The Love of Soapmaking

Twitter

2009-04-05T21:51:00.000-07:00

Well we are now on Twitter so follow us here to find out about our quick sales. We will put up these quick sales on twitter as we have items that are on sale. For our first sale visit our new website www.stoneybrooknaturals.com and take 15% off any order of $25 or more by using coupon code twitter. You can follow us here http://twitter.com/Stoneybrooknat this is all new to me but it is exciting. As long as we are here updating things what is new........ well poured some great new scents that we are excited about and will update them soon with a sale on them. We have a new old supplier that has brought in some great new fragrances and we are excited. If you would like to visit her site it is http://www.moonworkscollection.com/ she has some great fragrance oils and essential oils on her site. Rhonda is a great friend and neighbor and I am so lucky to have her as a friend and supplier. Well will update soon as the candles need a couple more days to cure and then they'll be ready for a sale, maybe even some soapies too.

new soaps today!!!

2009-02-08T19:18:00.000-08:00

Well today was a great soaping day. We had special requests for 2 favorites that needed restocking so we did those, sandalwood and patchouli and ginger and amber. These are also 2 of my personal favorites. We also had to restock our cinnamon stick and then decided to make an oatmeal, goatsmilk & organic honey soap scented with french lavender. This is one decadant bar I put extra cocoa butter in it and the fresh goatsmilk and raw honey are just so soothing to your skin. These soaps will be ready in about 6 weeks. I will try to post some pictures when they are cut if I can find my camera equipment. We are still trying to dig stuff out after the move it is funny you think you know where everything is and poof no you don't. I bought 50 lbs. of honey from a local bee keeper to use in my soaps and couldn't even find that. How do you loose a 50 lb. bucket of honey. Well the soap is made so yes I did find it but I thought for a minute I was loosing my mind. DH made the best nacho's tonite, they were a great change and we really enjoyed them. It is a good day when you have great food, rest, make soap and just enjoy each others company, yes that is a good day. Hubby's mom and dad called, they finally made it back to Utah and so they are all safe and sound and are trying to get their house back in order after being gone for 4 months, I wouldn't like that chore. The cats have been a bit crazy today, they all got up this morning and decided that it was going to be a canned cat food day, see they only get canned cat food about once a week. Percy monster is the ring leader when it comes to canned cat food. He starts howling and begging and all the others come running and chiming in. Percy has had lots, and I mean lots of digestive issues so he is on a strict diet complete with bottled water so he only getscanned food once a week and I guess today was the day. Soon after they were all up on our bed stretched out and napping, yes life was good for the cats today :). Well, not much exciting happened today, just a lazy relaxing day around the house.

Snowy February Day

2009-02-03T22:34:00.000-08:00

O.k. so I know I said I was finished blogging tonite but I forgot to add that I just posted some new specials on my etsy and artfire sites. Since this winter has been rough on my skin I decided to offer some great deals on my 4 favorite products. Want to keep up with all my sales and specials well get on over to the website and sign up for my newsletter. You will get all our newsletters, sale updates and an introductory sales coupon. So what's on sale Janis, well right now on etsy http://www.jansbathscents.etsy.com/ I have my 4 bar soap special for only $12.50, whipped shea or lavender butter for only $4.50 and my Silk ' Shea lotion for only $6.50. These are the lowest prices on these items in the last 2 years so if your skin is in need of some pampering or you want to get some great valentines day gifts head on over and pick you up some items at a great price. Off to bed now, I have to work tomorrow and it will be a busy busy day, so happy shopping.

Long time no post for me

2009-02-03T22:05:00.000-08:00

Wow, it has been a long time since I made an entry here. What has been happening the last half of 2008. Let's see where to start, we had a very busy summer, it just seemed like it was hard to keep ahead of the game. My real job was very hectic and busy so that was nice and my business was also, so thanks to everyone for being loyal customers. The fall was so very very busy, I decided that we needed to move, kinda sprung it on hubby out of the blue, so we did. Right in the middle of that decision my hubby lost his job so here we are getting ready for my busiest show of the year, we are moving both our home and our business, and DH has to look for a new job. Needless to say it was a very stressful time. During all of this my in-laws always come out to stay a few months to help me with my fall shows. 'Thank God for all their help, without their help I wouldn't have been able to keep up. We so love their visits. We literally got moved and got the house somewhat set up a day or two before they arrived. Fall shows came and went and Thanksgiving came, then I was told my father was very very ill so I had that to deal with over the holiday season. I spent as much time in Michigan with my mother as was humanly possible trying to be some help to her. My mother is an angel of mercy, she took such great care of my father, I am so proud of her. Dad made it past his birthday, and Thanksgiving and Christmas but sadly died New Years Eve. I feel he is in a much better place and feel blessed to have had him for the 5o+ years of m life that I did. My mother did such an exceptional job taking care of him and now I just hope I can help her out during the next few months to help ease her pain. She is doing well and is still living in her home, I hope she will be able to spend more time with us now that she is free to travel. Well now it is slightly into 2009 and I hope this year brings good things, we really need some good times to forget the last half of 2008. My hubby has a new job he absolutely loves so hopefully we can get some bills caught up and he can continue to feel good with his new job. He is a manager at a local steak house called the Polo Club in Indianapolis and he absolutely loves his job. He is a real people person and loves cooking, customer service and people in general. My goal is to sell lots of soap this year and move my business forward. I just brought in a new line of organic soaps that I really love. They are absolutely wonderful and have them added on the website now. I hope to also add some organic spices and other products. Hubby is interested in organic cooking and spices so I figure we can combine both of our joys together and help provide some great quality products. Well, enuf said tonite. Stay tuned for more updates on the home front and business front.

Getting ready for fall soaps - yes already

2008-06-19T19:20:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend we will start some of our fall soaps I know it isn't even officially summer yet but I like my soaps to cure for as long as possible, the longer they cure the nicer they get and the better the lather is so I try to stay a season ahead. This weekend we will make some pumpkin soaps, I want to try a new recipe of pumpkin and lavender with real pumpkin puree, honey & lavender essential oils. My lavender buds are ready to be sprinkled on top of this so it should be a great soap and a different twist to the usual pumpkin spice. I will of coarse do the traditional pumpkin and spice this year as well with real cinnamon and nutmeg in it and heavy cream to make it Oh so luxurious. I also think my third batch will be something apple based it will probably be apple jack 'n peel because that is one of my all time fall favorites and I have an excellent fragrance for this soap. Candles will also be on the menu this weekend as well, have to get stocked up on the basics and test some new oils as well so I will be busy. I'll update you on how the lavender pumpkin soap works out and will post pic's when we get the camera set up. Well that's all for tonite. Janis

What's being cut and packaged

2008-06-17T21:39:00.000-07:00

Wow, we have lots of soap ready to be packaged. It has finished curinng the last 8 weeks or so and is now ready to be cut, beveled, boxed and labeled. The first one is our Antique Lilac soap made with the truest lilac fragrance I have ever smelled. I made this a 2 tone soap with a light lilac color on the bottom and a creamy white layer on the top, it looks as good as it smells. This is one of my customers favorites and I am glad to get it back in stock. Amber and Oak is ready to go as well it is an awesome scent of amber mixed with that woody oak scent. I can't get enough of this fragrance. We added extra cocoa butter to this soap to make it nice and creamy, and it sure worked. Last but not least is our Trio of our new soy soaps, we were asked to utilize more soy in our products so we made a nice trio of all natural soaps with soy oil and soy milk for a creamy luscious lather. We have Lavender and Soy, 2 mints, & Shea and Soy. Still curing on the rack is our Eucalyputs and soy. I will upload some pic's of these new soaps as soon as my hubby can take some pictures of them so you can see the newest arrivals. Well back to packaging and putting them on the website.

The joys of Soapmaking

2008-06-17T18:15:00.000-07:00

Well since this is my first post to my very own blog I'll start out by talking about why and how I got into soapmaking. I am a full time restaurant manager for a very busy fast food restaurant chain and while I love my job and my customers sometimes you just have to have an avenue of escape. I am not an athletic type of person so that was out and I never really considered myself very creative. I love to sew but I'm not real good at it, just good enough to get by. I was given the opportunity to buy a bar of handmade soap (well I thought it was at the time) so I did. I had never used any soap until then other than store bought soap and always wondered why my skin felt dry and itchy afterwards. I became obsessed with making my own soap so I started my research and discovered what I had bought was actually a glycerin melt and pour soap that had been nicely scented and decorated, so that is where I started. I was still obsessed with the process of making soap from scratch as opposed to buying a pre-made base and scenting and coloring it. I am in awe of melt and pour artists that can take a base soap and turn it into a work of art, but as I said earlier I'm not that artistic, so making handmade soap from scratch with luxurious oils and herbs is what works best for me. I studied and bought every book available and tried many many recipes for over a year before I felt good enough about my product to introduce it to the public. That was over 7 years ago and I still love making soap as much or more than I did back then. I believe handmade soap is truly a gift from God and nature that can really help many many people with skin conditions as well as offer an alternative product for people that just want to get back to a more natural product. So that is my story of how a fast food restaurant manager became a soapmaker. It is my long term goal to make soap for a living after I retire, hee hee. If you are interested in some of my soaps you can check out my website at http://www.jansbathscents.com/ for a complete listing of my scents and types of soap. Happy Soapmaking, janis