Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Flavor of the Month: Clearly Lovely - Don't Miss It!


January's Flavor of the Month is the Clearly Lovely Soapy Pop, just in time for Valentine's Day!  This is one of the most popular styles we carry, and you can see why.  Its sparkly pink bar features a floating white heart, and the Raspberry Fizz fragrance is as sweet as it sounds! 

Our Flavors of the Month are always at a great price, so pick some up for your favorite sweetie (or teacher, or office friend, or neighbor kid!).  They'll be tickled pink!

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Getting Ready for CHA!


Over the last two days I've been working on soaps to give away on Sunday at CHA.  CHA is the Craft and Hobby Association and they hold seasonal trade shows for the crafting industry.  I will be doing a demo to promote my book at the F+W Publications booth.  Thanks to Kelley at Soapies Supplies I will be using a rice cooker to melt my soap there.  Have you tried a rice cooker?  They are amazing at melting soap!

But I digress. So I was trying to think of a way to promote Soapylove in a fun and memorable way.  I thought of postcards but that seemed kind of generic and easily tossed.  So I decided to make soaps instead and found a great way to include lots of information and have a durable soap that wouldn't get banged up in a tote bag full of other freebies: I discovered clamshell boxes.

Considering the amount of supplies and things I have tried since I began obsessively making glycerin soap 5 years ago, it's really amazing how there are still new things to play with.  I mean, clamshell packaging is not a new innovation at all but this is the first time I am trying them out.  If you are a fan at the Soapylove fan page, you may have seen my excited posts about them.  I am REALLY excited, in fact!  They are so fast and easy, and provide a very safe little home for the soaps which are beautifully visible on all sides!  LOVE it!  Plus I made a nice big sticker with loads of info that fits nicely on the back.  Done and done. 

You can see some of my soaps in the picture above.  I got 50 of them so I want to use every single one.  It's been really fun picking styles and techniques from my book to make in the boxes. 

So if you're going to be at CHA on Sunday, please find the F+W booth (#4228) and come by at 2:30.  I'd love to say hi, and hopefully I'll have a soap to give you, too!

Sunday, January 17, 2010

Great Time at Soapies Supplies!


Yesterday I taught the All Day Melt and Pour Boot Camp at Soapies Supplies in Scottsdale, Arizona.  We had a great time and made lots of soap!

I drove to Scottsdale Friday afternoon through the impressive desert.  Kelley - the owner of Soapies - and her husband, Bronson, were wonderful hosts and even let me stay the night at their beautiful home.  I got to meet their adorable new grandbabies (teeny little Chihuahuas), too!

The next day we got up and got ready for a fun, all day class.  We had 6 great students who traveled from as far away as Las Vegas!  Jackie was my TA and she helped me melt lots of soap base and lend a hand whenever needed.  In the class we covered almost every topic imaginable: kinds of soap bases, fragrances, colorants, melting temperatures, types of molds, using unusual tools from other crafts, and lots lots more.

There were 4 separate projects ranging from transfer sheets to engraving.  I was really impressed by everyone's enthusiasm and excellent questions.  Having 6 hours of work time allowed us to carefully go over all of the steps, and I was able to give lots of one-on-one attention, too.

I truly love teaching and being able to talk about soap crafting all day!  It's a rare treat!  If you would like to host a class at your home or shop, please email me for more information.  There are many options in topics and class size and length.  I hope to hear from you soon!

Thursday, January 7, 2010

New Tutorial over at The Soap Queen - Ombre Hearts!


Brand new Soapylove tutorial now up at The Soap Queen!  This neat fading effect is actually very simple.  You'll love how they turn out.  See you there!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Common Question: Where to Find Shiny Silicone Pans


In the Soapylove book, I repeatedly use my favorite soap making tool of all time - my silicone brownie pan which I found in a discount store over 4 years ago.  It's not just any silicone pan, though.  It's shiny on the inside, which creates a super slick and glossy surface to all soaps made in it.

That's important to me because when projects involve embedding, layering, clear effects, or swirling, I want that to be easily seen.  A pan with a dull or matte inside will make the surface of the soap seem like you're looking through frosted glass.  If you would like to pick one up, they might not be easy to find. The pans from Wilton are matte, for example.

Here are some that will work great. For the same exact pan I use, pick the one from Orka. For a less expensive version, the line from SiliconeZone all are shiny. Then, for fun, you can also get shiny silicone loaf pans which are very super easy to unmold and amazingly durable, and tons of other shapes!  Happy shopping!