Happy Independence Day!!

Happy Independence Day everyone! It's a wonderful day to enjoy our family, go swimming, eat barbeque or have a picnic and watch fireworks in the evening. It's also a great day to remember the 56 brave men who stood up in direct defiance of the British Government and signed the Declaration of Independence.

This goes to show that it doesn't take many to make a difference!

Have a safe and Happy July 4th everyone!

Sing, Sing A Song - Make it Simple

Well, it seems my contest wasn't a simple one, but it did get a lot of you thinking! I did get a winner and it was Brittany Shepherd!! Boy, she was a trooper too!! Her first guess was actually the title of the song, but she came back and did give me the name of the group. She picked up a free bar of Meloncholy Rayne and it went out in the mail today!

Oh, what...you want to know what it is? You sure? Weeeeell, okay. I'll give you one better. I present to you from my very own 1968 album

Greetings, Children of Paradise,

the one, the only:

BEAR

Enjoy!



This contest was a lot of fun!! I'll have to go dig in some more of my old albums and see what other contests I can come up with!

Greetings, Greetings, Greetings.....

Wouldn't you like to go away? Greetings, greetings, greetings. Come and see me don't delay!

The above, including the title are the lyrics to a song I have been singing all morning and playing on my phone.

Because of this, I have decided to have a little contest!!!! Tadah!!!

The first person who can tell me the artist or group of said above lyrics, will get a free bar of one of my delicious and delectable soaps!!! But, put on your thinking caps because it isn't as easy as you think!!!

Have fun!!!!

Front Page On Etsy

Well, I was very excited to find out that my Organic Rose~A~Liscious Soap made the Front Page of Etsy today! Although I was out and about, my fellow SAFEteam members let me know!



Our soaps on Etsy can be found at www.zozca.etsy.com

Just another soapy day at a conference!!

For the past week I’ve been in Palm Springs, CA attending the Handcrafted Soapmakers Guild Conference. Who knew that there could be a conference for those that made soap? Yes, Virginia, there is a soapmakers conference! A good time was had by all as we learned how to set up our shops and how not to kill our profit margins. We also gained confidence with coloring. We understood more about preservatives and cold process and in between we were wrapped with veggie oils, massaged beyond belief and given incredible facials at the spa. Oh! Who could forget about the entertainment? Dennis and Kayla Favorianti of Essential Wholesale gave us an incredible evening of comedy delight with Jon Reep and Wendy Liebman in attendance while jugglers and stiltwalkers and masked characters walked around the party! I can’t put into words how amazing this conference was as the vendors filled our goodie bags with decadent body treats and samples for us to bring home. There were so many things that we received and won that I had to go and purchase another suitcase just to bring all my extra treats with me! To top it all off it was fantastic to meet my fellow soapmakers! I had seen their names on the computer over the years but was now able to fit faces and personalities together. The camaraderie was so enjoyable! Out of all the conferences I have attended, I do have to say that this was one of the most well run and put together events ever! The volunteers and people needed to put this on were amazing on a spectacular level. Everything ran on time. If there were glitches, they were never seen or heard. It was a well run piece of machinery. I was sad when it was all over, but excited to know that I will be attending again in Denver, CO next year!

Linked In, Tuned In, Turned Up

So, one time at band camp......Isn't that how it all starts? On the internet world, it's different. First, you get a website and all is well. You hand out business cards, you talk to people, but then that's not good enough any more. Something out there called blogging steps in. Blog....where you type your innermost thoughts. Well, something of the sort. Everything is fine and dandy, you have a new promotional tool. But wait, there's more. Blogging is so hard. You have to come up with many things to say. What can you say on a daily basis to promote your items without turning your customers away? Is that a bird? A cheep? A chirp? NO, a Tweet!! Now, we have Twitter. Quick little messages to let everyone know what's going on quickly, succinctly.

Oy vey! This ole dog is trying to learn all the new tricks, so I'm blogging and tweeting and now there's Linked In and Merchant Circle and everywhere you turn there's a new place to Stumble Upon! And just when you think you have it all down pat Facebook is here with a whole new world experience!!! I will now do my best imitation of a Charlie Brown scream! Don't get me wrong, I like all the newfangled things going on, but my brain does not travel at warp speed anymore. So, now you can Twitter me, Link me, Stumble Upon me and even check out my Face because at the end of the tunnel, I know I have my quiet safe haven of my workshop to create my soothing and delectable soaps to help me out at the end of my day! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh..

Stop and Smell the Blends!

I love creating the blends that go into my products. It's exhilarating and invigorating! Each new blend is like giving birth, but without the pain! The labor can be, at times, just as intense!

Over the many years of making my delicious, delightful items, I have read an ungodly amount of books on essential oils and aromatherapy. They have given me a basis of each of my creations. I get an idea in my head of what I would like to blend, whether its an essential oil or combining fragrance oils or a mixture of both.

I go into my workshop, turn on my music and let the magic happen! Over the playings of Starship Trooper from Yes, or Mystic Rhythms from Rush or even Lobotomy from The Ramones, the creative juices flow. What would seem like work for some is absolute pleasure for me!

I pick out the oils that I want to work with, grab a ton of pipettes and dram bottles, my notebook, pencil and Jewelle scale and the adventure begins.

As I start with my main oil, I write down the amount and work off that base. Once I've completed that version, I work on several others and mark each bottle with the batch I've created while writing each recipe down in my notebook. Some of my blends will have up to 8 or 9 of each version!

Now, for the intense labor!! The waiting. I let the bottles sit for awhile so that the oils can meld with each other and really intensify into the scent that they will be. After a week, I go back and do a sniff test and get friends and family to test them as well! I mark which ones were received favorably and then......wait again. I do this two or three times to make sure that the blend I create is the one that will be my next soap or bath product.

Does it sound time consuming? A little, but it's also so exciting and when it's the perfect blend? Oh, the delectable items I can create with it!! It's soooo worth the wait!!!