20 May 2009

My Latest Soap Creation

It's not secret that I LOVE creating soaps. After all, anyone can melt soap base, add some color, a bit of fragrance, pour it into a large mould, slice it, wrap and label it and voila. Hey, it's easy, it's functional and it yields the ability to make larger quantities of handcrafted soap with minimal labor. But to create a lovely but still functional bar of soap... Or even just to create a lovely bar of soap to display in a bathroom - those tasks require skills and talents - and patience! I certainly enjoy the ease of making a batch of simple, plain, nourishing bars of soap, such as my last batch of Patchouli soap. That soap didn't even have the benefit of added color - it was a simple, aloe-based hot-processed soap with patchouli oil for scent. (Incidentally, I'm sorry to announce that I'm completely sold out of that soap at the present time, and the next batch will certainly have its share of color.)

But creating one-of-a-kind soaps brings me a special kind of joy and satisfaction. I love the way they look spread out on our kitchen table as I'm in the various steps of the creative process. Perhaps it's the array of handcrafted, trimmed and beveled soaps, waiting for their dragonfly adornments. Maybe it's the soap rack covered with small soap dragonflies that my daughter has mica-brushed, looking like they're fixed in flight over some invisible pond, wings sparkling in the light coming through the window. Then, it could be how they're finally put together, dragonfly resting softly on soap, excess soap trimmed away, and the final products waiting patiently for me to wrap and label them. I hear you now: Well, show us the soap already!!! OK, OK, here it is, my Apricot Freesia Dragonfly Soap. Currently, quantities are limited, but I'll be making more of these soon.



19 May 2009

Shout Out to Norfolk!

I have Google Analytics installed on my website, which allows me to see where the site's hits are coming from. It's amazing when I can see that people in Paris, London, Moscow, Dublin and unknown, unremembered corners of various foreign countries are hitting MY site and looking at MY wares! Another thing that Analytics does is, it shows me how many hits come from certain places and how many of those hits are "unique" (new).

I keep seeing hit upon hit from Norfolk, VA, which is not that far from here. *Waving* Not only that, but now the reports are saying "0% unique" hits from Norfolk. So... Whoever you are, drop me a line! You apparently enjoy looking at my wares, and I'd love to hear from you! It'd be great if you ordered from me, too, but no pressure! :-)