New Listings on Etsy

I don't know why I didn't do this earlier. I forgot about having a gift certificate until I read a Storque article on Etsy. I think I lost some business but this is not my first mistake and I am sure it will not be my last. Gift certicates are available in any amount. Just convo me and I will set you up for the amount you desire. We can send them directly to you  or the giftee via convo, email or snail mail. Each certificate will have a number on it and that is all that is necessary when they use it. If the purchase is more than the gift certificate value, we will send you an updated invoice via Paypal to finish your purchase. If the purchase is less than the value of the gift certificate, you will receive an email with your remaining balance. You can purchase your Gift Certificate here.

Unscented Dead Sea Salt ph Balancing and Moisturizing Soap

Are you spending loads of money for expensive prescriptions and treatments for your eczema and psoriasis with very little benefit?Dry Winter skin giving you the blues? Then this is the bar for you! I have many customers that depend on this bar year after year. Our Bug Off,http://www.etsy.com/listing/28404736/bite-be-gone-balm-for-mosquito-bite and our Unscented Dead Sea Salt ph Balancing and Moisturizing Soap have become the core products of our Farmer's Market business.

Lavender/Tea Tree Dead Sea Salt Soap

Lavender and Tea Tree Essential Oils are combined to create a cleansing and deodorizing bar that refreshes tired skin. We have added genuine Dead Sea Salts harvested from the southern Dead Sea in Israel where the mineral content is at its highest.

Aphrodite Soothing and Nourishing Dead Sea Salt Bar

The enzymes present in kelp and seaweeds are potent antioxidants with skin healing and rejuvenating properties. This soap bar cleanses your skin and removes dirt while simultaneously infusing your skin with the minerals and trace elements that are essential to keeping your skin hydrated and moisturized by restoring its natural balance.

Hopefully I will get back to writing more after the holiday season. I have been busy working on a wholesale order along with all the Christmas shopping and house cleaning and Christmas decorating. I have also taken time to start working on some promotions including a newsletter, so if you would like to be on the list to receive our monthly newsletter and any sales promotions please let me know! Either leave me a comment here or a convo at Etsy. I will be having some giveaways coming up so you might want to get your name in the pot.

If I don't talk to you between now and the 25th, please- Have a Merry, Merry Christmas!

New Soaps for My Newest Show Coming Up!

I am so excited! I have been accepted for the Newburgh Women's Club 2010 Arts and Craft Show at Castle High School on Feb. 27, 2010. I have been waiting for a number of years to get into this show and what makes this so great for me is that they actually approached me. Hurray!

I have many plans for the New Year coming up and one of those is a new formula for our basic soap bars and I promise you that you will love it.

Now I have a question for you. I have not officially changed the name of the business yet. It is difficult after so many years. I have been told because of the spelling that I should come up with something simpler, but here I am still hanging on. So I am asking your opinion. How about dropping me a word here and letting me know which one that you like best. 1. A Scentsible World or 2. Pigeon Creek Handcrafted Soaps.

Now I will quickly tell you about our 3 new soaps coming out. The first is a  fresh and clean Rosemary Mint. What a great scent to wake up to in the shower in the morning or to take a quick shower after work to refresh and recharge for the evening. New bar sizes too.

2. Unscented Shea Baby Herbal Blessing   It may not have fragrance oil or essential oil in this bar but the herbs give it a wonderfully light essence. The oils have been infused with Chamomile, calendula, plantain, comfrey & lemon balm. This one is loaded with shea butter, avocado oil, goat milk and aloe. Your skin will thank-you!

3. Blackberry Merlot Wine & Sake Soap  The name may not turn you on but the frangrance certainly will. All the water has been replaced with Merlot and Sake. Red grape skin and seeds are filled with cell-renewing polyphenols. I am sure you have heard of the life prolonging benefits of resveratrol in wine but it also applies to your skin. We have filled this bar with Merlot and Red Wine Extract to give you the extra boost of antioxidant. Sake and Red Wine are also said to have a skin smoothing and lightening effect. I have just started using it to see if it will naturally lighten these freckles I have been blessed with. I will keep you updated.

Just Say NO!

Did you know that the widespread use of palm oil and irresponsible palm oil production has been scientifically documented as a cause of substantial and irreversible damage to our natural environment?  The production of palm oil is a major contributor to the deforestation of the rainforests in Indonesia, Malaysia, Ecuador, Cameron and several other countries; habitat loss of critically endangered species; and an increase in greenhouse gas emissions.


According to the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil; "Orangutan habitats have been threatened by palm oil production. In 1900, there were around 315,000 orangutans. Today, fewer than 50,000 exist in the wild, split into small groups with little long–term chance of survival. Scientists say the palm oil industry is the biggest threat to orangutans, with the species driven to extinction within 12 years unless the devastation of their natural habitat is halted.” A report from the nonprofit Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says that palm oil production also promotes destruction of the rainforest, particularly in Malaysia and Indonesia.. Further loss of forest may push endangered animal species, including orangutans, Sumatran tigers, and Sumatran rhinos, into extinction.

Some environmentalists believe that in 15 years, over 98 % of the rainforests in Indonesia and Malaysia will be gone unless drastic action is taken.

The expansion of oil palm plantations has almost always been preceded by the expropriation of land from small poor landholders by deceit or force with little or no payment whether the land has been in Indonesia, Ecuador, Cameroon or Costa Rica.

Even with the growth of the amount of sustainable palm oil that is available now manufacturers and retailers are not purchasing it. As with any product that is green the price tag is a bit higher and all but a few have decided not to invest in the health of the planet for fear of adding a few pennies onto the price of your chocolate or soap bars.

This is one of the few times I feel like I have to draw the line in the sand. It may cost me a few cents more to make a bar of soap but it will not take away from the quality of our soap,.I promise you that. I haven’t actually used any palm oil in the making of my soaps for almost a year. I have been researching this matter over a year and considering my options. Yes, I am a very small operation and in the scheme of things the amount of palm oil I buy will not devastate the planet, but the tree fell in the forest and I heard it.

"Consumers should understand that a seemingly small decision in this country—what kind of cookie, cracker, or hand lotion to buy—can have major consequences on the other side of the world.”.

http://www.youtube.com/user/RANVideo#p/u/2/5-jqRVOwBJQ
 
http://understory.ran.org/tag/oil-palm/
 

Special Sale with Free Soaps on Etsy

Because of the season I have decide to give my customers a super deal. When they purchase the 3 Bar Special I will send them 2 Free Bars of the Soapmakers choice. They will be receiving $12.75 in free product with this special.

If you know someone who loves handcrafted soap you might want to let them know about this special.

I Don't Really Want To!

Sometimes I just like to look through Etsy to see what other Etsians are making. I love handcrafted items no matter what they are. Crafters, no matter what the medium put their essense or spirit into their craft whether it be a piece of jewelry, art, photograph or even a soap dish.

Now to inject myself into this post. Unfortunately this Fall I have had to cancel all of my out of town craft shows which are normally the cake and icing as opposed to our bread and butter existance on our disability income. I drive a huge un-green SUV and the back brakes have gone out completely, costing almost $350.00 total to repair. Why do I tell you this? Basically to let you know why 1. No out of town shows 2. No unnecessary purchases.  But that doesn't mean I can't trade. Hence back to the subject of this post.

While I was looking through Etsy I happened upon an Etsy shop of a woodworker and stopped to admire  the most beautiful and unusual wooden box  that she had made. This box is Pinon with inlaid Turquoise. Her shop address is http://www.etsy.com/shop/Granddar. 

I emailed her and we ended up trading my soaps for some of the most beautiful soap dishes I have ever seen. Now I told you  that she was a woodworker but I didn't tell you that she also works with stone and marble. Here are some examples of the fantastic soap dishes I received from her.

These are just a tiny teaser of the types she makes. She also does custom orders. I took a peek at her sold orders and they are fabulous. she made a 3 story (I believe it was) marble soap dish for someone. She loves to work with mesquite. I have to admit I am envious of her skill with power tools. Check out her shop, she has other decorative items also. Now, I have to make myself put these on Etsy to sell with my soap. It is going to be difficult letting them go, especially the flagstone. Then again, the Rain Forrest Brown Marble goes so well in the upstairs bath---

Finally Away From The Computer

Since the Farmer's Market ended in mid-October I feel like I have been glued to the computer. I can't remember the last batch of soap I made. I made loads of soap in late October for a show in Vincennes but unfortunately I was unable to attend.The day before yesterday I made soap. I should name it The Everything But the Kitchen Sink Soap Bar. It has Rhassoul Clay, Moor Mud, Green Tea, Honey, Vitamin E and is superfatted with Cocoa and Shea Butters. This is one of my best selling bars at the Farmer's Market, but I did not realize I was running so low until I had an order from a customer on Etsy. I am down to 2 bars left, so I thought I had better get my act together and make some more in case someone decides to buy the 3 bar special. I would have been in a pickle if I hadn't made more.

Beautiful Bags!

I have to mention a fellow Etsy seller today. kimmykingsbury sells wonderful bags and market totes. We worked a trade this past week, my soap for one of her bags. I received it Friday and it is fantastic. The workmanship is superb and the bag is even better than I imagined. The bag is beautifully lined with lots of pockets and the stitching is flawless. It is gorgeous. Kimmy uses upcycled, recycled and previously loved materials as much as she possibly can. She even takes custom orders.

The bag above is very similar to the bag I received.

Check out her website at http://www.kimmykingsbury.etsy.com/

These bags would make wonderful Christmas gifts- That is if you could make yourself let it go!

Make Your Own Body Powder

From the days of the ancients to now, body products have been used to seduce, romance, relax, enhance, refresh, entice and heal. Plant essences have been worn to prevent sickness as well as to cover body odor.

We can spend a small amount or a huge amount of money to cover ourselves with lovely fragrances in one form or another. But what is better than creating your own healthy and fragrant scents from right out of your own back yard? You can use a single note or several from your garden. You may have many choices that you haven’t thought about.

Do you have a single, beautiful rose bush by your back door? Do you raise herbs for your kitchen such as sage, rosemary and thyme? How about that beautiful lavender that you planted several years ago? Peppermint is a fantastic addition to a fragrance blend. Rose geranium or lemongrass plants from your kitchen garden are also 2 great choices.

One of the simplest and most inexpensive ways of creating and using your gardens bounty is to make your own Body Dusting Powder.

Simple Body Powder

Remove 5-6 rose geranium leaves from plant or
Petals from 2-3 rose buds or
1-2 teas. Lavender buds or
1-2 teas. Sage leaves (Your Choice) Place them in warm dry area with good ventilation for 2-3 weeks until they are completely dry, without moisture and crumble easily in your fingers.

½ cup rice powder- Often found at Chinese Groceries
½ -1 cup cornstarch
¼ cup arrowroot powder (totally optional)
5-20 drops of favorite scent of essential oil such as rose, rose geranium or lavender

Crush your garden material in your hands as finely as possible. Then add all ingredients to a quart jar with a lid and shake very well. If you choose you may put all ingredients in a blender and mix, but be forewarned it may be difficult if not impossible to remove the scent. I have one that I use only for crafts. Bought it a Goodwill for $2.00 over 6 years ago and it is still going strong.

I buy lidded glass candy jars at the Dollar Store and make my own powder puffs for them out of fake fur and fabric or just fake fur. They sell great especially around Christmas and Mother’s Day. If anyone needs directions feel free to email me at bjrussell@insightbb.com and I will send them or if you would like a premade All Natural Body Powder and container, check this out!