Feel the Love Friday Giveaway week 2.

Hey everyone! So, it's Friday. We're having friends over for a little Mexican food and a full contact darts tourney. Fun times ahead!

Speaking of fun, it's the second Feel the Love Friday~ time to announce the giveaway winner.......

It's TRISHA from Suds to Love! Go check our her very cute pups & great soaps!
She wins:
Grapefruit Lily & Cranberry Cheer!

Congrats, Trisha! Thanks to all of you for your fun comments. More giveaway next Friday!!!

Happy Weekend! :)

Martha Love... The Martha Blog Contest

Martha Stewart recently did a segment about blogging with Perez Hilton. We all know that Perez Hilton is a great blogger. Of course, it makes perfect sense that Martha is also a fellow blogger! What better way to share the ups and downs of everyday life?

She has offered a chance to get "blogged about" on her blog, by posting a comment and linking on your blog. Make sense? I mean, who WOULDN'T want to be on Martha's blog? ;) Do you think she'll ever Twitter?

Today you can read about two new kittens on her farm! They are just adorable!!

ps. check out marthastewart.com for incredible Halloween Ideas. Her decoration projects always drive me to channel my Inner Martha!

And The Winner Is... ME!

I love reading Teresa's blog Life, Homesteading, and Everything. She's funny, interesting and kind. She's also a great soap customer, which I thoroughly appreciate!! Recently, she posted a give-away. She is giving away The Creativity Book by Eric Maisel...and she's giving it to me! :) I won her very fair, random drawing. ;)
I'm so excited. I would love a year's worth of inspiration, which is what the book promises!!

Thanks Teresa! You're a honey! Do pop over to Teresa blog... you'll love it!

Playing Tag with Soap Friends

I've been tagged by Elizabeth at Gassner Custom Soaps
These are the rules:

1) Link to the person who tagged you
2) Post the rules on your blog (this is what you are now reading)
3) Write 6 random things about yourself (see below)
4) Tag 6 people at the end of your post and link to them (This is only a game)
5) Let each person know they have been tagged and leave a comment on their blog
6) Let the tagger know when your entry is up

OK, so here goes random:

1. I was in the band with my future husband in elementary school. He played the Sax and I played the flute. He was in 5th grade and I was in 4th.2. I weighed 80 lbs more than I do now after I had Ella. My two best friends were Ben & Jerry.


3. I live 90 miles away from the nearest Target. I've been to Target twice in my life... and I loved it!
4. Gerry took all of my siblings, their spouses, my bff Laurel and me out for the best night of my life for my 40th birthday. He took care of all of the details which included a limo into Boston, a spectacular meal and a night for the 2 of us at the Omni Parker House Hotel in Boston. It was a blast!

5. I got a tatoo when I was 39 and my MIL didn't know about it until this year (2 years later.) I don't think she loves tatoos... :)


6. I never in a million years would have considered myself crafty enough to be a soaper, but it has become the second most fun thing I do~next to being a Mom/Wife.So now it's time for tagging.....

1. Sherrie at Birch Bark Soap
2. Michelle at Oats and Honey
3.Jennie at Beehive and Bird's Nest
4.That Guy from Soap with Balls
5. Elizabeth from Gracefruit
6. Diana from Shea Bath

Love to you all!

In the Aussie Soap Groove

A couple of months ago, darling Michelle from Oats & Honey picked me to win her amazing Pink Gift Bag. It was full of yummy stuff! She sent me Granola Scrub, avocado and yoghurt (I just love that h) soap, carrot and calendula soap as well as a box of two chocolate bubble muffins! Now it's time to tell y'all just how lucky I am!

Michelle's products are fantastic! The carrot & calendula soap and the avocado & yogurt soap are super smooth and creamy. I've been using both on my face and I just love them. They are a softening bit of bubble heaven! The Granola Scrub is amazing! It smells so good! Michelle uses vanilla bean and cocoa butter in this one and it's a homerun! This scrub goes on gently and cleans off nicely. It leaves you soft and delish! The only bits left from this great goody bag are the chocolate bubble muffins. I promised Ella & Cora a little spa moment with them, so we're holding on for just the right moment.

Do stop over to visit Michelle's fun blog! She is such a love. Not only is she an incredible bubble formulator, but she's also a full time student. How does she do it?? If you can get some of her soap, grab it! You'll feel her super sweet personality in every one of her products!! Thanks again, Michelle!!! You are way too kind! :)

Wait Til You See...

...the amazing soaps that Trisha from Suds to Love sent my way! I'm not sure how I got so lucky!!
(maybe turning 41 had something to do with it!) I'm off to take some pix and give these bars all of the attention they deserve! Here's a teaser... Champagne Energy, Strawberries & Creme, Black Pepper Lime, Sweet Lemon... ooh baby! This is going to be a GREAT day!

Somebody's Watching Me!

Some days opening email is such a drag. I mean, how many new products can Crate & Barrel really have to show me? What is my REAL AGE? I don't really want to know... my math tells me I'll be 41 next Sunday. That's what I'm going with.

Some days it's really fun to open email and see a message from a great friend, a great new product from one of my bubble suppliers or a comment from someone on One Bubble. On Thursday I received a comment from Heidi Richards who is the CEO & Founder of WECAI. Here's here greeting:

"Welcome to the WECAI (pronounced wee-kî) Network™

Network for Women Increases Your Global Visibility and Influence!

Welcome to the WECAI Network™ (also known as the Women’s eCommerce Association, International™) - the “hub” for women and organizations looking for online opportunities to achieve your personal and professional goals, accomplish your business mission and increase your reach worldwide. Representing the professional interests of millions of women around the globe, the WECAI Network™ is working daily to open the doors to networking, business development and leadership opportunities."

Heidi also has a blog called Virtual Woman's Day Celebrations. Imagine my surprise and excitement when she commented here to let me know that she'd picked me as one of the 73
Women Bloggers to Watch for Summer 2008! Heidi offers a fun list of blogs to peek at and some really great advice to increase visability on the web. I am taking her tips and running with them and I know you all will find some smart info there, too.

Thanks so much Heidi, for noticing One Bubble! It's so fun to know that somebody's watching!!

Teacher! Teacher!

Does anyone remember that song from .38 Special? Well, I get to play teacher tomorrow night and I'm so excited!! There's a craft club of 5 or 6 women here in Randolph. It's the coolest idea. From what I understand, they get together regularly and do different crafty things. Doesn't that sound like a blast? Anyway, one of the ladies, Sadie, asked me a little while ago if I was interested in teaching them how to make soap. Who wouldn't be?

Initially, I thought they'd want to do a little melt and pour soaping. You know, it's quick, instant gratification. That shows what I know! These girls are hard core! They opted for the CP class, complete with goggles and gloves! Well, we are going to each make a 1 lb batch so my students :) can take home their soap right away and stare at it while it cures.

So today I did my last practice run to make sure that my recipe would behave itself. Can you believe I've never made less than a 4 lb batch of soap? I am so happy with the one pound recipe I used. It's in Alicia Grosso's Everything Soapmaking Book. See here to read about how much I love her! It's simple and manageable. I'm only worried about how to get everyone emulsified.
I have 2 stick blenders, so we'll probably just take turns.

This batch has Brambleberry's Kumquat FO, Wholesale Supplies Plus Yellow Iron Oxide & water soluable titanium dioxide. I topped one with calendula, inspired by Joanna's Bath Bomb photo and the other has cranberry seeds just for fun. The Kumquat was perfect to work with. No acceleration that I could note and the scent (so far) is nice and bright! I think I'm in love!

I'm so excited about class! I'll let you know how it goes!

Birch Bonding

Sherrie Graham is a sweet, talented soapmaker from Nova Scotia, Canada. She and I discovered each other because we both named our businesses around beautiful birch trees. Sherrie owns
Birch Bark Soap and has a great blog named~yup! Birch Bark Soap! She is a master at using simplicity to highlight the purity of her product!

I feel so lucky because I've been using some of that purely delightful product for the past week! Sherrie sweetly sent down an Oatmeal, Milk & Honey bar and an Exfoliating Gardener's Bar.
Sherrie does both CP & HP soapmaking. I think these are CP, but check the comments because Sherrie may correct me! :) They are WONDERFUL soaps!

It's been a real joy to try these babies out! I've been using the Oatmeal bar in the shower for the past few days. It has a great lather, smooth as silk glide and the fragrance is sweet & soothing! I love it! I'm not much of a gardener, but I always seem to have dirt on my hands this time of year. Sherrie's Gardeners Bar uses cornmeal as the exfoliant and it works brilliantly. That coupled with the calming scent of Almond & Honey makes it a real winner!

If I were you, I'd click on over to Sherrie's Etsy shop and do some shopping! You'll be so happy you did because her soaps are a real treat!! Thanks, Sherrie~ and lots of Birch Bubble Love to you!

Down Under Soap is Over the Top!

I am one lucky girl!! I just received the most adorable Pink Gift Bag from Michelle of Oats and Honey!! First of all, I won it which is so fab! Secondly, the packaging is insanely cute! Most importantly, it all smells and looks DIVINE!!! Plus, it's so very cool to think of it being here after it started out in Australia!! I wish you all could lay your hands/noses on this bundle of soapy joy!


Michelle included4 handcrafted treats. They are Chocolate Strawberry Bubble Muffins, Granola Scrub, Avocado & Yoghurt Soap (note the "h"!) and Carrot & Calendula Soap which is Vegan. I can't wait to dig in!! Enjoy the pictures and click over to her blog to enjoy her sweet-as-honey self!!
Thanks so much, Michelle! I love it to pieces!! In fact, you've inspired me to have another One Bubble Giveaway! Stay tuned for details!!!

Thank You, Joanna @ The Soap Bar!!

Joanna Schmidt is a super-cool, super-sweet soapmaker, entrepeneur & mom in Florida who I've come to know from reading her very fun blog, The Soap Bar. She owns Product Body, which is an amazing bath & body company offering the yummiest products ever!

The other day she sent me an email to let me know that she liked the bar of Pamplemousse that I sent her way. There was a link, too. I clicked and... wow! She wrote a wonderful post about Pamplemousse and Twin Birch! I did a very geeky happy dance~don't tell! And immediately emailed the post to my hubby & sibs, girlfriends and notable others. It is the nicest, best feeling to read such kind words from Joanna! Check out my post about her delicious Product Body line. Check out her Product Body site. Check out the post about Twin Birch Pamplemousse! Oh, and go read The Soap Bar and Product Body Blog. They are so fun!

Thanks, Joanna! Woo Hoo! :) By the way, you can find my Pamplemousse & SoapCakes on Etsy!

Featured in the Body Portal

I'm just getting home after Day 2 of the HSMG Conference. It's been another crazy busy day filled with information and fantastic people. I promise to share everything once I am home and can sort it all out. At this moment I am the best kind of worn out and tired! :)

Sorting through all my emails, I opened one that says " Your listing at TalentDatabase.com has been spotlighted in the Body Portal." Hmmm. Well, jeez! That's kind of fun! You can check it out if you want! If you do, you'll also find fellow bloggers Elizabeth Gassner and Sarah Auclair. Here's the link to Talent Database.

Stay tuned for the conference report!

Soy Joy!

I have been making candles for about six months. It's hard! Each batch has been challenging and part of a big learning curve! I have so much respect for chandlers! Thank goodness for all of the fabulous forums out there! I've been reading WSP's forum which has a lot of information for trouble shooting when candle-making. There are also fabulous people on Pixie Lee's Soap Forum who are a wealth of information and super, super nice!

Anyway, tonight the soy angels were taking pity on me! Somehow, I was able to pour a lovely Blue Sky All Natural Soy Candle that didn't have cracks, sink holes or a sadly out of place wick! Like all other B&B people, as soon as I saw how well it came out, I began to stress about duplicating it! :) Of course, I'm going to make a bizillion of them and list them on Etsy! Anybody got a match?

Hello, Lover! (Gushing about Product Body)

This is my favorite line from Sex in the City! Carrie sees a pair of Prada heels in a store window and walks up to them with stars in her eyes and says, "Hello, Lover!" It's great!

That is exactly how I felt when I opened a box of the yummiest bath & body goodies I have ever been lucky enough to receive! The sweet sender was Joanna from Product Body. She is a rock-star Bath & Body formulator from the sunny land of Florida! Her line is called Product Body and it is super wonderful! I've been enjoying her blogs for a long time and admiring her Product from afar! Honestly, I think I'm in love with this stuff!

The box she sent me was over-flowing with amazing treats to take to the shower for some wonderful body pampering! She sent Crush on You (a deliciously moisturizing sugar scrub) in Pink Grapefruit and Tangerine, Sugarfoot Scrub (for the peds, of course!) Ruby Red Grapefruit, a sweet little bar of her CP soap (which I read about on her blog when she made it). I'm not sure of the fragrance but it's just lovely. It has a spa quality to it. Maybe Lemongrass? MMMMM I don't know, but it smells like serenity! To top it all off (literally) Joanna tucked in a jar of her Double Whipped Shea Butter in Sweet Vanilla Mango.

All of Joanna's Products are amazing and I love them. I had a fantabulous shower yesterday morning and I spend all day feeling soft and yummy! I have to say that the Double Whipped Shea Butter in Sweet Vanilla Mango made me a little teary! Using it gave me a moment of pure indulgence! Like everyone else, my moments of self-care are few and far between (and I MAKE products for pampering!) Joanna's Shea Butter disappeared into my skin within 2 minutes and left me feeling well-cared for and super moisturized. I covered myself in Double Whipped Shea Butter from head to toe... really. Face too. It wasn't greasy or sticky. My skin drank it right in. The fragrance is heavenly. It's not really sweet, it's really sunny day-at-the-beach feeling good! I loved it.

So, yesterday was my very own Spa Day thanks to Joanna at Product Body. I am soft, exfoliated, polished and smelling fabulous. You must get yourself over to the Product Body site and click yourself some Product! I promise you will be sooo happy! Thanks Joanna for your generous box! I have many more Product Spa Days ahead of me!~ :)

Under the Willow Love & the Pedi Winner

I have never met Carrie~Gigi from Under the Willow Gifts in person, but I know for sure that she is one of the nicest ladies around. Her words of encouragement and excitement jump out and give the reader a huge hug. Her talent runs full spectrum from her gorgeous Billows to her amazing soaps to her great talent as a blog writer on Under the Willows. She is kind and warm and I love every message I get from her.

Today I cued up her blog, like I always do, and was shocked to see that the topic was... me! Ok, actually it wasn't all about me, it was about some Birch Bark Dog Shampoo that she ordered from Etsy. Her words were so kind and wonderful! I'm still pink from blushing and excitement! And I'm not the only one blushing! Max the dog (our 3 year old yellow lab) has a huge crush on her ever-so-delicate Bella-Cinderella! Make sure you check out Under the Willow Gifts and Mud Puddle Girl, her adorable line for little girls. Here's the link to Mud Puddle Girl the blog Much love Carrie~Gigi! Thank you for adding so much to my bubble fun!

So, now for the winner of the Tingle Pedi Kit! In my very un-scientific way, I found the winner by taking 4+4 (4/4 was the date I was supposed to announce, but we'll be in rainy Boston on a field trip with Austen's class) so that's 8 and I counted to the 8th comment on the Pedi Post.
So, the winner is gracefruit! I get to send my pedi kit to Scotland! If you haven't read gracefruit's blog, click here and lay your eyes on some gorgeous soap!!! Here's the link to her site for her Longcroft Soap Company. Gracefruit, leave me your address in the comments box and I'll send the kit along!! I wish I could come with it! :)

Somebody Get Me Some Sushi!

First of all, big hugs and lots of bubble love to Teresa for her blog about my SoapCakes! Click here to read it and then poke around! Her blog is great~ it's called "Life, Homesteading & Everything"
very fun! Thanks, Teresa! :)

I promised I'd stop talking about the weather. Thanks to all of you who put up with my rants!
Instead of weather, I'm talking about SPICY WASABI today! I made a batch of CP using BB Wasabi FO on Saturday. OMG! I am in LOVE with that fragrance! We had some peeps over for wine & darts on Saturday night and when they came to the Bubble Lab/Dart Room, they were sniffin' like mad fools! (I'm sure the Prosecco had nothing to do with it!) Anyway... here's the shot
Just four weeks away from some Spicy Shower Fun!

Lessons Learned

I LOVE the soaping community! It's full of kind, encouraging & interesting people! I enjoy chats on Pixielee's Soap Forum. I love reading comments here on this blog and also leaving comments for people on their blogs! I love the Etsy community and it's amazing craftiness. I was so flattered recently that Anne-Marie gave me a shout-out and a chance to share my technique for my SoapCakes. So many great things have come from my experimentation in the world of bubbles!

A couple of days ago, I was poking around Etsy and saw a product that was cute. It looked a lot like one of mine, which I thought was adorable! I clicked on it and was shocked to find the EXACT WORDS FROM MY DESCRIPTION staring back at me! I actually LOVE the fact that we all put our own personalities into similar products, so that's not my complaint. But to look at my own words on someone else's site was a bit of a bummer.

I found a great line on Indiepublic that they offer to crafters to use as a step toward protecting our hard work and creativity. (feel free to cut & paste :)! Thanks for Sion Lee of Indiepublic for sharing her expertise! Let me know what you guys think~!

All contributed content © {your name or company here}

High Honors

The more bubbling I do, the more familiar I get with some of the leaders of the Soaping Community. Anne-Marie Faiola is the owner of Bramble Berry Supplies
in Bellingham, WA. She runs an amazing soap supply company and is a wealth of information about handcrafted bath and body products. In a word, she's a dynamo.

I was totally flattered that she chose to feature one of my SoapCakes on her blog, The Soap Queen.
Believe me, she is royalty! Thanks, Anne-Marie for the shout out!