Don't Eat the Soap.....

Deli that is....
Oh if only computers were scratch and sniff then we could all truly enjoy this blog post all the more! Rebecca, of Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen, also affectionately known as SoapDeli, sat down with me to talk about her yummy soapiness.

Just how did Rebecca and SoapDeli get started? She explains, "When I first started out in 2001 the idea was to sell soaps that smelled like delicious favorites from the kitchen. I still do sell food scented soaps, but I've also evolved into non-food based scents as well to meet customer demand. All of my soaps are made using the cold process soapmaking method in small batches to ensure quality control. I use shea butter in all of my soaps and only vegetable based oils. Many of my soaps are vegan though I sell goat milk varieties as well for those who choose a different
lifestyle. I scent all of my soaps with the maximum recommended amount of scent to ensure a great smelling bar from start to finish. All of my soaps have a rich lather that makes them great for shaving. They also work well as facial soaps - my unscented goat milk soap is a favorite
for this - and as shampoo bars."

Her current favorite item is the "Lemon Verbena Salt bar. It's not only 100% natural but it smells divine and my skin loves it too." Rebecca says, "It's formulated for those who tend to have dry skin, like myself as I'm prone to eczema - and has a wonderfully rich, lotion like lather."

Sounds great to me!! Rebecca is not only soap extraordinaire, but also admin, marketer, advertiser, interviewer, co-founder of http://www.byhand.me. Which, Blockhead Radio is a huge fan of! If you haven't checked out byhand.me, we highly suggest you do and while you're there...check out the Blockhead Radio Clubhouse created by yours truly :)

Rebecca gets to work closely with her husband, Adam, who co-founded Byhand.me with her and while he works a full time job, as a computer programmer, "by night he programs for the artisan community http://byhand.me that he created. We're together all the time since he telecommutes for his job and we share an office. He also accompanies me on Saturdays to the market as my "helper." He takes his mac book and gets work done and I get a chance to socialize, shop, take those necessary potty breaks, and buy us lunch." Adam also runs his own online business with his beautiful photography, which you can find at http://infivision.artfire.com and http://infivision.etsy.com. Rebecca and Adam have much to be proud of, along with their busy lives, they also have a 12 year old son, who Rebecca smartly puts to work helping around the house! (This mom agrees with that 110%!)

Rebecca's not new at soapmaking! She explains, "I've been making soap since 2001. I have always suffered from sensitive skin. Mom would always wash my brother's and my clothes twice. Once to get them clean and then again without detergent to get the fragrance out. Luckily unscented detergents are now easy to come by. It was just before I started making soap that I started buying handmade soaps. They made a huge difference in my skin and I never turned back. I figured since I was buying handmade soaps all of the time I may as well start making my own. And the rest just progressed from there.

Selling online was more or less just a hobby for me until January 2008 when I decided to take it seriously. I was also entirely too busy with selling on the city market prior to that to make time for selling online. Things changed in January 2008, though, and I got really organized and prioritized things. Local sales were starting to take a slight downturn then and I didn't - as they say - want to have all of my eggs in one basket. So I started promoting online and by the end of the year I was seeing regular online sales. As it lucked out my online business picked up enough the last quarter of 2008 to make up for the sharp downtown the economy took. While my local sales for the last quarter of 2008 were down 50%, my online sales made up that 50% I was down. Online sales are also what pays the bills the first quarter of every year when I'm unable to sell locally due to the cold."

Besides the online community friends she's found, Rebecca is able to connect with other local artisans at the city market. She says, "There are so many wonderful artists and food producers on my local market and we sometimes bounce ideas off one another as far as when to sell, what to sell, how to expand, etc. Mostly we just like to gossip though!" Nothing wrong with that!!

Rebecca knows her limits though, and knows when life gets too stressful it's time to take a break! (That's when the house cleaning son comes in mighty handy!) She also suffers from agoraphobia and seasonal depression, she shared, and says sometimes it's just hard to get to the local seller's market. I think anyone who can recognize her limitations, and STILL create such awesome work and an ENTIRE online community deserves some kudos!!

So where can you find Rebecca? Glad you asked!
Shop with SoapDeli on Etsy and Artfire!

http://soapdelinews.blogspot.com--Soap Deli News is the official blog for Rebecca's Soap Delicatessen. Get updates on new products, sales and contests. You'll also find soap
recipes, bath and body recipes, and craft projects.
http://shopbyhand.blogspot.com--Shop ByHand is a shopping blog dedicated to handmade products. Discover fun new products by indie artists, artist features, and artist interviews.

All About Handmade: http://soapdeli.byhand.me/blog
http://www.soapdelicatessen.com
http://twitter.com/soapdeli
http://rebeccasfacebook
http://ByHandsfacebook
http://soapdeli.byhand.me
http://www.flickr.com/soapdeli
http://www.plurk.com/soapdeli
http://www.plumdrop.com/members/soapdeli

So, be sure and check out Rebecca and all her soapy goodness!
And don't forget to tune in Monday, April 13th for YOUR chance to win one of Rebecca's awesome soaps!! Read all about it HERE!

Many thanks, Rebecca for sharing!!

~~Amy

Soap that's out of this world....

Can be found lovingly made by the talented Celyn from CosmicCleanBody. Not only does Celyn make some gorgeous soap, candles, and various other beautiful creations, she also does amazing handmade glass jewelry/art. Her gorgeous glass art can be found at GazedUponGlass

But who really are the warm bodies behind such fantastic creations?
Celyn and her husband brew up the soapy goodness over in CosmicCleanBody. Her husband is the mathematician and brains of the operation, and Celyn is the creativity and loving touch! Their love of soap co-exists nicely with their secret desire to be mad scientists...after all, handmade, cold process soap is really all about science, with a good nose and creative brains thrown in!

You'll note an out of this world theme over at CosmicCleanBody...space, the final handmade frontier! Most of the creations have an outer worldly theme! Such creations include Galactic Bubbly - Champagne scented Soap, Martian Melon - Watermelon scented Soap and of course the ever popular Free the Pink Alien Monster Soap! Blockhead Radio was assured no aliens are harmed in the making of any soaps!

But soaps are not enough for Celyn! She also makes glass soap dishes, bath puffs, body/linen sprays, candles, sachets and incense holders!! When does she sleep you might wonder?

I'm curious of her sleeping habits also, because not ONLY does she make all this loveliness, but she ALSO does fused glass art and jewelry!! See, this is where most people would take a nap in their busy days,but not Celyn!! She is a glass artist who uses copper foil, leading, mosaic, fusing and torch work to create her glass creations. Celyn says, "Both of my grandmothers were very artistic and I grew up drawing and painting with them. Throughout my school years I won numerous awards for drawing and painting. But when I discovered glass I knew I had found my medium."

But Celyn knows that it is important to draw the line between work and family. As she says, "Time is my biggest obstacle. I have 4 children. One is grown and out on his own, another is a teenager in high school and then two young toddlers. I know how quickly they grow, and I try to spend as much time as I can with them because it's over before you know it. There just isn't enough time in the day"

Family is obviously important to Celyn, because, as previously mentioned, her husband works closely with her. He even offered to send her to photography lessons because she feels that is one area she could improve on. Personally, I think her shots are GORGEOUS, but she is right, everyone could improve their photography just a little!! As Celyn put it, "Since my main selling venue is online, pictures tell the story!"

Her work is not without challenges. Celyn faces what many handmade artisans face, dealing with our innate urge to provide only perfect items for our customers! When asked what her biggest challenge was, Celyn replied, "Myself... Many of my customers want custom creations. I struggle with this because everything I do I want to be perfect and the very best it can be and sometimes I doubt myself. So being my own biggest critic is my biggest challenge." This is an all to familiar theme and feeling among handmade artisans. Despite the fact that the slight variations in handmade items are one of the things that makes them appealing, we all struggle with the question of, is my work good enough?

There is no doubt in my mind, Celyn's work IS indeed good enough--MORE Than good enough! Because not only does she provide excellent work, but she is most proud (and should be!) of her excellent customer service! Celyn says, "I know what I want/expect from someone I purchase from and I try to take that to the next level. I try to ship all orders within 24 hours (with the exception of custom orders) and I make them enjoyable to open, each one a gift to whoever is opening it."

It is indeed this attitude that helps Celyn's work stand out. Her art of soap and fused glass is in two genres that indeed are full of fantastic artisans. Yet her work stands out and is frequently featured in treasuries, blogs, and more. The tight knit handmade community also helps in this aspect! One might think that selling on the Internet would result in anonymity and a 'closed in' feeling...but that is one unique thing about the handmade community. Due to various teams, groups, forums, and venues (and awesome places like Blockhead Radio!) we can all join together and share our work, ideas, thoughts and inspirations!

Celyn is currently working with several artisans, including Cozy Cabin Creations
by turning Cozy's fabric scraps into lovely scented sachets!! She also has several other collaborations in the works and is proud of her Etsy Street Teams, Cafemom Etsy Moms (CEM) and Michigan Street Team (MICE)..

Of COURSE Celyn blogs and you can read her soapy, shiny goodness at http://gazeduponglass.blogspot.com/
You can also find her on Myspace at: http://www.myspace.com/gazeduponglass

Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/8118657@N05

Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/celyn4

So be sure to check out BOTH of Celyn's shops if you do nothing else today!!

And because I can, I am leaving you with two of her most awesome pieces of work! :)

A BeWitching Find

If you've listened to a show (and you really should if you haven't) then you know me as Witchy. You've also come to realize that I'm completely obsessed with soap. Don't even get me started talking about soap or I may never shut up. Chances are if you've caught the Morning BrewHAHA you know I can talk. A LOT.

Recently I took the plunge into joining and then exploring another selling venue: Artfire.

Well of course I had to peruse all the lovely handmade soaps. I thought I'd take the time to share just one shop out of the many that caught my eye: Ann's Lotions and Potions. Oh the eye candy! One glance in this shop and I was captivated by the eye popping colors accentuated with some enticing swirls! Not to mention the scrumptious scents found within... Black Cherry almost had me licking the screen. I'm not afraid to admit it either.

We always tell you not to eat the soap and this shop is going to require extra restraint. Several strips of duct tape across your mouth may be needed to curb the urge. Five years devoted to honing her craft is evident in every beautiful bar. Her shop also contains lotions, lip balms, sugar scrubs and other items that are made with quality ingredients your skin will thank you for.

Mmmm... the Toasted Coconut soap is beautiful. It also contains Coconut Milk which will provide a super creamy lather. I can smell it from here (take a deep breath, I bet you can too)!

I could totally post pic after pic of her gorgeous soaps! But where's the fun in that? Head on over to Ann's Lotions and Potions, take a look around, and grab a bar... or two... or three. If nothing else admire her creations and drool over the scents. Go ahead and lick the screen if the urge strikes. Ya know you want to.

Amy The Awesome of BlockHead Radio

Thursday night I had the privilege of sitting down with the Amy the Awesome and interviewing her live on the air! Many followers of BlockHead Radio are already familiar with Amy. This wonderful gal has a passion for life, and as a part of her passion she has done a lot to support BlockHead Radio! In fact, she's now on staff here, and doing a fantastic job of helping maintain the blog, and promoting BHR to the masses.

Amy is a stay at home Mom with two rambunctious boys. When I asked her why she had named her etsy shop "Mamas Little Monkeys" she told me it was because it sounded a lot better than calling them rascals! Sounds like normal little boys to me though, and she obviously loves them a lot.

On top of taking care of her boys and her work with the radio, you can find Amy doing lots of fun creative things and spreading that creative goodness all over the web! On etsy you can find her under MamasLittleMonkeys and FleurdeInk. She's also a faithful member of CafeMom and she sells on several other venues as well! Unfortunately I don't have every one of her links to share with you.

In her shops Amy sells childrens clothing, recycled crayons in fun shapes, photography, graphic design, toys, soaps, pretty pens, and whatever else her awesome mind comes up with! Do you have kids? Then Amy probably has exactly what your looking for!

Did I mention that Amy blogs as well? She does a lot of the blogs posts here on this BHR's blog, and she has her own blog! So head on over to it and learn even more about Amy! Plus you can get to know her better by tuning into her show, Mom's Cafe, Wednesday night at 9pm on www.blockheadradiolive.com.