I guess I have been good this year!

I love my new lightweight corduroy bag that the husband got me for Christmas! (I was actually surprised that he found my wishlist!)

Bayan Hippo makes the coolest bags..all the way from Turkey!

I added a matching button Snap on the top so I have the option of not using the zipper.

Soaps.... lots for soapy goodies coming my way :)

Etsy is such a wonderful community of talented artsy folks. Through Etsy, I discovered handmade soaps and became an addict.
Last week, I participated in a survey at savor.etsy.com. This morning, I checked my email and Savor told me I had won a $100 shopping spree to her fantastic shop. I was godsmacked delirious and was doing the happy dance all day! Thank YOU Savor!

Now, off to add some of her delicious looking soaps into my cart

The Naturally Clean Kitchen

I am excited to be featured amongst other talented fellow Etsians in today's Storque article :
How-To-Tuesday : The Naturally Clean Kitchen

SoapMaking anyone?

I do not remember when I got addicted to handmade soaps. But I have been a big fan of a few talented handmade soap sellers and spending too much money on those delicious soaps. But hey, atleast it gets used to the very last sliver, and no more SLS!

On Saturday, I attended a SoapMaking party hosted by Tracey and April of the ACE (Amazing Carolina Etsians) team.
We started off making soap balls and scented a batch with lime and coconut and another batch with lemon zest. First, we grated Pure Castile Soap, added some distilled water and rolled them with our hands.
Next we made some body scrub using sea salt, some walnut oil and sunflower oil and essential oils of your choice. No more buying expensive store bought body scrubs with unknown ingredients anymore!

And the moment I have been waiting for was next - making soap from scratch!
After measuring all the ingredients, our gurus don on their safety goggles and rubber gloves and proceeded to add Lye to water. (very important not to do it the other way around or you will cause a volcanic reaction) . Then let the Lye sit in a plastic pitcher in a ventilated area until it drops down to 110F. (it took awhile).

In the meantime, get your fats and oils ready. We used lots of Olive Oil and Coconut butter and some Castor Oil, and melted them in a Stainless Steel stock pot.

When the Lye has reached the right temperature, slowly add the lye-water mixture to the soap pot and blend the Lye and Oils together using a stick blender until "trace" has been reached.

Next, slowly pour the soap mixture into a mold. Wrap the mold in a towel and let it sit in a warm and safe place. The soap mixture will begin to get hot as the saponification process starts.


It will take about 24 hours for the soap to harden enough to take it out of the mold and slice it.
After slicing, set the soap aside to cure. The soap needs to cure for atleast 4 weeks before it is safe enough to use.

Thanks Tracey and April for being such wonderful soap gurus! And to Tracey for letting us invade your kitchen!

And here's some members of the Ace team

Being a part of the Natural Grooming Tips

Here I am casually scrolling and browsing and almost fell off my chair when I stumbled upon my Organic Pakucho Makeup Remover pads in this Etsy Article - Handmade Weddings: Natural Grooming Tips from GreenUnion.
I have never been in The Storque before and I am just estatic!

I've been featured!

I've been featured by Fresh Peaches today!
Here is the interview:
http://suchcoolstuff.blogspot.com/2009/03/laksaware.html

Spicing it up

Recently, I discovered our Barkers' Rib Rub and All-purpose spice was in a Treasury. (yayy!)

A customer requested a sugar-free version for her diabetic husband, so we made a batch with splenda instead of sugar. She was very pleased with it. She left us feedback that it works great on fish too. We also sold another sugar-free one to another buyer in Michigan. I guess we need to make more.

I still get a warm fuzzy feeling when our buyers tell us they love what we make.

Thank you Secret Santa!

I participated in a Secret Santa gift exchange this year with some of the ACE (Amazing Carolina Etsians) team members. On Friday, I received a parcel on the front door.

In the box was a beautiful handbound journal from UberArt.etsy.com, a pretty handmade Christmas card, a big bar of chocolate handmade soap from Barebummbath.etsy.com (Yumm!!) and my favorite chocolates-Ferrero Rocher!

Thank you, Secret Santa! Whoever you are, you nailed it!

First Craft show experience

The day finally came! After worrying and stressing and obsessing about this day, it arrived and I had a great time. I think Jason did too. (He got a little bored in the afternoon and thankfully there was a radio that he could tune in to listen to the ballgame)

We got to know and meet Gayle and her family. She's one of our team members from the ACE team on Etsy. Our tables were just beside each other in the same room. And I enjoyed their company tremendously. Her son, Mitchell, makes cards and they were a big hit. We bought some and Jason told him that we're going to send those to Malaysia. He was so excited and it really made his day coz he could not stop telling everybody about it.

There wasn't much of a crowd. Most of the buyers were their own church members. But everyone were so very nice.
Parents-in-law came during lunch time to help relieve us so that we could grab a quick lunch.

I sold a few scrubbies and Jason did a good job with his all-purpose spice and giving out samples. We went in with zero expectations and was just hoping to have an experience and meet some wonderful people. And we did.

That night, I slept like a baby. So relieved. And so very tired.
I admire those crafters who do shows like these almost every week. Where do they get all that energy from?

List of "must haves" for a craft show

I'll be doing my very first craft show tomorrow. So I'm going to list what to bring here (so I know where to look if I were to do another craft show)

Inventory
Tablecloth
Shop Signage
Price signage
Change (dollar bills)
Apron / money holder
Business cards + holder (I'm using the EQ3 glass dish)
Tape (duct tape)
Pens, markers
Stapler
Paper bags, merchandise bags
Camera (and batteries)
Calculator
safety pins
hand sanitizer
baskets, wooden bowl, vase
boxes (to add additional layer)
table runner
Water
First aid kit
Tylenol

I am probably forgetting something.

Holiday Gift Guide

Just discovered my bath scrubbie is being featured on UpstateFancy's holiday gift guide!

For the love of soaps

Here's my latest addiction...... handmade soaps!

I bought these myself recently from here, here and here :And Jason got me these for my birthday from here :


And I bought a whole bunch of these.. and recently ordered more from this very wonderful lady as a collaboration with my scrubbies :


Yummy yummy-licious!

The Scrubbies are getting their 5 minutes of fame

Last week, the New York Times contacted me and wanted to feature my scrubbies in their Sunday Styles section. They were going to do a page on hostess gifts and asked if I could Fedex some scrubbies over.
Hell yeah!!!

They are featured this weekend here.

Ok, it's not a big deal. But I am still doing the happy dance!

Gotta love em corks

Omigod! Twice in a week? My laksa bowl trivet got selected to be in this treasury!

Treasury

Yayy!! My trivet was selected and featured in the Treasury section of Etsy!