This Week's Etsy Features!

My "The Garden" soap bar was featured this week in an EtsyVeg team treasury curated by fellow team member Yvonne! She's got three wonderful shops, her bath and body shop is Karramandi, she sells handmade journals at JuniperJournals, and she also sells awesome dog collars at CollarMeGorgeous. Be sure to check out her shops - amazing stuff, and all vegan :)

Lets Hear it for the Greens by JuniperJournals

Just Listed: Oatmeal, Milk, and 'Honey'

I just listed my Oatmeal, Milk, and 'Honey' bar at my Etsy Shop, stop on over and check it out!

What's with the 'Honey'?
Traditional Oatmeal, Milk, and Honey soap is made with cow's milk and honey (and oatmeal, of course!) but I make completely vegan soaps and want to keep it that way! I've long wanted to make an Oatmeal, Milk, and Honey soap but thought, "What's the point," without the soothing milk and honey it would just be another scented oatmeal bar. Collier actually gave me the idea for this soap after I mentioned how I'd like to make an Horchata soap one evening over Mexican dinner - and he said, "Oh, yeah, that would be nice. You could put Rice Milk in it." He understands more about soap than he realizes I think! I asked around the soaping community and a few people had soaped with rice milk and/or soy milk and said it turned out fine, so I decided to go for it! I figured if I'm substituting the milk with a vegan alternative I may as well do the same for the honey so I used agave nectar instead!


This was a fun batch to make. I didn't get any great photos but after adding the rice milk and the agave nectar the batch turned blood red. I panicked thinking Oatmeal, Milk and Honey soap should NOT be red! It faded, shortly, to an orange color, then to a pleasant orange cream look. I figured I could deal with that and hoped it would cure to a tan, which, of course, it did!


We've been using this bar for the past week at our house and I LOVE it! The bar is super skin-loving and the scent is to die for. The only thing I don't like about this bar is that I can't stop using it in the shower - I will wash the same part several times before I can get myself to stop!

Happy THIRD birthday to my Kermit!!

It's Kermit's third birthday and it's been fairly eventful as far as dog birthday's go! He's passed out cold on the floor right now so I think he would agree that it was a good one. We are staying at my parents' house for a week and a half and it's just heaven for our city dog. They live on an acre lot and he spends half the day outside (there are days at home where he only gets outside to go potty, so it's a BIG deal for him to spend a large quantity of time relaxing outside :)). They have also been taking him on their morning walks every morning - while I sleep in he's out exploring the world! Could it get any better?

Kermit's Big Day
Kermit's birthday (for me) started when I woke up on his exuberant entry into the room I'm staying in after getting back from his walk. I actually forgot it was his birthday and was going about normal business, getting a soap order ready when I bent over and felt something sharp "poke" me by my waistline on my back. I looked and saw something smallish and black and brushed it off. No biggie. Shenzi was on the bed and got the "hunt" look so I checked out the bed and there was a tick on it! Not just any tick...a deer tick (the kind that transmit lyme disease). So...normal morning became panicked morning. We forgot to put frontline on Kermit at the beginning of the month and the cats haven't had it for years as they're indoor only and we're (usually!) SO religious about keeping it on Kerm. And, of course, the Frontline we have is NOT here! So, I started calling all over trying to locate someplace local to get a month supply for Kermit, Zazu, and Shenzi.


I was able to find it at Petco but they were out of Kerm's size - LUCKILY, though, they had a Vet visiting for an immunization clinic and they were nice enough to sell me exactly what I was looking for (one 25-44 lb dog dose, two cat doses!). And, of course, as I was filling out the form and entering his birthday I realized, "Oh my gosh, that's today!" Then I realized, "Oh, crap! I'm in a pet store!" And then I had a sense of doom, ha ha. I have a hard enough time not buying EVERYTHING available for our pets to begin with. Combine that impulse with a birthday...and...well...my wallet took a bit of a hit :)


Kerm got all sorts of new treats and toys! I bought him a new Wubba - his all time favorite toy. He has a blue one that he chewed up that only has 2 "legs" left...he's got an outdoor floaty Wubba, too, that he loves. But the squeaky indoor one is a go-to must so he needed a new model! I LOVE the sock monkey - it squeaks as well and Kerm adores it. he loves running around with its "tail" in his mouth :) He also got a dental dingo and some treats from the treat bar to enjoy over the next week.


He spent much of the day outside and enjoyed a second walk with me later this afternoon. He will sleep well tonight :)

Want to win THREE bars of my soap?!?

I am one of 4 members of the EtsyVeg team whose items have been included in this week's Weekly Wednesday Giveaway! You could win three bars of my soap (Anise Musk, Mom's Holiday Kitchen, and A Pineapple Under the Sea), along with a set of notecards from team member marywibis, a stoneware pendant from claynfiber, and an awesome light switch plate cover from SweetWolf!


To enter the giveaway go here.

EGCG Swag Bags are here!

You've been waiting for them and they are here! Only a few bags will be available, so make sure to grab yours before they sell out.


What ARE EGCG Swag Bags?
The Swag bags are a collection of 18 generous sample-sized products from different Bath & Body shops - all members of EGCG ( Etsy Green & Clean Guild!) It's a great way to try different products from different shops at the same time. It's also a great Mother's Day gift idea!
Another awesome feature is that your EGCG Swag Bag is a special reusable, eco-friendly shopping bag! So make sure you put it to good use long after you use the products.

What's IN it?
This round, we have a variety of handmade bath soaps, lip balms, lotions, facial soaps, laundry soap, candles, bath fizzy, body mist, sugar cube scrub....wonderful goodies!

Where to get them?
Swag Bags will be available on April 15th on EGCG Etsy's shop.

Participating shops:
Morgan Street
Bunny Butt Apothecary
Spa Therapy Works
Right As Rain Creations
The Bath Project
DressGreen
Jadewicks
You Stink Soap
Shower Treat Soap
Sweet Creek Herbs
Farnham Soaps
Kelle's Kitchen
Mea Culpa Body and Bath
Inseine Creations
Rachel Rene
Grumpy Girl
SudzNThings
Mirasolfarm

(A big thanks to Shannon of The Bath Project who originally authored this post and allowed me to use it word for word on my blog :)).

Just Listed - Damask Rose

My Damask Rose soap bar is now for sale in my Etsy Shop!

Going on Vacation!!

I thought it only appropriate to warn any customers reading my blog (if any do? :)) that I will be putting my Etsy Shop on vacation from Friday 4/3/09 until Wednesday 4/8/09. It's not such a long time but it's necessary. Coll and I are relocating temporarily - we have a sublet in Milwaukee and I am heading home to my parents house for my month of vacation! But first I will fly to Phoenix to look at houses with our realtor and hopefully make an offer before all is said and done! First-time home buying is one of the most intimidating things I've ever done (and I go to Medical School, ha ha!). But it has turned out to be really fun as well. Now we'll just have to see how fun I think it is once we have counter offers and slow-moving banks to deal with!