Um… Ooops! It would appear that it’s been five months since I last posted here. I knew it had been a while, but FIVE MONTHS?? In fairness I have been incredibly busy, and posting on the blog was one of things that I kept putting off until I had more time. Well, now I have more time. Today my youngest child started school. Only two hours a day this year, but that still gives me 10 WHOLE HOURS a week to ‘get stuff done’, and high on my list of priorities is to resurrect this blog and start posting much more often.
Since my last post I’ve standardised all of my range, including the seasonal bars. I may post more about these in the future, but here’s a quick peek:
Love Spell:
Cherry Blossom (Spring Special):
Afternoon at the Races (Summer Special – Strawberries & Champagne fragrance):
Criccieth Beach (Summer Special – Rockpool fragrance):
And, as there’s always an exception (or two) to the rule, there were also a couple of anomalies – one confetti bar which I made to use up all the bits of soap that I get when I bevel the bars, and one that seized badly when I added the fragrance so I had to simply do what I could with it to get it into the mould, and actually, it turned out ok:
Confetti Soap (Lemon Verbena fragrance):
Black Rock Sands (Beachy fragrance):
What else?
Well, I’ve gained two more wholesale accounts, bringing the total of retail outlets stocking my soap up to ten, and started supplying one-third sized bars to two businesses offering guest accommodation. Much of my time has been spent making, wrapping and labelling soap to keep up with demand. Generally this means working once the kids are in beds, so lots of late night soaping for me!
Every Thursday evening during the holiday season (April – Oct) I’ve been giving a soapmaking presentation to visitors staying in local Holiday Fellowship accommodation. I LOVE being able to share the process, and it’s always really well received – so much so that I’ve already been asked to go back next year 😀
During May and June I participated in a European soap swap with 20 other soapmakers from all over Europe. It involved making an all natural soap, without artificial colours or fragrances, and I was waaay out of my comfort zone. I’ll share more in another post.
We enjoyed a lot of fantastic family time over the school holidays, with long weekends camping, trips to the beach, geocaching and scavenger hunts (despite the weather not always playing ball – I’m fully expecting an Indian summer now that the kids have gone back to school!).
Plans for the near future include getting my bathbomb assessments organised in time for Christmas, making a facial bar, and experimenting further with sugar scrubs and lip balms before I decide on final recipes. Oh, and launch the website, but you’ve heard that one before 😉