WARNING: Gift-Giving Season is closer than it appears!

Greetings, friends!  Fall is officially here in Bend, and the aspens and maple trees are putting on a colorful show everywhere I look.  I hope you're able to take a few solitary moments to walk slowly through the fallen leaves, hear the wind in the high branches, and enjoy Nature's dance into hibernation.

Fall's exit welcomes in the holiday season!  I've been amazed over the years to see how popular my products have become as gifts.  If you're ready to admit that the holiday season is close, here's a few things to know about Scarlet Ivy Soaps:

• Soaps make simple, classy gifts for anyone!  (Like that surprise girlfriend your nephew brings to Christmas dinner)
• Soap travels and ships well
• It's a hand-made gift from Oregon!
• I make BEER SOAP!  Yep, beer soap made from local brews (GoodLife and Deschutes Breweries).  Why not give a bar with a 6-pack?
• I do custom orders

Don't forget about GIFT BASKETS!  I make beautifully decorative baskets that are filled with lots of goodies...soaps, perfumes, bath salts, bath bombs, candles, and more.  You choose the colors--it's your gift to design!

And a final "shout out" to my friend Bob in Norfolk, Virginia.  Year after year, Bob buys a TON of bars of soap for the holidays and keeps them in his car.  He's got ready-made gifts for the lovely people in his life.  He tells me that he hands his friends bars of soap and tells them, "Clean up your act!"  Thanks for your business, Bob.

Feel free to call or email for other gift options! 

XO Jensine 

Busy, busy, busy...

Good day friends!

I have so much to be thankful for today--it's been a busy few months here in Soap-making Country. With the close of my "day job" has come the opportunity to jump head-first into my soap business. The time and energy has certainly paid off. :-)

First, Fall Fest was a huge success! Thanks so much to my loyal and new customers for supporting local soapers like me. Saturday and Sunday, I sold hundreds of bars of soap to locals and tourists. The most popular types this weekend were:
*Mountain Rescue Beer Soap (from GoodLife Brewery)
*Mt. Bachelor Soap (aka "the man bar")
*Pumpkin Spice Latte Soap
*Three Sisters Soap (citrus, vanilla, patchouli blend)

Some of my favorite things about Festivals are meeting new people, talking with my customers face-to-face, and expanding my business opportunities. This weekend I was fortunate to meet the owner of Dream Pebbles Bath (on Minnesota Avenue) to discuss selling my beer soaps in her fabulous shop! In addition, talks are in the works with some other breweries who are *very* interested in having me play with their brews in my soaps.

I'll be at many craft shows this holiday season! Keep on the look out for my list of locations, or EMAIL ME!

Stay clean, people!!!
XO Jensine

Beer Soap!

If there's one thing that Bend is reknowned for it's as a microbrew heaven.  Drive the streets of our fair city and you'll see brewing companies, IPA signs, beer trucks driven by bearded mountain men.  I've long wanted to dabble in the chemistry of beer soap-making, and finally have taken the plung! 

Thanks to my colleague Adam Becker (literally a Jack of All Trades), the first of many batches are currently curing--getting primed for my beloved customers in Bend.  I'm kind of a beer idiot, so Adam's in charge of choosing brews, suggesting fragrances, and flattening the dickens out of the beers.  We use brews in place of water in the soap recipe, but in order to avoid a beer and lye volcanic eruption, the beer needs to be really REALLY flat!   That's Adam's job, and he does it well.  :)

What's different about making beer soap?  Well, the first noticeable difference comes when the lye is mixed with the beer.  The smell is awful!  Pungent...ripe...dark.  It's a far cry from when I mix lye with water--for that, I need to work outdoors because the combination dangerously takes your breath away!  For this...it's the smell.  Blech, I work quickly and get that mix cooling!  The other noticeable difference is in the final product.  So far we've created beer soaps out of porters and ales (all local brews, of course).  We've created unscented soaps so far, just to get "base line" ideas of what beer soap smells like.   The soaps are beautiful!  Consistently colored, smooth, heavenly.  The fragrances (no extra added) are earthy, mellow and sultry.  I'm sure we'll experiment with more fragrance combos, but I'm a fan of what we've discovered so far.

Keep an eye out for some beer soaps in the near future!

   

Bath Bombs are Here!

The latest edition to my bath and body line needs little introduction.  Here comes fizzy fun in the form of fabulous bath bombs for your tub or shower.  I discovered that as the seasons changed from the colorful, brisk days of fall to the icy, chilled-to-the-bone days of winter, I was taking more baths than ever!  To my baths I'd add a sprinkling of mineral and epsom salts, as well as a hand-blended medley of oils and fragrances.  One day I encountered a recipe for bath bombs that incorporated both of these!  So off I went, yet again, into Chemist Mode.

From this simple recipe, I've added to my collection wonderful fizzy bath bombs!  They are nearly tennis ball in size, weigh in at approximately 4 hearty ounces and are an amazing addition to my line.  My favorite so far has been the kind I make for myself--I call it the Peppermint Ice Bath Bomb, and it's made with peppermint essential oil.  It leaves the bathroom smelling heavenly!  Sadly it doesn't want to mould well, so I create that guy only for myself at this point.  I will likely turn it into smaller bombs in the near future.

When you drop them in the bath tub, it's amazing what happens!  The chemical reaction between the citric acid (no, it's not dangerous), sodium bicarbonate and water makes for a bubbly, fizzy, effervescent good time!  The almond oil softens the water and the mineral blend is very refreshing and healthy for your skin.  I won't take a bath without one again!

Right now, I can create them in any fragrance you'd like!  However, these are what I have available in my shop:
Lavender
Warm Vanilla Creme (best seller at craft fairs this last holiday!)
Violet and Bergamot

Let me know if you'd like a bomb in any fragrance--I'm happy to make it happen. :)

What We're Grateful For

One of the best ways for me to snap out of a bad mood or to gain perpective on my life is to create a Gratitude List.  I want to create an ongoing list with the help of Etsy members and you! 

Add a comment below, stating at least one thing that you're grateful for in your life.  I'll have this be ongoing, though I'd like to add incentive for people to participate!  On Thanksgiving Day, 11/25/2010, I'll randomly draw one name from the comments to receive free soap! 

Let me start the list:

I'm grateful for my health and creativity. 

How about you?

Home Again on Etsy

It's official!  I'm back on Etsy.  Don't know what Etsy is?  Well, I describe it as an online marketplace for handmade items.  Translation--the best place EVER to sell my soap!  My shop is found HERE, and I'm super thrilled to say that I made my first sale today. 

My previous Etsy experience is extensive.  I sold soap and more online when I lived in Virginia--my shop, Aspen Spa, was very successful.  I wasn't aware of how successful it was until I took it off "Vacation Mode" and got email after email from previous customers, welcoming me back! I had request after request for my sugar scrubs, bath salts and (more than once) perfume sticks.  I'm so grateful for all of you, my repeat customers! :) 

Are you looking for the best shopping experience ever?  Check out Etsy.  Unique, one of a kind, wonderful creations from some of the most talented people ever!  Share with me what you find on Etsy.  What do you like?

Making Goat's Milk Soap (or The Stick Blender Instigator)

One day, while browsing my favorite local thrift store, I noticed a used stick blender in the kitchen section of the store.  A "tool of the trade" (and not the most common object on Earth), I took note and passed it by.

Minutes later, I see a woman holding that stick blender AND a crinkle cutter tool!  I knew she had to be a soap maker.  I struck up conversation with this wonderful woman, Tara, who shared that she owns a goat farm near Bend and wanted to put her fresh goat's milk to good use.  She shared that she had just (20 hours earlier) created her first ever batch of cold process goat's milk soap!   I was so excited for her--I recall my first ever batch of soap, the anticipation for when it was time to uncover my mold...the fear that it didn't work and all those dollars worth of oils went to waste...that soap making was really hard and I just wasn't smart enough to pull it off.  Tara and I exchanged numbers, and within hours I purchased the freshest goat's milk ever!

I can't tell you how many times, at craft shows, I've been asked if I make goat's milk soap.  Having always focused on vegan-friendly only products, I would have to turn people away to find a different soap seller.  When I decided to start business again here in Oregon, I knew that...if not for customers...I wanted to make GM soap for myself.  I mean, what's the hype all about???

Tara and her husband, Shannon, own Bantam Lane Natural Farm near Bend, Oregon.  They are wonderful people with the freshest of goat's milk and a welcoming farm only minutes from my home.  I have used their GM to create a number of batches and finally understand the HYPE!  Goat's milk soap lathers beautifully, it is rich in Vitamins A, B, C, D, E and K and I find it to be very luxurious on my skin.  I couldn't believe the lather!  Fluffy, creamy, soft.

Making GM soap isn't much different than oils-only cold process soap.  My method involves adding the GM just before blending diluted sodium hydroxide with the oils.   I use just enough GM to add to the luxury of the soap, but not so much as to increase the likelihood of spoilage.  (After all, soap IS a fresh product!)

Interested in trying goat's milk soap?  I have fragrance free and scented varieties available here: Goat's Milk Soap for Sale