The Great Eyelash Experiment

It's a beautiful Sunday evening here in Bellingham, WA. I hope you've all had a fabulous weekend and got to relax a little bit today. I've spent the day with my fabulous husband and mother in law. And, I also found time to conduct a little eyelash experiment (and who better to share it with than my Soap Queen friends?).

Dear Diary,

Today is the first day on my quest for longer eyelashes. I just received my elongating eyelash kit in the mail from Talika. It's a plant extract based gel that will "possibly" grow my lashes longer and thicker in just 28 days. Can you imagine? Well, I'm giving it a shot! See ya in 28 days with the results!

XXOO,
~Anne-Marie

PS - Federal Trade Commissioners who might be reading my diary, I paid full retail for the Talika eyelash growth set. It's not a free sample.

What's New at Bramble Berry?

We've got some new additions to the line up of products at Bramble Berry.

8 oz Bottles with Natural Pump Tops, Silver Spray Tops or White Disk Caps. Take your pick!

4 oz Jars
Perfect for lotions, balms and scrubs!



Stainless Steel Bath Bomb Mold
Makes a professional looking, mondo sized bath bomb!


Lip Smacking Sweet Flavor Oil
An oh so sweet addition to any lip balm recipe.

Soap Queen TV 2010 Season Begins!

Soap Queen TV is back with a fun and unique project perfect for Valentine's Day!

This year we are focusing on other types of projects and techniques including Cold Process Soapmaking, Lotions, Scrubs and so much more so stay tuned!



Soap Queen TV - Massage Candles from Soap Queen on Vimeo.

Massage candles are a wonderfully luxurious treat to make for yourself or that special someone. A massage candle is a blend of skin safe waxes, oils and essential oils that melt at a low temperature, perfect for a warm and soothing massage.

Ingredients

4 oz. Container Soy Wax

1 oz. Deodorized Cocoa Butter

4 oz. Avocado Oil

5 oz. Shea Butter

1/2 oz Ylang Ylang Essential Oil

1/2 oz Patchouli Essential Oil

4 six oz. Candle Tins

4 WU 250 Wicks

From Camels to Cadbury

I've been back in the States going on 2 days now and am just getting back into the swing of things with jet lag and the fun accumulation of snail mail and work projects that built up while I was away.

We were very lucky and had a long layover in London so I went from Camels one night to Double Decker buses the next afternoon. It was surreal to go from sand to the pavement and hustle of London within one 24 hour period.

On our last day, we went to a farm out in the country side and rode camels, Arabian horses, hiked to the top of a hillside to watch the sunset and experienced traditional dancing, food & hookah smoking (Well, it was available. I'm a wimp and didn't try it). For future reference, camels are really, really tall and when you're in the air, you feel very high up. And, they're not smooth at all to ride unless they're running. When they are running, they're easy to ride but when they are walking, it's a core workout!

When we got back to our hotel (which overlooked the Red Sea), we were interested to see that there were blankets spread out all along the waterfront with small groups of people eating and hanging out in picnic-fashion. There were a lot of people out picnicing by the water, too. Imagine our surprise the next morning to find many of them still along the waterfront. The had stayed up all night! The photo from the top left is one of the picnic-groups leaving their area and walking away, presumably to go home and sleep.

And then it was off to London for 2 days. London was cold, drizzly and foggy but was steeped in history. We rode the Red Bus for the entire day on the first day, listening to the tour and marveling at the sights. In the evening, we went to go see the musical 'Wicked' (which we loved and highly highly recomend). On the second day, we went to the Tower of London and the Tate Modern. It was quite a juxtoposition - a tower that had been around since 1078 and then the Tate Modern, showcasing international modern and contemporary art. It was almost a 1000 year swing in time periods.

We were sad to leave the history-rich city of London but thrilled when we retuned home to Seattle to find that the weather in Washington state was warmer and more clear than in London (How is that possible? We typically have terrible weather in Washington state!).

I was delighted to see everyone at Bramble Berry and was especially thrilled that the 24-hour-turnaround goal had been kept for all of our orders that shipped while I was gone (yay!). A special thanks to Amber for doing such an incredible job with putting her spin on the blog and keeping everyone entertained with her screen printing and mad baking skills. She's quite a whiz.

Look for a new SoapQueen.TV video tomorrow! Sign up to receive the latest video news at SoapQueen.TV if you want to be the very first to be notified. Also in Bramble Berry news, we sent out a newsletter yesterday. If you didn't get it and you're a subscriber, let me know. There was an exclusive recipe in it for subscribers.

A Few of My Favorite Blogs

I hope you've enjoyed my posts while I've been babysitting the Soap Queen blog. Anne-Marie is safe at home and happily recovering from the long flight while desperately trying to adjust to our time zone. She's at work today and looking forward to resuming blogging this week but in the meantime....

Anne-Marie and I are huge consumers of Blogs. I say 'consume' rather than read because reading sounds so passive and we get so excited it feels like we're gorging ourselves at an all you can eat buffet for inspiration, projects, and pretty things to look at. We both have numerous blogs that we read everyday and the emails flying back and forth sharing favorite posts is a bit extreme at times. I thought it would be fun to share a few of my current favorites with you.

My Tartlette: Beautiful photography and dainty dessert recipes. I'm excited to try her macaron recipe.

ii-ne-kore: Interesting, unusual and random with a focus on Japanese design.

Oh Hello Friend: An inspiration blog with lovely pictures of stuff...I just love looking at stuff.

Paper Crave: All about paper from cute project ideas to adorable letter press cards to neat origami creations.

Something's Hiding in Here: I just love their style and their loft apartment - so cool!

Tipnut: They always have great, succinct round-ups of useful projects and ideas from all over the net.

Twig and Thistle: Another gorgeous design blog with a heavy leaning towards pretty paper things.

Chocolate and Zucchini: This cute blog satisfies the francophile in me. Her photos are gorgeous and I love trying out her recipes.

Decor8: Design blog based out of Germany that I love for the photos and colors.

Saudi trip to Aramco

I'm writing this from our long layover in London; I know it's not as timely as it could be but I wanted you to share in the incredible, once-in-a-lifetime experience at the Saudi Arabia Aramco refinery. We head back to Seattle today and it's not a minute too soon - I'm homesick!

We had a massive treat a couple days ago. We got out of the hotel by 5:30 a.m. to catch a private corporate jet (yep, that's the plane in the top photo) to the Saudi Aramco oil fields. The Aramco team flew our entire Entrepreneur’s group across the country to tour their oil fields and learn more about their company.

According to the presentation, Saudi is facing a massive problem. My memory is a teensy bit fuzzy but the demographic information for Saudi's future will be challenging for them: 70% of the population is supported by 30% of the population and within 10 (?) years, over 50% of the population will be under the age of 18 with no jobs in sight (since Saudi Arabia doesn't export anything besides oil). Aramco used the opportunity encourage the entrepreneurs in the group to partner with them in their Innovation Zones. They import a lot of industrial products for their oil fields and would like to manufacture those products in-country (to help produce jobs for future generations).

The official line is the Saudi government partnered and purchased Aramco from their U.S. counterparts back in the '70s. Some of the locals told me that they actually “appropriated” Aramco from a US based company back in the ‘70s for under market value. The truth probably lies someplace in the middle. Today, Aramco produces 1/10th of the world’s crude oil every single day. Their last plant cost multiple billions to build (memory is foggy but I think it was $2 billion) and they repaid it within four months. Saudi Aramco is thought to be (by far) the world’s most profitable company.

We were given a once in a lifetime opportunity to climb the sand dunes at Shaybah oil fields. We all kicked off our shoes and climbed the sand dunes and watched the sunset from these massive sand dunes. Climbing sand dunes is a lot of work (very, very physically taxing) but was so very worth it. It was breath taking and incredibly peaceful.

The Saudi Aramco company prides itself on being a “Little America” so they allow women to work with men and women can drive. When we got to our second destination of the day (three flights on the private jets – it wasn’t much of a hardship), the Aramco men greeting our plane INSISTED the women take off our abayas. Since we typically have understood that we will very much offend the locals and be under possibility of imprisonment if we are caught out in public
without our head coverings and abaya coverings, we were quite hesitant but the Saudi Aramco men wanted us to understand that they are ‘different’ at Saudi Aramco and welcomed us to wear our western-style garb. Even then, several of the women still left theirs on.

This permissive attitude only went so far however. When I asked, in a public Q & A session, if the women and children are allowed to live with the 700 worker men who work in this very very very remote section of Saudi, the man feigned puzzlement and said “Thank you for your comment.” Still having the mic, I said, “No, that’s a question. Are women and families allowed to stay with their husbands in your staff housing?”

He looked at me sideways, barked a short laugh, turned his back to me and said “No. No women. It’s very simple!” And when we were boarding the plane to go home, one of the women put her abaya on as she was cold and he said to her “Ah, you look much prettier in that.”

The trip to Aramco was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and I am so thankful that we were given the opportunity. And, if I could only figure out how to manufacture one of the parts that the Aramco company needs, I would be one happy businesswoman. I wonder if I can convince them that they need a lot of handmade soap?

Shea Butter Soap Cupcakes - Cold Process soap

Hi Everyone! Please welcome Erin from Naiad Soap Arts who generously offered to help me out while Anne-Marie is away. Erin's soap craftsmanship is mind boggling, not to mention beautiful. She created this amazing tutorial just for Soap Queen, enjoy! ~Amber

Have you been drooling over all of the cupcake themed bath and body treats lately? I have! Here is another to add to the collection - a deliciously sweet Cold Process Soap Cupcake scented with Strawberry and Cream cheese! The end result smells just like a cupcake!

If you unfamiliar with Cold Process consider this DVD or this Book. For your safety please do not try this until you are familiar with the Cold Process method of soap making and are familiar with safety precautions when handling Sodium Hydroxide. Many thanks ~ erin

Now let's get started!

Soap recipe for 6 cupcakes:
7.5 oz. Coconut oil 76 degree
7.5 oz. Palm Oil
6.25 oz. Olive Oil Pomace
2.5 oz. Castor Oil
1.25 oz. Shea Butter
7 oz. of distilled water
3.5 oz. of Sodium Hydroxide
1 oz. Cream Cheese Frosting Fragrance Oil
1 oz. Strawberry Fragrance Oil
we will be soaping at 100 degrees
There is a little extra soap incase you want to add more frosting than I did!
If not, have a small plastic container ready for extra soap!


Other supplies:
• Round Cupcake Silicone Mold
• 6 paper cupcake liners
• Flamingo Pink High PH Lab Color
• Iridescent Glitter
• Disposable Cake Decorating bag
• Plastic Star Cake Decorating Tip or stainless steel decorating tip
• Stick Blender
• scale

• safety goggles

• gloves

• plastic spoon

• stainless steel whisk (for thorough stirring)

• one, 2 cup microwave safe glass measuring cup

• one, 4 cup microwave safe glass measuring cup

• one, 8 cup microwave safe glass measuring cup

• one, 2 cup plastic or glass cup for measuring sodium hydroxide. (I have one measuring cup I use for sodium hydroxide and nothing else and I suggest you designate a sturdy measuring cup for this task)

• thermometer(s) that reads up to 200 degrees

• box large enough to fit the mold, and at least 6 inches deep.

For all supplies without a link you can do a web search to find them and many of the cake supplies will be available in a local craft or baking store. The measuring cups can be found at any big box store that sells kitchenware.

1) Get everything out and within easy reach. Line the cupcake mold with paper liners, cut the tip of the plastic disposable decorating bag so that the plastic star tip fits in it, weigh out your 1 oz of fragrance oils and set aside ( I like to save empty fragrance oil bottles for this), double check that you have all of your supplies ready.

2) In your 8 cup measuring glass, weigh out your Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, and Shea butter. Microwave until melted about 4 minutes

3) Add your olive oil and castor oil and set aside.

4 ) PUT ON YOUR SAFETY GOGGLES AND GLOVES. They will be on from here on out. :)

5) In your 2 cup glass measuring glass weigh out your water, set aside. In your 2 cup glass or plastic measuring cup weigh out sodium hydroxide. VERY IMPORTANT: in a well ventilated area mix the sodium hydroxide into the water (never the other way around). Be sure not to inhale any of the fumes as they are toxic. Stir with your plastic spoon until the solution is clear and all of the sodium hydroxide is dissolved - about 2 minutes. Set aside with your thermometer and wait for the temp to reach 100 degrees. Start with ice water to expedite this part!

6) Once the sodium hydroxide is just above 100 degrees, take the temperature of your oils and make sure they are also at 100 degrees. If it is too hot pop the container in an ice water bath and if it is too cool pop in the microwave for just a few seconds at a time. NOTE: temperatures can be within 5 degrees of each other. Slowly mix the sodium hydroxide solution into the oils while mixing with the same plastic spoon you used to mix the sodium hydroxide solution. Finish off by mixing with your stick blender until you achieve a light trace (looks like thin pudding). This took me about 1 minute.

7) Separate out 18 oz. of soap into your 4 cup glass measuring cup, add 1 oz of Cream Cheese Frosting FO, stir well, pour into your cupcake mold, and tap on the counter to level out soap. Set aside.

8) To the remaining soap add your 1 oz of Strawberry FO, and 40 drops of Flamingo Pink labcolor or until you get a pink that you like. The soap should be getting pretty thick at this point. Stir with your whisk until the soap is very thick and can hold shape.

9) Fill your disposable decorating bag with the strawberry pink soap. Make sure you hold the decorating tip securely in the bottom and keep it in place until the bag is full of soap. Twist the top or secure with a twist tie.

10) Begin piping frosting onto the tops of your cupcakes in a circular motion, building up tapered layers as you go. Repeat with all six cupcake soaps. I used a small star tip to get a tight ridge on the frosting but a larger tip will make for the big fluffy frosting look you have probably seen!

11) Sprinkle with glitter when you are finished.

12) Place a box over the top of the mold, tall enough for clearance for the soap frosting. Cover with a blanket and let sit undisturbed for 24 hours. After 24 hours your cupcakes should be very firm and easily removed from the mold. You can peel the paper at this point or keep it on. Let them cure for 4 weeks in a cool, dry place!

Afternote: the Cream Cheese Frosting FO will start to darken the soap because of the vanilla in the fragrance. I think the end result is going to be a tan color and you can see that starting to happen in the photo. If you do not want this to happen choose a non-discoloring Fragrance.

Happy Soaping!

Saudi Arabia is Going Straight to My Hips...

Greetings from Saudi! It's going exceedingly well, despite some surprising cultural norms around the way women dress and are treated (separate eating areas, separate meeting rooms etc). Being in Saudi has been a bit of a shock with all of the women in their burkas and abayas. It’s odd not to see women working in shops or driving. Women are still not allowed to drive in Saudi Arabia and up until a few months ago, they could not work in shops where men worked (‘mixing’ was illegal and now is just heavily frowned upon). That said, there are some incredible parts of the culture that are heart warming (emphasis on family is strong) and some surprising – like, they have Krispy Kremes here! It’s like an oasis in the desert to see American comfort food. In fact, we ate at a ‘South of the Border’ Mexican joint last night. That was hilarious. Saudi Arabia is a ‘dry’ country – no alcohol at ALL in the entire country yet look at the ‘chandelier’. It’s made out of empty beer bottles that they can’t drink here. And the coaster? Is it a 'margarita' if there is soley Lime Juice and a salt rim?

Food is another big part of the culture here. I've been eating a lot. It probably has to do with the no-waist abaya; there's no waistband to remind me I've eaten too much. This is just a small fraction of the desserts that we had at one of our first functions here. Doesn’t it all look insanely good?

In our Hilton (a little liberal oasis), they have a small little non-head-scarf wearing area for the American women (though we do have to sit on our women’s section for all the educational classes behind one-way mirrors; we can see the men and the speaker but they can’t see us). My husband and I were able to meet some local dignitaries (as evidenced by their golden robes). My husband’s company does work in Saudi Arabia so it was great to strengthen his relationships in the country.

The head scarf is a strange thing for me to wear. I’ve always been an exceedingly opinionated, strong willed woman. To not have men look me in the eyes or take my order at restaurants is a new experience. My husband is always by my side on this trip as women traditionally are accompanied by a man. When we were in the hotel lobby the first day, I turned around and my husband lost me. With me turned around, I looked like every other woman in the lobby. He found me again, surprise, confusion and a whiff of panic in his eyes, "I thought I lost you. You can't tell who you are from behind."

Another difference here is that there are separate sections in restaurants for women & children and then one just for the men. My husband typically is the only man in the area. Many of the of the other men have left their women and children in the 'family' area and are seated by themselves in the 'men only' area. It’s just one of the interesting and different cultural norms that I am getting used to.

As if the schedules didn't keep us busy enough, the internet is quite spotty and expensive in our room. I've been missing Facebook, Twitter and interacting with friends and customers on this blog and the Teach Soap forum. It's yet another thing I took for granted in the States. I'll try to post another update on Sunday. Until then, happy soaping! =)

Soapylove tutorial: Rainbow Carnations!

The weather outside might be cold and unfriendly but these Rainbow Carnations will warm up any room! Plus they're a great project when you're stuck inside. All you need are a bunch of fresh white carnations (baby or full size are fine) and your set of Jewelry Box Colorants. Now let's get started!

First, get 2 cups of warm tap water and 5 or 6 glasses. Fill each glass about 1/2" full then put 3-4 droppers full of colorant in each (use each color individually, plus mix them to get other shades. Check out this handy color mixing chart here). Pour remaining water into a bowl, then cut your carnation stems about 6" long, at an angle, under the water. Immediately put your cut flowers in each cup.

Depending on how fresh your flowers are and how intense your color mixture is, you may start to see color in as little as one hour and get full color saturation in 24 hours.

To arrange your flowers in a pot like in the photo, take a small pot, a plastic cup, and a block of oasis. Cut your cup down so the top is below the rim of the pot. Then cut your oasis with a knife until it's slightly bigger than the bottom of your cup. You should push it down so it's wedged into the cup. Now start sticking your flower stems into the foam, working from the outside edge into the center. Then fill your cup with water. Ta da!!

SHORTCUT!: If you are feeling impatient and want to see some seriously instant results, cut your flower just below the bud (under warm water!) and put in a tiny cup like a shot glass with warm heavily colored water. I started seeing color in 5 minutes!! Have fun!

-Debbie, Soapylove

Making Pasta with Amber

While Anne-Marie is in Saudi Arabia I am guest blogging on Soap Queen - thanks for stopping by!
I always enjoy Anne-Marie's cooking adventures and thought I'd share one of my favorite recipes with you. Recently, thanks to my co-worker Norm, I have fallen in love with making pasta. Norm lent me his hand crank pasta machine in the fall and I rolled away on it for months. And then for Christmas, I got the pasta attachment for my stand mixer as well as some other cool accessories. My 'cranking arm' has been much happier ever since. If you aren't lucky enough to have the fun kitchen gadgets I have - don't worry. You can make pasta with nothing more than a rolling pin, a sharp knife, and some elbow grease.

First, assemble your ingredients:

5 ounces Semolina Flour

5 ounces unbleached All Purpose Flour

3 Eggs

Rind and juice from half of a lemon

1 to 2 teaspoons Black Pepper

Place all ingredients in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until it starts to come together into a ball. Sprinkle in a little extra water if it seems too dry.

Gather the dough on a floured surface and knead it a little to incorporate any of the stray bits. Form it into a nice ball and place in the fridge for at least an hour. You could even leave it in the fridge over night and conquer the rest of the pasta the next day (I've definitely done that before).
Here's my set-up for rolling the pasta. There's my blue mixer with the pasta attachment hanging off the front, a floured tray for laying the pasta on as I work with it, and a pasta drying rack.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Place the pasta machine on the widest setting and pass the pasta through. Fold it over and pass it through a few more times until it's smooth and pliable. Then start to turn down the thickness and pass the pasta sheets through until it's as thin as you like. If your pasta feels a little sticky at this point, just brush some flour on it before passing it through the rollers.Once your have all of your pasta rolled to the thickness you like, it's time to cut!

I have a spaghetti cutting attachment that I used on this batch. Once your pasta is cut you can immediately cook it and eat it - just make sure you don't over cook it. Fresh pasta doesn't take long! If you want to store it place it in a plastic container with a seal top using LOTS of flour between the layers. You want it swimming in flour to make sure it doesn't stick together. Although it will keep for a week or two, I recommended eating it within a few days. Because otherwise, what's the point of making fresh pasta if it isn't fresh when you eat it?

Screenprinting Adventure

It's Amber here again, filling in while Anne-Marie is globe trotting. Checkout the new little clock widget I found to show us what time it is in Saudi Arabia (over on the right).
As I mentioned yesterday, we recently purchased a Yudu screen-printing system here at Bramble Berry. So I thought it would be fun to share my experience printing with it. If you are looking for a way to make your tags and labels for your soap and other products stand-out, I think screenprinting is a great way to do it.

The benefits of screenprinting are that it is inexpensive after you have purchased your equipment (and even that can be pretty cheap), you can print on a variety of surfaces (fabric, paper, etc) and aren't limited by what can go through a copy machine. The downside is that it's pretty labor intensive, but if you have the time, it's the cool way to go!

You can find basic instructions for the Yudu here. In addition to the Yudu system, you will need a deep utility sink with a sprayer attachment (or you can use a garden hose outside or go to a car wash and use their pressure washer) and somewhere to hang or lay your pieces while they dry.

Here, I am working on the Soap Queen aprons and T-shirts. First I'm rinsing out the emulsion in the sink, next I'm printing the first color (the yellow hair) and finally I'm showing Anne-Marie how it will look when I get the next screen printed over the top. It's a multi-step process that would be a huge blog post on it's own. But if anyone is interested in a step-by-step Yudu tutorial, just let me know.

Here's a great video tutorial I found that you might try if you aren't sure if screen printing is for you. The technique uses supplies you probably have on hand.

And to close, I'll leave you with a few inspiring screen printed cards from Etsy. Can you just imaging what cute tags or wrappers you could make for soap with this technique?

The first example is from JPress Designs, the center example is by magicjelly, and the adorably leggy package is by Reuse First.

Letterpress Obsession

The time has come! Anne-Marie is off in Saudi Arabia and I am now in charge of the Blog in her absence. Anne-Marie will be back next week but in the mean time, my co-workers and I have numerous ideas for what we'd like to share with you!

But my first order of business is to enlist your help in getting me a new toy.

I was very successful in convincing Anne-Marie that we absolutely needed a YUDU screen printing machine. I made some T-shirts and an apron for the new Soap Queen TV videos - I'll share more about that with you tomorrow. So I think I'm on a roll!

I am dying to get my hands on this new Letterpress machine from QuicKutz. Anne-Marie and I both share a love for all things letterpress (some past posts on her letterpress loves are here, here, and here). So I'm guessing it won't be too hard to convince her of the "absolute necessity" of this new gadget - but I'd appreciate any help I can get! So, leave a comment about how excited you are to see my letterpress creations for Soap Queen and Bramble Berry.
My love of letterpress started with my study of Book Arts. I was lucky enough to take bookbinding and letterpress classes in college from Elsi Vassdal Ellis. Above is an example of her work.
After I graduated I took a workshop at Stern & Faye Printers. Each person in the class made their own 'calling cards' using the antique type in their collection. Above is a letterpress collage created by Chris Stern, who sadly passed away in 2006.
Sometime soon I hope to take a workshop from a local print shop, Bison Letterpress. Pretty much anytime I notice a cool poster or business card around Bellingham, it turns out it was made by them. Checkout the gorgeous soap labels and boxes they created above.

As you can see my (minimal) letterpress experience is sure to make my creations with the Quickutz Letterpress machine an absolute success and I most definitely deserve one! I'm sure you'll agree and I'm crossing my fingers that Anne-Marie will, too.