• March 28, 2024

No Dirty Pictures

To everyone who came by my little soap stand at the Swedish Club Holiday Bazaar this past weekend, thank you so much for your support! I know you enjoyed the crafts at this bazaar as well as the food, the drinks and the company. It is a well attended, very friendly family event. It’s my favorite. If you missed it and want to see any in person, I have a few items in my studio and you can check them out when you come in for your Christmas Portrait. If you haven’t booked yet, there are still some spots available, check the booking calendar here.

My daughter also participated with a sales table at the Swedish Club event. During the pandemic she got busy creating jewelry out of polymers. Her items are what i would call “Statement Pieces” and are perfect for elevating basics or adding extra emphasis on a party outfit. Consider a pair for yourself to dress up this season’s fashion, whether you’re hosting or attending a holiday event, you are worthy to look special. Save $10 when you buy two pair! If you need help curating your look, Angela can help you out! Check out her stuff here on Instagram and message her with any special requests!

As for me and my soap habit, well, anyone who doesn’t know yet, I am a bit of a soap-a-holic. Which pairs well with being a germ-a-phobe. Be assured, when you come visit me for your portrait session, you’ll get a chance to look over the goods. Hand crafted soaps, hand blended lotions PLUS I plan to have some of the Fab n’ Feisty line to show in my small but simple corner boutique!

So many people have asked me how it is that I started making soaps. It’s like any addiction really, I saw someone else doing it.

Who did you see? Where did this happen?

Was it on YouTube? No it wasn’t. Was it on Facebook? Nope. Then where? WHERE?

Well, before the internet there was television. Television works better with the energy of a studio audience. There was this little outfit here in Seattle called Creative Live. They produced content for their own channel. I participated in several of their photography workshops (stop me if I told you this before). I was on their list of reliables.

One morning, in the spring of 2016, I got an email from their program director that they were trying something new and they were asking for volunteers for their studio audience, would I be interested? This particular episode was centered around niche crafting, soaps and lotions. The host was Anne-Marie Faiola of Brambleberry from Bellingham.

I could not have been less interested. HOWEVER, I had recently met a new friend who had just started selling “home party” body creams that she did not make herself but she was selling as a rep. I thought she’d TOTALLY be interested and it would be a fun thing we could do with our new friendship.

We had to be at the Seattle Studio at 8am. I got a message from this friend at 7am that she wasn’t going afterall. She dumped me as it were. Maybe my enthusiasm was more than she could handle. Or maybe she was insulted that I was inferring that she make her own body creams instead of doing the home party thing.

Being that I was well connected with the Creative Live group, I did not want to let them down. I somewhat begrudginly showed up. I was one of 5 people, three of which were employees at the studio and one was a woman from New Zealand.

A woman from New Zealand.

Before the show starts, we’re all treated to coffee and breakfast in a modern kitchen cafeteria. We chat with the crew and the other audience members before heading into the studio. I meet the woman from New Zealand, Vanessa, and she explains that she had only found out just the day before that Anne-Marie would be doing this presentation. Vanessa was staying at the Holiday Inn across the street, just visiting Seattle. Her and her family were supposed to leave that day but she convinced her husband to change their plane tickets to stay another day so she could attend and meet Ann-Marie and get her books signed.

Get her books signed?

Wait, you have her books with you? You have books by Ann-Marie with you? Obviously I didn’t do any research on this, but I don’t believe it would have been nearly as fun if I knew what to expect!

Vanessa proceeds to show me her books and her business cards, soap business cards. Each one with a different, lovely photo of one of her soaps. Each soap is embossed with her elegantly crafted logo. It was impressive. Vanessa is a soap addict.

When we were in the studio watching Ann-Marie show us a few creations (none of which were actually soap btw), I think that Vanessa was probably the only other person in the room that knew what was going on. She knew all the lingo. I had no idea there was such a thing as avocado butter and that whipping it would be so luxurious to the touch. And altho these were all external use only products, it was very similar to watching a cooking show.

Ann-Marie was to Vanessa what Elvis was to my cousin Virginia. But Vanessa wasn’t as starstruck, Vanessa had a voice to ask questions and she knew all the right questions to ask. Fascinated, I was all ears. Vanessa’s enthusiasm infected me. I was totally hooked.

I’ve been soaping and creating lotions and expanding my menu of items ever since.

I have a rotation of regulars such as daily needs products, I show them on my marketplace website here. I’ll of course post whatever new soap I create which will always be a little different each time. I prefer gentle fragrance, no patchouli, no strong rose or florals. I prefer to incorporate fragrance oils that are more savory like woods, basils, mints, cinnamon, coffee, lemon blended occasionally with a light lavender.

Let’s rewind back to the Swedish Club for a minute. The Swedish Club event, the Creative Live Studio and such in-person events, these are the places that have made the biggest difference in my business and the most positive difference in my life. I will bet that is the case for most of you as well. These in person events are so important for connecting with community. You learn so much more than watching a video or shopping online with only your own voice in your head. We all do better when we can sharpen ourselves, our skills, our minds against others who are sharp. It’s good to discover new things. It’s good to find a new friend. Find someone good to be influenced by today.

thank you for stopping by the blog.