More Sushi

In case you didn't get the Bramble Berry newsletter, here's my favorite photo of the sushi soap. It still needs to be improved upon a little bit before we film SoapQueenTV next weekend but it's getting close. 

You Will Come Into a Fortune

We've finally attempted (and successfully conquered) the Fortune Cookie Soap. We were inspired last year by French Hill Country (see post here) and we just had to try it!

Ingredients

Clear Soap
Sparkle Gold Mica
Buttercream and Snickerdoodle Fragrance
Vanilla Color Stabilizer
Silicone Brownie Pan
Round Cookie Cutter
Liquid Glycerin

*Optional: White Soap
*Optional: Peach Shimmer Mica

*The cookie at the bottom of the page was made with clear soap and sparkle gold mica. The cookies at the top were made with 1/2 clear soap, 1/2 white soap (for more opacity), Sparkle Gold Mica and Peach Shimmer Mica.

Step 1: Melt 6-8 oz of soap and add your color and fragrance oil. We used the delicious, yet, discoloring, Buttercream & Snickerdoodle so we added a splash of Vanilla Color Stabilizer. Add liquid glycerin to the mixture at a 10% usage rate (about .6 oz or just a splash).

Step 2: Pour a thin layer (1/8 inch) into the silicone pan and let cool for 5-10 minutes. Once the soap is cooled, punch out 5-6 round cut outs with your cookie cutter (or you can freehand them like this method). Add the scraps to the remaining melted soap and save for rounds 2 and 3.

Step 3: Fold each circle cut out in half. This is the time to insert your secret message or "fortune" if you are so inclined.

Step 4: Fold the opposite ends together with out making a crease in the middle. Our cookies turned out the best when we folded the ends together around a small object like a pen.

Step 5: Enjoy yourself or make someone's day with a forune personalized just for them! Not feeling creative? You can get fortune cookie sayings on this site.

It's Your Lucky Day!

The Cold Process Soap Contest has come to a close and it's time for the
Grand Prize Drawing.

Congrats to the super secret bonus winner yesterday, Molly S. from Paper Wires and Colored Pencils!



It's such a beautiful day today in Bellingham and I'm feeling a little saucy! I think I'm going to pick 3 winners today that will receive 5 fabulous bars of homemade soap from the Bramble Berry Cold Process Pre-Made Soap Line. Ahem, quiet in the audience please...

The winners are (drum roll)...

Merryh from Body By M
Supergrover2 from Mothershare and Mosaic Soaps
Little Shadow Creations from Little Shadow Creations and Etsy

CONGRATULATIONS!
*Winners, please email us at info(at)brambleberry(dot)com with your physical addresses and we'll get these soapy prizes out the door to you ASAP.

Want to Learn how to Make These?

Sign up for the Bramble Berry newsletter. We're sending it out tomorrow with lots of tips and tricks on how to make perfect sushi soap.

Super Secret Bonus Winner!

Guess what? We're so excited about our Cold Process Soap Contest that we couldn't wait until tomorrow to pick a winner. So we've picked a super secret bonus winner to tide us over until tomorrow. Today's bonus winner will be receiving 4 bars of our new cold process soap!

And the super secret bonus winner is...

Molly S. from Paper Wires and Colored Pencils. Woo Hoo!

Congratulations!

Check back in tomorrow for the grand prize drawing...it just might be YOU!

Molly S.- Email us at info(at)brambleberry(dot)com with your physical address and we'll get these goodies out the door for you. Yay!

Soap Queen TV - Clam Shell Soaps

Our most ambitious project of the Soap Queen series to date is a project developed by Paula of PJ Soaps. She taught this project at last year's Soap Weekend Intensive and everyones' soap came out beautifully - even those that had never made soap before.


Soap Queen TV Episode 5: Clam Shell Soap from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

We did a blog post on the project and got feedback that photos may be worth a 1000 words but a video would be better. Given the complexity of the project, I agree.

Watch the video and gather your supplies. You're going to love these soaps! You will need:

Pre-heat 4 quart pan of water on simmer (for rinsing your tools)
Gardenia Fragrance Oil
Sensuous Sandalwood
Sea Moss Fragrance Oil
shea butter soap
clear shaving soap
Brown Oxide
Green Oxide
Black Oxide
4 heat safe containers
1 Clamshell Mold
1 double sided cleaning tool (in the tool kit)
1 strong metal dinner fork (with straight tines)
1 PJ Scraper tool (in the tool kit)
1 Misting sprayer filled with rubbing alcohol

Well, That's a Rip-Off

A couple of years ago, my sister in law gave me a $100 Visa Gift Card as a present. She purchased the card at Fred Meyers. The nice thing (in theory) about Visa gift cards is that you can use them anywhere and are not stuck using them at just one store.

While cleaning my desk tonight, I found the Visa Gift Card, issued by Green Dot Online. I was pretty sure there was a few dollars left on the card. I'd hate to leave money on the table so I called Green Dot Online to check and see if there was a remaining balance. After all, even $1 is a nice chunk downpayment on a warm and luxurious latte.

The automated attendant told me it was $.75 to check my balance. I hung up. But, then got to thinking, "Nah, that has to be a mistake. Who charges to let you access their automated phone system?"

So, I called back. Yep. They do charge $.75 to access your remaining balance. Okaaaaay ... I went ahead and pressed 1 to hear my balance. Shocker of shocker when I found out my gift card was overdrawn by $9.70! What? How is that possible? It's a gift card. How could I have overdrawn a gift card? And, I'm pretty sure I didn't spend more than $84 on it. My careful notes on the front of the card in sharpie pen said I hadn't.

I pressed "0" to speak to an attendant. It turns out that this "Gift Card" charges $4.95 PER MONTH as a maintenance fee on my account and has been charging that for about 7 months now.

7 months (or so) ago, I had $16.05 left on the card. Now, I apparently owe them $9.70 just for the privilege of being given this gift card. To add insult to injury, my sister in law had to "activate" the gift card for $9.95 to start with. So, her $100 gift to me actually got me $84 in product but cost an additional $35.70 ($25.75 from me in bogus "servicing fees" plus $9.95 from her to "activate" the card). So, the net-net of this $100 gift card ended up being $64.30

What a racket. And, sadly, it's a racket that preys on people that don't have good credit or bank balances (since it pretends to be a credit or debit card). In this case, the gift was still very appreciated and the original sentiment is still valid but what a disappointing rip-off. I wonder if Fred Meyer's knows how unethical Green Dot Online gift card is? I think I'll tell them. Their "Customer Feedback Page" is right here.

Cute Jewelry, Including a Tweet Bird

Joanna Rutter is the creator of the new jewelry on my wish list. This jewelry is inspired by the link between illustrative form and jewelry. Her pieces begin life as sketches and are then rendered into metal by hand. EVERYTHING on Joanna's Etsy site is stunning- but I did manage to narrow it down to my 2 faves...

Flighty Bird Necklace

My Heart Silver Earrings

Looking to sell this cute jewelry in your shop? Joanna says that wholesale inquiries are welcome.

10X Orange Essential Oil

I'm super excited; our 10Fold Orange Essential Oil just arrived to the warehouse.

What's 10Fold? And, why would you pay more for it? Because it's super concentrated and best of anything, lasts in cold process soap. 10X Orange is a form of concentrating the oil and removing much of the lower boiling components. The higher the number, the more times it's been folded, or concentrated. Our 10X Orange is folded via fractional distillation. The still filters out the unnecessary components (or in this case, lower boiling point components) and concentrates all the “good smelling” components that really stick in your cold process soap. Unlike tradition citrus essential oils, this orange will actually smell good in your cold process soap after you've made it. We use it at .7 to 1 ounce per pound of soap and it smells juicy, ripe and delicious.

Distillation Method: Cold Pressed
Country of Origin: Canada
Part: Peel
Botanical Name: Citrus sinensis
Warnings: Can be irritating to eyes
Edible: Yes (kosher)

Flaunt Your Swirls!

Thanks, Kaylee, for "flaunting your stuff" on the Teach Soap Forum. Your swirls ROCK! Kaylee's enthuses, "I'm having way too much fun swirling the soap ~ it's not as hard as I once thought! I would never have tried it if I hadn't watched that episode [of Soap Queen TV]."

See her fabulous swirl soaps below and check out her Etsy site, Crazy K Bath and Body.

Ooohh...Ahhhh! Are you inspired? Ready to try the swirling technique? See Soap Queen TV Episoade 3: Swirling Melt and Pour or purchase our Swirl Soap Kit. Just don't forget to flaunt your stuff on the Teach Soap Forum!

Good Luck and Happy Swirling!

Improv Class for Inspiring Creativity

My husband and I did something entirely and totally new this weekend - we took an Improv class! As some of my tweeple mentioned, taking an improve 'class' is sort of an oxymoron but as we learned, being spontaneously funny takes work! Improv is the art of acting, singing, talking or reacting in the moment in response to some stimuli in the environment around you. You may have seen it in practice on the show 'Whose Line is it Anyways?'

Our teachers (the fabulous Oona and Morgan from Upfront) do improv classes for corporate and team training. After a simple one hour intro class, I can see why. We all came away from the class with a definite bond (after that much laughter, it's hard not to!) and an appreciation of how to act and react 'in the present.' We also worked on the ability to access creativity in the moment, think clearly under pressure and the art of proactive listening.


The class was hilarious and creative (no, I have no idea what I'm doing in the photo above). I will definitely look for another opportunity to take one again.

Wisdom from my Dad

For those of you who don't know my Dad, some previous favorite Dad posts are here, here and here. He has quite an hilarious sense of humor.

I got this email from my Dad last week, presumably in reaction to a couple of scintillating tweets I sent to my tweeple from The Soap Guild show. He was alerting me to a pertinent article on the dangers of oversharing (what me? overshare? never!). His email:

--------------------------

Good article. Especially for my beloved daughter who woke me at 6:00 am this morning via her mother’s phone announcing yet another mindless Broadcast Twit – I believe that the Soap Queen was about to ………..hold breath………..drum roll…………can you bear the suspense?…………….

Beginning a ........ WALK. A Walk!!! Can you believe it? The amazing courage, intellectual challenge, novel creative adventuring!!! Later, at breakfast (actually during a moment of brief Grace, before the meal), we learned that said Queen had COMPLETED her walk!!! Can you fathom that? One begins a walk and one even RETURNS from a walk. What will they think of next?

------------------------

The customer service heroes at Bramble Berry claim they were laughing so hard at this email that they were actually crying. As for me, I will think twice about tweeting every single walk I take and protein shake I make.

Lolly Bombs Away

Sindy is the owner of Sinfully Sweet Soaps. I was excited to pal around with her at the Soap Guild Show this year. She recently sent me some pictures of what she's been cooking up lately.

Check out her Lolly Bombs (the cutest bath fizzies ever) scented with Hello Sweet Thang! Sindy says she's totally hooked on Hello Sweet Thang and she can hardly keep these Lolly Bombs on the shelves.


Sindy also sent me a care package and in my excitement to try and the staff frenzy of 'I want that! I want that!', I found myself without any samples to actually photograph.

Putting Fear in its Place

As you move forward on your journey from where you are to where you want to be, you are going to have to confront some of your fears. Fear is a just a natural part of living.

Whenever you start a new project, take on a new venture, or put yourself out there, there's usually some fear involved. Unfortunately, most people let fear stop them from taking the necessary steps to achieve their dreams.

Confronting your fears is a very necessary step in achieving success.

There is simply no other way.

Fear can be a helpful emotion, as it tells you when you need to be extra careful, keenly aware, and cautious. Fear is not an emotion that is telling you to stop. In fact, it's telling you just the opposite!

Acknowledging your feelings of fear helps you know when you are stepping out of your comfort zone. It points your awareness to areas where you could improve and grow.

Successful people also feel fear. Yet they don't let it get in the way of anything they want to do--or have to do. They understand that fear is something to be acknowledged, experienced, and taken along for the ride. They have learned, as author Susan Jeffers suggests in her must-read book, to "Feel the Fear and Do it Anyway®."

Fear is more of a signal that we should stay alert and cautious. We can feel fear, but we can still move forward anyway.

Think of fear as a 2-year-old child who doesn't want to go grocery shopping with you. Because you must buy groceries, you'll just have to take the two year old with you. Fear is no different. In other words, acknowledge that fear exists but don't let it keep you from doing important tasks.

Also realize that so many of our fears are self-created. We might frighten ourselves by fantasizing negative outcomes to any activity we might peruse or experience. Luckily, because we are the ones doing the fantasizing, we are also the ones who can stop the fear and bring ourselves into a state of clarity and peace by facing the actual facts, rather than giving in to our imaginations.

If a fear is too great for you to overcome, try breaking it down into smaller challenges.

Try starting out by doing the parts of the project that don't scare you so much. You need to give a speech in front of a large group? Try giving your speech in front of a small group of people who care for you. Work your way up until you are able to feel the fear but still move forward. As you do you will build your confidence and eventually you won't feel fear surrounding those issues because you'll have done them enough to count it as a skill.

As you move toward your goal, don't attach yourself so much to the outcomes.

Keep moving toward your dream doing everything you can to create what you want, then let it go and see what shows up. Sometimes the universe will have a better idea in mind for you and present a better opportunity when you were expecting something completely different. Don't let fear keep you from moving forward. Even if the horrible outcome that you imagined happens, the universe will always provide for you another way to succeed. So be on the look out!

Trust that no matter what occurs, you are smart enough and strong enough to keep looking for, and attracting, opportunities.

If you are willing to try new experiences in spite of your fears, then more new experiences will present themselves for you to try. And the more you try, the more you are likely to succeed!

Jack Canfield, America's #1 Success Coach, is founder of the billion-dollar book brand Chicken Soup for the Soul© and a leading authority on Peak Performance and Life Success. If you're ready to jump-start your life, make more money, and have more fun and joy in all that you do, get your FREE success tips from Jack Canfield now at: www.FreeSuccessStrategies.com

Are You Ready for More? SoapQueenTV

Hooray! It's the newest edition of Soap Queen TV.

Soap Queen TV Episode 4: Embedding from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

In this episode, I embed one of our super cute, painfully adorable penguin erasers in a bar of soap AND I show you the secrets to embedding soap. . . in soap with a quick and easy loaf project. It's 2 for 1 day at Soap Queen TV!


Ingredients for making the 'Penelope' Penguin Soap:

Clear soap base
Blue Mix Labcolor
Pearberry fragrance
Penguin eraser
Aqua Labcolor
Iridescent glitter
Basic shapes four in one mold

For the soap loaf:
2 pounds white soap
loaf mold
Pearberry fragrance
1/2 to 1 pound of soap pieces
ours are made with Ultramarine blue, Chrome green oxide, and clear soap base.

Tools you will need:
Rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle
Heat-safe containers
Spoon

Matcha Green Tea Blends

Green Matcha Tea Powder has been used since the 16th century. It exploded onto the trendy scene when Starbucks came out with their delicious Green Matcha Tea latte in early 2007 and everyone jumped on the antioxidant bandwagon of this powdered tea. True story - Matcha is an expensive powdered green tea that is made from the finest shade-grown tea buds, dried and then ground. It can take upwards of one hour to grind just one ounce of matcha.

We set about trying to make a fragrance that smelled like the Matcha Tea Powder that came in our little Japanese tea ceremony kit. It's green, earthy and smells healthy. It also makes for a great middle or bottom note in blends.

2 parts Matcha Green Tea (fragrance oil)
2 parts Plumeria
1 part Vanilla Vanilla

2 parts Matcha Green Tea
2 parts Blackberry Spice
1 part Peach

2 parts Matcha Green Tea
2 parts Lilac
1 part English Rose

2 parts Matcha Green Tea
2 parts Sleeping Angels
1 part Vanilla Vanilla

2 parts Matcha Green Tea
1 part Spiced Mahogany
1 part Mayan Gold
1 part Neroli

3 parts Matcha Green Tea
2 parts Nile Queen Cybilla

2 parts Matcha Green Tea
2 parts China Rain
1 part Ocean Rain

3 parts Matcha Green Tea
2 parts Wild Sasparilla Cybilla

"It was ... VERY intense"

Sign up for the LAST two spots for the Otion Soapmaking Intensive Weekend 2009 here.

It's Contest Time. Are You Feeling Lucky?

Bramble Berry just added a new line of finished cold process soaps. All you have to do is the cutting and packaging (which is the fun part). We have 9 different fragrances and colors to choose from (naturally, they're the most popular fragrances and essential oils we sell). Buy a single test bar or the entire loaf.

We have 4 all-natural soaps that are scented with our Essential Oils: Hungarian Lavender, Lemongrass, Peppermint (2nd), and Rosemary.

Our other 5 bars are scented with our best-selling Fragrance Oils: Energy, English Rose, Oatmeal Milk and Honey, Sensuous Sandalwood and Vanilla Select.



This is the perfect opportunity to add an authentic, handmade soap to your product offering without having to deal with the hassle of Lye and the 6 week waiting time for the soap to cure. Create an entire gift ensemble or coordinated product line including lotion, liquid soap, a bath bomb and real, handmade soap.

Ladies and gentleman…It's the moment you’ve all been waiting for…It’s time to win some soap! (Applaud)

Leave a comment and let me know what fragrance and color you would like to see us carry in the next line of finished cold process soaps. On May 29th, I’ll choose a winner (or 2) at random to win 5 fabulous bars of handmade soaps from this new line or a full loaf of one of the fragrances. So I ask the question again: are you feeling lucky?

Living Green on a Budget

The Budget Ecoist is a web site dedicated to living green on a budget. Let's face it, we could all use some budgeting advice right now. The site covers topics like reusing and recycling, organic products and reviews, eco fashion and of course, where you can get the best coupons and deals.

We are honored to be included as one of their product reviews. They tried our DIY Amphibian Soap Kit and loved it- "fun for the whole family"! They also asked a practical question and I loved their answer!

"Why make your own soap? For the cost of one kit (kits range in price, the one we tested out retails for $19.75 and makes 12 soaps) you can make a bevvy of soaps at a cost far less than you would pay for these individual, unique soaps in stores. When you're done, you can purchase additional mica, and any other needed materials, to continue to make soaps at an even cheaper cost."

Read the full article here
Read more about being green on a budget on The Budget Ecoist and join their green forum here to share your eco friendly tips!

Press Opportunity

This just came across my email box today from Help A Reporter. If you'd like the email address of the reporter, please just email me at info (at) brambleberry (dot) com and I'll email to you.

Query:If you're a woman who has recently been inspired to take up crafty hobby
that you've never tried before--and have found it to be so
stress-relieving, therapeutic or lucrative that you've stuck with it--I
want to hear from you! Jewelry-making, knitting, canning, pickling,
candy-making, scrap-booking, candle-making, baking--whatever home art is
that you've taken up, let me know a little about what inspired you to start
and how it's been benefiting you (relieving stress, sharpening your skills,
bringing you closer to a family member or friend, earning you money,
etc.) Please put the words HOME ARTS in the subject line. I'll be in
touch with the name of the magazine if I'd like to move forward.
Thanks!

Inspired by: Love Spell Coming Soon...

We're bringing in a "inspired by" Victoria Secret's most popular fragrance: Love Spell.

Make your own lovely perfume, lotion or hand soap at an affordable price. The bonus is that the fragrance does not discolor or accelerate trace at all leaving you tons of time for fancy details and swirling.

Thanks to Aussie Soap Supplies for sharing their photo (complete with adorable stamp) of their soap made with this fragrance. Look for it on our site in 3 weeks.

Bite-Sized Chunks

Don't be a time manager, be a priority manager. Cut your major goals into bite-sized pieces. Each small priority or requirement on the way to ultimate goal become a mini goal in itself.

--Denis Waitley

If you missed my post last year about breaking down your goals, click here to review it.

Gettin' Knitty wit It

Jocelyn is the author of the Cute Crochet Blog that covers everything crochet. She was sweet enough to blog about our adorable knit soaps (get your Kitting Needles Soap Mold here). It's a perfect gift for those obsessed with the craft!

Looking for a crochet pattern? Check out Jocelyn's website Cute Crochet. She sells adorable patterns for slippers, afghans, baby booties, wedding decorations and much more.

Yes, it gives me the itch to get back into knitting again. I just don't think I've fully recovered from the last baby sweater that I made (numbness and tingles). Sigh...someday I'll be ready!

Mother's Day Tribute Soap

Tanya Chappell is a soaper from Australia. Her recipe is currently featured on the Aussie Soap Supplies site and was recently published in Saponifier Magazine. I thought it would be appropriate to share her Mother's Day Tribute Soap - because it's too darn cute not to.

Don't know how to make cold process soap? It's easy but there are some safety things to review before diving in. Learn the basics here and here, buy 'The Everything Soapmaking Book' here and buy the how-to DVD here. There are also lots of tips and tricks at TeachSoap.com

See Tanya's Recipe below

Sweetpea Delight Cold Process Soap

This soap has a creamy base colour with a pink and mauve swirl.

Ingredients:
300 gram Coconut Oil (30%)
250 gram Olive Oil (use light) (25%)
250 gram Rice Bran Oil (25%)
150 gram Palm Oil (15%)
50 gram Shea Butter (I used refined) (5%)
142 gram Caustic Soda (sodium hydroxide) - approx 5% superfat.
270 gram* Filtered Water, plus 1/4 cup aloe vera juice (added to oils)

(Total liquid content is discounted by approx 5% from full amount - I found when soaping at a higher discount - about 15% - that the FO accelerated trace somewhat)

20 gram/ml Brambleberry's Sweet Pea Fragrance Oil
Tussah Silk Fibre (optional) - about a small cotton ball sized wad - a little goes a long way.

Colours:
Pink & Blue Ultramarine Oxides dispersed in liquid glycerin; Titanium Dioxide powder 1/2 tsp.

Method:
Add silk fibre to water and sprinkle caustic soda on top of silk carefully! Follow all safety procedures for mixing lye solution. Silk will dissolve as the lye dissolves; stir occasionally. Allow to cool to 30 degrees.

Add TD (titanium dioxide) powder to either oils or aloe juice depending on whether it is liquid or oil dispersible. Bring oils to 30 degrees. I soaped a little cooler to help slow trace down a bit. I add my aloe juice to my oils before mixing in the lye solution (just a personal preference, and may help keep the batter a lighter tone in the finished product).

Follow instructions for an ITP swirl. I used about 1 cupful of batter for each of my two colours - colouring one 15 drops pink and the other with 15 drops pink and 5 drops blue .
I used a Nizzy 12 bar divider mould and after pouring in the soap batter I waited until it had reached a thick trace then swirled top of soap with a chopstick to get the texture in the pic. Then place dividers and cover for gel.

Best wishes, Tanya Chappell. Thanks for letting us share your recipe with the soaping community.

"Not Martha" Shout Out

Not Martha is a blog run out of Seattle Washington that I just love! Since 2001, Megan has shared her "Martha Stewart caliber" ideas and tutorials including baking and cooking, stuff to wear, temporary home improvements and of course, everything for holidays and parties.

Not Martha has been mentioned by Fred Flare and Daily Candy and was called one of the Coolest Websites of 2006 by Time.

Check out her FABULOUS blog (really, you must)!

Megan recently gave Soap Queen TV a shout out on her blog.
Thanks for the kudos!

Read the post here and check out SoapQueenTV here.

Turn It Up, Mom!

I just received the nicest email from MJ at the Turn It Up, Mom Blog. This blog is a survival guide for making the most of everyday as a mother. She found some of our tutorials in an article in Parent Guide News and blogged about it. Get crafty and try our recipes for Cookie Cutter Soaps, Embedded Toy Soap, Lip Balm and Bath Fizzies. See the recipes at their site here or just search the SoapQueen Blog. There are lots of good ones to choose from!

Visit Teach Soap for more helpful tips and tutorials!

All Hail the Queen

I just wanted to Thank Teresa R in Indiana for the shout out on her blog, Life, Homesteading and Everything. Even though she's taking a blogging break right now (self-imposed), she took the time to post our SoapQueenTV Schedule. Thanks, Teresa!

Read about her schwag bag here.

Watch SoapQueenTV here!

It's Gillian! Best CP Soap at HMSG

I fell completely head over heels in-like with a volunteer helper during my Advanced Lotionmaking classes. Gillian (from Little Bitty Soap Company) was amazing. She fixed everything, was everywhere and did it with a smile on her face. She also has hidden talents. She made the above soap and entered it in the "Soapers' Showcase" at the Handcrafted Soap Guild conference. Clearly, she's talented a being an amazing helper but even more clever with her soapmaking.

I was delighted (but probably not more than she) when she won the BEST cold process soap in the Handmade Soap Guild Show tonight for the soap ('Picture') above. Her unique style of swirling, layering AND embedding clearly wowed the voters and deservedly so. She is inspiring in person with her can-do attitude and her soaps are an aspirational art form for us all to aim for.

Check out her site here. Drop her a line and tell her how cool her soapy art form is.

Soap Queen Episode 3 Swirling

Ever wonder how to achieve those beautifully complicated looking swirls in Melt & Pour soap?

In this episode I'll show you how! Look out Cold Process soapmaking - M&P is taking on one of your best tricks.

Soap Queen TV Episode 3: Swirling M&P from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

We've made it really easy to follow along by creating a kit for making this exact soap project! It's only $29.99 and you'll end up with at least 10 bars of cosmically swirled soap. Check it out!

Why yes, we do sell BTMS-50!

Yesterday, I taught two back-to-back Advanced Lotionmaking classes. Each class was only 60 minutes and I covered types of emulsions and the HLB (Hydrophilic Lipophilic Balance) theory around lotion design. I spoke for exactly 16 minutes. And then? It was a free for all! I broke the class into five teams to make 5 different recipes. The teams made:

1. Classic Emulsifying Wax recipe

2. Beeswax/Borax Emulsifier Combo

3. Beeswax/Borax/Soy Lecithin Emuslfier Combo

4. Xantham Gum/Beeswax Emulsifier Combo

5. BTMS-50 as the Emulsifying Agent

I have to give the Xantham Gum/Beeswax group in both classes huge props (yes, that gloppy mess is Xantham Gum in the photo above). It is a common urban myth that Xantham Gum/Beeswax emulsifies into something resembling lotion. That is a lie. It looks more like snot and acts similarly. It even dries in sheets on your skin. You can peel it off. It is that strange and weird. The Xantham Gum/Beeswax groups in both classes really gave it their all working with this strange emulsifying system. They both heated up their stick blenders so much that we were worried that they were going to burn out!

Overall, while I did not take a vote, judging from the lotion learners coming up to me after the class, the BTMS-50 emulsifier blend is the clear and definite winner of the 5 lotions. You can mix BTMS-50 with Emulsifying Wax NF in regular lotions or just use it alone as the emulsifying agent.

Why BTMS-50 over straight Emulsifying Wax? Because BTMS-50 has a conditioning agent added to it that gives it just that extra silky, powdery feel on the skin. It's just as easy to work with as Emulfisying Wax NF and it has just that extra touch of smoothness that makes it feel expensive, classic and sophisticated. By the way, BTMS-50 can be used in hair conditioners as well. It's an easy, cost effective conditioner base. The recipe is here.

An even bigger surprise? I knew the Mango Peach Salsa fragrance would be a huge crowd pleaser (even Nate in the restaurant loved it when I brought him a freshly-made dollop of the lotion) but who knew that Fresh Zucchini Flower would be such a hit? It was the perfect light, fresh, airy fragrance without being overpowering and it was like a sneak-attack of "Hey! I love that! What fragrance is that!?"

Both classes were super troopers with the hands-on portion and it was one of the most fun classes I've ever taught, thanks to the awesome helpers the Soap Guild sent to be hands-on, and the exhuberant spirit of the attendees.

Breathtaking Wall of Soap

Wall of Cold Process Soap Entries from the Soapers' Showcase Entries
Inspiring. Breathtaking. Amazing.

Tired but Happy at the Soap Guild Show

I am a wee bit tired, after a day that started with a fabulous 6:15 a.m. Indie Fitness walk led by the incorporable Donna Maria and did not stop until 10:30 p.m. after a wonderful dinner (complete with hilarious entertainment!) sponsored by Essential Wholesale. In between those 16 hours, I also taught two back-to-back, hands on lotionmaking classes where we made 5 from-scratch recipes, testing different emulsification systems. Given that I have a 6:30 a.m. date with Donna Maria again tomorrow morning for a fitness walk, I hope you'll forgive the short post about The Handcrafted Soap Guild Conference goings-on today.


Erin Brockovich started us off with an inspirational story of how her movie was made, the behind-the-scene details, and her personal philosophies about life. One of the things I really appreciated about her messaging was that determination, persistence through adversity and "sticktoitiveness" (stick-to-it-ive-ness) is key to overcoming obstacles, meeting all challenges and thriving in life. It was refreshing to have someone say, "I've failed more times than I can count," and finish with the silver lining that resulted.


Above is one zany photo from the amazing full sit-down meal, comedy night stand up that Dennis and Kayla Fiorivanti put on for the entire Guild Gathering. This is just a few of us having fun (notice my ultra cool, supermodel pout?) - the fabulous Sindi from Georgia, Sandy from Alabama, Lela from South Carolina (Lela of Bella Lucce fame) and a helpful mime jester.

Tomorrow, I'll post more about the Advanced Lotionmaking classes and new tidbits that happen tomorrow. Thus far, this has definitely been the best Soap Guild Conference I have attended. It has run incredibly smoothly, the classes all have had A+ take-home value, and the mood of the attendees has been positive and happy. They announce the 2010 Conference location on Wednesday night; I can hardly wait.

Great News - We're Expanding

Remember that Birthday present I mentioned last week? Well here it is!

For immediate Release

Brambleberry.com is pleased to announce the purchase of an exquisite line of soap molds, originally produced by SpinningLeaf. Says founder Anne-Marie Faiola, “Purchasing the 4-cavity soap molds portion of SpinningLeaf is a dream come true for Bramble Berry. We had long looked for a strategic partner in the soap molds industry and this was a perfect opportunity.”

Bramble Berry has carried the SpinningLeaf line of soap molds under the name “Heavy Duty Molds” for over six years with excellent sales and customer comments. Because of this acquisition, Bramble Berry will continue to carry the soap molds under the Heavy Duty Mold line and supply other wholesalers with the quality soap molds. Debbie Chialtas, from soapylove.com, is delighted about the acquisition, stating, “I have long used the Heavy Duty Mold line because they are the most hearty and easiest to work with of all the molds. As a Bramble Berry customer, I’m thrilled about this news.”

Eye of Horus Soap by PJ Soaps using Heavy Duty mold

Faiola is so excited about the possibilities this line has that she has started an entirely new plastics manufacturing company called ELF Industrial (named after her younger brother’s initials) and promoted said-younger brother Erik Faiola to a managerial position within the company. Erik expands, “After two years of working at Otion – The Soap Bar, I am delighted to be taking this leap and learning an entirely new trade. The Spinning Leaf line is a natural choice for us to start with and I look forward to designing additional soap, wedding and plaster molds for custom projects.”

Lori Carter, the founder of SpinningLeaf says. “SpinningLeaf is honored to have passed the Heavy Duty Soap Mold line on to Bramble Berry! We are very confident that they are in great hands, and we are proud to be a part of Bramble Berry's growth. We look forward to working closely with Bramble Berry in the years to come to serve soap makers better than ever. We wish Bramble Berry and ELF Industrial all the best in their new venture!”

ELF Industrial will start producing the Heavy Duty Mold line in early June for retail and wholesale purchase.

Soap Guild Show Pre-Gaming

Greetings from the amazing and fabulous Miramonte Resort in Palm Springs, California. I'm here for the Soap Guild Annual Conference and so excited to see all the familiar faces.

Me, Kayla and the fabulous Marie (President of the Soap Guild)

After a lovely reception for sponsors and speakers, I snuck off to check in all the boxes for the Advanced Lotionmaking Classes. In the classes, we'll be making five different recipes with five completely different emulsification systems (from plain emulsifying wax to a beeswax/borax combo to soy lecithin and xantham gum). Did I mention the class is only one hour? With that short of a timeline, all the products need to be present and accounted for lest we have a disaster like the National Goatsmilk Show two years ago.

My shameful little secret was that earlier I had snuck a little bit of cheese back to my room from the reception, knowing that I had a full day of emails to catch up on and of course, sharing to do with you from the event. See my little cheese plate? Isn't it cute?

When I got back into my room around 9:30 after checking in all my boxes, what was waiting for me but the mother of all cheese plates? Four kinds of cheeses, flatbread Parmesan crackers, and copious amounts of fresh fruit and nuts along with a gracious note from President Marie Gale and Conference Organizer Leigh O'Donnell, thanking Bramble Berry for its sponsorship of the event. It put my (stolen) cheese plate to shame!

I am embarrassed to admit how much cheese I ate. There was some left and it is shoved into my mini-fridge in the room for tomorrow's midnight snack.

Tomorrow is a big day with a keynote by Erin Brokovich, a media presentation by Donna Maria Coles Johnson and a variety of breakout classes, including Melt and Pour by Lisa from Feto Soaps and yours truly for Lotions. I can't wait to share the details with you.