Hiatus

Hey folks,

I've been taking an extended break from my soap blog due to an unexpectedly hectic schedule in my personal and career life. I promise to keep y'all updated on my latest creations when I have a bit more free time. For now, though, feel free to check out my personal blog to see what else I've been up to.

Keeping it clean,
Rebecca

Not So Amazing Marbling

A couple weeks ago I was catching up on the Soap Queen blog and I saw her tutorial on marbling. The resulting soaps look AMAZING.

Mine, however, are not so amazing...
The best thing about melt and pour soap making is that if you don't like how your batch comes out the first time, you can always melt it down and try again!

keeping it clean...

Spearmint Lime Soaps

Mmm... I love the smell of spearmint essential oil! When my spearmint rosemary soaps were curing, coming home to my studio/apartment every day after work was a real treat. I decided to try another spin on spearmint and mixed up this batch with some lime essential oil. Among other things, spearmint essential oil is said to help with asthma, exhaustion, and headaches. Lime essential oil is also known to revitalize and uplift those suffering from exhaustion or depression. I can't make any claims about these effects, but I can tell you how absolutely, refreshingly wonderful these babies smell!

Soapy September at the Loft

Now that August and my language assessment course commitments are over, I've got more time (and money- yay!) for soaping. This month I finally made my first Etsy sale (thanks Jess!) and I've got my first bulk order for favors at a very special upcoming event (details to follow).

After spending a lovely weekend (my first free weekend in 5 weeks!) between Santa Cruz and Salinas visiting with friends and a very special new boy, I finally found some time this weekend to bust out the oils, lye and other neglected supplies and get busy experimenting with some new cold process recipes. Yesterday truly was a Super Soaping Sunday - I made 4 batches of soap, which I plan to share with you throughout the week.

I also placed a couple of exciting supply orders last week so I'm very excited to introduce some new lip balm flavors and (soap) color and fragrance options in the next few weeks.

While you're waiting on pics and more info about my new soapy adventures, don't forget to check out my Etsy store. It's a bit bare at the moment, but now that my new camera has arrived, I'll be adding more listings in the next few days. If you're following me on Twitter, you already know that I'm offering FREE SHIPPING for the month of September on all purchases over $10. To take advantage of this deal, please enter the word SEPTEMBER in the notes to seller. A refund for the shipping cost will be issued when I process the order.

Now Available: Spearmint Rosemary soap

Fragranced with essential oils of spearmint and rosemary and colored with oxides, these guys are 100% natural. They've had a nice long cure in my small home-based workshop and they're ready to be included in your daily bath/shower ritual.

Order them online and I'll throw in a free lip balm!

Where did the summer go?!?

Ok, so I guess I've been a bit busy moving apartments, working hard on a new test of spoken Dutch and teaching a course in language assessment. My regular, full-time job plus prep and execution of a college-level course at the same time. *$&#! Never. Again. Honestly, I've enjoyed teaching the course but I just had way too much on my plate to manage, like, life and stuff. The final class was last Saturday, so I'm finally in the home stretch of being a one-job woman again. Which means more time for the fun stuff... like soaping!

This summer did bring a couple really nice distractions from the super-grind, though. I had a very special birthday weekend in Santa Monica visiting with family and college buddies and checking out the amazing Accomplice: Hollywood. Then, of course, there was the bachelorette party and wedding of one of my oldest friends, Levy, earlier this month, which was truly a wonderful - and beautiful - occasion.

Although I've obviously been keeping busy, somehow I feel like it went from May to September in the blink of an eye. No camping trips, out-of-state visits, trips to the beach or any of my other usual summer escapades.

Anyone else vote for extending this year's summer?

Soapy the Germ Fighter

So many things to write, so little time...

I'm all tied up in language assessment this month and, sadly, I have no time for soaping or blogging about soaping.

However, I did come across this lovely little video and I just had to share:
Soapy the Germ Fighter!

Don't you just love cheesy outdated instructional videos? Yay for Soapy!

keeping it clean (and validly assessed)...