10th ave. soapworks

 Hello all! In preparation for our big move from our rental next month, I've put my entire Etsy shop on sale now through Friday. I'll re-open as soon as I'm able but I'm not sure exactly when that will be! So much is up in the air right now.  In the meantime, help me make my move a little lighter!! And for my local shoppers, I'm restocking several of my stores next week with my remaining inventory. Thanks to all of you for your business the past 12 years and I'll see you on the flip side!

Life's taken some unexpected turns and I've found myself a soaper with a new place to hang my stick blender. Gone are the days of having an entire studio apartment in my house that functioned as a soap studio, with a full kitchen and cabinets full of supplies, ingredients, and curing soap. We took advantage of the booming housing market to sell our much-too-big house this summer, an idea that's been rolling around in our heads for the past year.  My Etsy shop is closed temporarily until I set up a new area as soap headquarters in our rental home, get a printer set up, and all those little things that I took for granted. All my local shop accounts were stocked this summer and some will need restocking in the near future so thank you all (and keep an eye out for new scents.) I also want to give a heads up to all of you that read my blog posts via email. The email service will no longer be operational after July 31st so you can sign up for my email newsletters (the link is at ...

 Hello all!  Just a quick post to let you know of my latest soaps. I haven't stocked any of my stores with them yet, so you have the chance to snag them first! Anyway, here's the link to my Etsy store, 10th Ave Shop.  and as always, orders over $35 ship free.   Rhubarb Pie Lime Vibes Lilac Blossom Asian Pear Lily Peony White Tea Lemon Blossom I also wanted to give you a heads up that I've been contemplating some changes after 12 years of my little soap business and I hope to implement them this fall. I'm still working on the details but I'll likely be discontinuing a number of fragrances, so get them while you can. Thanks and stay tuned for more soaps and fragrances this summer!

...also known as A Loose Idea of How I Imagine the Year Will Go. (Because who actually has things go as predicted? Not this girl.) I started selling at the Monroe farmer's market way back in 2012. That first year I was at the market every Wednesday afternoon. By the next year I was going both days a week--Wednesday and Saturday--and continued to be a "full-time" vendor for several years. In 2018, I decided to slow down. I had to, actually, because I had so many "life" things that needed my attention as well as a number of family commitments that fell during market hours. For someone that once rarely missed a day in a 50+ market season, vending even once a month became hard to fit in. After a lot of recent thought, I've decided not to stretch myself as far as I've done these last few years. I know for sure I won't be vending at any of the indoor market dates through April. But beyond that, all my markets and show dates for 2019 are to be dete...

So what are the odds that two girls from the same high school church youth group would grow up and each start a business selling soap? Well, that's what happened to me and my friend Vanessa. I moved to the other side of the midwest after graduation and we lost contact for several years during those dark solitary days before Facebook. She was off and running with her soap venture when we met up years later and I was between my first soap business experience and my current 10th Ave. Soap business. Fast forward a decade and here I am. Still. I never thought I would be making soap for so long. My little business has evolved and changed over time, as it should. But I'm still here on 10th Ave. churning soap out and making the long-suffering UPS man lug 50# blocks of fat and bulky boxes of lye to my front door regularly. Vanessa contacted me last year and told me that she was thinking of hanging up her goggles and rubber gloves. However, she had a few fantastic products that her c...

Now that we're well into the second week of April, I think it's about time I step back and see what happened during the last month...whew. I didn't do any markets or shows this month, so things were pretty quiet on the soap front. I worked on updating the rest of my soap labels and started re-designing the labels for the rest of my products. March is my birthday month and we usually celebrate it with an adventure of some kind. We decided to go a little over the top this year, and instead of an overnight getaway trip in the area, we left our midwest winter that looked like this-- and traveled to Texas, as far south as we could go without a passport. Folks, it was warm down there. Balmy, even. It felt good after a long winter. So close! The rock on the left side of the Rio Grande River is Mexico. This little roadrunner acted as my tour guide, leading the way down the path to the river.  "Sing ho for the open highway! Sing ho for...

For the past year or so, I've been mulling over some changes and a new direction for this little soap biz of mine.  Then a few odd little happenings last fall cemented my decision to switch things up a bit. After 9 years, I've decided that I need to take time off from doing shows and markets.  It's not an easy business, packing up and schlepping here and there to peddle my wares every week in the rain, wind, and even snow. So you will not see me at the Indoor Market in Monroe this winter.  However, you will continue to find my soaps and things in all the usual places.  I'll also be focusing more on my online shop, which is right here .  And of course, if you live locally and don't want to be bothered with shipping charges, I'm more than willing to venture out of my cozy warm house to coordinate a rendezvous with you and some lovely little soaps. So, my new plans? In addition to changing up and expanding my online shop, I'll be blogging more here.  S...

I'm mixing it up this time.  For the first time since I joined the farmer's market, I won't be participating in the Cheese Days Farmer's Market in Monroe, Wisconsin.  I'm taking a break and enjoying the day!  But you can still find my soaps this weekend, and in the middle of all the action. Right here, at JoAnne's Dress Shop: It's easy to find!  It's right across the street from the Main Stage.  (It's where all the Swiss music and yodeling is coming from.) You'll find a large variety of soaps and my other products... ...and even loofah soaps, while they last. So you can shop while I eat.  Cheese curds and cheesecake-on-a-stick, here we come!

The Soap Opera is a downtown landmark on State Street in Madison, WI, just a couple of blocks from the capitol.  What a place!  Soap, soap, and more soap.   I've visited there several times over the years (if you even had to ask). When the Soap Opera's owner approached me a couple months ago, asking to include my soaps in the shop's  made in Wisconsin  line, I was on board! Actually, my first exposure to The Soap Opera came from one of my herbal books, published in 1976. Jeanne Rose's Herbal Body Book listed the shop.  It was one of four locations listed in Wisconsin and the closest to me.  Forty plus years later, the shop is still around and thriving! Have you ever seen so much soap in your life?! So when you think of Wisconsin, what do you think of?  If you think of beer, cheese and cows, there's a soap for that.  And all three are available at The Soap Opera. Dairyland, with a Holstein cow design and a fres...

I've recently teamed up with Danielle of Meadow Ridge Alpacas , a fellow vendor at my local farmer's market...my soaps with her alpaca fiber.  I can already tell it's going to be a great partnership. The idea of felted soaps was a new one for both of us but it seemed logical given our products.  So we turned to our good friend, YouTube.  After watching lots of videos, I gave it a try.   It was a Goldilocks kind of project--the first one was too thick, the second was too thin, but my third, fourth, and fifth attempts were just right .  It's a strange concept, the idea of turning a mass of soft fibers into a scrubby, felt washcloth attached right to the soap.  But it really works! I love the color variations of the natural alpaca fiber.  But of course, I can never leave well enough alone, so my next project will be learning how to dye the fibers to add a splash of pretty color.  (Because we all know prettier soap gets you cleaner.) The m...

It's not often that I have company when I make soap.  In fact, it's pretty rare.  But since my shelves were nearly sold bare at Christmas time, it's taken some work to get my inventory back up to full capacity.  On a recent Thursday night my husband suggested that I prep oils and molds and we would make some soap together the following evening. So Friday night, I had a hot date with my guy and soap.  (Not too shabby!)  We make a good team!  He was a great help, stirring lye solutions, measuring fragrances, and even choosing color schemes.  We made six batches, which included a few test batches. Here is one of the test batches that he poured by himself--his first attempt.  I think it's gorgeous!  He has a lot of natural talent, don't you think? He's a keeper!  (And so were the soaps.)

If you don't live in the midwestern United States, you may have not heard of the show Around the Corner with John McGivern...yet.  But it's hugely popular in Wisconsin and the surrounding states and the interest is growing!  I can't say enough to praise the whole crew and thank them for all the work they put into the program. Last April I was contacted and asked to be on an upcoming episode that took place in the town in which I live, Monroe.  I agreed (gulp) and the filming took place in June and some more in September.  The show finally aired last night, even though I got to see it a few days earlier.  So here it is.... And there you have it.  Maybe you should vacation in Monroe this year?  You'll certainly be well fed, well entertained, and of course, if you swing by for some soap, very clean. 

It's 2015 already!  And halfway through January, to boot! For me, 2014 was a blur of action--farmer's markets twice a week, an abundant garden, a few big home projects, summer work as a school aide, lots and lots of soap and even a couple of vacations wedged in among everything. It was a good year, but....not the sort that creates a sane family life. Late last summer, my husband and I discussed pulling back on some of our commitments and purposefully not signing onto everything that looks like fun.  (A significant weakness of mine.)  So, I finished my stint as manager of the Monroe's farmer's market in November and didn't fill up every weekend leading up to Christmas with craft shows. Life is much better!  Right now I'm enjoying the slower pace that comes during the winter months.  But my primary focus this January is streamlining 10th Ave. operations--making bigger batches of soap and learning to be more efficient with my time in the workroom to...

I bought some beeswax....awhile ago.  As in a year ago.  A friend of mine in the honey business was learning how to take care of the beeswax and had lots of extra.  Local beeswax?  At a good price with no shipping charges?  I was in.  As it turned out, she had done for the first step in cleaning it, but to get the best quality, cleanest beeswax, it needed a second step.  I finally got around to doing it this fall, as I'd run out of my previous stash and all the cleaner pieces I had. Yellow jackets that died a waxy death. Cleaning beeswax isn't hard, but it does take a lot of waiting.  The first step for me was cutting it into smaller chunks to melt it down.  Wrenching off pieces of beeswax with a butcher knife is a workout like no other.    My "double boiler"--a #10 can in an old saucepan Melting the beeswax down took awhile in my makeshift double boiler.  When melted, the pure beeswax stays on the top while th...

Every two years in late September my town of Monroe, WI, celebrates Cheese Days.  Regular life comes to a halt as all attention is focused on the festival, celebrating the heritage of the area with all things Swiss-- polka, alphorns, beer, and copious quantities of cheese.  And it is a Big Deal; the population grows from 10,000 to over 200,000. Happily, most of the action occurs within walking distance of my house. (Ha!  As if there would be any place to park a car anyway!) Since it occurs over the weekend, there is, of course, a farmer's market.  It's moved a few blocks from its regular spot on the downtown square, but there is no lack of customers.  After the craziness of getting all the market vendors and their wares squeezed in and set up, I enjoy the excitement of the change of pace, meeting people from all over, and the party atmosphere. So what makes a party in Wisconsin?  Beer and cheese.  (Well, bratwurst, too, but I have to draw the li...