One of my Contributions

I've been doing lots of reading over the last couple of years about organics and environmentally-friendly, sustainable lifestyles. I think that we, as in the general human race, are doing a great disservice to the planet we call home.

We pollute the soil with loads of chemicals, just so we can get that "perfect" tomato (that looks nice but has next to no taste). We pollute the air with fossil-fuel burning power plants so we can run the electronics that make our lives so much "easier".We pollute the waters with garbage and oil.

I want to do as much as I can to help stop this. Once in a while I slip up and throw something in the garbage that could be recycled, or fall asleep with the tv on, but I make a conscious effort to keep my carbon footprint to a minimum.

One new way to help is by formulating a line of soaps made with organic oils. I'm in the process of doing this now :) I will hopefully be introducing a line of organic soaps in the new year. All of the vegetable oils I'll be using are certified organic - canola, coconut, flax, hemp, shea butter, and sunflower. Most of the essential oils I'll be using are certified organic, with a few that are organically grown and processed, but not certified. I do this not because I think it's better for the skin - let's face it, soap is a rinse off product and it doesn't stay on your skin long enough for any residual chemicals that may be present in a non-organic ingredient to be of concern. I do this for the planet - by using certified organic ingredients, I know that there have been no chemical fertilizers or pesticides used in the growing or processing. By taking this step to help the planet, I'm also helping future generations who will be relying on Earth for food, clothing and shelter.

This is where you come in :) I need testers for my new soap, as I'm using a few ingredients that I don't use in my existing soap line. Right now, most of my soaps are made with olive, palm, coconut and avocado oils with shea butter, which I've had wonderful reviews for. And I need to hear some honest feedback on what people think of my new soap. How it feels like to use, what they think of the lather, how it makes their skin feel, etc. I have a batch of organic unscented soap curing now, and when it's ready for use I'd like to send some sample bars to you for testing. If you're interested, please let me know (if you reply to this post, please make sure I know how to contact you). I will gather (privately) your address so I can ship it out next month when it's ready.

Thanks so much!!!

Organic Agriculture

Over the last little while, I've been doing lots of reading and research on organics. I started a couple of years ago, reading a bit here and there. But the last few months it's been really important to me to get as much information as I can.

A good website to check out is the website run by the International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements (IFOAM). There is a lot of information to read there, including links to organic producers. And this is an international group, so it has information for many different countries which is great!

Being located where I am, it's difficult to choose what food to eat. Ideally, local organically grown food would be available as it's important to me to support local producers as well as eating food that is grown/raised without using chemical fertilizers and pesticides. During the winter months, it's next to impossible to find fresh local food, so when I can I usually choose certified organic food, even though it's grown in the US or another foreign country. However, if I can choose between an organic item grown in a different country and one that isn't certified organic but grown in my own province, which should I choose? I waffle back and forth on that issue every time I go grocery shopping :(

Luckily, one of the vendors (East Coast Family Market) at our local farmers market will have certified organic vegetables this year (I'm so looking forward to our opening day - June 6!). ECFM also has meat available, but I'm not sure if the meat is certified organic or not. But I do know that the animals are humanely raised, and even though I haven't asked them yet, I'm sure that if they feel it's important to grow certified organic veggies that they will also be raising their animals in an organic way.

On the organic topic, I've decided that I'm going to produce a line of organic soaps. I have on hand certified organic carrier oils and essential oils that are either certified organic or organically grown but not certified. I hope to have this line ready for market no later than September. The soaps themselves will not be certified organic, as I am not certified. But all of the plants provided the oils I use will have been grown organically so I know that I'm helping to support organic agriculture, which helps keep our Earth healthy.

Is organic agriculture important to you? Why or why not? How do you ensure that you are buying food that is healthy for both your family and the Earth? I'd love to hear what other people think!

Happiness Thought of the Day:
"Now is the time to be happy. This is the place to be happy."

Apricot Freesia Soap

Well, my Fun & Funky soap production has really slowed down since the Farmer's Market has closed for the season. But I wanted to make something that I could make around my daughter, since she's been home the last few weeks with this nasty respiratory flu that's been going around (and yes, I have been feeling the effects of it, but I'm trying to rest as much as possible so it doesn't get too bad). So I decided to do a log of Apricot Freesia soap. And since it's coming up to Valentine's Day, I thought I'd make it with a pink swirl :)

These are available now in my Etsy shop. If you're local and I don't need to ship it just let me know in the Message to Seller box during checkout that you'd like to pick it up in person and I'll let you know the total minus the shipping :) And right now I have a BOGO Free sale going on for a limited time, so you can choose a 2nd type of soap for free :) Just check out what's in my Etsy shop and make your selection from the varieties available.

Happiness Thought of the Day:
"The path to happiness can be found by doing as much good as you can by all the means you can."

Sun Island Soap Almost Ready

My Sun Island Soap is almost ready for sale. This is the soap you want to use when you're head is all stuffed up from a cold. Scented with essential oils of eucalyptus, rosemary, benzoin resin and peppermint this will start to clear out the sinuses :)

This soap never looks the same from batch to batch. It's a bit finicky to work with, but it's a popular bar with my customers so I keep making it :)

Along with the essential oils listed above, it has wonderful oils such as lots of olive, coconut, palm, avocado and unrefined, fair-trade shea butter, and beeswax from a local apiary. I colour it with red clay. Sometimes it's a defined swirl, other times it's a layer. This batch it's all just kinda mixed in for a speckled pattern. This isn't the prettiest batch I've made, but it still works :)


These are stamped and just need to cure for another few days, then they'll be ready for sale. I'll have them up in my Etsy shop within a week or so. Once they're up, they're good to go :)

Happiness Thought of the Day:
"There is no greater happiness than going out of your way to do something for a good cause in which your part is only discovered by chance."

Soaps

It's been a long couple of months since my last post. I tore the cartilage in my knee when I closed the store and was moving everything back to the house. I'm waiting for surgery, but the wait could be up to 1 year. I'm really going to try hard to get online more often and update my blog with different things - products made, jewelry, nature pictures, food recipes, farmers market info, treasures I have found in different places :)

So production has slowed a great deal. I do have 4 soaps back in stock, though...
Laurie's Own, Shea & Silk, Ancient Mysteries, and Peppermint Silk.








Happiness Quote of the Day:
"Happiness, like harmony in music, is when all your being comes together in complete agreement for even an instant."

Etsy - Buy Handmade!

I've recently joined Etsy. It's an online shopping extravaganza (I'm sure I spelled that incorrectly!) where everything is handmade by the person selling it. I have bought several items there in the last few months and have been extremely pleased with everything so far. I now have a "shop" there, and have just opened one for my children to sell their bead creations on (although I haven't taken the time to get anything listed for them yet as I need some nice photos of them).

I have recently joined a team at Etsy called The Soaper Stars. This group is filled with extremely creative soapmakers, along with other creative goodies such as photographic prints, jewelry, etc. We have a blog which you can check out at http://soaperstars.blogspot.com/ There you will find links to the Etsy shops of all the Etsy Soaper Stars members, plus information on any sales, promotions, or charity drives we're doing.

Thanks!
Jody

More Fun and Funky Soap Made!

We have more Fun and Funky soap logs made and out on the shelves. Pomegranate, Mango Mango, Christmas Potpourri, Dark Rich Chocolate, and Coconut.

We also made a batch of Secret Temple Bath Melts, scented with oils of vanilla, sandalwood, and patchouli. A very yummy-licious, seductive scent :)

We don't have a Happiness quote today. I am playing hookie from work today to enjoy the sunny day with my kids, and my Happiness book is at the store (I'm updating the blog with this very small post from home).

I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend!

More Fun and Funky Soap

On Saturday, we didn't quite get as many batches of Fun and Funky soap made as we had hoped. We only made 3 batches - Challenge, Chamomile, and Chamomile Bergamot. We hope to get a few more batches made today, but we have some orders to fill first. We'll post an update as soon as we get more made :)

I need to put together an email newsletter today. I'm still not sure what we're going to put on special for the upcoming week... I think I'll hold off on any specials and instead get on the ball and start making some soy candles in tins, scented with essential oils... Once I have some of those ready we'll price them at a special Introductory Price.

I've been doing some more research on herbs & botanicals for our Herbal Teas. My daughter unfortunately inherited the same genes I have for poor eyesight. I've been drinking bilberry tea a lot lately, as it's supposed to be wonderful for improving eyesight and helping to repair eye damage from diseases, etc. So my daughter (who's 7) was all excited about trying some. I made some for her last night and boy, she did not like it :) I think she was thinking it would be more sweet. I think I'll try making it into an iced tea for her, and add a little bit of honey to sweeten it up just a tad. I'm looking at sourcing some dried bilberries (either organic or wildcrafted) to purchase in bulk so I can offer it here at the store. I will also be creating some information cards for the herbs & botanicals that we sell at the store with what they can be useful for and how much to use for tea. I was surprised how tasty a straight cinnamon tea is. I have tried it in blends before, and I was expecting a much spicier taste. But it's rather sweet, along with the spice.

And due to several requests, we are introducing our Soap Grab Bags! These have 3 end slices of soap in each bag, and each bag weighs between 175 and 200 g. You don't get to find out what types of soap are in each bag until after purchase (we do include the soap label with ingredients on each slice), but you can see one slice through the window in the bag :) Each bag is $2.63 + tax. We just introduced them yesterday, and have already sold several of them :)

Happiness Quote of the Day:
"Happiness is not about public opinion."

Chai Tea Fun & Funky Soap

We're now working on restocking all our Fun & Funky Soap - we were sold out of most of them and in the next few days they should be completely stocked up again!

Yesterday we made our Chai Tea - a spicy-scented soap that really does smell like a cinnamony chai tea.

We'll be working on several more types today - we hope to have another 7 made today. We'll update the blog on Tuesday when we get back into the store with what types we made :)

Today, we have thunderstorms forecast. I absolutely love watching & listening to thunderstorms. The rain pouring down in sheets, the quick flash of lightning, and counting the seconds until the BOOM to see how far away the lightning was. I can literally feel the electricity in the air. When I'm home during a storm, I can usually be found sitting on the front deck taking in all Mother Nature's majesty. It grabs my heart to witness the power, and I feel extremely lucky to be able to experience it...

Happiness Thought of the Day:
"The happy person often walks, unshaken, along the path that a thousand unhappy people insist is wrong."

Juniper Alert Goat Milk Soap

We have a new soap on the curing racks - Juniper Alert Goat Milk Soap. It contains oodles of olive oil like most of our soaps, along with coconut oil, palm oil, avocado oil and shea butter. We've also used goat milk for the luxurious lather, and we've added silk to it, as well. And it has a gentle swirl of pink clay.

For scent, we've used a blend of juniper berry, pine, and rosemary essential oils - all oils that are known to help you stay alert. It's a bracing scent that will be good for a morning shower when you need a hand to wake up. We also have this essential oil blend available in 10 ml bottles to use in an oil burner or diffuser.

This soap will be available the second week of September - just in time for going back to school!

Happiness Thought of the Day:
"Happiness is being someone - not something."

Shea & Silk Soap

Last week, we did a new batch of our Shea and Silk soap. This is a very decadent bar of soap that we've left unscented so anybody can use it. It contains a large amount of olive oil, along with oils of coconut, palm, shea butter and avocado. We use coconut milk for the creaminess it imparts to the lather, as well as silk for that nice, smooth silky feel. The soaps will be out on the shelves the 4th week of August.

We have a new camera which we've been having lots of fun playing with :) Here's a pic of our Shea and Silk soap with our new custom made soap stamps.

Happiness Thought of the Day:
"Think of happiness as a kind of mental gardening."

A New Soap - as yet unnamed

I cut a brand new soap yesterday and it's now curing for the next several weeks. Despite what the title says it does have a name, but it's part of a duo and until the second soap is made I'm not publishing the names of either one.

This new one is in our Silk line, and contains a blend of essential oils that combine for a wonderfully earthy, grounded scent. It has oodles of olive oil (it's main ingredient), lots of coconut oil for a fantastically sudsy lather, shea butter, avocado oil, and palm oil. It contains coconut milk for a creamy lather, and contains silk (which really does make the lather feel silky!). For scent imagine a blend of cedarwood, ylang ylang, vetiver, vanilla, and patchouli. I was trying to come up with a blend that would make me feel like I was sitting at the very base of a tall mountain in the middle of the night during a new moon with no breeze whatsoever to disturb the black, utter stillness of the moment. And I think I came pretty darn close :) It will be on the shelves mid-August.

We made it through our store's 1st Anniversary celebrations! We still have some cards left in our draw, so until they're gone we'll be offering everybody who makes a minimum purchase of $25 the chance to draw a card from the box. You can save anywhere from 5-25% off your purchase, or get an item for free :) This includes all internet/mail order purchases as well.


We have a new Farmers Market in the area that just opened today. I was very excited to hear about this, as I'm a huge supporter of buying local whenever possible. I'm currently reading a book by Barbara Kingsolver entitled "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A year of Food Life". Not sure about some of her statistics as she doesn't reference them, but it definitely makes you think about where your food comes from. And it confirms by own belief about supporting local producers. Unfortunately, there weren't any produce vendors there today, but it is only their first day open so I'm hoping that they'll show up soon. I'd much rather give my money directly to the producer/farmer than some middle man/grocery store. Good thing about going today, though, is I found out the name and contact info for a local CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) organic farm. It's too late to join this year as they're already several weeks into deliveries, but I'll be on the list for next year's shareholders. For anybody in the Elmsdale area, the new Farmers' Market is held on Saturdays 8am-1pm at the Elmsdale Legion on Highway #2. Please go out and support our local producers :)

Happiness Thought of the Day:
"Happiness lies in becoming unafraid of change."

Tea Tree and Lavender Soap / Store's Anniversary / Summer Solstice

I just finished cutting a new batch of our Tea Tree and Lavender Soap. This is our second top selling soap - it's received wonderful comments from people with acne that use it as a facial soap.

We infuse olive oil with calendula petals (well-known for its healing properties) for several weeks and then add coconut oil, palm oil, avocado butter and castor oil. We add alkanet root powder to the water for a lavender colour, and scent the soap with essential oils of Tea Tree and Lavender.

We still have some left from our last batch, and these bars will be ready to put on the shelves the last week of July.

Tomorrow marks the Summer Solstice. The longest day of the year. We're celebrating by giving every purchase (whether in-store or online) 15% discount (good for purchases made on June 21 only). Long Live the Sun!

And Sunday, June 24 marks our store's one year anniversary. It's hard to believe that a whole year has gone by already. It's been an absolute blast. Some stressful times, several "Aha!" moments while learning the ropes, and countless happy moments. We're celebrating our anniversary all of next week by having every customer draw a card from our Anniversary Box. Inside this box are many cards (one with each purchase) that entitle the customer with anything from a free lip balm, bar of soap, candleholder, etc to 5%-25% off their purchase. Our online customers won't be able to draw themselves, but we'll draw for them (and we promise not to peek!). Please join us in our celebrations :)

Happiness Thought of the Day:
"Happiness can come free and unexpectedly - don't seek it too desperately. Relax and it will appear."

Sage Soap is Curing

I made a new batch of Sage Soap on the weekend, and just finished putting it up on the curing racks. Sage is astringent, so this is a good soap for oily skin. I infuse the olive oil with sage for several days, and use that with coconut oil, palm oil and castor oil. I leave the sage in the olive oil so it has a slightly speckled look that is accented with a swirl of cocoa powder. It's scented with a blend of clary sage, bergamot, mandarin, geranium, cedarwood and sandalwood. Katerina was saying the other day that this is her favourite soap.

We still have some small bars of Sage Soap on the store shelves, and this batch of large bars will be out on the shelves the 3rd week of July.

Happiness Thought of the Day:
"The world will not devote itself to making you happy."

Citrus Soap, Chicago Blues, and Mowing the Lawn

I am standing in my store, listening to some amazing Chicago-style Blues music from the 60's & 70's on the CBC Radio 2. It makes my body sway to the Mississippi-inspired notes of Muddy Waters and then switch up a couple of minutes later to jive to the more upbeat rhythm of Chuck Berry. I'm going to to be a dancing fool today :)

I just finished cutting our latest batch of Citrus Soap today. It's a very uplifting scent, anchored by just a touch of spice. It reminds me of holiday baking. It's scented with the essential oils of lemon, bergamot, lemongrass and clove bud, and will be on the shelves the 3rd week of July. We still have some of our small bars in stock and ready for purchase, but we're out of the large bars until this new batch is finished curing.

This week I purchased a human-powered reel lawn mower. I'm so tired of the gas-powered and everything about it - the impact on the environment (use of oil & gas, emissions into the atmosphere), the noise - that I decided to make the leap and get one that is more in tune to my way of thinking & acting. I'm absolutely loving my new "toy". Although it's hardly play-time when using it. I've only been able to mow for 15 minutes or so each day so far, so I haven't even finished mowing our front yard. But knowing that I'm not doing anything to harm the planet while mowing the yard now makes my heart sing. I've actually been singing and humming while mowing :) Along our driveway we have a couple of lilac bushes. And whenever I'm pushing the mower in the direction of them, I can smell the blossoms from the other side of the yard. It's a beautiful change from the stench of gas fumes. On top of everything else, it's great exercise :)

I won't be using it for the whole property (I simply can't imagine mowing 1 1/2 acres with this). I'm in the process of changing our front yard into a formal garden with raised beds and walkways meandering between them. I'd also like to have a fountain in the middle. I haven't decided if I would prefer a round garden with wedge-shaped beds, or a rectangular garden with square/rectangular beds. I'm designing both styles, to see which one appeals more to me. But I'm thinking more towards the circular... I plan on planting mostly veggies, with some herbs and a few flowers. We'll see how it turns out, and I'm sure it will be a work in progress. But I'm very much looking forward to teaching (and learning with) the kids the bounty that Mother Nature will provide if we show her care.

Happiness Thought of the Day:
"The path to happiness can be found by taking a good long laugh... at yourself."
Well, I should be extremely happy then, since I probably laugh at myself almost every day ;)

One Old Soap and One New Soap

I'm going to start at the end today, which is one of our regular soaps. I made a new batch of our Heathbell Meadows soap a couple of days ago. This is a highly moisturizing soap, with loads of cocoa butter and olive oil. It's scented with mainly lavender, and just a hint of thyme. When I first started selling soap, I would cut all the bars as soon as I took the soap out of the mold, let it cure for a minimum of 6 weeks, then wrap and label the bars for selling. Then a couple of years ago, I decided I would leave the soap in log form, and cut off the bars when they're purchased. Well, I found out the hard way that Heathbell Meadows refused to be cut once it gets a few weeks old. It's almost as hard as a rock and ends up bending my cutter! So, when I took the soap out of the molds on Sunday I cut it all into bars. It will be on the shelves during the first week of July

The first batch of soap that I made is a new to us soap, and it smells absolutely scrumptious!!! We're calling it Mocha Silk, and it will be available during the last week of June. It's loaded with olive oil (as with most of our soaps the main ingredient is olive oil), and also contains palm oil, avocado oil, shea butter, cocoa butter, coconut oil, and castor oil, scented with coffee essential oil and cocoa absolute, with a dollop of powdered silk (it really does make the lather silkier!) and red clay. Next time, I'll probably leave the red clay out. This soap is a dark, rich brown - almost as dark as bitter-sweet chocolate! - and so the red clay isn't even noticeable.

I took pictures, but I can't find the cable to upload them here. Once I find that cable (wherever it chose to hide this time), I'll upload the pics so you can see.

And the sun has finally decided to grace us with his presence! Yay!! My line is filled with freshly washed sheets, drying in the sun and brisk breeze. When I get back home from the store, I will bury my face in each sheet as I take it down off the line. I love the scent of sun-dried clothes. No dryer sheet or fabric softener will ever match the scent that Mother Nature blesses us with...

Quite some time ago, I bought a book on Happiness. Here's a quote that I'd like to share...
"The moment you commit yourself to allowing happiness into your life it will be followed by a string of events that otherwise would not have happened, as providence comes into play." I love that quote. In fact, there are a lot of quotes in this book that I enjoy and find very inspiring. I'll share some of them in future postings...

May your day be filled with sunshine.