Yesterday was our 5 year wedding anniversary. It made me think back to our wedding day- still ranks as one of the best days of my life. I look at the wedding pictures now and it makes me a little sad as I miss certain things from back then. I am disappointed that I have gained 20 pounds since then and of course I’m looking older now. At least I can do something about the weight if not the aging! I just wish I could get motivated to get back on track with working out. I used to make it a priority in my life and now it just seems to easy to avoid.  We eat healthy meals, but portion control is hard for me. I know if I don’t want to continue to pack on the pounds I definitely need to get moving and control my eating.

Why does it have to be so HARD?

The weather cooperated yesterday afternoon, so we packed up a picnic,  loaded our bikes onto the back of the car, and went bike riding on Westham Island. Lots of farms-  not terribly interesting though,  so we packed up again and headed over to the dyke in Richmond and rode along there for a while. There are picnic tables dotted along the dyke so we stopped at one for our picnic before heading back. It was really nice to get out and do something active and fun together. It doesn’t happen often enough. Daily life gets in the way and it’s so easy to just fall into the routine. Days like yesterday remind me that life is short and we should seize the day with the ones we love. I know it sounds cliche…

Which brings me to my Mom. She’s got some kind of dementia, probably Alzheimers disease. About 18 months ago she saw a specialist who thought she probably had early Alzheimers, but we took her to another specialist for a second opinion and he disagreed. Either way, there was really nothing to do at that point other than keeping her on the medication (which may or may not help in the early stages) and try to support her as much as possible. Since then her memory has gotten quite a bit worse. She calls me regularly with questions and gets confused about paperwork and things that come in the mail. I’ve taken over her medical insurance claims because she was getting them mixed up. Luckily, all of her other bills are paid via pre-authorized payment. The one thing she is still doing is paying her Visa bill each month. All her life she has saved all her receipts- writing the date at the top and then checking them against her statement each month. Lately she’s been having more difficulty with it. She frequently calls Visa to send her copies of certain bills she can’t find, but for the most part she’s managing that pretty well.

My big concern about her is that she is still driving. Last year after she had 2 accidents close together and her car was wrecked,  then had eye surgery and couldn’t drive for at least 6 weeks we thought we could convince her to give up driving but it didn’t work. After her eye healed, she convinced my brothers to take her car shopping (in hindsight they should have refused) and she bought a new car. She can no longer drive anywhere she hasn’t been many times, and even needs written directions to get to my house reliably. Recently she was supposed to follow me in her car to go to a specialist appointment, but as soon as I got into my car she didn’t know where I was. She had no idea what my car looked like, so she just went home and then was upset with me because she said I didn’t tell her to follow me (of course I did). So- she still drives to her credit union and to stores she knows and to my house. She says she doesn’t drive very often, but I wish she would make the decision to stop herself. I think this is going to be a big problem because she doesn’t see the danger. Maybe it’s going to take her getting lost before she realizes she has to stop. I just hope it’s not an accident that decides for her.

Bubble bath Bars are one of the products that I’ve always wanted to try to make myself. The first time I tried one years ago, I knew what a great idea it was: No paying for all that water and plastic bottles and I could control the ingredients to make it exactly like I wanted. My recipe includes super-bubbling surfactants, baking soda for water softening and skin soothing properties, a touch of sweet almond oil for moisturizing without an oily feeling, as well as glycerin for its humectant property (it draws moisture to the skin) I have lots of different fragrances and essential oils to create some wonderful scents for them.

Recently a couple of my new customers  ordered a bunch of these little babies in a variety of scents, so I had fun experimenting with different colour combinations and styles. Each 4 oz bar is enough to last about 3 baths. The bubble power of these bars is incredible. We’re talking mile-high suds, especially if you agitate the water really well or you have very hard water pressure. Our water pressure is pathetic here, so I just splash the water back and forth with my hand after crumbling part of the bar under the running tub faucet- it works great. I include a warning on these to be careful using them in a jetted tub- the suds will climb right over the top if you aren’t careful!

Here’s Black Raspberry Vanilla

This one is scented with Peppermint and Spearmint essential oils. I call it Double Mint. Here you can see one of my handmade wooden soap dishes too. They are great for keeping handmade soaps drained and dry between uses, but here this one is just a photo prop:-)

This one is Ginger, but I used this colour for Creamsicle too

In the group photo at the top, you can also see Lemongrass Lime (yellow and green swirl), Oatmeal Milk & Honey (tan with added colloidal oatmeal) and Energy (yellow and green blend)

You can purchase these in singles or as a pack of 4 in my Zibbet Shop. For larger quantities, please contact me directly via my shop contact link. There’s a long list of scent choices there- choose your favourites.  If you’re local to Vancouver BC, don’t forget to use the Coupon Code LAZ289 during check out so you won’t be charged shipping!

I make these bars fresh to order and they need about 2 days to dry before packaging. No artificial preservatives are added, so they should be used within about 3 months of purchase.

I realized the other day that I only had a couple of bars of lavender soap left, with a big selling event coming up! I haven’t been making much soap lately because my inventory is pretty full so it was fun to finally make a new batch. I took a few photos of the process and the outcome to share here.

First- here are the measured and melted solid oils next to the liquid oils, ready to be mixed. In this batch I used palm and palm kernel flakes for the solids and olive and castor oils for the liquid.

Meanwhile  a mixture of lye, salt, sugar and water sits in an ice water bath to bring the temperature down. The lye water and the oils should be nearly the same temperature when they are combined. I’m usually too impatient to wait and end up soaping hot. Doesn’t seem cause a problem most times, unless I’m using a touchy fragrance oil that might speed things up.

Here the oils are mixed with the lye solution and I’ve added some grape pop mica which is a skin safe colourant. It makes fantastic bright colours in soap.  I added a little pearl whte mica as well because I thought I added a little too much grape. Sorry this photo is out of focus and the doorframe reflection doesn’t help!

At this point I didn’t stop to take any photos, but I separated some of the batch into another container and added more grape mica for a deeper purple, then I mixed both bowls with my stick blender to thicken them to a medium trace. I wanted the bars to be swirled with the 2 shades of purple, so I poured the darker soap back into the main batch and mixed once or twice, then poured it into the waiting mold. I saved a bit of the darker soap to pour on top and add a bit of swirls using a cardboard coffee stir stick.

Here’s how it looked in the mold after that:

Jon made my soap molds so they would fit perfectly inside the oven. I nearly always oven process my soap for one hour at 170 F, then shut the oven off and leave the soap in the oven overnight. It’s ready to cut first thing in the morning. The only soaps I don’t oven process are my milk or honey recipes since they can heat up pretty well on their own. I usually leave my individually molded soaps like the cupcakes or hearts out to set at room temperature as well.

Here’s how this lovely lavender loaf looked after I unmolded it the next day. I was kind of bummed that the colour faded.  Too bad – I would have liked more contrast between the two shades.

…and here it is about to be sliced into bars with my handy dandy craftman soap cutter. This cutter is awesome- eight perfectly straight cuts in one go. I love this little gadget.

Finally, here are the cut bars all ready for the curing rack. They will air dry on the racks for 4-6 weeks for the excess water to evaporate. The soap gets better and better as it dries out and ages.The curing time also ensures a hard bar that will last a long time. Aren’t they pretty? They smell great too. Lavender is a scent that has grown on me since I started making soap. It really is very soothing and relaxing.

I’m quite excited about a new online shopping site for handmade items called Zibbet. They also have members who sell crafting supplies and vintage items, like Etsy. The great part is: you can join and list items for FREE with a basic account! I think this is great for new sellers who are just trying to test the waters. Basic accounts let you list up to 25 items for free. Premium accounts are a monthly subscription- right now they are offering it for $8 a month— NO listing fees, NO percentage of sales. You can list as many items as you like for no extra charges.

I signed up for a premium account today because I wanted the extra functionality such as adding widgets to my shop (Faceboook, Twitter, links to my blog, etc), unlimited listings and customizing the look of my shop with colours and photo sizes. They even have their forums OFF site, so that sellers can disuss things away from the buyers. So many great features that Etsy doesn’t have! I’ve always felt like a tiny fish in a HUGE ocean on Etsy, especially being a soap maker since there are SO many soap sellers there. On Zibbet I’m more likely to be noticed. The down side of course is that Etsy is the Ebay of handmade online and Zibbet doesn’t have the traffic…YET.

I’m giving it a try and will be tweeting about it to try to drive more traffic there. I’m not leaving Etsy yet, just branching out but so far Zibbet gets my vote!

(If you’re an artisan and want to sign up for a premium account on Zibbet, please use my referral button on the left (or above)  I get a discount on my subscription fees for every new member referral- and you can do the same!)

If you want to try a premium account for FREE, you can use the coupon code FREETRIAL when prompted during sign up and you get the first 7 days free, cancel anytime! You can also use this code if you start out with a basic account and want to upgrade to a premium account.

Blim puts on a monthly community craft fair in Vancouver and just recently moved to a larger venue. I was lucky enough to take part as a vendor last weekend. It takes place at Heritage Hall, at Main and 15th the last Sunday of each month. The building is gorgeous, with high ceilings and lots of space.

Trying to set up, I realized just how MUCH product I have made in recent months. A 6 or 7 foot table just wasn’t going to cut it. Jon and I managed to get nearly everything out, but I don’t like the cluttered look. It’s hard to see individual items when there is too much on the table.  I’m going to have to streamline the display for the Make It Show in May. I’ve got a wonderful shelf unit that I bought from a soaper who was going out of business, but it’s so tall and wide that it makes it more difficult to see from behind the table and I like to be able to connect with my customers. I’ll have to do a little research to figure out a more efficient display. Perhaps I’ll give a try at making another stepped display out of styrofoam packing and just use one on each end of the table. Here’s how it looked at one of my Christmas craft fairs.

It was fun to be able to share some of my products with new customers. It was a lovely day too which helped! I’m considering signing up for the outdoor event they are having in June. Instead of using the hall, vendors will set up outside along the sidewalk. Should be fun! I’ve got a 10×10 tent I can use in case of too much sun- of course rain is a good possibility in June as well.

The vendor next to me on Sunday mentioned that she loves patchouli scented soap. Sandy has a fun and really creative selection of crafts. You can check her out at at FireFlyNotes on Etsy.  So far, the only bar I’ve made that contains patchouli essential oil is part of a blend– my Instant Karma soap. It’s a great blend, but not ‘pure patch’, so I decided to make a small batch as a tester. I added some dried patchouli leaves, a pinch of silk fibers and goats milk. The scent is actually growing on me! I avoided oven processing so poor Jon wouldn’t have to cope with a patchouli scented house. Here’s how it looks:

They will be ready to sell in time for the Make It Show on May 1 & 2. I’m excited for this event because if I make lots of sales it means I can make more soap! Right now my inventory is pretty full so it’s hard to justify making more.

Now, tonight I have to make dinner because the family is coming over. Off to find a good recipe to make pork tenderloin into something delicious. Wish me luck!

I found this cute Maple Leaf stamp at Brambleberry Soaping Supplies last month. I was planning to stamp just a few of my soaps for the Olympic Artisan Market, but I like it so much I’ve been stamping everything with it! I’ve ordered a couple of other stamps too and I’m thinking of possibly having a custom stamp made. If I ever get around to working out a logo for the shop I’ll probably use that.  I think the stamp adds a really fun look to the bars, don’t you?

This bar is scented with an essential oil blend from Brambleberry called Karma Synergistic Blend.  It’s supposed to be a dupe of Lush’s Karma, but I actually like this one better. It’s got some patchouli oil in it and I think we’ve determined that Jon’s not a fan. The day I made this soap he left for the evening without having dinner because he couldn’t stand the scent:-( Oh well, can’t please everyone right?

Here’s another one that I stamped. This scent is so pretty. I kept a bar of this soap on my desk while I was working all week after I made it just so I could scent my workspace with gardenias.

Well, I spent a very quiet 3 days at the Winter Artisan Market in Gastown at the tail end of the Olympics. A friend of a friend was also there for the earlier weeks so I had heard things had been very very quiet, so I wasn’t surprised. In fact, I thought seriously of just pulling out completely and not showing up. After spending 8 days in the mall in White Rock with such slow sales at the beginning of February, I just couldn’t face another 6 days of sitting and not selling.

I ended up agreeing to try it for 3 days. As expected, the place was a ghost town. All of the vendors were pretty disappointed, but apparently everyone who came to Vancouver for the Olympics just wanted to stand outside the Olympic Superstore (The Bay downtown) and wait in line for hours to buy the official olympic gear. *shrug* Well, they seriously missed out because the artisan market was amazing. So many incredibly talented Canadian artisans. Such a shame that we didn’t get to share our work with many of the visitors. It turned out that most of the shoppers we did get were locals. I didn’t mind– I just wish we’d had MORE of them:-)

So….on to the next event. I’m booked in for an eclectic little craft fair later this month called BLIM . It runs each month on the last Sunday, all year round. We had a look through it a couple of months ago and I decided to give it a try. For local readers, it’s at the Heritage Hall in Vancouver at Main & 15th. I’ll be there March 28th from 11-4. If you come by and mention my blog, you’ll get a free gift (and a smile!)

I’ve got nothing booked for April for markets, but still looking. If you know of anything coming up and wanting vendors, please let me know. On May 1 & 2  I’ll be taking part in Make It Vancouver at the Croation Cultural Centre which I’m so excited about! I hear it’s a great event and I’m looking forward to it.

All my upcoming market and craft fair events are marked on my calendar on the Juicybath website. Check it out sometime. It needs some updating with my new soaps and other products, but you can always browse my Etsy shop while I’m waiting for my website guy (ahem- Jon) to get more photos up on the website. I’ve been recently getting some regular sales from Etsy and it’s very exciting. There’s so much soap competition there, but I’m hoping to carve my niche. Trying to get into a habit of listing items more regularly to keep the visibility up.

Another soap photo just to make the post a little prettier:-)

This week I’m selling my products off a cart at Semiahmoo Centre at 152nd and 16th in White Rock. I’ve been there 2 days so far and it’s been rather slow selling. It was so much work to get ready for this, so I’m hoping things pick up as the week goes on. Customers so far have been really enthusiastic about my soap, so that’s been encouraging. Thursday and Friday will be tough- 12 hour days!

Here’s how my cart is set up. This took Jon and I several hours to do on Sunday evening.

I made up some great Valentines Day Gift Packs for this. Here is one for the ladies.

It’s got 3 bars of soap:

- Bouquet of Roses (scented with English Rose)

-Bottle of Wine (scented with White Zinfandel)

-Box of Chocolates (scented with Expresso Chocolate)

A handmade cotton facecloth (not by me, I can’t crochet!), and a little wooden soap deck that Jon and I made from some solid wood trim boards.

Another one for the girls…these are Matching Scent Gift Packs, each contains

A bar of soap, a jar of whipped body butter and a jar of emulsified sugar scrub.

I did these  in 4 different scents:

Black Raspberry Vanilla

White Tea & Ginger

Love Potion

Lick Me All Over

Next I did a Chocolate Lover’s Gift Pack containing:

Edible Chocolate Massage Butter

Chocolate  Expresso Sugar Scrubs

Chocolate Scented Soap

Chocolate Orange Lip Balm

I think this last one is my favourite.  A Six Pack O’ Suds beer soap gift pack. I had a lot of fun making soap with six different types of beer and choosing scents to match. This is what I came up with for the soaps:

Ginger Lime, made with Nut Brown Ale

Rosemary Mint, made with Lager

Unscented, made with Guinness Draught

Oatmeal, Milk and Honey, made with Oatmeal Stout

Chocolate Expresso, made with Chocolate Stout

Salty Sea, made with Honey Brown Ale

This is how the packaging looks. I had a custom stamp made

for this. Inside, I added kraft paper crinkle shreds and a handmade cotton facecloth.

I’ve got to get there super-early tomorrow- proabably 6 AM-  because the Olympic Torch Relay will be taking place right outside the mall tomorrow morning around 6:30 so the main street will be closed.  I’m disappointed that I won’t get to see the relay come through here in Delta, but Devon will see it in front of his school later in the morning. I think they are starting classes later so the kids can all see the torch going by.

I got this idea from another blogger. Seems like nice way to look back at my year. I’m thinking of trying to do this every January. I know I’m a little late for reflections of 2009, but here goes anyway:

1. What did you do in 2009 that you’d never done before?
I learned to make soap.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?

No, I don’t make any actual new year’s resolutions. This year I do hope to get back into better physical shape. I really dropped the ball on fitness in 2009.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes, my niece had her third son.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, and I’m very grateful for that.

5. What countries did you visit last year?

No travel for me last year, unless you count hops over the line to Bellingham and Seattle. My sister and I did a 2 day road trip to shop in Seattle and it was so much fun. We haven’t had time alone together to reconnect in years and we laughed and cried. I want to do it every year now, at least!

6. What would you like to have in 2010 that you lacked in 2009?
A full-time-employed husband. He wants that as much as I do though. Here’s hoping that 2010 brings a great career opportunity for him.

7. What dates from 2009 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?
The actual date numbers don’t stick in my mind, but the weekend garage sale I had in March to raise money for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer was crazy. I almost killed myself and Jon too, but we raised $1700 so I consider it a great success:-) The actual weekend walk in August was an amazing experience. The day my daughter surprised me by turning up back home suddenly after being in Calgary for several months. The day that a doctor told me and my mom that she probably had early stage Alzheimer’s Disease. May 1st, the day that me and my family helped my mom move into her new apartment.

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?

Finishing the Weekend to End Breast Cancer walk of 60 km over 2 days, and raising over $2000 for the BC Cancer Foundation.

9. What was your biggest failure?
Neglecting my physical health by avoiding regular exersize.

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Nothing serious, thankfully.

11. What was the best thing you bought?
The soaping supplies from a soapmaker who was going out of business. It was an incredible deal and it really got me jump started with my soapmaking!

12. Whose behavior merited celebration?
My brother’s. He fundraised and then rode his bike over 400km in one day from Kelowna to Delta to raise awareness and money for the Canadian Cancer Society in the Ride 2 Survive. It was an amazing accomplishment.

13. Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed?

I wouldn’t go quite as far as appalled or depressed, but I was pretty irritated with the moderators of a certain soapmakers’ forum for banning me. Get over yourselves, seriously. Your loss

My son gave me a few moments to be appalled about here and there (what teenager doesn’t?) and when he was struggling with anxiety and depression early in the year it was pretty sad for me, but I don’t get depressed easily.

My mom’s ongoing struggles with her memory make me sad. I try not to get depressed over it though, just try to help as much as I can.

14. Where did most of your money go?
Most of it went for just keeping us going day to day, but another large portion went to get me set up for making soap as well.

15. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
I don’t think anything was quite THAT exciting in 2009, but selling nearly $500 in products at one small craft fair I did this fall was exciting for me.

16. What song will always remind you of 2009?
I don’t know that it will stick in my mind for always, but Adam Lambert singing ‘Mad World’ on AI was pretty cool. He made the show fun to watch last year.

17. Compared to this time last year, are you:
a) happier or sadder? A little sadder.
b) thinner or fatter? Fatter.
c) richer or poorer? poorer (we’re talking money, right?)

18. What do you wish you’d done more of?
I’ll say it again- physical activity. Also- wish I’d done more fun things with Jon. Life can get kind of routine at times and we forget to enjoy our time together and just do fun stuff.

19. What do you wish you’d done less of?

Eating. Complaining.

20. How did you spend Christmas?
With my family at our house, we had everyone here for dinner.

21. Did you fall in love in 2009?

No, but I stayed in love.

22. What was your favorite TV program?

Definitely LOST. Can’t wait for it to start again next week. It’s the last season though:-( I also had a lot of fun watching American Idol with my son, Devon. It’s our mom-and-son bonding time. We don’t get much of that anymore so I really enjoy it. Other than that, I don’t really watch TV anymore.

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn’t hate this time last year?
Hate is a very strong word. I don’t have true hate for anyone. There are a few irritating people I try to avoid though.

24. What was the best book you read?
The Time Travelers Wife. Absolutely pulled me in. I didn’t want it to end, but couldn’t stop reading.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
I don’t really discover music. That’s Jon’s area:-)

26. What did you want and get?
A new washer and dryer- front loaders, they rock.

27. What did you want and not get?
A new kitchen. (not expected, but still wanted!)

28. What was your favorite film of this year?
Nothing sticks out in my mind other than Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. I don’t think it was the best of the series but I’m a big HP fan, so I enjoyed it.

29. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
I turned 46. Jon took me out for dinner to the Washington Avenue Grill. It was lovely.

30. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
If I could have had the kitchen renovated, or finished all the half-done projects on the house.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2009?
I’m pathetic in this department, as all who know me are aware. I spent most of the year in my jammies working from home, or in my comfy jeans- mainly because I’ve gained weight and don’t feel good about how I look

32. What kept you sane?
Being loved by a wonderful man.  Having a hobby that I love. Working from home.

33. Which celebrity/public figure did you fancy the most?
Embarrassingly, Adam Lambert. I know, he’s young enough to be my son and he’s gay but he’s adorable and his voice is incredible *shrug*

I also really admire Brad Pitt for all he does for people in need. That makes him pretty fanciable, and he doesn’t look half bad either, let’s face it .

34. What political issue stirred you the most?
I really wish I were more interested in politics, but I’m just not. It was pretty exciting to see Obama getting inaugurated, for many reasons.

35. Who did you miss?
I missed Jon’s parents, who live in England. I wish we could see them more often. I also missed my dad as always. I can’t believe it’s been 11 years since he died.

36. Who was the best new person you met?

Nobody in particular sticks out in my mind. I guess I don’t meet too many new people.

37. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2009.

Make sure the people you love know it, and show them often. You never know when you might not be able to tell them again. (related to my mom’s memory problems)

38. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year.

??

I chose a winning comment by using a random number generator, and Lisa was the winner of my handmade soap giveaway! Congratulations Lisa and thanks everyone else for coming and entering the contest. Here are the bars that Lisa requested as her prize:  Bubble Gum, Lemongrass & Lime and Sea Salt Spa. They are on their way to Maryland today. I hope you enjoy them Lisa!