Allen Stone - Sleep (Official Video)

This has nothing to do with soap, I just really like it! Enjoy!

Limited Edition - Spike

Well since Murray has a soap that he inspired (Murray with "stripes" of Pink Clay) I thought it only fair that Spike should have HIS own soap as well! It's black with swirls of white mica, (he's all black bu that would have been boring for soap!) the only thing is, since the scent is heavy on vanilla, it's possible that the white may get darker, we'll see in about a week. The scent is Creme Brulee, it's sweet like Spike!

Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday, I hope you get some time with friends and family. I"ll get some time with all 3 of my boys, which is very special and doesn't happen often enough! Enjoy!

The Murray Candle

So I was mentioning to a customer/friend that I was going to do the Murray scent in a candle (Jasmine/Tiarre blend) and she wanted to do the graphics for me! I had no idea that she's such a great artist, and since Murray is one of her favorite soaps, how cool that she did the art for the candle label! Sorry the picture isn't great, it's with my phone, my camera, well, that's another story! These will be available starting next weekend, then after the New year I'll be putting them up on the website as well :-)

Baby ones!

I have been making candles for a short time and ordered some tea light containers and wicks as well, and the wicks are too many cute! You can see a regular wick and the baby ones! So cute!

Cute Shower Idea

Not THAT kind of shower, a WEDDING shower! A customer had asked me to make some of the "mini's" for her and leave the front panel blank. The shower was all in a Paris theme, and they used a stamp of the Eiffel Tower for the front of the soap, and the invitation you see in the picture was also done with that in mind. It was such a really unique idea, something for you to keep in mind for your next shower, wedding or baby!

A Favorite

While I was in the Studio today, one of my favorites movies was on, so of course I got to watch the whole thing. This picture was captured by my phone, from my TV! If you haven't see "The Ghost and Mrs Muir" please do, that was the inspiration for our "Captain Gregg's Choice" - I thought the Captain would enjoy the blend of Lemongrass, Tea Tree and Mint with Sea Kelp!

A GIGGLE with the GOATS Jingle Bells Holiday Performance

Festive

These will be available this weekend, they were alot of fun to do, I was really happy with the way the swirl came out. They are scented with peppermint fragrance.

Scrub Bars

You guys know I try to do these every year, in limited quantity, I can't remember if I made them last year though. I redesigned the label and am pretty happy with it. They'll be joining me in Concord tomorrow. I have something else I"m working on for you too, more on that later, still in R & D :-) The only thing I'll say is that it isn't soap!

Playing with Glycerine

I was playing around today and did this. I was pretty happy with it, too bad you can't see how sparkly it is, I used Mica for the colorant. The only bad thing was it took 4 pours to achieve this look, so don't expect to see many of these! LOL

Some of the Halloween Soap

I had a lot of fun with this one, the soap is Sundance (Orange, Tangerine and Grapefruit)with a coral and black swirl! I thought of doing it in pumpkin, but that makes a darker soap and I was afraid the swirl wouldn't show. The front of the label has been stamped, isn't that a cute idea? I did some shower favors for a customer who was doing the shower in a P

aris theme and did little Eiffel Towers on the front of her soaps, so the stamp idea is hers, but she inspired me! Anyhow, here they are:

The tiger

I got to take a picture of the rest of the Tiger's face today, it's a week later and I can hardly believe it's still there! Anyhow you can see how gorgeous it turned out!

Italian Street Painting Festival

I really am not sure why "Italian" is still in the title, but this festival is alot of fun. They do these amazing drawings in chalk on the Plaza by Starbucks. I was sorry I didn't get to see the tiger finished, but here are a couple for you, enjoy!

The Martini one was very 3-D in person!

another sneak peak

This is what I'm working on next, no you can't eat itits actually

glycerine soap! This one is scented in Black Cherry. The ribbon is pink BTW, I have no clue why it looks purple!

Holiday Packaging

Yes, I'm already thinking about that! Every year I say I'm going to get some pretty holiday bags for the bigger sales I have at Market and the time always runs out before I have a chance to order them. So today the new Nashville Wraps catalog came and I have already been looking at the bags, I have it narrowed down to two or three choices!

Which one do you like better?

Finished Bears

As promised, here are the pictures of them completed. You can see from one picture how much darker they became (it's the vanilla that does that) and in the other you can see the completed product with its cute little tag! I think these would just be an adorable gift!

I'll have a couple for today and some for this weekend too!

Bears oh my!

I've been having a lot of fun in the Studio, time to get caught up on things, feels so good to not be as under the gun as I have been!
This is what I've been working on this week, these adorable little bears are made in the "Snickerdoodle" scent and smell positively yummy! They'll be ready in a week or so and the gift tags that are going to be attached are just as sweet as can be, the tags actually inspired the little bears, I'll post some pictures for you when they're ready. What do you think?

Sorry the picture isn't better!

the new one!

here's a link for you to the new one, I am really pleased with the way it came out, I think the label is pretty cute too! https://www.etsy.com/listing/108083181/honey-shea-goat-milk-soap

After some time

So here's the batch of "Blind Swirl" Soap, did I mention it's Pumpkin Spice? I couldn't wait til the holidays and I know this one gets dark so it's the perfect choice to do this with. I'm sure it will get even a little darker, but now you can clearly see the difference in the colors!

just after slicing

You can see the difference in the colors just a tad, I'll take another picture in a few days so you 'll see how it develops! Isn't it interesting that it all started off the same color?

The beginning of the blind swirl

As promised, I made the soap with the blind swirl, you can see the "batter" in the picture. The soap in the bucket looks more orange, however its' just the light in the Studio, they are just about the same color. I"ll slice it tomorrow and get a picture for you and then again in a few days and we'll watch the soap develop together! I just hope that you'll be able to tell what parts actually change, I couldn't tell when I was making it!

Interview with a Soapmaker (and you thought I was gonna say vampire!)

The following is from an interview about my career as a soapmaker, in case you were wondering!

Interview with a Soap Maker
Read as Carla Brooks talks about her career as a Soap Maker. Find her at www.deltamoonsoap.com or www.deltamoon.blogspot.com and on her Twitter feed in the sidebar of this interview.

What do you do for a living?

I make and sell handmade soap.

How would you describe what you do?

Where do I begin? I created the recipe that I use and it’s the basis of all the soap I make, over 30 varieties. I then sell the soap on-line as well as at the Farmers Markets and in a couple of local stores/shops as well.

What does your work entail?

Well, it’s everything you see and a lot that you don’t see. From lugging in the heavy boxes of oils (my husband and son help!) that I have to go get, to designing and printing the labels, making the soap of course, keeping inventory so you know what you may run out of, and then all the other things associated with a business. Things like bookkeeping and marketing – I can’t say enough about that one, you MUST do promotion so that people can find you, without that, there’s no point! When you start a business remember that the distribution channel is VERY important, how your customer will get your product. There are just a ton of little things that I do that I really don’t think of, but that keeps it interesting!

What’s a typical work week like?

It can vary a bit for me depending on if I have to travel for supplies and what soaps I need to make as well as what new things I will create. I like to do a Limited Edition soap each month, I call that “Playing” because I get to be creative and put different combinations together. It’s a lot of fun for me. The usual things I do each week are managing my on-line shops and of course attending my 4 Farmers Markets a week. That involves traveling to where the Market is and setting everything up and selling for 4-6 hours. That part can be challenging in the weather because the Farmers Markets are there rain or shine, and the customers really believe in supporting their local businesses and so they come and support us rain or shine as well. I have to add that selling soap in the rain can be a challenge too! So after Market I come home and unload (husband and son help usually) and then restock for the next Market. I’d have to say the biggest part of the Markets for me is the preparation, you have to make sure you are well stocked so you don’t disappoint your customers.

How did you get started?

I actually got started because when my 3 sons were little, we went through a lot of soap! I started reading about what kinds of things are in commercially made soap (scary chemicals!) and decided I could do a better job making it myself. We shared it with friends and family who encouraged me to sell my soap, and that’s what we did, we started in 2000.

What do you like about what you do?

Too much to list! I love the freedom my schedule allows me, I love that I get to be creative. I like being my own boss, there’s really very little I don’t like.

What do you dislike?

The mundane stuff you have to do like lining the soap molds, separating the oils into batch sized increments, it’s not bad, just boring and repetitious.

How do you make money/or how are you compensated?

Well the cool thing about working for yourself is that there’s no “payday” (that’s a bad thing too!). I get paid whenever I make a sale. From the wholesale it’s nice because you send them a box of soap and get paid right away (most of the time, with some accounts you have to wait 30 days, that all depends on the arrangement you make with the shop when you first get together). With on-line sales I get paid right away as well. With the Farmers Market you get paid right away too, the tricky part of that is, you never know what kind of a day you’ll have. Sometimes you’re very busy and other times it can be slow, things like holidays, and extreme weather can affect your sales. I really love talking with my customers, most of which have become friends over the years. I also like the instant feedback I get from them, it’s very helpful in knowing which way the trends are going, so that affects my future creations. So you can see each way has it’s own challenges and benefits.

How much money do Soapmakers make?

Well soapmakers incomes can be VERY varied!

$15k to $60k per year is possible although there are so many contributing factors like how active they are etc. It can be done!

It has many factors that go into it, depending on what products you offer, your market or customers and really how dedicated you are with it. I feel like you get back what you put in most of the time. Like, when you are at an event selling your product, you want to be there, smiling and making eye contact with your customers, sitting and reading will not help you! As far as numbers that’s hard for me to say. I have heard so many different things from other “soapers”. I will say that it’s hard work but rewarding and you can make a living at it, but I don’t know that you’ll get rich, at least that’s been my experience.

How much money did/do you make starting out?

In the beginning I didn’t make much, had a lot to learn about business and am STILL learning! The thing with being self-employed is that you have to figure out some of the things by yourself. There’s no manual of Operating Instructions, all the decisions are yours and that could be good or bad! I worked at my day job for the first year and then took a HUGE leap of faith and went on my own. The first year or so you’re just lucky to have a profit at all.

What education, schooling, or skills are needed to do this?

Well there are classes now that are helpful, (Nova Studios if you’re in the Bay Area). With me, soap making was self-taught, but if you can do classes, that’s so much easier! My skill-set I think has been developed by all the things I’ve done up to this point. I was Operations Supervisor at a bank, and the last job I had was as a Registered Veterinary Technician. Each thing taught me something that I utilize each day. I think the biggest thing is just being “tenacious as a weed” and not giving up. You do need to have some problem solving skills too. It falls on your shoulders when challenges crop up.



What is most challenging about what you do?

It can be a challenge to have the self discipline at times, like when you really would rather goof off than make 180# of soap! When sales are slow it can be a challenge being able to get all the supplies that you need. That’s where the problem solving comes in too. I think that’s probably it though, I’ve been doing this for a while so that gives me a pretty good feeling for how to deal with things.

What is most rewarding?

That’s another one that has too many to list! I love being with my customers, hearing what they’re up to. I love when they’ve used my soap as a gift and they tell me how their recipient enjoyed it. I also love it when someone that can’t use regular soap because of their sensitive skin tries my soap and they find that their skin is so much happier. It’s very rewarding to know that you’ve had a part in making someone else happier. I enjoy working with my friends at the Farmers Market. We’re really a community in fact, sort of a family.

What advice would you offer someone considering this career?

I say go for it! It’s wonderful! Do know that it won’t always be a bed of roses and there will be challenges for sure, but I think you would get that with any job where you had this much freedom. I think it takes a special kind of person to be self-employed, its not for the faint of heart! For me, the rewards far outweigh the challenges.

How much time off do you get/take?

Personally I don’t take much, but other folks can, it really depends on how you want to do it. I really enjoy what I do and am very passionate about it, so it doesn’t feel like work really. ( I call working in the Studio “playing” in fact ). Every now and then I do take a couple of days off. I post it on my website and try to give my customers notice whenever I can as I know they depend on my being there when they need me, but there’s a great deal of flexibility in this line of work.

What is a common misconception people have about what you do?

That it’s really easy! It is, I mean the actual making the soap is very easy once you’ve done all your research and know what you’re doing! But it’s all that comes with it. Folks seem to think that because you set your own hours, you sit on the beach drinking margaritas all day. It would be nice, but that’s not the reality! It requires a lot of dedication and discipline. It never goes away. There’s always the Studio telling you that there’s something that needs to be done. Oh and the other thing is, that people think that you only work a few hours and make all this money. The reality is, that when you work for yourself, at least for me, I have worked much harder than I ever have for anyone else, but it’s a question of how do I spend my time, doing something I really love and make a living at it, or doing something for maybe less hours that I don’t feel as passionate about. I wouldn’t trade it!

What are your goals/dreams for the future?

Not to get rich really, just to be able to make a decent living. I’ll continue to watch trends and see what people are looking for and enjoy. I love that I can change anything about my products very easily since it isn’t mass produced. I’m actually very content and am just happy to be able to do what I do. A lot of people aren’t able to say that.

What else would you like people to know about your job/career?

The most cool thing about being a “soaper” is that there are SO many ways to do it! There’s no end to the possibilities! Give yourself some time to learn everything, do your research, there can be a lot to learn. If you have the dream, do it!







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Blind Swirl

So when you work with anything that has vanilla in it, it turns dark. When you're doing a blind swirl, it means you're working with something that has vanilla in it and something else that doesn't, so that all the soap is the same color until it has a chance to oxidize and get darker, that's when the fun starts, you can see the definition of each shade.
Next week I am going to do a batch with a blind swirl for you, and I'll take a picture of it at each stage so you can see how much fun it is!
Stay tuned!

Limited Edition

The funny thing about Plumaria is that when I first started making soap, all those years ago, I was working in the kitchen and spilled an ENTIRE bottle of Plumaria fragrance! Needless to say the kitchen smelled amazing however it was a bit much and I got really burned out on it, to the point where I just couldn't even stand to smell it! Well, that's been a long time ago and I"ve been getting a lot of requests for it, so it will be the next Limited Edition, it will debut on Saturday in Pleasanton!

Steve Jobs

I picked up a book the other day "The wisdom of Steve Jobs", it's a short read, like 110 pages, full of quotes from him over the years. I enjoyed reading it and a lot of the quotes in the book pertained to being an entrepreneur, here's my favorite: "I'm convinced that about half of what separates the successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance. It is so hard. You put so much of your life into this thing. There are such rough moments in time that I think most people give up. I don't blame them. It's really tough and it consumes your life. If you've got a family and you're in the early days of a company, I can't imagine how one could do it. I'm sure its been done, but its rough. Its pretty much an 18 hour day job, seven days a week for awhile. Unless you have a lot of passion about this, you're not going to survive" I think this is true. I know I have seen a lot of brand new companies at the Farmers Market come and go through the years, folks have this perception that it's going to be so easy and nothing could be further from the truth. So to those of you who have made the commitment and made it through, I salute you! Good job!

Sliced Paisley Rose

As promised, here it is sliced! It's very pretty, the color may yet change, I'm not sure about that, but it's between pink and lavender.

Paisley Rose

I so seldom play with color, but I have to admit it's a lot of fun! This will be the Limited Edition after next (next will be Plumaria). I called it Paisley Rose, it's a blend of rose and sandalwood with Shea Butter. The color looks lavender, and is supposed to end up pink, the color will depend on the actual soap itself, so we shall see tomorrow when I slice it! I'll post a picture for you then, so here it is in the mold, most of the color will show after it's sliced.

Cool Shirt

This is one of my favorite purchases of late

I really love the message of it, Pits are such a misunderstood breed, as a former Registered Veterinary Technician, I can tell you that any dog can be mean and nasty, it depends on how they are raised. Man I hate skanky people that do those horrible things to dogs (and other people for that matter). Anyhow, check out the shop, it's on Etsy, here's the link for ya http://www.etsy.com/shop/fandangotees?ref=seller_info

Place for bad little monkeys!

Like I really need a place to spend more money, right? But here it is, I'm sharing it with you.... it's sorta like Pinterest, but it's all things you can buy, interesting things and they come from all kinds of on-line venues. I have already bought a couple of things on there. You know, things I couldn't live without once I discovered their existence! Without further ado it's http://wanelo.com/ the thing you can feel good about is that most of the things there are handmade, so you are supporting an artisan, OK, that's gonna make you a good little monkey! :-)

Honey Vanilla

Here's a picture of the next Limited Edition, Honey Vanilla. It has ribbons of buttery vanilla in a gorgeous honey soap. I thought the ribbons on top almost looked like bacon, I'd never do that, I'm a vegetarian :-) Next to that is a batch of Oatmeal, Milk and Honey and another batch of Murray (Jasmine/Tiarre Flower/Kaolin Clay). I'll try to post a picture of it after it's sliced tomorrow.

Slight Diversion

I was as far as I could go today until a box of supplies came, so we went for a walk downtown Antioch. There was this cute little thrift store and I found the funkiest little handmade mug in there, of course I HAD to get it, it was funky cool! Doesn't it remind you of bloomers?!

More Fancies

Thought you'd like to see some of the new designs for the Fancies I"ve been working on for you. It's not a great picture and they are wrapped up in plastic so there's a touch of glare, but you get the idea, they'll be available this weekend along with their pretty gift tags :-)

Fabulous Etsy Seller

You guys know how much I love pretty earrings and I just received the ones pictured today and couldn't be more pleased! The Etsy shop is http://www.etsy.com/shop/PiggleAndPop?ref=seller_info. I loved the selection and design of her products and they were quickly sent to me and gorgeously wrapped in a little gift box with a ribbon. These are just for me, but if you are looking for a beautifully made gift that will bring a lot of pleasure to your recipient, please check them out! Choosing was the hardest part!

A little color

So I've been really pleased with the reception I've received with the new Gardener's Bars, so I thought I'd add a little color to the stamped bags, I really like the way it looks! What do you think?

Never miss an opportunity

A dear friend of mine just lost a loved one this week. Long before it was time. Life is so precious, and short. Please remember to tell your loved ones how important they are to you. Never miss an opportunity.

Garden Bars

This is our latest product,our Gardener's Bars. They will probably just be seasonal unless you guys let me know that you need it to be available all year. They are made with made with essential oils of orange and mint, then Shea Butter, Calendula Petals and fine sand for exfoliation. They are each in their own little muslin bag which can be hung on the faucet outside so it has a convenient place to be when you need it, it also makes a cute gift. Sorry the picture isn't more clear, I love the stamps with the cats, I know that's a shock! they will debut tomorrow at Concord.

My ever changing schedule

I was at my Antioch Kaiser Market yesterday. I do that one twice a month, it gives me 5 Markets one the weeks I do them. It prolly doesn't sound like that much, but trust me, one more Market is quite a lot of work. I don't mind it really if it's a busy Market and for me it's quiet to somewhere in the middle. So after yesterday's Market I asked if I could just do it once a month. I am so busy these days that it kills me to know that I could be getting caught up rather than standing where it's not too busy, for me anyhow. Hopefully this will help me keep up with production! So, I'll be there just the first week of the month. Ahhhhh :-)

Rose Fancies

These will debut this weekend, I just LOVE the way they turned out, aren't the tags just gorgeous?

Fancies Revisited

So I am revamping them a little, you'll still have the cute shapes, but with a new tag that you can use as your gift card! Some of the tags are the ones I was using on the muslin bags, and some are new and very pretty. I love the ones pictured, they are sort of grunge looking but I really like them. I'll prolly be ordering more too, so I worked very hard today making up a basket of them for the Concord Market. Enjoy!

Bringing 'em back

The Fancies made such nice gifts, cute little shapes of soap in an organza bag, I decided to bring them back but with a little change. Now they will have a pretty gift tag that you can write your gift message on. I ordered some pretty colors of organza bags today and even some new tags. Etsy has some very talented Graphic Designers and that's where I found these particular tags, although I have others too that I know you'll like. The best thing is if the tag you want is on another Fancy, you'll be able to switch them out :-)

Encouragement

I was thinking this morning about this friend of mine from the Market. He's a very new vendor and just started biz within the last year or so. Of course the thing with starting any new business is that it's very scary. It's a HUGE leap of faith. You're working without a net (Annette who? LOL). Anyhow, I just wanted to say, if you know someone who's starting a business, please give them all the encouragement you can, I think its one of those things you have to experience to truly understand what it is, but a little encouragement goes a long way! Trust me, it will mean alot to them!

Simon's Cat in 'Tongue Tied'

waiting for the dust to settle

Sorry I haven't had a chance to catch up with you guys, this last week has been a blur! The first and third weeks of the month are when I have 5 Markets, and let me tell you one more Market creates a LOT more work! It's not so bad, I can work around it, it's just that it doesn't leave much time for other things! One of the new developments this last week has been the new phone. As you know I have always taken credit cards using the old school "knuckle buster" and then running them when I got home, it was seldom a problem until a few weeks ago when cards issued by Wells Fargo refused to be processed any other way than with a credit card reader. Of course having a Blackberry, that left me no options as even the one credit card reader that DID work, discontinued working with it! So I had to get a new phone that would work with the Square, and THAT I love! If you haven't yet seen it, it's this very cool little card reader that attaches to your phone to process credit card transactions. The funds are them credited to your checking account. Most credit cards the fee is 2.7% which is even better than what I was getting with www.propay.com. If you need to process credit cards, do check it out at www.squareup.com Hopefully I'll be better able to keep up with you the next two weeks only 4 Markets, ahhhhhh.

London Lemon Curd update

Well I am now calling it "crazy London Lemon Curd" when I speak of it, so far it has sold out at every Market its been to! I need to seriously ramp up production of this one!

I have a few more things I'm working on for Limited Editions too, I just love it though when I do something that has such a HUGE reception!

Better get back to it, I call it "Mayhem Monday" it's always a tad insane, and this is a 5/Market week, so can you say B U S Y?! Hope you all have a fabulous week!

(Hey Arthi!)

London Lemon Curd Goat Milk Soap with Shea Butter and complimentary samples too - $6.00

Our newest addition....London Lemon Curd is one of those rare soaps that went right to our stock. We usually introduce a soap as a Limited Edition to see how well its received, with this one, it did not pass go or collect $200, it's available to you NOW! We really love this scent, slightly tart and yet sweet at the same time, there's a hint of vanilla and Litsea in this, we know you'll enjoy it as much as we do! Oh and we added...

Click Here to Visit My Etsy Shop!

The new beer

sorry to leave you guys hanging, this last 3 weeks has been a blur of activity!
So I made the soap with the new beer, it behaved perfectly. So now that it's done, you really can't tell the difference that much in the finished soap, I'm sort of disappointed as I was thinking the tangerine would have been fabulous. Guess I'll just have to drink it now! :-) How I suffer for me art! LOL

New Beer

Sunday I was at my Martinez Farmers Market and the vendor next to me was asking what kind of beer we use for the All Purpose Honey Beer Bar and I told him it was a locally brewed Apricot wheat beer. He told me about this beer brewed in Eureka made with Tangerene! Man that sounded amazing, so after my hunt, I finally found some and made a batch with the new beer. I'll slice it tonight and let you guys know what I think of it, it's a very subtle scent it ads to the soap anyhow, but that sounded so good! Beer is pretty good too, I HAD to try it to make sure it was safe :-) The stuff I have to do for you guys ! LOL

So sweet!

Saturday, there was an event at the park behind the Market in Pleasanton, it was made up of Artisans selling their wares, really pretty stuff too. Before I went over to check it out, one of my customers came up and I asked her if she was there too because I know she does pottery. She said she was there which was great because I wanted to check out her work. So anyhow, she said, come check us out, but that she had something - for me! It's the gorgeous little soap dish pictured. Isn't the detail so pretty? I was just really touched by it and wanted to share it with you guys! I have the nicest customers!

Opening Day

I was invited to participate in the Martinez Farmers Market today, the one by the courthouse. I used to do that Market all the time and it's always fun to remember the times when my youngest son used to do the Market there with me. It made for a very long day; we did that one in the morning and then finished off in Livermore. I know they were long days, but I look back fondly on those times.
It was a shame that the weather didn't cooperate with us today, we had some pretty nasty wind and rain. The cool thing was my spot, it was awesome and I got to have my van with me, which is always very cool for me - score!
They brought out the cool sign as seen in the picture, I thought it was very cool!

Barnabas Collins arrives at Collinwood

Watched this when I was a kid, still scary! I thought it was cool that the original Barnabas got to meet the new one, the movie comes out May 11th!

Passion

So today was opening day for the Kaiser Antioch Farmers Market. The Market management did a fabulous job with the Market set up, I can't remember when it looked as fantastic as it did today. We had a few brand new vendors too, so I went over to welcome them. One was this vendor that had pupusas (sp? They are these amazing little treats!). It was his very first time doing a Market anywhere and he told me it was his dream come true. I was just digging listening to him, his passion was so obvious and I was totally feeding off of it! I have that same passion, all these years later, I LOVE what I do. I look forward to watching him get his share of loyal customers as I have. I am sure that he'll appreciate them as much as I appreciate you guys.
There's a quote from Joseph Campbell that says "Follow your bliss". It is my wish for all of you, that you can do that, and feel the passion, and fill your heart with it!

On the horizon

I've got a few things that are in development for the next Limited Edition, things like Green tea and Lemongrass, London Lemon Curd and one I'm going to call spike which sounds really interesting, it depends on which way I go with the fragrance. I am going to discontinue the Calypso Orchid, it's had a very long run but now its time for s newbie to go in that spot. It may be one of the Limited Editions depending on how you guys like them. Just wanted to keep you in the loop!

Season begins

I regularly do 4 Farmers Markets a week and then in the "season" - summer pretty much, I do one extra Market. It's Antioch Kaiser which is really close to where I live, but in the past it's been a bit on the slow side. I am hoping this year it will be busier, I see we have a new manager this year and he's got all kinds of great vendors on the roster for us. I'll be going the first and third Thursdays of every month rather than just once a month. Opening day is Thursday and I am always excited on opening day to see everyone. If you live in the area, please help me spread the word!

Simon's Cat 'Fly Guy'

I just love his cartoons and I could SO see Spike doing this. (Murray is far too dignified to act that way - yeah right!)

Guilty Pleasure

I generally don't get to sit around eating bon-bons and reading magazines, however, my favorite is Studios! A magazine dedicated to studio space, if nothing else I can drool over everyone elses studios, although I think of my own as my "nest" I have many things I love out there :-)
This one was bought for me by my sweet husband and I'm impressed that he knows how much I like to read this, its a $15 magazine but I think it's worth it! Forgive the picture, my phone took it!

Rain Rain go away

Don't come back on Market day!
Actually, I don't really mind the rain, it's just an inconvenience really. Most of the vendors at the Farmers Markets will still come out, I will usually go too unless the wind is out of control, I can't protect my precious soap from sideways rain.
I just have to say a special thank you to the loyal shoppers at the Farmers Markets that shop with us to support us, and Local, that come because it's truly a way of life and so more more than just the current fashion. I once told a customer thank you for coming out in the rain, and his reply was "well I have to eat!"
I'l be in Concord today, I hope to see you!

(Those of you within Market distance that is!)