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.

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!

Only 5 days till Christmas! This is the week where I start getting really anxious because I never have all my shopping done.  We are having Christmas dinner here for the extended family, so the house needs to be cleaned, food (and booze!)  shopping needs to be done, presents wrapped….and probably a million other things. I’m working today and then overnight tomorrow, so my time is getting really crunched. Hopefully I can motivate my men to help me get things ready. So, just need to work a night shift tomorrow and then it’s full-on Christmas prep!

Every year, we do a big Christmas breakfast to eat after we open our gifts. I do an egg strata the night before that goes straight into the oven in the morning, and overnight french toast for Devon. Maybe I can actually get all my gift wrapping done before Christmas Eve this year. I hate that late-night frantic wrapping and tagging!

In other news, I’m waiting to hear back from a leasing agent about renting a selling cart space at Semiahmoo Centre during the week leading up to Valentines Day to sell my soaps. There’s a Body Shop in the mall though, so I had to submit a letter describing my products and how they differ from The Body Shop’s stuff and we’re waiting to hear back from the mall administration. No word this week- hopefully Monday! If it’s yes, then I’ve got lots of soap to make by then. Of course I have no way of knowing how much I will sell, so it’s really guess work knowing how much to prepare, and which products to include. I’m planning to focus on my soap though.

Here’s a pic I took of part of my soap display at my last pre-Christmas craft fair. I loved how my soaps looked on this. I made it out of scrap styrofoam packing materials!

Here’s my most recent batch right after cutting. It’s scented with Pineapple Cilantro but I think it smells just like fresh pineapple. I added some coconut shreds for scrubbiness too. This one will be ready for sale on Jan 13th.

I got my first 2 sales from my Juicybath Etsy shop this week! Out of the blue– a Rosemary Mint bar, and then later the same day, a Licorice scented Lump of Coal. I was so excited. I actually found a couple of local buyers to purchase the rest of my batch of Lump Of Coal Soaps. I was so glad because I did a lot of work to get the packaging and the tags just right.  I think they turned out really well.

In case it’s not readable in the photo, the gift tag says:

You’ve Been Naughty

Here’s Your Lump Of Coal

Handcrafted Soap

Licorice Scented

]]> http://www.triagefromhome.com/2009/12/the-countdown-is-on/feed/ 1 http://www.triagefromhome.com/2009/11/juicybags-is-back/ http://www.triagefromhome.com/2009/11/juicybags-is-back/#comments Mon, 23 Nov 2009 20:41:39 +0000 Helen http://www.triagefromhome.com/?p=1210

I spent some time listing some of my Juicybags stuff in my Etsy shop last night. I forgot how time consuming that can be! Now to promote and try to get some sales for Christmas. The great thing about my Juicybags for online shopping is that the shipping is usually quite reasonable since they are so lightweight. If I can pack them flat enough, I can even send them by letter post which is much cheaper than package rate.

Now- if only Canada would get a nice, simple flat rate system going I could get to selling more soaps too! I have to get Jon to update my Juicybath site today. I’ve sold out of so many of my soaps that are pictured there. Lots of new stuff is on the curing racks though. We just have to figure out how to get better photos to show them off properly. I’ve got another craft fair this weekend so I’ll be busy in between working nights (ugh!) this week to get everything stocked up again. I need to make more Whipped Body Butters and I need scent suggestions. I made some unscented and only sold one or two. I guess scented is the way to go for that product.

How about:

Coconut?

Pineapple Cilantro?

Instant Karma? (like Lush’s  Karma)

Mango Melon?

Orange?

Lavender?

Honeysuckle?

Wild Baby Powder

My idea for this was a white soap with pink and blue swirls, but I was trying out Labcolours fushia and brilliant blue and had no idea how much to use or what colours I would end up with. I saved too much soap back for the swirly bit so I ended up with drippy and swoopy look instead.  Once I poured it in, I decided not to actively swirl it and see what happened. I like it anyway!  It’s definitely different. The fragrance was overwhelming when I made this one. I was afraid I’d overdone it, but now it has mellowed. My daughter Alison loves this one.

Maple Swirl

Here I was trying to make some maple scented soap for my son Devon. He is big on maple. I used Iron Oxide golden brown to get the colour and it came out exactly like I wanted. This was my first try using a flat slab-type mold. (really just a plastic Rubbermaid drawer organizer tray from Save-On Foods) I was so pleased with the resulting swirls too. The scent seems to be developing more as it cures. I can’t wait to try this one:

Here it is in the mold before cutting:

This next one is the second batch of my Beer Soap. The first batch I used cocoa for colour and it came out dark brown. It smells great but I wanted a lighter colour, so I added some dried carrot powder (grated carrots dried out in a low oven and then ground in a spice grinder) I LOVE the way this one turned out with the translucent look. It’s made with Red Racer Pale Ale. The scent  is a trio of citrus. I just love citrus soaps.

The other day, someone messaged me through Etsy to tell me she featured my Chocolate Monkey Solid Bubble Bath on a treasury. A treasury is a collection of items that an Etsy member puts together to show off items they like on a certain part of the site. I was thrilled to be included. How fun! You can see the treasury HERE. It will stay up till Friday Sept 25th.

Last Christmas, I bought some fun jewelry pendants for my daughter from Etsy. They were made from Scrabble letter tiles, with a Twilight theme. They were a huge hit with my daughter and her friends, so I thought I might try my hand at making some. I’ve ordered some supplies and as soon as they arrive I’ll give them a try. Here’s a shop that makes some really sweet designs.

I’m working on an idea to recycle old pop and rock LPs into drink coasters, but I haven’t hit on the exact method I’ll use. I picked up a few dollar store cork-backed coasters and decoupaged them with cuttings from scrapbook paper. They turned out pretty well, they just need a couple of coats of spray varnish to make them waterproof. This is how they started:

And then after I tweaked them (they still need the spray coating):

Then I started researching soap making. I know– nothing recycled about that– but there’s something about handmade soap that just grabs me. There is an amazing amount of information out there in web land about handmade soaps. I’ve been riveted to YouTube, watching people hot process and cold process and whatever-process. There’s a fantastic soap supply shop not far from here, so I dropped in and gathered everything I needed to make my first batch. There’s no way I was going to have the patience to wait 4-6 weeks for a cold processed batch to cure, so I thought I’d try hot process first. It was fun and easy, although after reading all the warnings about working with lye I was a bit nervous at first. There seems to be a lot to learn about how to scent soaps correctly with oils or fragrances, let alone all the additives I can barely pronounce! Anyway- for my first batch I used an online soap calculator to mix coconut, palm, and olive oils and shea butter. I tried a grapefruit essential oil for scent because Jon and I both like citrusy soaps. I added some tumeric for colour and a handful of grated orange peel for a bit of texture.  I loved how the colour was a bit uneven and the cut bars looked kinda rustic (in a good way), but …..NO scent! I was so disappointed. I mean, it’s ALL about the scent with handmade soaps, right? So, I headed back to the soap supply shop to ask for advice. I decided to go ahead and grate all the soap up and rebatch it (melt it down and try again!) Pretty simple to do– just grate it up with a cheese grater, chuck it all in the slow cooker and wait till it goes back to the mushy stage. It took a while and some mixing but it got there. I found out that citrus essential oils have a low flash point, which I think means they evaporate at low temps (like 110-115 F) so I let the batch cool down to just below 110 F before I added a dose of Sweet Orange and Grapefruit, with a dash of Litsea Cubeba as well. Do I sound like I know what I’m doing? Apparently that last one helps to hold on to the citrus scents. Let’s hope so!

It’s all cut and drying now- Yeah, it looks pretty rough, but I prefer to call it rustic:-) I’m calling it Marmalade Smoothie. What do you think? It was starting to get quite solid when I was packing it into the molds. It smells very good in the room, but who knows if that’s from the oils that got all over the utensils or the actual soap! It should sit to dry out and harden for a week or two before it’s used, so I’ll post again later with the final outcome. Next I thought I’d try soap made with beer! Jon had a can of Red Racer Pale Ale that somehow sprung a leak near the top, so he let me steal it. Wish me luck.

Ever since I first saw them at LUSH I’ve wanted to try making bath bombs at home. You know, those hard and dry colourful bombs that burst into fizziness when they are dropped into the water? Well, I made my first batch the other night. They are a bit tricky if you don’t know what it’s supposed to look or feel like at the molding stage, but I think I figured it out. I made pale pink half-balls scented with grapefruit essential oil. I need to find a better mold, or maybe use my heart-shaped muffin pan.  I tried using some hollow Christmas tree ornament balls (they are sold with candy inside) but they had a bit of a lip inside the open edge that made it really difficult to get the bombs out. I can see these would be really fun to make and sell- there are lots of colours, scents and accents you can add to decorate them. They’d make great gifts and stocking stuffers. Can you see that they are pink in this photo?

This last one was really fun and easy. I melted down some old broken crayons in the oven in star-shaped molds. I thought it would be fun to have something fun and inexpensive to sell and a way to pass on the recycling message to kids. They turned out so well, although the hard part was getting all the paper wrappers off. Soaking them in water helped but some were really stuck. The finished crayons look great and are fun to colour with. They would be perfect for kids to rub on paper over textures to make designs in a mix of colours. Excellent stocking stuffer too! I got the idea from a teacher who made these and gave them to her students on their birthdays- sweet! I love that these are chunky and easy for little kids to hold.

I was thrilled to receive the offer of this great print called Blooming Lots of Dots from Bandeau at Etsy to benefit my auctions for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer.

It’s Spring Time and the girls in the garden are delighted at the amazing amount of blooming beauties!!

All traditional work on the black and white, then digital colouring on the red and purple versions on this 8×10 print.

So much detail, you’ll spend forever finding every item!

Winner may specify if they would like:

Black & White

Red version or Purple version

This is what the artist says about this print:

“This image was the turning point in my artwork. I had just discovered I have several tumors in my chest, and to kick the shakes like I usually do I went on a quick art spending spree. I bought my first ever package of Sakura Microns and decided to sit down and doodle with them. I cracked open the pen, grabbed a random sheet of paper, and drew the ugliest eye I had ever created. I really didn’t like it so I decided “What the hey! I’m going to just doodle whatever I want.” And in the end, Lots of Dots was created. I had never done anything like it and now a lot of my work leans in this direction!
And about the artist:

“As for me, well, I just love creating artwork I was laid off in December along so many thousands of others, and decided to stay positive and take the lull in the job force to create some new artwork. I took some money out of my savings to purchase a large set of Copic Markers and have been drawing steady for the last three months!”

1: Visit Bandeau at Etsy and Bandeau at Deviant Art.  Browse around and choose your favourite item there.

2. Come back here and leave a comment, telling us:

a) The name of your favourite item.

b) The $ amount of your bid for this Wonderful Print.

3. Check back often during the 2 weeks, to see if you’ve been out-bid. You may bid as often as you like.

4. Bid increments for this item will be $1 minimum (for example: if the highest current bid is $10, you must bid $11 or more)

5. Bidding starts at only $15.00 for this print.

~Artist will ship this item anywhere~

First bidder takes this item!

All payments for items won can be paid via my online donation page at the End Cancer website (or you can pay via my Paypal donation link if you prefer) Net proceeds from the walk go directly to the BC Cancer Foundation.

Want to see your products here?
Please contact me by using the ‘Contact Me’ tab at the top of this page if you would like to donate something for the weekly auction. I would love to showcase your shop and products. Let’s help each other!

I’m so excited that Robin from Atomic Livin donated this fantastic purse to benefit my Weekend to End Breast Cancer fundraising!  I LOVE all the bags in Robin’s shop!

Here’s the scoop: ~High-Style Waves Handbag in Watermelon Colors of Lime, Kelly, Fuschia, Lipstick Pink, Cotton Candy Pink, White and Black! ~

Approx. 10 1/2″ High x 9 1/2″ Wide x 3″ Deep

The handle is black silky 3/8″ wide cord that is approx. 42″ long.

QUALITY BARKCLOTH FABRIC…Double and Triple Stitched…HIGH QUALITY CONSTRUCTION GUARANTEED!

Gorgeous retro RARE barkcloth.
Added stabilizer for firmness so that it can stand on its own.
Sturdy, Handcrafted, Quality Construction!!

This gorgeous bag is just right to wear across your chest from shoulder to hip like a Messenger Bag or tie a knot in the cord and wear it on your shoulder. Larger than her popular “Pocket Purses”, these beauties hold more of the “essentials” us girls can’t do without.

Robin has always loved retro things from her childhood of the late 50′s, 60′s and mid-70′s.
She’s  spent a lot of time and effort collecting fabulous retro, vintage and reproduction fabrics, and she found that most of the patterns that she loves are now out-of-print. Now, she’s spending her time making original design handbags with her wonderful fabrics and having a ball!

1: Visit Atomic Livin at Etsy.  Browse around and choose your favourite item there.

2. Come back here and leave a comment, telling us:

a) The name of your favourite item.

b) The $ amount of your bid for this fabulous Retro Purse.

3. Check back often during the 2 weeks, to see if you’ve been out-bid. You may bid as often as you like.

4. Bid increments for this item will be $1 minimum (for example: if the highest current bid is $10, you must bid $11 or more)

5. Bidding starts at only $20.00 for this item.

~Robin will ship anywhere~

All payments for items won can be paid via my online donation page at the End Cancer website (or you can pay via my Paypal donation link if you prefer) Net proceeds from the walk go directly to the BC Cancer Foundation.

Want to see your products here?
Please contact me by using the ‘Contact Me’ tab at the top of this page if you would like to donate something for the weekly auction. I would love to showcase your shop and products. Let’s help each other!

Update: This auction has ended with a BUY IT NOW bid by Deb! Thanks so much for the support!

Nicole from Naturally Felt has donated this cute and stylin’ Insulated Lunch Tote for auction to benefit my fundraising for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer.

Nicole is the mom of 3 little ones. She also makes other great items like custom Travel Colouring Kits and slippers for kids and adults.

The exterior is a colorful dots print with blue a background. This is fully insulated to keep food cold for hours!

Zipper closure keeps your lunch nicely contained and the short strap is perfect to grab and go..

Very durable, very cute, and green to boot!
Machine washable!

See more photos of the tote HERE.

Measures: 10″ high, 8″ wide flat

1: Visit Naturally Felt at Etsy.  Browse around and choose your favourite item there.

2. Come back here and leave a comment, telling us:

a) The name of your favourite item.

b) The $ amount of your bid for this sweet Insulated Lunch Tote.

3. Check back often during the 2 weeks, to see if you’ve been out-bid. You may bid as often as you like.

4. Bid increments for this item will be $1 minimum (for example: if the highest current bid is $10, you must bid $11 or more)

5. Bidding starts at only $10.00 for this tote.

6. New Option: Leave a comment stating you would like to BUY IT NOW for only $20.00.

~Nicole will ship this tote anywhere in the US or Canada~

All payments for items won can be paid via my online donation page at the End Cancer website (or you can pay via my Paypal donation link if you prefer) Net proceeds from the walk go directly to the BC Cancer Foundation.

Want to see your products here?
Please contact me by using the ‘Contact Me’ tab at the top of this page if you would like to donate something for the weekly auction. I would love to showcase your shop and products. Let’s help each other!

Update: This auction has ended because my brother bought these beautiful earrings (I think for his gifrlfriend Sarah if I’m guessing right) Thanks for your support Graham!

Lori from Brandy Brook Designs has donated these beautiful Sodalite and Moonstone Earrings. As always, all proceeds from the auction go directly to my fund for the Weekend to End Breast Cancer.

These elegant earrings will become your favorite pair for everything from dressy to office to casual. They stand out with every type of outfit. The center faceted moonstone is flashy and beautifully cut. It is framed with two blue sapphire rondelles. Then a sodalite teardrop is capped with a sterling silver swirl and hung from beautiful hand forged earwires.

The drop is 1 1/2″ or almost 4 cm long. From the piercing it is almost 2.5″ or 6 cm. long.

Lori has lots of other gorgeous handmade jewelry in her shops at Etsy:  Brandy Brook Designs and at 1000 Markets: Life’s Little Luxuries

1: Visit Brandy Brook Designs and/or Life’s Little Luxuries . Browse around and choose your favourite item there.

2. Come back here and leave a comment, telling us:

a) The name of your favourite item.

b) The $ amount of your bid for the Sodalite and Moonstone Earrings.

3. Check back often during the 2 weeks, to see if you’ve been out-bid. You may bid as often as you like.

4. Bid increments for this item will be $1 minimum (for example: if the highest current bid is $15, you must bid $16 or more)

5. Bidding starts at only $15.00 for this auction.

6. New Option: If you love these earrings and you don’t want to wait, Buy It Now for $25.00!

~Lori will  ship these earrings anywhere in the world!~

All payments for items won can be paid via my online donation page at the End Cancer website (or you can pay via my Paypal donation link if you prefer) Net proceeds from the walk go directly to the BC Cancer Foundation.

Want to see your products here?
Please contact me by using the ‘Contact Me’ tab at the top of this page if you would like to donate something for the weekly auction. I would love to showcase your shop and products. Let’s help each other!