New Soap and my purchase from Brambleberry!

Yesterday I received my haul from Brambleberry! I just love this company and have never been disappointed with anything that I have purchased from them.
Their delivery time is a little slow, but it's worth the wait!

Take a peek at what I bought and see what happened to my last two batches of soap!

Sneak Peak Part Two

Spring is an exciting time of the year. It's the start of a fresh new beginning for many things. Here is a sneak peek at another new soap coming soon! It's scented with Red Delicious Apple and topped with Fresh Grass soap shavings.
Please help me name this new soap! I would love to have you vote on a name -------->

POLL: Name This Soap

I'm having a hard time with the name of this soap. Will you please help me out? I have some choices above, but if you have another name in mind, post it here!

Here's the description I have for it:

Tomato Leaf Herbal Handmade Soap is a light, fresh, airy and herb-y scent. It is a blend of all kinds of melons and tomatoes with lemon-lime top notes, fresh leafy herbaceous middle notes and a wonderfully rich and earthy base. My Tomato Leaf Handmade Soap is made using the freshest ingredients, including Tomato Paste!

Tomatoes are a wonderful source of carotenoids like lycopene, beta-carotene, and vitamin E, which have been know to be effective antioxidants.

I Can Smell Christmas!

I'm getting ready for my street teams (ShowMeEtsy) trunk show, which is going to be October 16th. I think gift sets will do well during the show. Last night I wrapped up quite a few sets. This set is two bars of Pomegranate Cold Process Soaps, with a wooden soap dish.
I used regular typing paper for the wrapping. I used the second half of my Paypal shipping labels.

My First Try At Charcoal Soap!

I tried my hand at making charcoal soap a few days ago. I was planning a solid black soap, but I'm pleased with the swirls that were made! This soap is made using the cold process method.

St, Louis Lemp Beer Soap!

I made some Lemp Beer Soap the other day! I added some Happy Man fragrance to the bar and the combination is quite nice!
What is Lemp Beer?
In 1838 there was only one lager in Saint Louis, in fact, in all of America. Lemp beer! America’s first lager and still the best. Taste the beer that started it all! Lemp, America’s first, America’s finest and the original Saint Louis lager.

You can read some history of the beer here:http://lemplager.com/lemp/default.asp

Blackberries From My Own Bush!

We have several Blackberry bushes in our backyard. DH planted them about 5 years ago. His idea of planting is to dig a hole, plant the bush, give them a drink of water, and then to leave them to survive on their own! LOL! Last year we actually had a few berries (I think a total of 3!) and this year the bushes are COVERED with berries. I have been able to eat quite a few, but most have not ripened. Here's a group....they are HUGE! I took some pictures of the berries with my soap and lotion. This is my Blackberry Sage Soap.
It's so hard to take a full picture of my bottles..they are so tall!

Bright Sunny, and Oh So Yummy Cold Process Soap!

They really are as bright as the first picture! I used a yellow swirl to color the soap. The fragrance oil was tinted, so the swirl is not as noticeable, but I love how it turned out! It is scented with Mandarin Tiki. The smell is divine and the cold process method was perfect for this soap!

A Few Cold Process Soaps I've Been Making

Blackberry Sage - I love how the swirls came out and the lahter...omg...the lather is so pure and white and plenty!! I added some black mica to the purple hoping do get a dark purple. It's not as dark as I had planned, but I love how it turned out!
Red Clover, Ginger, and Wisteria. I love these swirls too! My house smelled so good for weeks!
I'm not sure what to name it...any ideas?
Green Tea and Lemon. This batch was rebatched and I added more lemon EO to the batch. Reminds me of a glass of sweet tea!

Some Of My Favorite Shoe Items From Etsy!

That 70's Shoe Clock at SpareTime
Inkadinkado shoe stamp at luvmypets
Vintage shoe shine kit at generation3

Can you see the shoe theme?? My husband is the owner of Mark Lemp Footwear, a manufacturing company of women's shoes. I'm drawn to all shoe items! :)

Hot Process Soap

I tried my hand at hot process soap last night. I used the oven, and although they smell wonderful, I'm not sure I like the appearance. Here is a big hunk of soap! It smells soooo good...scented with Patchouli and Ylang Ylang Essential Oils.I also cut some smaller bars for guest bathrooms.
And with the leftover shreds, I made Soap Balls! These are huge and weigh over 4 ounces each!

Can You Believe This Bloom!

Can you believe how big this bloom is? It's a cutting from my Endless Summer Hydrangea. I planted this bush last Spring, but it didn't bloom because of the late frost we had. I was just happy the plant survived! The bush is FULL of blooms and Endless Summer blooms all Summer!Here are the pictures I took for my Etsy shop. It's Fresh Linen.

Update! I Cut The Log And The Soap Came Out Perfect!

I wanted the bars to look like an apple with a stem...Apple Jack!

Apple Jack!

Here's the red poured into the mold.
Green on top.
Fresh out of the mold! I'm going to let it sit for a few hours before slicing.

Christmas In June! Cold Process Soap

I have a hard time picking a favorite scent, but I think it may be Gingerbread! I could use it all year!
They came out quite yellow, although I didn't add any color. I'm hoping they cure to a nice brown!

Dragon's Blood Cold Process Soap

Decided to make the colors black and red.
This is more of a brick red.
I love the fresh poured look!

The swirls came out great and the scent is warm and spicy!

Whew! I Just Finished Another Batch Of Cold Process Soap!

Ok, here we go! I have measured out all the oils and the hard oils are all melted. See the pen in the picture? I like to check off the oils I add to makes sure I don't miss one!










In this picture, I have just added the lye to the oils. They are the same temperature right now.














Here I have added the color. I diluted the color and used a dropper to add the color. Don't ask me about my "mustard" colored soap I made the other day!







The color is all blended now and it's coming to a nice trace. Right after I took this picture, I added the poppy seeds. They came from my very own
garden. Here I have just poured the soap, textured the top a bit, and sprinkled some more poppy seeds on top. The piece of cardboard that you see to the right of the mold goes on top. I then take several blankets and cover the whole thing up for 24 hours.












Here it is! All cut and ready to go...well...not yet...it has to cure for about 3 to 4 weeks!