Soap Crafting - New Book Giveaway

Totally my fault!

I forgot to mention that one of my lucky readers can receive a free copy of soapqueen's new book, Soap Crafting, from her publisher as part of the celebration.  It is a hardcover professional looking soaping book filled with simple and clear instruction to make 31 different soaps.  Don't worry, lots of colorful photos included!

In case you have not read my previous post about testing one of the recipe from this book, click this link: Trying Out Soap Crafting Recipe
AND
2nd lucky reader will receive one bar of soap from my testing:

How do you enter?
Don't worry, very simple, just leave me a comment under this post in the next week period and I will randomly draw 2 lucky readers.  First prize is a free copy of the new book, 2nd prize will be a bar of soap made by one of the recipes.
Unfortunately this is only for US, no international participants, sorry!
Remember, deadline is next Wednesday, September 4th!

Vegie Fruit Punch

Who says being healthy has to be boring?!  Not in soap!  My version of Vegie Fruit Punch, refreshing for the hot summer to come.  It is made with fresh cucumber spinach puree in soy milk (strained pulp out).  I had to freeze the 'milk' into ice cube first to avoid lye burn.  It was a nice bright lime green when fresh, but turned into moss green when mixed with lye.  I'm not sure if the green color would stay in soap so I added some neon green colorant to the bottom layer anyway.  This batch is scented with my concoction of fragrance oil that included notes of jasmine, tart guava, juicy pear, berries, and warm sweet fig, anchored with a little dark patchouli, can very well be my V8 type soap!  This soap is made specifically for Savonnerie Mika in honor of the Japanese Soap Swap she's hosting.  If you are interested in the whole story about this soap swap see this post from her: Join "International Soap Swap with Japanese soapers " !!

  To achieve the total opposite color top, it took me some titanium dioxide to lighten it up first before I could color it purple again.  I used more colorant than usual to make this happen, hopefully everyone will like their bubbles purple!  :-p

Today I'm Princess Emily!!!

I feel like a princess, a maybe 9 year old princess who is still dreaming of a white horse prince...  Nah... forget prince, I got something better, a box of soap just for me!  All the way from Spain!  I had joined a soap swap project from Spain hosted by Soap Artists about 2 month ago, this is the original post: International Exchange - International Soap Swap  I had the honor to be paired up with Teresa from Barcelona.  Teresa is a hobby soaper who does not sell in public but is very active in bath & body forums in Spain.  To honor this swap, I had made a batch of soap with Teresa in mind: Soap for Spanish Soap Swap 

We exchange emails despite the language barrier, we talk about soaps, what we like and not like.  Then as   soon as my soaps were ready to travel, there they went, across the ocean to Barcelona, Spain.  And in return, I received a box made by Teresa!  I can see all the details she put into work, the teddy bear, the lace, my name... oh... can you see the bubbly pink hearts floating in the air?!

This photo is taken by Teresa before she wrapped them all up in the box:

Soap for Spanish Soap Swap

I recently signed up for this international soap swap project hosted by Soap Artists.  Basically a number of Spanish soapers will one to one swap their creations with soapers outside of Spain.  By random pairing, my match is Teresa Corral Valero, unfortunately she is not into the online social media so I cannot post a link for you to check out.  Anyway, I made a batch of soap especially for her according to her description of personal preferences.  The fragrance I chose and the recipe I used gave me grief.  What's new?!  Nothing surprises me in my soaping anymore!  It is indeed Soap & Restless, is it not?  Ok, I'll show you my failed first try.  BUT first, let's see the good one!  This is a photo when it's just cut, for those of you who cannot watch the You Tube video (nicer photos will follow in future blog post when it's all nice and firm):

    And, here's the making video, it's under 9 minutes, I promise it's quick and painless!

And this is the first failed batch:

The 100% coconut milk and fragrance I used totally accelerated trace on me that back fired on my supposedly flowing flower swirl.  It looked more like a volcano explosion!  And these are the only 2 bars after cut that actually look decent... sigh.

Experiencing Mianra

Early this year I had the pleasure of exchanging soap with Mianra Artisan Soap all the way from Ireland.  Hajni pronounced (h-ay-ni) the founder and owner of Mianra sent me 2 of her signature scented soap: Rose Clay and Sandalwood.
(This photo is provided by Mianra: Sandalwood Soap)

"Mianra" pronounced (Mee-n-ra) meaning Mineral in Irish. It refers to the mineral rich seaweed and clays Hajni uses in her soap creations as well as micas etcc...
I had a chance to chat with her and I'm proud to introduce you the Hajni I know, more up close and personal.  I always believe in knowing the creator behind the scene before judging the products.  So here's her story:

I took up soap making some 9 years ago while living in The Netherlands. I was always drawn to handmade soaps and eagerly tried my hands at many different crafts from quilting, candle making, stained glass and so on. I ventured into making my first batch of soap more or less out of determination and a healthy dose of stubbornness you could say. One weekend I visited a popular brand's shop (Lush) where the sales person told me a rather mystified and false story of making soap. I was given a tiny sample of their soap for to feel oh so privileged.  It did quite the opposite of course! I went home that Saturday and locked myself in for the next week reading and researching the subject. I was determent to find out all I could and give it a go. It was only after 2-3 months solid reading that I made my first batch of soap and never stopped since! It became a true passion and my primary creative outlet loving every bit of it!

When I asked her what her profession is outside of making B&B products this is what she said:

My background is in special needs. I was trained at the International Peto Institute for the motor disabled and graduated as a conductor/primary school teacher. A very unique and internationally recognised place for its education/method of Conductive Education. Here is a video to best describe it ( this one is a center in the US) http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsgoG9XvOaM&feature=related
          I absolutely love what I do and feel lucky to have met so many fantastic people through the years - 15 years to be precise! It is a very rewarding profession and one where you have to be creative throughout the day to challenge and motivate the kiddies. There are no set rules as everyone's character and needs are so so different! You have to think of alternative ways all the time to keep the spirits up! This is the part I enjoy the most! Have the in depth knowledge of the science behind-  yet wrap it/ present it in a fun and enjoyable way! So YESSS it definietly influences my soap making!


Now I want to talk about miss Hajni's personality, she's vibrant and all I can say is judge it for yourself!

Huh! About me? I'm 37 and a spring chic LOL! I love everything craft & design related let it be rewamping furniture or making my 20th handbag - I'm all for it! I love all what the Internet offers these days - such a vast amount of information and incredibly talented craft people out there! I follow a good few blogs as much as I can and always have a long list of things I 'd like to do. Love travelling and meeting people, mad about colours. Love flea markets, watching movies, good food with a twist and photography! Life I guess :)!!! I am a fairly positive person and I could get excited about the smallest things let it be the scent of fresh cut grass or a Japanese fabric :)! 
Isn't Hajni a multi-talented woman?!  Look at all she can make:

There's a supportive family behind every successful woman, and this is how Hajni talks about her lovely family:

I get so much support from my partner in all what I do and the poor man does have to put up with a lot :)! Sewing machine in full blown operation at 11 pm or soaping taking over the cooking or chatting to you at 1 am about thenewest fragrances is all dealt with graciously. Someone told me once that the magis trick to happy family life is keeping the woman happy. If she isn't she'd make sure the others aren't either. A bit mean and extreme but there is truth in it! We're also the proud as punch parents of our 3 and a half year old son.

Now let's talk about what we are really interested in, her soap and her philosophy in bath and body products:  

My aim is to offer handmade soap which is primarily really good for the skin but also appeals to all senses. It has to be visually interesting, one of a kind and smell fantastic. Showers don't have to be a boring routine - it should be an uplifting experience. Something we all do on a daily basis so why should it be treated with less interest than let's say determining an outfit for the day or enjoying a gourmet dinner. Right? In my book everyone should have 4-5 different soaps in their shower and pick the one matching their mood best! It might be plain and citrusy or a colorful swirly one with earthy/woodsy tones or a soft pink floral one!? Why NOT?! I worked many years on formulating my recipe to provide a moisturizing soap with big fluffy foamy leather and use a variety of added ingredients like seaweed, goats milk, silk or clays or even pureed carrot. As for what my style is I'm not sure it could be defined as such. You would be a better judge of that one!   My surroundings don't so much influence what I make. Surely I'm inspired by it all but those experiences aren't that different from anywhere else. They aren't specifically location related.

 

 

 Hajni has a good news to share, she's is proud to tell all of us that she is moving her business up a level!

I have just won a place at a business course aimed at women entrepreneur which I only just started. I'm really excited about it as it is a huge change from being a hobby soaper to running your own business. Up till recently I have been a hobby soap maker - a pretty spontaneous one- with no strategic planning in place. I must learn to put my thoughts on paper and have specific goals and targets in which this course will be very helpful. It is also a great networking opportunity and a good sounding board! I believe I have a good product and have worked very hard on the branding/packaging side of the business but I need to work on the sales and marketing now!!! It is a whole new venture! I'm also very excited about introducing new products in the very near future including balms, body butters, scrubs and bath treats.

 

Oriental, Mysterious, and Sexy all in one!

Oh yeah, Mystique you came out just right!

Friendship Soap - Mystique

The story goes... 9 of us from all over the world (ok, I exaggerated a little but seriously, it's international!) decided to make soap for each other.  This is nothing new, apparently there was a group of soapers who just did it recently.  What is it you ask?!  Well, after getting all soapers signed up, we started chatting as a group online and exchanging stories to get to know each other better not just in soap making but at more personal level.  Then we had Celine's (from IamHandmade) husband do the random name drawing, kind of like a modified secrete santa game people play in Christmas season, except, it's not a secrete.  If you are curious about who is making soap for who, watch this short video first: Friendship Soap Party Swap Names  You have to watch this, it is hilarious!

I have the honor to make soap for Anita from Anita's La La Land from Canada.  Her only request is that she wants to try an oriental, but mysterious and sexy fragrance.  Here's a quick shot of the finished log in case you are not able to watch youtube.  Hint: don't miss the section starting around 5:30 minutes into the video!  You need to listen to it, trust me you'll like it.

Soaps All The Way From Ireland - Mianra

I make soap, sell soap, love to try other soap makers creation, but I don't like the idea of buying each other's soap.  Instead, I like to swap, you know, like friends giving each other gift kind of thing?!  Anyway, Hajni from Mianra Artisan Soaps and I found each other through a soap forum, then we started chatting online.  It is only natural that we decided to swap our soap babies!  I've been waiting and waiting, finally tonight I received the package I've been looking for.  Seems like all I do these days is waiting for my packages (soaping supply purchase bad luck)... LOL

Last time I did my virgin video take when I swapped my soap with another Irish soaper, see my previous post: Soaperstar Soap in Action.  This time I want to do it a little differently.  I'm going to conduct an interview and reveal the real Hajni (as up close and personal) behind the creation of Mianra Artisan Soaps.  But today, I'm just going to show you photos of what she sent me.

Look at the beautiful efforless packaging!  I love colors and so does she!

She sent me Sandalwood Soap on the left, and Rose Clay on the right.

Soaperstar Soap in Action

Last post I showed you the soaps swap from soaperstar Welcome Home Package.  I have been using her soaps since I opened them.  I especially fell in love with her Water Lily, that's the batch she did when she ran out of avocado oil and had to readjust her usual recipe to replace the avocado oil.  According to her blog she increased the amount of sweet almond oil and cocoa butter to compensate the missing avocado oil.  Well, soaperstar, this is a keeper!  It lathers up rather quickly and turns into thick milk foam that lasts forever.  And her soap left my skin a slippery silky feel afterwards, I bet it's the silk she put in the soap!  Anyway, I sort of promised her I would show her how foamy her Water Lily can get, in a short video.  So here you go, my virgin talkie!  

PS. Please ignore the noise on the background.  That is my African Grey pet bird, Soba.  He has been screaming at the masks we bought from Venice, Italy for souvenir.  I guess in his perception they look like strangers in the house.

Welcome Home Package

After my horrible experience at Rome airport (only took us... oh, 26 hours to get home!) trying to get back to my normal life I was exhausted and found myself speechless when I saw what a mess my 2 pets had created in house for 2 weeks... sigh...  We went to the airport before 5 am in the morning to take the first flight out of Rome that day and found the flight canceled at the last minute.  Imagine whole flight of passengers panicking at the same time, running around the terminal trying to get some help, most of us don't speak Italian.  Everyone of us booked our flights through various airlines, and we were consolidated into one flight operated by Brussels Airline, which does not even have a counter in Rome airport!  Now you see why we were panicking at 6 am in the morning?!  3 hours later, finally got on Alitalia airline flight heading to Germany instead because we already missed our connection flight in Belgium.  Guess what?!  You would think our bad luck should be over, but no!  We were strained on the plane for more than 2 hours on the side of the runway because of some mechanical problem with the engine!  ... speechless...  Finally took off after 11 am on our way to Frankfurt.  Then we found out the flight straight back to San Francisco has left the gate... we got there too late... the next flight out home is 5 hours later...  Ahhhh... 

Ok, all this is just to let you know the stage of my mind at the moment when I actually opened my front door and back to my own 'castle'.  If I had any energy left in my body, I would cry, as loud as I can, like no one else business.  Then, finally one good thing happened.  I found a beautifully wrapped (with black and red nice thick paper) box quietly sitting on my kitchen counter (thanks to my parents taking care of my pets and my mails for me when we were out).  Soaperstar Celine sent me a package of soaps!  The box is so nicely wrapped I just stared at it and sniffing around for the whole night because I didn't want to ripe the paper!  Silly me!

Look at the beautiful mulberry paper and ribbon wrapping!  So upscale look packaging!

I love all the scents!  Pink, white, yellow, & teal one is Water Lily.  Blues and white one is Wild Blueberry, yum!  The small pink and white sample is Peony Sorbet.  And the small brown and gold sample is Fig and Brown Sugar.  The question is, which one should I try first?!

Exciting News

Almost 3 months back I found this fairly new market that sells practically anything natural (or organic in some cases) and eco-friendly, but online only.  You can read their story here: The Story of Abe's Market

I've only been selling on Etsy ever and running a one-person-business.  I only sell what I can make, one small batch at a time.  But anyway I applied to join the market team just to try out.  I filled out their seller application and sent them samples of my product together with my proposed product listing.  Nervously waiting and finally got my approval email!  I'm still in shock a little, I thought I was going to be rejected.  This is about 3 weeks ago.  I had to put this whole Abe's Market planning on hold as I also received a custom order of desert soaps from this local salon's grand opening (see blog Cupcakes Going Out) and also I was hosting my maid of honor's co-ed baby shower (see blog Army Full of Rabbits!).

Anyway, good news is, I'm officially an Abe's Market seller.  I finally have time dedicated to set up my shop online with Abe's Market.  Bad news is they rejected all soap with artificial fragrance oil.  I knew this is coming as the objective of Abe's Market is to be natural and eco-friendly.  I revised my product list and finally penciled out a line of goodies that fit into the niche.  All the ground work and planning has been "cooking" in my head since the day I applied, from recipe to scenting  to packaging to shipping... etc.  Oh my head is exploding.  I need to roll into production ASAP.  This is the time I say I wish there are 48 hours a day!

Here comes the good stuff, I'm offering 20% off store wide sale (Etsy shop) to celebrate.  Go to my Etsy shop Shieh Deisgn Studio and buy whatever listed, just put in coupon code CELEBRATE20 at check out. I will replenish stock frequently until everything runs out which I doubt.  Sale good till end of August.

And the WINNERS are

Sorry for all that wait!  The results are out!  Winners are:

The winners, please email me your exact information!  

Versatile Blogger Award

Great Cakes Soapworks surprised me with this Versatile Blogger Award yesterday, thanks Amy!

The rules of the Versatile Blogger Award are:
1 – Make a post and link it back to the person who gave you the award (and include their website address)
2 – Share 7 random things about yourself
3 – Award 7 recently discovered bloggers with this award and contact them to let them know they have won

Hum... what do I want you to know about me...

1.  I'm Chinese, or as my honey calls me, his China woman. It's ok, I got him back by calling him my banana (you know, yellow outside, but totally white inside)!  Oh, don't worry, it's all good, we are just silly like that, no harm intended!  My family immigrated to the US when I was 13... or maybe 14... honestly, it was so long ago I don't remember...  Don't even try to guess my age!

2.  Till today I still have trouble pronouncing "L" and "R" all in one word.  My honey likes to make me say "Ferrari" or "the color of my collar," it amuses him every time I try.  So to return a favor, I laugh at his English style Chinese (backward grammar).  I remember clearly how difficult it was for me to learn English in High school.  I didn't understand why everyone talks backwards!

3.  My most recent favorite movie is Star Trek (2009).  I swear, I'm not geeky!

4.  I got a nickname, Evily, from one of my ex-coworkers.  He wrote on my dusty car hood one day that I should take the "M" out of my name and substitute it with "V" because Emily is too nice for my feisty personality.  I actually like it!  And now it has been my little sporty's (car) license plate.

5.  I rarely eat chocolate and I don't like anything vanilla.  I know, I'm weird.

6.  I'm obsessed with shinny object (actually just diamonds and gemstones, yes honey you have to keep on buying them!), oh and fur, dead or alive, sorry vegans...  I love any animal with fur, short or long.  Currently I only own one, my Sushi cat.  Doesn't he look like white rice wrapped with black seaweed?!

(Closed caption by Sushi: Mom stop pointing that "thing (camera)" at me, leave me alone!)

 7.  Ok, last one, my all time favorite color is purple (any shades), the least favorite is hunter green (yuck).

Now, my nominations are:
In the interst of Annie
Tenth Avenue Soapworks
DelightfulU
Anita's La La Land
Two Blooms Design Studio

Fresh Cut Soaps
Life Soap Simple

I'm Happy Today Someone Is Wrtting About Me!

Visit Creative Soap and read my story

http://www.creativesoap.org/exercising-my-right-brain

S.O.A.P. Testing Giveaway, Finally!

Woohoo~   I finally got my act together!  If you have not read any of my S.O.A.P. testing blog posts maybe you should!  I have so much to give out!

Like these owls

and silky body spray

and natural liquid soap

and emu oil goat's milk cream

oh, and don't forget these dressed up "dessert"

Here's how you enter:

1. Click on my new facebook page and like it
2. mention my soap(any or blog or etsy store whatever you like) in any social network (facebook, twitter, blog)
3. leave a comment on this post with your name and link to #2 so I can go check it out!

Deadline is July 31 ,2011.  I will make my hubby draw TWO names out of a box randomly.  Yes, there will be TWO WINNERS!  There are totally 40 pieces and I'm going to split that in half, each winner gets 20 pieces.  It is GRAND!!!

**Limited to USA and Canada entries only, sorry, no international at this time**

My Pears in Etsy Treasury!

'It's A Spa Day For Sure! ' by agatward

Solid Botanical Perfume... TheAlchemistsH... $25.00	Whipped Mango Butter, J... sweetcreekherb... $11.95	Black Cherry Bomb Shea ... CrazyKBathandB... $6.00	The BEST Quality Turkis... bathstyle $29.50
The Pretty Chick Collec... ConcreteMinera... $14.99	All Natural Clay Facial... opheliasapothe... $25.00	Jasmine, Lilac and Free... MilkAndHoneyNa... $5.00	All Natural Tea Tree an... GudSoapCompany $7.00
Scaly Skin Shampoo Bar ... serenitysoapwo... $5.50	Cereal Killer Lavish B... dennisanderson $5.50	Fantasy-All Natural Eye... CMarieMinerals $5.50	Acai Mango Light Face L... beijaflores $12.00
Summer Cicada - Solid P... soapopotamus $5.00	Sassafras Sugar Polish ... treeandsap $15.00	Andromeda Mineral Lipst... BLSoaps $9.95	Natural Goat Milk glyce... ShiehDesignStu... $7.75

Treasury tool by Red Row Studio.