10th ave. soapworks

Monroe-- The day dawned overcast and cool this past Wednesday, leading residents of the small Midwest town to conclude there was little chance the weather report was right.  It wouldn't reach the forecasted high of 100 degrees and the weatherman would have to cough up a free umbrella to a viewer for flubbing on his "4 degree guarantee." Amy, owner of 10th Ave. Soapworks and vendor at the local farmer's market, enjoyed the early morning hours out in her garden.  The morning went so smoothly that she even had time to make up a batch of soap and try out her latest lip balm flavor, pina colada, before packing up for the market.  For the first time since June, she expected to enjoy a farmer's market day that was less than 100 degrees.  As she toted boxes of soapy delights to her car, she noticed the temperature had risen dramatically during the noon hour.  Our enthusiastic saleswoman re...

There's just something about this warm, herbally fragrance that needs a natural coloring.  No loud, bright swirls and glitter with this one.  In my last batch , I used all parsley.  This time I used a dusting of black cocoa powder to separate the top layer of dried parsley from the bottom layer that contains a smidge of titanium dioxide.  I didn't use a mortar and pestle to finely grind the parsley this time; I just sprinkled it in before incorporating it in with a stick blender. Mmmm.  Happiness in a bar.

I've always been resistant to the idea of toting a cell phone with me at all times, ready for everyone that "needs" to get a hold of me this minute.  It makes me feel like a toddler with his ever-present pacifier.  As a result, the general rule is that somehow my phone is anywhere that I am not.  Take the recent voicemail my sister left me,"...so where did you leave your phone this time?" (Good question.  Answer: outside, on top of the grill.) And then there was a few days ago....  The Mister called me from his work, followed by a text.  When he didn't get any response, he called several more times.  By 11 o'clock p.m., he became worried and called the neighbor who dashed over in her jammies to check on me. Geez Louise.  She found me oblivious to the fact that I'd left my phone upstairs for hours.  I was soaping!  I was having a nice evening in my soap haven, making a j...

As you know, my online soap shop is on a site called Zibbet.  This week I was chosen to be the featured Zibbeter. (woo-hoo!)  I thought I'd share my interview with you all in case you wanted to know a little bit about Yours Truly.... Here 'tis! Featured Zibbeter interview

Years ago   I tried a lemon poppyseed fragrance oil.  It was dead-on--sweet vanilla cake mixed with tart lemon.   However, I was stumped when my beautiful yellow soap with black poppyseeds went dark brown in a day or two, until I realized that, of course, it was the vanilla.  It was my first time using a fragrance that contained vanilla--I hadn't even thought to check. The color was such a turn-off I never tried it again. I've since fallen in love with a vanilla lavender fragrance that's become a longstanding favorite in my shop, never mind that it turns a deep brown.  Here are a few pictures of my last batch. It started out so creamy and the loveliest shade of ivory. The next day it was a light caramel color.  If I could just hold it at this color! And before a few days had gone by it was its usual color.  I tried to color it a deep purple once, but the result was still plain ol' brown.  It's f...

Ah, my soap studio.  It should be a haven of creativity, but for the last few months it's been a center of farmer's market chaos and the everlasting soap scraps.  Y'know, the little ends and bits that I want to test but I can only test so many at a time so they're all lined up.  I decided to do a mini-makeover--painting.  Sometimes just a little thing like that can make a load of difference. Here is the before picture. (I purposely left a mess for a more dramatic contrast!)  The picture doesn't show it well, but the walls were a pinkish-peach color with metallic gold stencil trim.  Not bad, but it was old and needed a new look--one that was more "me." And ta-da!  The after picture.  No shock to anyone who knows me that it's green.  And I sorted through every little thing, got rid of what I didn't use, and streamlined my supplies and equipment so I'm more efficient and s...

I knew that finishing Amy Warden's soap challenge this time of year would be difficult, but I didn't realize that the pace of my life would speed up to the point of it being impossible.  But it has, although I will be finishing the challenge soaps on my own time. I've noticed that in the middle of all the glitter and faux funneling the soap itself often gets lost somewhere.  Every time I get into a foo-foo soap phase I end up balancing myself by swinging to the other side of the pendulum with simple, naturally colored soaps.  And then I wonder why in the world I ever bought that jar of glitter in the first place.... I had some oils measured and ready to be soaped about a week ago but I just couldn't decide what to make since I'm caught up on my staple soaps.  As I write, I'm pretty sure that I overlooked something, but I'll pretend for now....   I saw a mention of banana soap on Facebook (thanks Amy!) and that was just the inspi...