmaking Kit in their list of 10 Great Mother's Day Gift Ideas. Woohoo! Check us out (here's the link) along with 9 other fabulous gift ideas for Mom.

"Pamper Mom with a gift you made yourself! These all-in-one soap kits give you everything you need to create a custom set of soaps. Use their Mother's Day heart molds and gift tags to give this batch a special touch." Get your Mothers Day Kit here (Mickey Mouse not included)

Saving the World, One Box at a Time

Greetings from Day Two of the Women Presidents' Organization conference on sustainability in San Diego.

Some tidbits from the morning sessions on Sustainability in Business:

• Wal-Mart/Sam's Club is huge. Any teensy thing they do to be more sustainable creates a tsunami of change. When they change one thing, such as asking their vendors to reduce their secondary packaging (example: making a smaller Smarties box to fit the actual product inside, cutting down on shrink wrapping, changing the size of milk bottles to reduce transportation costs), those changes really make a difference because of how many units Wal-Mart sells. For example, just with the Smarties Egg box above, the smaller packaging cut consumer waste by 700 tonnes this year. And that's just with one product!

• Total Cost of Ownership - This traditionally addressed the cost to buy the product and the cost to own it and run it. It was often a metric for comparing cars or appliances. Now, companies are including the environment in their total cost of ownership as they plan their product life cycle. In another "wow" economy of scale factoid, without compromising product quality, Nestle reduced of 392 000 tonnes of packaging material between 1991 and 2008 by starting to look at their supply chain and the bigger picture on cost of ownership. To learn more about what Wal-Mart is doing to help reduce their supply chain waste and their efforts to become a zero-waste company, click here to read their 2009 Sustainability Report.
  

I have more notes to share - on capturing opportunity out of chaos and notes from Meg Whitman's talk - but they will have to wait for another day. Tonight, we're headed out on a cruise around the bay to network and take in the amazing sights of San Diego at night.

Costliest Employee Mistakes ...

I'm in overcast San Diego at a series of business conferences put on by the Women Presidents' Organization (WPO). The first session today is on "The Seven Costliest Employment Mistakes: What YOU Must Do to Protect and Sustain Your Business!" Our speaker are part of a boutique law firm, Nukk-Freeman & Cerra, that specialize in Employment Law.

For those of you that have employees (and some of these apply mostly to companies over 50 employees), here are the Seven Costliest Mistakes according to our expert speakers:

1. Not properly understanding Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) and similar state laws.
Audits are on the rise as this becomes an income generating area for cash strapped states. These issues cover overtime exemptions, employees versus independent contractors and the biggie, a class action lawsuit.

2. Have an employee handbook to create and enforce company standards. These are used to communicate expectations and establish consistent practices, have the mandatory policies (anti-harrassment, whistleblower). Another key is that you must have employees sign that they read the handbook.

3. Avoid and defend litigation through effective anti-harassment training. You want to make sure that your managers know what their responsibilities are. The laws have changed and it's important that everyone be updated.

4. Use restrictive covenants. These are things like confidentiality agreements, non-competes and non-solicitation agreements. If you would be hurt by having someone leave your employ, open up a competing firm and start soliciting your customers or employees, then this is something you need to have.

5. Reduce risks of wrongful termination claims with carefully structured workforce reductions. It's important to keep in mind that there are "good" ways to terminate and "bad" ways to terminate. You need to analyze applicable laws, analyze and document business reasons for letting people go, establish selection criteria and determine entitlement to severance.

6. Ensure compliance with the new COBRA subsidy program enacted in February. Subsidizes 65% of COBRA premium, applies to employees terminated from 9/1/08 to 12/31/2009, new notice requirements and reimbursement issues.

7. Be aware of new laws such as the illy Ledbetter Fair Pay Act, new FMLA regulations, Employee Free Choice Act, Paycheck Fairness Act, Aribration Act etc...

Opportunity, Possibility, & Living Your Best Life

Guest Blog by Melissa McCreery

Recently, someone told me about an opportunity she almost missed because it had never occurred to her that the thing she wanted to do was possible. Her story was a good reminder that sometimes, if we are not looking carefully for the opportunity, we miss it entirely.

When we are busy and trying to get a lot done, it's easy to fall into a mindset that limits our outcome and our opportunities before we even begin. Far too many times we set our expectations by thinking about what we'd be "okay with" instead of by thinking about what we really truly want. We got locked into a mindset we call "practicality" and eliminate possibilities because we assume that we don't have the keys to doors that we aren't even sure are locked. In this "practical" mindset we eliminate possibilities without even considering them because they don't seem like the most likely outcome or because we don't have a clear idea of how we would make them happen.

If we approach a situation focused on what isn't possible, what we can't afford, or what probably won't occur, if we narrow our expectations because of our weight or the economy or our age or anything else, we are almost guaranteed to have a very different outcome than if we approach a situation with our dream outcome--our ultimate vision in mind.

If we don't allow ourselves to think about what we really desire, it's easy to live in a world that is limited by our preexisting baseline or by the expectations others may have previously helped us set. That prevents growth.

If we don't allow ourselves to explore what we really want, sometimes we miss incredible possibilities. In contrast, when we start a project with a vision of our dream outcome in our mind, it's not unusual to find that the path is NOT totally blocked and even that the door opens more easily than we thought. Sometimes we actually find that door wide open.

Going after a dream instead of pursuing the most practical version of your goal will likely also increase your energy, motivation, and willingness to persevere as you work through any difficult challenges along the way.

Here are two questions that can help you tap into more possibilities and can help you shift from "practical" to "open to possibility."

Tuck these questions inside your brain and practice asking them to yourself:

What do I really want?

And what would I do if anything was possible?

Melissa McCreery, PhD is the founder of Enduring Change Coaching (http://www.enduringchange.com) and creator of the online Weight Loss Winner's Circle (http://www.weightlosswinnerscircle.com) where she helps members stay on track with their eating and weight loss goals, stay out of overwhelm, and thrive.

How to Make Salmon Skin Chips

A lifelong vegetarian, I recently read the book "Real Food" by Nina Plank. In this book, she talks about the importance of fish oils and makes a strong case for eating fish, stating that the combination of oils and nutrients in fish are imperative for proper brain function. Not wanting to underutilize any aspect of my brain, I've started to add fish into my diet. My goal is to eat fish 2 times per week.

But, that whole lifelong vegetarian thing really puts a crimp on actually cooking fish. I do not know how to do it. I have no idea where to start. So, the fish habit is getting expensive. I have to eat out for each of those fish meals.

Determined to end my ignorance of all things fish and ocean, I attended a Fish Cooking Class at Ciao Thyme. I've taken a knife skills class with the talented and funny Mataio Gillis before so I knew it would be an entertaining evening. Thankfully, I had a good friend along to help. This is Heather and she did a much better crimp job on her "en papillote" than I did. More on that later.

The key things to take away from the class according to our instructor are:

1. Fish should be fresh and cold.
2. Fish should smell like the sea - not the sea shore.


My take-aways were:

1. Who knew fish could taste good with nothing but salt and olive oil?
2. Really? You can take the skin off a fish with a big, huge knife and one strategically placed pull?
3. I can do this! I really can do this!
4. The perfect grill marks *do* add to flavor.
5. En Papillote is easy to do and is your friend.
6. Sauteeing a fish is not only possible, but I can and will do it.

Mataio started by demonstrating the proper way to debone a fish. I am very proud of the large fish bone I'm holding in this photo; unreasonably proud given the relative ease of the task.


Then he proceeded to hand-on wow us with different techniques. We grilled salmon. We smoked salmon (Oh my goodness! The board caught on fire. There was smoke involved. It was quite exciting.). We brined salmon (this is key to adding flavor and slow the release of fat during cooking - genius!). We learned how to salt crust rock fish with a salt/water solution and a salt/meringue solution. Though Mataio predicted a "crimping failure" (I'm not adept at following many simple instructions; mostly because I started before I was supposed to), this is my perfect (eyes downcast modestly) en papillote fish. I will be doing this method again at home.


And then, we ate all of our creations. It was a little odd to have fish and fish alone for dinner but on the plus side, I feel much smarter today.

If you're in the Bellingham area, you should mark your calender to attend a class. With classes like Cinco de Mayo, No Bake Desserts and Sushi 101 coming up, you can't go wrong.

P.S. Making salmon skin chips (which look suspiciously like a leather belt) is simple. You coat the salmon skin with olive oil, put a little salt on the skin and then put the entire thing on a cookie sheet and bake until crisp. It tastes ... okay. Sort of like dried seaweed.

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Bring on the Flying Rotundness

I am so buoyed by the sunshine in Washington state that all I can see is cherry trees in bloom and dream of fresh garden vegetables. Along with the myriad of plant life comes bug life too. My favorite insect is the beautiful, flying little rotund ladybug. Since these red little balls of happiness don't fly unless it's 55 degrees or warmer, seeing any of them around town is a good sign that warmer weather is hopefully here to stay. Check out all the goodies I found with ladybugs as the star. Spring is here and so are the ladybugs.


Ladybug Felted Balls $20
Ladybug Coasters $12.50
Ladybug Paperweight $15
Ladybug Apron $20
Ladybug Cupcake Toppers $6
Ladybug Stationary $5
Ladybug Premie Baby Bootie $4.99
Ladybug Glass Pendant $7.50
Ladybug Kobi Clutch $30

Steps to Character

From the book, "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" by Stephen Covey

I'm reading this book for my Mastermind Business Book Club (affectionately dubbed the "Personal Development Book Club") and one of the points that struck me in my reading last night was a longer, more expanded versions of one of my favorite phrases:

"How you do anything is how you do everything".

The quote from the book is:

"Sow a thought, reap an action;
Sow an action, reap a habit.
Sow a habit, reap a character.
Sow a character, reap a destiny."

Fleur de Lis Bike Reflector

Super cool gizmo if you're a regular bike commuter. Find this nifty, trendy, colorful and delightfully whimsical necessary reflector here. $30

Scented Fingers and Toes?

Remember This? Scented nail polish is back and apparently, is better than ever. If tires can smell like lavender, nail polish should smell like strawberry. Revlon is launching eight new scented nail polishes this month, aply titled "Fruitful Temptations". Fruit has inspired their sweet fragrances like "Not So Blueberry" and "Sublime Strawberry", certainly to beat out the regular fragrance of nail polish I like to call "Super Headache". I can't wait to try all 8 fruity creations! It will definitely bring me back to my high school days (sigh). Girls night anyone?

Accountability Group Yourself Great

Spingtime isn't just the season to get admire the flowers, get a pedicure and dust off your open-toed shoes. It is also a time for reflection and contemplation of how 2009 has gone so far and planning how you can continue to blossom in 2009. As you may have read before, my Mastermind Group develops goals. We share these goals with each other via email and at our monthly meetings. But, then, we take it one step further: mini-accountability groups.

One way to ensure that you’ll hit the gym every day at 6 a.m. is to have a workout buddy that’s expecting you. Making a promise to yourself and breaking it is one thing; disappointing a friend who woke up at 6 a.m. is another.

Our Mastermind Group has created small accountability groups within our larger group. These mini-accountability groups email every single Friday with updates on one big goal and give an update to the entire group at our monthly Mastermind meetings. Having the mini, weekly check-ins is a big help in keeping each person accountable. Seeing other members making major progress on their goals is exciting and inspiring. Additionally, a little bit of positive peer pressure is a good thing. Just like you don’t want to let your workout buddy down, losing the respect of your accountability group because of poor progress on achievable goals is unacceptable.

If you have a Mastermind Group, use Spring as a time to bring in this new practice to enhance your output and progress on your goals. If you don't have a Mastermind Group, consider starting one ... today.

SoapQueen TV Debut & Schedule

Bramble Berry Soapmaking Supplies

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Amber

Tel. 360/734.8278
Email: info(at)brambleberry(dot)com

CEO of Bramble Berry to Star in Soapmaking Series

Join Anne-Marie every Thursday to learn new and exciting soapmaking techniques. The Soap Queen herself walks you through the basics of melt and pour like picking your fragrances, mixing your colors and pouring your soap. Her soapmaking journey continues as she shares more advanced techniques like swirling, embedding and layering. Learn secrets from the pros and tune into Soap Queen TV every Thursday at www.soapqueen.com

Soap Queen TV Schedule

April 30th Episode 1: Melt and Pour Fragrances
May 7th Episode 2: Melt and Pour Colorants, Herbs, Molds
May 14th Episode 3: Melt and Pour- Advanced Swirling Technique
May 21st Episode 4: Melt and Pour- Embedding Objects and Soap
May 28th Episode 5: Melt and Pour- Advanced Clam Shell Soaps
June 4th Episode 6: Melt and Pour- Intermediate Double Pour Method
June 11th Episode 7: Melt and Pour- UV Inhibitor and Vanilla Stabilizer
June 18th Episode 8: Melt and Pour- Intermediate Candy Soaps
July 2nd Episode 9: Melt and Pour- Embedding Water Soluble Paper
July 9th Episode 10: Melt and Pour Wedding Favor Soaps
July 16th Episode 11: Secrets to Packaging Your Soaps
July 23rd Episode 12: Melt and Pour- Basic Layered Soaps
July 30th Episode: 13: Melt and Pour- Intermediate Geometric Soaps
August 6th Episode 14: Melt and Pour- Advanced Layered Soaps
August 13th Episode 15: Melt and Pour- More Advanced Layering
August 27th Back to School
September 3rd -- Hiatus for filming Season II

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How to Convert %s to Weight Amounts

One of the questions I frequently get when I'm teaching classes at Otion is:

I got this great recipe from my grandmother. It looks like fun. But, it's all in %s! How can I turn this awesome balm recipe into something I can work with? Help!

Answer: Your grandmother's (fictional!) balm recipe can be recreated. Here's an example of how I would do this.

Step one: Formula in percentages – everything equals 101% (preservative isn’t included in the 100% since you need preserve 100% of the product)

Mango Butter 25%
Stearic Acid 19%
Sweet Almond Oil 40%
Jojoba 11%
Polysorbate 20 4%
Lemongrass EO 1%
Preservative 1%

Total: 101%

Step Two: Convert these percentages to decimal numbers. Here is how that is done:

25% divided by 100 = .25
19% divided by 100 = .19
40% divided by 100 = .40
11% divided by 100 = .11
4% divided by 100 = .04
1% divided by 100 = .01

Step 3: Finally, multiple the decimal by how much you want to make. In this case, I’d like to make 22.5 ounces so this is multiplied by 22.5

.25 x 22.5 = 5.625
.19 x 22.5 = 4.275
.40 x 22.5 = 9.0
.11 x 22.5 = 2.475
.04 x 22.5 = .9
.01 x 22.5 = .225

= 22.5

Optional: Now, let’s do this in grams. Wha? Why grams? Ounces are not as preferable as grams because the unit of measure is much larger and clunkier. Converting this to grams gives us: 638 grams (1 ounce = 28.3495231 grams)(22.5 ounces x 28.3495231 grams = 637.864)

.25 x 638 = 159.5
.19 x 638 = 121.22
.40 x 638 = 255.2
.11 x 638 = 70.18
.04 x 638 = 25.52
.01 x 638 = 6.38

= 638

Viola! Simple math gets you a recipe that you can use. As for this recipe, it will be heavy, waxy and spreadable. I imagine it would work well for an elbow and foot cream and will not absorb in quickly.

Lori Nova's Top Ten Essential Oils

Big thanks to Lori Nova from The Nova Studio for this Guest Blog. Lori is going to be teaching her amazing swirl technique and colorant class at the Soap Intensive Weekend at Otion this year. Class attendees are in for a huge treat. Lori's Guest Blog is below:

While preparing for my upcoming 2-Day Soap Making Boot Camp, I began to realize that there are some essential oils that are crucial to me for Cold Process Soap Making. Even though I occasionally use oils that are not on this list, without these oils I would be hard pressed to make amazing soap at an affordable price.

The reasons that I use/choose these oils time and time again is...

1) they smell great in CP soap,
2) they are reasonably priced and I can afford to buy a 16 ounce bottle of them, and
3) many of them blend well with each other, creating dozens or more of possible combinations.

Here's my Top 10 List:

1: Lavender (use .7 ounces per pound of oil/fat)
2: 5-Fold Sweet Orange (use .5 ounces per pound of oil/fat)
3: Petitgrain (use .5 ounce per pound of oil/fat)
4: Lemon (use .9 ounces per pound of oil/fat)
5: Litsea Cubeba (use .5 ounces per pound of oil/fat)
6: Spearmint (use .5 ounce per pound of oil/fat)
7: Lime (use .9 ounces per pound of oil/fat)
8: Peppermint (use .5 ounce per pound of oil/fat)
9: Rosemary (use .5 ounce per pound of oil/fat)
10: Anise (use .5 ounce per pound of oil/fat)

My favorite COMBINATIONS with these ten Essential Oils:

~Lemon & Litsea Cubeba
~Lavender & Litsea Cubeba
~Lavender & Any Citrus (Orange, Lemon, Lime, etc.)
~Lavender & Any Mint
~Lavender & Rosemary
~Rosemary & Lemon
~Rosemary & Spearmint
~Lime & Spearmint (aka Mojito)
~Anise & Lavender
~Anise & Sweet Orange
~Petitgrain & Sweet Orange
~Peppermint & Lemon
~Peppermint & Spearmint (aka Doublemint)

How to figure out how much essential oils to use in Cp soap making:

Refer to "my list" above about for how much is recommended to use per pound of oil/fat.
How many pounds (of oil/fat) does your recipe have?
Let's say you are making a 4-pound batch of oil/fats (fyi - 4 pounds = 64 ounces)
You multiply 4 x the amount of E.O. recommended.

To demonstrate, I'll use Anise & Lavender.
Anise is recommended at .5 per pound of oil/fat.
So... 4 (lbs of oil) x .5 = 2.0 ounces of Anise (if you were using only Anise for the entire 4-lb batch).
and 4 (lbs of oil) x .7 = 2.8 ounces of Lavender (if you were using only Lavender)
Since you are using a combination of oils, divide each by 2.
So for Anise, it's 2 divided by 2 = 1 (ounce of anise for the whole batch, in combo with lavender)
So 2.8 divided by 2 = 1.4 (ounces of lavender for the whole batch, in combo with anise).

So the end result for an Anise & Lavender Soap would be:
1 ounce of Anise AND 1.4 ounces of Lavender

Remember - these are guidelines for Cold Process Soap Making only and this is only a place to start. After making your first batch, if it comes out smelling more like one oil and you want it the other way around, feel free to adjust the amounts until you find exactly the scent you are looking for.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed this blog post and find it helpful in scenting your Cold Process soap.

Please feel free to post a comment below and share your favorite "can't live without" essential oils for CP soap making and also the combinations you love the most.

Peace, Love and Chocolate

Vosges Haut Chocolate is an upscale chocolate company that takes chocolate lovers to a whole new world of loving chocolate. Perhaps most famous (well, at least in Bellingham!) for their Bacon Chocolate (that's right ... bacon + chocolate. Apparently, it sells.) Their boutiques are located in New York, Chicago and Las Vegas. We're talking classy truffles, chocolate bars, gourmet wine and cheese pairings and over the top gift boxes in the boutiques.

My favorite product only costs $375.00 (cough, cough). Of course I won’t buy it, but a girl can dream right? It’s a gift box called the Sensory Collection: Chocolate for the Nose. It’s a complete guide on how to taste chocolate. It comes with chocolates from 15 different countries, 42 different aromas to smell and a guide book that includes the history, tasting and making of chocolate. How decadent would this be to have for your next girls night? The kit promises to 'unlock the mysteries of Mother Earth's magical cacao'. Sold!

It's Official! People love SWI! (video)

Note: Email and RSS subscribers won't be able t see this video. You need to click through to the blog to see it (which wouldn't kill you. There's lots of things that update on the blog frequently, like the booklist and TwitPics).



Soap Intensive Weekend 2009 is shaping up to be chock-full of helpful hints, camaraderie and the best that Bellingham has to offer. Click here for our helpful, handy list of things to do and places to stay while you're here. With instructors like Lori Nova, Debbie Chilatis and business coach Ron Huntington, you'll learn melt and pour, cold process and basic business practices. $350 covers your classes, materials and a once-in-a-lifetime learning experience.

4 Ways to Live Longer

I read a fantastic article in Good House Keeping (March 09) last night; "4 Ways to Live Longer". It goes right along with the happiness blogs that I’ve been writing. It seems that these happiness habits will help you live longer as well! According to Gary Small (M.D., director of the Center on Aging at UCLA), “There’s good evidence that emotional, spiritual, and social factors are all important for longevity”. The article provides evidence that people live longer if they maintain positive attitudes, volunteer, attend church and have strong social connections. What caught my attention was the fact that volunteering is compared to working out 4 times a week. Helping others, like working out, boosts the bodies antibodies positively effecting our immune system, brain and hormones. So let's get out there, people, and live long and happy lives!

Catch up on my happiness blogs below:
Day 1: Introduction
Day 2: Friends and Community
Day 3: A Vision
Day 4: Goals
Day 5: Time
Day 6: Our Mind
Day 7: Our Health
Day 8: Bumps

Sweets for the Sweet

I recently had an excuse to spend some time in the delightful Seattle neighborhood, Pioneer Square. In addition to a delicious little coffee house that serves drinking chocolate, Sweet Petula has their adorable retail shop in the Pioneer Square neighborhood. If you're a bath and body products lover (or should I say 'connoisseur'?) like I am, you'll appreciate every inch of this charming shop. I bought a good selection of their goodies and have been enjoying them ever since.

First of all, everything in the store is merchandised absolutely with clean precision that matches the simple, classic packaging sensibility. But, as I looked closer, I got to see the magic behind the perfectly ordered shelves. Apparently, little elves do not perfectly stage and set the shelves (another fairytale story ruined for me); one hardworking Ms. Cory Smith does and wow, does she work hard.

Cory took me behind the scenes to her manufacturing (which was arranged just as precisely as her store) and impressed me with her thoughtful production practices and tidy workspace. I am pleased to say that her soaps were great in the shower and the square bath fizzy/salt cube above is a relaxing bath time treat. If you're in Seattle, visit the shop! You'll be amazed with the refined selection and excellent products.

The shop also sells Sweet Anthem's perfumes. Because it was my lucky day, the enchanting perfumer Meredith was at Sweet Petula's shop when I got there. She had a wonderful grasp of perfuming and a commanding presence when speaking about her passion for blending scents. I left with a fistful of Meredith's goodies as well as a full bag of Sweeet Petula's products.

Not in Seattle? Buy Sweet Petula's goodies here or here. Check out Sweet Anthem's shop and blog here.

Wedding Style: 8 Affordable Wedding Finds

Thanks, abc 15.com, for making our DIY products part of your wedding bliss!

abc 15.com shares some affordable ways to have an elegant wedding with out breaking the bank giving hope that a fabulous wedding is still possible (even in our struggling economy). Bramble Berry is at the bottom of the page but there are 7 other fabulous ideas that are worth reading! Oh, and don't miss the video to the left hand side of the screen that flaunts our fabulous wedding soaps. Here's what they had to say about our Wedding Soap Kits...

"Bramble Berry DIY Products - Create affordable custom wedding favors with Bramble Berry DIY wedding favor molds. From perfume to makeup, shaving kits to soaps, Bramble Berry has over 2,500 DIY products to choose from. Makes a fun addition to any shower, a wedding favor or great gift idea! Choose a high quality, affordable kit for $40 or under!"

Building Layers for Rose Soap - a Pictorial

We Love Our Commenters!

Thank for all the outpouring of comments and support over the last few months. It's been a while since I did a "We Love Our Commenters" surprise prize. I've put together 3 prize packs (partially shown) with fragrance blends (using Bramble Berry products, of course), one Milky Way Candle Mold and some assorted Labcolor colorants.

I did a random drawing of all the people that commented in the last week and came up with (drum roll please!)

Burnt Mill Candle & Soap

Stay tuned for more giveaways in the next three weeks. Thank you everyone for being an active part of the Soap Queen Community.

Simple Easter Scrub

Need a special little gift to give your Easter dinner hostess or for a special friend? I've created this adorable salt scrub with an Easter twist. Best of all? It's fast and easy to make.


Ingredients:

2 cups fine grain dead sea salt
3 tablespoons lotion base
3 tablespoons soap concentrate base
1 1/2 tablespoons Vitamin E oil
1 ounce Jojoba oil
2 ounce Sweet Almond oil
3 teaspoons Jojoba beads
1/4 oz. lettuce fragrance oil

Shredded loofah and Emerald Green labcolor to sprinkle on the top.

4 ounce tin container with clear top

Instructions:

So easy! Just mix everything except the loofah and Emerald Green labcolor together.

Spoon into your container.

To make the grass green loofah: Put some diluted labcolor (suggest 10 ml of Labcolor in 3 ounces of water) and the loofah in a seal top baggie and then mush them around until they are as green as you like. Ideally, you'll want just enough liquid to color the loofah without making it sopping wet.

For an extra special touch, make some of our play dough soap and roll into little egg shapes. Next roll the little eggs in some iridescent shredded glitter and scatter across the top of the scrub.

PS - Did you recognize our little happy erasers in the scrub up top? Get your own Easter Bunnies here.

Advanced Lotion Class at Otion

I'm so excited! I just designed the curriculum for an Advanced Lotionmaking Class at Otion. It's so new that you can't even sign up for the class yet but I'm bursting with excitement (yes, I'm a geek) and couldn't wait to share it with you. Plus, if you see any major holes in the subject matter, I trust you tell me.

Advanced Lotion Class: Have you mastered the basics of lotiomaking and you're ready to take it to the next level? In this class, we'll go over how to design your own recipe from scratch using %s, test several emulsion systems and briefly cover ingredients (cosmeceuticals) to turn your lotion into an anti-acne or anti-aging product. Finally, we'll discuss the rules the FDA sets on making claims about your lotion or crème.

Class is $35

Students will leave with samples of crèmes and lotions from the class.

May 2nd, Saturday, 2 p.m. at Otion (in Bellingham, Washington)

Note: I'll be teaching a similar class for the SoapGuild Conference this year but it is a shorter class and will probably not get to cover cosmeceuticals.

Thanks for the Fab Review!

Connie from Miscellaneous Finds 4U did an unexpected yet, adorable review on Bramble Berry Soapmaking Supplies and the Soap Queen Blog. Miscellaneous Finds 4U is a mother & daughter team (of 5 years) who love trying new products and giving their honest opinion to their readers. Connie loved our Cupcake Bath Bomb recipe and Easter Soapmaking Kit.

Here's a snip-it from the write up...
"Her cupcake bath bombs are amazing. The recipe is provided in such a way that it’s easy to understand and follow. Plenty of photos and precise instructions, with the science behind the formula so you know why a recipe works or doesn’t. Formulas for additional “flavor” combinations are also provided so there’s no risk of ruining ingredients through trial and error. I feel confident after reading through her instructions that I could make these and they’d make wonderful gifts! Need an Easter gift? She’s provided photos and instructions for a perfect little embedded Ducky Soap. Not enough? Check out TeachSoap.com - Anne-Marie shares soap making from the very beginning to advanced techniques."

Read the whole review here and have a blast reading more random thoughts, musings and reviews by Miscellaneous Finds 4U here