Time for a new Challenge

Well SAFE Team is at it again and put forth another challenge to its members to design a soap around what the Holidays mean to you. Not only the soaps in this challenge stunning, but the descriptions and stories behind each entry is heartfelt and beautiful.

Please read each description and cast your vote for your favorite soap in the comment section of this blog entry page of the Etsy SAFE Team shown below....

http://etsysafeteam.blogspot.com/

Special Tribute to our Veterans and Active Duty Military

In recognition of your service to our country, all veterans and active
duty military personnel are invited to eat free at Applebee's Neighborhood
Grill & Bar Restaurants this Veterans Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009.

As you may recall, Applebee's launched a pilot program last year on
Veterans Day offering free entrees to military service personnel and veterans.
Because the response was so overwhelmingly positive, Applebee's is extending
the invitation throughout the country this year.


We would appreciate your help in spreading the word. Please help us share
details across your various communication channels.

All U.S. veterans and active duty military with proof of current or former
military service will eat free at all Applebee's nationwide on Veterans
Day, Wednesday, Nov. 11, 2009.

Proof of service includes: U.S. Uniform Services Identification Card, U.S.
Uniform Services Retired Identification Card, Current Leave and Earnings
Statement, Veterans Organization Card, photograph in uniform or wearing
uniform.

For additional details, visit: www.applebees.com

New Challenge....

Well our SAFE Team, Soap Artisan Friends of Etsy (SAFE) team is a group of soapmakers committed to excellence and best manufacturing practices on Etsy, is at it again! We were given a challenge to make a soap with an Alice in Wonderland theme. You know, at first I thought this would be easy. Lots and lots of ideas flew through my head like the tornado in Wizard of Oz. It wasn't so easy though!


Go Ask Alice....

My challenge entry was inspired by a picture on the website for the upcoming movie, Alice in Wonderland, due out in March of 2010. The gallery picture on the Disney website showed the beautiful row of talking flowers as only Tim Burton can conjur up.

In the 1985 movie classic Alice has a conversation with talking flowers and then meets The Red Queen, who was taking the place of one of the pawns or children of the White Queen on the chess board. Alice plays a pawn and the Red Queen tells her that only if she becomes a queen may she go home.

I could only think that my soap had to include lots of brilliant color and my own rendition of the talking flowers. The first stage of this cold process soap was to make the flower faces and to me that was the easy part! The second stage consisted of another batch of cold process soap, swirled with four different colors and then the flower faces inserted into each bar.



There are lots of great entries in this challenge and please make sure you drop by the SAFE Team Blog and post a comment, choosing the soap that you think is the winner.

http://etsysafeteam.blogspot.com/

Labor Day Sale

There's only a little over a day left to get in on the big Labor Day Sale at The Skin You're In on Etsy: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5216308

We are offering 15% off your shopping cart total through midnight Monday, September 7th on anything and everything in our Etsy shop.

The Holidays are fast approaching and this is a great opportunity to pick up some early Christmas presents.


In the next few weeks we'll be loading up our shop with lots of warm and fuzzy treats for cool Autumn days. New scents include spicy Cinnamon Pumpkin Sugar Baby Body Polish Squares, Fizzy Bath Bombs and a new soap called The Drunken Pumpkin...a new beer soap made with pumpkin puree, lots of amber dark beer and scented with the same wonderfully spicy Cinnamon Pumpkin fragrance.

On the road again...

Sang with my best singing voice...NOT! The old gentleman in the picture above probably has a better singing voice than I do!

Mark (my husband) and I love to take drives. Now, some people, when you tell them that you took a drive think that means you drive somewhere, not too far, turn around and come home. That's not us. We take those drives where we get up at the crack of dawn, watch the sunrise on the road somewhere and be as far away as possible by the time we're hungry enough for breakfast. We've been known to go to Death Valley just to eat an early lunch at the restaurant at Furnace Creek and then drive home...uh, in the middle of Summer.

Our best day driving is about 600+ miles round trip and we always come home, rarely ever staying away for the night.

One of our most favorite drives is up the beautiful California Coast, meeting the first glimpse of ocean between Oxnard and Ventura, traveling up past Santa Barbara, Santa Maria and finally to San Luis Obispo. Then we head to the scenic Hwy 1 and take the coast route all the way! It's lovely and no matter how many times we've taken this drive, it's still breathtaking! We usually take time to stop in San Simeon (the home of Hearst Castle) and have breakfast at a nice little restaurant there called The Cavalier. There's a turn out on the road where you can stop and look at elephant seals napping on the sand, playing in the ocean waves or even big bull males showing each other who's the toughest.


Another favorite stop is to what I like to call Raging Waters.

Now, I call it that just because I can never remember the actua l name until I say "Raging Waters", then I know to say Ragged Point. A very picturesque location completely with a beautiful hotel overlooking the cliffs and raging ocean waters. Also available is a nice snack shop, the ever-present gift shop (every place just has to have one!) and another very cozy restaurant. But...the thrill to us of Ragged Point is the scenery. Sheer cliffs overlook often angry seas but don't worry, you're protected by lots of fencing! LOL! On the better weather days, there is a path you can take that leads down to a very small beach below. Mark and I have taken that path and although very rugged, we managed to get to the bottom even after passing up some couples half our age who just couldn't seem to make it. Haha! Getting down there was NOT the problem. Climbing back up was!!!


Our next stop on this trip was Big Sur, specifically to the Big Sur Campground and Lodge. After paying the typical state campground fees, we walked for about an hour all around the campground, along the banks of a beautiful stream flowing through and then back to the Lodge to have a very welcome meal...we were really hungry by then.


Next stop...home! Yup, all in one day!

On the road again...can't wait to get on the road again...Thank you Willie Nelson!

If I Were a Bar of Soap...Mini Me!

I couldn't help myself! See, it's like this, I am a member of a wonderful group of bath and body artisans called SAFE Team and every couple of months we are presented with a challenge. I hope you've seen my other soap challenge entries in the past. This challenge was really tough...If I were a bar of soap. Since I couldn't lie and do something "sugar and spice and everything nice", then I had to figure out what I loved the most, aside from my family of course. Well, here's the write up in my Etsy shop and a link to the SAFE Team blog.




SAFE Team has done it again! We have these very challenging challenges every few months and this challenge was no exception. Our task at hand...if I were a bar of soap! Hmmm!

Aha, this idea came to me from my love for chocolate, my love for all things fluffy and light and my love and NEED for coffee.

I chose a soap making process I had not done before, whipped soap. For this recipe I used Deer Tallow, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil and Castor Oil. The darker layer is scented with a rich Chocolate and Amber Fragrance Oil and colored with dark cocoa powder. The creamy colored layer is only scented with a Colombian Coffee Fragrance Oil and the white layer is not scented or colored.

And because this soap is whipped, it floats!


This challenge was so much fun and you will thoroughly enjoy ALL of the entries by the SAFE Team members

Below is the link to the SAFE Team Blog. Please scroll down to the very last soap entry and click on "comments". Please leave your comment for the soap entry of your choice.

http://etsysafeteam.blogspot.com/

Fresh off the curing rack...

Here are a few new soapies and other new items...

Spicy Plum...yum!

I made this cold processed soap as a holiday soap but I think it will be available year-round. The scent is described as a berry blend with hints of cinnamon and nutmeg. But I describe it as delicious!

Spicy Plum soap is made the cold process method with Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Olive Oil, Castor Oil, Shea Butter, Skin Safe Colorant and Fragrance Oil. The top layer is left unscented and sprinkled lightly with purple Jojoba Beads.


Country Junction Beer Soap with Glacial Clay...

I love making soaps with beer. The lather in beer soaps is so rich and lavish and the scent of this soap will have you hopping back in the shower again and again! Ingredients include Coconut Oil, Palm Oil, Olive Oil, Soybean Oil, Beer, Castor Oil, Glacial Clay and Colloidal Oatmeal. The scent I chose is a combination of Sandalwood and Vanilla and it is yummy, yummy. If you think this soap is just for a man, please think again. The vanilla scent adds a softness that is beguiling! This would also make a great soap for shaving and is also available in the perfect round shape to fit into a shaving mug. Rectangular soaps are also available.


Lapis Glass Glycerin Soap...


This glycerin soap was so much fun to make. With the change of each color, I tilted the mold in another direction, making it look like stained glass.

The fragrance, called Lapis Lazuli, which means "sapphire" is eclectic, modern, earthy and has even been described as mystical with touches of rose, lilac, Egyptian musk and vanilla.

This soap is truly a sight to behold but please don't just look at it, use it too!




Sugar Baby Body Polish Single- Use Sugar Scrub Cubes~~~

Now that's a mouthful, isn't it!

These delectable little treats are so easy to use and large enough to treat your whole body to a wonderful, sugary polish. If you've ever used a sugar scrub then you will love these little sugar scrub squares because there's no jar to worry about tipping over in the shower or bathtub. Each square comes individually wrapped, just take one out, unwrap and enjoy. Each sealed container holds 6 Sugar Baby Sugar Scrub Squares.

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Also, check out our new assortment of Bath Bombs on Etsy, 1000 Markets or our regular website. I keep adding new ones all the time, so if you love bath bombs, check back often. We also are happy to do special orders for special occasions.