Maybe exciting?

We were delighted to be approached by a representative from a very large British institution with regards to supplying their shops with SoapyChica goodies. We have sent off samples forthwith and shall await news with bated breath! If we are chosen we will have alot of pretty soaps to make which is great, because it is our most favourite thing to do!

Lizzy's pressie!

I reckon the chances of Liz reading this blog before she opens her presents this morning (yes I know its boxing day) are so slim I am going to go ahead and post a piccy of it- I bought it from Purseona at Etsy about 3 months ago as it had to be made and sent from the USA. I love her bags and have long admired/coveted them. Lizzy's old handbag was deeply loved and rather ancient in fact I think she had it for at least 8 years although I could be wrong . Anyway she needed a new one and here it is. I had to get mum to choose from the array of beautiful fabrics as I feel I have absolutely no taste in these things! I especially love the little magnetic clasp. Hope my sister loves it too!

Having a sale!

I have always wanted to hold a sale, so now seems to be the appropriate time. I would rather hold a sale than try and go shopping in the Boxing Day sales today in town! I would hate that! So, although there are slightly bare shelves here at SoapyChica since the Christmas rush, I am holding a buy two-get a third soap free sale both on my main site and on Etsy. All the soaps will be freshly made and beautifully wrapped as always, its just that you get a bit extra :)

Phew!

I bet all those who sell handmade items in a small way online are all breathing a sigh of relief, that everything got out on time!
Well this year Christmas was totally hectic-even with my sister Liz's sterling help. I'm glad and happy for the sales and I know now that I must be over-prepared, not under prepared! Last year seemed busy, so I organised enough soap for the same level of sales, but sold four times as much in December so Im going to bear it in mind for next year. Somehow I thought the recession would have had more effect on the sales for all of us. Of course I didn't help myself by deciding Mid November to start presenting the soaps in luxury fabric, instead of cello bags. I remember that I was low on cello bags, and needed to make an order of soaps look pretty, and so I parceled them up in the chiffon that I normally use to line the boxes. 'Ah, I thought-they look rather nice, I think that is how I would like to receive a luxury soap, if I bought one' and that was it. I have been tying bows in my sleep this week I swear!
It will be nice to catch up with life again now, and tomorrow is set aside for making our house look like someone owns it once again!

Gloomy lighting-enough already!

It seems the days are all overcast by the time I am ready to take pictures- I prefer to use natural light but such grey days really are not helping. Funnily enough when I took my pictures in my little room at home they all seemed to be light enough no matter what. It must be a magic window sill and I am going to resort to taking things home and snapping them there. Its annoying but not insurmountable-just a bit weird. I have been messing about with my website again today trying to get it to look right and be a little more user friendly, and I could do with some good pictures of my new boxes but its not going great so far!
Here are my latest tries- I promise the soaps do look better in real life :)

In the paper again?

Hmmm lovely Fiona from NotMassProduced.com has been in touch and tells me that there is a link to the site together with a picture of a SoapyChica Royal Crown Soap in the Daily Mail Weekend magazine today. Well that is a surprise and I am going to try and get a copy if I am quick enough today so that I can have a sneaky look- I am working in the salon so I might just miss out but I hope not! I have had to work today even though I was supposed to be doing 'Pooch in the Park for St Giles Hospice. Its a long story and involves a horrid emergency tooth extraction yesterday *shudder*, anyway I am here and I might as well enjoy it!

Some good, some bad, take the rough with the smooth etc!

Well it has been a bit like that the past few weeks, suddenly a rush of sales- delightful at any time of course and most welcome. Then an oven that caught alight and a small scale 'situation' and no oven ( it persists in bursting into flames- not a great quality really, so has been retired) . Now I have a ceramic hob with which to heat my blends and I am far happier-problem solved! And I have finally caught up with my orders so all is well. Happily Lizzy my sister has offered to help out with SoapyChica which will be fabulous as I need an extra pair of hands, particularly going forward into the Christmas season. Of course there was the Express feature, and now a possibility of a feature in another magazine also- which I will explain if and when anything comes of it so that I dont jinx it! The thing I am most excited about really are my new gift boxes- I like to offer the luxury soaps in a presentation box and I have found the perfect ones, so have been having a lovely play haha!
And yes- that iS the same soap as shown below-it wanted to be in 2 posts, it likes it- so who am I to argue?

Harry Potter Soap! well....sort of....

This is another soap that I just couldnt resist making, and I love how it has turned out. Do excuse a slightly fuzzy picture! This just reminded me of Harry Potter , and seeing as how I am excited to go and watch the film, I allowed myself the treat of it! :) Around the frame of the picture are such cute little details like a sorting hat, glasses, a quill!
The fragrance is a nice one, a little like face cream, clean and fresh. I know I am supposed to be taking pictures of my studio place, but its not quite as I want it to be yet. Mind you I do keep getting curious visitors popping in for a look :)

Photographing white soaps !

This is a constant challenge! Is it just me, or are some colours of soap more difficult to take pictures of than others? All my white ones come out funny, and they always have! I will keep trying, but am I destined to be disappointed? For instance my angel wings, and my pretty corsets in white and cream look so much better in real life than in any of my pictures. I so use the macro, and I try to use a good natural light and I am almost satisfied with most of the other pictures, its just the white ones!
I must and shall do research into this!
Here are the naughty ones in question.

I am back!

Well one whole month away from my blog (nearly) Its almost as bad as the time I have spent away from the gym! All because of my new Etsy shop -it is too addictive really so I have dragged myself away. I have seen a few great blogs though from fellow Etsians and I am going to try and see if I can add some here. I have had my first proper wholesale order now and have a couple more hopefully in the pipeline stages. I am very pleased with the kind of shops that are interested in my soaps-very much the sort of market I have been hoping for.
My latest soaps that I have in my shop are Figs and Leaves, which is a Lush-type fragrance, and Black Cafe (Jo Malone 'Black Vetiver Cafe' type), and Creamy Fruit Smoothie which is a blend of several oils, milky, fruity and creamy.
I have also been working on my seasonal holiday range as well which I will be adding to the shop in September.