Death of a Salesman

It's over. My career as a soap maker is over. But my career as a soap hobbyist is flourishing, never you worry. It's just that I finally figured out, after 4 or 5 unsuccessful attempts to sell my soaps, that one or all of the following is true:
1) People have really poor taste in soap. Unrefined. Boring. Blah. 2)I really just like to make the soaps. I don't even like to use them. It's making them that's the fun part. So maybe that's why no one else buys my soaps but tons of people show up when I do a soap making party. Everyone likes the creative process, but not the actual soaps. 3) It's totally not economical to sell soaps that you make individually, one at a time. In batches, probably. but that's not how I do it. I like to try new things and make maybe 2 or 3 of the same thing at a time, tops. So it's never going to pay off to make soaps that way and sell them for $4 each. I spend hours and hours and hours making soaps and only end up with perhaps a dozen. It works out to about $.34/hr. Not exactly a working wage. My husband will be ecstatic upon reading this. He's been trying to convince me that I've been wasting my time since last year when I first tried selling my soaps at a farmers market (and sold exactly ZERO of them. I blamed the 40 degree weather and cold drizzle. But those may have been red herrings after all). So from now on, I am restricting my soap-making to for-fun only. Well, that and for gifts. I still intend to pass out my creations for every holiday on the calendar. You should start receiving your Hanukkah soaps soon.

Oh, and this is my latest creation. The Ocean Bar, scented like the Mediterranean sea. Salty and sweet. Price: $4.00 Free.

Another Boutique Fair!!!

In case you missed my last one (and it appears ALL but one of you did. Thanks for your support, CARA. The rest of you should feel shame and guilt at this point. But you can make it up to me. Keep reading...), I'm participating in another awesome boutique fair, sponsered by my good friend Kelli. Lots of really cool stuff for Christmas presents. Most notably, my really adorable, REALLY AFFORDABLE, yummy smelling soaps. And they're cheap! You can give them as visiting teacher gifts, obscure relative gifs, teacher gifts, stocking stuffers, neighbor gifts...the list is endless! And did I mention that they're inexpensive?

Also there will be great family games, cool bags/makeup/clothes from State of Hype, jeans, scentsy stuff, home decor, vinyl lettering stuff....ummmm...what else? Here, check out the flyer. And come! Tuesday 12-3 and 6-9pm in Lehi. Last chance for my sweet soaps. Uh, Sweet Suds, that is. And if you don't come, I'm telling Santa. He's going to be VERY disappointed.

Soaps For Christmas

Well, I came about as close to losing my mind yesterday as it gets. I teetered for several hours on the verge of a nervous breakdown. I'm not sure why. You know how in a moment of major stress everything seems so looming and horrible, but then later when it has passed you can't quite remember exactly why it seemed so overwhelming? Well, that's the case exactly. All I can remember is that I didn't have my soaps done on time for the boutique, and I needed to be three diffrerent places at once--all of them across town from the others--and I just couldn't seem to prioritize and make it all work out time-wise. And also everything kept going wrong. I dumped out an entire bottle of pumpkin pie scent on my countertop. My hole-punch broke right in the middle of punching holes in the soap baggies (so you can smell the soaps through the plastic), Beck blew out of his diaper twice in an hour (what did we feed him?), he suddenly got a super runny nose that I kept having to stop and wipe...it all just seemed too much. BUT I got through it all, got my soaps to the boutique fair (3 hours late!!!), and managed to sell just enough of them to pay for my supplies. But not my time. I still have about 3 dozen left. I guess the economy is making people not shop? Because what could be more perfect for your neighbor gifts, visiting teaching gifts, teacher gifts, and stocking stuffers than adorable, individually made, wonderful smelling, totally affordable soaps? Here are a few of the ones that I have left...


FRESH LEMON


SUN-KISSED CURRANT

PEAR GLACE

PINK SUGAR DRAGONFLIES

HONEY BARS

PEPPERMINT PIG, PINK SUGAR MOUSE, DEWY CACTUS CAT, VANILLA MONKEY


PUMPKIN BREAD FALL LEAVES

GRAPEFRUIT LOAF

RIPE MANGO

YELLOW PLUMERIA, GREEN APPLE, PINK CRANBERRY-FIG

OATMEAL, MILK, & HONEY

VANILLA HAZELNUT CHRISTMAS STARSalt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5276405798280642786" />


And a few dozen others. Looks like I'm giving out cleanliness this year instead of Christmas cheer. Who's in?

Holiday Boutique Fair

Come one, come all! It's a holiday boutique fair in Utah County.

Featuring, MOI! Ok, so I'm not a ctually listed on the flyer or anything, but really the main event at this boutique fair is my handmade soaps. Not the bead jewelry you can make yourself to match every outfit(or buy ready made) , not the Modbe clothing that slims and covers, not the Scentsy stuff that drives the stink from your house (only if your house has stink, of course). It's not even the whatever else is listed on the flyer. It's ME and MY SOAPS. So if you live in Utah county or Salt Lake County or Washington County or Cache County or any of the other counties that I don't know the names of that are within, say, 6 hours driving distance, grab a friend, a mom, a daughter, two more friends, and some money and carpool your gorgeous selves over to our boutique in Pleasant Grove this Thursday from noon to 8pm. I'll give you a good deal on soaps, I promise. I can't promise anything from the Scentsy lady, though. Getting rid of stink is a top-dollar industry.

Click to enlarge...


Ok, gotta go make 200 soaps by tomorrow. Ciao!

Sweet Suds has a face!

My fantastic husband is to thank for this beautiful logo. But "What is Sweet Suds?" some of you ask. Let me explain: I have been making soaps for about 4 years now. I got into it after my sister Jennie introduced me to it. I do the melt-and-pour kind, so it's super easy. It is one of the few creative hobbies out there that I actually enjoy. I'm too pragmatic to spend time on crafts that don't have a practical use. So making soaps is the perfect hobby for me. The one problem is that you can only give away so much soap. The day will come when my friends and relatives start saying, "Make me something else for Christmas this year." But with so many new scents to sample, new molds to try, and new styles of soap to create, I just don"t see myself becoming bored with soap-making before my friends are sick of soap. So when my pal Crystal suggested that I might sell some of my soaps at her new New Age shop, The Crystal Ray, I thought that might be a good idea. And the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I might be able to sell my soaps through other boutiques and even online at sites like Ebay and Etsy.com. But if I was going to do that, I'd need a catchy name for my soap business and a really cute logo for the tags. Enter my brilliant designer husband. (Hmmm...that sounds like I picked him up from a runway in Milan or Paris. You know what I mean, though, right?). As always, Kelly whipped up something absolutely perfect for the occasion in just a few short hours. I love my new logo! Don't you? Now to get some great pictures done for the online stores, make a website, start wrapping up the soaps I have for the Crystal Ray, and get making more soap!!! That's the best part. I can't wait! And what if no one buys my soap? I'm sure my husband will not want to hear me say this but, I DON'T CARE! It's an excuse to make more soaps, and that's all I need. (But I should mention that if my soaps don't sell, you'll all be getting soap for Christmas, Easter, Valentine's Day, Halloween, Flag Day, Canada Day, and your birthdays for the next ten years. Hope you like soap!)